Fun Learning Activities Kids
I have two creative kids who love to draw. My 9-year-old creates magical lands full of beasts and mythical creatures. My 5-year-old like to draw families, with lots of hearts and kisses. Most often this drawing starts off on a standard piece of white paper, which is all well and good but sometimes it’s fun [...]
Some days you set out materials and you have plan for how you think they will be used. Some days you set out materials and you wait to see how they are used. We have two tomato cages that have been sitting in our shed since we tried growing tomatoes two years ago. The bugs [...]
My son made up this game. He calls it The Bathtub Alphabet Soup Game. It is easy to play, fun, educational, and very clean! I recently purchased some foam letters – the ones I have are not specifically for the tub, but I see no reason why I couldn’t use them there. So, one day, [...]
Our oldest has learned her letters, the sounds that they make, and is starting to blend sounds. We have even begun learning sight words, but have yet to venture into the realm of phonics, till today! This is a really nifty phonics “tool” that we created to help her mix the sounds of letters. . [...]
Do you have any picky eaters at your house? Do you have kids who would rather eat fruit snacks than any fruit or vegetable you give them? My kids are complete opposites with regards to food. My 18 month old daughter will eat basically anything and my 4 yr old son is very selective with [...]
In between visits to potential new homes, we stopped by our local Panera. As we had half an hour to kill – and munching on cookies takes mere seconds with my kiddos – we had to draw out the “experience”. Why not use our cookies and drink as an opportunity to practice fractions! I was [...]
When my sister and I were growing up we had a steamer trunk full of paper dolls. It was probably our favorite thing to play together. Now that I have two daughters who are old enough to play with dolls I thought it would be fun to introduce them to some of the many paper [...]
Dirt Cake? What’s that?! Dirt Cake can be made in various ways but typically involves a chocolate treat made to look like dirt but it is completely edible – and yummy! There are some great recipes for Dirt Cake out there. Here’s a fun recipe for Edible Dirt Pudding by another great Quirky Momma! However, [...]
Finger painting fun! Rory and I had nothing planned today so we decided to make our own finger paint! I chose to make our own paints because I know Rory is getting her molars now and so everything is in her mouth. I did just a basic flour, salt and water mixture so that if [...]
Last week I shared a simple spelling activity that we created using a pink party blower and some bottle caps. This week I have another party blower activity that packs a punch! We used a party blower, a few Superhero friends, and some recycled materials to help us learn about action words! My son loves [...]
Sometimes you hold onto an object to use a craft for a long time waiting for the perfect idea for a recycled craft to come to you. This cup holder has been in my craft bin for several months waiting for inspiration to come. I would look at it almost every time I opened the [...]
This is the perfect time of year to head out into your neighborhood and look for things to count. The weather is great for walking around, camera in hand, with a seeker of things to take pictures of by your side. I helped my son decide to limit the things were looking for to flowers [...]
Making butter used to be a hard, time-consuming job. But of course, for centuries, almost everyone did it. When my kids and I read a story book about life in old Appalachia recently and saw the pictures of a butter churn and children pumping away at it, we decided that we wanted to give making [...]
What makes water molecules stick together to form a drop of water? Surface Tension. What allows those cool water bugs to walk on water? Surface Tension. But what is surface tension and how to you teach it to children? According to Wikipedia, surface tension is a property of the surface of a liquid that allows [...]
Mothers day is this Sunday, and I wanted to make myself a present! Many of you may know that my husband is a veterinarian and we both have a love for animals. This means we have a few pets; 3 dogs and 2 cats to be exact. I love my pets dearly, however, they destroy [...]
Have you ever made bread with your children? It’s such a satisfying thing to bake and so well suited to children as the dough is robust enough to withstand their enthusiastic handling. This easy bread recipe is a really good one to use with kids. It’s almost a no-knead recipe, with just thirty kneads required, [...]
Sometimes a mom or grandma needs a little pillow to prop up her feet or place her head on after a busy day playing with a little boy or girl in their life. It may just look to others like a small pillow, but the love that went into making it helps them relax after [...]
A friend approached me the other day with a box full of biodegradable packing peanuts left over from a package she received. I was so excited when she started showing me some different things she discovered about them and grabbed a handful to bring home to my son. The first thing she told me was [...]
Great spring & summer weather takes us all outdoors. We love to explore on trails, parks, and even walks in the neighborhood. Though it is totally against my personality, I am intentionally slowing down my pace and allowing my kids to take in nature at it’s best. We ohh & awe over the various colored [...]
Ramps are fun for kids to explore. Rolling objects down or pushing objects up them seems to fascinate them. While they are really conducting simple science experiments with the concepts of force and gravity, kids may just think they are having fun. Recently my son and I build a simple ramp using cookbooks found in [...]
Our kids love the memory game, and I love playing it with them because it helps them practice taking turns, good sportsmanship, and of course, it strengthens their memorizing skills! I really liked the fun seashells and stickers version of the game that Chasing Cheerios came up with a while ago, and thought that I [...]
We love Cheerios in our house. We eat them for breakfast all the time but we also play with them too. Do you remember those fun candy bracelets where candy beads are strung on a piece of elastic and you get to eat slowly eat the bracelet by biting off the candy pieces? I loved [...]
One thing Rory loves to play with at our local library is a felt board. For weeks, I’ve been eyeing it up and have wanted to make one! For those that are not familiar what a felt board is, it’s just a board wrapped in felt. But what makes it so special is that other pieces [...]
We came up with these story cubes as an activity to help my child learn to read. They are a mix between Rory’s Story Cubes (they were featured in our last Toy Guide) and Bob’s Books. We use a mixture of Bob Books, Progressive Phonics and the free printables at Hubbard’s Cupboard for our reading [...]
The latest craze in our house is DIY placemats, using the children’s art to create unique place settings for our table. When the children have a friend coming to tea they like to make a special placemat just for the guest, to welcome them to the meal and for them to take home with them [...]
My son loves making cool gadgets. For his latest creation, he learned how to make his own compass. The supplies are simple: plastic lid or shallow bowl needle or straight pin a bar magnet a slice of cork/styrofoam or the top of a plastic milk jug some water Step 1 I helped by using a [...]
A few months ago, my husband and I debated over whether or not to purchase a Keurig. We liked the idea and convenience of having this coffee machine, but our biggest concern was the environmental impact caused by the K-Cups. You can check out the Keurig website to see what their company is doing to [...]
It’s Springtime here (hopefully where you are too!) and with the warmer weather & sunny days, our family loves to take advantage of fresh produce with the openings of local farmer’s markets for the season. We like to go to the farmer’s market for fresh fruit, veggies, and baked goods. Getting to sample all of [...]
I love cooking with my kids! My son has been cooking a lot at preschool lately, so we’ve been practicing many of the recipes at home! I love all the skills that can be practiced while we cook together, including reading, following directions, measuring, strengthening fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and learning early math [...]
When you’ve lived in your home for a few years, cleaned it hundreds of times, and played hide-and-go-seek more times than you can count, you feel like you know every nook and cranny. There’s nothing like an indoor photo treasure hunt or an indoor safari though to make you realize that there is more to the interior of [...]
