You are here: Home / Archives for Learning Activities

Screen Free Week Activities: Busy Bags!

2013
7 Comments

Are you looking for some fun Screen Free Week activities to do with your kids next week? 

Then you’ve come to the right place! 

A bunch of kid bloggers have gotten together for a Screen Free Activities and Resources Blog Hop.

Busy Bag Activities for Screen Free Week

If you are used to letting your kids watch a TV show here and there for some downtime then the thought of going screen free for a whole week might seem a little intimidating.  None of us can be “on” all day long! 

Busy bags are little activities that you prep in advance that your kids can play and learn with independently…the perfect way to get the downtime you all may need without turning on the TV!

Here are 10 fun busy bag activities to get you started!

1.  Three Craft Stick Busy Bags from Making Boys Men

2.  Clothespin Flower Matching from Toddler Approved

3.  What Time is it? A Telling Time Review Game from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Busy Bag Fun

4.  Number Wheel Busy Bag from Money Saving Mom

5.  Pom Pom Tong Transfer from The Princess and the Tot

6. Lego Duplo Building Inspiration Busy Bag from All Our Days

7.  Bottle Top Calculator from Learn with Play at home

8.  Broken Heart Puzzles from Coffee Cups and Crayons {me!}

Sticker story bag

9.  Sticker Story Bag from The Pleasantest Thing

10. The Little Inquiry Bag from Childhood 101

…and if 10 ideas are not enough, here’s our Busy Bag Pinterest Board!

Busy Bags for the Kiddos Pinterest Board

Ready to join in?  Check out the other screen free activities in the blog hop!

The Educators' Spin On It

Linking to:

Filed Under: Crafts, Learning Activities Tagged With: , , ,

How to Host a Busy Bag Swap

2013
7 Comments

Busy bags are awesome!  They can be used to help kids practice new skills, follow directions, and learn to work independently.  Busy bags also give moms a chance to step back and not be the main source of stimulation, which is important for both moms and kids.

So, what’s the downside? 

They can be time consuming to put together and for moms and teachers time is something we never have enough of.  That’s why a bunch of mom friends and I have organized a busy bag swap.  And not just any busy bag swap–we use ours as a chance for a Moms Night Out!

How to Host a Busy Bag Swap

But, before I get to the how to part, I should probably explain exactly what a busy bag is, right? 

A busy bag is a self contained activity that a child can play or complete all by him or herself.  All of the necessary supplies are placed into some kind of container (often a plastic bag) that the child can take out and play with.  They can be fine motor activities, math practice, reading activities, file folder games, any game or activity that can be done independently.

Busy Bag Fun

What is a Busy Bag Swap?

A busy bag swap is basically a mom-made activity co-op.  A bunch of moms each agree to make multiple copies of one busy bag to swap with everyone else.  Each mom only has to make one activity and gets to go home with one of each at the end of the night.

How to Organize a Busy Bag Swap:

Determine what types of activities you want to swap.

We are very laid back about the types of busy bags we do.  In our swap we take traditional busy bags as well as consumable activities, such as art supplies or a science experiment. 

We also do activities that would be appropriate for toddlers through primary school age kids.  The moms in my swap are fine with getting an activity that may not work for their kids.  They save them for when they are older or give them as gifts to kids who would love them.  This may not be what you are looking for, decide what would work best for you.

Decide how many participants you want to include.

The more moms you invite the more busy bags you get, but the more you have to make too.  We started small and got larger as we went and let people participate even if they can’t make the event.

Ask anyone who you think would enjoy it, but don’t be surprised if you get a lot of “nos” at first.  If they aren’t familiar with how easy a busy bag swap can be it may sound like too much work at first.  Give moms a chance to jump in after the first one if you have room.  One of my friends was surprised by just how much she liked it and even wrote a post about why you should do it!

Choose where and when you’ll have the swap.

Our busy bag swap is a Moms Night Out, no kids allowed.We choose a fun activity and meet up to socialize and exchange bags. 

For us it’s the perfect situation, we get a well-deserved night out and come home with tons of fun activities for our kids.
We’ve done a tapas night, met at a restaurant, had a wine tasting, and have plans to try a night of painting and volunteering as a group this spring.

Find a way to keep track of the details.

Everyone involved needs to know how many people are coming and what activity they are bringing.  We also include the number, ages, and genders of our kids. 

You can use an Evite, a Google doc, a Facebook group, an Excel spreadsheet, a Sign-Up Genius form–anything that allows everyone to see the details of the swap.

Make your busy bags

Pick a busy bag and start crafting!  Check out my Busy Bag Pinterest board below for inspiration.

 

Busy Bags for Kids on Pinterest

Do you have a favorite busy bag activity? Leave the link in the comments so I can pin it!


And stay tuned!  There will be even more busy bag ideas coming soon…Carolyn from The Pleasantest Thing and I have teamed up for a new Busy Bag of the Month blog series!  Make sure to sign up for email updates if you want all the latest busy bag fun!

Filed Under: Crafts, Learning Activities Tagged With: , , , ,

Rainbow Outdoor Games for Preschool

2013
3 Comments

My kids love to get outdoors and play.  Since my 3 year old has been rainbow obsessed this week and we decided to add some rainbow-ness into some of our traditional outdoor games and came up with three fun ways to play.

Rainbow Outdoor Games for Preschoolers from Coffee Cups and Crayons

Rainbow May I?

My older kids are so happy that my 3 year old can finally really play Mother May I? with them!  We had painted a bunch of rainbow plates and used one of them to make a rainbow hat for Rainbow May I?!!!

I drew two rainbow lines on our sidewalk with sidewalk chalk.  One of the kids stood put the rainbow hat on and stood at the purple end.  The other two each started at the beginning of the rainbow lines and took turns asking Rainbow May I?  They did the traditional, May I take 3 leaps, 4 twirls, etc. and added in some color fun with requests like, May I run to yellow?

We added in some learning by naming the color that they landed on, talking about what sound the color started with, and predicting which color they would land on.

 

Rainbow Races and Other Games to Play Outside with Preschoolers

Rainbow Races

After playing Rainbow May I? for awhile they decided they wanted to race!  They raced from one end of the rainbow line to the other and back again.  And again.  And again.  I joined in after this picture and we had a blast thinking of different ways we could race across the rainbow.  Let’s just say they can definitely beat me at race across the rainbow like a puppy!

 

Rainbow Tag and Other Outdoor Preschool Games

Rainbow Tag

We started off playing that whomever had the rainbow hat on was it, but the hat did not make it very long!  One of the kids was the rainbow and tried to tag the others and turn them into rainbows too.  After you were tagged you joined in with the other rainbows to help get the others.

Once almost everyone was a rainbow the last person became the leprechaun.  We added in challenges for the leprechauns such as, you had to touch something red before you could tag anyone.  It was silly and fun and a great way to get moving outside!

Some of the other rainbow activities we have been doing this week:

We made a rainbow banner by painting circles like Happy Hooligans did except we used small paper plates we had leftover and then just cut them in half once they were dry to make our banner!

We ate Rainbow Jell-O in a Jar!

We went on a Rainbow Toy Hunt and then my almost 5 year old practiced matching the toys to the correct color word card.

How have you had fun with colors and rainbows lately?  

Filed Under: Learning Activities Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Squishy Snow Sensory Activity for Preschool Kids

2013
18 Comments

We love fun activities for preschool kids and toddlers at our house so it makes sense that this squishy snow sensory activity is a big hit during the winter!

Squishy snow, also called clean mud, is easy to make, fun to play with, and NOT a mess to clean up.  All you need is a bar of Ivory soap, a roll of toilet paper, and 1-1.5 cups of hot water.

Ingredients for Squishy SnowI set out a large plastic bin and let the kids rip up the roll of toilet paper into it.  Even making it is fun!

Squishy Snow Ingredients Bar of Ivory Soap

While they were tearing and shredding I grated the bar of soap and heated 1.5 cups of water in the microwave.

Squishy Snow Sensory Material for KidsI mixed the soap with 1 cup of water (to start) and poured it into the bin with the toilet paper.  They used their hands (it was cooler by then) to mix it all together. Normally at this point I would add more of the water until it becomes a smooth, slick consistency, but they wanted to leave it a little drier today so we left it alone.

Clean Mud Snowball ActivityThey spent lots of time playing, squeezing, and experimenting with the squishy snow.  And then had fun making a bunch of snowballs.

Squishy Snow Sensory Material for PreschoolWhich quickly turned into snowmen!

Have you made squishy snow or clean mud before?  Did your preschool kids enjoy it?

It was interesting to see that my 3 year old who does not always enjoy sticky, gooey activities liked it better with less water.  Experiment with the recipe to see what is most fun for your family!

Linking to:

Filed Under: Learning Activities Tagged With: , , , ,

Picasso for Kids: Cubist Portraits

2013
4 Comments

We love doing kids art projects in the style of great artists for the bimonthly Kids Get Arty series. This month we had fun doing an easy Picasso for kids activity– cubist-style portraits!

Art Projects for Kids: Picasso Portraits

We went online and studied lots of different portraits that Picasso had done.  We talked about the differences between his work and portraits done by other artists and looked at other cubist style portaits to find similiarities.  The 4 year old, 6 year old and I all practiced drawing faces with big lines, different shapes, and varied proportions.

Art Projects for Kids: Picasso Portrait Drawing

Then tried their own!  My 6 year old chose Picasso’s Head of a Woman (1960) to copy.  They used oil pastels and art canvas paper from CraftProjectIdeas.com.  They both loved the effect of the oil pastels on the canvas paper, my daughter thought she was just like Picasso!

Kids Art Projects: Easy Picasso PortaitsMy 4 year old chose Picasso’s Self Portrait (1907) to try.

While the kids both enjoyed the project it was interesting to see that my 4 year old felt much more comfortable drawing in this style than my 6 year old did.  She wasn’t as pleased with how hers turned out and had more trouble stepping out of her daily drawing comfort zone and trying something new.  This is why I love the Kids Get Arty series so much, it is a great way for us (the kids and me) to take creative risks and expand our art knowledge.  I definitely recommend doing it at your house too!

Cardboard Box Kids Art FramesWe displayed their art in these cool cardboard frames I had made for our front room.  I drew whimsical frame shapes onto large pieces of cardboard with oil pastels, cut them out and colored them in, so easy!  Then I used Command Poster Adhesive Value Pack, 48-Strips to stick them to the wall.  The kids art work is just taped on and can be changed out whenever they want.  We love how they turned out!

There are lots of art projects already linked up so go and see what others did this month and then try some of your own! It’s lots of fun!

Disclaimer: CraftProjectIdeas.com provided me with the art canvas paper for free, but all opinions are mine.  This post also contains Amazon affiliate links.

Filed Under: Crafts, Learning Activities Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Random Acts of Kindness and Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

2012
6 Comments

Stacy of Kids Stuff World organized a blogger service calendar based on Mom It Forward’s free service eBook.  The 31 Family Friendly Holiday Service Activities eBook is packed full of amazing ideas for any family or organization who is looking to focus on giving during the holiday (or any other) season.  Since I adore everything about these projects I couldn’t wait to sign up and chose Neighbor Gifts as the day we would blog about.

Random Acts of Kindness: Applesauce Ornament Neighbor Gifts

I chose neighbor gifts because of all the cute, fun things we could make.  I had visions of pinterest-worthy crafts to show our neighbors just how much we appreciated them.  And then tragedy struck Sandy Hook Elementary last week and beautiful creations no longer seemed to be what our neighbors needed.

Our local elementary school was in partial lock down all week.  Parents could not walk their kids to their classrooms or go in to eat lunch with them.  Holiday parties were not cancelled, but the number of parents who could attend them was severely limited.  Parents in my and other neighborhoods were upset.  They needed a little love and kindness.

So we made cinnamon applesauce ornaments.  Because sweet and simple just felt right.

We are old school when it comes to cinnamon ornaments and use the McCormick recipe.  We mix together 3/4 cup of applesauce and a 4 ounce container of cinnamon.  Then roll out the dough and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.  We poke a hole in the top and let dry out on the counter for a couple days.  You can paint, glitter, and bejewel them, but this year we just tied them with red and white twine and hung them on neighbors doors when they weren’t home.  And hoped it made them smile when they got home.

While our 24 Days of Random Acts of Christmas Kindness may be coming to an end tomorrow we aren’t going to stop there.  I love the idea of 26 Acts of Kindness and we are definitely going to participate.  I think focusing on service and kindness is one of my most important jobs as a mother and I want to make sure this becomes a lifelong lesson and mission, not just something for the holiday season.  I want giving to be so ingrained in our lives that we cannot imagine what it would be like to stop.

So in 2013 were are going to do 52 Weeks of Random Acts of Kindness.  #26ActsofKindness times two.  Because the sentiment I posted on facebook last week still holds true for me today.

“Numb still from Friday’s tragedy I spent the weekend hugging my kiddos and being surrounded in a bubble of good loving friends. Today we stepped out of our bubble and back into real life and I find that I still have no words to even begin to offer, just prayers. And remembrance. And Random Acts of Christmas Kindness that seem even better, even brighter now.”

I don’t have the answers for what we, as the adults of the world, should do to prevent this from ever occurring again. And as a mom I don’t like that.  Having worked in the mental health field during and right after college as a TSS worker and at a partial school program for kids with severe social and emotional issues I know that this is an area that needs improvement.  But I can’t fix that or anything else today.

However, I am a mom.  And today, in our family, I can teach my kids by example to be good, kind, caring citizens of the world.  And we can spread kindness and understanding to our friends and neighbors and community.  While I’m not naive enough to think that will solve all the problems of the world, I do know it does make a difference.  Even if it is a small one.  But a bunch of small, intentional acts of kindness all around the world is a start.  A good start.

To catch up on any of our other Random Acts of Christmas Kindness posts read:

 

Advent Calendar Idea: Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

 Holiday Mail for Heroes: Send a Card to a Service Member

 Random Act of Christmas Kindness: Help a Neighbor

Linking to:

The Weekly Kids Co-Op at B-Inspired Mama

Filed Under: Christmas, Learning Activities Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Kids Art Activity: Discovering Dali

2012
3 Comments

It’s time for Kids Get Arty! We participated for the first time in September and had a blast drawing pet portraits in the style of Brooke Churchill.  I was completely blown away by how fantastic the experience was and still cannot believe we waited so long to join in!

For November’s challenge we decided it was time to FINALLY visit The Dali! I have been wanting to go since we moved here 2 years ago, but was worried the kids weren’t quite ready.  Now that the littlest one is almost 3 we decided to go for it and hope for the best!

Trip to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL

And it was awesome!  The staff at the museum is phenomenal and was not at all put off by the fact that we were bringing in 4 small children.  They suggested we take the kid friendly “mustache” audio tour and gave each of the kids a scavenger hunt map and pencil.

The kids were so excited to hear about Dali and the artwork and have talking and asking questions about him as if he was someone we actually know.  The best part of the experience for me was how each of the children took turns (without any prompting) giving us their interpretations of the artwork.  They fed off each others ideas and compared each new painting and sculpture with the ones we had already seen.  Their observations and thoughts were incredible–my husband and I stood back and let them discuss and soaked up their perspective.  And enjoyed how much they enjoyed the silliness of surrealism!

The architecture, the events, the outdoor art garden–there are too many fantastic things at The Dali to cover in this post!  Make sure you check out their website for more info.

After our visit almost all of my 4 year old’s drawings were “like Dali” and they were excited when we finally sat down to create.  I had suggested painting, but they were adamant about using crayons and drawing paper.  They thought it would be easier to add surrealistic details in a medium they were very familiar with.  They were also enamoured with the titles and descriptions they saw at the museum and put a lot of thought into theirs.

Kids Art Activities in the Style of the Great Artists

  Description by the artist (4 years old):

An elephant surrounded by a water scooter with butterflies and crowns and a pterodactyl flying in the air through the clouds.

Fun Kids Art Project in the Style of Dali

Description by the artist (6 years old):

Five butterflies and flying candy canes surround a ship and block its passage to home.  The butterflies are surreal.  Some have crazy wings and one is naked.

Preschool Art Project: Draw like Dali

Description by the artist (almost 3 years old):
A butterfly,  ladybug, bug, and a monster were going through the machine at the car wash.

  Kids Art Activities: Discovering DaliExploring the Great Artist with kids is so much fun! Check out all of the other kids art activities that have been linked up and join in the fun yourself–you won’t regret it!

Filed Under: Learning Activities Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Spoon Feelings Activity for Kids

2012
14 Comments

We have been having so much fun participating in the Virtual Book Club for Kids!  This month’s author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, was new to us and we excited to see her book Spoon in the Scholastic book order last month.

 (affiliate link)

Spoon is the story of a little spoon who begins to fret that his friends, Knife, Fork, and Chopsticks, have it so much better than him.  His friends think he is the lucky one, but he can only see the things that they can do–until his mom reminds him of all of the things that make him special.

The kids LOVED the story and had no trouble picking up the theme or recalling story details.  It was easy to see how much they were able to identify with Spoon’s situation.

After reading the story we took turns looking into a spoon and talked about how you don’t see yourself correctly–you are upside down and misshapen.  Then we flipped the spoon around and noticed it was much easier to see youself clearly.

I pointed out how it was the same for Spoon in the story.  He couldn’t see all the great things about his life until his mom pointed them out, she was the one who “flipped the spoon over” for him.  We talked about times when we have felt the same way as little Spoon and what we could do about it next time it happened.  They decided that instead of complaining about what they didn’t have they could think of all the things they did have.

 We made a spoon for each kid to help them remember some of the great things about themselves.  The kids brainstormed special things about each other and I wrote them on a paper spoon.  They decorated their spoons and we hung them on their bedroom doors.

The best part is that the lesson didn’t end there.  Later, when we were running errands and one of the kids began to complain, we “spooned” her!  I said, “Uh oh!  You sound like little Spoon. Let’s flip this around and think about all of the great things you do have instead of worrying about what someone else is getting.” The other two joined in and before you know it everyone was smiling again.  (Did I mention how much we loved this book?!?)

This was our first Amy Krouse Rosenthal book and we were definitely impressed.  I can’t wait to read more!

Be sure to follow the Virtual Kids Book Club on facebook for all of the fun:

Filed Under: Learning Activities, Reading Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fire Hose Fact Practice Game

2012
4 Comments

My first grader needs to work on her addition fact speed as part of her homework this month.  We also have been talking about fire safety and today it occurred to me to combine the two–after all what better reason to go quickly than a fire?

I wrote some of the sums the 6 year old was working on the fence with sidewalk chalk and drew flames around them.  I also wrote letters and sight words in ”flames” so my 2 and 4 year olds could play too.

 My first grader had lots of fun “putting out” the correct addition fact answers!

The 4 year old did a great job finding sight words to hose off!

And the little one loved squirting the letters!

Then when they were done they used their hoses to clean the rest of the flames off the fence.

Definitely a great way to have fun while learning math facts!  What do your kids like to do to memorize facts?  This is a new thing for my first grader and we will be looking for more fun ways to practice.

Linking up to:

 Kids Co-op

Filed Under: Learning Activities, Math Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Practice Questioning with a Question Ball

2012
6 Comments

Good readers need to be able to recall and make sense of, or comprehend, what they read.  One of the best ways to increase comprehension in readers of any age is with the Questioning Strategy.   In order to better understand the text kids learn how to create teacher-like questions about what they have read. Sounds simple, right?  All it takes is practice!

This is where the Question Ball comes in!

How to use a Question Ball to increase reading comprehension:

  1. Read a story together just as you normally would–make predictions, read with inflection, ask questions, discuss thoughts, etc.
  2. Bring out the Question Ball and let the kids look at it.  Talk about the question words written on it.
  3. Play catch! Whoever catches the ball gets to ask the question using the question word that his/her left thumb lands on.
  4. Answer the question and throw it back.

Don’t worry if at first all of the questions the child asks are very low level or ones you may have already said–it takes a lot of practice to be able to create good teacher-like questions.  New readers greatly benefit from having good reading models and in this case will be able to improve their questioning skills by watching you develop your teacher-like questions.

Younger readers can use the Question Ball too.  Little ones who may not be quite ready to start making up questions can play question ball catch to choose question words for you to use to ask them questions about the story you have read aloud.  This is a great way to learn about question words and to to build a sight word vocabulary.

Becoming a good reader and developing comprehension skills is a cumulative process that takes place over many, many years.  A Question Ball won’t increase reading comprehension overnight, but it will make learning the questioning strategy more fun!

Ready to make your own Question Ball?

It couldn’t be easier!

  1. Buy a cheap beach ball.
  2. Blow it up and set it on a bowl.
  3. Write a question word in each section.
  4. Let dry and get ready to play!

I made these for a bunch of my friends and I used 3D puffy paint to write the words for an extra sensory effect.  They are really cool and my 2 year old loves to trace the letters and the question mark, but it was hard to write the words neatly.  If that will bother you you may want to stick to markers.

  What fun reading games do you use to help increase comprehension skills?

 Linking up to:


 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Learning Activities, Reading Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
«Older Posts