Crafts and Activities

Einstein is obsessed with Titanic (obsession takes on a whole new meaning when you have a child with Asperger’s!). I have long learned that it is best to just go with his current obsession of choice rather than fight it. April 14 is the anniversary of the day the Titanic sank and he wrote it on the calendar and wanted to know how we were going to commemorate that day.

I told him that we would do something, but as it got closer, I realized that that day I had a hair appointment and that night was The Husband and my date night, so I sat Einstein down and let him know that we would have to do something on Friday instead. In a very serious voice, he told me that Friday would work because the 15th is the anniversary of the day that Titanic first touched down on the ocean floor!!!

On the night the Titanic sank, they were serving a 7 course dinner in the first class dining room, so I decided to do the same for our Titanic party.  It may have been a bit on the ambitious side as I forgot to calculate that a 7 course plate service meal for 11 people would mean 77 dishes, so we were mixing and matching plastic plates with our fancy ones!

Here is the menu I made and cooked up for the evening:

The Husband made a playlist that included string quartet music (including the song the orchestra was playing while the ship sank) and songs from the Titanic movie, which we listened to during dinner and danced to.  I taught the kids which fork to use for which course and they sipped ginger ale out of wine glasses and loved that their napkins were folded into fans!  It was a very fun night!!!

Einstein, Snuggle Puppy, M., and Miss Optimism

Snuggle Puppy and Dancing Queen take a break from dancing in “the ballroom”!

(sorry M. about the eyes closed thing, but this is the only dinner picture I have of the “grown-ups table”!)

Dancing Queen, Granola Girl, and Einstein finish their salad course and sip ginger ale.  Note the crayons and Titanic colouring sheets for when boredom set in between courses!

Creating a family newspaper is a unique and fun idea that strengthens relationships, develops stronger writing skills, builds self-esteem, and creates a lasting family historical record.

Creating a family newspaper is a great activity.  It promotes family, togetherness, creative writing, and preserving memories.  A family newspaper can be worked on all together or you can assign different sections to each family member.  Simpler tasks, such as making comics, writing jokes or trivia facts, and drawing pictures can be given to the youngest family members, while the older children and parents take care of other sections.  Making a family newspaper can be done on-line, printed on the computer or written by hand.  There are no rules.  It largely depends on the purpose for making the newspaper.

Some families create an annual newspaper, complete with pictures and send it out to friends and family as their holiday letter.  Some homeschooling families see a monthly or quarterly newspaper as an effective and unique way to promote creative writing and teach about subjects such as advertising and record keeping.  Some families just make a one time family newspaper as a fun project to do together.  Whatever your reasoning, hopefully these ideas will make your family newspaper a success!

The possibilities with a project such as this are as limitless as your imagination.  Some ideas include comics, movie or book reviews, family news (such as which cousin is expecting a baby or what dad had for breakfast), community events, neighborhood happenings, weather, accomplishments of family members (a child getting a swimming badge, losing a tooth, or getting a driver’s license), big announcements such as births and engagements, sports (a recap of a child’s last soccer game), recipes, and crafts.  Having a child interview a grandparent or other relative can teach them a lot about history, ancestry, and family, and can be a great contribution to your paper.  You can also add crosswords, jokes, and family trivia for a laugh.  Adding pictures or drawings is visually appealing and will only enhance the look and overall interest of your newspaper.

Working together to create a family newspaper will also make a paper time capsule, a treasure for years to come.  Seeing their accomplishments, writing, and drawings in print will enhance your children’s self-esteem and reading about family history will help them to feel connected to something larger than themselves.  Creating a family newspaper is a great tradition to start.

This art project is one that my kids loved doing and the finished products were fantastic.  It was inexpensive to do and easy to adapt for kids of different ages.

Cut pieces of different shapes and sizes in cardboard.  This is something that older children can do themselves, but for younger children, you will want to have the pieces cut ahead of time.  You can use cardboard in a variety of thicknesses.

Provide glue (hot glue sticks work best but to use these, they will need to be supervised) and paint.

Have the kids layer pieces of cardboard to create the look they want.  It’s a good idea to show them pictures of actual African masks to give them ideas.

When the pieces are layered and glued on the way things want them to be, provide the kids with paint and have them use their imaginations to create the masks the way they want them.

This craft is also great to tie in to a homeschool lesson about Africa.  There are many books and Internet sites that can aid you in this lesson and the craft can be a fun way to finish off and to add a hands-on aspect.

On a cold and snowy day, the kids easily start to get restless.  These activities will help to keep away the winter blues and redirect all that pent up energy!

In my first Snow Day Activities post, I concentrated on indoor activities that kids could do when it was just too cold to go outside.  This time, I thought I would concentrate on winter activities that actually incorporate the snow.

Snow Art.  Fill spray bottles with water and a bit of food colouring.  Send the kids outside and have them create masterpieces just by spraying the snow!  This is so easy to do and one that can entertain from toddlers to teens and every age in between!

Snow Castles.  Using empty ice cream buckets, pails, sand toys, or moulds, the kids can pack the containers with snow and make snow castles instead of sand castles.  They can even add flags made from straws and paper to complete the look!

Back to Basics.  Sometimes we forget that the most fun in snow can be had by playing in it the way kids used to.  Making snow angels, building snowmen, making snow forts, making pictures on the snow with sticks, going tobogganing, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing are all things that are just as much fun now as they were when we were kids.  Snowball fights are fun too as long as there are ground rules set to keep it safe and fun for all.

Tracks.  Finding or creating tracks in the snow is fun and educational.  Have your kids try to find tracks in the snow and then using books or the internet, help them discover what type of animal made those tracks.  You can also have them play detective and try to figure out which family member made which human track by using clues such as foot size, treads, and weight distribution.

Bring Winter Inside.  When the temperature outside dips too low, bring the snow in for a fun change of pace.  You can do this by filling plastic buckets or even the bathtub with snow and then letting the kids use their imaginations to play.  They can use toy cars to make roads, make imaginary scenes using small toys or make “mountains” for their dolls to ski or toboggan down.

Of course a great way to end off a snow day activity is with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a snuggle under a warm blanket!

Today is way too cold to venture out, so I got to thinking about what indoor activities I could do with the kids to keep them (and me) from going crazy. Here are some easy ones that I came up with that could be made with household items.

Doll House or Castle.  Using empty boxes, help your child make a doll house or castle.  Imaginations, scissors, and markers are all you need.  If you really want to be creative, use scraps of fabric, pipe cleaners, and tiny boxes (such as match or toothpick boxes) to make curtains, lamps, and furniture for the house.

Faux Stained Glass.  Use up your broken crayon pieces by spreading out a sheet of wax paper and having the kids make crayon shavings on it using a pencil sharpener.  When they are done, fold the wax paper in half and iron it on a low temperature.  The kids can then make a frame for their creation out of construction paper.  They can make it look like a butterfly or a stained glass window.

Themed collage.  Have the kids create a collage using glue and pictures from a catalogue, magazine, or flyer.  Give them a theme such as “favourite things”, “foods that are healthy”, “things that fly”, “things that are red”, or “what I would buy if I had a hundred dollars”.

Masks.  Masks are a good way to change the mood.  They can be made using large paper bags, paper plates, stiff paper, or paper mache.  Feathers, glitter, sequins, ribbons, and beads can make the masks more interesting.  The kids can even then put on a play wearing their masks, which will help the hours pass more quickly on a rainy or snowy day.  If you don’t have supplies for mask making, face painting can also change the mood in the house and be used for make-believe.

Easy Shrinky Dinks.  Use empty small size potato chip bags or regular size chocolate bar wrappers.  Hole punch one hole near the corner and then place them on a baking sheet.  Put them in the oven at 325 degrees, keeping an eye on them.  They will shrivel and curl and then uncurl.  Remove from the oven when they are at least halfway uncurled.  Wait for them to cool.  They can then be made into keychains, zipper pulls, or jewelry.  Kids love this one!

For other great stay-at-home activities, be sure to check out these fun posts:

Creative Mail Ideas
More Snow Day Activities (outdoor)