Activity: Imaginary friend

Let you child create imaginary creatures using paper cups and art supplies. Here's how it works:

Photo courtesy of: www.mpmschoolsupplies.com

Cut out a small circle on the side of the cup (big enough for your finger to fit partially through (to make a nose)). Then let the child draw on the eyes, ears, hair, mouth, etc. Now you can turn the cup into a puppet by putting your finger through the hole for the nose, and making it talk. For older kids, you could have them make the same creatures, but then have them help the little kids put on a puppet show. As far as decorating materials go, you can use pens, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glitter, yarn (for the hair), pipe cleaners (hair or arms, legs, etc). Pretty much the sky is the limit. If you have extra scraps of fabric, you can let the kids make clothes. But of course, the difficulty of the activity will be based on the child's age and understanding.

This photo courtesy of: http://seewhatwedidtoday.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html

Have you ever created imaginary creatures using sups? Something else?

Photo courtesy of: http://tangrila.blogspot.com/2012/07/halloween-paper-cup-spider-craft.html?m=0

Activity: Beads and Cups and Things

Let's face it. Kids like to make noise! As parents, we hope that the noise won't be too loud or annoying. Fortunately this activity is neither loud nor annoying, which is always an A+ in my book! We started by getting out Mia's stacking cups (or any other cups or buckets that you would like to use). We also got out her bead necklaces and some little paper cups (the kind kids use in the bathroom). And then we just let Mia be creative! Here's what to do:

Items Needed:

Stacking cups or buckets

Paper or plastic cups

Beads (you could also use corn, rice, cereal, etc. but make sure that you stay at the kitchen table or outside for that).

Remember to look for my final review at the bottom of the post!

Stacking cups? Check!

Sit on the floor? Check!

Beads? Check!

Paper cups? Check!

One last smile before "intensive" creative thinking? Check!

Let the games begin!

Review:
Mia had a lot of fun with this activity. I think she continued to play with it for more than 30 minutes, which for a toddler is super impressive. I think she actually loved the paper cups the most though. As for the older kids, I am not sure if they would enjoy the same setup as Mia had, so here are some other ideas.

1. Get a package of "pompoms" (those little puffy fluffy balls you can find at a craft store). Any size will be fine. Then you can have the child practice their color knowledge by having them place the correct pompom color in the correct cup. Perhaps you could draw on the up so that they know what color is expected. Or you could write the words if the child is learning how to read.

2. Have older children try stacking a castle of cups using the paper cups. See how high they can stack things. Or if you have a TON of cups, see how high they can make a tower before it falls over.

That's all that I can think of at the moment, but I'm sure that you can come up with other ideas too. Would you care to share?