Daily Idea #46: Shadow Puppets

When I was a kid I remember many times trying to make shadow puppets; I could always do a duck and a butterfly and that was about it. For some reason, I haven’t made shadow puppets in years so I thought, “why not introduce this concept to my own kids and then see what they come up with?”

So get out your flashlights and make some shadows! Shine the light onto a blank wall and have another person form their hands into various shapes in between the light and the wall; what characters you can discover?

Here are some to get you started

Can you make these?

What about these?

Daily Idea #45: Ice Cream in a Bag

Happy Mother’s Day to all! To celebrate, today’s idea is one that you can eat as a treat 😋

I don’t normally love using pantry items in science experiments but this is my big exception. Ice cream in a bag has a delicious outcome and is much easier than you may think.

Items needed:

• Whole milk, heavy cream, or half and half

• Sugar

• Vanilla Extract

• Ice

• Kosher salt or ice cream salt (the kind that has bigger crystals— although we have used regular salt and it works as well)

• Plastic freezer bag

• Plastic container

• Spoons and bowls

• Sprinkles (optional but fun!)

How to make ice cream in a bog:

1. Fill your plastic container with ice.

2. Sprinkle about 6 tablespoons of salt over the ice.

3. In the plastic bag, pour 1 cup of milk/cream/half and half (whichever you are using), 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

4. Close the plastic bag getting as much air out as possible.

5. Place your bag inside the container with the ice (top with more ice if needed).

6. Shake! Take turns shaking the container for about 10-15 minutes until the consistency of the milk turns into more of a solid. You can check the consistency by removing the bag from the container and gently squeezing the bag.

7. When it reaches your desired consistency, divide among your bowls, add toppings, and enjoy!!!!

Daily Idea #44: Flip Book

My husband found this video on YouTube a few days ago and we’ve all been obsessed with experimenting in making some of our own flip books. They are actually pretty easy to make and a lot of fun when working together.

We didn’t have a light board

So we used a window

Daily Idea #43: Gratitude Hunt

Sometimes we need little reminders of the things for which we can be grateful. Right now, finding those small victories is difficult.

I found this gratitude hunt to follow not only for your children but for you as well (thanks to teacherspayteachers.com for the great resource!) to fill out and hopefully see the small things for which we can all appreciate.

With some art

For those that want a little extra art that goes a long way in improving our mood

Make it your own

For those who want to create their own piece of artwork

Daily Idea #42: ABC Hunt

We’ve been going on many more walks as a family recently (can’t imagine why) and my kids will often start complaining about 3 blocks from home that they are bored or tired or whatever else they can whine about.

So we started playing the ABC game. The only rule of the game is to go in alphabetical order and find things on the walk that start with each letter of the alphabet.

The first few are easy but when we start getting into the Q, R, S portion of the alphabet the kids (and my husband) get really into it!

Daily Idea #41: HIIT it up

I don’t know about you, but my kids behave better when they they aren’t sedentary. We’ve been pretty good about moving and getting energy out but this looks like so much fun!

7 Minute HIIT workout for kids

Do each movement for 45 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds. See how many you can do.

Daily Idea #40: Dress Up

Since we are celebrating a birthday in our house today we are going to do what the birthday child loves the most: DRESS UP!

Get some accessories, make a cape out of a towel, use whatever you find around the house that Isn’t a daily basis object and have fun with it.

Let your kids wear your clothes and be you for the morning, or have them decorate a crown; There are myriad ways to use the things you have on hand if you use your imagination and let your kids lead the charge!

As always, have fun!!!!!

Daily Idea #39: Sun Art

I hope it’s sunny where you are today because today’s activity involves the sunlight. And if it’s not sunny, then save this for a better day :)

I don’t care how old you are, science is always fascinating. Today we are going to see what sunlight does to color. All you need is construction paper and some flat items (coins, paper clips, q-tips, leaves…)

Take a bright piece of construction paper and lay your items however you’d like spaced out on top of the paper— this not only keeps the paper from blowing away with any light gusts of wind that might flutter by but you’ll see how the sun bleaches the light from the paper as the day continues.

Leave the paper alone for the day. At the end of the day remove all the objects and observe what is left!

Daily Idea #38: Campout

It’s Friday! That means no classes tomorrow! Because Saturday is our full day of rest (no TV, no iPads, no electronics…) we are setting up a campout inside.

I am not a camping type person; I don’t like sleeping on the ground and I don’t like sleeping outside. However, my kids have been asking to take out their sleeping bags and sleep in our backyard. As a compromise, we are going to set up their sleeping bags on the floor of their room (this way I do not have to sleep on the ground outside with them).

They are going to create their own version of outdoors inside by making pretend bats, trees, the moon… I am letting them take charge in decorations and we may even try to roast marshmallows before sunset!

Daily Idea #37: Z, Y, X

Have you ever said the alphabet backwards? What about writing it backwards? We all know the alphabet forwards! For today, take a challenge. See who can write the alphabet backwards without making a mistake on the order of letters the fastest.

If that’s not enough of a challenge, try getting a blindfold (or just have each person close their eyes) and write the alphabet forwards without making any mistakes. You can try to write the names of your family members and even draw a picture of each person all with your eyes closed or covered.

Daily Idea #36: Mother’s Day DIY

Mother’s Day is less than 2 weeks away and while you still have time to order something, it’s always nice to get a thoughtful handmade craft in the mail (or on the door step if you live close to your mother).

I did this for my mom when I was in highschool and she always comments on how much she loved it, so we are all going all in and doing it again.

Make a care package for your mother/grandmother! With your children, think of the various things you like to do while relaxing— reading magazines, burning scented candles, taking a bath with bath soaps/ salts/ bubbles, polishing your nails, etc…

Have an adult head to CVS or Walgreens (safely, with masks and obeying the 6ft rule) to pick up the supplies you thought of for your care package for your mother/grandmother.

Assemble the package with a handmade card from everyone and if you live close to your mother/grandmother you can drop it off on their doorstop on Mother’s Day or, if you are like me and live far away from your parents, you can send it in the mail.

Daily Idea #35: Blackout Poetry

We (my family and myself) are trying something new today.

I don’t like defacing books so I am going to photocopy the pages we will use but if you have old books from which you don’t mind ripping out a page or two, then go for it.

Pick a page out of any book and circle 6-10 words that connect together to make a whole new sentence. Color or black out the rest of the words on the rest of the page; you can even black out the rest of the words with art or a pattern.

I am attaching the website here (https://www.teachkidsart.net/the-art-of-blackout-poetry)for you to check out the full idea and from where I got it.

Enjoy! Have fun!

Daily Idea #34: Money Wall

This game is one I have seen at different times for different reasons and today a friend of mine posted that he did it with his kids and I had to include for a daily idea.

The idea of the game is that you give each of your children a piece of paper. They then have to hold the paper to a wall with their face. Whomever holds their paper on the wall the longest wins. The one rule is that you cannot use your hands.

To make it even more fun, have them each use a dollar and whomever wins gets to keep all of the dollars.

Daily Idea #33: Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Welcome to Sunday! Let’s have some fun today; the Ha Ha game was always a favorite of mine and brings out the giggles (or the hahahaha’s). This game is best played with everyone in the family.

Have everyone lay down with their heads on each other’s stomachs. (I.e. I lay down on the floor. My daughter then lays down on the floor and puts her head on my stomach. My son then lays down and puts his head on my daughters stomach. My husband then lays down and puts his head on my sons stomach…)

The first person starts by saying, “HA!” The second person then says, “HA! HA!” The third person says, “HA! HA! HA!” Keep going adding another HA! with each person until you can’t hold the giggles in any longer 😂

Daily Idea #32: Educational TV

We’ve made it to the end of another week. And most of us have gotten word that brick and mortar schools are a no go for the rest of the year. So let’s learn something— and lets make it easy!

Go to pbskids.org and have your kids watch the following episode of Wild Krafts: Mystery of the North Pole Penguins.

It’s just under 30 minutes (yay for educational TV!)

When they are finished have them color one or more of the following worksheets. For older children, have them write a few sentences about the episode on the back of the coloring sheet. And finally, have them present what they colored or what they wrote to you.

Daily Idea #31: Send a Little Love

We miss our village! It’s great to be connected online and to “FaceTime” or “Duo” but it’s definitely not the same.

We decided to make heart hugs to send to the grandparents as a keepsake as well as a way to say how much we miss them! So, choose someone (or more than one someone) to send a heart hug to and let them know how much you all miss them.

Materials needed—

Paper (we used various colors of construction paper)

tape/glue

scissors

markers

Fold the paper in half and draw half a heart. Cut the shape out and unfold it to reveal your full heart.

Make the hand prints

Help your child(ren) outline their hands. Older children can cut the hands out themselves. Younger children may need help with this step.

take strips of paper about 1 1/2 inches wide and 11-12inches long and fold them like an accordion.

Write your message on the hands

We chose to write “I MISS YOU” on the left hand and “THIS MUCH” on the right hand.

Attach the arms and the hands with tape. Draw a face on the heart (we had googly eyes to glue on) and have your child sign it.

Daily Idea #30: Color Scavenger Hunt

My kids love finding things around the house— whether it belongs to them or not. They also love to squirrel away tiny keepsakes. With all that in mind, today we are going to have a scavenger hunt to find these things around the house.

First, make a color chart. You can either write the color (for the older child) or simply color a square patch on a paper (for the younger child who can’t read yet) of the various colors of the rainbow; include black, white, grey and any other colors in the spectrum you’d like.

Give the kids a paper bag or a small box/bucket and a 15 minute time limit to see how many small things they can find of each color and bring back to show you. At the end of the time limit have them pick one thing they would like to tell you about and why they chose that item.

Daily Idea #29: Fitness Fun

As I was looking around for today’s activity, I felt that we could all use some “get up and go” movements. I found this “spell your name workout” on a blog and immediately thought that this was the perfect activity to get us up and moving while still being in isolation.

Here is the link for the printable sheet along with her own description of the activity: https://www.730sagestreet.com/spell-your-name-workout/

Following the prompts on the sheet from the link, spell your name and with each letter do the motion or activity that corresponds to that letter. Simple, fun, energy burner.

Daily Idea #28: Feelings Journal

We’ve all been schooling at home for over a month now and it’s been quite a journey. I know my own personal emotions have been all over the place and sometimes it is difficult to see how many good days I’ve had when they all combine into one.

We are going to create a visual feelings journal to help separate the days and actually see what each day brings.

Items needed—

Graph paper or a paper that you can make enough squares on to complete the school year

pencil

colored pencils or markers

1) set up a grid with each day from now until the end of the school year (I.e May 18th or June 15th)

2) make a key with various colors and the emotions they represent (blue= calm, yellow= happy, red= angry, purple= sad…)

3) at the beginning of everyday think back to the previous day and remember your overall feeling. Color in the square for that day with the color that best fits the emotion.

Daily Idea #27: No Mess Tye Dye

Tye Dying was always an exciting day at camp; the blank T-shirts turning into beautiful works of art always fascinated me. But let’s be honest, it is messy and as an adult, it’s an activity that I loathe!

Why not bring the fun back (while keeping it fairly mess-free)?

Things you’ll need—

baby wipes

hair ties or rubber bands

Washable markers

Tie up the baby wipe

Take the square baby wipe and fold it into a rectangle or a triangle (experiment with different ways to fold it). Tie off as many sections as you’d like with the rubber bands/ponytail holders.

Color it in

Color the different sections with whatever colors you’d like.

Really get in there

Make sure you really get in the cracks with your markers.

Take the bands off

Take off the rubber bands/ponytail holders and open up the baby wipe to reveal your Tye Dye creation.

Make a bunch!

Try different ways to tie off the wipe and use different colors to Tye Dye. Let them dry and hang them or send them as a gift to someone.