IIts summertime, kids are running wild and need activities to keep them occupied.
Here are five great activities to do with your kids
Simple Pizza
Kids love to be independent and help out in the kitchen. A very simple and easy food that they can make is English muffin pizzas. All you need is a pack of English Muffins, Pizza or Spaghetti sauce, and Mozzarella Cheese, as well as your favorite pizza toppings.
Split the English muffin and place it on a microwave safe plate. If you have more than one child, then make sure they each have their own prep plate. Let the kids put the sauce and cheese and any other toppings you have on their own pizza. Place the mini pizzas in the microwave for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Or if you want to bake it in the oven, then Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Puppets
Making puppets is a great way to put to use some of that creative energy running rampant in children, and making them is half the fun. Any materials are suitable with a good imagination. I’ve used socks to make sock puppet dogs with sock ears and button eyes, (although the sewing may require more hands on help from the adult), paper bags make great puppets as well as construction paper. Toilet paper/paper towel rolls make a great body and starting point as well.
Balloon Toss
What better way to celebrate summer than having water balloon toss games. It helps kids with hand eye coordination, and if they don’t catch the balloon everyone gets wet and they all love it. Another alternative is to have two kids, or you and the child hold a towel and try to bounce the balloon into the air and catch it again with the towel. This shows teamwork and helps with hand eye coordination.
Origami
My kids love origami. It’s a lot of fun to watch a piece of paper turn into an elephant, flower or rocket. Paper airplanes still rank #1 for my kids. Some projects are very simple and kids get a kick out of doing it themselves. Others can leave even the most patient adult twisted and frustrated =)
Here’s a couple links where you can find some great origami project. Word to the wise, if you are a beginner, stick with the beginner projects until you get the hang of it.
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/origami_for_kids.htm
http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/
Make Believe
Kids have wonderful imaginations. It doesn’t take much to slip into a whole new world where that little tyke is a giant T-Rex stomping through the forest chasing his prey (mainly you). Kids love it when you join that world. Best of all, with little to no direction from you, they can take the lead, turning a spring jacket into a caveman’s wrap while a blanket thrown over some chairs becomes a dark cave and hide out. Join them in that magical world.
