Daily Activities for Kids

Easter Basket Stuffers for Boys and Girls

papaya42 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:32:38 +0000

If you are finally getting the chance to shop around for the perfect Easter basket items for your little girls or boys, here is a list of some of our favorite toys and candy for the Easter basket. Don’t forget the Easter grass, which is a great way to fill in the gaps. Instead of using the plastic grass, try using paper Easter grass–it is better for the environment and can be added to the compost bin!

Easter Basket Ideas for Boys
Little boys can be easy to please on Easter morning. Here are a few ideas for their Easter baskets…

Toy airplanes and wooden gliders
Presidental dollar coins (put them into some plastic Easter eggs)
Easter peeps (there are so many different varieties now!)
Soft sports balls to play with in the house
Bakugans or bey blades
Outdoor beach toys such as pails, shovels and sand sifters
Toy cars
Kung Zu pets
Marbles
Baseball or football cards
Eggs filled with cereal (for morning breakfast!)
Easter picture books
Webkinz pets
Silly bandz
Magic Beanz

Easter Basket Ideas for Girls
Girls love to get their Easter baskets on Easter Sunday morning. Some of the ideas above (like filling plastic eggs with cereal) can work for girls too. Girls may enjoy getting these items:
Beauty products such as hairbrushes, ties, lipgloss, etc.
Zhu Zhu pets
Coloring books
Bead crafts
Jump ropes
Bubbles
Orbeez
Squinkies
Stuffed bunnies
Sparkly belts or scarves
Fun socks
Sunglasses
Jewelry

A fun way to give the kids their Easter baskets on Sunday morning is to have them do a treasure hunt to find them, instead of just placing them outside their doors. Leave a note from the Easter bunny and help your child or children hunt for their Easter treasures!

Enjoy!

Snowshoeing with Kids - Enjoy Family Time and Outdoor Exercise

papaya42 — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:34:49 +0000

Winter time brings with it the cold and snowy weather, but that doesn’t mean families with small children need to be stuck indoors. Skiing, sledding and snowshoeing with kids are great ways to enjoy family time and outdoor exercise in winter. However, skiing is expensive and sledding requires hills. Snowshoeing, on the other hand, is cheap and can be done anywhere. Children can strap on some snowshoes and practice their walking skills outside in their own yards. Family snowshoe outings can also be planned anywhere where flat trails are found.

Snowshoeing with the Family
A place we like to go snowshoeing is at America’s Stonehenge in Salem, N.H. At this historical site, we can rent snowshoes and enjoy the beautiful trails and outdoor winter weather with our kids. Sometimes we bring a lunch and picnic along the trail. The important thing when snowshoeing with the family is to be prepared for cold weather.

Preparing to Snowshoe with Kids
Kids should be bundled up in order to enjoy their family time snowshoeing. This means good socks and lightweight boots, snowpants, jacket, hat, gloves and scarf. If it is going to be really cold, you may want to include thermal underware in that list. Also, if it is snowing, bring along snow goggles or kids sunglasses to protect the eyes. To keep feet dry, plan on purchasing gaiters –waterproof material that covers or wraps around the top of the boot and prevents snow from getting in. Finally, similar to hiking in the summer, children will want to have a backpack with water, snacks and extra sweater or coat and dry gloves.

Snowshoeing Tips for Family Outdoor Fun
Snowshoeing is relatively easy to do. Kids will get the hang of it right away, but you may want to have them practice with the shoes first, and learn how to backtrack. You cannot really go backwards with snowshoes on, but need to make U-turns instead, always going forwards. Also, kids might find that using ski poles will help them keep their balance.

Valentine’s Day Heart Chains

papaya42 — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:45:47 +0000

Heart chains can be used to decorate Valentine's Day cards

Making paper heart chains as decorations or cards for Valentine’s Day is a fun and easy activity for kids of all ages. All you need is a pair of blunt-tipped scissors, a pencil for drawing the heart shape, and some colorful paper. The heart chains can be made in any size desired, and can be attached to each other to make Valentine’s Day streamers and decorations for the house or classroom.

Parents or kids new to crafting might be wondering what is the secret to cutting out paper hearts so that they stay connected. It is a combination of how you fold the paper, and how you draw and cut the hearts. Here is how you do it:

Fluting the Paper
Take a thin piece of paper (white, red or pink) and fold it back and forth like a fan. This folding technique is sometimes called “fluting”. The more you flute your paper the more hearts you will have, but the smaller they will be and also, the harder it will be to cut through the layers. I was able to flute fold a standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper up to 12 times for 6 1/2 hearts in the chain.

Drawing the Valentine Heart
The other important step to make sure that the heart chain is all in one piece is the way the heart is drawn and cut. You need to draw a one-half heart that begins on one side of the flute fold and ends on the other side of the fold. The fold on the left side should be where the heart dip (top) and heart point (bottom) are. The right-side fold should be a small part of the rounded edges of the heart when it is opened. It is the right side fold that provides the connection between the hearts in the chain.

Cut the Heart and Open to Reveal the Valentine’s Day Heart Chain
Cut along the lines of the drawn heart, making sure you do not cut along either the right or left side folds. You should end up with three pieces of paper when finished: the top portion and bottom portions can be scrapped/recycled. The middle portion will be the heart chain. Open it up! Decorate it and attach it to a window, door or refrigerator.