Fluffy Snow Paint Recipe Fluffy Snow Paint Recipe: Equal parts school glue and shaving cream. Stir well with a plastic spoon or craft stick. that s it! Optional add a bit of glitter glue for a sparkly effect. No need to measure, just eyeball it. Invite the kids to paint snowy landscapes or other scenes on colored card stock paper!
1. Fold a square piece of paper in half along the diagonal to form a triangle. 2. Fold the triangle in half again to make a smaller triangle. 3. With the 90 degree angle of triangle pointed down, fold the right 1/3 of the triangle over. Press it down lightly, but do not crease yet. 4. Fold the left 1/3 of the triangle over, again pressing down lightly. 5. If necessary, adjust the folds so they line up with the sides of the triangle. Crease the folds. 6. Cut across the top of the paper to even out the layers. 7. While still folded, cut varying shapes from the edges of the triangle. Gently unfold the paper to reveal your unique snowflake! Homemade Silly Putty 2 parts white glue 1 part liquid starch Small mixing bowl Airtight container
1. Combine glue and starch in a bowl and mix well. 2. Let dry until the putty is workable. 3. You may have to add a bit more glue or starch. (This may not work well on a humid day.) 4. Experiment! 5. Store in an airtight container. Write a Story one word at a time Create a story, taking turns writing one word at a time. See where the imagination goes! Homemade Clay Recipes Use the following recipes to make clay that can be rolled or shaped into sculptures. Some clays should be dried overnight, while others are best baked in an oven. When hard, sculptures can be decorated and preserved with acrylic paint or finish. Modeling Clay 2 cups salt 2/3 cups water Saucepan 1 cup cornstarch 1/2 cup cold water 1. Stir salt and water in a saucepan over heat 4-5 minutes. 2. Remove from heat; add cornstarch and cold water. 3. Stir until smooth; return to heat and cook until thick. 4. Allow the clay to cool, then shape as desired. 5. When dry, decorate with paint, markers, glitter, and so on. 6. If you like, finish with clear acrylic spray or clear nail polish. 7. Store unused clay in a Ziploc bag. Bread Clay 6 slices white bread, crusts removed 6 tablespoons white glue 1/2 teaspoon detergent or 2 teaspoons glycerine
Food coloring Paintbrush Equal parts white glue and water Acrylic paint or spray or clear nail polish 1. Knead bread with glue plus detergent or glycerine until the mixture is no longer sticky. 2. Separate into portions and tint with food coloring. 3. Let your child shape the clay. 4. Brush the sculpture with equal parts glue and water for a smooth appearance. 5. Let dry overnight. 6. Use acrylic paints or spray or clear nail polish to seal and preserve. Baker's Clay 4 cups flour 1 cup salt 1 teaspoon alum 1 1/2 cups water Food coloring (optional) Large bowl Cookie cutters, drinking straw, and fine wire (optional) Baking sheet Fine sandpaper Plastic-based poster paint, acrylic paint, or markers Clear shellac, acrylic spray, or nail polish 1. Mix flour, salt, alum, and water in bowl. If dough is too dry, knead in another tablespoon of water. 2. Dough can be colored by dividing it into several parts and kneading a few drops of food coloring into each part. 3. Roll or mold into ornaments. o To roll: Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters dipped in flour. Make a hole for hanging by dipping the end of a drinking straw in flour and using the straw to cut a tiny circle 1/4 inch from the ornament's o edge. You can also use the straw to cut more clay dots for use as decorations. To mold: Shape dough into figures such as flowers, fruits, animals, and so on. The figures should be no more than 1/2 inch thick. 4. Insert fine wire in ornaments for hanging. 5. Bake ornaments on an ungreased baking sheet for about 30 minutes at 250ºF. 6. Turn and bake another 90 minutes until hard and dry.
7. Remove from oven and cool, then smooth with fine sandpaper. 8. Decorate both sides of ornaments with plastic-based poster paint, acrylic paint, or markers. 9. Let dry and seal with clear shellac, acrylic spray, or nail polish. Makes about five dozen 21/2-inch ornaments. No-Bake Craft Clay 1 cup cornstarch 1 1/4 cups cold water 2 cups baking soda (1 pound) Saucepan Food coloring (optional) Plate Damp cloth Tempera or acrylic paints (optional) Clear shellac, acrylic spray, or nail polish 1. Combine cornstarch, water, and baking soda in saucepan; stir over medium heat for about 4 minutes until mixture thickens to a moist mashed-potato consistency. (For colored clay, add a few drops of food coloring to the water before it is mixed with cornstarch and baking soda.) 2. Remove from heat, turn onto plate, and cover with a damp cloth until cool. 3. Knead until smooth. 4. Shape as desired or store in an airtight container or Ziploc bag. 5. Dry sculptures overnight, then paint with tempera or acrylic. 6. Seal with shellac, acrylic spray, or nail polish. No-Bake Cookie Clay 2 cups salt 2/3 cup water Medium saucepan 1 cup cornstarch 1/2 cup cold water Rolling pin Cookie cutters Drinking straw Paint, glitter, and other decorative materials
1. Mix salt with 2/3 cup water in saucepan. 2. Stir and boil until salt dissolves. 3. Remove from heat. Add cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water and stir. If mixture doesn't immediately thicken, heat and stir until it does. 4. Sprinkle cornstarch on table and rolling pin. 5. Roll out clay and cut with cookie cutters. Use straw to make holes for hanging. 6. Let dry overnight and decorate with paint, glitter, and so on. 7. Remind your child that these ornaments are not edible! THREE IDEAS FOR INDOOR SNOWBALL FUN! You will need: Several sheets of white paper Hula-Hoop Laundry basket Ping-Pong ball Empty plastic soda bottle Crumple up the sheets of paper to make paper snowballs and try one or more of the following activities with the children: 1. Set a Hula-Hoop on the floor and try to toss the snowballs into the circle. 2. Place a laundry basket on a table and try to toss the snowballs into the basket. 3. Place a Ping-Pong ball on the mouth of an empty plastic soda bottle, then try to knock off the ball with the snowballs without knocking over the bottle. Kid-friendly card games Go Fish Age: 7+ Number of players: 2+ Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards How to play: Choose a dealer to hand out cards. If there are two or three players, each player is dealt seven cards. If there are more people taking part, each player is dealt five cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in a pile. This is the fish pond. Each player sorts their cards into groups of the same number or suit (i.e. group of threes or group of kings), making sure not to show anyone. The requester (person to the left of the dealer)
starts the game by asking another player for cards that will match his hand. For example, if the requester has two kings, he will ask the other player for kings. If the other player has these cards, he must hand them over. The requester continues asking the same player for more cards until the player does not have the cards he wants. If the player does not have the right cards, he can tell the requester to Go fish. The requester then has to take one card from the fish pond. The player who told him to Go fish becomes the new requester. Anyone who collects all four cards of a set (i.e. all four eights or all four Queens) puts them face down in front of him. The winner is the first person to have no single cards left, only complete sets. If two people run out of cards together, the player with the most sets wins the game. Crazy Eights Age: 5+ Number of players: 2-4 Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards How to play: In a two-player game, each player is dealt seven cards. In a game with three or four players, each player is dealt five cards. The rest of the deck goes facedown in a pile, with the top card turned up beside it. This is the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer discards a card from his hand that matches either the number or suit of the top card in the discard pile. For example, if the card is a five of hearts, he could play any heart or any five. If he does not have a matching card, he continues picking up cards from the deck until he gets one that is playable. Eights are wild and can be put down on any suit. For example, an eight could be played to match a heart. The next player must match their card to the number or suit that the eight was meant to cover. Play continues with players matching the card at the top of the discard pile. The first player to use up all his cards wins. If the deck runs out before the game is over, the discard pile can be used. Old Maid Age: 5+ Number of players: 2+ Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards is used, but with one queen removed. This leaves a pair of queens in one colour and a single queen (the old maid) in the other colour. How to play: All cards are dealt face down to players. Some players may have more cards than others, but this is okay. Each player sorts their cards into matching pairs of the same number or suit, keeping them hidden from other players. Players holding pairs of matching cards lay them down on the table face up. If anyone has three matching cards, he only puts down one pair and keeps the spare card. If anyone has four matching cards, he puts down two pairs. The player to the left of the dealer offers his cards to the player on his left, who cannot see them. That player selects a random card from his hand. If the new card he picks matches any of the cards he already he has, he can put down the pair. If not, he keeps it. He then offers his cards to the player on his left. This continues until all the cards have been put down in pairs, except the
Old Maid, which is left alone and cannot be paired. The person left holding this card is the old maid and loses the game. War Age: 6+ Number of players: 2 Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards How to play: All cards are dealt to the two players and kept face down. Neither player must look at their cards. Both players turn over the top card of their piles and put them face up in the centre of the table, beside the other player s card. Whoever has turned over the highest ranking card takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of his pile. This continues until two cards of the same value (i.e. two sevens) are put down together. The game is now in a state of war. To continue, both players take two new cards and put one face down on top of the card they have already placed in the middle and one face up. Whoever puts down the higher ranking face up card wins all six. The game is won by the player who collects all of the cards. Concentration/Memory Age: 3+ Number of players: 2+ Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards How to play: Older children can use the whole deck of 52 cards, but younger children may want to use fewer cards. Make sure the deck you use is made up of pairs. Shuffle and spread cards face down on a table between the players. Cards can be laid in a random pattern or in a grid. The object of the game is to find matching pairs. Players take turns turning over two cards and letting all the players see them and study them. If they are not a matching pair, try to remember what and where they are, then turn them back over. The next player turns over two cards. If they are a matching pair, that player removes them from the table and keeps them, and then has another turn. When all cards have been removed from the table, each player counts up the number of cards they have collected. The player with the most cards wins. Snap Age: 6+ Number of players: 2+ Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards. Two decks can be used for more than three players. How to play: Choose a card dealer. This player deals all the cards around the group until there are no cards left. Some players may have more cards than others, but this is okay. Players do not look at their cards but keep them face down in individual stacks.
To begin, the player to the left of the dealer turns his top card over and places it face up next to his own pile. The next player does the same. (Note: If a player runs out of face down cards, he can shuffle his face up pile and use them.) This continues until a player notices that two cards on top of the face up piles are the same, such as two jacks or two sixes. The first player to notice and shout out snap! receives all cards in both of the matched piles and adds them to the bottom of his face down pile. The game continues with a new player turning a card over. If two players shout snap! at the same time, they form a snap pool with the two matched piles of cards placed together in the centre. Play continues until someone turns up a card that matches the top card in the snap pool. Whoever shouts snap pool! first takes the whole pool and adds it to the bottom of their face down pile. If a player mistakenly shouts snap! he has two options: 1) give every player one card from his face down pile, or 2) his entire face down pile becomes a new snap pool. If a player has no more face up or face down cards he is out of the game. The winner of the game is the player with all of the cards. Pencil and paper games Categories Draw a grid on a piece of paper a square filled with smaller squares. The number of squares can vary, depending on the attention span of your child. Down the left side, put some letters of the alphabet (for example, you could spell out a child s name: LISA). Across the top, write categories for example, girls names, boys names, animals, colours, cars, places. You can make this harder or easier by changing the categories. Players take turns writing in words that fit the category and start with the letter in the left-hand column. (Next to the letter L, in this example, you might have Laura, Liam, lion, lavender, Lexus and Labrador.) Give extra points for words that nobody else thought of. Battleship For two players. Here s another popular game you can play without the official version. All you need is graph paper. Each player needs two grids. Label each grid by writing numbers across the top and letters down the side, so that the squares are easily identified as A8 or F5. One grid will be for locating your own ships, the other for recording shots against your opponent s ships. Each player places three or four ships on his grid, then let the guessing begin. The first person to sink all the other person s ships wins. Hangman Most people know how to play the traditional version of Hangman. But what about kids who aren t yet master spellers? Neal plays a variation suitable for pre-writers. We play it like 20 Questions I would think of something, and my son would have to think of yes-or-no questions to guess what it was, she says. Each time he got a no answer, I d add another part to the Hangman figure.
Dots and Squares Begin by drawing a grid of dots on the paper. Using lined paper or graph paper can make this a little easier. The first person draws a line connecting two dots beside each other. The second player then draws another line to connect another two dots. The goal is to be the person who draws the last side of a square. Then you put your initials inside the square (or some other abbreviation to claim your square). In some versions of this game, if you complete a square you get another turn. The player with the most squares when all the squares are drawn is the winner. Animal Charades Variety of stuffed animals Pillowcase 1. Place several stuffed animals in a pillowcase. 2. Close your eyes while your child takes one out and looks at it. 3. Have her put it back in the case and act out the animal, while you try to guess what it is. Memory Box Each set up a box with items inside that cannot be seen. Boxes can be made up of any material (cardboard, plywood, etc ). Take turns putting your hand inside the boxes without looking inside and feel what is in it. Allow a sufficient amount of time as this game encourages children to use other senses than their sight. See who guesses the most correctly. For younger children, make the object easy to determine (ex: banana, lollipop, book, etc ) For older children, make the object harder to figure (ex: cornflakes, rice, etc ) Tasting Game Taste testing a variety of foods and beverages is an exciting activity to stimulate and develop your young child s sense of taste. For food items, blindfold the child and have them taste test different foods such as fruits, vegetables, chocolate bars and candy. Try to identify each food after tasting it. For beverages, pour an assortment of different types of drinks, such as orange juice, apple juice and water, into glasses.