Keep Life Simple...Go for a Swing

Miniature Landscapes

Head outdoors and create some miniature landscapes or terrariums.  This activity is definitely about the process and not the end result.  Each child used a container to create a small landscape using mud, moss, grass or whatever they could find.  The end result was meant for them to use with their play figures but they all just enjoyed creating versus playing with it.  When I was a child, we would collect samples for our own terrariums as we hiked through the woods.   

Mixing up some mud to use in her container.

Getting dirty while packing in the mud.

One of the finished products!

Pretend Crutches

This is super simple but hours of pretend play. Just use cardboard tubes as pretend crutches. The ones pictured are thick cardboard so they have held up well. You could tape two long tubes together. These make a great addition for pretend hospital.

Need more ideas for pretend hospital check out these pretend pages from GrowingPlay.

Pretend Play - Apothecary

The other night the kids had loads of fun creating "remedies".  Not sure why they came up with this word but they concocted many recipes just using water, milk and spices.  It was Dad's job to taste test!  He says he can still taste one that had too much cinnamon.  They did this for an hour the other night without any help (except the taste tasting) and even washed all the dishes.

After listening to them describe their elixirs, they were so proud of each of their remedies created to cure various ailments.  It certainly was a vocabulary lesson for the younger ones who had never heard of words like cumin, oregano or poultry seasoning.

This was a great kid-created, free play activity which encouraged:

• imagination
• creativity
• measuring, mixing and stirring
• sensory experiences of taste and smell
• reading skills

Visit www.GrowingPlay.com for more pretend play ideas.

Keep Life Simple - Go bike riding.

Jug Catchers

Recently, I saw this milk jug catcher over at Family Fun and it reminded me that I had made a set of these catchers years ago.   They are so simple.  Just cut off the bottom of a milk container and cover with a bit of duct tape for decoration.  Hold the container by the handle and start playing catch with a friend.  I love this activity because even young children can play it.  The opening is large and it is easy to hold.  I prefer this to a game of velcro catch where the ball can be very hard to remove for some young ones.  If you want to make it more difficult for older kids, play with a ping pong ball.  The ball is smaller and it bounces easily out of the container so it is trickier to catch.  

Try playing this game in the water - the milk containers scoop up a lot of water.  Adds a whole new dimension to a water fight!

This activity encourages:

• eye hand coordination
• bilateral coordination
• fun!

I am sharing this post over at the Kids Co-op.

6 Not So Great Things My Kids Have That I Did Not...

I was thinking the other day about how much childhood has changed since I was growing up.  I find myself more and more saying it just isn't as good as it used to be.  Perhaps I sound like a grandmother, maybe it just comes with age but here are 6 not so great things that my kids have that I did not:

1.  School Bus Transportation - In our area, even if you can see the school out your front window you are still entitled to a school bus ride.  My kids don't even have to walk to a stop - you get picked up right at the end of my driveway.

In comparison, I walked one mile to school, home and back for lunch, and home again at the end of the day for all of elementary school.  I did take a bus to high school (it was about 3 miles away) but did have to walk to a bus stop.  We had so much fun walking to and from school - a few of us would always land up meeting along the way.

2.  Chain Restaurants - There are so many restaurants to choose from today.  Everyone has a kids menu of some sort.

No matter what you tell me, when I eat out I eat more (mostly because there is waitress service so I get to sit down for an entire meal!) And, we wonder why we have an obesity problem in the USA.  Obviously, there was McDonald's, Burger King and a few more when I was a kid but not nearly as many as today.  Plus, it was a huge treat to go out to eat.  People just ate at home for the most part.

3.  Organized Sports - My children get to participate in organized sports from the age of 4 years old and up.  There is a sports team for each season and if you so chose you can play 2 sports during one season or play on 2 teams during one season.  The kids parents are there at every game cheering the participants on - hit or strike out...Good job!

I, too, had organized sports but didn't start until 4th grade, rode my bike to games and no parents came to cheer us on.  We had LOADS of fun - lots of chatting and laughs.  I can't even remember what positions I played in elementary school.  I do remember it was fun and never a chore to attend.  Oh yeah, and the seasons where only about 8 weeks long and you never played 2 sports at once or on two teams unless you were training for the Olympics. 

4.  Cell Phones - Isn't it great today - kids can get in touch with anyone at anytime and parents can check on their kids.  How wonderful!

When I was a kid, you needed to carry a dime with you in case you needed to make a phone call.  You were "out of touch" from your parents or friends hours or even days at times.  There is something to be said for quiet time.  There are certainly times now I wish I could be "out of touch" even for a few hours.

5.  Constant Safety Net - As parents, we protect our children the best we can starting in infancy.  Put them in car seats, try and eat healthy foods, wear helmets, etc.  Of course we can not think of everything but we have thought of we are on top of it.  Get a bad grade in school, don't worry kids Mom and Dad will call the school and see where the teacher went wrong.

When I was a kid, we did not have car seats (in fact one time my sister and I rode in lawn chairs.  My brother actually had a car that had milk crates for seats).  Not saying we should not use car seats just sharing a funny story.

But, we were able to play outdoors without helmets on every two seconds.  Sometimes I see my children actually playing tag with helmets on if they were just riding their bikes.  Again, I am not saying kids should not wear helmets.

Regarding school, If I did poorly, the teacher was always right and I should have done better.

6.  Internet and Cable Television - At the click of a button kids can find any information or get homework help.  Want to watch a children's television show?  Turn on your tv at anytime and you can find kids shows.

As a child, we pretty much only watched tv Saturday mornings because that was the only time kids tv was on (maybe David and Goliath on Sunday morning if you were desperate).  After school and weekends you played.  You went outside and found friends to hang out with.  If  you needed information, you went to the library and looked it up.  

Listen, don't get me wrong there are lots of conveniences that we have now as parents.  But overall, I do wish my kids sometimes were being raised during a different time.  Here is how I try to make that time:

• limit television and video game use
• only play sports during that season
• eat out about 2x month 
• let the teacher be right 99% of the time (can't seem to give up that 1%)
• invite kids over the house for free play time
• they do ride in car seats and wear helmets (but I do remind them to take them off when playing tag)
• give them some independence where parents are not present
• play outdoors 

What do you wish your kids had from when you were younger? 

Starfish Therapies commented the following on 2/16/2012 " I love this and completely agree! I think there is always a ripple effect and the more we try to 'fix problems' the more secondary effects there are. I remember growing up and playing Jail Break with friends all evening long until we had to be inside. I had a curfew and knew my boundaries. We also got to work it out amongst ourselves if there were issues. No one wanted to go to our parents if we were having a challenge because they would make it into too big of a deal. I also rode my bike everywhere (without a helmet). It was interesting recently when I was in Paris with my best friend and her kids, she loved going to the playground there because the parents just let the kids play. She didn't have to hover just in case another parent was judging how she was parenting. She actually got to enjoy watching her kids explore! Sorry, I may have switched tangents but I loved this post!"

Cardboard Box Road Maps

 When all the fun has been exhausted from your cardboard boxes and the sides ripped from all the climbing in and out, flatten out the box and draw some roads for the toy cars to drive on.  Add some play houses to drive up to for more imaginative play.  Creating the road map is usually the most fun. 

Glow in the Dark Slime

After seeing this activity on Pinterest, we decided we had to try it ourselves.   We have made slime before (we actually call it Flubber) but never glow in the dark.

Step 1:  Mix one cup Borax with some water in a large jar.  We shook the jar for 10 minutes to mix it up (taking turns obviously).

Step 2:  In another plastic cup, they mixed together 50% glue with 50% water and 2 tbsp glow in the dark paint.  They stirred this up with a popsicle stick.  Then it was time to add the Borax solution.

Step 3:  They slowly poured the Borax solution into the glue/water/paint mixture while stirring.  It quickly adhered to the popsicle stick and started to become a solid. 

Step 4:  They took it out of the cup and kneaded in their hands for awhile.  As soon as it was ready we ran to the closet (which is our go to place to check glow in the dark anything).  IT WORKED!!  It really glowed.  Have to admit once I was in the closet I did wonder why we wanted to make it glow so bad.  We could not use the slime in the closet but it was still cool.  Plus, I can not imagine myself at night, when dark out, saying "time to make some glow in the dark slime right before bed kids".  Regardless, the slime itself was hours of fun out of the dark closet. 

Here is the finished product.  They started using tools with it but I did not take pictures - scissors, cookie cutters and sandwich makers.  The slime held up very well. 

Coins in a Water Jar

Here is a very simple activity that engages children of all ages.  Instead of practicing putting coins or buttons in a bank, try putting them in a clear container with water in it.  It is mesmerizing and pretty to watch them float to the bottom.  Lightweight, colorful buttons were fun to watch.  Fake coins were interesting because some didn't always sink.  We moved on to then checking whether items would sink or float.  We found small items that could fit through the slot i.e. beads, coins, popsicle sticks, etc.    The toddler keeps going back to this activity (of course make sure they do not put anything small in their mouths)

 For the older kids, we started a game of whether you could hit an object inside the container with a coin.  We placed one of the magic grow animals (from the dollar store) in the container to watch it grow over time but then started trying to hit coins with it.  If you hit the object with a coin you got a point.  It was lots of fun - not much strategy just luck.

This activity encourages:

• fine motor skills
• visual tracking skills
• science learning

Let's Play Animal Hospital

Set up a pretend animal hospital.  Be sure to include an examining table, areas for the animals to rest, cages and crates.  The crates in this picture are containers or a storage cube turned on it's side.

Don't forget to include all the props for examining the animals.  Here are some suggested props besides a vet kit:

1. paper towels or napkins with tape to make pretend casts
2. crepe paper to wrap a sprained limb
3. box of band aids
4. small spray bottle - the kids love this. It just gives a little spritz to wash an animal
5. flashlight
6. fake telephone to answer any emergency calls
7.  leashes or ribbons for leashes
8.  plastic bowls to feed the animals in the cages
9.  kitchen utensils such as tongs to assist with examining the animal
10.  Animal forms and signs to encourage creativity, spark the imagination and promote literacy

Water Bottle Shooter

Here is a real simple project that the kids will love. An adult should cut off the top of a water bottle so that you have just the part where you screw the cap on with a little bit extra. An adult should also cut off the neck of a balloon. Now just duct tape the balloon onto the water bottle top. At first we tried it with marshmallows (safety first - haha!). That was fun but not as fun as using small tin foil balls. Go outdoors and shoot the tin foil balls - they go really far! Make sure you don't point it at anyone - it would not hurt too much but you wouldn't want "to shoot your eye out". You can talk about projectiles and try shooting different objects. Observe how objects that weigh more or less travel in different paths.

Pretend Swing for the Doll

Make a simple doll swing out of a cardboard box for a child to play with. Hang it from a door frame or outdoors from a tree branch.  You could use it for stuffed animals as well.

Check out Pretend Play - School to open a pretend doll school.

The Hidden Rock Game

The Hidden Rock Game

Here is a simple outdoor activity for all ages:

Find a small rock.  Using paint or permanent marker draw something on the rock.  Go on a hunt for several items from nature that are large enough to cover the rock.  We gathered pine cones, leaves, sticks and tree bark.  Place them in a designated area in your outdoor space about 10-20 feet from a starting line. 

One person will hide the rock by placing it under one of the nature items.  Once the rock is hidden, another person will have to go and find it. 

Start the timer and the person can run from the starting line to the designated area to find the rock by turning over all the nature items.  Once the rock is found run back to the starting line and stop the clock!

See who can get the best time or just compete against yourself to see what is the shortest amount of time before you find the rock and return to the starting line.