Materials...

Brown construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Pencil
or
Regular paper
Pencil

Crayons

Directions...

Depending on the childs age you can either draw for the child or have the child draw his/her own shapes. Draw 2 ovals and a circle on brown construction paper (or you can draw on regular paper and color in with brown crayon.) Next let your child cut out the shapes and glue them to look like an ant. Last draw in the legs, antennas and face!

Fruit Shake - Nutritional Activity

Materials...

4 Medium strawberries

4 Orange sections

1/2 cup sliced banana

1 cup pineapple juice

4 tsp sugar

8 ice cubes

Directions...

Prepare all the items together with your child: washing the strawberries, peeling the oranges, peeling and slicing the banana, measuring the pineapple juice and sugar. Once all the ingredients are ready, pour it all into a blender and blend for about 10 - 15 seconds. Pour into cups and enjoy your nutritious treat!!

(makes 4 servings @ 77 calories per serving)

Turkey Handprint.. a classic!

Materials...

Paint

Marker

White construction paper

Directions...

Paint your child's palm and thumb brown. Paint the rest of the 4 fingers in different colors. Have the child open his/her fingers and place the hand on a white construction paper. Next you can have the child draw in the legs, eyes and the beak for the turkey!

If you would like to use other materials.. You can use just brown for the palm and thumb to make the hand print. Then you can use different colored feathers vs. the colored fingers. You can use a googly eye vs. the markers.. Get creative and have fun making the turkey!!

Measurement Hunt!

Materials...

masking tape (blue works best, but any color tape will work)

Ruler

Clipboard

Paper

Pencil

Directions...

Go around the house and put masking tape on 10 different items, using different lengths of tape.

For example, use 10inch masking tape on the door, 5 inch masking tape on the side of the table, 7 inch masking tape on the leg of the chair, etc. Make sure you place the tape straight so it can be easily measured. Number the sheet of paper from 1 to 10 and place it on a clip board. Encourage your child to go around the house and find 10 items labeled with masking tape. Then he or she has to write the name of the item and the length of the masking tape on the item. Give them a 12inch ruler to use.

If this is the first time your child is learning to use a ruler, be sure to demonstrate and help out with the activity so they get a clear understanding of how to line up the bottom of the ruler with the bottom of the tape to get an accurate measurement!

Have fun on your scavenger hunt!

Patterened Holiday Card!

Materials...

Pencil

Scissors

Weaved paper from the previous activity

White construction paper

Stapler

Directions...

Trace a heart shape on your weaved paper from the previous days activity.

Cut out the heart carefully while you staple the edges along the way.

Fold the white construction paper in half and glue your heart on the cover.

Open up your card and encourage your child to write greetings to a loved one.

If your child isn't big enough to write, have them tell you what they would like to write and you can write it down for them!

Have fun!

Christmas colors weaving pattern

Materials...

Construction paper (1 red, 1 green)

Scissors

Card board (cereal box works well)

Stapler

Directions...

Cut the construction paper in about half inch thick strips.

Cut out the card board to match the length of the strips.

Staple a green strip horizontally and then a red strip about half an inch apart.

Next staple green, then red until you run out of space. Staple on top and the bottom of the strips.

Then you can demonstrate how to use the remaining strips to weave going under and over the previously stapled strips of paper to make a pattern.

In the next blog we will turn this activity into a Christmas card! So hang on to your patterned creation!

Make your own ring toss game

Materials...

Heavy duty paper plates (as many as you like, we used 5)

Scissors

A soda bottle filled with water for weight. (we didn't have an empty soda bottle so we used it with soda still in it!)

Directions...

Cut the middle parts of the paper plates. And you are ready to play! Place the soda bottle on the floor and toss the plates trying to go on the soda bottle! Take turns and have fun!

A good way to make the game fair is to place a small tape on the floor to mark where each player needs to stand behind before tossing the rings!