Activities for Kids

Making a Kite

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Flying a kite is good exercise and a lot of fun (even if you don’t get the kite up in the air).
Instead of going out and buying a kite, make one instead. You will need fabric (or very
strong paper), strong glue, two wooden dowels and string.

To begin, lay the two dowels in a cross position and use some of the string to lash the
sticks together into that position. You will do this by weaving the string in and out of the
dowels. Once the dowels are secure, put glue on the string and leave it to dry. Once this
is done you should have a strong frame for your kite.

The next step is to create a frame around your dowels using the string. To make sure the
string does not slip, cut a small notch at the end of each dowel. Starting at one end, wrap
the string around the dowel where the notch is and then bring the string to the next dowel
while keeping the string taut wrap it around the next dowel. Continue until string is
connecting all four dowels. Again, put dabs of glue on the string where it meets the
dowels and leave to dry.

Once your completed frame is dry, lay your fabric on the kite frame and cut it with an
extra one inch on all sides to wrap around the frame. Use glue to secure the fabric
around the kite frame.

The last step is to attach the string to the kite. You will need to make what is called a
bridle by attaching the string to the kite frame in two locations (they should be on
opposite sides) in a loop formation. Then attach the string you are going to use to fly the
kite to the bridle.

Now Go Fly a Kite

Nature Bracelets

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Kids love to collect things and with this fun summer activity they can collect a little bit of
nature and have a keepsake for later. All that is needed to start this craft and activity is a
roll of clear packing tape and a pair of scissors to cut it.

Cut a piece of tape that is long enough to go loosely around the child’s wrist with a small
amount needed for overlap. When you put the tape around each child’s wrist put the
sticky side out. And that is all the prep that is needed.

Send the kids out into the backyard, park – somewhere outdoors and have them find
things to add to their bracelets. They will have to be small so they will stay stuck on the
tape. But small flowers, blades of grass, or leaves should all work. Have them find
enough treasures or bits of nature to completely cover the tape. They can wear their
creation for the day and when it is time to go inside carefully cut the tape of each wrist.

Either use more tape or use staples to fix the nature bracelet to a piece of poster board or
construction paper. Have each child write about the different bits of nature they collected
for their bracelet and why. If you have a child who can’t write yet, ask them why they
picked each item and write it down for them.

Most kids won’t have a hard time finding things to put on their bracelet and may even be
done in record time. As long as you have enough tape, let them make as many nature
bracelets that they want and use them for a collage later on. Another alternative is to
bring a piece of paper outside with tape already adhered to it – the kids can put their
nature finds right on the paper.

Balloon Wars

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In the winter everyone loves a good snowball fight, build a fort and stockpile the
snowballs and you are set. The same idea can be implemented in the summertime too. If
it’s a nice day, fill balloons with water and have a balloon war.

If you don’t like the idea of your kids throwing balloons at each other than there is other
uses for water balloons that are just as fun. Set-up a target and have a competition to see
who can hit it the most times. You can make it a challenge to break the balloon each time
or make it harder by setting the rule of hitting the target but not breaking the balloon.

Play water balloon baseball; replace the baseball with a water-filled balloon. Of course
the person up at bat is going to get wet if they are able to hit the target. If a child hits the
balloon and it doesn’t burst it is considered a strike. When the balloon is hit and does
burst it is an automatic home run.

A simple game of catch can be fun too. Trying to catch the balloon without bursting it
can be hard – see how long one balloon can be tossed before it breaks. As the kids are
going to get wet, it is best to play any of these games on a hot day.

Clean-up after any game that has involved water balloons is very important. Small
children and pets could pick up the small pieces and choke on them. You can make
picking up the most balloon pieces a game at the end for incentive. Let the kids know
that whoever has the most balloons after they are all cleaned up will get a special
surprise. Or, give each a different color of balloon and make it their job to pick up all the
balloon pieces that are of their color.

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