Creative Family Fun

Creative Family Challenges

2013-06-19T08:55:00.000-05:00

Are you following me on Facebook yet? If not, you may want to stop by and hit "like." Why? Well, I've started offering a daily Creative Family Challenge. Each day I'll share a fun & easy way to connect as a family.

Look for shapes in the clouds and make up stories about what you find. That was yesterday's challenge. It's easy; it doesn't require any special supplies; and is certainly achievable for any family. I don't plan on stressing you out with these challenges. Do one today, or just jot the idea down to do on a less busy day.

You can get these challenges if you follow Creative Family Fun on Facebook. I'll also be offering the challenges on Google+, if you prefer that format.

Please join in and let me know you're up for the challenge. Share with your friends. (Hit the share button on Facebook... I'd love it if you do!)

Now it's time to go have some family fun! Will you join me?

Storytime: 10 Books About the Sun

2013-06-17T15:02:00.002-05:00

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

Whenever we learn about a new topic, we always start with books. So, when we decided to learn about the sun, we took a trip to the library. I usually try to find a nice mix of both fiction and nonfiction books, although this time, we went a little heavy on the nonfiction books. Here is our list of great books about the sun.

Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons ~ You can never go wrong with a book by Gail Gibbons. This choice is great for preschoolers and is the perfect introduction to the sun. Your kids will learn a lot without getting overwhelmed with too much information.

The Sun: Our Nearest Star by Franklyn M. Branley ~ This book is part of the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science series, Stage 2. It's perfect for your elementary-aged kids who are just beginning to grasp science facts. It's chock full of information and is a great choice for reading aloud. The book also has two different experiments in the back to help reinforce the information you learned.

Jump Into Science: Sun by Steve Tomecek ~ This was our favorite of the nonfiction picks. My girls loved the bright illustrations and the fun facts. The information led to lots of great questions and conversation. The experiment in the back of this book is a can't-miss and illustrates perfectly how the sun makes day and night.

Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From by Franklyn M. Branley ~ It's easy to observe that the sun makes light, but how does it happen? This book attempts to answer that question as well as explaining about all the different sources of light.

What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla ~ A fun and easy explanation of shadows. Have fun reading, then go on a shadow hunt!

Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley ~ The sun makes light and it also makes the seasons. This book explains how that happens. Follow along with a hands-on activity that perfectly illustrates the changing of the seasons.

What is the Sun? by Reeve Lindbergh ~ This book is written in a conversational style which makes it a great choice for reading aloud to preschoolers. "What is the sun? The sun is a star. Is the sun near? No, it is far."

The Sun Is My Favorite Star by Frank Asch ~ The lyrical words make this a good one for your preschoolers. Learn that the sun is a star and what makes it special. You never know, your little one may decide that the sun is their favorite star too!

The Sun Girl and the Moon Boy: A Korean Folktale by Yangsook Choi ~ Enjoy one of the most treasured folk tales of Korea and hear a story about how the sun, the moon, and the stars came to light the world.

Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale by Gerald McDermott ~ This Caldecott Medal winner retells an old Pueblo Indian tale - a story told to explain the importance of the sun to all of life.

Have you read any good books about the sun lately? Please share your finds!

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 44

2013-06-15T08:24:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend?

Art + Science: Sun Prints

2013-06-14T16:50:00.000-05:00

We've been reading and exploring the sun lately. It seemed like a fitting subject to learn about during the summer. While thinking about some things we could do I remembered making sun prints when I was a kid. It was an easy and fascinating project; one that was perfect for a summer day.

Supplies Needed:

Dark, bright colored construction paper (red, orange, blue, or black would work perfectly)

Pennies

Tape

Lots of sunshine

Find a nice sunny spot to work on your project. Once you've arranged your coins, you will not want to move your paper until your project is complete. We chose a spot in our backyard that had sunshine for many hours during the day. If the day is windy, you will want to tape your paper down so that it won't blow away. We made the mistake of not taping ours down and had to go rescue our pennies halfway through the project. Let me tell you, pennies are hard to find in a grassy lawn!

Arrange your pennies in a pretty design on the paper. Then, don't move them for several hours. Make some observations along the way. Is your paper getting darker or lighter? What do you think is happening underneath the pennies? Touch a penny. How does it feel?

We left our paper outside for 8 hours. You don't have to leave it out as long as we did, but the longer the sun shines on your paper, the more contrast you'll have on your design. The first thing we noticed on our design was that our paper was a lot lighter than when we first brought it out.

Next we started removing our pennies and saw the design form right before our eyes. The paper underneath stayed dark because the pennies blocked the paper-fading UV rays of the sun, a process described as "really cool" by my girls.

Here's a close-up of one of the pictures. If you can't tell, it's a girl with long pigtails standing on the ground.

Have you ever made sun prints? It's a fun experiment to show just how powerful the sun's rays are.

Linking up to the After School Link Up

My Reading Promise or Why Reading Aloud Matters

2013-06-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

* Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Thank you for your continued support.

I recently read The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma. I had been wanting to read it for awhile now. I love books and reading has always been important to me. I knew I would love the book and I was right.

This book is a memoir of the books Alice and her father shared. When Alice was 9, her father made a promise to read to her every night for 100 nights. That promise became a streak that lasted 3218 days. The last day Alice's father read aloud to her was her first day of college. This book is not just a book about reading. It's about so much more. Because reading is always about so much more.

There has never been any doubt in my mind that I would read aloud to my children and read aloud often. My Mom made sure there were always plenty of books in our house and that we took frequent trips to the library. (Thank you Mom!) I want to do the same for my own girls. I hope to still be reading aloud to my girls even after they can read themselves. I hope to be reading aloud to my girls for a long, long time.

Why?

It's about the connection...

It's a simple way to connect on a daily basis. You're in the same place, the same story. Maybe you're traveling together to Narnia, Hogwarts, or the 100 Acre Woods. No matter where, you're there together and that's important. You'll share an experience. You'll share points of reference. Maybe you'll even share an inside joke. All of it is important. And all of it can be achieved by reading aloud together.

It keeps you talking...

My girls and I have been reading the Little House books together. We're not just reading them, we're talking about them, asking questions, and trying to understand a very different way of life. They are infinitely fascinated by Laura's life and I encourage their curiosity every step of the way.

Reading aloud can help you introduce difficult topics to your kids such as death, war, or racism. I don't plan on shying away from such topics once my girls are older. I plan on opening that door and embracing those discussions. Reading aloud can make that happen and that's important.

Like Alice's father did all those years before...

I promise to read aloud to my girls everyday.

Will you join me?

Pipe Cleaner Sun Plant Stakes

2013-06-10T13:20:00.002-05:00

*Disclaimer CraftProjectIdeas.com sent me the supplies for this project. The idea is all my own!

I was pleasantly surprised when a fun package arrived from CraftProjectIdeas.com that was full of neon goodness. We use their supplies often in our crafting and I couldn't wait to get started creating. We decided to use the pack of neon fuzzy sticks to make some cheery sun plant stakes.

Supplies Needed:

Yellow & orange pipe cleaners

Glue

Large craft stick

If you would like to use the neon fuzzy sticks in your project, they can be found at your local Wal-Mart.

For the first step, take a yellow and orange pipe cleaner and twist them together.

After both colors are twisted, form it into a circle twisting the ends together to hold your circle in place.

Next take 4 more pipe cleaners, two orange and two yellow and begin forming your rays. Begin each pipe cleaner by twisting the end around your circle. Bend your rays around the circle, overlapping your circle as you go (see above picture). Twist the other end around your circle when you reach the end of a pipe cleaner. Alternate the colors as you go.

Once your sun is complete, use regular white glue to attach it to a large craft stick. Glue down one of the rays, like I did in the above picture, to add a bit of stability. Once it dries, it's ready to decorate your plants. It would be perfect to add to a cheery summer gift or just to brighten up your house.You will want to keep it indoors on one of your houseplants because it will not stand up to rain. Yes, I know I photographed it outside, but unfortunately my green thumb does not extend to houseplants. The only potted plants I have are outdoors!

Thank you again CraftProjectIdeas.com for the fun craft supplies!

10 Ways to Play: Week 43

2013-06-08T08:31:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend? We'll be digging into our Pinterest bucket list some more!

P.S. If you're reading this via email or a reader, make sure and click through to see my redesign! It was time to freshen up things around here!

Colored Ice Fun

2013-06-06T08:26:00.001-05:00

Today I'm happy to welcome Ana from Babble Dabble Do to this space with a fun ice play activity perfect for summer. While you guys are reading this, I'm going to head out to the store to buy some of these fun ice cube trays! Take it away Ana...

Hi there, I’m Ana from Babble Dabble Do and I’m excited to be guest posting on Creative Family Fun today!

With summer finally here I've been itching to play with ice as a “cool” outdoor activity for the kids. If you've been to my blog you know I’m obsessed with color, and food coloring is something I use on a regular basis in our projects. This week I thought it would be fun to experiment with colored ice and see what interesting activities we could come up with!

Colored Ice Activities

Materials:

· Water

· Food Coloring

· Cups/Bowls

· Ice cube trays and/or different molds- I used trays that make ice sticks for water bottles. The pieces of ice were like logs, perfect to build and draw with!

· Salt and salt shaker

· Shaved ice (optional)- use a snow cone maker to make it

· Small plates

· Spoons or eye droppers

· Paper

Activities:

You’ll need to factor in a little prep time for these activities because you have to freeze things in advance BUT a few minutes of freezing the day before is all you need. Using food coloring, tint several glasses of water with different colors and pour into ice cube tray molds. Freeze overnight or for several hours.

· Building: Stack your ice cubes on top of one another to try and make a structure. Using drops of water and shaved ice, “glue” the pieces of ice together. “Gluing” only worked for us about half the time. When finished, carefully move the sculpture back into the freezer to fuse it together! If you plan on refreezing, use a sturdy tray underneath the sculpture as too much movement will cause it to break apart

· Salt and Ice Experiment: I don’t think the interaction of salt and ice ever gets old to watch. Give your child a salt shaker and let them sprinkle salt on the ice to make holes and give it texture.

· Color Mixing: Using red, blue, and yellow ice sticks and three different bowls, encourage your child to experiment with color mixing. Let them melt two colored ice sticks in the same bowl to make a magical new color appear!

· Water Table: They might not last long in the blazing heat, but colored ice would make a fun addition to a water table.

· Drawing with Ice: You’ll need to use a strong concentration of color for this one to work well; use the ice sticks like crayons to color on paper.

· Melting Artwork: Place several ice sticks on a piece of white paper and let them melt to make a free form painting.

· Open-ended Play: I had originally planned to make only ice sculptures but when I gave my kids the ice sticks they had ideas of their own! They stacked and sorted them and just loved the sensory experience of playing with a cold material.

Enjoy!

Ana Luisa Dziengel is an architect, award winning furniture designer, and creatively inspired mom making magic with her three kids in sunny Los Angeles!

Web: http://babbledabbledo.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Babble-Dabble-Do/206167262806000

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BabbleDabbleDo

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/babbledabbledo/

A Pinteresting Bucket List For the Kids

2013-06-03T11:50:00.001-05:00

The last two summers we've made summer bucket lists. (See 2011 list here and 2012 list here.) But this year, we're trying something different. We've already planned a camping trip and a vacation to visit family. The girls are signed up for swimming lessons and a farm-themed summer day camp. Oh, and don't forget our library's summer reading program. We've already got a packed summer and I thought adding a summer bucket list would add stress instead of fun. So, in lieu of the summer bucket list, we created our Pinterest bucket list.

I took a pile of index cards and started jotting down the projects I wanted to try with the kids. I also notated the Pinterest board where it is pinned as well as the blog the idea came from. Each index card has four ideas. The girls take turns selecting a card, then they have to decide which of the four projects they want to do. The one rule we have is that they both have to agree on a project. Once we've completed a project, I check it off with the date

We've been playing with our Pinterest bucket list for a couple of weeks now. We worked on watercolor kites from Little Family Fun this morning. We made paper plate ladybugs from Crafts By Amanda, giant painted paper flowers from Buggy & Buddy, and did a few experiments to find out how big the dinosaurs were from this post by Frugal Fun for Boys. We've done a lot of craft projects so far, but that's not the only thing I included. We have outdoor play ideas, reading & writing activities, science projects, and math activities. I only included things that I knew we already had supplies for, which is a lot since we have a HUGE craft/activity stash. I didn't want to have to stop the excitement to run to the store.

I'm not sure we'll ever get through with all the projects, since our basket it quite full, but it sure is fun to try. The girls get excited every time I suggest getting out our project bucket. My goal this summer is to do one project a day, except for the days we'll be out of town. It's a lofty goal and I won't stress about it. As long as we keep it fun, we'll have a blast. I love this idea so much that I'm planning on making my own bucket list of Pinterest projects just for myself!

In case you're wondering about the projects we have in our basket, I started a Pinterest Bucket List pin board. Make sure and follow as I fill up the board. Hopefully you'll find some fun Pinterest ideas you want to try.

What Pinterest-inspired project have you done lately with your kids?

Linking up to Serenity Saturday and It's Playtime

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 42

2013-06-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

How are you going to play this weekend?

Dad Libs: A Fun Father's Day Surprise

2013-05-31T08:42:00.000-05:00

I'm usually good at coming up with crafts for just about any occasion. The only exception is Father's Day. That one stumps me every time. So when the lovely folks at Martha Stewart Living contacted me and let me know about their printable Dad Libs card, I knew we had a winner. And, I knew I wanted to tell you about it too.

The cards have a pretty frame on the front, so your little artists can draw their own picture of their dad, but then the fun starts inside. The cards are full of fun fill-in-the-blank questions for your kids to answer. The girls had lots of fun thinking of the answers and talking about how much they loved Creative Daddy.

I know I'll have to apologize profusely to Creative Daddy for letting the girls try to guess his age. He's no where near 50, poor guy, but at least 50 was better than her first guess... 100! Since I'm a sneaky mommy, I also used this as a bit of after school writing practice for my Kindergartner, Lizzie, and made her write out all the answers herself.

I laughed when they answered "make money" for their dad's job. Smiled when they said "My Dad is the best at... being silly," and my heart melted when they said "I love my Dad because... I love him."

We're excited to give these cards to Creative Daddy and won't even be waiting until Father's Day. Luckily, his birthday comes sooner than Father's Day. Unfortunately, that means I'll have to come up with another idea for Father's Day. Any ideas Martha??

You can find Dad Libs in the Good Things section of the June 2013 issue of Martha Stewart Living or online at this link: Dad Libs.

For more Father’s Day craft ideas, check out www.marthastewart.com.

*Disclose: The wonderful folks at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia did contact me to let me know about Dad Libs. However, I'm telling you about it because I truly think it's a fun & fabulous idea!

Raindrop Mobiles

2013-05-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

The weather lately has been rainy and grey, so much so that it inspired this fun raindrop mobile. It's easy to get down when the weather is so dreary, so instead of feeling mopey, we started crafting.

Supplies Needed:

Paper

Liquid watercolors

Cardboard or wood (something to clip your paper to)

Clothespins

Thin cardboard (cereal or cracker box)

Scissors

Hole punch

String

Stick

To set up the project, you will need to clip your paper to your cardboard or wood. Put something underneath to catch your drips; the paint will drip all the way to the floor. We just used an old sheet. You can use any kind of paper for this step. We have an over-abundance to legal-size copy paper, so that is what we used. Use copy paper, card stock, water color paper, construction paper, or any white paper. Load up your paint brush with blue liquid water color and start smooshing it onto the paper. This was definitely the girls' favorite part. They loved watching the patterns form when the paint dripped down. Once you are satisfied with your painting, stop and let them dry.

While your paint is drying, cut a raindrop-shaped stencil out of your cereal box. Trace several raindrop shapes on your dry painting and cut them out. How many you cut will depend upon the length of your stick. You will want enough to go all the way across your stick. We only needed 6 raindrops.

Punch a hole at the top of each raindrop and run your string through. Tie the string to your stick. Our raindrops were tied approximately 2 inches apart. Hang your raindrops at different lengths or all the same length, depending on the look you prefer. Once we were done we propped our mobile up on a shelf so that our raindrops dangled down. You could also add additional string to the top of the stick for hanging on the wall or from the ceiling.

The next time gray and rainy weather is getting you down, try making a fun rain craft. It's guaranteed to make your day better!

Strong or Weak: A Nutrition Game

2013-05-23T11:04:00.001-05:00

*This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links.

Life has been very busy here at the Creative Family household, so I've been very pleased to have been able to provide you with some fabulous guest posts. Today, I'd like to welcome Malia from Playdough to Plato. Take it away Malia!

Several years ago, my oldest son was at the beginning of his first picky eater phase. Hoping to make dinner time more enjoyable, I asked a parent educator to share her favorite survival tips. One of the simplest suggestions she mentioned was the one that helped my son the most: she taught children to call healthy food "strong" and junk food "weak". By using words that explained how the foods would make them feel when they were finished eating, kids were motivated to eat healthier. I immediately decided to make the vocabulary switch in our home too. That night, I placed my son's plate in front of him and pointed out all of the strong foods he'd be eating. We had a nice, two-year-old conversation about the difference between "strong" and "weak foods" and then, to my surprise, he picked up his spoon and started eating. No complaints. No food on the floor. We have been using those same words ever sense and I'm convinced that they have saved us from countless picky eater tantrums. I thought it would be fun to share the trick with all of you by creating a simple, kid-friendly game to help make the learning curve move quickly. To play Strong-Weak, I first gathered a few supplies:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar book (optional)
A pile of strong foods and weak foods
A long piece of tape
Two signs: One that says "strong" and one that says "weak"

My now 3.5 year old son and I cozied up to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar together. It was the perfect introduction to our game because the caterpillar feels so sick after eating the cupcake, lollipop and other weak treats.

Then, I invited him over to our play space. The pile of food was spread out on a tray. Directly in front of it was a piece of tape sandwiched between the signs "strong" and "weak" like this:

It was time for my son to get to work sorting. He raced from the food pile to the labels, laying each item in the right spot. Most foods landed either on the right or left side, but he decided to place a few (including this box of macaroni and cheese) smack dab in the middle since it was a little of both.

Strong-Weak was a perfect combination of fun and nutritional learning. I hope your family will enjoy this picky eater trick too!

Meet Malia

Malia is a former kindergarten teacher turned stay at home mom who shares hands-on reading, writing and math games at Playdough to Plato. Stop by to download a free set of alphabet tracing cards and follow the blog by email.

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!

***********************************************

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.