Home activites for your kids

Does the thought of having your kids home for two weeks without school give you a little stress?  Do you wonder what you'll do with them, or more specifically, what they'll do with you?? Just kidding, hopefully they'll do nothing with you but fill your heart with love :D

My philosophy is that you as a parent don't need to resort to song and dance to entertain your children, rather you just want to provide a few things to jump start their imaginations and love for play that is already there.  They're kids after all!  (and by song and dance I'm talking about going to places where you have to pay and pay and pay out the nose for a few hours of 'entertainment')

Here are a few ideas that have worked for me that I hope might be useful for you or might give you an idea for something else you have handy. 

1.  Have some art supplies handy and structure the time they can use it if the mess stresses you out.  There are washable finger paints that are easy to wipe off of any table surface.  I've bought some inexpensive newsprint tablets of paper that the little ones can use as much as they want.  No fancy thick art paper, just a thinner type called newsprint.  There is a little plastic tub (with lid) hidden in one of my kitchen cabinets full of paint brushes, washable finger paints, a couple of trays of watercolors, and reused cans that I've saved from cooking to act as water cans.  Older kids know that they have to leave NO TRACE of their activity if I'm going to let them do it again, so they make sure to clean up really well.

2. Homemade Playdo (or the store bought type)  We set up at the kitchen table and use rolling pins, wooden utensils (like salad mixers, wooden fork), plastic characters from other toys (we some old Dora and Diego figures), and plastic toys like trees, animals, and other things you might have already.  You could make a jungle theme or any theme you want and set out the accessories that will give them a spark to work with.
Recipe for Homemade Playdo
5 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 T Alum (white spice you can find in grocery store)
1/4 cup oil
4 cups boiling water

Stir all together in a large mixing bowl.  You can separate the dough into smaller bowl and add food coloring.  Store in sealed plastic bags to keep fresh and moist.

3.  Have a sensory box.  The idea is to fill a container with dry materials that the little ones can sink their hands into and play in.  At preschools I've seen them at the kids' waist level so that they can walk up to the long table that is filled with sand or pebbles, rice, or soapy water at times.  Kids love to touch and move these things between their fingers.  At home, I found a tub that I could reuse and filled it with dry rice and green lentils.  Just yesterday I switched it out and filled it with different types of dry beans.  I used large white beans, black beans, red beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas.  Again, the big kids know to clean up completely, but for the toddler, well, I just brace myself and have the vacuum cleaner handy for when she's done.  I have used a beach blanket before for them so play on so that I could more easily shake out or throw away what got scattered out of the box.

Here is the updated box I just set up today and like more:

4.  Make fruit popsicles.  Ok, I know it's cold enough outside, but this is a quick and easy kitchen activity if you have anyone who is itching to make his/her own treat.  We poured our blend into these little containers that Nana gave us, but you can use ice cube trays if you want, too.

Recipe for fruit popsicles
1 cup frozen sliced bananas (it's ok if they're not frozen)

1 cup frozen strawberries, raspberries, sliced peaches or other fruit (we used the frozen tropical mix from Costco)

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (i'd use a little less)

¼ to ½ cup milk (dairy, soy, rice, almond, or coconut)
In a food processor, pulse fruit until coarsely chopped. I used my blender, not food processor.
Add milk a little at a time through top of processor, and puree until creamy.
Serve immediately, or freeze in individual-size containers for later.
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe is courtesy of: http://www.mothering.com/recipes/better-ice-cream

5.  Free up the garage.  Ours has tools and toys around the perimeter b/c my husband parks his car inside.  When it's too cold or wet to play outside we just move his car out and play in there.  Sure, it's not huge, but for most kids it is plenty of room to play ball, ride scooters/trikes, jump on a small trampoline, or just to run and play.  I've even taken one of the space heaters to warm it up a little more in there on the really cold days.

6.   Have some quiet activities on hand. 
a) The most obvious one is books from the library.  Why don't all of you sit on the couch with a few piles of books and just sit down and relax for an hour?  Make some hot tea or hot chocolate and enjoy reading together.
b) Remember playing Mad Libs as a kid?  I just ordered two books and they're a HIT!!
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Silly-Mad-Libs-Junior/dp/0843107588/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1324133457&sr=8-4
c) Latch hook kits.  Definitely for ages 8 and up.  Maybe even 9 or 10 and up.  Don't tell anyone, but my son is really into the one I got him.  It's a picture of a pirate ship.  He's loving it.  What a great quiet, focusing, and productive activity!
http://www.amazon.com/Caron-Wonderart-Latch-Hook-Kit/dp/B0017WEDA8/ref=sr_1_10?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1324133546&sr=1-10

I left out some big things like arts and crafts (glue, construction paper, etc..), scrapbooking, and bead activites b/c I figured those were obvious enough if you already have them at home. 

Alrighty, that's about all I have for now!