Creative Family Fun

Explore the World One E-Book at a Time

2013-05-20T09:50:00.001-05:00

You may have already heard about my e-book series or you may have not. Either way, I want to tell you about them again and share some great changes. The big change is that I've changed my selling platform to TeachersPayTeachers. I'm hoping to get more eyes on the books from teachers, homeschoolers, parents and grandparents. It's easier for both me and you to navigate, pay, and download the books. It's a win-win all around. Oh, and the best part - Project Around the World: New York City is now free. Yep, you heard right, FREE!

Go quickly and grab your copy!

What will you find? You'll explore New York City through crafts, math, and writing projects. You'll find cityscape printmaking, subway acrostic poems, and more. In addition, you'll find many resources to plan your own exploration of New York City.

The projects are perfect for elementary-aged children and can also be easily adapted for preschoolers. They are easy to do and you should have most of the supplies needed at home.

And if you enjoy it, I would greatly appreciate a rating at TeachersPayTeachers. Spread the word. Pin it, share it, and tell all your friends.

While you're there, you can also grab your copy of Project Around the World: Alaska for only $5.00. Why the price difference? There are more projects, including some that I created exclusively for this book. I've created projects to help you explore the culture and geography of Alaska. Learn about the state animal, the moose, and the state fish, the salmon, through fun projects. Create a family totem pole and learn about the Native culture in Alaska. Or practice your storytelling skills with some Alaska-themed story starters. Oh, and there are even more projects, seven in all, plus a fun-facts section, and an extensive resource section with books and websites all about Alaska.

You'll find it here at TeachersPayTeachers!

I'm very excited about this e-book series and plan on creating even more. I have a stack of books all about Washington DC ready to work on. Yay! I'm also planning a book about China and one about Australia. And, that is just the tip of the iceberg! We love learning about different cultures and it's been difficult to find crafts and activities to help us learn. So, I started creating my own and want to share it with others.

Thank you so much for supporting this endeavor and I hope you find it valuable!

Go grab your free copy of Project Around the World: New York City.

Then read it, share it, pin it!

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 41

2013-05-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend?

Hands-On Flower Diagram

2013-05-16T09:08:00.000-05:00

I'd like to share another fabulous guest post today. Please welcome Ashley from Me & Marie Learning.

With Spring in full swing, we are seeing flowers everywhere!

I wanted to help my young learners visualize the process of how a flower grows. Among many other activities, we created a Hands-On Flower Diagram. We talked about what a diagram is and how it helps us learn. The best part about this diagram is that it uses materials you most likely already have on hand!

Start by gathering the following materials:

Straws

Brown yarn or string

Cupcake liner

Seeds (You could use sunflower seeds or any seeds you have. I only had lima beans!)

Leaf cutout or real leaf

Diagram labels (You can print them off here.)

Construction paper

Glue and tape the materials to create a diagram, just like in the pictures below.

Help children understand the function of each part of the flower. For example, just like a straw, the flower's stem sucks water up from the roots. Work through each part of the flower and add labels after discussing the functions.

Now, when your children see real flowers within pots or in the ground, they will know exactly how the parts of that flower works!

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Thank you Ashley for such a fun project!

Ashley is the owner of Me & Marie Learning, a blog all about early learning. She has taken some time off teaching in a traditional setting to be at home with her young children. Ashley is now an in-home childcare provider, teaching her own and other children in her preschool room. Ashley has a degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education with a Master’s Degree in Reading and Literacy.

All About Monkeys: A Learning Basket

2013-05-15T12:32:00.001-05:00

**Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Thank you for your support.*

Recently my girls decided they wanted to learn everything they could about monkeys. And not just monkeys, all primates. We went to the library and checked out books about monkeys, chimpanzees, and gorillas. We got both fiction and nonfiction. Then we settled in for a day all about monkeys.

I filled a basket with all the supplies we would need for our projects and wrote down all the projects we were going to try. We started by reading. We read as many books as we could handle, then we moved on to our projects. (See Amazon carousel below for book recommendations.)

Next, we made little books to remember what we learned. We drew pictures of what monkeys ate, where they lived, and even traced our hands since monkeys have similar hands to ours. The booklets were simple. I cut pieces of brown construction paper in half, and then folded each of those halves in half. I sandwiched two together and then stapled them along the folds.

We also did a fun hand print craft that I found on Red Ted Art. They turned out so cute!

Next we made monkey masks. I was inspired by this paper plate craft on Learn Create Love. Here's what we did.

Supplies Needed:

Paper plate

Brown paint

Brown construction paper

Glue

Scissors

Large craft stick

We painted our paper plate brown. While they were drying, we cut our mouth and ears out of brown construction paper. We traced a sour cream lid for the mouth circle and the lid to one of my spice bottles for the ears. After the paint was dry, I helped the girls by cutting out the eye holes.

The girls glued their mouth and ears onto their paper plates and used a black marker to add the details. They also glued a craft stick onto the bottom of their masks so that they could hold it up to their face. Then it was time to run around and act like monkeys - OohOohAahAah!

We had lots of fun learning about monkeys. You can see some of books we used in the carousel below.

Amazon.com Widgets

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 40

2013-05-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend? We're going to have a birthday party!

Playful Ways to Learn Shapes

2013-05-10T09:41:00.000-05:00

Shapes are fun to learn and there are a multitude of hands-on ways to learn them. Here are some of the playful ways we've learned about shapes.

What are some other fun ways to learn about shapes?

Tie-Dye Suns

2013-05-08T19:35:00.001-05:00

Spring was a very, VERY, long time in coming to Minnesota this year. It was cold and snowy all through April and winter said a final good-bye by dumping over a foot of snow on us in early May. Yuck. So in order to celebrate the arrival of warm and sunny weather, we made these fun tie-dye suns.

Supplies Needed:

Coffee filters

Orange, yellow, & red washable markers

Spray bottle of water

Clear contact paper

For the first step, make fun swirly designs on your coffee filters with your markers. You'll need about three coffee filters for each sun. You don't want to color in the entire coffee filter. Instead draw swirls, zigzags, or other fun designs.

Once you are pleased with your designs, spray your decorated coffee filters with water. Get them completely wet, but don't over-saturate them. Now, watch your colors spread out . When we had wet our filters we were pleasantly surprised to see the tie-dye affect.

After your coffee filter have dried, fold two of them in half and then half again. Keep folding until you have a pie-shaped wedge. Unfold, then cut along your creases. You will have eight wedges per filter. Make sure you keep one whole for the center of your sun.

Cut a piece of contact paper large enough for your suns. Tape the contact paper to your table sticky side up and lay your coffee filter and wedges down to form a sun and its rays. Seal your sun with another piece of contact paper cut to the same size. Cut around your sun, but make sure you leave a sealed edge.

Now you have a beautiful sun to say hello to spring!

P.S. Please ignore the dirty windows. The girls have been drawing with window markers almost every day lately!

Ways to Play This Summer ~ A Summer Bucket List

2013-05-06T14:29:00.000-05:00

It's summer bucket list planning season again! Last year, I gave you 200 ideas to help you write your own summer bucket list. This year, I'm doing something a little different. In the spirit of my 10 Ways to Play This Weekend posts, I've made you a printable "Ways to Play This Summer."

The ideas are easy to do. You won't need to go online and look up instructions. Most can even be done spur of the moment. Use it as inspiration for writing your own summer bucket list, or better yet, use it as your summer bucket list. There are only 15 ways to play, so it shouldn't be too overwhelming.

Ways to Play This Summer

1. Make homemade popsicles and eat them outside

2. Go to the farmer's market and find something new to eat

3. Gather your friends and put on a play based on your favorite story

4. Tour all the parks in your hometown

5. Invite the neighborhood kids over & have a backyard dance party

6. Catch fireflies

7. Turn over a rock and look for bugs

8. Plant a seed & watch it grow

9. Buy a new board game & learn how to play it

10. Get a library card & read as many books as you can

11. Play in the sprinkler

12. Make a backyard obstacle course

13. Create your own family newspaper

14. Go stargazing

15. Go on a picnic

Do you make a summer bucket list? If not you should definitely make one this year. They're lots of fun! If this one isn't your style, hop on over to No Time for Flash Cards for a fun summer reading bucket list.

Click here to download your Ways to Play This Summer

Linking up to the Summer Bucket List Party at Little Wonders' Days

Ways to Play: Week 39

2013-05-04T09:52:00.003-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend? We've already made the paper plate lady bugs and I'm not sure what we'll try next!

After School Fun ~ Hummingbird Suncatchers

2013-05-02T11:02:00.001-05:00

Today I'd like to welcome another blogging friend of mine, Jen from Kitchen Counter Chronicles, who is sharing a fun after school activity with you today. Thanks Jen for stopping by today!

I am so excited to be sharing our fun after school activity at Creative Family Fun today. I have two daughters aged 7 and 9 years old. When my girls come home from school they are looking for things to do that are creative and a little bit challenging. We try and spend as much time outdoors as possible, especially now that the spring weather has arrived. So we love incorporating nature into our play. The girls were inspired to start learning about different types of birds when I brought home the massive book, Landsdowne’s Birds of the Forest by JF Landsdowne. Landsdowne’s artwork is incredible and the books pulled my girls right in. They each chose a bird to research and the creativity went from there.

My youngest daughter picked the red throated hummingbird as her focus. She started by writing out 3 facts about the hummingbird. My daughter loves writing out facts and information.

Next, my daughter traced the picture in the book. We clipped a piece of tracing paper to the page and then my daughter traced the picture with a pencil. After tracing, she then coloured in the picture with pencil crayons.

I cut out a construction paper “frame” for the picture and used a glue stick to adhere it to the tracing paper. We decided to add a piece of pink paper to the back of the tracing paper, to allow the sunlight to filter through the picture. Without the paper behind the picture, all the colour was washed out of the drawing.

We then proudly placed the hummingbird suncatcher on our dining room window. As the sun shines in, the birds seem to glow. It really is quite lovely.

My eldest daughter studied a different bird, the belted kingfisher. When she was done her tracing she decided that she didn’t want to turn hers into a sun catcher. So, her picture is hanging on our art bulletin board...perfect. I am amazed how this one book and a love of nature, inspired learning and such beauty. Looking through the book has lead to much discussion about many other birds. We have even signed up to attend a bird guided tour in a local park. Who knows maybe we’ll see a hummingbird or a kingfisher. Are your children interested in birds? What birds are native to the area where you live?

Thank you Jen for such a fun post!

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In my "previous life" I was a mental health professional...in my current life I'm a stay-at-home mom with 2 beautifully adventurous kids. I share everything that lands on our kitchen counter over on my blog, Kitchen Counter Chronicles. Swing by and learn how we are greening their lives; what we are crafting; what we are cooking and what we are reading. While you will often find the girls and I inside the kitchen, you will also find us out getting our hands dirty, exploring and learning outdoors. I also tweet at @kcchronicles and can be found on Facebook and Pinterest.

Mom's Bookshelf: 15 Minutes Outside

2013-04-30T11:48:00.000-05:00

In the past few months I've read several books that I would love to recommend to you. Some are kids activities books, some are parenting books, and other are great books about simplifying your life. I truly do love all of these books and can't wait to share them all with you.

*This post does contain affiliate links from Amazon. I purchased the book myself and wanted to share it with you. All opinions are my own.

I first purchased Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids by Rebecca P. Cohen for two reasons. First, I believe outdoor play is very important for my girls, but sometimes I need a little extra push. Second, I can never resist a book of lists! This book did not disappoint at all.

Cohen begins the book by talking about the importance of outdoor play, then she continues on to show you just how easy it is to get outside and have fun. She gives you 365 ideas, one for every day of the year. Her ideas are not at all complicated. They're easy to plan, cost little to no money, and many can be done spur of the moment. Some of the ideas you may do all of the time; others may be something you've never thought of before. But, I guarantee you'll find some ideas that will make you want to put the book down and rush outside with your kids.

The book is divided by month to help you find ideas appropriate to your current season. She has active play, relaxation ideas, learning ideas, nature play, and more. For example, in January she suggests visiting a playground after a snowfall. In April, she suggests looking for tadpoles. An in September, she suggests taking your homework outside.

We don't do the activities in order in this book, nor have we even gotten close to doing them all. But, it's always on the bookshelf. I'll pull it down; flip through it; and am guaranteed to find something fun to do. Today might be a great day to make our own ring toss game and take it outside to play. Maybe we'll roll down a hill or play "kick the can" (Cohen tells you how to play it, if you don't already know).

If you're looking for a treasure of outdoor play ideas, pick up a copy of Fifteen Minutes Outside. You won't be disappointed.

What are your favorite ways to play outside?

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 37

2013-04-27T07:37:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend? We're going to be outside enjoying the spring weather.

Project Around the World: Alaska (New E-Book & Giveaway) Giveaway Closed

2013-04-25T15:20:00.000-05:00

Introducing the second book in my Project Around the World series: Alaska! I'm thrilled to have this finished and ready for you to use. You'll find 25 pages full of facts, book recommendations, and projects all inspired by the state of Alaska.

What will you find inside?

Moose Silhouette Paintings
Crayon Resist Northern Lights
Shiny Foil Salmon
Black Bear Place Cards
Alaska Story Starters
and more!

The projects are easy, fun, and frugal. You won't have to go out and buy any special supplies. They are suitable for both preschool and elementary-aged kids. My girls enjoyed these projects and I know you will too. I've also created an extensive resource section full of books and websites that once combined with these projects become a fun and engaging Alaska learning unit.

So, what are you waiting for?

Grab your copy now for only $5.00.

In order to kick off this book launch, I've also got a fun giveaway for you. Sasquatch Books was kind enough to provide me with a copy of The Salmon Princess: An Alaska Cinderella Story (Paws IV Children's Books) by Mindy Dwyer to give away to one of you. We read this book along with our study of Alaska and loved it. I thought you would love a copy too. In addition to The Salmon Princess, I'll also send the winner a copy of Project Around the World: Alaska (or refund your money if you've already made a purchase). You can enter in the widget below.

Congratulations to entry #14 LeAnn Perry who follows @creativefamfun on Twitter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for your support in my new e-book endeavor. I hope you enjoy the books as much as I enjoy writing them.

*Disclosure: All Amazon links are affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

Poetry Basket for Creative Writing Fun

2013-04-23T12:45:00.001-05:00

We love poetry. We own a few kid's poetry books and frequent the poetry section at the library. We've experimented with writing our own poems and illustrating poetry. Recently, I wanted to delve a bit deeper and see how we could be inspired by one poem. I was inspired by Montessori poetry baskets, but wanted to add in more elements to inspire my Kindergartner to do a little creative writing.

I started with the poem Who Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Rossetti. It's a simple poem with beautiful imagery. I also knew the girls would easily identify with the poem. After all, we've experience many a windy day. I printed out the poem and laminated it for durability. I also printed out a few pieces of clip art of trees and leaves. I also included felt leaves, small sticks, pine cones, and acorns. I added some drawing paper, writing paper, and colored pencils to round out the basket. You can do this with any poem. Just add items mentioned in or inspired by your poem of choice.

We read the poem aloud a few times. We talked about the wind. We talked about ways in which we would see the wind. Then we pulled out the drawing paper.

Drawing Prompts:

*If the wind were a person, what would it look like?

*Draw a tree with its leaves blowing in the wind.

*What are some other ways that we can "see" wind? Draw them.

After drawing for awhile, it was time to start writing. I provided some writing paper that had a square at the top for a picture and 5 short lines for writing. My daughter is just starting to get comfortable writing and I didn't want to overwhelm her with too much space for writing.

Writing Prompts:

*Write an acrostic poem using the word WIND.

*Write a pretend conversation between you and your imagined wind person. What would you ask him/her? How would he/she answer?

*How many words can you come up with that rhyme with wind?

*Write a poem about your favorite part of nature. Will you write about the sun, the moon, trees, flowers?

We chose to write the acrostic poem. My daughter enjoyed this style of poetry when we first learned about it and she wanted to try it again. The above poem is all hers... spelling mistakes and all. I think I'll keep it forever!

We definitely got our creative juices flowing, because by the time we were done writing our poems, the girls wanted to make kites. We found some construction paper, markers, and yarn and made a couple of simple kites. The girls loved the poetry basket so much that they've requested more poems. What poem should we choose next?

10 Ways To Play This Weekend: Week 36

2013-04-20T09:44:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend?

Go Outside! Cards

2013-04-18T10:54:00.000-05:00

Back in the early days of this blog, my Go Outside Cards post was one of my most popular posts. It still has people stopping by daily. It was a simple idea to add a surprise element to your day. The premise was simple. Write several outdoor activities on index cards, put them in and envelope, and have your kids choose one to kick-start their outdoor play. The ideas on the cards weren't complicated and most did not require any prep time or special supplies. I've been wanting to update that post for a long time and now that spring is here, it seems like the perfect time.

I came up with 25 fun outdoor activities and created a free printable for you. I've even included 5 blank cards so you can add your own fun ideas. All you need to do is print them out, cut, hide in an envelope and go have fun! Include all 25 or just pick the ones that work for your family.

I've got simple ideas such as play hopscotch, go on a nature walk, jump rope, search for bugs, and roll down a hill. I've included active play, nature play, and pretend play. It's a fun boredom buster and a great excuse to just get outside and play.

Click below to download and print your Go Outside! Cards. It is a pdf and designed to print on regular letter size paper. Print on cardstock or laminate to make them more durable.

Click here for your Go Outside! Cards

As always, if you have difficulty downloading or printing, please let me know and I'll get it fixed as soon as possible.

Have fun and go outside and play!

10 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

2013-04-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

Earth Day is coming up on April 22. It's a day to celebrate the Earth and what it provides us. We can also learn how we can help protect the Earth for ourselves, our children, and many generations to come. So what can you do? Any little act can go a long way and once these little acts become habit, they become bigger acts. Here are 10 ideas to celebrate Earth day.

1. Plant a tree. Plant a new tree in your yard, or if you don't have a spot for a tree, you can have the National Arbor Day foundation plant one in a forest on your behalf.

2. Go on a hike and celebrate the beauty that the Earth provides you everyday. Here are some tips for hiking with children to help you enjoy the process.

3. Learn about composting and set up a compost bin. KidWorldCitizen has some great information to get you started, plus fun information to help teach your kids all about composting. You can also check out HowToCompost.org or the EPA's information about composting at home. It will help reduce waste in our landfills and if you decide to do #7, you'll have some fantastic free fertilizer to help those plants grow.

4. Brainstorm ways that your family can do more in helping the Earth. Do you need to turn off the lights more often? Can you recycle more? Can you replace paper items with cloth, such as napkins?

5. Observe wildlife. Learn about what animals need from us to live and remain in their environment. Can we do more to help them? You are never to old or too young to enjoy observing wildlife. It can be something as simple as watching a backyard bird feeder out your window. Here are a few tips to help you teach your young children how to observe nature.

6. Save up your pocket change or donate some of your allowance and send a donation to an organization that helps protect the Earth and the creatures that call it home. The World Wildlife Fund, the National Arbor Day Foundation, and The National Audobon Society are some possible organizations.

7. Plant a garden. Try to grow your own vegetables this year. Not only will you be eating healthier, but you'll be reducing your carbon footprint. If you don't have room for a garden, grow some potted herbs on your windowsill. And if you really don't have a green thumb, vow to shop at your local farmer's market more this year. There really is nothing better than garden-fresh vegetables.

8. Clean up your neighborhood, or a park. Take a walk through the neighborhood and pick up trash. Or, clean up a local park. Believe me, your neighbors will appreciate it, and who knows, maybe you'll inspire someone else to do their part.

9. Go on a microsafari in your own yard. You will be amazed to discover everything that is growing in your yard. Grab your magnifying glass and get up close and personal with your yard. See the details at Go Explore Nature.

10. Remake, reimagine, recycle. Is there something heading to the trash that you can remake into something else? Turn old jeans into fun aprons like these from Happy Hooligans. Or, you can turn old tank tops into reusable market bags, like these from Making Lemonade. What else can you remake? You can find plenty of ideas on Pinterest!

The best part about these ideas is that they're not just for Earth Day. You can do them any day of year. So why not make Earth Day everyday?

What are some ideas you would add to the list?

Around the World in 12 Dishes: France

2013-04-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

This month, Around the World in 12 Dishes landed in France. Ah France! It's the country at the very tip top of my dream travel list, so I was excited to do this month's projects. The girls and I haven't explored much about France, so I decided to start with one of the most recognizable landmarks in the country, the Eiffel Tower. We looked at pictures, learned a few things about the Eiffel Tower, then created some beautiful artwork.

Supplies Needed:

Black paper

Chalk

Scissors

Glue

White paper

Paint

For the first step in this project, we drew the Eiffel Tower. Wait, I take that back, I drew the Eiffel Tower. My original plan was to give the girls a pencil outline of the tower, then let them trace it with chalk and fill in the details. They didn't want to. They wanted to paint. Oh well, we trudged along and I drew their towers. In case you're wondering, yes, the chalk will smudge. If you don't want it to, spray a light coat of hairspray over the drawing (a trick I learned in high school art class). If you're like us, and don't own any hairspray, just be careful not to touch the chalk or redraw any smudged parts. Once you've drawn the Tower, cut it out.

While I was drawing, the girls were painting their backgrounds. They painted the sky, a pond, a garden with flowers, and a bright yellow sun. They really got into it and enjoyed spending the time painting. Once they were finished with their paintings and the paint had dried a bit, we glued their Eiffel Towers to their paintings. The completed paintings were wonderful! I would have loved to have seen their version of the Eiffel Tower, but you can't win them all. I don't want to pressure them when it comes to art because I don't want to do anything to take away their joy of creating.

Would you like to join in this month? You can download a printable passport page here and a placemat here. Also, check out the other participating blogs for plenty of wonderful ideas:

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Little Artists, Mermaids' Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators' Spin On It

Please link up your French food or activity in the linky below. We'd love to see it!

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 35

2013-04-13T10:25:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend?

Recycled Robots

2013-04-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

I'm very pleased to introduce some blogging friends of mine to you. Over the next couple of months they will be visiting here to share some fun ideas. First up is Asia who writes the fabulous blog Fun At Home with Kids. It's a new blog that's already full of great ideas. I know you'll want to pop on over after you see these fun recycled robots!

We've been saving the colored caps from X's food pouches, and I've been trying to think of ways to use them because they're so nice and bright. I've seen these tin can robots a few times online, and when I went to Lowe's to pick up safety goggles and a hammer for S for her plaster excavation, I was surprised to find how inexpensive nuts, bolts, and washers were! For just a few dollars I was able to get a variety of robot hardware. Next up, I bought some round magnets.

A few washed tin cans later, S and I were in business! We grabbed some googly eyes (Dollar Store!) and pipe cleaners from our stash in the Art Room, my hot glue gun, and a hammer and nail. I wanted the robots to have crazy hair and I'm always looking for ways to use pipe cleaners (we have an astronomical number of pipe cleaners we've accumulated through gifts from relatives) so it seemed like a perfect fit! I used the hammer and nail to poke holes to fit some brightly colored pipe cleaner hair.

Some of the bottle caps were metal, so S could just use a magnet between them and the can, as she could with the nuts, bolts, and washers. For the plastic caps, we needed to use glue (we talked about why the magnet wouldn't work on plastic). I also made some magnetic googly eyes by gluing on magnets.

They were so cute and fun, I had to join in! Here is S posing with a crazy face next to my robot creation. :) We discovered that the magnets were strong enough to hold on to the metal centers of pipecleaners, so we could make mustaches and smiles!

All four of these guys were S's creations. The only help I offered was zig-zagging some of the pipecleaner hair.

S was so proud that she thought to use just plain magnets for eyes. I love that this guy has a cute little smirk - and a bright blue mustache!

The next day we made even crazier eyes by sandwiching a bolt between the can and the bottle cap eyes.

So many robot parts to choose from!

Putting the finishing touches on her robot's hair.

The robot bodies and parts are all in a plastic storage container (with a locking lid for X's safety) and S can use them as a sort of busy box whenever she'd like.

Please always supervise your infant/child at play. Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

I am a SAHM mom to two young kids: X (an infant) and S (a preschooler). Before becoming a full-time mom, I was a science teacher and ran my own tutoring business. As a former science teacher, I know how important it is for kids to be able to explore and ask questions about the world around them. I also place a high value on creativity and being able to "think outside the box". For that reason, I strive to engage my children in open-ended play that encourages exploration and fosters their creativity. I try to choose activities that aren't cost prohibitive, so that anyone could do them at home with their children.

Follow Asia here:

Fun At Home With Kids

Facebook

Google+

Messy Fun with Goop!

2013-04-10T09:50:00.001-05:00

Goop, also called oobleck, was a new experience for us. It was inexpensive, easy to make, very mess, and a whole lot of fun!

Supplies Needed:
Corn starch
Water
Plastic bin

We set up on the kitchen floor; you really don't want to do this in a carpeted area. I found an empty plastic bin and dumped a whole box of cornstarch in it. I let the girls feel the cornstarch to see how soft it was. Then we started adding our water. Mix it up as you're adding water. We just used our hands for mixing. Add the water until it's a soft liquid, about the consistency of honey.

Now it's time for fun. Squish it quickly with your hands; it feels solid and crumbly. Run your hands slowly through it; now it feels liquid. Grab a handful and squish it like a ball. Now, open your hands and watch it flow slowly out. Goop is an interesting mixture that is both a solid and a liquid.

After playing for awhile, we added a bunch of old kitchen tools from our sandbox. We had whisks, scoops, and measuring spoons. Try whisking quickly. It's hard to do! They loved the sensory experience and spent a lot of time pouring it on their arms. The goop did make a massive mess. But, it does clean up easily. I was able to sweep it off my kitchen floor once it had dried. Also, it came off their clothes with a simple washing.

The Science Behind Goop

The mixture of cornstarch and water is a suspension. The two substances combine, but will eventually separate again. Another example of a suspension is muddy water. The viscosity, or thickness and resistance of flow, of this mixture reacts to force. So, when you quickly grab a handful, the cornstarch particles temporarily trap the water particles. When you release, the mixture turns to liquid again. You can read this post at Steve Spangler Science about cornstarch science for a more detailed explanation.

Have you ever made goop? It's a fun science and sensory experience.

Outdoor Shape Hunt

2013-04-08T08:39:00.000-05:00

We've been having a lot of outdoor shape fun lately (at least when the weather has been nice enough to enjoy). In addition to some fun games of Shape Hopscotch, we also went on a shape scavenger hunt. I didn't write up a list or come up with clues, although you certainly can if you would like. Instead, I challenged the girls to find as many shapes as they could around our yard.

They looked around aimlessly at first. Then, I got them started. I pointed at our bricks. "What shape are they?" It clicked and they were off! They found squares in our windows and outdoor lights. Our chain length fence has hundreds of diamonds, too many to count.

We found a rock shaped as a triangle and more circles than I even imagined. We found shapes in everything! I think the game could have gone on for a long time... except for the lure of their bicycles.

Their are endless ways to have a shape scavenger hunt.

Set up challenges. Find 3 squares, 5 circles, 2 triangles, etc.
Find three-dimensional shapes: spheres, cubes, pyramids, etc.
Bring a notebook and sketch each of the different shapes you find.
For younger kids, you can concentrate on just one shape. Have them find as many circles as they can.
Use cameras to capture pictures of the shapes like we did in this post.

Have you ever gone on a shape scavenger hunt? How did you play?

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 34

2013-04-06T08:04:00.001-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend?

Go Outside: Shape Hopscotch

2013-04-03T16:29:00.000-05:00

Shape hopscotch is not a new idea to us, nor is it new to this blog. (I shared it here in the very first months of this blog.) But, I wanted to share it again for a few reasons. First, it's fun and we play it often. Second, it's easy to do and it's a great way to get outside. And third, I don't think many of you saw it the first time around.

Set up is easy. Grab a few fun colors of sidewalk chalk and a bare spot of cement. Draw several shapes in a line; the same as you would do for a regular hopscotch game. I used simple shapes as a review for my 3-year old, but you could make things even harder by using octagons, polygons, and any number of shapes. Find a couple of rocks, grab the kids, and start playing.

For our version, the girls took turns throwing their rock. They had to hop to the shape closest to their rock. They practiced jumping on one foot and they also had to name each shape as they landed in it. For these two, the hopping on one foot was a much bigger challenge than naming the shape.

You can mix this game up as much as you want. If you're playing with toddlers, just have them jump (or run) to each shape. You can name the shapes as they stand in them. Or, call out a shape and have your kids run to that shape. Practice your gross motor skills by hopping, standing on one foot, skipping, etc. The possibilities are endless. The best part is that it gets you outside and gets your kids moving!

Have you ever played shape hopscotch?

Linking up to It's Playtime

Mom's Bookshelf: The Garden Classroom

2013-04-01T21:27:00.001-05:00

The first book I want to recommend is perfect for spring, The Garden Classroom. Cathy James, from NurtureStore, wrote this book to share her passion for children and gardening. As she says in her introduction:

"Your garden in an outdoor classroom waiting to be explored and this book is bursting with ideas you can use to make the most of the science, art, and learning that's waiting for you outside your own back door."

Cathy gives you 52 fun activities to enjoy your garden, to get you and the kids outside, and to explore nature. It's not just a book for spring and summer either. You'll find fun crafts and activities that can be done indoors as well.

It didn't take us long to make some of the projects in the book. First up were these pretty daffodil banners. They were easy to make and look so pretty hanging in our house. There's so many other wonderful ideas we still want to try. We want to make garden journals, try printing with flowers, perform a couple of plant experiments, set up a bug hotel, and more. We even got our hands dirty and planted a meadow!

Why am I recommending this book to you? Well, it's fun. The projects are unique, easy to do, and appropriate to all ages. You don't need a huge garden. These projects can be accomplished with just a little bit of outdoor space... even a balcony.

Cathy is currently selling her book for $9.99 USD. Believe me, it's worth every penny! The Garden Classroom is an ebook, so you can read it on your PC, your tablet, or even your Kindle (if you have a PDF Reader installed). I think you'll enjoy the ideas in The Garden Classroom. I know we did!

*Disclosure: This book was sent to me free in exchange for a review. I wouldn't rave about it if I didn't love it! I am also an affiliate for the book and will receive a small percentage for each sale that is made through me. Thank you for your support!

Did you see that Project Around the World is now an e-book series? Click here to see how you can get the first edition, New York City.