Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Hairy Apples!!

What you need:

Granny Smith or other "tart" apple(s) ,
Peanut butter,
Coconut
Raisins

How to make Hairy Apples:

Quarter and deseed the apples, spread a layer of peanut butter over the apples sections and sprinkle with small amount of coconut (this makes the "hair") use raisins to create "eyes", "legs" or other "creature decorations" on the apple sections then eat to your hearts content.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Cookie Bouquet

OK, so I was thinking about it and this could actually be something fairly simple to do with the kids and could also double as a service project. My visiting teacher actually dropped this off at my house a few weeks ago and I just thought it was adorable. Basically all you need is an old cup or vase, some pretty rocks, a couple skinny skinny dowels, some cookies, gum drops, green construction paper and a piece of ribbon.

Start by having the kids put the rocks in the cup or vase. Then cut your gum drops in 1/2 and stick it on the dowel. Next poke the cookie on the dowel and the other 1/2 of the gum drop on top to hold the cookie in place. Then cut out some leaf shapes and hole punch a couple of holes for the kids to thread through the dowel. Make a few of those, stick them in the rocks and tie a ribbon around the vase. Then you can have your kids help you to deliver it to your neighbor or someone in your ward who might need their day brightened.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Horray for Puppets!

OK so I could COMPLETELY be out of the loop but last time I checked kids love puppets! Here are two SUPER easy ways to make puppets:

#1. Use old stuffed animals you might have lying around the house that your kids don't really play with anymore and cut a small slit down the bottom seam of the animal. Remove all the stuffing and voila you have a puppet.

#2. If you don't want to destroy any of the toys you already have you can also make puppets out of paper bags. Use the fold/flap part as the mouth. Depending on the age of your kids you could cut out pieces for them to glue on to the bag or just have them draw directly on to the bag.

Be creative with your puppets too, they can be anything or anyone your kids want them to be! Once you have your puppet your kids can have puppet shows behind a counter or a table, whatever you have available. Good times will be had all around...

Play with Static!!!

An age old fun time!!! All you need a balloon! Let them rub it on their heads to make their hair stand up. Also put a balloon next to running water, and see how the water will bend around the balloon and the static electricity! The your kids can always play, "Don't let it touch the floor." This should take up at least an hour of a rainy afternoon!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Leprechaun Traps

I could type all of it out, but I'll leave the link.

http://www.diylife.com/2008/03/07/enchant-your-kids-with-a-leprechaun-trap/

In Addition to Tambourines...

...you can make drums out of oatmeal or raisin canisters. Just glue the lids on them, wrap construction paper around (and glue that), then decorate. We made these, along with tambourines, for Nursery and they were a hit

Paper Plate Tambourines

Supplies:
  • paper plates
  • markers (and stickers, if desired)
  • rice or pasta
  • tape

Activity:

Have the kids color on the backside of the paper plates with markers and decorate with stickers. When finished, turn one of the plates right-side up and fill with a small amount of rice or pasta. Position the other plate upside down over the top and tape the edges together. Voila! Happy noise-making for at least 5 minutes!