HI all, Am looking for something fun to do that won't tear up my house. I have my grandchildren unexpectedly today. Don't have any activities planned and want something fun to do with 4yr old boy and 6 yr old girl that we don't have to leave the house with. I know this should be a no brainer but we moved recently and in the process sent all art stuff and toys to my daughters house for the kids to play with while we were in the process of moving. We should have got them back months ago but just let it slide. Now here we are housebound with not much to do. If anyone has any cool ideas that I can do without a lot of big mess would sure like to have them. Thanks
sherry
ps: have already planned the "going to the movies in the living room for later in the day let each kid pick a movie. thought we could do that at nap time. but they have been up and going strong all morning. and are now just walking with the "theres nothing to do thing going on"
Got some great ideas. Thanks. We opted for the making snowflakes and also making a book. They are so full of good ideas and so very creative. We are making them for the mom and dad and step dad (my son in law just got back from iraq and will be home to illinois soon. Also loved the idea of putting up the card table and making a tent. the 4 year old is already in it lol. thanks so much. i knew i could count on all of you.
sherry
You could have them help bake and decorate cookies, that usually takes a while. My 4 year old LOVES to help in the kitchen. He also loves to "help" clean and be mommy's helper with things that he thought just mommy did.4 year olds also love to play classic games like hide and seek and LOVE to be read to.
It's messy but you could make some salt dough and create paper weights.
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup warm water
Mix flour and salt and pour in the warm tap water. Knead the dough.
You can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to make the paper weights or you can just let them create something like a little miniture animal of sorts. Let air dry for 4 to 5 days or cook at 200 degrees for about an hour...I usually cook ours longer because we make our big.
Acrylic paints work great on these if you have any on hand...or can paint on another visit.
Do you have any bird seed? FamilyFun magazine has a cute craft where you make a birdseed cake to hang outside.
3/4 cup birdseed, 1 tablespoon flour, 2 tablespoons water....Spray or wipe a cookie cutter with oil and place it on a foil covered cookie sheet. Pack the miture into the cutter, inserting a half of a straw near the top to creat a hole for hanging. Bake the biscuit with the straw in a 170 oven until the biscuit is hard, about one hour. Let it cool. Remove the straw, thread a ribbon through the hole, and hang it outside in a sheltered spot.
Make some chili or soup.
Better Homes and Garden Junior cookbook from the 70's recipe
Brown 1 lb hamburger with one chopped onion and one chopped green bellpepper. Drain the grease.
Add one can tomato sauce. I like to add a can of diced tomatoes too. 1/2 teaspoon of Chili powder or more to taste. 1/2 Teaspoon salt. 1 can kidney beans.
Heat through and serve with shredded cheese and corn chips.
make cookies
play games on nickjr.com, starfall.com, and pbskids.com
Cornstarch Clay
* 1 cup cornstarch
* 2 cups salt
* 1 1/3 cups cold water
Put salt and 2/3 cup water in pan and bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch with 2/3 cup water and mix well. Blend 2 mixtures together and knead into clay. The dough has to be heated as it is combined to set. Makes about 3 cups. This clay can be air dried and then painted using food coloring. Store unused clay in airtight container in the fridge.
There's also Peanut Butter Dough
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1 cup instant nonfat dry milk*
Mix together until smooth. *For milk allergies, you may substitute flour for the instant nonfat dry milk. Note that some students may have peanut allergies.
Card games like Concentration-memory game, try to build a house of cards.
Do you have flour and water and newspaper paper mache'
Another thought, make homemade playdough! This is easy and fun and usually all ingredients are in the house. You can find any recipe on -line or email me if you need one at ____@____.com My kids, even thought they are getting bigger, still love the homemade playdough. Add food coloring for their color choice, cook, and whip out the cookie cutters. Fun for all!
Have fun!
D.
Shaving cream Shaving cream Shaving Cream! My kids love to play with shaving cream on the days we feel like there is nothing to do. Spray some shaving cream on the table or a placemat and let them play in it. It is that simple, have a bucket by the table or play close to the sink.
You can even make homemade play doh you can find lots recipes on the internet.
Make cookies for your movie party.
Build a tent with the table or couch cushions and blankets and play with flashlights.
Have a dance party, pretend to be robots!
Just have fun!
Good Luck!
J.
Since you own a candy business, do you have the supplies to decorate sugar cookies? (The colored sugars, non-peril sprinkles, etc.) Let them help you bake cookies. Add food dye to egg whites for different colors of "paint" and use corn syrup for "glue" (for the candies/toppings). Of course, cover your table with wax paper, so you can roll-up all the mess and throw away!
I know my post is late but... God bless you! Hope you had an awesome time...they are probably off Monday, too! Bet they love hanging out with you.
bake with them. cookies or cupcakes that they can decorate or mess with are the best. they will remember the fun and they really cannot do much to ruin it. they will also have fun consuming the results.
Have fun and God bless with the cancer fight.
Fold and cut paper snowflakes: just need scissors and white paper.
Print activity sheets off of free internet sites, like mazes, coloring pages, etc.
Do you have crayons? They could staple together a half dozen pieces of white paper and make books. Have them dictate the story. Write each line at the bottom of page. They can illustrate. Or if you have some photos laying around, tape photos into book and have them write about the photos, too.
Make an obstacle course or fort with pillows.
Bake something simple.
Do you have a tape recorder? They could put on a "radio show" where they tell jokes, interview you, talk about their favorite TV show, or you could help them read books into a tape recorder, then listen to them back.
Sock puppet show.
Talent show.
Good luck and stay warm!!
What about making cookies or making any kind of treat? That will take up some time. Can you play hide and seek? What about cutting up some magazines and making some type of collage? You could put some water in the kitchen sink and let them splash around. Another fun thing to do (it's works better if you have a tray) is to put some shaving cream on a tray and let them put their hands in it and make piles with it. That's all I've got.
