1. Sink or Float
This one is simple: Just get a container of water, lots of fun objects from around the house (we used, coins, coffee beans, gold tee, tooth picks, rubber bands...). When we were done we split everything up to see what type of things sunk and what type floated. It entertained for about a half hour!
2.Have an afternoon Tea Party
or any kind of party to spice up the long winter days! We decided to make cupcakes and have tea (A.K.A water). Anytime you get down on your kids level they just get so much joy out of it!
3. Magnetic Jar
I cut up pipe cleaners and put them in a jar. While moving the magnet along the side of the jar the pipe cleaners follow it. I wish I had a bit of a stronger magnet. The kids think it is magic though!
I pinned the idea from Here! I think there's looks a lot cooler. I think I will try them in a plastic bottle tomorrow!
4. Painting with Condensed Milk
While doing DIY decorative balls today we had the kids doing some painting. I took a can of sweetened condensed and put it into ice cube trays and then added food coloring. The paint is sticky and thick. It was fun for the kids because it was a different texture and because it was shiney. Some of the pictures got a bit thick and are still drying (8 hours later). But the ones that have dried are really cool. Here is the PIN where the idea came from!
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| After folding the picture down the middle it made an even more fun picture! |
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| The colors before they became mixed together! |
5. Contact paper Art
Another one of those 'oh duh' things. Tape contact paper with the sticky side out onto a flat surface, give them lots of things to stick on it! That's it...again, so SIMPLE!!!! The best part is you can reuse the stuff or they can take it off and rearrange it.
7. Countertop play with cars, soap, and water
This is so simple but for some reason it really holds Parker's attention when I am working in the kitchen. Just pour little puddles of water here and there on the counter and let them drive cars and trucks around...making tracks and splashing through puddles.
This is, of course, if you live in the Midwest and it is too cold to go do this on the driveway for months on end!
Take it a step further and let them color on them with washable markers, like brown for mud, and then let them give it a car wash.
Speaking of snow...You can also set a bin of real snow next to the bathtub. Again, the possibilities,,,!
8. Shaving Cream, Food Coloring, and Ziplock Bags
OK, we wanted to get a nice picture of all of our kids sitting and doing one of the wonderful activities that we found to put on the blog...so Here is the project!
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| The bags before they started to play with them |
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| The fun begins! |
We did not use paint, but we did plastic bags with shaving cream and food coloring. We put two colors in each bag so they could see what color it became. We of course did not tape ours down and would strongly recommend, especially if you have little ones, to Tape the bag DOWN! We had a bit of shaving cream and food coloring spilling out as they got squished around but they still had fun!
9. Cardboard boxes
There is SO much you can do with cardboard boxes!! We got a bunch of boxes from Sam's Club this past weekend while my husband was going to be out of town and GOT BUSY creating. We made a spaceship, castle, dog house, train....In the past we have made a ship and we also like to make trains out of all of the diaper boxes that we have around.
So here are a few pictures (really with 3 kids this is the best I could do...Philip is a much better box artist). My mom (who got the boxes) also got a bunch of cool Duct tape. You have to have metallic tape for a spaceship!
Here are some pins for more ideas:
10. GLOW STICKS
Glow sticks from the Dollar Store have kept my kids BUSY and HAPPY for many many hours over the years. In fact, they are one of my favorite, go-to items for so many reasons, and the kids NEVER seem to get tired of them. If you read this post, please leave a comment on your favorite glow stick uses.
1. Glow Sticks In The Bathtub: My kids love to get in a dark bathroom (turn all lights off, the glow sticks will give more than enough light) and let them play in the water (supervised, of course). My kids sometimes play that they are electric eels in the ocean. Sometimes they play that they are ships, and sometimes they just play with them.
2.Glow sticks in pool, lake or ocean: If you ever have a chance to swim outside in the evenings when it is dark, my older kids love to throw the glow sticks around the pool and then dive for them. They sink. We throw out maybe 10 of them, and then everyone races to see who can get the most the soonest. (again, supervision!)
3.Glow sticks in the van for long car rides: We head to WI every few months which is a long car ride of about 5 hours, and by hour 3 it is DARK out. This is also about the time the kids are DONE being in the car. This is when we pull out the glow sticks and the kids happily wave them around and play with them for the last 2 hours.
4. Hide and Search Glow Sticks: My youngest two LOVE to take turns hiding glow sticks in a dark room and letting the other one search. This seems to be something they could play forever.
5. Hide and Seek WITH Glow Sticks: Play hide and seek in the dark, like the basement in the evening, and keep all lights off but everyone holds a glow stick. Makes it a little spooky and a little more fun than normal hide and seek. OR, after dark TAG with glow sticks!
6. Glow Sticks inside blown up balloons, and glitter too!: Blow up a balloon, and insert a glow stick before tying. If you want you can use a funnel to pour some glitter in too. Then go to a dark room, or play outside in your backyard and play keep the balloons in the air with a group of people. Or just have fun throwing and kicking around glowing balloons.
7. Glow sticks for sleepovers or camp-outs: This is simple, but often when there is a special occasion like a birthday party, sleepover, or camp out, each kid gets a couple of glow sticks when they get in bed. Makes a great night light for each kid, and is great incentive for them to get IN bed! Also, anytime we camp out, each kid gets a glow stick in the evenings while the adults sit around the camp fire. Not only fun for kids, but we can keep better track of them in the dark!
8.Bring glow sticks to any event where they might be selling them to save money: Disney on Ice, Sporting Events, parades, 4th of July celebrations, etc, all have vendors walking around selling glowing things! These are very expensive, but if you have a stash in your purse from the dollar store, your kids will be happy and you will save lots of money.
10. Follow the Glow Sticks Pathway: We live in the woods, but you could do this anywhere: make a pathway of glow sticks around your driveway and backyard, and have kids follow it. Put out obstacles such as traffic cones, and play follow-the-leader.
11. Big Backyard Glow Stick Hunt: This is like an Easter Egg hunt, but at night, and with glow sticks. Trust me, your kids will think it is the greatest! Have a prize for the one that finds the most. Or not :)
12. Make Crafts with Glow Sticks: Using tape, make necklaces or headbands, or goofy masks or costumes. Then have everyone wear their creation outside in the evening. Think glowing aliens and monsters. Make a giant snake. This would be a great boy birthday party idea.
13. Create a huge driveway picture: Using the driveway or lawn as your canvas, make a huge picture on the ground! Everyone can work together or create their own. Think RAINBOWS, or even better, OUTER SPACE...with shooting stars, comets, and planets, all glowing. SO NEAT!
14.Write a huge message in Glow Sticks: The possibilities of this are endless. Write a message on your childs' wall (taped) for him to see when he goes to bed. Expecting dad home late? You and your kids can spell out a message on the porch or driveway with glow sticks. Expecting special company late in the evening? Write a welcome message on the guest bed or wall.
15. Practice letters and words with glow sticks: This works best with the small ones, but have your child practice her letters in a dark room using glow sticks. Trust me, this is much more fun that paper and pencil.
16. Bury glow sticks in sand or snow~ treasure hunt: Anytime you and your kids are outside in the evening, you can use glow sticks in your play. In winter, bury glow sticks (shallow) give your kids a shovel and let them dig for treasure. In summer, do the same with sand.
17. Use as a night light in unfamiliar places: Staying at a relatives house or motel? Set a glow stick by the bedroom door and the bathroom door so if someone gets up in the night they can find their way to the bathroom.
18: Bedtime incentive: read by glow stick: Help get your kids to bed without a fuss...Let them take a couple of glow sticks to bed with them and use as a night light to read books by. Set a timer or give them a certain number of books (such as 5) before they must stop reading and go to sleep. Or for a child scared of the dark, simply let them have a glow stick by them in bed each night. For this, use the fatter glow sticks in the single pack from the dollar store.
19: Glowing Jar Fairy Dust: Carefully cut open glow sticks (adult only) and pour the inside stuff into a jar. Put on the cover and shake. Let your child pretend she has caught lightning bugs or fairies. Or tell her it is magic fairy dust. This would be awesome for a little girls' fairy birthday party!
20. Make Roads or Runways: Make them on a small scale and let your child drive his trucks or airplanes between them for roads or runways. Or make them LARGE and you and your child can BE the airplane or the trucks. You can 'crash' into them, knock them over, make bridges and tunnels, etc. Or have your child pretend to be a policeman and direct 'traffic' using toy cars, or an air traffic controller directing toy airplanes on where to land.
11. My house, my town, my state...
Help kids to understand where they live by doing this project that talks about their house, town, state, country and earth (you could also do more or less depending on the age). Because of the young age of my kids I helped them draw the pictures and cut the circles out. For their ages (4 and 2) it mostly got us talking about what the name of the town is that they live in, the state and the united states. The different size circles help them to see that each thing gets bigger! I love simple things like this. You could do it each year to see how their understanding changes also!
You can see where I got the idea HERE!
12. Easter stained glass crosses
Today we did an Easter project with the kids. Here is what we did:
I cut crosses out of construction paper (you can use any kind). I cut up a bunch of tissue paper and then put the crosses onto clear contact paper that I got at Target. The kids went to work placing the tissue paper onto the sticky side of the contact paper!
After that was done I put another piece of contact paper on top and then we hung them in the window! We also did eggs!
Now most of you would probably want to cut around the cross but my kiddos put the tissue paper all over and did not want any cut off!
This is a great project for kids of all ages. The older ones can cut their own tissue paper and make designs. It has NO GLUE so is pretty much mess free! Good fine moter and creativity!
Now don't forget to talk about the importance of the cross with your kids while doing the project! Always a time to share the gospel!
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