Indoor DIY Felt Snowman

For some reason kids love felt. I don't know if it is the texture or what that attracts them but they seem to enjoy it. If you find yourself trapped indoors due to the cold or you are just looking for some indoor activities this is a fun one that is simple but little ones enjoy. 

You can make this as big as you'd like. If you had a felt Christmas tree for kids to decorate at Christmas this can take it's play and be the size of the small trees or it can be small the size of a 8 1/2x 11 piece of felt. That is the size of mine here.

Simply purchase felt pieces or dig through the scraps that you already have on hand. He does not have to be perfect. I used one ivory piece and then scraps of red, yellow, black, and brown. 

Tell the kids you are building Olaf from Frozen. I have not seen the movie yet but heard he was quite funny!

Instructions and Suggested Uses Follow:

                              2 circles make the head and body

2 small circles make eyes, 3 larger black circles make buttons.

Scraps of brown make a hat and two arms

Small piece of yellow (I did not have orange) makes a carrot nose.

Long skinny piece of red or any color makes a scarf.

Snowman is complete. 

Ideas for Use:

• Put his pieces in the travel size wipe containers and stash him in your diaper bag for portable entertainment.
• Make  a snowman family that little ones can make and mix and match pieces as they would like.
• Put magnets on the back and he can be built on a chalkboard wall or your fridge. 
• Use him to teach little ones shapes and/or colors as you build. Find the biggest circle. Find the square for the hat. Find the rectangle for the scarf. Find the triangle for the nose. 
• Hide the pieces in a room and see if kids can find the pieces and put him together. 
• Use at the end of a lesson of any kind and ask questions. With each correct answer kids get a part to build. Make two and have teams.
• Make it a little smaller and turn it into the pages of a quiet book. A little pocket can hold all of his pieces and kids can pull them out to build on road trips or in places when they need to be quiet.

If you have any other ideas I would love to hear them! What do you do to keep your little ones busy in the winter?

David and Goliath "Stone Throw" activity for Kids

Another week and another Bible Story activity for your little ones!

I purchased a shower curtain from Walmart for $2.97 or less I can't remember the exact price. I then drew a picture of David and Goliath on the curtain. (Don't look too closely I'm not an artist.) 

My plan for a simple family activity is to read the story of David and Goliath found in the Old Testament (1 Samuel Chapter 17). Afterward we can talk about Goliath and his size and how David was able to defeat him. 

For the activity kids can use wadded up pieces of paper or small balls to see if they can hit Goliath as well. Have older kids stand farther back. You can ask questions before they get a chance to throw or you can just let them have a turn. Whatever works for your family.

The shower curtain can be placed over the shower rod in the bathroom, over a stair railing, on the back of the couch, between two chairs. Basically anywhere you can prop it up.

Make your own Ocean In A Bottle

Ocean in a Bottle

I have found that most often the most simple of activities and games are what kids love the best. This is one of those cases. Make an ocean in a bottle for a pirate, mermaid, or ocean themed party or to just experiment with how waves work. Kids love to play with this and look at the oil water and how it moves. 

The how to is from TLC family- I've included the link at the bottom. The green pictures are the one I made myself. Have fun!

What You'll Need:

• Clear soda bottle
• Funnel
• Water
• Cooking oil
• Blue food coloring
• Glitter

Step 1: Using a funnel, pour 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of oil into a soda bottle.

Step 2: Put the lid on tightly, and shake the bottle vigorously to mix the substances.

Step 3: After shaking, put the bottle down and let it sit for a few minutes. What happens to the oil and water after you mix them?

Step 4: To turn your experiment into an ocean display, remove the top and add enough water to fill the bottle 2/3 full.

Step 5: Add a few drops of food coloring and some glitter, and shake the bottle gently to mix in the color.

Step 6: Fill the rest of the bottle almost to the top with oil.

Step 7: Put the top back on tightly, and gently tilt the bottle back and forth to create an ocean wave effect.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/science-experiments-for-kids10.htm

Teaching Kids Numbers, Letters, and Colors

Little Learners Games

Little Numbers

Number Matching

I needed a memory game last week for some 8 year olds and ended up writing with a Sharpie on the back of popsicle sticks for it. As I was making their game I thought it would be so easy to make a matching game for younger kids who are learning their numbers, letters, words and/or colors. Here the number 7. Have children find all the matches for 1 to 10.

Little Letters

Letter Matching

You can play as a true matching game where they turn over two at a time and try to find the match. Or for younger children you can place all of the sticks out on the floor and have them find the match. That would work especially well for capital and lower case letter matching. Here an example of Capital/Lowercase or just the letter A.

Little Readers

For children learning to read you can make simple words with the sticks and let them see that by moving the first letter in the word it changes the entire word. 

Learning to Read Matches

Little Colors

You can use this one for shapes or colors or both. Draw a shape on the stick so that children can see the color. Then write on the stick what the color is so they can get used to seeing the color spelled out next to the actual color. For younger children place all the sticks on the ground and ask them to find the blue circle or red rectangle etc. For older children turn all the sticks over and have them find the matches.

Find your colors and/or shapes

*Best thing about all of these is they can be kept in your purse or diaper bag so you can use them when you get stuck waiting somewhere unexpectedly.