Looking for fun things to do with the kids??? Each week we feature fun things to
do with the kids that are family friendly, fun and sometimes taste great too!
You can always submit your ideas too, just email jeni@kxkc.com
Q-Tip Skeletons
Materials:
- Q-tips (about 20-30)
- white glue
- white paper or skull from a coloring page
- ribbon(optional)
- scissors
- black construction paper
Directions
Prepare your Q-tip bones beforehand. Bend in half for arms and legs. Bend down the corners for the hips, cut off the ends for toes and fingers.
- Pipe glue down the middle of the black paper. Start with the spine and glue on your pieces one by one to build your skeleton.
- Find a skeleton head from a coloring page or cut out a simple one from white paper. Add black lines for teeth and eyes.
- You can even cut & paste a ribbon to make a boy or girl skeleton!
Spider Suckers
You will need:
Lollipops
Black pipe cleaners
Small googly eyes
Center the pipe cleaner around the lollipop stick making sure both sides are even and then twist them tight. Repeat 4 times to make 8 legs. Stick on the googly eyes. Then bend the ends of the pipe cleaners so they look like spider legs! Cute & inexpensive for school treats!
Jack-O-Lantern Tissue
Have the kids help you decorate for Halloween! All you need is some orange, green, and black tissue paper and a glue stick. Have the kids roll toilet paper in a sheet of the orange tissue paper and tuck the ends in the center. Help them cut eyes, nose, & mouth out of the black. Then use the glue stick to apply the face. You can twist a bit of the green tissue paper to make a stem to stick in the top! Cute way to dress up spare rolls of tissue for the Fall!
Paper Plate Spider Web
• Sturdy white paper plates
• Hole puncher
• White yarn
• Bobby pins
• Spider rings
What To Do:
• Punch holes around the plate like above
• Attach one end of yarn through first hole and tie off
• Attach bobby pin to other end and weave the yarn through the hole going across the plate back and forth, tie off end when all yarn is gone
• Cut ring apart in the middle and attach to the web
Leaf Puppets
- leaves
- wiggly eyes (self adhesive ones, otherwise you will need Elmer’s glue)
- craft sticks
- hot glue gun or Elmer’s glue
Pancake Bites
Use your favorite pancake mix and pour into muffin tins. Then let the kids add fruit, nuts, sausage, bacon, chocolate chips ~ whatever they choose. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Awesome for school mornings!
Halloween Eyes
Laser Maze
Tape crepe paper to either side of a hallway. Tape them high, tape them low and all ways in between. You may have to do some adjusting as they actually navigate through it. You want it to have a level of difficultly but you also want it to be doable so they can feel successful at it!
Bathtub Fishing
Bathtub Fishing is fun for kids of all different ages! It’s so simple and surprisingly not very messy either. Add blue food coloring to the water as you filled up the bathtub. Then toss in your kid’s magnets to the water and gather some toys that match the theme and place those in as well. Tie some yarn and a magnet to any ‘stick’ shaped toy around the house and they’ll be ‘Gone Fishin’!
Back To School Owl
Great first day of school project. Look “Whooooo” is in our class! With their name on the front, to hang outside the classroom. Then use their paint covered hands to teach proper hand washing techniques.
Travel Crayons
Just wash out an empty spice or parmesan cheese container. Cover with paper of choice and let the kids decorate anyway they want! These work great on long trips in the car because they fit in a cup holder.
Masking Tape Racetrack
Help your kids turn a room into a racetrack for their hot wheels with masking tape! You can make passing lanes, dead ends, go up & over couches . . . let them use their imaginations to map it out with you. Then watch them play for hours ~ perfect for a rainy day!
Busy Sticks
1 package of colored craft sticks
1 package of velcro sticky backed dots
Directions:
2 kinds of velcro to make up one set. The rough side, and the soft fuzzy side. The rough side sticks into the fuzzy side.
On one side of your stick, put a “rough” sided dot one at each end of the stick, then flip the stick over and put the “fuzzy” sides on the other side at each end of the stick.
Each stick should now have a “rough” velcro side and a “fuzzy” velcro side.
Store them in a zippy bag & toss them in your purse and you are ready for the next long wait anywhere!
Tutus
You Will Need
1 Pre-made Crochet Headband (This will stretch to fit anywhere from about 12 months to around a size 8 in girls.)
1-3 rolls of 25 yard, 6″ tulle- the more you use, the fluffier and more full the tutu is.
Scissors
A hard cover book to stretch the headband over. It should stretch it, without it being stretched to it’s limits- it should be able to move easily.
- First, you want to decide on the length of the tutu. (It’s easiest to hold the tulle up to the child, from either the waist or the chest, and measure down from there.) Fold it in half before cutting it, to double the length. Cut your tulle to that length until you have a good stash. For dresses, or anything longer than about 8-10″ in length, you will require at least two rolls of tulle. (The longer the tulle, the more you will need.)
- Stretch your head band over the book and adjust it so it’s stretched evenly.
- Fold a length of tulle in half, and pinch the folded side. From there, push it through one of the holes from behind so the loop is poking out the top, visible side of the headband. Using your fingers, spread the loop open so there is a hole. Take the ends of the tulle length, and push them through the loop. Once they are through, carefully tug the length until it ‘ties’ into a tight knot on the headband. Smooth it down, and move on to the next loop. Continue until you have filled that row of holes.
- Once it’s filled out, lay it on a flat surface so that it forms a circle with all the tulle spread out nice and straight. You will want to give it a ‘trim’ to even the strands out. (this is the easiest way to do that.)
- Add a bow if you would like!
4th of July shirts
Lay white shirt flat and place a piece of cardboard inside shirt. Kids put left hand prints in blue fabric paint on the upper left of the shirt, and then paint the red stripes with a foam brush. Let dry & voila ~ ready to celebrate our independence!
Cool Whip Paint
Divide cool whip into small containers. (A muffin tin makes this easy.) Add 1 or 2 drops of food coloring to each container and stir until combined. Then turn your little Picasso loose! (outside is easier for clean-up) You can make them a little table by covering a box with Press & Seal, or just strip them down to their skivvies & use it as body paint!
Pool Noodle Building Blocks
Building and Creating with Pool Noodles- Frugal DIY blocks with endless creative possibilities! Just cut the noodles into round circle shapes with a knife and throw them into the tub with some bubbles. Just like a ball pit at bath time! Annnd, you can sneak in a little math:
- Have your child stack the same color and count them
- Sort the colors into piles and count to see which color pile has more noodles
- Create a bar graph that visually illustrates the difference in the numbers 1-10
- Practice patterning
Frisbee Toss Game
All you need is a shower curtain, some painters’ tape and Frisbees or bean bags. Lay the shower curtain out and tape off a grid like tic tac toe. Then toss the frisbees! The kids can predict where the frisbees will land, they can keep score, and I promise their creative minds will invent their own games! All the while improving their motor skills!
Squirt Gun Science
You will need a pan, baking soda, vinegar , food coloring, a large measuring cup or bowl , protective eye wear and squirt guns. Start by adding food coloring in random dots to your pan. Cover with baking soda. Fill your squirt guns with vinegar. Go outside! Make sure the protective eye wear is on . Ask your child to make a prediction about what will happen. Shoot & watch their amazement at the colored bubbles! They will have fun seeing all the colors emerge and even mix together!
Marble Race Track
Use a serrated knife to cut a pool noodle in half. Then use toothpicks to secure each half of the noodle side by side. Now it’s time to get your kids involved. Have them make a starting line & a finish line, along with any other accessories they would like, such as flags. Then add a box to the bottom of the track to catch all your marbles and you’re ready to race!
Windsocks
Empty container (frosting container used here)
Washi tape
Double-sided tape
Ribbon
Remove the label from your container. If it’s a printed container, you can easily cover with a scrap of fabric. Let the kiddos choose some colored or patterned washi tape & apply to outside of container. Run a strip of 2-sided tape to the inside lip of the container. The kids can then cut different lengths of ribbon and stick onto the 2-sided tape, going all the way around the container. Make a small hole in the top of the container and slip a piece of ribbon through & tie a knot in the end to keep it secure. Hang your windsock & watch it dance!
Birdseed Cakes
Birdseed cakes can be made using shortening and a muffin tray! Heat 1 or more cups of shortening on the stove. When the mixture is more of a liquid consistency, mix in as much birdseed as possible. The seeds should be tightly packed. Usually one full cup should do the trick. Stir the seeds well so they are evenly distributed. Pour the mixture into your muffin tray. Use a straw to make a hole, be sure not to make the hole close to the top or the cake will break. Put your muffin tin in the refrigerator or outdoors until the shortening is rock hard. Tie a ribbon or twine through the hole and you have created a birdseed cake! Hang your cake up on your patio area outdoors, and watch the birds fly in for some grub.
Abstract Art Sculpture
Cut a long piece of thin-gauge wire, and bend it into a hoop shape, then laid it on top of a sheet of clear contact paper with the sticky side facing up. Let your little one sprinke bits of bright tissue paper scraps on top — so colorful & fun! When the entire circle is covered, trim about a 2 inch border around the wire, and make slits every 3 inches or so to wrap the contact paper around the wire to secure. Then arrange your sculpture any way you like!! This is a fun hands-on way for kids to learn about form and balance. And they look pretty cool with a flashlight shining through! You can re-shape your sculpture to make different works of art over and over!
Bumble Bee & Ladybug Bird Feeders
- Scissors
- Wire cutter
- Painter’s tape
- Drill
- Pliers
- Awl
- Small wood saw
- 1 3/8″ dowel
- 1 fiberglass screen
- 1 16-gauge soft brass wire
- 1 package flat washers
- 2 2.5-quart container lids
- 2 1-gallon paint cans
- black spray paint
- yellow spray paint
- red spray paint
- Amazing GOOP 1-ounce contact adhesive and sealant
Remove the handles from the paint cans using pliers.
Drill two small holes in the sides of each can — one near the top and one near the bottom. (You will eventually insert the wires needed to hang the feeders into these holes.)
Spray-paint the cans, lids, and dowel black. Set aside to dry.
Cut four pieces of wire and twist them to form circles — these will serve as the wings. Then cut four pieces of screen to the same size as the wire circles.
Lightly glue the screens to the wire circles. Set aside to dry.
Apply painter’s tape to the bumblebee can where you would like black stripes. Likewise, apply circles of tape to the ladybug can where you’d like black spots. Then apply yellow spray paint to the bee can and red spray paint to the ladybug can. When the paint has dried, remove the painter’s tape.
Cut large holes in the center of the plastic lids.
Glue steel washers just above the large holes in the plastic lids. (These will be the eyes.) Let dry.
Cut the dowel in half. Use an awl to help create holes in which the dowel halves will be placed. Poke these halves into the lids below the large holes created earlier.
Insert the ends of the wings into the holes created when you removed the paint can handles. Then cut additional pieces of wire and insert them into the holes you drilled. (These will be used to hang the feeders.) Finally, put the lids on top of the cans and hang!
Giraffe Craft
- 1 3/8″ dowel rod
- 1 fiberglass screen
- 1 16-gauge soft brass wire
- 1 package flat washers
- 2 2.5-quart container lids
- 2 1-gallon paint cans
- black spray paint
- yellow spray paint
- red spray paint
- Amazing GOOPcontact adhesive and sealant
- Scissors
- Wire cutter
- Painter’s tape
- Drill
- Pliers
- Awl
- Small wood saw
You’ll need:
- paper towel role
- yellow and orange construction paper
- black crayon
- scissors
- glue
- tape
Wrap the paper towel role with a piece of yellow construction paper. Help the little ones cut a head & ear out of construction paper as shown above. Use a black crayon to draw the nose, smile and eye on the giraffe head and lines on the ear. Tape the ear on the inside of the tube so that it sticks out. Tape the head on the body towards the top of the tube under the ear. Cut out spots from orange construction paper (no giraffe spots are the same, so make them all different sizes). Attach the spots to the body with glue all over the giraffe and enjoy!
Fingerpaint Rainbow
Spring showers not only bring flowers, but often rainbows too! Let the kids make their own rainbows with fingerpaint ~ AND you’ll have a keepsake of their little thumbprints!
Flower Straws
You will need:
Tissue paper in spring colors
Drinking straws
Scissors (regular ones work fine, decorative scissors are great, too)
Hole punch
Double sided tape
Cut spring colored petals out of tissue paper. Punch holes in the center. Fold/crease petals for effect & Slide petals onto top of straw and secure with tape!
Toothpick Towers
Rainy Day Activity! Build towers with marshmallows and toothpicks ~ Give them a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks and let their imaginations run wild!
Jelly Bean Easter Baskets
Fill ice cream cones with jelly beans. With a small knife, carefully cut two holes into the sides of each cone. Tuck either end of an apple licorice stick into the holes to serve as an edible handle!
Bunny Ears
Materials:
- White and Pink Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Stapler
Directions:
- Use white and pink construction paper to cut out bunny-ear shapes: two white and two pink, the pink being slightly smaller.
- Glue the pink ears onto the white ears.
- Glue the ears onto a long strip of construction paper, measure to fit your child’s head, and staple the ends together to form a headband.
Lucky Charm Necklace
Cut out small shamrocks using a stencil and punch out holes on top. Use food coloring to paint the macaroni green and let dry. Then, string the clovers and macaroni it though yarn, tie the ends and let your girl wear it for the big green day!
Easter Chicks
Place a little more glue onto the feathers and add another pompom on top. Gently lay the Easter chick onto its side and glue on the eyes and cut out paper for a beak. Allow to dry.
Hand Print Easter Basket
All you need is construction paper or cardstock, scissors, and glue! Help them trace their little hands and cut them out, along with eggs and a basket bottom. Glue the hands around for the handle and make a slit in the basket for the eggs to slide in! Hunt easter eggs all month before Easter without the mess of dye or worry of eggs going bad!
Make Your Own Pot Of Gold
As that lucky Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow can be tricky to find, we decided to make our own. With just a few supplies, you’ll have a fun centerpiece filled with gold.
Supplies for Pot of Gold:
- pot – terracotta pot, or a black pot you may already have
- black paint and paint brush
- Easter grass
- yellow wrapped candies – these can be gold chocolate coins, yellow foil wrapped chocolates, Reese’s peanut butter cups (you can use any color of candy, but yellow keeps with the ‘gold’ theme.)
- pipe cleaner (aka chenille stems), all colors of the rainbow
Paint your terracotta pot with the black paint using your paint brush. I even went an inch down on the inside with paint. Then let it dry. Next, fill you bucket with Easter grass all the way to the top, as it gets pushed down with the candy. Then add in your ‘gold’, filling it to the top.
Line up your pipe cleaners into a rainbow. I stuck them all in the pot at one time, but you could put them in one at a time, starting with the bottom one first.
Now it’s ready for display. But have extra gold on hand, as it doesn’t last long in the pot! Little Leprechauns keep trying to sneak it!
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Valentines Blossoms
Supplies:
Cardstock/Construction paper
Lollipops ~ Dum Dum suckers work perfectly!
Scissors & Tape
For each flower, cut 3 heart-shaped ‘petals’, 2 ‘leaves’, and a flower center from the cardstock. Poke a small hole in each, crease the heart down the center, and slide the pieces onto the lollipop stick/stem. Tape the bottom to secure!
Supplies:
Empty tissue box (the long, flat kind)
Pencil
Scissors
Heavy paper
Tape
Two jar lids
Glue
Paint
Paintbrushes
Gold, purple, and green glitter
Mark a line across the top and sides of the tissue box; the line should be across the shorter length of the box. Cut down the line on all three sides. Bend the box so the back sides touch.
Cut straps from heavy paper, and tape them down inside each half of the box so that they are slightly curved. The straps will hold your hand inside the noisemaker.
Glue the jar lids to the outside of each half.
Paint your clink-clank in the Mardi Gras colors of gold, purple, and green. When the paint is dry, draw designs with glue, and glitter it up! Shake off the excess, and let the glue dry.
Insert your fingers under the top strap and your thumb under the bottom strap to make some noise!
Mini King Cakes
This is just vanilla wafers and icing! Let the kids create their own tiny cookie Mardi Gras king cakes. AND, they fit perfectly on top of a cupcake. OR, I’m thinking cinnamon rolls . . . YUM!
Paper Plate Mardi Gras Masks
Cut a paper plate in half. Let the kids color (or paint) the back of the plate purple, green, or gold. Help them cut out holes for their eyes and a notch for their nose. Turn them loose with glue, gems, glitter, jewels, feathers, whatever you have to jazz up their masks ~ let their imaginations take over! You can then staple to a popsicle stick, pencil, or even dowel rod!
Mardi Gras Necklaces
You will need:
An assortment of pasta shapes, with holes, that can be “strung” like beads
Purple and green poster or acrylic paints
Gold spray paint
yarn or string
Instructions:
Sort the pasta into three groups and paint each group with one of the traditional Mardi Gras colors.
For the gold “beads”, use gold spray paint. Either delegate this to an older child or do it yourself. Spray one side of the pasta (laid out on newspaper), wait for it to dry, then spray the other side.
When the pasta is dry you can string your necklaces!
Mardi Gras Jester Hat
You will need:
Gold cardstock
Purple and green paper
Glue
Sticky tape
Stapler (optional)
Instructions:
Cut 3 ‘arches’ of each color from the paper (purple & green).
Lay your gold card in front of you, face down. Arrange your arches so they stick over the top of the card. Tape into place along the back of the card.
Turn your headband over. Roll up each arch and then allow to open again, so that they curve down.
Cut 6 circles from the scraps of gold card and glue these to the ends of the ‘arches’.
Bend your crown around so it fits your head and staple or tape to secure
Owl Sandwiches
Great way to keep kids interested in eating! Just make their sandwich as you normally would, but hang the cheese out the bottom just a bit for the owl’s feet. Cut the sides at an angle like wings. A couple of cucumber slices & raisins make the eyes, and a carrot makes a great beak. Put a few pretzels underneath for the owl’s branch, and watch them gobble it up!
Reese’s Cup Rudolph
Supplies:
Cut thin strips from the green Fruit Roll-Ups. Wrap one strip around the middle of the Reese’s Cup stack. Use a small dab of frosting/chocolate to attach two eyes to the top of the Reese’s Cup stack.
Cotton Ball Snowman
Button Wreath
Use a pipe cleaner and have the kids thread buttons! The more buttons, the bigger the wreath. Help them shape it into a circle and twist it together. Make a loop with ribbon and tie it off. There you have it! A new ornament to adorn your tree for years to come!
Paper Bag Rudolph
Materials
• Paper bag
• Tape or glue
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Scrap paper
• Red pom pom
1. Stuff the bottom 1/3 of your paper bag with crumpled up scrap paper OR Christmas treats!
2. Fold each top corner over to make a triangle, and tape to secure.
3. Fold your triangle down and tape it to the paper bag.
4. Now you will need to cut out 2 hand prints from brown construction paper and eyes from black paper. If you don’t have a red pom pom, just cut out a red circle from red paper. Glue on all your reindeer parts!
Pilgrim Hat Cookies
- 1 tube squeeze yellow frosting
- Mini Reeses cups
- 1 package Fudge-striped cookies
- Orange Mini Chiclets gum
Directions
- Lay cookies out upside-down, and remove paper liners from peanut butter cups.
- Draw a circle of yellow frosting in the middle of the cookie (around the center hole). Position peanut butter cup upside-down, covering the center hole on the bottom of cookie, forming the hatband and crown. Add a buckle of Chiclets gum!
Thankful Turkey
You will need a large styrofoam ball, a small styrofoam ball, brown yarn, tan yarn, red & yellow felt, googly eyes, construction paper, crayons, and glue.
Let the kiddos wrap the large styrofoam ball with brown yarn ~ that will be the turkey’s body, then the smaller one with tan yarn ~ this will be the turkey’s head. Adults, secure the head to the body for the kids using a toothpick.
Help them cut a yellow beak and a red waddle from the felt, then glue to the head along with the googly eyes.
This is the best part . . . Help them cut colorful feathers out of construction paper for the body of the turkey and write all of the things they are thankful for on the feathers! (You could do a couple of feathers each day leading up to Thanksgiving)
Turkey Shirts
You’ll need a light colored shirt and some acrylic paints: red, yellow, brown, white and black.
Directions:
Insert a piece of cardboard into shirt to keep paint from sticking.
Help your child rub his or her hand in red paint (a paper plate works well) and make 3 handprints in a fan pattern. Wash hands and let paint dry.
Repeat using yellow paint making 2 handprints this time. Wash hands and let paint dry.
Now repeat with brown paint and child’s FOOT. Make sure the heel is up to make the turkey’s head. The child’s toes will be the turkey’s feet. Wash child’s foot and let paint dry.
Now paint 2 white circles for the turkey’s eyes (or you could glue on some googly eyes if you have them). Paint a red shape for the waddle. Let paint dry.
Now finish the turkey’s eyes with 2 black cirlces. Add a beak of a yellow circle.
All Done! Now you have a cute Thanksgiving keepsake of your child’s hand & foot print!
Turkey Snack Cups
- clear plastic cups
- yellow, red, orange, and brown construcion paper
- scissors
- googly eyes
- glue
- Cut or punch out small circles from brown paper for the turkey heads.
- Cut out leaf shapes from red, orange, and yellow paper for tail feathers.
- Cut out yellow triangle beaks and red waddles.
- Glue eyes, beak an waddle to the brown circles. Glue the heads to the front of the cups.
- Glue the tail feathers in a fan-shape to the back of the cups.
- Fill with snacks or drinks!
Milk Jug Ghosts
Let the kiddos draw ghostly faces on empty milk jugs with a black marker. Then stuff a string of white Christmas lights into the milk jugs. When plugged in, you have an instant ghost-o-lantern!
Goblin Grins
pea pods
1 red bell pepper
slivered almonds
For each one, use the tip of a paring knife to cut a slit centered in one side of an edible pea pod. Cut out a tongue shape from red bell pepper and insert the top of it through the opening in the pea pod. Then, insert a few slivered almonds for teeth!
Halloween Cats
Help kids staple two plates together with tops facing, then use a small plate or bowl to trace and cut out a circular area to form the ears. Have kids paint the outsides of the plates black; let dry. Give the kids a circle punch to cut out the shapes for the eyes. Help them make the pupils by feeding the circle punch back over a punched circle to create the shape. Add cutouts for the ears, whiskers, and nose! Makes a cute little pouch for Halloween Treats!
Handprint Spiders
