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?

I recently discovered some fun games and activities that I can make at home for my little girl.

They are called File Folder Games.

There are tons of free templates for File Folder Games on the Internet but this particular one I made is a pattern matching game.

File Folder Games are so easy to make!

I found the Heart Pattern Match Up Game at Preschool Printables.  I just printed the pages on my color printer and cut them out.   Take a look at their sidebar for lots of other fun File Folder Games you can make.

I attached one set of patterned hearts to the file folder which serves as the game board and kept the other set of matching hearts loose.

You don’t have to laminate the pieces but I know how rough my kids are so laminate is my friend.  Office supply stores can laminate but I found a good deal for large laminating at a local school supply store.  They can put all of the folders and little game pieces in the laminate and have it ready for me in just a few minutes while I wait.

The hardest part of making File Folder Games is cutting out all of the little pieces from the laminate.

One the game pieces are cut out you could present the game to your child as is and just let them place the matching piece in the correct spot.

Or if your kids are like mine and have a weird obsession with velcro, you can add a little piece of velcro to your game board and matching piece so the kids can have fun pulling the pieces on and off.

And don’t think that File Folder Games are just for toddlers.  My older son loved using this American Sign Language File Folder Game from File Folder Fun to learn to sign the alphabet.

Here are some other great sites for free templates for File Folder Games:

File Folder Fun

Enchanted Learning

Ideas for Preschoolers

Preschool Printables

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.

Make Valentine Ornaments.  Mommy Labs made a batch of pink salt dough and then rolled lace over the dough to create a relief impression with her girls.  I just love the finished product!  Lace would be a great addition to a playdough table!

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We made a paper mache moose just a few weeks ago… and this looks like a much more manageable kid-friendly project - paper mache snowmen.  Love her recipe for paper paste!

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What is life without music?  These DIY Casranettes look incredibly simple and easy to make with items commonly found in recycle bins.  Thanks Childhood List!

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Happy browsing and thanks to all of those who have linked up – Myself and the other playtime hosts (hands on: As we grow, Messy Kids, and The Imagination Tree) we appreciate you!

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P.S.  Tomorrow night is a chat on the KOA Campfire community to talk about our vacation dreams and plans with our families.  I hope you can join us  – 1/5, 9pm CST

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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!

Renee of Adventures at Home had a great time with her kiddos.  They made green playdough and added buttons and confetti to create a Christmas Tree.

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Make and Do used egg cartons to create Christmas Tree ornaments with her kids.  We have tons of egg cartons just waiting for a craft!  Thanks Charlotte!!

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Kylie, of Our Worldwide Classroom, used pompoms to create a garland with her girls and their Christmas tree.

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The Chocolate Muffin Tree is such a fun blog full of great crafts.  Last week they made Christmas Trees out of spin art.

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And my favorite one from the week was the drinking straw tree created by, Lorie, of Reading Confetti – too cute!
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Thanks again to all who participated!  And double thanks to my co-hosts:

Let the Children Play

Messy Kids

Imagination Tree

Hands On: As We Grow

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Link back if you love us, know that by linking you give us permission to feature you and your images. Cheers!
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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!

If you have pencils (or pens) toilet paper tubes and a hole punch, you can create your very own tinker toys!  Almost Unschoolers created a set with her kids.

We had a table like this growing up – and I should create one for my kids!  Old electronics, once the batteries are removed, are great toys to practice taking and putting things back together again.  Thanks Irresistable Ideas for the inspiration.

Have a Kiddo who loves to live outside?  Make mud or sand bricks for him to build with using an ice cube tray.

My kids personal favorite “building” activity is creating structures with marshmallows and toothpicks.  Looking for something more healthy?  Try Grapes.

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Use a set of lids.  On each lid paint a different element of the scene.  Stack the lids to create a 3D image.

Use Glue to create the “lines”.  After the glue has dried, paint over it and your “leaves” will have a great pop factor! Thanks Having Fun at Home.

We’ve enjoyed Ball Painting before, Casa Maria has a version where you squirt paint in the box lid, then smash it with a papertowel roll.  The results are stunning.

Here is a Whirly-Gig Toy that you can make yourself with just a bit of wire, add a “person” and your child can watch them swing.

Henry at Hands On: As We Grow enjoyed exploring in his yard with some scrap wood.  He made balance beam bridges.

Bowling.  WHo said it needs to be played indoors.  Here is an outdoor DIY bowling game.

Have kids and want to keep them outside?  All you need is some string and two sticks.  Frugal Family Fun shows us how to make gigantic bubbles.

Practice jumping and catching with a homemade Kick board.  Sometimes the simple activities are the most engaging.

We made these Marshmallow Guns for our nephews last year for Christmas time.  They were a huge hit!  Outdoors is best.  I am still finding a stray marshmallow underneath a dresser or two.

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Like this post but are looking for activities for other age groups of kids? Check out our other age sets:

Activities for One Year Olds

Activities for Two Year Olds

Activities for Three Year Olds

Activities for Four Year Olds

Activities for Five Year Olds

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.