Im wondering if anyone has any great ideas on fun activities either games or crafts that i can do with my kids around the house something i can do with all of my children. My children are 1 and 3 and then every other weekend i have my fiances other 2 children who are 4 and 7. Anyone with any great ideas?
Thanks to all who have responded .. The ideas are awesome!
Hi M.,
My daughter really likes making those stepping stone kits that you can find in craft stores. She loves decorating them. Last father's day, we made one for each grandfather, and both of them are displayed in her grandfathers' flower beds. She loves seeing them when she visits and it makes her feel good that they like them so much.
Family Fun magazine also has a lot of craft and cooking ideas every month. www.livingreenathome.com
M., I would go to a web-site called kidzone.com. It is an awesome site for lesson plans, crafts, games etc. for all age groups! I now teach my son through their ideas on this site. It has been a blessing to us both. He has so much fun with the songs and crafts, but also learns when we do our name sheets on the tracer pages provided! AWESOME, REALLY!!
OOOO...so much fun. I love crafts!Giggles. Finger painting...collage's....stained glass.......Scrapbooking...home videos....karoke...scavenger hunts....decorating there own t shirts for a picture that you take....coloring a picture for grandma.....decorating a frame for a special pic.....Baking cookies"x-mas is soon".....gingerbread houses......i could go on and on....
not to sure where you are from but my 1 year old is in early head start and they come out 1 time a week and they showed me what i can all do with him, check into it i like early headstart they do wonders . thats all i can tell you
My children love to go on nature walks. They each take a bucket that they fill with "treasures". When we get home, I give them a large piece of heavy duty paper or poster board and they each make a collage.
We also have family night. One person is the guest of honor and gets to eat off of a special plate. We order pizza so there is very little clean-up. After dinner, we all get in our pajamas and watch a movie. The guest of honor gets to pick the movie. Everyone gets a turn being the guest of honor, even my husband and I. The kids love it.
With the holidays coming up, we are starting our holiday crafts. I buy craft supplies in bulk so that they can be used year to year. Crafts are fun anytime of the year. Michaels and AC Moore have a great selection.
My children love to bake. We make cookies. I have the older two measure and my younger one pour. They all love helping to use the mixer. The sugar cookies or mini cupcakes are fun because they can decorate them. Your step children may enjoy taking some of the treats home for later.
Going to a local park to explore is always fun and easy to do with the age range you have. My children are 8, 4 and 3 so I know how difficult it can be to reach each of them. When we go to the park we take the fishing rods, buckets, nets and a change of clothes for each of them. We really encourage them to explore, have fun and get dirty.
I hope some of these suggestions are helpful. Good luck.
Barbara
I believe one of the best activities you can do with your child is cook! Cook anything you want! Kids learn how to measure and read directions and in the end they get to eat the prize and really understand the roots of certain foods. Good Luck! Check out foodtv.com for recipes.
Little ones like to decorate sugaer cookies with sprinkles and gel writer icing. Messy but fun~!
And for the 4 and 7 year old. Save some big coffee cans and buy some cheap paint in the craft isle at walmart for like 44 cents. Let them paint Santa Claus faces on the cans. Then you can set them out during the holidays. The kids love that part too.
my kids love stuff a friend. it's like build a bear except without the drive to the mall http://www.stuffafriend.biz/members/kbearwith2cubs
I have found that toddlertoddler.com has a lot of good crafts and activities for young children. Make sure to check out the past activities as well. They have a virtual zoo and aquarium that my children love. As far as the older children, kidsdomain.com has a lot of good crafts. Hope this helps you.
story time at the local libraries. family fun time at the mall.
my daughter is 18months old and enjoys just dancing around the house listening to cds of children's music.
We do all kinds of things. I get magazines and make Holiday treats (ex. Melted Witches Brooms Puddles, Marshmallow witches). I also search on line for crafts. For Thanksgiving, my little one is going to make a turkey out of corks. Another craft she's going to make is napkin rings for the table for everyone out of that hard rubbery felt stuff. Family fun is a great magazine for ideas. Another for recipes is "Taste of Home" or "Country Cooking." They usually have some theme for the Holidays.
I used to watch my neice whom was 4, and my sons were 2 and 6 and they all enjoyedmaking things out of that foam kind of paper. I would cut out shapes like maybe a bear for each of them and let them use markers or stickers, to decorate them. I would also get the googly eyes and thingsbut i would assist them in gluing them on. They really enjoyed it because they were able to complete a projectby themselves with a minimal mess for mom.
