Mystery Characters

This is another great activity for mostly open-ended creativity!

Glue pairs of googly eyes randomly on paper (we used card stock & gave the glue time to dry)

 

Hand the kids drawing supplies (you could even give them collage materials!) & instruct them to draw characters (animals, monsters, people// whatever they want!) around the eyes.

 

Younger kids can tell you a story about their drawings, older kids can write a story & read it to you, or even act it out!

A Box of Craft Sticks

We recently picked up a box of 1,000 craft sticks (or popsicle sticks, to some) at a major craft store chain. They were priced at $5.99 & we had a 40% off coupon to burn.... so I tossed them into the cart with the thought that open-ended play/creativity is my favorite kind of things for the kids to do and they rarely use things for it's intended purpose anyhow!

Let me tell you,  I gave the Herdlings this box of sticks, tacky glue, collage materials & washable tempera paints & it has kept them busy for hours!

We made hanging picture frames & garden stakes

 The learning aspect: Planning, measuring, symmetry, sequence

We made treasure keepers (boxes with lids)

 

The learning aspect: Planning, measuring, symmetry, height, volume, following directions/sequence

And we have made plenty of abstract sculptures.

 The learning aspect: vocabulary, art, following their own creative thoughts.

This has proven to be one of the most favored activities among all of my kids!

Who would have thought?!

Lettuce Rose Prints

 This is a really fun activity to do with any age!

We buy bulk bags of Romaine Hearts at the members club warehouse and a dinner with side salad easily leaves us with three lettuce stumps. When you look at the freshly cut end of the stump, you will likely notice that it resembles a rose!

This got my creative gears turning! What a great way to use the scraps from our salad! It's virtually no fail and the best part is that you simply cut off the painted surface for a fresh start with a new color!!

You will need a lettuce stump, paint of your choice (we have used acrylic, tempera and finger paints. I bet it would work with stamp pads too), paint brushes, a cutting board & sharp knife.

Brush paint on or pour a little paint onto wax paper or foil & let the little ones "stamp" with the lettuce stump

Let them choose the placement for their "rose" on the paper & press their painted stump onto the paper

TA-DA!

Give it a try after your next salad! You can expand on this idea by using different fruits and veggies and exploring the effects they create!

The Benifits of Play Doh

It is squishy!

It is messy!

And it has a smell that people either love or hate.

But one thing is true- play doh is is magical in so many ways!

 

The colorful doh that most parents loved as children but now have a love/hate relationship with sparks some crazy imaginative play! I have witnessed everything from a pretend store (complete with things to sell and money all being made with play doh), to cosmetics, baked goods, dolls, snowmen, flowers, and vehicles.

Aside from the creative and open-ended benefits of play doh, many over look the benefits to a child's motor skills!

Gross Motor Skills:

Squishing, rolling and patting all help to develop a child's large/gross motor skills

 

 Fine Motor Skills:

Pinching, pressing play doh into molds and cutting will sharpen a child's fine motor skills!

Sensory Play:

Doh can be colorful and if you make it yourself, it can be scented too! You can incorporate these things into your play doh play to mix it up and keep it fun!

Here is my favorite recipe:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 Tbls. vegetable oil

food coloring (I used 4 drops) &/or extract for scent (glitter is really fun to add too!! I usually opt for a fine or ultra fine variety)

Just dump all the ingredients into your pot and give them a good stir.

Social Skills:

This is a tough one for some kids, but it is a major life skill... sharing. If your child plays alone at your family table, try setting out the play doh when they have friends over! Kids have a lot of fun sharing their creations with their friends and getting ideas from each other! This is also an opportunity to praise your child for the skill they choose to show off!

Asking for someone to pass the cutter or rolling pin is an important skill, just as important as passing the requested item along or sharing their favorite color. Group play doh time gives many opportunities to practice and sharpen these important social skills and it can be very rewarding for everyone involved!

So parents, you may have to set aside your distain of play doh and the mess it can potentially cause in favor of all the benefits your child will experience!

Roll up your sleeves and play with your kids! All of the good things that come with playing play doh far outweigh the mess!

Candy Graphing

I might as well turn my least favorite holiday into a learning opportunity, right?

I printed two estimation and graphing pages from the internet for each student and let them go at it.

This activity kept them busier than I thought and even Owen got into it!

Turns out that Ains estimated with in 4 pieces! That was pretty amazing. We also guessed which type of candy we would have most of- looks like this year fruity was the winner!

Sadly, the candy we had the least of was Milky Way, which happens to be my favorite.