Indoor fun

Circle Art

2011

I love, love, love how this project turned out! I saw something similar to this a long time ago and tucked it away in my “to do when older” file.Well, my 9 year old nephew was over who I tried to show how to do this and ended up with my starter sheet. My son saw it later that day and was begging to do it. So, I decided to give it a try and boy am I glad I did. He loved it! This is a fantastic simple activity to get their brains thinking and perfect for any age!

What You Need:

Crayons, markers or colored pencils
Lots of circles
Paper

Directions

Step 1: Gather circles. Any shape or size will be perfect.I had the kids do a search and bring me what they found. As you can see from the picture, they found many! They brought me water bottles and lids off of water bottles and cups, the milk, pitchers and more.

Step 2: Trace your circles on the paper. Circles and be put anywhere on the paper. Let them get creative.

Step 3: Instruct them that when they are done tracing to color in their circles.

This is what we started with. Left to right: My daughter’s pic (age 3), my sons pic (age 5) and my page

Step 4: Enjoy your time coloring and be patient.I colored my page while they colored theirs and they tried to mimic my patterns and colors. It took us about 3 days working an hour or so each day to finish the pictures.

Step 5: Praise your work, because it will look awesome!

My son’s artwork…

My daughter’s artwork…

and my finished piece.

I found coloring this very theraputic, too. It was amazing to see how easily my kiddos went down for naps with a little coloring for30 minutes or so before their rest time. Love, love, love it…not just the naps that happened after, but how they turned out!

I am linking to these parties!

Filed Under: All Ages, Indoor fun Tagged With: Crafts, Fun

{Group Games} Zip-Bom

2011

4 Comments

I love playing a good game. Games seem to lighten the mood and are great for connecting with others. This is a really fun group game my nieces taught me. We were in giggles in no time!

Object

Keep the game moving, without mixing up the cues.

Set-Up

Have all the players sit in a circle, facing the middle.

How To Play

Rule 1: Two verbal commands keep the game in motion. A player must turn and face the person next to him and say either ”ZIP” or BOM”. The command “ZIP” starts the game going one direction, and “BOM” reverses the motion.

Rule 2: You cannot show your teeth! Keep your lips covering your teeth. You’ll get the humor of this as you start playing.

Rule 3: You can choose to have elimination or just keep playing for fun and see how long you can keep it going.

For Example: One person starts the game by turning to the player on his left and says “ZIP”. This starts the play in motion. That person can then either remain facing the first player and say “BOM” to reverse the direction, or can turn to the person to his left and say “ZIP”.

Tip

* Make sure you face the direction that corresponds to the command you are giving. If the person on your left turns to you ands says “ZIP”, you cannot say“ZIP” back to him. You could either face left and say “BOM” or turn right and pass the “ZIP” on in the same direction it was already traveling. If the wrong command is given, the player who messed up is out of the game. Keep playing until there are just two players left.

* The faster the game goes, the more challenging, and fun. Keep the game in motion, and get faster as you go!

Here’s a quick video demo of the game:

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Filed Under: Games, Indoor fun Tagged With: Fun

Pick-Up “Sticks”

2011

7 Comments

This is a fun game for all ages to play to use up some energy when you are stuck indoors on those not so nice days (or way too hot, depending on where you are) and even more fun to play outside! The variations you can play are endless (see “Variations” below for more ideas) and it is great for all ages. Once I got my kids started on the game, they played for a good 30-45 minutes trying new ways to do it. I also created a short video so you can see it in action. We had a lot of fun and we hope you do, too!

I love the look of pure joy on their faces!

What You Need:

Sticks, markers, pencils, pipe cleaners, etc. (see variations for more ideas)
Masking tape – for inside, chalk – for outside, cones, etc. – something to mark locations (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Use tape (or alternative – cones, lines on basketball court, etc.) to mark lines in intervals on the ground. You can decide on the space between, but aim for smaller intervals for younger children and large for older. We did about 2-3 feet between lines to start. I also used masking tape inside on the carpet because it is easy to remove and it helped the kids know where to put the sticks back at. Marking the intervals is totally optional but it will allow you to easily play it over and over again without trying to figure out how far you are.

Step 2: Lay out the “sticks” on each line. We did not have any sticks, but we did have a bunch of markers and colored pencils, so those were our “sticks”. We did two rows of sticks, one for each child, but if you have a lot of participants more rows would be fun.

Step 3: On your mark. Get set. Go! We picked-up “sticks” multiple ways. Race style, where they picked up the first, ran back to start, picked up the second, ran back to start, etc. See the video and variations below.

Video: Just so you can see it in action …

Variations: The variations are endless, but here are a few suggestions:

Hop, skip, go backwards, etc. instead of running to grab the “sticks”
Once you have picked them all up, put them all back in reverse (we started to do this in the video).
Have each child take a turn and be the only one running and picking them up.

These would be great for older kids/youth…

Use other items as “sticks”. The more awkward to carry the funnier it gets. i.e. beach ball, bowling pins, toys, chair, hose, etc. Have you ever tried to carry more than 5 of those toy bowling pins and one always seems to slip out, especially when you are trying to pick up another? Hilarious!
If you have a lot of participants, you can do a relay. As each person picks up the nearest “stick” the come back and switch off and the next one goes.
If you are doing it with lots of people, using clothing as “sticks” would be fun (over-sized everything: jacket, pants, shirt, hat, tie, shoes, etc). Have one person on each row or have enough items for 2 rows and split into teams. Same idea as above, but use items of clothing that they have to put on as they get to each interval. Have one person put each item on and get to the end and put them all back before the next can go.
OR continuing with the idea above… the 1st person runs to the first place and puts the first item on, runs back and takes off/pass on the item to the 2nd person in line. The 2nd person now has to put that item on and runs to get the second item putting it on and running back to the front of the line and passes their stuff off to the 3rd person, etc.

Like I said the variations are endless, but I am sure these got you thinking of some others!

Enjoy and Have Fun!!!!

Filed Under: All Ages, Games, Indoor fun, Outdoor Fun Tagged With: Fun

Making Laundry Fun ~ Sock Wars

2011

4 Comments

Can you believe that I was able to get my 2 children to fold an entire basket of mismatched socks? I was not quite sure if it would work, but once they saw where it was going, they were both eagerly helping. Gotta Love it! The secret? A reward of a Sock War once they are finished! I even had a ton of fun with the sock war. I imagine older kids will enjoy this, too.

What You Need:

Basket of mismatched sock
Helping hands

Directions:

Step 1: Bring the mismatched socks into a preferably clean room and explain that they need to find the ones that are the same.

The easiest way we found for the younger kids, was to have them lay out each sock that has no match and compare each new sock from the basket to the ones already laid out. It was easier for them to find matches this way.

Step 2: Fold the socks together and gather all the balled up socks into a pile. Since they have not folded socks much I had to teach them how. I found the easiest way to teach them was to have them sit in my lap and mimic my hands while we folded the socks in slow motion together (they put their fingers on the sock where I put mine at the same time.)

Step 3: Divide up the socks and start the war! Expect them to turn on you! he he =)

ENJOY!!!

I am linking up to these parties!

Filed Under: All Ages, Indoor fun Tagged With: Fun

Toothpick Creations and Friday Brag Fest 4/15

2011

12 Fun Ideas To Bust The Boredom

2011

13 Comments

1. Make your own Watercolor Paint.

2. Make an Animal Mask like our Monkey Mask. It seriously surprised me how big of a hit it was!

3. Make your favorite snack. Our is this Homemade Kettle Corn.

4. Get messy with this Monster Goo.

5. Get thinking by creating your own Ball Drop using toilet paper rolls

6. Get creative and make your own Sock Puppet!

7. Capture a bit of time by making Homemade Hand and Mold Prints.

8. Make some Homemade Tootsie Rolls. So easy and so yummy!

9. Have a movie theme night. We did a “Dog” Themed Movie Night here.

10. Play a game. This M&M Straw Game is a personal favorite!

11. Make paper airplanes and have races. It will surprise you how captivating these airplanes can be. This is definately for all ages…even my 14 year old sister and her friends spent a couple hours decorating, creating and racing these. Here are the instructions on how to make the Best Flying Paper Airlane we have found, yet.

12. Be the star of your own show…Make a Movie! Do anything from a silly nursery rhyme to making your own music video. I gaureentee it will be a smash hit with the entire family. My children love to watch their movies over and over again. My teenage nieces make these awesome family yearbook like videos…basically a slideshow to summary that highlights events from each month and all of it put to music. So if the are “too old” to be in front of the camera, put them to work on the video making details!

ENJOY!!!

I am linking up to these parties!