Crafts and Activities

How To Melt Crayons

This melting crayons activity turned out so well and was a great bang-for-your-buck activity ideas. Just for something to do, we made new crayons out of our old crayon bits. It didn’t actually cost anything, but even in terms of time and effort on my part in exchange for the value, it was so worth it.

You know how sometimes as a mom, you spend hours preparing for an activity (running from store to store tracking down the necessary supplies, doing any prep. that is too advanced for your kids, laying everything out, helping the kids with it, not to mention the clean-up) and it occupies the kids for all of about five minutes?! Well, those kinds of crafts or activities are not what I would consider good bang for my buck!

What To Do With Old Crayons

To make these crayons, I pulled out the drawer where we keep markers, pencils, and crayons and the kids and I rifled through it to find all the old crayon bits. Then we peeled off the paper. This took quite a bit of time, but somehow, it held their attention. It was very quiet in the room as they tried to get even the most stubborn labels off.

Next, we broke some of the larger crayons into smaller bits and I placed them into an ice cube tray. For some, I kept it all one shade of one colour, for others, I did a mixture of bright colours. I also made a camouflage one, one with whites, greys, and black, and one of blues and greens.

How To Melt Crayons

I put the ice cube tray of crayon pieces in the microwave and set it for a few minutes. I put it in many, many times and checked it every few minutes. I found that some brands of crayons melted much more quickly than others. Here and there, I stirred them with toothpicks. When they were more or less melted, I put them in the freezer.

When I took them out of the freezer, I popped the ice cube tray crayons out on the counter. The great thing about this activity is that it continued on after we made the new crayons because of course the kids wanted to colour with the new crayons. The blue/green one worked really well to make a water effect. Super fun and easy!

Note: I used an extra ice cube tray knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able to use it for ice again. I reasoned that since they are only $1 at the dollar store, it was worth the sacrifice. I kept the tray in case we decide to do this again as it was a great way to clean out the crayon drawer and have a little fun.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!

I’ve had two readers contact me to let me know that their ice cube tray melted in the microwave when they tried melting the crayons. One of them also had a fire start in the microwave after using sparkly crayons. Please use caution. Do not use crayons with glitter or shimmer in them. Set your microwave at a lower temperature and check it often. I’m assuming that some ice cube trays are made of thinner plastic than others and that is why this is happening.

More Fun Activity Ideas:

16 Toilet Roll Paper Crafts

Sensory Bottles With Instructions

60 Paper Plate Crafts

Playdough Play Mats

Paper Plate Banjo

By Sharla Kostelyk

We are spending a few weeks doing the letter “M”. This week, we focused on Music. We read “The Musical Life of Gustav Mole” and did a lot of corresponding activities. After I read it to the kids, I put the book and accompanying CD into the workbox rotation so that each of the kids had a chance to listen to the CD and read along. The CD included music from different instruments in the book.

I had bought a Gustav Mole game and the kids played it a lot. It taught about the different musical instrument families and there were various levels of difficulty (something we look for in games so that multiple kids can benefit from them).

I printed a lot of worksheets about classifying musical instruments and music terminology that I put in their workboxes to complete including a musical instruments mini book.

We made banjos and we had parades around the house using those and shakers and various other music instruments.

To make the banjos, we glued three beads to the top of a paint stick (got them for free from the hardware store) and attached (using packing tape) the stick to the back of two plastic plates stapled together. Then we “strung” three elastics across the plates. We also experimented with tightening and moving the elastics to see if that changed the sound.

This little guy (Gustav Mole puppet) was a lot of fun for the kids to find in their workboxes!

Family Fun Night – Minute to Win It

By Sharla Kostelyk

These Minute to Win It games are hilarious! They are great to play at home with the family or at your next party or group event. Fun for all ages! We had a Family Game Night with a Minute to Win It theme. It was extremely easy to come up with the activities.

This theme made the evening so much fun! We laughed a lot. It also worked really well for all the different age groups from our youngest child right up to us adults. One of the things that makes these games so versatile is that they can be used with groups of all ages.

For our party, I used a Minute to Win It party bucket, but it is no longer being sold, so I created a printable decoration kit for you that includes everything needed to host your own party.

Decorations:

The Minute to Win It Printable Party Pack includes:

Treat Bag Toppers
Cupcake Wrappers
Cupcake Toppers
Favour Bag Tags in two sizes
Straw Flags
Score Sheets
Game Directions for each of the games here and the games in our Dollar Store Minute to Win It night

Food:

I had planned to make cupcakes and number them from 1-12 and have them in the shape of a clock, but I ran low on time (ironic?), so we made mini cinnamon rolls instead. I made a variety of finger foods: veggies, surprise spread, tortilla chips, salsa, spinach dip, focaccia, crackers, cheese, and meat.

Other food ideas for this theme:

take the top layer off Oreo cookies and draw a clock face on the white part with black edible pen or icing.
make a veggie tray in the shape of a clock
fried cheese filled wonton clocks

Minute to Win It Games:

This was the really fun part of the night! All we needed was a timer and things that most people have around the house.

I did buy the ping pong balls, the Oreos, the Smarties, and the pantyhose, but everything else we already had on hand.

For prizes, I bought mini skateboards, parachute men, and let the kids keep a ping pong ball each. All told, the party supplies cost about $5.

Face the Cookie.

Supplies needed:

Oreo (or similar type) cookies

This game is also sometimes called Cookie Face.

Have each person place a cookie on their forehead and try to get the cookie into their mouth using only their facial muscles. No touching with your hands!

Einstein did it successfully. He was rewarded with bragging rights and finishing his Oreo!

Stack Attack.

Supplies needed:

36 plastic cups

This game consists of stacking 36 cups in a pyramid and then back down into a single stack. We have found that the red cups, like the Solo ones, work well for this.

The Ferrari came the closest to conquering this one in one minute, but even he wasn’t completely successful.

Movin’ On Up.

Supplies needed:

7-11 red or white plastic cups
1 blue plastic cup or permanent marker

(I love the look on Granola Girl’s face here!)

In this game, start with the blue cup on top of the stack of cups of another colour and stack the cups one by one until the first cup is on top again. Use 8-12 cups depending on the age and ability of those playing. If you don’t have a blue cup, you can mark the rim of one cup with a permanent marker and start with that one on top.

Junk in the Trunk.

Supplies needed:

empty tissue box
8 ping pong balls
adjustable belt or wide ribbon

This game is hilarious! With a tissue box strapped around the waist, the participants have to try to get out the 8 ping pong balls just by movement.

It was really funny to watch! We laughed so hard that it was difficult to keep the game going!

Fill an empty tissue box with 8 ping pong balls. Use a belt or ribbon to attach the empty Kleenex box to the player’s waist. Contestants can then shake, shimmy, bounce, jump, or dance in an effort to get all the balls out of the box.

Suck It Up.

Supplies needed:

Smarties, Skittles, or M+Ms
plastic straws
paper plates

In this game, players have to transfer Smarties or other similar sized candy from one plate to another using only a straw.

My kids were able to eat the Smarties afterwards which no one seemed to mind!

Penny Hose.

Supplies needed:

2 pennies
pantyhose

Players had to retrieve 2 pennies, one at the bottom of each leg of the pair of pantyhose. This is another funny one to watch. It’s more challenging to complete than it sounds.

Ping Pong Bounce.

Supplies needed:

ping pong balls
six cups

In this game, players have to bounce ping pong balls into six cups. Everyone was able to do it in the minute. It’s nice to choose some games that are a bit more attainable like this one so that people don’t get frustrated.

Mix in the easier ones with some of the more challenging games. This is especially true if younger children are playing.

Keep it Up.

Supplies needed:

feathers
bucket or bowl

In this game, players have to blow a feather from one side of the room to the other and land it in a bucket or bowl.

This one is much harder to do than it sounds like it would be. In our family, only our oldest son was able to do it successfully. It was awfully fun to try it though!

Yank Me.

Supplies needed:

index cards
plastic cups

This game was the hardest of the ones we tried. No one was able to do it in one minute. One of the kids was able to get close though. Maybe if you’re playing these games with a group of adults, you’ll have more luck.

To play, stack an index card on the top of the cup until there are five cups and then yank the index cards out to attempt to create a single stack of five cups.

It was a great family fun night! This was a very easy theme to plan around and it was one of the rare themes that worked well with the broad age range of kids that is represented in our family. It would be a great one to plan for family get togethers, family reunions, birthdays parties, or youth group nights.

Minute to Win It games are based on a former NBC TV show hosted by Guy Fieri where contestants would vie for prizes by competing against the clock in these type of games. They are easy to recreate at home or at the office.

Sign up for a free copy of our Minute to Win It Build Edition challenge cards. Use these cards to create an easy, impromptu games night. All you need is the cards and building blocks such as LEGO.

You can find other hilarious game ideas in our Dollar Store Minute to Win It Night. There, you’ll find Chocolate Unicorn, Puddle Jumper, Ponginator, Hanky Panky, Ball Drop, Breakfast Scramble, and Elephant March.

Our Christmas Minute to Win It is perfect for the holidays!

Or check out our Minute to Win It Thanksgiving Games for your family gathering.

If you’re looking for outdoor large group games to play at a picnic, family reunion, or camping, our Minute to Win It Camping Games are the perfect solution.

If you’re looking for more fun party games for family or group get-togethers, check out The Flour Game.

Another game that is so easy to set up and can be played with large groups and a variety of ages is The Bag Game.

Don’t forget to grab your Minute to Win It Party Pack!

Gingerbread Playdough Station

By Sharla Kostelyk

This week, we are concentrating on the letter “G” and I just couldn’t think of a great sensory bin to go with that, so instead, I made a Gingerbread Sensory Table. I have this awesome recipe for Gingerbread Playdough that looks and smells like real gingerbread dough. We make it most years before the holidays.

This scented gingerbread playdough smells just like gingerbread and makes such a fun Christmas sensory station. The only negative thing about this playdough is that it smells so good and the colour looks so much like true gingerbread dough that kids want to eat it. In fact, my great-niece was over last night and couldn’t resist tasting it!

I set out a rolling pin, a cookie sheet, 3 gingerbread cookie cutters, and a flipper (spatula) along with a large container of the gingerbread playdough. Our kids have so much fun pretending to bake gingerbread men. You can also set out items like yarn for them to decorate their gingerbread men. The playdough stays fresh for a long time as long as it’s kept in a tightly sealed container in between play sessions.

Gingerbread Playdough Station

Gingerbread Playdough Recipe:

5 cups flour
1 cup salt
6 Tbsp. oil
2 1/2 tsp. alum
3 pkg. unsweetened orange Koolaid
3 1/2 cups boiling water
6 Tbsp. instant coffee
1 Tbsp. each of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves

Mix Koolaid, flour, spices, alum, and salt in a bowl. Pour in oil and mix until crumbly. Combine water and instant coffee and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Keep dough in an airtight container.

This dough makes a great Christmas gift, especially if packaged with a few gingerbread cookie cutters and a children’s rolling pin.

We also have several other Christmas playdough themes that you may be interested in. I find that they are a great way to keep kids occupied during the holiday season while I am busy preparing food or cleaning.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Snow Playdough and Invitation to Play

Gluten Free Candy Cane Playdough

Learning Activities for the Letter “F”

By Sharla Kostelyk

This might be a bit long because I discovered that “F” is a great letter when it comes to learning. We studied frogs, firemen, flowers, and fish. We didn’t do an extremely in-depth study on each of them, but I think that the kids will still remember much of what we learned and they had a lot of fun!

We had a Fancy Nancy day. You can read all about the activities, crafts and food here.

I had gotten these feet shaped cardboards in socks awhile ago and saved them for this week. The kids made them into flip-flops by coloring them and hole punching then stringing yarn through them. They loved this activity and it didn’t cost anything. Also, foot and flip-flop are great “f” words!

For our fish day, the kids did a number of fish activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

They read 2 Rainbow Fish books and made this activity to go along with the Rainbow Fish idea.

The kids glued sequins onto fish shaped paper frames.

Making these flower mini books was a great way to reinforce colour concepts, especially for my younger kids. Plus, everybody loves mini books!

I love this worksheet from 2 Teaching Mommies because the kids thought it was just so funny (“a flower doesn’t need pepperoni pizza…that’s so silly!”), but I think because of that, they will really remember the talk we had about what flowers do need and why.

This cut and paste worksheet is also from 2 Teaching Mommies.

I made a flower muffin tin lunch to go with our theme:

-blueberry brown sugar flax cookie topped with an organic maple arrowroot cookie
-bread cut in flower shape and baby tomato
-sweet potato puffs
-apple strawberry puffs
-Greek yogourt with sprinkles
-babybel cheese with a heart cut-out

As a fun kick-off to our “F” week, I made these frog sandwiches. The kids thought they were awesome! They are super easy to make.

I also made another muffin tin lunch for the letter F.

-fettucine alfredo
-foot shaped cheese
-fish crackers
-F shaped bread
-fish fruit snacks
-fruit cocktail

The frog life cycle – I had these plastic models of the frog life cycle and the kids enjoyed playing with them. I also printed off a puzzle from 2 Teaching Mommies detailing the life cycle.

cut and paste of the frog life cycle

In learning about frogs, we also had a frog sensory bin and read the books Frogs and Who Taught Frogs to Hop?.

My dad dropped off 5 hoodies from his work and the kids made up this game where they would wrap the hoodies down over their feet and curl themselves up so that they just looked like blobs and then they would have someone guess who was who. It was actually really hard to do! I was able to guess them all correctly, but it took a lot of effort. The Husband got almost all of them wrong! They thought it was hilarious!

These are some of the many things we did in workboxes this week. Fall number and letter practise with clothespins, letter “F” sewing, counting on numbered lily pads using frog manipulatives.

We did some fireman and firetruck do-a-dot sheets from Making Learning Fun and made this foam craft.

This week was also the beginning of November, National Adoption Month, so I wrote up a very condensed version of our five adoptions. I am also planning some great things over on my adoption website this month.

And the week was kicked off with Halloween, when I took the five younger kids to a local indoor carnival. They had a lot of fun playing old fashioned carnival games and getting to hold animals such as a parrot and a bearded dragon.

I have a rule that the costumes can’t be scary and this year, we had planned for Snuggle Puppy to be a robot, but after homeschooling Monday and helping Einstein make his Rocketman costume, I ran out of time to make a robot costume, so I got desperate and put him in his glow-in-the-dark skeleton pyjamas!

This picture I just have to include because it so depicts Snuggle Puppy’s eating preferences. He hates typical kids’ food like KD, but loves the fancy stuff and anything super spicy. On Tuesday, I took the kids to WEM and we stopped to eat lunch and he ordered this:

(the other kids had spaghetti!)

Our memory verse this week was “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

The kids finished Lesson 8 and started on Lesson 9 in Math U See, continued in A Reason for Handwriting, devotions, and started a new typing program that I am excited to review in a few weeks once they have settled into it. The kids also watched the movie “Degas and the Dancer” and we discussed Degas’ style of art.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

By Sharla Kostelyk

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the first board books I bought my oldest son. I have such fond memories of him on my lap, pointing at the pictures that it will always be a favourite book. I still have it memorized!There are so many activities that can be used with the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar that it was hard to pick just a few!

I found this great idea for creating a Butterfly Life Cycle here. We used dried pasta, beans, leaves, and twigs on a paper plate.

Our The Very Hungry Caterpillar themed muffin tin lunch tray included:

cucumber
rice cakes
cheese
meat
crackers
cupcake (the ones the kids decorated the day before when we read “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake“)

The kids used this circle muffin tin lunch to create their own edible caterpillars.caterpillar counting practise

The kids did caterpillar counting using pompoms (find the printables on Confessions of a Homeschooler). The kids had several other caterpillar activities in their workboxes from there as well.

caterpillar colours sheet from Making Learning Fun

butterfly craft using tissue paper

hungry caterpillar Do-a-dot pages

the very hungry caterpillar alphabet dot-to-dot from Making Learning Fun

butterfly colour-by-number from Making Learning Fun

If you are looking for butterfly ideas, we also did several others including butterfly life cycle stamps during our “Bb” theme week. We also raised our own butterflies in the Spring and did some accompanying activities for that.

The book easily lends itself to a variety of activities. Even a trip for an ice cream cone can be tied back to the book!

On the flip side of that, it can also be a book that you use to promote healthy eating. Talk to your kids about their food habits and eating how they were meant to eat. Discuss how eating a green leaf is healthy for a caterpillar and therefore, it’s what made him feel better.

This book is also excellent for teaching or reinforcing the days of the week. After you read it through once, you can read it again but have the kids shout out the days of the week as they come up.