activities for kids

Scavenger Hunts

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A scavenger hunt is a fun way to keep little hands busy. It can be pre-planned or spur of the moment, either way it will still be great fun. This is a great activity for children of all ages, for younger children make it simple and tell them exactly what they are looking for. If you are playing with older children, give them hints and see if they can guess and find what they are supposed to be looking for.

The best type of scavenger hunt is a nature one that can be played in your backyard or in the park. This will lessen the chances of children picking up garbage and having to leave your supervision to do their hunting. A good rule of thumb for nature scavenger hunts is to incorporate a lesson for the kids and have them find items already on the ground so they can be gentle to nature.

Some examples of nature scavenger hunt items are:

* A special color or shaped leaf
* A flower – specify color or type
* Rocks – size, shape, or color
* Ladybug, ant, or a worm
* Moss
* Pinecone
* Anything of a certain color

With some pre-planning and a trip to the dollar store you can have a scavenger hunt with any theme you can think of. Turn it into a secret agent mission and hide clues that they have to find or make it a treasure hunt and hide chocolate gold coins that they have to hunt for. This is an activity that can take at least an hour or more. If you have older children and know your neighbors quite well, you can include items that they can knock on doors to find – a penny from a certain year, a cinnamon stick, an unmatched sock –
have fun with it.

Put on a Play

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Kids love to dress-up in costumes or other articles of clothing that aren’t their own. Instead of putting away the Halloween costumes each year, leave them out in a play chest to be used year-round.

Whether you have lots of Halloween costumes or old clothes that you don’t wear anymore instead of getting rid of them let your kids have them. You will be amazed and pleasantly surprised at the imaginative play that will result from playing dress-up. Encourage them to get dressed-up and to put on a play in their costumes. Invite the neighborhood kids over to participate or just watch the show.

Props are great too, let the kids go around the house (with the rule that it will all be put away) to collect things they need for a play. A curtain and stage aren’t necessary, but if you can find a way to improvise for either it will add to the excitement and sense of pride the children will have for their production.

You can get involved too. Let your children direct you on what you need to say or do during the play. Get into the role and have fun, don’t worry who is watching or that you can’t act your kids will be thrilled that you are joining in the fun.

The play may change each time, or the same play may be acted out again and again. Consider videoing the efforts for future enjoyment or add the video to a time capsule to be opened in 5-10 years from now. Just keep in mind that the type of tape or disc you are using may be obsolete by the time you open the time capsule. Or transcribe the play and write out the script to add to the time capsule, maybe your grandchildren will use it in the future.

Creative Stamp Making with Food

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Stamps are great for crafts or decorating stationary before you send a letter. Here is a way that children can make their own stamps to decorate clothing, make a picture, or to make homemade wrapping paper to wrap a present in.

The best food to use when making your own stamps are apples and potatoes. Apples make a great design on their own cut in half vertically (for a traditional apple shape) or horizontally (for a circle with a star-shape in the middle).

With a potato, cut it in half and then make your design. Depending on the age of the children you may or may not want to let them execute this part. An easy way to make a design on the potato to use as a stamp is with small cookie cutters. Press the cookie cutter into the potato and the remove the excess flesh. You can make a positive or negative impression by removing the inside of the area or the outside of the area where the cookie cutter made its mark.

With tempura or another toxic-free paint, dip the apple or potato into the paint and have an extra piece of paper handy to dab off the extra paint. Make many different designs with the potatoes to great a variety of designs.

If you want to use the stamps as print making on clothing, buy some fabric paint at the craft store. If the paint is too thick add a few drops of water at a time until it is at a consistency that is easier to work with.

Be creative with your choices, you may also want to try carrots or another hard vegetable to see what kind of mark they leave. An alternative and less messy way to get the paint on the vegetable is to paint it on with a brush instead of dipping it into the paint.

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