The Flour Game

My sister in law suggested this game a few months ago. We just got around to trying it. It was so fun!

THE FLOUR GAME:

1. Fill a regular sized bowl with flour.
2. Place a plate on top of bowl and flip bowl over.
3. You now remove the bowl and have a heap of flour, the shape of the bowl.
4. Add a penny on the top of the flour.
5. Take turns carefully cutting away slices of the flour (like you'd cut a pie)
6. Whomever takes the turn that makes the penny fall, looses.

It's just a fun easy game. Is a little messy!!! But, well worth it.

Mailman Fun

We've been having fun playing mailman.

1. Envelopes: cut out of felt, sewn with a simple blanket stitch.
2. Stamps: cut with pinking shears out of felt.
(They stick together well enough for play time fun without velcro)
3. Letters: First I cut out pieces of cardboard. I then covered the cardboard with white vinyl. You could easily use contact paper. The kids can draw pictures with erasable markers, and it wipes clean.
4. Mailbox: made from an old cardboard box, covered with paper, cut a hole in the middle. I would love a mini metal mailbox in the future, but until then...

Of course, the vinyl machine came in handy for labeling, and lettering, etc. but I'm sure your handwriting is cuter than mine! :)

Dino Dig...a different take!

Earlier I posted about the "dino-dig" where you freeze little plastic toys in the ice, and have the kids chip away the ice. I saw on another blog that one mom uses this fun idea in the tub!! I tried it, and the kids thought it was so cool. I froze all different sizes of ice cubes (using ziplocs and cups), and at bath time I dumped them in the tub with them. They thought it was so funny how the ice would make the bath water cold in spots...and they had fun waiting for the ice to melt with a little surprise inside.

Scratch Art

1. Color a piece of paper with crayons so that the surface is very "waxy" and no paper is showing through.
2. Mix small amount of black tempera paint with 1 drip of dish detergent.
3. Paint over the crayon with paint mixture.
4. Let paint dry.
5. Give kids something to "scratch" their art with. We used coins, nails, screws, paperclips, toothpicks, etc.

VERY FUN and FAST...

Dino Dig

I did this a while back for preschool. I actually forgot about it, I better do it again!

1. An assortment of cups, bowls, ice cube trays, etc.
2. Little plastic dinosaurs.

The night before you want to do the activity, fill up the various bowls and cups with water. I let them freeze for about an hour and then I took them out and inserted the dinosaur right in the center of the ice...adding a little more water to freeze over the top.

When the kids are ready. Get out some cookie sheets or vinyl tablecloth or something to protect your kitchen because it gets wild! If you live in a warm climate, no problem, just go outside.

Anyway, give the kids different tools: rocks, hammers, pliers, spoons, etc and let them get to work being a paleontologist! It kept my boys busy for much longer than I anticipated...and what's more cool than digging a toy out of ice that you get to keep and play with?!

Teaching Manners

This is a little more for boys, because it uses dinosaurs. A story all about dinosaurs and their manners. Names like rude-rex and stingy-stego!! To print out the story and the template of the dinosarus go here:
http://www.executivehomemaker.com/content.asp?pid=87&id=551

Setting the Table

The other night the boys set the table. My place setting had 7 knives. Good time to teach them how to set the table! Printable placemat found here:
http://www.parents.com/parents/story.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/parents/story/data/5434.xml

Homemade Puffy Paint

Combine:
1 T. Salt
1 T. Flour
Food Coloring

Add a little water but keep the mixture thick. Let the kids paint on cardstock with the mixture. When their masterpiece is complete, place in the microwave for 10-30 seconds until it bubbles up and dries. Thanks Becky!

Lego Organization

I realize the only way to really play lego's is to dump the enitre box onto the floor so you can sift through the pieces to find the one's you need...BUT, I don't like this method. So, I have organized the pieces that aren't really building pieces into little tupperwares. It works great. My boys many times just want to play with the lego "guys" and now, they can go straight to the tupperware for that, the whole box doesn't get dumped on the floor.

ALSO, patterns for lego's. Putting them in a binder in plastic sleeves has made such an improvement! We've lost many other patterns, and the boys ask me to recreate their car they once built - uh, not gonna happen. Anyway, it's a nice way to keep them all in 1 place for the kids to find.

Wrapping Paper or Toilet Paper...

I had recently used up a roll of wrapping paper. If you have boys, you know what a great sword this becomes...but a little friend came over, and we only had the 1. That's not very fair! So, we cut the roll up into small rolls and made binoculars! I've seen this done with toilet paper rolls, but I'm not really in the habit of saving those. Anyway, fun, dispensable toy for the day for the kids. I put a big rubberband around the 2 rolls, a little glue down the middle, hole punched the outer edges and tied a piece of yarn so it could hang around their neck.

Washing Money

This is in the "preschooler busy book". It's a fun one. Get all your coins, and let your child wash them all! I got out a few different buckets of water, and we put different "ingredients" in each one. One had soap, one had vinegar water, one had salt, one had sugar (just for fun...I let my child choose something he wanted to put in the water to clean with, hence salt and sugar). I then gave him a few brushes, a toothbrush, a few rags, etc. He cleaned and splashed and washed for a good 45 minutes. It was very fun. And, the way I see it, who doesn't need those gross coins washed anyway!

Chores

Growing up, my mom was always trying a "new plan" to get us to do our chores. Some worked better than others. At the moment we're trying this route. Seems to be working!!

Each child has a certain # of cards with chores. Mom decides how much these chores are worth, and gives them a # on the back. Mine range from 1 to 4. Then, throughout the day, as "child" completes the chore, they turn the card over to reveal the # on the back. At the end of the day, we add up the #'s, and give that many cottonballs to put in the jar. As the jar fills up over time, "child" earns accordingly. I used "treat", "toy", and "outing" as my incentives, but really you could use whatever you like.

One thing I love about this system is that during the day if someone does something wrong, I can say that I'm going to take a cottonball out of the jar. It works SO well!

If you want my same "chores" I can email them to you. My sis-in-law used velcro instead of nails to hang the chores, it's up to you!!

Tooth Pillow

It will happen. Your kids are going to loose their teeth! After the 2nd tooth, and the money was lost in the bed, I made this tooth pillow. We are anxiously waiting for #3 to fall out so we can put the little pillow to use! I remember having one of these as a kid, but forgot all about it until I saw the idea not too long ago...

Pocket Books

Are these not the cutest? We all have pairs of jeans our kids have worn holes in the knee...right? I sure do. I haven't gotten around to making that levi quilt yet, but used a few pockets on these composition pads. Stick a few crayons or pencils in the pocket, a fun little portable notepad for the kids (or me!)

TumbleBugs

These do require mostly adult making, but the decorating is for the kids. I don't know why I love these so much, but they remind me of my childhood, and my grandma's house. I'm trying to figure out what more permanent item I can make them out of (instead of paper which gets squished). Until then, here it is out of paper. Really fun for the kids to make "ramps" and their bugs have races. Once you see them in action, you might be reminded of long ago...

Link here:
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11739

Boredom Bags

I can't take credit for this one. It was my sis-in-laws idea. You know when your kids are really bored, and you don't want any more TV, and you need a quick idea? Well, solution! When we recently got together in Tahoe, we each brought 5 ideas for these "boredom bags" (as I call them). They each fit in a ziploc size bag, and everything you need for the project is in there. They are easy, simple, and just something different for those moments. Could even been thrown in the church bag at the last minute!

Examples:
1. tinfoil & pipe cleaners: You can make so many creations with these 2 small items! Rings, crowns, masks, tinfoil guys, etc. etc. Minutes of fun (I'd say hours, but I have boys...nothing lasts hours)
2. lines on paper: practice cutting along the lines.
3. Magnetic properties: a magnet and a bunch of misc. items from your junk drawer. The kids really have fun discovering that just because it's "shiny" doesn't mean it's magnetic.
4. sandpaper & crayons: Fun to color on a texture!
5. lacing: shapes with hole punches and pipe cleaner - practice lacing skills.
6. Odds Game: Roll the dice, fill in the graph with # rolled on dice.


Those are to give you a few ideas. This would be a really fun project to get together with friends and do, and to just have a tupperware full.