I love our weekly It’s Playtime Link-up! Each week you have hundreds of activity ideas and suggestions for us! Thank you for being an inspiration to us each and every week. Below are just a few of the activities that have been linked up this past year. These activities are on our Summer Bucket List of things we want to do together. What are your kids looking forward to? Link up an activity so we can check out all your fun!

Bucket List

1. Go Catch some bugs.
2. Watch a butterfly hatch from a chrysalis.
3. Make and enjoy fresh kid-made limeade.
4. Paint with fizzing sidewalk paint.
5. Dream of winter by making snowglobes – love the solar system one!
6. Take a mini-road trip to a new destination.
7. Make homemade bouncy balls.  Great fun if you bring them to the splash pad!
8. Make a fire, create and roast campfire food with these yummy smore cones.
9. Freeze some fun toys in ice and be an excavator and chip them free.
10. Jump rope - create a fun durable rope from marker lids.
11. Play I-Spy outside!  Great way to notice the little details in the world around you!
12. Clean out the trash cans… and then make noise with them!  My kids love trashcan drumming.
13. With a balloon and a CD fly a CD hover craft.
14. Play with your food – eat a pretend Lorax!
15. Watch ants change colors and learn about how they digest food with a fun outdoor experiment.
16. Kool-aide Slurppies.  Nothing says summer time better than slurppies by the pool.
17. Visit a farmers market together and make veggie smoothies (or a dessert smoothie) with the produce.
18. Fill a dry kiddie pool with a variety of items for a giant sensory tub activity.
19. Watch pill bugs race.   See if you can collect a whole “family” of bugs.
20. Make and eat some homemade kid-made butter.
21. Add some fun to your slip-n-slide, with shaving cream!
22. Use damaged pool noodles for art, a sword fight, or to create a marble run.
23. Play outdoor bingo - go on a hunt for the items on your card.  Whoever finds things in a row first wins.
24. Experience and explore gravity by playing with pulleys
25. Decorate rocks for your garden – with melted crayons!
26. Have a lazy boardgame afternoon.  Here are some of our suggested best board games.
27. Pick a flower, with your favorite color of paint make flower prints.
28. Explore the colors of the rainbow with ice.
29. Play with glow sticks – put them inside balloons, dump the contents into jars of water, paint with them, etc.
30. Create with your recycle bin – make art and toys out of trash.
31. Have a lemonade stand with the kids – put smiles on your neighbors faces.
32. Decorate some tin cans and create some DIY windchimes.  Compare the sounds of different sizes/shapes of cans.
33. Collect your summer memories into a keepsake jar.
34. Create art sculptures with tin foil.
35. Decorate your yard with balloon people OR make a bunch and hand them out at the park – put smiles on the kids faces.
36. Get muddy and make some dirt soup with the kids!
37. Paint with water outside – I love mess-free art!
38. Foam – a messy project, great to incorporate with washing the car! Make foam and then use the flakes to wash the car.
39. Make a water xylophone with the kids to make music with.
40. Freeze bananas (or grapes, strawberries, etc. Dip them in chocolate or yogurt for a fun summer treat.
41. Play with giant bubbles – the bigger the better.
42. Take your kids fishing.  Don’t have a pole?  Go pretend fishing.
43. Explore your shadow – trace them, chase them, make them dance!
44. Have a tea party – outside.  Bring your friends and stuffed animals.
45. Make a splashpad at your own house with a DIY PVC pipe sprinkler system.
46. Have fun decorating the garden with some paving stones.
47. Water the yard – the slow way, with homemade watering cans.
48. Explore scents outside with a water table experiment.
49. Play and mold sculptures with Rice Crispie Treats
50. collect items for a bird nest - that the birds can use to decorate their nests with.

A couple of the ideas came from the pinning party last night – we had a blast – so many great ideas were shared.  As always, by linking up you are giving us permission to grab a photo from your site to feature you… and we’ll add you to our weekly newsletter. Thanks for so many great ideas!!
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The post Summer Time Bucket List: 50 Activities for the Kids appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

Alphabet letters make for adorable wall decorations in a child’s room.  We have all the information you need to learn how to make a silhouette of a letter.  We at Kids Activities Blog  love this idea for a cute and easy way to frame a letter.

Alphabet Letters

Springtime is refreshing after being cooped up inside all winter. Those first few days of warmer temperatures has everyone outside, taking walks to the park and getting the bikes out to ride. But springtime also brings showers…lots of them! Cabin fever can overcome kids pretty quickly, so having easy to do crafts on hand, like these alphabet letters, is a must to keep those little hands occupied.

Using the first letter of Lulu’s name, I made this fun framed piece to hang in her room. This craft is very versatile and has endless possibilities to cater to your child’s creativity or skill level. Spice it up by tracing a favorite shape or design instead of a letter, or even use colored card stock instead of glitter paper.

What you’ll need:
Printed out letter or shape (a heart would be cute!)
1 Piece of plain white paper
1 Sheet of Glitter Card stock Washi Tape (You can find washi tape at Target, Etsy and most craft stores)
Frame
Scissors or Exacto knife

How to Make a Silhouette

Start by cutting the plain white paper and the glitter card stock down to the size of the glass of the frame. Using the printed letter, trace it on to the back of your glitter card stock.  Use the exacto knife or scissors, cut out the letter from the glitter card stock. Place the glitter card stock page on top of the plain paper and lightly trace the letter onto the white sheet of paper.

Frame a Letter

Using the letter as your guide, apply strips of Washi tape. Create a pattern with your tape, or apply it randomly-have fun with it!
Place the glitter card stock and washi tape letter in the frame, turn over and give yourself a high-five for being awesome and crafty!

More Kids Activities

Framed alphabet letters are a one of a kind addition to a room.  We hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make a silhouette framed letter.  For more great ideas for kids rooms and kids activities, take a look at these:

• Adorable Puppets from Alphabet Letters
• Paint Craft: How to Make a Silhouette
• Frame a Letter with I Spy Learning Windows

The post Alphabet Letters: How to Make a Silhouette appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

Summer Time

WOO-HOO!!  Three whole months of summer ahead of you!  Whose excited to try some new & cool stuff this season??

Well, if you are anything like me, I have TONS of fun ideas pinned to my Pinterest boards, a huge lists of local things we want to check out, and only a few things “planned” for summer so far.  This year, we opted to not schedule camps and really spend our free time exploring our area.  So now that summer is upon us and I have all these wonderful ideas, how do we start planning?

Bucket List

We created a 2012 Family Summer Bucket List!  Here’s what we did:

- Talk up the Exciting Plans of the Summer: For the past few months, we have had some fun dinnertime conversations about our summer.  I set the expectation early that we were not going to plan a bunch of week-long camps, so there was not any disappointment when some of their friends mentioned the camps they would be going to.  Instead, we did some preliminary dreaming of what the “best summer” would look like.  I have asked them for weeks to start thinking about things they have heard about or seen that they wanted to try.

- Call a Family Meeting: We designated an evening in May that we planned to discuss our summer plans and asked everyone (including Dear Ole’Dad) to come to the meeting with at least 5 ideas of things they wanted to do this summer.  I was prepared, having searched the internet for local fun ideas and running through Pinterest for creative at home crafts and projects.  Who wouldn’t love creating your own “Car Wash” out of plastic tubing or sleeping out under the stars in your backyard?

- Brainstorm: During our meeting, we brought our ideas to the table. I asked my family to think of anything they wanted to try, to be creative, and not hold back.  Yes, we had the occasional, “I want to sky-dive” (from my 9 year old) and “I want to go to Disney World” (the same 9 year old), but I had told them to throw every idea out there.  This is such a fun conversation to have, as you get to hear your child’s likes & dreams.  I ended up taking lots of notes for the future!!

- Narrow down your list: After Brainstorming, we came up with a list of things we all (for the most part) agreed upon. I decided not to put a limit to this list, as I didn’t want to squash their enthusiasm and I didn’t want our list completed by the 3rd week of June.

- Pull out your Calendar: This was my favorite part, as you start to see the plans for your summer unfold.  We opened up a big calendar and lined up the months of June, July & August.  Once we plugged in the dates of things that were already on the books (A beach vacation in June and VBS in July), we started adding various activities to the calendar, attempting for at least one to two fun outings a week. I didn’t want to plan everything though, as I still wanted the element of spontaneity of a summer day.  So where we might go to the local water park on a Tuesday, we made sure to keep the rest of the week open for other low-key fun (making homemade ice cream, creating abubble maker, pjs & game day, etc.).

- Create a fun way to Display you Bucket List: I have seen so many creative and fun ways to display a “summer fun activities list”.  From tear-off chain links, to slips of paper in an actual bucket, I encourage you to get your craft on and really have fun with this. I, being the not-so-crafty-momma, made a cute list.  My kids are pretty used to working off of lists, as I am a list making lady!  It works for us.

-Have a Fun Summer! Have fun with this list, allow yourself to add or take off things of you happen to change your mind, and don’t get discouraged if something doesn’t get done this summer.  It can always make a fun weekend activity in the Fall or can be at the top of your list for next summer!

Make it the best summer yet!!

More Kids Activities

Get some fun summer ideas here on Quirky Momma!

• Summer Fun with Shaving Cream
• It’s Playtime: Summer
• Play Ideas with Pool Noodles

The post Create Your Summer Time Bucket List! appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

It’s playtime again!

Our weekly kids meme is jammed packed with fun activities to do with kids. Link up your favorite kids craft, game, family-friendly recipe, learning fun or kids activity!

It’s Playtime!

We love the activities that are linked here each week. This is the first place we look for things to pin and feature here at Kids Activities Blog.

In fact, earlier today we featured some of our favorite kids activities from the past few weeks – 10 Ideas to Ignite Pretend  Play

Join Our Kids Meme

We want YOUR fun activity for kids and families to link up!

This weekly kids meme is posted each Wednesday afternoon.  Be sure to check out our lovely It’s Playtime co-hostesses:

Mom with A Lesson Plan

Messy Kids

As always, only family-friendly posts accepted.

By linking up you give us permission to grab a picture and feature you here, on a site we write for {like Spoonful}, on FB or Pinterest. If we share your link, we will always credit you, send people to your original post and use only ONE photo. You will also be subscribed to the weekly It’s Playtime featured post email reminder.

Thanks and happy browsing.

The post It’s Playtime! {Kids Meme} Link HERE 5/22! appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

Pretend play sparks our kids imaginations.  With the power of pretend they can be anything they want to be!  Encourage your children to use their imaginations and play pretend with them.

Here are some activities for pretend play with your child from the posts linked up here on our It’s Playtime! meme.

10 Ideas to Ignite Pretend Play

1.  Set up a pretend animal hospital to encourage imagination and compassion.  Give out pretend medicine, bandages, and take temperatures.

2.  Make your daughters pretend make-up by using old containers and nail polish.  She can practice playing beauty shop with her friends and her dolls.

3.  Grab your toy cash register and fake money and set up a pretend grocery store.  This is a fun game to play and also throws in a little math practice as well.

4.  An ode to Doc McStuffins: take care of those old worn out teddy bears by setting up a pretend veterinarian’s office.  This post has some great free printables to get you started.

5.  Here is a list of over 30 pretend play ideas ranging from a pretend ice cream parlor to a pretend elevator.

6.  Learn all about recycling by setting up a pretend recycling center.  Get scraps of paper and other recyclable materials and let them sort into different bins.

7.  Make a pretend doctor kit with items found in your medicine cabinets and bandage up old toys that need a little TLC.

8.  Here are 10 ideas for dress-up play so kids can pretend to be their favorite character, person or profession.

9.  Pretend to be  a gardner  and dig in the dirt and plant fake flowers.

10.  What could be more fun than pretending to be mom?  Let them come up with ways to pretend to be mom for an afternoon.

If you have your own kids activities to share, be sure to come back and visit our It’s Playtime! link up at 4:00pm today.

The post 10 Ideas to Ignite Pretend Play appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

LEGO math makes learning to count fun.  This skip counting activity uses LEGOs for hands-on learning.  We at Kids Activities Blog love to build with LEGOs so we are excited to share this great math LEGO activity with you.

LEGO Math

When children are first learning to count, they start with 1 2 3.

As they master counting by ones, children are ready to add counting by 2′s to their math knowledge bank.  Lego math is a fun place to start.  Legos are a great tool to use to work on counting or skip counting by 2′s.

We started our Lego math lesson on skip counting  by digging through a bin of Legos we had in my son’s closet to find the Legos we used above.  The goals was to find long rod or long rectangular  Legos, rectangluar Legos and squares.  While we were digging through the bin, we were actually conducting a shape hunt. That wasn’t the plan but, it was a great way to do a quick review.

Skip Counting

Once we had a wide variety of Lego blocks in a pile on the kitchen table, we searched for a block that had two studs. (I searched for the official term for the bumps on the top of  Lego and found they were called studs.) After finding one, we placed it on a white construction paper work space.

We then counted on by twos and found the next number was four.  Then we searched for the blocks with four, six and then eight studs. Each time we talked about how we were adding two.

When we got to the number ten, it wasn’t possible to find one block to use. We had to look through the pile to find a group of blocks that we could use that would equal two.  There were actually two ways to make ten with the blocks we had in our pile. It was fun to discuss which one to use. The numbers twelve and fourteen had to be made using a group of blocks too.

The number sixteen didn’t need a group. We surprisingly had a block with the correct number of studs on it.

LEGO Activity

You may find that you don’t have to create groups for any your numbers. If you have a large collection of Legos, you may have blocks for each number you are working on.

Once we created our Lego skip counting line up, we practiced skip counting. We practiced in several ways. We clapped as we said each number, touching the blocks as we counted. Finally we tried saying the numbers very fast and very slow.

This lesson was just an introduction to skip counting. We will be pulling out the Legos and skip counting again.

More Kids Activities

Have you tried teaching with LEGO math?  You can use LEGOs for skip counting but also subtraction, multiplication, and even division.  For more LEGO and math kids activities, take a look at these ideas:

• LEGO Math for Kids
• Skip Counting with Paper Bag Books
• Throw a LEGO party {Fun LEGO Activity}

The post LEGO Math: Skip Counting {Fun LEGO Activity} appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

You can make a LEGO game.  It’s easier than you think with this simple Tic Tac Toe board made completely from LEGOS.  We at Kids Activities Blog hope you enjoy playing this fun DIY LEGO game with your kids

Make a LEGO Game

We are definitely a Lego loving family. Lego is on permanent rotation in our home and it is played with every single day. We love coming up with creative ways to make a Lego game, such as making learning fun with Lego math games .

Recently my son learned how to play Tic Tac Toe and I thought it might be fun to make a Lego version of this classic game. It was super simple to put together and it was a definitely big hit with my son!

All you need to create a Lego tic tac toe game board is a Lego base board, some flat narrow (one dot wide) Lego bricks, and handful of bricks that are uniform in size and color.

To set up the game board, simply press the flat narrow Lego pieces into the classic tic tac toe formation on your base board. Next, choose some bricks to use as your game pieces. For our game, we chose square bricks in blue and yellow and then we were ready to play!

Tic Tac Toe

This easy DIY family game is great for traveling – we’ve taken ours on a few car trips already. It was also a big hit when we took it along to a recent play date.

You could try mixing it up a little and getting creative with your game pieces. Replacing the square bricks with Lego mini figures would be lots of fun. If you don’t have enough bricks in the same color, why not use sets of bricks that are different colors but the same size?

You could even make up your own rules and use the game board to create an entirely new game.

More Kids Activities

Do you think your child would like to play a LEGO game?  Tic Tac Toe is a simple game to play and it is fun to make a LEGO game board to play it on.  For more LEGO games and other kids activities, you may want to check out these fun ideas:

• Ideas to Make a LEGO Game…and more!
• Tic Tac Toe Beach Game
• DIY LEGO Table {This is awesome!}

The post Make a LEGO Game: Build a LEGO Tic Tac Toe Board appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

A LEGO game is cool to kids. But top it off with a little play dough and you’ll be Super Mom to your kiddo.  Kids Activities Blog loves this easy LEGO puzzle idea because it sneaks a little learning into play time.

LEGO Game

When my son saw that I had created a game combining two of his favorite things, Lego and play dough, he was so excited. There are so many ways to learn with Lego. Our LEGO game was very quick and easy to put together. This activity is a fun, hands on way to teach early math concepts like spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. All that from Lego and play dough!

Play Dough

This activity really couldn’t be easier to create.  Simply roll out some play dough and then select various Lego pieces to use for your DIY puzzle.

For our puzzle, I chose lots of unusual shapes of varying sizes to add to the fun. You could also choose specific shapes that your child is currently learning such as squares, rectangles or triangles. There are even circle shaped Lego pieces or for older kids why not try more advanced shapes such as a rhombus.

Lego’s come in some very interesting shapes so think outside the regular rectangle Lego brick and have fun with it!

LEGO Puzzle

Once you’ve selected which Lego pieces you would like to use, press each one into the rolled out play dough. Remove the pieces and place them next to the play dough.

Now your home made Lego and play dough puzzle is complete. Easy! Invite your child to match the Lego pieces to the corresponding impressions in the play dough.

Activity Extension

There are so many ways that this activity could be extended to suit different skill levels.

We used play dough to create a fun Lego learning activity to teach letter recognition and sight words.

Try using Lego pieces which are all the same shape, but in different sizes. Make this game more challenging – after making the Lego impressions in the play dough, include a few extra pieces in the pile for your child to choose from. They will need to work out which ones belong and which ones don’t.

More Kids Activities

What a fun LEGO game!  Has your child ever combined Play Dough and LEGOs at play time?  If your child loves LEGOs, you may want to take a look at these other kids activities with LEGOs:

• LEGO Game: Mazes for Kids
• Fun with Play Dough, LEGOs, and More
• Make a LEGO Puzzle Book 

The post LEGO Game: {Play Dough} LEGO Puzzle for Kids appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

The Greek Labyrinth is a fascinating story of mythology for kids.  Here are some steps to help your kids learn how to make a labyrinth in which to play out the myth.  Kids Activities Blog loves LEGO activities like this that bring learning to life.

The Greek Labyrinth

We recently built a Labyrinth from Legos. I’m excited to share the inspiration with you. My sons, especially my older one, is smitten with Greek Myths. Every night he and his dad hunker down together in bed and read Usborne’s Greek Myths for Young Children. This book combines great illustrations with simplified, condensed myths that draws children even as young as 3 years old into the tales.

How to Make a Labyrinth

Not surprisingly my son began to integrate these myths into his playing outside the book. He creates his own elaborate versions of the myths, new mythological creatures and we’ve even crafted Oddysses’ raft. Most recently he began to draw labyrinths and to build labyrinths from blocks and Legos. We love using Legos because of their versatility. You can build gas stations, farms, buildings, grocery stores, rockets, houses, ships and even labyrinths. Plus Legos work fine motor, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.

LEGO Activities

Materials Needed for the Lego Activity

• Legos
• Minotaur figure
• String
• Theseus or a figure to defend against the Minotaur, in our case, my son chose a lion
• Imagination
• Greek Myths book (optional)

LEGO Maze

Approach to Building a Lego Maze

• Building a maze is actually quite simple. You can be random like we did or create more of a challenge for your child by having a pre-made maze for him to replicate. What a great way to work those developing math skills with pattern recognition.
• Once your maze is constructed to satisfaction, add the minotaur and other various creatures and characters, then weave the string into the labyrinth.
• Honestly my son just took off with this one. He began to tell the story in his own unique way and had a great time reenacting the plot.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Please leave a comment, I love hearing from you.

Marnie

**Background of Greek Myth: Every nine years, King Minos, the mythical king of Crete and the God of War, ordered Athens to send a group of seven men and seven women to enter the labyrinth and fight the minotaur. Theseus, the son of the King of Athens volunteers to go. Along the way he charms King Minos’ daughter and receives a sword and magic string from her with a promise to marry her upon his return. With this string he will be able to successfully lead the group through the labyrinth and then ultimately save them from the wrath of the minotaur.

More Kids Activities

Has your child learned about the Greek Labyrinth yet in school?  Whether they have or have not, kids will love this project for how to make a labyrinth.  For more great LEGO and maze kids activities, snap on over to these fun posts:

• Throw a LEGO Party {LEGO Activities}
• LEGO Activities for Kids
• How to Make a Labyrinth Driving Mat for Toy Cars

The post The Greek Labyrinth: How to Make a Labyrinth {LEGO Activities} appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.

Stop action movies are easy enough for even kids to make.  If you have a LEGO lover in your home then they will surely appreciate this creative movie making idea.

Kids Activities Blog knows that most kids love anything having to do with LEGOs so we think this idea will be a hit as well.

Stop Action

Are your big kids obsessed with movie making??  Mine are and honestly, if I watch another lip-sync or Harlem Shake movie they have made, I will go cross-eyed.  So I wanted to funnel their creativity into something a little more challenging and educational.  My 10 year old is a LEGO-building fiend.  So I challenged him to come up with a 1 minute script to make a LEGO movie!  He is currently in the 4th grade and working on writing skills this year  {bonus for this mom!}.

He immediately put down his electronic game (better know as mind-suck) and got a sparkle in his eye.  Bring it on mom!

What I thought would take him roughly 10 minutes to draft took him over an hour.  He painstakingly crafted a creative script about a giant potato chip-eating lizard who over takes the town.  He worked diligently to plan each of the moves his LEGO mini-figures (AKA townsfolk) would take.  And found the perfect spot in the house to “shoot the movie.”

Not to be out-done by her brother, his 12-year old sister got in on the act, creating her own little LEGO movie.  {Even more bonus mom!} What started as a competition, ended up with each of them helping each other out in the building and story boarding.

Movie Making

When they were ready, we took tons of pictures.  Both kids wanted to make the movies as realistic as possible.  I have to admit, I even had fun snapping shots and watching them work through the building and character movements.

Once finished, we uploaded the pictures to our computer and I taught the kids the basics of our movie making software (I use iMovie).  I allowed them to get as creative as they wanted with music, fun sound effects, and voice-overs.  I was thrilled with how much time and care they put into their movies and we are certainly proud of them.

And here it is!!  ”The Potato Chip-Eating Lizard”:

More Kids Activities

Stop action is fun and easy for kids to do.  Has your child tried movie making?  For more great kids activities, take a look at these:

• Movie Making to Preserve Memories
• How to Make a Stop Action Movie
• 20 Activities with LEGOs

The post Stop Action: {Easy} Movie Making with LEGOs appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.