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May Holidays
CRAFTS
FAMILY CELEBRATIONS
FAMILY HOLIDAYS
SPRING HOLIDAYS
CHILDREN'S DIRECTORY
KID'S CRAFTS
CRAFT KITS
PUPPETS
LEARNING TOYS
GARDEN
WOMEN'S
DIRECTORY
FAMILY HOME
Mother Lode
The Ultimate Collection of
Ideas for Keeping Kids Busy
by Kas Winters
Over 5,000 ideas for tots through teens
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Mother Goose Day
May 1
Make Paper Plate Puppets of Mother Goose Characters
Draw characters from Mother Goose poems on paper plates. Cut a paper
plate in half and staple or tape it to the back of the top half of the
plate with the face on it. This creates a "pocket" for your hand so that
you can operate the puppet. Older children can add construction paper,
pipe cleaners and other decorator pieces to add hats, ears or other
features to the puppets. Let the puppets read the rhymes.
The obvious way to celebrate Mother Goose Day is to read Mother Goose
Rhymes. Let beginning readers read them to you. Maybe you can recite
them from memory. (This works well when you are driving with kids in the
car and you can't stop to read, but want to keep their attention.)
Make a simple finger puppet of a Mother Goose
character. Use scrap pieces of fake fur, felt, craft foam or
construction paper. Glue a piece together to make the body so that it
will fit over a finger. (If you use hot glue, it should be done by an
adult.) Decorate with jiggle eyes, buttons, ribbons, pipe cleaners, felt
shapes, pom poms or whatever it takes to make your Mother Goose
character. When you are done, let the finger puppet read the rhymes.
Just a note about nursery rhymes: They weren't originally for children!
They were a way of passing on gossip in the Elizabethan Court, without
getting caught. In "Hey Diddle Diddle", the "dish" and "spoon"
represented people in the court. "Ring around the rosy" isn't about
children at all, but about the Black Death in Europe. The "Posy" was an
herb that they hoped would work as a cure. "Ashes, we all fall down"
says it all. It's an interesting area to explore for grown-ups or
teens.
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Build a Rocket and Launch it
Space Day
May 4
What a great day to launch a rocket that you have made! You can build
one using a kit from a hobby store. You can also make play rockets using
empty cardboard tubes from paper towels and adding your own fins and a
nosecone of cardboard. These don't really fly, but you can decorate them
and toss them up in the air for some space day fun.
Another simple
rocket can be made by taking an empty putting film container, filling it about half full
of water and adding 1/2 of an Alka Seltzer ® tablet. Place the lid on, but not tightly. Shake it.
Place it on the ground and run away. Watch it shoot up in the air like a
rocket. Adjust your rockets to the age and ability of children involved,
keeping safety in mind at all times.
Use a Star Chart to View the Constellations at Night
Star Charts are available in science centers, museum stores, on-line and
at some of the better toy stores. You set it to the date and time and it
will show you the stars in the sky overhead and help you identify the
constellations.
FOR MORE SCIENCE FUN, CLICK
HERE.
National Teacher's Day
May 9
National Childcare Providers' Day
May 11
Make a card for your teacher or childcare provider. Send a happy message via e-mail. Give your
teacher or care-provider a small token of your appreciation on this special day to
recognize the effort of educators. If you are looking for a teacher
gift, you might just find one here:
TEACHER GIFTS.
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Kids' Craft of the Month
Celebrate May Flowers
Make a Flower Puppet
(Idea from Linda Brittain, author of several puppet
books.)
Start with a paper plate and a paper cup. Trace the top
of the cup onto the center of the paper plate. Cut the circle shape,
slightly smaller than the traced circle, in the middle of the
plate. Cut the plate so that is has petals all around. Color or paint
the plate and the cup. Draw eyes on the plate above the cut-out circle.
Cut the cup in half (vertically).
Trace the shape of the half cup twice onto a piece of
poster board or index card. Cut the shapes out and glue them to the cut
edges of each of the two pieces of the cup. Hold the cup
together (with the new pieces glued in place). Place the
cup through the round hole in the center of the plate. Tape the cup in
place. Use it as a flower puppet. Put your hand in the mouth, made of
cups, to make your puppet talk.
Kite Day
May 12
Now we're talking fun! A kite can be something as simple as a plastic bag
from the grocery store. Tie a string to the two handles, hold the string,
run outside and the bag will fill with air. You can purchase a kite or
design one of your own. We've had some marvelous ones over the years
including some delightful Chinese designs like this dragon boat and a very
long snake one. Enjoy one another's company while you get your kite off the
ground and up where it can fly in the breeze.
For more kite ideas, click here.
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