We had been using aluminum foil for a school project.  Once we were done, my kids started playing with their leftover foil scraps.

It really is fun to play with foil!

Then they started asking for more.  And more.

Aluminum foil is inexpensive and so much fun to create with that I let them use all they wanted. 

**I did have a rule that I had to tear it off the roll for them because I didn’t want them accidentally hurting a finger from the cutter on the side of the box.

I love letting them create freely without any direction or instructions.  It’s the best way to let their imaginations run wild.

My son came up with some really great creations.

He made lots of things but my favorite was this little foil box.  I didn’t understand it when he first showed it to me.  Then he pulled back the foil to open the box and I saw the box held a little foil ring.   The box really was crimped to hold the ring upright just like it should!  He took the ring out and said that he thought I needed some new jewelry.  Aww!

Then he and Rachel proceeded to make fun shapes, plants, and animals.  Below you see a sting ray, a Hershey’s kiss, and a swordfish.

Since he apparently has an ocean theme going, he took it a step further and built a cool Viking ship out of the foil.

If a boy has a ship, then he’s going to ask for some water so he can float it.

So he did.

Then he also made a wider boat that was an aircraft carrier for his two jets.

Later, Nicholas pulled out his Star Wars action figures and wrapped Hans Solo in aluminum foil.  He announced that it was Hans Solo sealed in Carbonite when he was delivered to Jabba the Hutt in The Empire Strikes Back.  Yes, we are sci-fi geeks and I loved this!

Then they decided to wrap other toys in foil…just because.

While they were goofing around with the foil, I picked up a few of my 3 year old’s toys and completely wrapped them in foil.  I put them in front of her and asked her to guess what they were.  I was surprised that she only got one out of four right but oh my!  What fun she had guessing and then unwrapping them to reveal the answer!!

My kids could literally spend HOURS playing with aluminum foil.  I’d love to hear about fun ways your kids have had fun with foil?

Best part of this is that she designed them all.

She has had a lot of balloons in her room for her 4th birthday.

She has made some balloon drawings on some of those.

And one of the balloon drawings she made had faces on it and I got an idea to further extend it. So I cut facial features from craft foam in various shapes. Here is the lot I cut…

Then invited putti and told her my idea about turning some the balloons into people by adding facial features.

She loved it and started going through the parts I had cut. She did ask me to cut eye balls, teeth that I had missed out. Then she was all set. She applied some school glue to the craft foam…

And glued them on the balloon, it was kinda slippery, but soon she got a hold of it.

This is her first balloon friend.

The white glue dries clear so don’t worry.

Here it is after it dried.

These are some of the other balloon people she created…

These balloon friends have encouraged lots of pretend play too. We have had lots of pretend birthdays with each of her new friend getting a party hat/ crown.

Don’t they all look cute ?

You could use the craft foam with a sticky back too, makes it much easier, no need for glue. And I think this can be a fun activity for kids and adults at any party.

This Post was written by Roopa, mother of a beautiful 4yr girl and the author of the blog Putti Prapancha, which literally means ‘Putti’s World’ She shares fun artsy ideas and simple crafts for kids that she and her daughter ‘Putti’ enjoy doing together. Most of her ideas dont require a trip to the craft store, they use everyday material to create art. You can find her on facebook, google+, twitter . 

1. Looking forward to bookmaking and puppet shows – The Imagination Tree
2. Building a life sized Noah’s Ark in the backyard. My son even drew up plans - ObSeussed.
3. Coming up with and playing Balloon games – MamaSmiles
4. I want to make an indoor inflatable ball pit (or balloon pit) from a tarp – Rachel, a Quirky Momma.
5. We want to try more paper mache – MamaSmiles.
6. We all want to build an elaborate water wall… like a domino run but for water – Se7en Hoods.
7. I once saw someone let her kids paint right on the floor! Then mopped it up…I’ve been scared to try – Two Bears Farm
8. Shaken art is on my list to try with my toddler – Hands on: As we Grow
9. I want to try all of @nurturestore’s play dough ideas! – My Creative Family.
10. How about a giant PVC pipe sprinkler course – Golden Gleam
11. We want to make ice ornaments as soon as it’s cold enough – inspired by Red Ted Art.
12. I want to try some stop motion animation projects with my kids - Frugal Family Fun
13. I want to try toilet tube sculpture with my daughter inspired by Chocolate Muffin Tree.
14. Our kids want to create and paint garden stones this year – Juiles Rose
15. We enjoy riding tricycles in the garage and use sidewalk chalk on the garage floor. Not really outside, but a change. - Just One Mommy.
16. Make more tall paintings - The Imagination Tree
17. I have tons of outdoor play ideas I want to try when we move to house in Feb: water wall, DIY teepee, chalkboard, music area. -  Mama Pea Pod
18. Put up blackboard paint on the walls, with a border around it so kids know not to draw anywhere else – Utterly Scrummy
19. Make booties out of wax paper & masking tape. Skate on carpet! – Frugal Family Fun
20. We love to turn their playroom into all different places like grocery store, vet office, pizza parlor. House of fun! – No Time for Flashcards
21. We try to convert some outdoor play to indoor ex: hopscotch, hide & seek, races – My Creative Family
22. Make a giant sensory tub out of summer old inflatable pool – The Imagination Tree
23. We also own a giant cardboard house that I set up when the weather turns bitter cold…indoor mail delivery fun begins! – Kitchen Counter Chronicles
24. Draw directly onto the tabletop – dry erase crayons work great for this. – Make Do and Friend
25. Scavenger hunts! Either with a “map” or I just say, “find something yellow, red, square….” you get the idea. – Just One Mommy.
26. Emergency activity to amuse the kids? Give them a cardboard box and some marker pens and let them go! – Green Mums.
27. For my toddler, sensory tubs are an easy way to keep her absorbed and independently playing for ages! – MamaPeaPod
28. My friend has an indoor bouncy castle in their spare bedroom! – Nurture Store
29. Blocks, all shapes and sizes, even tupperware cups/bins – Sense of Wonder
30. Building forts and indoor picnics are also quite popular around here. - Frugal Family Fun
31. Create with normal packing maize. It sticks to itself with water and can be cut/squashed by kids. No mess! – LittleHen

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Leave your twitter handle in the comments and I’ll send you an invite a few days before our next chat as a reminder to join the fun!

What could make a child squeal with joy about an old toy she has played with a hundred times?

ICE!

For years I’ve borrowed little trinkets from my children’s toy box and froze them into a block of ice for them to play with.  My 7 year old son still gets so excited about trying to rescue all the treasures from the ice.

When you are ready to start the activity, run a little bit of warm water over the side of the container to help release the ice.  Place it in a plastic tub that has sides big enough to contain all of the water as this thing melts.

Now the fun begins!

My kids couldn’t wait to get to those toys!  Usually I let them go to it on their own but this time I talked them through some different ideas for getting through the ice.

They discovered that this was a lot of work for little return.  I’m sure they could have been more successful if I had let them use sharper instruments but I wasn’t taking any chances on someone poking themselves with a sharp object.

Next we talked about increasing the heat.  My son got out his flashlight and tried to concentrate the beam onto the ice to warm it up.  That was painfully slow but I loved that he came up with that idea on his own.  I hinted at another tool that might warm up the ice that is usually used for drying something. 

A hair dryer!   The hair dryer would really well at melting the ice but I couldn’t let my 3 year old use a hair dryer so close to water so I gave her some salt and let her experiment with melting her ice that way.  Here is a neat animation on how salt melts ice that helped explained the process to my son.  My daughter didn’t care why it worked.  She just loved pouring the salt and rubbing it all over her block of ice.

The salt worked well but both of these processes were starting to wear on my kids who still hadn’t gotten enough ice to melt to actually rescue a toy.

Finally, we tried pouring warm water over the ice.  This worked wonders!  Not only did the warm moving water melt the ice but the ice stayed soaking in the warm water as the kids pouring more water on it.

Finally the kids were able to melt enough of the ice that they could start prying out a toy or two.  They got so excited each time they rescued one.  It wasn’t about the toy because these weren’t new.  They were straight from their own toy box.  But they had worked long and hard to get these toys in their hands and they felt a sense of pride in their accomplishments.

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After school activities include:
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Make a puppet and put on a show.  Love this tutorial on how to make a puppet from Jellyfish Jelly.  Turn a table (or chair) on it’s side and you have the perfect stage for your show.

Play with a bag of googly eyes.  Jaime of Hands on: As we grow made these bags out of hair gel and added googly eyes for her kids to smoosh and play with.

Create a huge floor maze with masking tape.  Tape is fun for kids of all ages – thanks Adventures at Home for the inspiration

Make modern art with matchbox cars.  Shannon of Tot School dribbled contrasting lines of paint on opposite sides of her  canvases and her girls had fun “driving” their cars through the paint.

Have a playdough Tea-Party – Anna of The Imagination Tree has dozens and dozens of playdough ideas.  Her playdough recipes are some of my favorites!

Make a water wall, or pour rice, even cornstarch if you don’t mind a mess.  Thanks Let the Children Play

Do your kids love creating art?  How about make collages with supplies on hand – love the suggested materials from Kate at  Picklebums.

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What are your kids favorite things to do when they are “on break”?

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Be sure to save all your fun kids activities!!!  Our meme, It’s Playtime, will be back in full-force next week!

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Glitter is huge at our house… and glue!  The more the better!  We dug out some of our old tiny toys and coated them with glue then doused them with glitter.  Love the effect!  We used tacky glue and I was not impressed with how well the glue “stuck” – the kids pealed the glitter off a few days after we hung them.  If any of you make similar ornaments, let me know what glue would be more lasting.  Our glittery toy ornaments were inspired by Martha.  Love her.

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These were my youngest’s favorite ornaments.  Seriously, she is constantly trying to get “her bells”.  Tip:  If you make them with preschoolers, use a plastic upholstery needle for them to thread the bells.  My kiddos were frustrated with the yarn until I remembered we had a stash of needles hidden away!

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I first made cinnamon ornaments when I was a child, the ornaments pictured I made with my oldest when she was a tot.  They have seen a number of Christmases and still look and smell great!  I spritz them lightly with water each season to help rejuvenate the scent – yummy.  P.S.  Make sure your kiddos know that while these ornaments may be non-toxic, and they may smell really good – they are not food.  One of our stars is “missing” one of it’s “points”.
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This ornament was inspired by Junk Garden Girl.  She featured a felt wreath ornament and my kiddos had to make one!  We had lots of leftover felt from previous projects.  This ornament is a great way to put scraps to use!  String the felt squares into a stack then tie the ends together.  Easy.

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Love these ornaments??  We have more homemade Christmas ornament crafts for kids to do and there are several dozen suggestions from blogs I love on my pinterest board: Ornaments.  Cheers and Merry Christmas!

I thought about getting some soft wood that is used for whittling so I could show Nicholas how to carve. However, the tools used for whittling are sharp so he would only be able to watch me instead of actually participating himself.

Instead, I decided to use Ivory soap for our medium. It is softer than firm butter so you can easily cut through it with a plastic knife or appetizer spreader so it is safe for Nicholas to use without cutting himself.

You can start your carving by drawing a design on the soap with a marker or just scratching into the surface with your knife. Then you just start cutting. It is amazingly easy to cut into Ivory soap. Other soaps won’t work as well because they are too firm.

Once you cut the rough shape of your design, then you can use a plastic spoon or fork or some plastic pumpkin carving tools to smooth out, round out, or make further details on your creation.

Nicholas is very proud of his hand carved arrowhead. He said he enjoys carving and wishes Mommy had bought more Ivory soap so we could do some more carving today.

Soap carving with Ivory soap is incredibly easy and even young kids can do it!

We had soap shavings all over the table though so be prepared for a little clean up after you are done. But it’s soap so we have a very clean table now!

Owl Mask.  This would be a great addition to a Halloween Costume!  Just add a big paperbag “bird body”.

Fridge Jack-O-Lanterns.  I love how they used magnets to create the faces!  What a great way to help your youngsters learn about emotion and facial expressions too!

Pine-Cone & Peanut Butter Bird Feeder.  We make these every fall!  My youngsters are already asking me when we can go collect pine-cones.  Thanks for the reminder.

 Tissue Paper Trees.  My tykes love gluing.  This is sure to be a loved fall art activity.

Paper Bag Scare Crow.  So easy and simple to make!  Beats a rotting pumpkin on your doorstep too!

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Thanks to all the blogs who linked up some great inspiration.  Check out my co-hosts blogs.  Our kid’s meme is featured not just on Quirky Momma, but also on these great play-blogs:

Let the Children Play – Play Loving BLogs
The Imagination Tree – 40 Ways of Autumn Play
Hands On: As We Grow – 26 Tin Can Activities
Messy Kids – Ideas with Apples

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Happy browsing the great posts collected below.  Link back to let others know about our fun!

Lacing cards improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills in preschoolers

I love lacing cards.

They are an easy activity to take with you to keep children busy in the car.  There aren’t many parts to them, they don’t take batteries, and they are completely silent.

But lacing cards aren’t only a good thing for Mommy.

Lacing cards are also a great educational and developmental toy for preschoolers. As children grasp the tip of the ribbon, they are building their pincer grip which is crucial for writing skills.  They also learn patterns and develop hand-eye coordination through the act of lacing or weaving.  Finally, it is also a lesson in patience as they ever so slowly work their way across the lacing card with their ribbon.

There are a lot of super cute lacing card sets in stores but I made one from an inexpensive kitchen sink mat that I got at the dollar store and some random ribbon pieces that weren’t being used

I simply cut some strips of ribbon slightly longer than my mat.  You could also use strips of cardstock instead of ribbon (if your child isn’t as destructive as mine).  I also put a strip of tape around the tip of each ribbon just to make it a little sturdier for gripping.

Then I let my preschooler go to town with it.

I asked her to lace the card by repeating the pattern the pattern I created at the top of the card.

But then I let her play with the ribbons and card on her own to discover and explore different designs and patterns that she could make.

Lacing cards are fun but so good for preschool development too.

But don’t think that you have to get fancy with the $1 sink mat.  You can make lacing cards with just cardstock, a hole punch, and some old shoe laces!  Use different colors of cardstock and cut out different shapes, animals, fruit, or just anything that would make it more fun for your child.