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Here are a few of the ways we learn math with our colorful blocks:

Sort them.  Gather all the pieces of a certain size and color.  Make piles.

Make comparisons.  Which pile is bigger than another?  Sort the piles in descending order.

Make place holders with the legos.  Example: 1423 = a tower with 1 white lego, 4 red ones, 2 blue and 3 yellow.

Get out your flash cards.  Re-create the problem on the card with the lego cubes.  Solve the math equation.

Build a structure, and have another person try to mimic or re-create the structure – identically.

Count by twos.  How many “dots” do you have in your lego?  Counting by twos is easy with legos!

Talk while hunting for your a particular piece with word problems – ex: If you have 2 red pieces, how many more will you need to complete your project?

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How have your kids explored and learned with legos?  I’d love to hear about it!  If you liked this lego post, you might also enjoy reading How to Make a Lego Table or our tutorial on How to Make Lego Costumes.

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

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!

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How to Convert a too-big T-Shirt into a dress:

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She still needs to wear bloomers, and it could probably be a bit smaller in the arm holes  and across the chest, but she can look like the rest of her class now – and not drag her sleeves through her plate!  I love it!

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

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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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Wax mixes differently than watercolors.  The kids at Child Central Station had fun blow-drying crayons.

Practice mixing by “Squishing Colors” colors with Picklebum.

Preschool Projects has a great idea to send secret messages to your kids through their painting projects.

Science Sparks changes the colors of flowers in a recent science experiment.

Make your own Kaleidoscope with the JellyFish Jelly blog.

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Do you have a kids activity that you’d like to share with the world?  We’d love to hear about it!

Link up (and if you love us, link back).   Note:  All posts must be family-friendly, kid-related and we just might feature you   By linking up, know you are giving us permission to do so.
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So simple that all it requires is two willing participants.

My 5 y/o, Rhett, is ALWAYS willing to play our little gymnastic games.

His favorite is flying.  I lay on my back {preferably on a soft grass surface, but often in our living room} and put my feet on his chest.

1, 2, 3 LIFT OFF!

Up he goes in the air.  Holding my hands at first to gain balance and then letting go ever so slowly.

It is fun because I have a close up of his facial expressions.  Every hesitation, bobble and courageous moment is written plainly on his face.

We experiment with foot placement and how that affects balance.  Where is the best position to do a full airplane? 

Arms outstretched and legs held high

Chin to the sun

Laughing at the birds

Giggles cause imbalance

Leading to a full collapse

On top of mom

Begging for one more time

No need for me to head to the gym on these days…the quad workout is pretty intense.

No road trip with kids is complete without a set of I Spy Bottles.  Here are some that Happy Hooligans made with her kids.
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Do you have any great kids travel tips or activities?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments or in our live chat with the KOA Camping Community next Monday, 9pm CST.

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I hope you enjoy browsing all the other great kids activities that are linked up each week. Just a reminder: Please link back to us… and only family-friendly, kid related posts please. By linking up you are giving us permission to use your photo and feature you.
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