Fun Activities for Kids

Happy New Year! We hope you had a fun holliday season and that you’re looking forward to what will come in 2011!

While you may have made a New Year’s Resolution for yourself, has your child? The American Academy of Pediatrics has a great list of healthy New Year’s Resolutions for kids, organized by age group, and we highlight a few below.

Preschoolers:
“I will clean up my toys and put them where they belong.”

Especially following an influx of new holiday toys, it can be hard for kids and parents alike to find “a place” for everything. Organize with kid-friendly Guidecraft Storage Furniture solutions!

5 to 12 years:
“I will try to find a sport (like basketball or soccer) or an activity (like playing tag, jumping rope, dancing or riding my bike) that I like and do it at least three times a week!”

Physical activity is so important for growing kids and sports sure help ensure that they get out and play multiple times a week. Not ready to purchase a whole set of lacrosse gear or sign up for a year of gymnastics lessons? Stock up on sports equipment for all ages from Franklin Sports like the Intermediate Volleyball Set so you are always set for outdoor fun.

13 years and up:
“When I feel angry or stressed out, I will take a break and find constructive ways to deal with the stress, such as exercising, reading, writing in a journal or discussing my problem with a parent or friend.”

Busy schedules and always being connected can cause a whole lot of stress for all of us. Teens and younger kids too can benefit from some unplugged “me time” with a journal.

See all the ideas for kids’ New Year’s resolutions at the American Academy of Pediatrics website.

The holidays are a perfect time to get creative and crafty. But as we all try to reduce clutter and preserve resources, isn’t it a good time too to find “fun” ways to recycle? Here are four fun, recycled craft ideas – for you AND your kids!

Martha Stewart’s Recycled Ribbon Chain utilizes ribbon from holiday packages. No special supplies needed: just glue and a stapler! This would be a fun idea for a birthday or bridal shower decoration as well!
TIP: If you want to use a particular color scheme, pick up one or two wide spools of ribbon at the craft store. Just a small amount of ribbon will make a whole lot of garland!

Have you been saving holiday cards for years, but unsure what to do with them? Repurpose them into these Recycled Ornaments! Add surprise dimension to a 2-D card with an easy globe ornament.
TIP: Consider purchasing a circle punch. You’ll be surprised at how often you use it!

Do you have any old scratched CD’s or maybe ones that were burned incorrectly? Use them to make reflective CD Photo Ornaments. As well as the CD, this is a good opportunity to use scraps of felt or paper.
TIP: See tons more uses for old CD’s here.

Now everyone has a few unpaired socks around, or at least ones that are ready to be retired! Did you ever think of making a Sock Snowman with them? This totally cute, no-sew project is even filled with rice to give the snowman its familiar round belly!
TIP: Use another sock as a hat, as illustrated in this example by Anneliese Lawerentz.

Short on supplies to make easy, recycled crafts like these? A simple way to have a variety of ribbon, felt, pom-poms, crepe paper, and other craft supplies without buying packs of each one is to pick up a Giant Art Jar Kit!

For more holiday-themed craft ideas, check out Martha Stewart’s Holiday Crafts for Kids slideshow. Also visit a whole collection of Recycled Christmas Crafts for Kids from About.com.

You might not realize how easy it is to create your own unique toys at home. It’s something that artist Joel Henriques is really good at. He shares lots of free templates for making cardboard toys, coloring pages and cute matching games on his blog, Made by Joel!

Joel’s toys aren’t complicated. He uses his children for inspiration and makes what he thinks they’ll like. In my favorite matching game of his, kids draw lines from scary Halloween cats to their matching shadows—simple, effective and cool! You can find the template here.

I recommend poking around his site. Here is a list of my personal favorite projects to get you started:

Paper Clip Finger Puppets

Miniature Zip Line Toy

Wall Hanging Cardboard Box Aquarium

Slotted Building Discs

Dress Up Drawings

All photos in this post are credited to and owned by Joel Henriques.

Our three-week tribute to Halloween continues with some festive recipes for a holiday party, school lunches, or a pre-trick-or-treating treat!

The first recipe we’d like to share is from one of our past Bloggers of the Week, Songberries. Her Chocolate Spider Web Cookies are chocolate sugar cookies with both chocolate and vanilla frosting!

Chocolate Spider Web Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup corn syrup
6 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 cups flour
extra sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl whisk the dry ingredients.
3. Beat the shortening and sugar in a mixer for 3 minutes. Beat in the dry ingredients. Drop by cookie scoop onto cookies sheets, flatten with a glass dipped in water, then sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
4. Frost with chocolate frostin (recipe follows). Pipe white frosting in a spiral. Drag a toothpick through to create the spider web.

Chocolate and Vanilla Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3-1/2 cups milk

Beat everything together except the cocoa powder gradually adding the milk until spreading consistency. Remove 1 cup and put in a baggie, snipping the corner to use to pipe the spirals. Add the cocoa to remaining frosting.

A perfect snack to enjoy before Trick-or-Treating, with healthy dried fruit in Halloween colors! Adapt to your favorites or what you have on hand. You can view some more Ghoulishy Healthy Halloween Snacks from WebMD.

Trick or Treat Trail Mix

Makes 9 (1/2 cup) bags

1 cup of pretzel sticks or mini pretzel twists
1 cup of reduced-fat cheese crackers (such as Reduced Fat Cheese Nips)
1 cup lightly salted roasted or party peanuts (or similar nut)
1 cup orange or black dried fruit (raisins or dried apricots or dried peaches)
1/2 cup Halloween M&Ms (optional)

1. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl and toss to mix well.
2. Use a 1/2 cup measure to scoop out 1/2 cup of the mixture into a zip-top or plastic bag. Tie the ends closed with orange and black curling ribbon or decorative wire.

Now, how about a festive concoction? Though its orange hue is just right for Halloween, this spicy beverage would be a fitting winter drink as well. Check out a plethora of Halloween recipes from MyRecipes.

Apricot-Apple Cider Sipper

Makes 21 cups

1 gallon apple cider
1 (11.5-ounce) can apricot nectar
2 cups sugar
2 cups orange juice
3/4 cup lemon juice
4 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a Dutch oven; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Serve hot.
2. For Apple Cider Sipper: Omit nectar. Makes 19 cups.

For a fun and creepy (but not too creepy) treat, take a look at these easy, Slimy Jell-O Snacks from Parenting.com’s Halloween Party Snacks.

Slimy Jell-O Snacks

Makes 1 jar or bowl

2 Jell-O flavors (contrasting colors like Lime and Apple)
3 gummy worms

1. Prepare a package of lime or apple Jell-O as directed and divide among 8-ounce mason jars or clear bowls, filling only halfway; refrigerate them until firm.

2. Prepare another Jell-O flavor, such as cherry, berry-blue, or grape. While Jell-O is cooking, place three gummy worms on top of set gelatin and let another hang over the lip. Pour second flavor over the worms, filling to the top; refrigerate.

Do you have any favorite Halloween recipes? Please share in the comments!

With about a month till Halloween, we wanted to share some fun craft ideas to extend the fun of this spooky holiday!

Spooky Eyeball Bucket
Ages: 5 and up
Materials: Plastic bucket, sandpaper, yellow construction paper, black marker, white craft glue, black craft paint, scissors
This bucket, adorned with construction paper-made eyeballs, is perfect for trick-or-treating!
[instructions]

Halloween Favor Boxes
Ages: 3 and up (for decorating)
Materials: Cardboard toilet paper rolls, paint, glue, decorations
Make festive favor boxes out of empty cardboard toilet paper rolls.
[instructions]

Pasta Skeletons
Ages: 5 and up
Materials: Dried pasta in various shapes, white glue, construction paper
This simple craft from Martha Stewart takes advantage of the different varieties of pasta available.
[instructions]

Pom-Pom Pumpkin Patch
Ages: 7 and up
Materials: pom-poms, wiggle eyes, felt, pipe cleaners, glue, scissors, wooden skewer
This fall-themed craft makes a great decoration all season long.
[instructions]

Pretty Paper Autumn Leaf Magnets
Ages: 3 and up
Materials: Cardstock, fall leaves, tissue paper, white glue, paper plate, marker, scissors, magnetic tape
Another craft not only for Halloween, younger kids can enjoy this project.
[instructions]

Peeking Goblin
Ages: 7 and up
Materials: Cardstock, color printer, scissors, utility knife
Your mini-blinds serve as the home for this spooky goblin.
[instructions]

Pumpkin Bird Feeder
Ages: 8 and up
Materials: 3-5 lb. pumpkin, pumpkin carving tools, twine, decorations, birdseed
This earth-friendly craft is literally for the birds!
[instructions]

Pumpkin Masks
Ages: 4 and up
Materials: Paper plates, yarn, glue, scissors, hole punch, construction paper, decorations
Enjoy one of six eco-friendly crafts available at the Go Green Blog.
[instructions]

Check out all of the crafty Halloween projects available from Martha Stewart,
Kaboose, and the Go Green Blog.

Last November in our blog, Kendra took a look at some amazing 3-D sidewalk chalk creations – true “street artists. Creating a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk is a perfect outdoor activity for a summer day.

A neat idea for a sidewalk chalk based activity that can be of interest to kids of many ages is to make a sundial! In the morning, find a spot where the sun is always shining, mark it, and from there you can keep track of the time throughout the day. At PreSchoolMama she uses the sundial to help her daughter know what meal it is time to eat.

Games can be tons of fun when played outside with sidewalk chalk, as pretty much any pen-and-paper game can translate to chalk-and-sidewalk. An example would be the simple “dots” game, ready to play after drawing a grid of dots. I also spotted some great ideas from Or so she says… like win, lose or draw, mazes, and playing “around town,” where kids can travel on their ride-on toys to the different locations they drew with chalk!

The place to be over Labor Day for sidewalk chalk fans is Sacramento, California for the 20th annual Chalk it Up! weekend. The highlights of course are the over 200 chalk masterpieces, including the “Community Squares” where the public can contribute for free. The yearly event in the state capital helps fund kids’ art education programs, and of course, provides a fun weekend for the young ones.

The 20 Sidewalk Chalks Set from Alex Toys is one of the several festive summer fun toys featured in our “Toys of Summer” Twitter giveaway! All month you can enter the contest via Twitter and we will announce a lucky winner in the beginning of September. Check out the details!

The photo of kids playing tic-tac-toe with chalk is from Limestone City Photography – follow the link to find some great tips for taking pictures of your kids at play. The cute child making a chalk creation was accessed from Flickr.