Activities for Kids

Rock Pets and Other Rock Crafts

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Kids love to paint especially when it is something other than paper. Rock crafts can be made into many things from pet rocks to steppingstones and even garden markers. Materials needed for this activity are rocks of various shapes and sizes, tempura paint, paint brushes. Optional materials include glue, permanent markers, and googely eyes.

If you have access to rocks outside, let the children pick their own. You can tell them to find rocks that they think have a special shape or would look good as a certain animal or bug (lady bugs and frogs are popular choices). If you are going to be making something larger like a steppingstone, garden stone, or vegetable marker, you can go to your local gardening or landscaping supply store.

Older children may like the added challenge of finding many small rocks and piecing them together them together to make a creature or object. If you do not have glue that is strong enough to hold rocks together clay will work as an adhesive too. With various shaped rocks you can build a car using an oblong rock for the body and four round rocks for the wheels.

Let the children paint their creations and let dry thoroughly. You should put the children’s name on the bottom of the rock for future identification. When the rocks are completely dry you can hand them over to their new charges if they are not meant to go outside. But if they are going to be going into the garden as a marker for a row of carrots or just decoration, they should be treated first so the paint does not wash away.

If you cannot find a child-safe sealant for the paint, finish the last step when they have gone to bed or are occupied with something else. Once the sealant is dry it can be put outside in its new home.

Bubble Making

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Not only do kids of all ages love to blow bubbles there are many activities they can play
that revolve around bubbles too. And one of the activities is to make the actual bubble
solution. If you decide to skip this step and use store-bought bubbles that is fine too.

Everyone knows that to make your own bubble solution you mix dish detergent and water
but here is a recipe that will yield bigger and stronger bubbles:

  • ½ cup of dish soap
  • 1 ½ cups of water
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar


Mix it up in a large container and you are done.

If there are quite a few kids playing, make a large batch of the solution and fill up a kiddie pool with it. No spilling or waiting turns to use the bubble solution.

If you are making your own bubble solution, you will also need to find or make bubble wands too. Here are some ideas to use items around the house that kids will get a kick out of:

* A (clean) flyswatter
* Straws
* Turkey baster
* Slotted spoon
* Funnel
* Use the lid to a yogurt or margarine container with a hole cut in the middle
* A piece of string tied together into a loop

Have a bubble blowing contest, see who can blow the biggest bubble or see whose bubble lasts the longest. Have a counting contest, challenge the kids to see who can blow the most bubbles in a predetermined time frame. Or shout out a number and see who can blow that many bubbles at once, no more or less.

And just let them have fun, kids love to have bubbles blown for them and then chase them down and try to pop them all. You be the bubble blower and send them running to burst all of your bubbles.

Sun Art

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This is a craft where the sun will do most of the work. You will need to find the sunniest
spot in your house or yard and it will take some time – at least three hours of full
sunlight. You will need brightly colored construction paper and various shaped objects.

Lay the piece of paper in the sunny location first and then place the objects on the page.
Be sure to leave space around each object, they should not be touching. Items such as
leaves, coins, utensils, or anything else with an interesting shape can be used. Then you
have to wait, but it will be worth it.

After a period of time, the sun will fade the paper that is not covered by the objects that
were place on it. When you take the shapes off you will have made a picture with the
sun. To make it more interesting you can use different shapes or objects to create a
picture or a scene instead of only trying to get shapes. Good materials to use for making
a sun picture are different shapes of pasta, string, and other household items such as
cotton swabs and cotton balls.

It is best to use a bright colored piece of paper, or this craft will not work properly. The
quality of paper used should not be poster board. The poster board or similar paper will
still fade but it will take longer (maybe more than one day in the sun) to get the desired
result.

Be careful with the finished artwork. If you hang them up in a sunny spot in the house,
the sun may continue to work on the paper and fade away the hard work that was put into
the craft. The best way to preserve it is to tuck it away in a scrapbook or art folder.

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