DIY Sticker Paper Dolls

Here are the directions and a free printable to make your own sticker paper dolls.  Once the project is complete, you will have a collection of paper dolls to create where you can lick the sticker clothes to put on the paper dolls.  This is a great activity to make ahead of time and take on a car ride, vacation, camping or waiting room.  You can get all the details and the free download at GrowingPlay.com.

Water Bottle Run

We created a fun water bottle run on the refrigerator yesterday.  First cut the bottoms off of water bottles (adult job).  Then duct tape magnets onto the bottles.  We taped the magnets on so we can reuse them another time.  Arrange the bottles in order so that objects can fall through all the way to the bottom.  This was the fun of it - trying different objects to see what would work best.  We determined that pom pom balls worked the best along with small tin foil balls.  Marbles were too heavy and would knock the water bottles off.  Also, roll away (and under the fridge) if you missed the last cup.  The pom-pom's don't roll anywhere.  

Don't forget that for the last bottle, cut the top off of instead of the bottom to catch the pom-poms. 
We did try pouring water down the bottle run and it does work fine.  Just pour very slow and small amounts.  May want to put a towel on the floor though - you know kids and water nothing stays dry for long.

This activity encourages:

• creativity
• exploration
• science fun

Visit www.GrowingPlay.com for more fun activity ideas.

Indoor Snowballs

Here in upstate New York we have had a very mild winter. This is great since we can still play outside without a few feet of snow on the ground, but the kids are definitely missing the snow.

I made some indoor snowballs that stored in a handy snowman container (recycled baby puff cereal container).

We experimented with different fabrics and colors. The snowballs are just strips of felt or fabric with one larger strip of felt tied tightly around the middle. Then the snowball fights started. First the kids just threw them at each other. Then they created some relay races using spatulas as shovels, who could get the snowball shoveled across the room the quickest. They practiced throwing the snowballs up and catching them. It was interesting to observe how the different fabrics effected how far you could throw the snowballs. Finally, they tried juggling them with a partner.

If you want to practice cutting skills, it was fun to give the snowballs a haircut to even out the circular form.

If you don't have any felt or fabric you could just ball up some white socks. The nice thing about the felt snowballs was now matter how hard you threw them they did not hurt when you hit someone with them. The balled up socks do hurt a bit if someone throws really hard.

Enjoy the snow ball fighting!!!!

If you are looking for more physical activities with a winter theme check out Sensory Motor Activities for Winter.

Good 'Ol Fashioned Tin Can Stilts

The other day we decided to make some good 'ol fashioned tin can stilts. This was super simple to make just not so super simple to walk on.

All we did was remove the labels from some tin cans (actually 26 ounce cans). Use a can opener to make two holes in each can. You can put the holes in the side or the top. I recommend that you put them in the top. We tried in both ways and the side ones tended to rip the string whereas the top ones did not.

Just thread some string or rope through the two holes and tie both ends together tightly. The top of the rope should be at about the child's hand when relaxed at their sides.

Now, time to practice walking on stilts. It does take practice. I recommend for younger children, try using smaller cans (tuna cans) and progress to taller cans.

Some nice indoor active play on a cold day.

Want to expand the play - create a pretend circus and this can be one of your acts!