Our Mommyhood

Posts Tagged ‘kids’ activities’

By Signe, Staff Writer, My Baby Clothes Boutique

Whether you are waiting in the airport to board a home-bound plane or keeping your kids away from the dessert table until the Thanksgiving dinner is served, there is bound to be some downtime prior to mealtime this holiday season.  Plan ahead to keep your little ones engaged in the Thanksgiving spirit with these fun and entertaining word games.

T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G
Remember this poetic favorite from your own grade school days?  Have your child write the letters for the word “Thanksgiving,” or any other lengthy holiday-themed word of his choice, in descending order on a single sheet of lined paper.  Challenge your little writer to think of a word that relates to the theme of your chosen word.  For example, T is for Turkey, H is for Home and so on.  Present the finished work to the host of your holiday meal.

What’s in a Word?
While on the subject of lengthy words like “Thanksgiving,” another time-passing, fun holiday activity for kids is to challenge them to see how many small words they can create out of the letters of the long word.  Gather a group of cousins around the kitchen table while the adults are finishing up a meal or make this a car game while driving to Grandma’s house.  See who can come up with the most words.  Let the winner choose the word that will be used in the next round.

Make-Your-Own Word Searches
Among the resources available on the internet, parents and kids can now go online and create their own word-searches in under five minutes.  Challenge your kids to make their own, customizable, printable word searches using online puzzle creators.  The SuperKids website allows kids to enter their own search terms (e.g. Thanksgiving, turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry, family, holiday) as well as to set the size of their search grid.  Click on “Create Page” and in seconds, kids have their very own word search puzzles.

By Signe Whitson, Licensed Social Worker.  Signe has been a child therapist for over ten years, her experiences and advice are featured on sites such as Psychology Today.  Her blog on passive aggressive behavior takes a fun look on ways to handle these relationships.  She co-authored a book with great advice for parents, “The Angry Smile: The Psychology of Passive Aggressive Behavior in Families, Schools and Workplaces.”  This article has been brought to you by a baby clothes boutique in an effort to give back to their customers – parents.

By Nicole, Contributor, The Activity Mom (@TheActivityMom)

I must admit that I’ve become a regular customer at the dollar store; I love finding things to use with my children to make learning fun and I really love when they are only a dollar.

Here are a few “must haves” from the dollar store that can be used in so many ways to make learning fun:

1. Garden Stones

What you can do with these:

*Make a set of alphabet magic rocks. Write a letter on the flat side (backwards) and seal with Modge Podge. Write names or words on index cards and use the magic rocks to spell them by matching and covering each letter.
*Glue them on picture frames, make a mosaic art piece or use them in a stepping stone.
*Buy different colored stones and use them for sorting.

2. Pipe Cleaners and Beads

What you can do with these:

*Counting – Thread a certain number of beads on each pipe cleaner 1-10.
*Make a pattern and have your child finish it.
*Thread the beads on the matching colored pipe cleaners.
*Get creative and make animals or shapes.

3. Foam Stickers

What you can do with these:

*Make puzzles
*Use them to make patterns.
*Sort them by color or shape.
*Decorate a card with them.
*Make a scene with the stickers and tell a story about it.

4. Pom Poms

What you can do with these:

*Put a number or dots on cups and have your child drop that number of pom poms in the cup.
*Sort them by color. Which color has more? Less?
*Sort them by size.
*Glue them on paper to make caterpillars.
*Use tongs and transfer one into each section of an ice cube tray.

Nicole is a former teacher, now SAHM who likes to try activities with her children that make learning fun. She shares them at her blog, The Activity Mom.

By Cori, Guest Writer, Cori’s Big Mouth (@Cori_Shelley)

Fall is here and in the Pacific Northwest that means only one thing; being stuck inside for the next six months. No more trips to the park or zoo, no more days spent lounging in the sun by the pool, no more outdoor activities period. Not a lot of fun for anyone, especially if you spend your days with three-year-old active triplets!

Over the years as a nanny to many sets of multiples, I’ve compiled A Nanny’s Guide to the Best Rainy Day Toddler/Preschool Activities. I wish I could say this is a published book, but it’s not has never gone farther than my brain and occasionally onto my blog.

Before I start, the BEST advice I have is to invest in WRAPPING PAPER; wrapping paper makes the best paper to protect your tables/floors, just flip it over and use the plain side. It’s a great way to use up some of the old wrapping paper you hate, or be on the lookout after Christmas for sales and stock-up. We use it daily; not to mention clean-up is a cinch, you just roll it up and throw it out.

Painting
I know the thought of that word sends shivers up and down the spines of most of you. I agree; it still sends shivers up my mind when I think of the aftermath, the clean up, the potential for paint everywhere, but breathe. The kids love it and will entertain themselves for quite awhile.

Set-Up
Tape the wrapping paper down to the table, take the kids’ shirts off them to protect their clothes (even though the paint is supposed to be washable, I hate dealing with stains, so off the shirts go) and dump out our box of painting supplies. Each kid gets a plate with 3 or 4 colors of paint and they go at it.

Get creative with what your kids use to paint with; some of our favorites are sponges, corks, Play-Doh cookie cutters, q-tips and forks.

Clean-Up
I throw the wrapping paper away, and dump all the painting supplies into a soapy sink and let them sit. Once the supplies are clean, they go back into our painting box for next time!

Pudding Painting
If you’re afraid your child will eat the paint, then pudding painting is a great activity for you. It allows your child to paint, and if he/she does happen to eat it, that’s okay; it tastes pretty good too!

Set-Up
Make (or buy) some pudding, give your child the pudding and some “utensils” (spoons, straws, child-safe cookie cutters, etc.) and let them have fun!

Bingo Dobbers
For those of you who are still scared of letting your kids paint, this is a great alternative. Bingo dobbers make great activities and the kids love them. Mine will happily “dob” and “paint” for the longest time.

Stickers
Toddlers love stickers I’ve come to realize; not only is it fun for them but it helps with their hand-eye coordination when removing the sticker from the paper it’s on. We tend to group playing with stickers with our dobber time.

Let me warn you; stickers aren’t cheap, so search eBay for deals on sticker lots. You can get 600+ stickers for about .99 cents. They are random stickers lots (cars, animals, musical notes, etc), but toddlers could care less they just love the “sticking” part. Plus they just stick the stickers one on top of the other anyway.

To make the stickers last longer, cut them up a bit. If they come 10 to a sheet (depending on the size), cut the sheet into thirds so they only get a couple at a time instead of the entire sheet of 10. Otherwise, they will use EVERY single sticker on the sheet.

The triplets making their masterpieces with bingo dobbers and stickers and the pictures after!

Boxes & Playing Cards
This was an idea I found on the internet and I wasn’t very optimistic it would hold the attention of the triplets. I gave it a try anyway, and to my surprise the kids loved it!

Set-Up
Get a box you can cut up. Cut out slots in the box that a single playing card could fit through. Make some of the slots bigger and others smaller, to give your child more of a challenge. Make slots all over the box on all four sides.

The triplets spent over an hour putting playing cards into the different slots on the box. Not only did they spend a long time doing it, but they all did it TOGETHER and shared nicely! This became one of our favorite activities.

Make-Up/Face Painting
Those of you with little girls know how much fun playing with make-up can be; this is a fun activity even for your boys ( just don’t call it make-up ). Give the kids some make-up or face paint and a mirror; they’ll go to town for a long time. If you are brave, let them make you up too. With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to stock up on costume make-up.

Sidewalk Chalk
Who said sidewalk chalk is just for outside? Bring it inside and let your kids color with it inside on paper. Do you have a chalkboard easel that doesn’t get brought out very often? Well here’s your chance!

Play-Doh

What kid doesn’t love Play-Doh? Sure, the clay you buy at the store is great, but try some homemade. The homemade recipe below is great because it’s not super sticky and doesn’t dry out quickly.

Craft Dough Recipe:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• Add Food coloring, or Kool-Aid for color (and smell!)
• Mix and kneed together
• Store in a Ziploc bag in the fridge to insure freshness

The nice thing about each of these activities (except for the boxes & playing cards activity), all can be put in small bins and stored in a closet or cabinet for another day. We have boxes for each of our activities labeled and in a kitchen cupboard ready for a rainy day.

Do you have more ideas? The triplets & I are always looking for more activities to try, so leave a comment and let us know what it is!

By Quirky Momma, Guest Writer, Quirky Momma (@QuirkyMommaSite)

My kids love cooking with me. So how can I use those moments adding ingredients, mixing and stirring to teach my kiddos? Here are some of the learning ideas I came up with:

Cooking with your toddlers & preschoolers:

-Sequencing steps. It is important for kids to follow specific steps in a process.

Example: First, mix eggs, butter and sugar. Then add the flour. Finally, spoon the cookies onto the cookie sheet. This is a great time to discuss consequences and make predictions. If we skip the flour step, can we still make cookies?

-Exposure to fractions. My preschoolers have learned that fractions are a part of a greater whole by measuring the full amount and then subtracting parts to put in the recipe.

Example: While making bread we use six cups of flour, but we add them one at a time to the dough. It takes an extra step to demonstrate fractions as I found that they “get it” more if we start from the whole and work backwards. This typically means I have to measure twice, but the experience is worth it!

-Learn and practice sensory vocabulary with terms used to describe textures, tastes and physical motions.

Examples: Is it soft? hard? wet? clumpy? slimy?  Does this taste salty? sweet? bitter? sour?  Can you stir, pour, knead, mash, break?

-Encourage the kids to try new foods. Kids Health made the observation that kids are more likely to try a new food if they have ownership of it, if they feel invested in it as the “chef” or the person who made the meal. Having your children cook with you provides opportunities to discuss wise food choices.

-Discuss the importance of refrigeration and sanitation while cooking.

Do you have any tips on how you incorporate cooking and your kids?

Quirky Momma is a mother of 4 who blogs about fun preschool learning activities on her blog, Quirky Momma.

By Megan M., Contributor, All A Bunch Of Momsense (@taxmegan)

I’m a reader. I’ll read about anything with text on it. There are books scattered through my house, and usually I’m working my way through two or three of them at a time.

My books are my escape. When I have downtime – after the kids are in bed, or times when it’s daddy’s turn – I fall between the pages and read. I curl up on a sun-warmed couch, or lounge in a bathtub, or nestle amongst the pillows on my bed, and let the writer weave images with their words. Sometimes, I’m in a castle with wizards, seeking answers. Other times, I’m watching two people find love on a ranch. Currently, I’m hanging with a saucy bounty hunter in Jersey.

When my children were small, I read to them. As they’ve grown, we’ve changed our roles. As each of my children worked their way through the sounding out of consonants and vowels, they’ve done much of it aloud, excited to share the stories with me. They would read to each other, to their dad, to their stuffed animals.

Today, my kids are strong readers – my boys both read well above grade level, and my daughter, who just started first grade, exploded this summer. We didn’t pass a sign, poster, book cover, or magazine that she didn’t sound out. Going to the grocery store was a particular treat. That’s a LOT of packaging in one place! My van has books tucked in every seat pocket, and I have to limit the number of books they check out when we go to the public library.

I’m grateful that I have a “guilty pleasure” that is not really guilt-inducing. That this thing that I truly enjoy is worth sharing with my children, and that I can be glad they have a love for it as well.

What about you? What is your escape, your guilty pleasure, and is it one that you can eventually share with your children? Is it something you already do together?