As the mom of many I was always looking for new ways to keep my home schooled brood entertained.
While looking for a specific post on my Fun Mamma S.A. Facebook page I came across this list I first shared in 2012 of 30 Fun things to do with your children.
We as a family have personally done each activity at least once, some a few more times. I thought I’d share it with you.
1.Make fresh lemonade
You will need:
2 lemons that are cut in half
a juicer
spoon
jug
1 cup of sugar
and 1 litre of water.
To make the lemonade, squeeze the lemons,add the juice and the sugar to the water and stir.
2. Splatter painting
Each child needs a large piece of paper some paint and a toothbrush . Have the child put paint on the brush and rubbing your finger on the toothbrush splatter the paint onto the paper.You could also place objects down first and then remove them after splattering the paint to reveal the shape.
3. Apple star prints
Cut an apple in half width ways. You will notice the star design where the seeds are. Dip your apple in ink or paint and print.
4.Listening walk
Each child takes a walk and writes down or describes the sounds that they hear.
5.A bubble fight.
Mix a bubble solution in a bucket
A quarter cup of dish washing liquid to 1 litre of water. Add a few drops of food colouring for different teams.Make a wire blower for each child.
The object of the game is to see which team pops the most of the other teams bubbles.
6.Say it in letters
This is a letter writing activity so those of us who remember snail mail can reminisce. Relatives beware you have been warned many letters are coming your way……
Let your child write or draw letters to your family. Put these in envelopes and take them to the Post office to see how a letter is sent off.
7.Opposite day
Declare it opposite day and do everything opposite, say everything opposite.
8.Music looks like this
Play a piece or several pieces of music and have the child paint what they think the music looks like. Use a variety of music styles.
9.Pin the tail on the donkey
I loved this game and honestly do not think that many children today have played the traditional version. We would make our own game and pin the tail on.
10.Foil rubbings
This is an activity that my gran told me about many years ago . It bought back such fond memories of my crafting days with her. On a piece of A4 card place several items..a key, coin,string,ect. Place foil on top, covering the entire picture. Gentle rub over it with your fingers . Your picture is now complete.
11.Me Box
Help your child to decorate an old shoe box and start filling it with items that reflect your child. So , if your child likes to draw you could put in a favourite picture, or if they like sport a small ball, ect
12Gardening in a tire
This will lead us to hunt down an unused old tire or two this week. I think a nice bunch of Sunflowers growing in each should look amazing. You could also allocate each child their own tire and let them grow vegetables.
13.Sun prints
For this you will need dark construction paper , rocks to hold the paper down, a few small objects like a spoon/coin/key/ect and obviously the sun.
On a very sunny day place the construction outside, weighed down with the rocks ,and place your small objects randomly on the paper.
After several hours the sun will cause the paper to fade and when you lift up your objects the paper will appear darker to highlight the object.
14.Rock person
This is an old one and I am sure many moms will remember making rock pets and people.
Use yarn for hair (super glue works best to glue the yarn on). Paint your features with poster, pva or acrylic paints.
15.chocolate leaves
For this you need to melt chocolate and dip a non poisionous leaf in.I have mint growing outside my kitchen in a pot and so we will often use those leaves. Leave the dipped leaf on wax paper to set. Gently peel off the leaf from the hard chocolate when set.
16.Obstacle course
“For this we will have the older Sunflower brood set up an obstacle course in our back yard that the younger children can run through. I see several puppies following.” These were often made from climbing over or under the garden furniture.
For Hamish I set up inside obstacle courses using pillows, his tent and the couches.
17.BEAN BAG TOSS
On a large sheet of card write the 26 letters of the alphabet. Use bean bags to toss at the letter.
Little ones can identify the letter.Older children could hit the alphabet in sequence from A-Z or Z- A, they could only hit vowels or only hit consonants.
Allow them to hit the letters of their name or use for spelling…hit the letters of a word.Try to call out a letter and have the child hit that letter,
18.Bug feast
Set out in your garden some salt, sugar, oats, syrup, seeds, crumbs and potato peel.
Sit quietly and watch which bugs eat what.
19.Cloud pictures
This is one of my favourite activities. As a young girl many of my happiest hours were spend lying on soft cool grass or sun warmed beach sand watching the clouds and imagining the mystical creatures, waiting for a glimps of my unicorn in the bright blue sky above.
Enjoy lying on the grass with your child and prehaps bring back a little of your own childhood magic.
20.Saving ideas
Use this as an ongoing saving idea to teach your children how to save their money .
Lable coffee cans, that have a slit cut in the lid, with:
5c
10c
20c
50c
R1
R2
R5
Have the child place the coins in the correct can.Exstend this to counting activities by counting the totals of the can, ect,
Also good for estimation, adding, subtraction, and working with change.Use the contents of the full cans to treat your child to a day out or an for an ice-cream treat.
21.Learn to hula hoop
Did you know the first hula hoop came out in 1962? Why not grab one for you and the kids and teach them to hula?
22.Build a block tower .
How high can you go? Be as creative as possible. You can use a variety of different blocks. Hamish loves to make towers with his soft blocks but you could also use wooden blocks or plastic construction blocks.
23.Have a family picnic
These were always a favourite in our home. Just lay down a blanket and fill it with snacks. Our favourite time to picnic was when it rained and the children would have a large indoor picnic.
24. Paint or draw
Drawing and painting kept my children busy for hours. We had a special drawing box full of different crayons, pens, markets, stamps and stencils. They were able to go to the art box whenever they felt inspired.
25.Make a family scrapbook
This is really easy. Take a large exercise or scrapbook and paste in photos of your family, drawings, momentous from an outing or special event. Place them low enough for the children to page through.
26.Play a game from your childhood
I love introducing my children to games I played as a child. Often it’s new to them and they are usually captivated by them.
Try:
Rock, paper , scissors
Tic, tac, toe
Eye spy
Clapping games
Jump rope with elastic
Egg and spoon races
Potato sack races
Bopping for Apple’s
Charades
27. Have a board game evening
What are your children’s favourite board games? Give each child a turn to pick which game to play.
28.Make potato prints
Cut a potato in half , carve out your shape . Dip in paint and print.
29. Go on a family nature walk
You don’t need to be in a park or a game farm to do tjis. You could just walk around your neighbourhood. Take notice of the leaves, trees, bugs and animals around you.
30.Make a popcorn string
Pop a pot of popcorn and thread onto a long string of thread .
Most importantly, which ever activity you do … Have fun !
Thank you for reading. I’d love to hear more about your experience as an older mom.
