Go for
a nature walk and collect items like leaves, twigs, flowers,
rocks, and acorns. When you get home, take a shallow box
(a cereal box works well) and cover with plain white paper, or
the paper of a brown grocery bag. Cut the front of the box
open, leaving a one-inch border frame. Glue lightweight
items to the back of the inside of the box, and heavier items to
the bottom. Kids can decorate the box, too.
Fun
With Food
Make
a necklace strung with mini-marshmallows, Cheerios, popcorn
and/or raisins -- Bread dough
pretzels: Divide a load of thawed, frozen bread dough in
6 to 8 portions. Let kids roll into long, narrow
ropes and shape into pretzels. Brush with a beaten
egg yolk and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. -- Create
a food sculpture using items such as chunks of cheese,
marshmallows, fruit squares, gumdrops, etc. Hold them
together using toothpicks, straws, or popsicle sticks.
Rainbow Art
Have your kids
create wonderful works of art with just a few crayons! All
they need to start with is a sheet of plain paper. Have
them color dense streaks of bright colors such as yellow, red,
green, pink, orange, etc covering the whole sheet. Once they
have covered the whole sheet of paper in bright patches
of color, have them color over the whole thing using the side
of a black or dark blue crayon so that the colors are no
longer visible. Now show your child how to
"draw" using a spoon handle, gently peeling off the
top layer exposing the colors underneath.
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Obstacle Course
Create an obstacle course
in your living room! Boost your child's agility by building
the following challenges: crawling under a table or a chair,
slithering through a tunnel made with couch cushions, or stepping on
a series of newspapers placed on the floor. Design the course
with your child's age and ability level in mind.
Shake, Rattle & Roll!
Make fun and inexpensive
rattles for your baby or toddler by using plastic containers you have
at home. Plastic soda bottles, yogurt containers, frosting tubs,
are just some examples of the containers you can use. Fill with
popcorn seeds, dried beans, pennies, or anything else that makes an
interesting sound when you shake it. Decorate the containers
with stickers, cut-outs, or decorative contact paper. Make sure
that the container is taped or glued securely before you give it to
your child.
Placemat Fun
An easy way to keep your
kids entertained while you prepare dinner is to have them prepare the
placemats. Look for white disposable paper placemats at your
local paper or party store. Have your kids decorate placemats
for each family member. They can decorate them by drawing the
face of each family member, a plate of what you're serving that night,
or whatever their imagination comes up with.
Matching Game
Save those lids from your frozen juice cans until you have about 20 - 24
of them. Find stickers with simple and recognizable objects, like
teddy bears, smiley faces, etc... Make sure you have two identical
stickers of each object. Put a sticker on each of the lids.
Spread them upside down on the floor and turn them over one at a time,
and have your toddler try to remember where the matching object is.
For younger toddlers, turn them right side up and have the child find
the matching objects. Even the babies like to play with the lids,
and look at the objects or listen to them "clink" together.
Safe, inexpensive and provides lots of fun and learning for your child.
The Original Mr. Potato Head?
Creating "real" potato heads is an age-old activity that most
people have forgotten about. Begin by taking large baking potatoes
and scrubbing them clean. Supply your kids with clay, felt, string,
yarn, buttons, or other household items to use as facial features and
accessories. Use toothpicks broken into shorter lengths to affix the
items to the face of the potato.
Chia-Heads
Remember those Chia-heads that are advertised around Christmas time?
You and your kids can create your own chia-like people and have them
well before the holidays! Just take a few styrofoam cups and
decorate the fronts with silly faces. Fill with soil, and then
sprinkle with some grass seed which can be found at your local garden
store. Keep the soil moist, and within a couple weeks you should
be able to see the "hair" sprouting!
Bookmarks
Bookmarks are fun and easy to make. Just cut rectangular shapes out of a
heavy-weight paper and let your little ones decorate with stickers,
paper cut-outs, or clippings from magazines. When finished, be
sure to cover their creations with clear contact paper. You can
even add a tassel... use a paper punch to make a hole, then tie with
decorative ribbon or yarn.
Mirror Writing
Have your kids learn about the concept of reflection by writing to each
other in reverse and holding it up to a mirror to decipher it. This
process won't affect symmetrical letters like A, O and H, but letters like
R, B and J will be challenging. Not only will they have to write the
letters in reverse, they will have to write their sentence backwards as
well.
Sand Painting
A great way to use texture in
art -- Have your child draw an object on a piece of paper, such as a dog
or a flower. With a cotton swab or q-tip, have them fill in the
object with a thin film of glue (such as Elmer's). Now sprinkle sand
over the glue. Allow the glue to dry. Your child can now paint
the object with tempera paint. You can also apply the same
principle using glitter over the glue.
Stay at Home Moms - Money saving ideas and tips for frugal stay at home moms
