Popsicle (colored water) Painting

 The other day we froze some water tinted with colored water in our popsicle makers. At first,  the kids were a little confused that they didn't "taste" like anything.  Then I showed them how they could paint with them and it was all good. We taped paper to the fence and made some beautiful painting with them.  Just add a couple drops of food coloring to the water before you freeze them.  Don't worry too much about the drips on their clothing, it washes right out. Honest!



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Life Skill: Folding Laundry

The kids love to play with the cloth napkins, using them as hats, blankets for the babies, "wrapping" their toys up, etc.  The issue was getting them put away.  The solution....teach them how to fold them up.  So, we each grabbed a napkin and layed it out.  Then I showed them how to "hot dog" (horitzontal) fold, then "hamburger" (vertical) fold and one more "hot dog" fold.  Voila....a folded napking.  The best part of the folding was sitting on the napkin to make it flat, their idea, not mine.  Now, they want to fold everything they see!  Win/Win!

 Hot Dog Fold

 Hamburger Fold

Hot Dog Fold

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Fill in the Blanks

My son loves doing puzzles. 

When I saw this activity HERE I knew it was something we would love doing.  It really is so simple. 

 Grab some tape, mark out some lines on the carpet or tile, grab your blocks or Lego's and fill in the blanks.  This puzzle is a truly DIY.  There really is no wrong way but it does take logical thinking to get the blocks to fit together so there are no holes.  We had so much fun and worked at these all day.  I just left the tape on the floor so they could come back and do it over and over.  You have got to try this with your kiddos! .

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Ice Boats

Another idea I got browsing Pinterest.  You can view the post I saw HERE.  First, we taped bendy straws to the bottom of the cups.  We froze water in those little fruit cup containers and added a couple drops of color....just for fun.  I then cut out the sails and punched holes in them.  When the boats were completely frozen, we slipped on the sail and set sail in our water table.  Too fun and perfect for a warmer day.

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Homemade Moon Sand (that evil stuff)

I will admit it.  I have a love/hate relationship with Moon Sand.  The first time we used it, it just wouldn't go away.  I swept it, hosed it off, and nothing.  Uggg!  On the other hand, my kids go crazy for it.  It is really fun to play with, I do agree.  When I found this recipe for homemade moon sand, I gave in and tried. it.  Boy, am I happy I did.  It came out nice and pliable and the kids are uber happy to have it again.  It isn't hard at all to clean up and is much cheaper than the store bought type.  If it starts to dry out, (and it will) just add some more water!

All it takes is 4 cups sand, 2 cups cornstarch and 1 cup water. 

Congratulation, you just made moon sand.

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Drawing on Aluminum

Draw on aluminum foil...why not.  I cut the panels off a cereal box and wrapped it in aluminum.  Then I put the Sharpie pens on the table and waited for the kids to discover them. When they did, they quickly got busy drawing and creating.  Just a different way to be creative!



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Fun with (unused) fly swatters

Here is another fun and fine motor developing activity.  I got the idea HERE, on Pinterest.  We got new fly swatters, yarn and pipe cleaners.  I tied the yarn onto a piece of pipe cleaner to act as the needle.  Then I handed it over to the kids and let them have at it. They thought the fly swatters would make really excellent fishing poles.  I just love children's creativity!  This uses all those little muscles they need to write with.



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Melted Crayon Art

Here is something else you can do to use up those broken crayons.  We used pencil sharpeners to make lots of crayon shavings.  This is an excellent fine motor skill, helping those little muscles needed for writing....so we can all this experience, "pre-writing"!  We put a towel down and then a piece of paper.  They sprinkled the shaving onto the paper, topped with another piece of paper, another towel, and ironed it all.  We had the iron on low, so it took a little bit longer but the kids were so excited to see what was going to happen they didn't really seem to mind.  Plus, I let them use the hot iron.....ooh, the intrigue!  You can see in the picture R's reaction when she opened the picture.  So happy.  We did this over and over again.  We tried simply folding the paper and ironing right on it.  It worked great but I was concerned about the paper burning. 



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Straws and Bottles

Sometimes my kiddos get stuff out and just start working.  Sometimes I document it and sometimes I don't.  They found the package of straws that I had just bought, ummm, for drinking.  They had a different vision.  They went to the supply closet, grabbed all the bottles and just started creating. Most of the time, it really is the simpliest things that gains their interest. I didn't ask what they were doing or what they were building, I didn't ask them anything.  Just observed their concentration and creativity.   

 Let the physics lessons begin!



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Slide Drawings

This was so fun.  I pinned it on Pinterest (my latest source of excellent ideas) and couldn't wait to try it.  I would just say that if you try this (and you should), make sure you tape the paper really well to the slide.  My daughter could not get enough of this.  She decided that chalk worked the best.  I mean really, how can you go wrong when you mix a slide and coloring?

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Pipe Cleaners and Embroidery Sheets

We found these plastic, embroidery sheets at the craft store and I had planned to have them use them for sewing.  When T saw them he went and grabbed the pipe cleaners and started "sewing" with them.  They stayed with this great fine motor activity for quite awhile.  What I love is that is was totally self-iniatied.  I don't know how long it would have taken me to discover this great experience for them. 

T made a hat!

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Colored Glue Suncatchers

We love colored glue and now with all the glue on sale we have been stocking up on it.  We made these Glue Ghosts last year and I thought it would be fun to make a summer version.  We just squeezed the glue onto wax paper.  Ry made a "dancer" which made me think of bringing out the cookie cutters.  We filled them in with the glue and then waited until they were dry.  It took about 24 hours for them to be completely dry.  We carefully peeled them off the paper and punched a hole in them with a hole punch.  We hung them in the window so we could get the whole effect of the colored glue.  Awesome, huh?



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Clothespin Creations

I got out some supplies with the plan of making some cute clothespin cars that I saw in Family Fun magazine awhile ago.  It called for some clothespins, bread ties, straws and buttons.  I took out the pipe cleaners too.  I made one of the cars but the kids had other ideas.  They wanted to make their own creations.  I think they came out amazing and this project kept their attention for quite awhile. So if you need a project for a rainy day, this is a great one. This is great for exercising those little hand muscles that they need for writing.  It is also great for exercising those creativity muscles too!  I wonder what your kids will invent?

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Tile Paintings

I happened upon a box of unused tiles which led me to make this cool project with the kids.  They arranged the tiles however they wanted onto a piece of cardboard and then I glued them down with adhesive so the tiles wouldn't slide around.  They painted the tiles and then pressed down a piece of paper (we used scrap paper) to make a reversible print.  The kids were so excited to see what print they made, over and over again.  I can't take credit for this idea, though, I heard about from the incredible Lisa Murphy.  So, if you have any old tiles laying around, here is a great way to use them up.  Your kids will love it!



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