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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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Play with the
Wind
Go Fly a Kite!
Buy a kite and assemble it, or make your own from scratch. Even a
plastic grocery store bag with some string attached to the handles can
become a kite if a child holds the string and runs. The fish kite in the
picture at the bottom is made from two paper plates with a paper cup
stapled between them to make a mouth and catch the wind. Strings are
tied on either side of the mouth and joined in the middle to connect to
a single string. Fins and tail are pieces of paper plates and crepe
paper streamers are attached to the end of the tail. So, go fly a kite.
Play with the wind.
Spring Clean
Together
Traditionally,
Spring Cleaning was a huge project where everything in the house was cleaned
from stem to stern. In today's busy world, it's very challenging for working
moms to accomplish such a daunting task.
Pick
out an area that is screaming for a clean-over and get the whole family to
pitch in for some good clean fun and make a difference together.
You might
focus on just one room, one closet or even a single drawer.
Kids
can
clean baseboards with
a wet sponge. They can sort through their own toys and items.
Try clothes on to see what doesn't fit anymore or put winter clothes away
and put summer clothing close at hand. A child can take a vacuum hose
attachment and get into edges and corners more easily than mom.
Young
children can take all of the items, especially plastic things, out of a
kitchen cabinet and then an adult can clean and replace items.
Windows
can be washed, curtains and draperies can be dry-cleaned or washed, in one
room at a time.
Whatever you choose to do, talk or even sing (or whistle) while you work.
Make it a pleasant time and build family relationships while you clean. When
you're done, celebrate your accomplishments with an easy dinner of pizza or
something else that doesn't require more work from mom or dad.
Lions & Lambs
It is said that
March "comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb". Read stories about
lions and lambs. Include the fable about the lion who helped the mouse and
was repaid when the mouse chewed through the ropes of a hunter's net when
the lion got caught. Play with stuffed animals. Draw pictures of lions and
lambs or sculpt some using salt dough or clay. For younger children read
nursery rhymes like, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little
Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue.
 
Handkerchief Parachutes and More
Make a
handkerchief parachute by tying a clothespin or small plastic toy figure
to a handkerchief or square piece of cloth. Tie four strings to the
clothespin and then tie each string to one corner of the handkerchief.
Roll it up and toss it in the air and watch it float down.
Tie
balloons to strings and let them dance in the wind. Helium balloons are
even more fun but tie them securely.
Play with pinwheels in the wind.
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First Day
of Spring
March 21st
Have Fun with Flowers
If you have flowers growing in your yard, make a bouquet and bring it
indoors for your family to enjoy, or take a bouquet to a friend or neighbor
to brighten their day. Watch as spring flowers begin to poke out of the
ground, grow and then blossom. Celebrate with excitement as you enjoy the
progress.
Make a daisy or clover chain by braiding the stems of flowers
together.
Wear it in your hair for a little while.
Take pictures of spring flowers
Make crepe paper flowers
The daffodils in the picture begin with a short strip of yellow crepe paper
about two inches high. Push one finger between two fingers along the to edge
to "scrunch" the edge of the crepe paper and make it look like the center of
the daffodil.
Cut a 2 inch strip of crepe paper and color it orange with markers. Then cut
in into very thin strips about 1" down. Twist each strip to make the center
of the flower.
Fold an 8" strip of yellow crepe paper accordion-style so that each sheet of
the folded piece is about 1 inch wide. Cut a petal shape so that it remains
attached at the bottom and makes 8 identical petals.
Wrap the orange piece around the end of a pipe cleaner to make the center of
the flower. Then wrap the piece with the scrunched places around the orange
part. Wrap the petals around the other two pieces to finish the flower.
Twist floral tape around the twisted crepe paper at the bottom of the flower
to hold it in place. Cut green leaves out of construction paper and place
them near the bottom of the pipe cleaner. Wrap the entire pipe cleaner with
floral tape and wrap it around the leaves to hold them in place. Make a
bouquet. (If you don't have floral tape available, then strips of green
crepe paper can also be used. Sometimes you might need a little tape to hold
things securely.)
Make flowers from egg carton cups
Cut two cups from an egg carton for each flower. Cut petal shapes around
the top part of the cup. Place the two cups together and use an ice pick
to push a hole through the centers of the bottoms of the cups. Put a
pipe cleaner through the hole and twist or fold it to keep it from
pulling back through. Push the two cups together. Glue a pom pom for the
center of the flower, make the pipe cleaner look like the center or glue
some cut fringe pieces of tissue paper for the center. Cut leaves from
construction paper and tape them to the pipe cleaner. Put a single
flower in a vase or make a whole bouquet to celebrate spring.
Plant Vegetable Seeds
If you have a garden area, let the kids plant some vegetable seeds there. If
not, start some seeds in pots. Put some small pebbled in the bottom of a pot
for drainage, then a little sand and then fill the pot with good soil. Let
the kids put the seeds in the ground and make labels so they know what was
planted in each area of the garden or in each pot.
Tomato plants can be started in doors in pots and pepper plants
can be started indoors too. If you are going to transplant seeds outdoors,
start them in soil that has be placed in fiberboard egg carton cups. Plant
one seed per cup. The roots will grow right through the container bottom
once the plant is in the ground.
Radishes are usually the first plants to come up out of the
ground, so we usually plant some of those because they are exciting.
Sometimes, even kids who hate radishes will eat a couple, just because they
grew them.
Have a Rain Drop
Race
Each person picks a raindrop as they hit
the top of the window. Follow your raindrop until it gets to the bottom of
the window and see whose raindrop wins the race. Then start at the top and
do it again!
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Kids' Craft of the Month
Spring
Fun!
Make a daisy chain of flowers. Braid the
stems together and wear it in your hair.
Float paper boats
on rainy day puddles
Look for four leaf
clovers
Play with the wind. Go fly a kite, blow
bubbles, fly a seed pod helicopter or watch a pinwheel whirl
around.
Listen to the sounds of nature. Listen to Birds. Try to
identify the sounds you hear.
Take a stone-kicking walk. See if you
can kick the same stone from the start of your walk until your
return home.
Plant Something
Collect Bugs and Other Critters
Nature comes alive in many ways in the spring, and there are
usually bugs-a-plenty. Monitor bug collecting to make sure
that a child doesn't get something that will sting, bite or is
poisonous. Put them in a "bug house". You can purchase them or
make one from an empty clear plastic jar. Replace the lid with
a piece of nylon net rubber-banded over the top to let air in
and keep bugs contained for observation. Put a small cap full
of water in your bug house and some leaves and twigs. Let
children watch them, look at them with a magnifying glass and
then release them back to their outdoor home.
With other "critters" like frogs and lizards, use the same
catch, observe and release process and make sure that the
animals are not harmed (or harmful). We always do a "photoshoot"
and get a picture to remember the small animals we find and
enjoy.
Look for signs
of spring.
Enjoy flowers. Watch as plants begin to
poke out of the ground, grow and blossom. Enjoy the blossoms
and new leaves on the trees. Look for birds' nests or birds
building nests. Sometimes they will be low enough that a child
can be hoisted to see the eggs and then the baby birds. (We
have hummingbirds that nest in our pine tree and always enjoy
watching them from a distance. Look for new life everywhere.
Activities for Lent
Make a Prayer Chain
Make a prayer chain with
construction paper links. Use pink, lavender and purple pieces
of paper. Prayers can be of praise, thanksgiving, contrition
(being sorry), and petition (asking for things). Write a
prayer on each strip of paper before stapling, pasting or
taping it into a link on your chain. Hang the chain up where
you can see it and remember to keep prayer in your day,
especially during Lent.
Make Pretzels
The early Christians made pretzels
during Lent because the shape looked like arms folded in
prayer. This recipe makes delicious pretzels but they don't
taste like the "store-bought" variety. Start a new tradition
and make your own pretzels or just buy some from the store and
share them as a family snack in the evening. Discuss the
symbolism of the shape of the pretzel.
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 Tbls. butter
1 pkg. dry yeast.
1 1/3 cups water (approximate)
lye (1 level tbls. per half gallon
of water)
egg yolk - well beaten
coarse salt
Mix flour and butter together.
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add yeast and remaining water
gradually until mixture is a dough than can be rolled into
long string. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Cover it with
a clean tea towel to keep it warm or place it in a cold over
with a pan of water that is still hot from boiling.)
Take the dough and roll it into
strips. Let them dry for a couple of minutes and then shape
them to look like pretzels. Put a dab of water where the ends
join the pretzels and pinch them to hold them together. Let
them rest, just until they begin to rise.
In a stainless steel pot (not
aluminum), bring 1/2 gallon of water to a hard boil and add 1
level teaspoon of lye. (This is an adult job because lye is
caustic and dangerous to children.)
Drop the pretzels into the boiling
water and take them out as they float to the top. Drain the
water. Brush the top of each pretzel with beaten egg yolk.
Place on a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake at 500°
for 10 minutes. Remove them
from the over and change the temperature to 400 and give the
oven a little time to cool to the re-set temperature. Put the
pretzels back into the oven until they are completely dry.
(Thicker pretzels will take longer than thin ones.) Store in a
tightly sealed container.
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