Great stuff to do with kids!

My good friend Tiffany just posted this list of fun activities to do with kids on our My Family website. I love this list and wanted it in close personal access and I thought some of my readers might like it too. I posted some of my own ideas at the end in blue.
Thanks Tiffany!

1. Shopping Bag Game: put objects in a bag and have your child take one out. Have them explain it (color, shape, texture, etc.) or tell a story about it. Great for learning to take turns as well!
2. Shopping List: This is one that I'm in the middle of working on for Cooper since he won't be riding in the cart on grocery trips soon! Make a picture grocery list of things you need to buy and have your child be in charge of those products (milk, cheese, special snacks, bread, etc.).
3. Opposites: Say a word or find pictures of opposites and have your child find the opposite. Examples include up/down, hot/cold, short/tall, etc. Go Dog Go by Dr. Suess would also accompany this really well!!
4. Cutting: For the older kids! Have them practice their cutting skills with age appropriate scissors. Can be a part of another activity (i.e., sun catchers) or by itself.
5. Textured Collages: Find different objects, such as wallpaper, fabrics, pictures from magazines, photos, etc. and glue them onto a piece of cardboard or heavy paper. You can then frame it and hang it in his/her bedroom!
6. Sewing Cards: You can use old greeting cards or cut a picture from a magazine and glue it to a piece of cardboard. Punch holes around the picture, put tape around the ends of yarn, and "sew".
7. Finger Painting
8. Watercolors
9. Marble Painting: Line a small tray (needs edges) with paper. Dip a marble in fingerpaint and put it in the tray. Have your child move the tray around causing the marble to move and create a masterpiece. Jodie also showed me one with bubbles, but you are going to have to ask her for details on this one!!
10. Red Light, Green Light
11. Food Coloring: Mix basic colors with water and give your child paper towels or paper to drop the colors on. Have them try to mix the colors and see what happens.
12. Follow the Leader: use motions and sounds, pretend to be different animals, shapes, etc.
13. Hide and Seek
14. Make Playdough (Ruth posted some great recipes that are non-toxic at one point in time) -- also use spoons, forks, plastic knives, rolling pins, etc. to create different shapes and textures within it.
15. Obstacle Course: make sure it includes around, under, over, and through!
16. Have a Dance Party!!!!!!
17. Put on a concert and make some music . . . you can make microphones out of tissue paper and toilet paper rolls, drums out of pots and pans or old coffee cans, you can buy recorders for less than a $1, etc.
18. Make Placemats: create art and laminate (you can even use contact paper for laminating).
19. Simon Says
20. Make Suncatchers using tissue paper and contact paper. Cut or tear different pieces of tissue paper and place on a piece of contact paper. Seal with a second piece and cut to your desired shape. String up with yarn.
21. Alphabet Search: use old magazines, photos, pictures, etc. to find different objects that start with the different letters of the alphabet (or you can even do different colors, objects, animals, etc.). You can create a book out of these that your child will love to return to over and over and over again!
22. Create personalized books: I have a ton more information on this on my book blog. If you are interested, I will find the direct link to the posts!

Those are just a few things that I have written down to do (or have done) with Cooper! When it gets warm outside, we also go on weekly adventures (though not all of our adventures have to be in good weather). We've done scavenger hunts (nothing too difficult . . . we looked for things that were tall, green, silly, etc.) and these can be done just by walking around the Truman campus or on the trails behind the TCC or at the lake. We also make a book of our adventures and Cooper is still going back and looking at it over and over again! I even wrote little stories to go along with each adventure -- kind of like a mini memory book, but I just used a cheap black and white memo book!

1. Stickers
2. Marker board
3. finger paint
4. play with a big pile of dried beans- lots of bowls spoons etc.
5. I often put Eirik in the sink while I cook. He loves to turn on and off the water, play with the turkey baster and other kitchen utinsels etc.
6. cook together- let them pour the stuff in.
7. peanut butter play dough-fun and yummy (google the recipe)
8. make a picture or banner or something for Daddy and put it under his pillow
9. make homemade thank you notes. Let the kids put on the stamps and take them to the mailbox.
10. glue cotton balls on things
11. make paper bag people/ puppets
12. make a moon buggy or space ship out of paper towel tubes and other trash
13. make a snake you can play with- anything will work
14. play with noodles- glue them on to something
15. make a rattle or noisemaker - nooodles, beans, paper towel tubes
16. research something on the internet- we love google video. Eirik learned about fencing yesterday. We looked up musical instruments once and listened to what they sound like. We like to look up animals to.
17. Google earth is a great way to teach kids about our planet.
18. Make felt animals and put them on tongue depressors to play with