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This Halloween Spider Lantern will look creepy cool on your mantel or even be a fun DIY nightlight for your kids to make! Want more fun lantern ideas? Check out: Halloween Eyeball Lantern, Paper Punch Lanterns, and Jack-O-Lantern Luminaries. This glowing lantern is super simple and inexpensive to make. In fact, I found all the...
And the award for Mom of The Week goes to… This Mom because her fridge hack is BRILLIANT for keeping kids fed and happy! Sarah Hornung, a mom from Buffalo, New York recently posted about a fridge hack that she uses to keep her kids fed, happy and healthy. She posted on Facebook with the...
Whether you need a fun idea to gift to a teacher for Halloween or need Halloween party treat ideas for your kids school party, this list of 13 Halloween Pudding Cups is sure to do the trick! These creepy cool treats are easy-to-make and provide a great sealed treat to serve up for Halloween. Plus,...
Super Fun Tic-Tac-Toe Activity with a Learning Twist
This tic-tac-toe twist can be played at home or on-the-go. It’s great for calming down after some energetic playtime, can be brought along to play during travel, or would work great as a waiting activity.
To set up your own tic-tac-toe activity, you’ll need:
Paper
Markers, crayons, or pencils
Place Holders (i.e. colored chips, rocks, gems, etc…)
First, draw the playing boards on your pieces of paper. To save paper and play more, we put several games on one piece of paper
I chose to fold the paper in half to make two game boards per side. You can fold it smaller for more games!
On the first paper, fill a one tic-tac-toe activity board. I chose to add shapes.
The main objective is still the same: get three in a row first. Before covering the shape, you needed to name the shape.
For example, to cover the top left square, you’d say “circle.”
This main idea is the same for all of the learning twist tic-tac-toe boards. You or your child need to name what’s in the square on the filled-in game board.
Choose whatever skills work best for your kids and make adjustments as needed. For example, if your child is learning to read, choose to write sight words in addition to letters.
Whatever you’re putting on the boards, the objective of the game remains the same. Get three in a row first!
Take turns choosing the learning twist board to work on. Play a game or two on one focused on just one skill, and then move onto another skill.
To make reusable boards, you could use laminated papers or slip blank tic-tac-toe boards into dry erase folders. Just wipe clean, add a different skill, and play again!
Have fun and enjoy the learning time together!
What other fun learning games do you play with your kids? We’d love to hear some of your ideas.
Super Fun Tic-Tac-Toe Activity with a Learning Twist
This tic-tac-toe twist can be played at home or on-the-go. It’s great for calming down after some energetic playtime, can be brought along to play during travel, or would work great as a waiting activity.
To set up your own tic-tac-toe activity, you’ll need:
Paper
Markers, crayons, or pencils
Place Holders (i.e. colored chips, rocks, gems, etc…)
First, draw the playing boards on your pieces of paper. To save paper and play more, we put several games on one piece of paper
I chose to fold the paper in half to make two game boards per side. You can fold it smaller for more games!
On the first paper, fill a one tic-tac-toe activity board. I chose to add shapes.
The main objective is still the same: get three in a row first. Before covering the shape, you needed to name the shape.
For example, to cover the top left square, you’d say “circle.”
This main idea is the same for all of the learning twist tic-tac-toe boards. You or your child need to name what’s in the square on the filled-in game board.
Choose whatever skills work best for your kids and make adjustments as needed. For example, if your child is learning to read, choose to write sight words in addition to letters.
Whatever you’re putting on the boards, the objective of the game remains the same. Get three in a row first!
Take turns choosing the learning twist board to work on. Play a game or two on one focused on just one skill, and then move onto another skill.
To make reusable boards, you could use laminated papers or slip blank tic-tac-toe boards into dry erase folders. Just wipe clean, add a different skill, and play again!
Have fun and enjoy the learning time together!
What other fun learning games do you play with your kids? We’d love to hear some of your ideas.
Looking for a cooking tip? Look no farther! Make cooking, fast, easy, fun AND healthy with these kitchen tips for foodies. We have snack hacks and tips that make preparing in-between meals easier – and the time we used orange peels as cupcake liners was just genius! Here are our “real food” tips. (This...
It’s no surprise that Reese’s may just be Halloween’s favorite treat but now People Say Reese’s Pumpkins Are Better Than Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and I have to agree! If you haven’t ever put this idea to the test, I want you to go out and purchase the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and the...
Throw the ultimate thrill-filled (non-spooky) event for and with your kids this October with these 28 awesome Halloween Party games for kids. We’ve got you covered here on Kids Activities Blog when it comes to fun halloween games, halloween activities, spooky crafts and homemade costume ideas this year = FUN. FUN. FUN! Best Outdoor...
Games for girls is often something you don’t think about because girls love games just as much as boys do, but often their play IS different so Kids Activities Blog thought it would be great fun to highlight some girl games! We scoured the internet for some of the best giggly fun and here...
When it comes time to choose your baby’s name, you might be leaning towards a popular baby name, a retro baby name, a vintage baby name, or a Disney inspired baby name. The possibilities seem endless. That’s where this list of Baby Names That Are Illegal and Banned Around The World come in handy! Honestly,...
Halloween is just around the corner! Shared below is an easy tutorial for Paper Plate Witches, a cute and easy craft for Halloween. Paper Plate Witches This easy and fun craft is a cute decoration for kids’ Halloween parties. We made some to tape to our kitchen door to celebrate fall! We used green paper...
Anytime I spot Paw Patrol anything I know I have to get it for my youngest son. He loves Paw Patrol. On one of my recent Target runs I came across these Paw Patrol Graham Snacks that come in pup shapes! For $2.69 a box you can grab the cutest finger-sized snacks around! These are...
These nursing essentials got me through many months of breastfeeding two babies. Although we can certainly make it through without these conveniences like our mothers and grandmothers did, why not take advantage of the great products out there invented to make our journeys easier? 9 Nursing Essentials for the New Mommy Here are my...
My kids love homemade school lunches and every now and again when we have extra time, we like to make our kids lunches extra special. This year we made a Halloween Bento Box to get our kids in the Halloween spirit and they loved it so much, we had to share it with you! Before...
It’s pumpkin season and that means wonderful treats featuring this Fall staple! One recipe you have to try is this Pumpkin Bars recipe. It has the flavor of pumpkin, with the consistency of a cake. It’s the perfect sweet treat! One thing that is different about this recipe than a traditional cake is that it...
It is time to start making all sorts of fun Halloween crafts with your kids. At the top of our list was these Clothespin Bat Magnets that doubled as a way to display Halloween arts and crafts in our home. They are so easy to make and your kids will have a blast making them!...
If you’re searching for a new twist on the classic cupcake you have come to the right place – we love baking tips that make the kitchen just a touch more fun and cooking a bit easier! Our previous series was all about Kitchen Tips for Foodies. Today, we are going to show you how...
Quickly and easily set up a simple cup stacking activity. Activity Room® Member of the Month Melinda loves simple ways to keep her kids active and engaged!
Before joining The Activity Room®, Melinda and her two kids did a lot of outside play. But living in Canada, cold weather prevents a lot of outside play for a good bit of the year.
“When you live in northern Ontario, we have quite the winters,” says Melinda. “Going outside came to an awful end when we had those minus 40 degree days.“
After the outdoor play options were impossible, Melinda was at loose ends. She found things to do via online searches, but it just wasn’t quite enough.
“It just became really difficult,” she explains. “It was a lot of television and just pulling my hair out and trying to Pinterest or Google some basic crafts.”
Melinda really needed some extra help getting started and staying motivated.
“I didn’t really have a support system,” Melinda shares. “None of my friends necessarily did anything other than what I was already doing.”
Busy Parents Find Online Community & Support
Shortly after, Melinda found The Activity Room® and discovered a motivational, supportive community!
“Just having people that are in the same situation that you can kind of fall back on,” she says. “It makes you feel like you actually accomplished something!”
Plus, all of those cool, creative activities were suddenly super accessible! In The Activity Room®, Melinda gets monthly plans with complete activities scheduled (and explained!) for every single day!
“I just need to have it right in front of me and then do it. And have people care that I do it other than my kids.”
Now, instead of feeling stressed about finding, planning, and doing activities, Melinda is relaxed and super fun!
“The Activity Room® has really helped me in changing the mood in the household and refocus the little ones to get through the day in a fun and wonderful way!”
I love how much this has helped me become a funner mom.
Let’s Meet Melinda
How many kids do you have and how old are they?
2 kids. 3 year old boy and 1 year old girl
How long have you been in The Activity Room®?
Since January 2019
What is your favorite activity you’ve done in The Activity Room®?
My favourite activities have been outdoor ones. We love to do nature hunts since we live on 20 acres of forest and my son loves collecting rocks.
We also really loved the painting with water activity where we filled our driveway with chalk and painted and sprayed water all over!
What’s your favorite thing to do with your kids when you get a few moments?
Getting outside is always a gamechanger for me and my kids. We get fresh air and it boosts everyone’s mood!
What’s your best tip for doing activities with your kids?
Remember to keep it simple and do what you can.
Coming from a full-time shift working mama, I know how hard it can be to commit to activities when you’re tired, have piles of laundry and other things to do. But if all the supplies are obtained at the beginning of the month, then it usually only takes a couple of minutes to prep and get the activity out, ultimately making for some independent play at times and giving mama a break!
Also, don’t give up! It can feel frustrating if your child will only sit for a few minutes for the fun activity that you’ve planned, but it’s worth it when you find an activity that they finally love!
And you really get to know your child along the way!!
If you were to tell a friend about The Activity Room®, what would you say to them?
The Activity Room® is an awesome, easy, user-friendly tool that has really made a difference for us, especially during awful weather when we can’t get outside to play!
Before The Activity Room®, I relied a lot on television or basic play with toys that became very boring for my oldest child within a short time frame.
Now with The Activity Room®, I always have fresh activities and fun stuff to do to engage with both my kids and a wonderful accountability group and accountability buddy (Krystyna) to keep me going and give me new ideas to keep the kids happy and keep my mama sanity!
Share your favorite quote
“There’s no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one” – Jill Churchill
Easy Indoor Cup Stacking Challenge for Active Play
When the weather turns chilly, we end up playing inside a lot more often. But inside play doesn’t have to mean being less active!
My kids love this easy cup stacking challenge! It sets up super fast and can be played in almost endless ways!
To set up your own easy cup stacking challenge inside, you’ll need:
cups
Yup, that’s it!
I love how easy this is to set up! Seriously: 5 minutes.
Challenge Your Kids with Indoor Cup Stacking Activities
Whenever you really need to work out some energy, bust out your stash of extra cups. Paper party cups, SOLO cups, leftover kid cups from restaurants, anything works.
The first challenge is simple: stack the cups into a pyramid. Let your child try this on their own, if you want, or help them out.
Stacking cups into a pyramid can be challenging since it involves lots of planning and fine motor skills to balance everything. Start small with a 3-2-1 pyramid and go from there.
Your second challenge: cup bowling! Show your child how to roll a ball and knock down the cups. Challenge your child to knock everything down with just one roll.
Older kids might want to keep score. Play by traditional bowling rules and assign one point per cup knocked over – highest score wins!
Add Some Learning to the Challenge
If you have different colored cups, add patterning to the mix! Start the pattern yourself, then ask your child to keep going.
You could also work on counting. As you set up the pyramid, count the number of cups in each row.
You could start counting, point to each cup as you go. Then, ask your child to count on.
Write down the number of cups in each row, then challenge your child to add up all the numbers! It’s great early addition practice.
For critical thinking, give your child a certain number of cups and ask them to build at least one pyramid. The challenge: they must use every single cup!
If your kids aren’t into any of these specific cup stacking challenge activities, that’s totally fine! Just give them the cups and let them go.
The best part about the cup stacking challenge is that it’s totally open to creative interpretation!
What are your quick setup indoor energy busters? We’d love to check out your ideas!
Quickly and easily set up a simple cup stacking activity. Activity Room® Member of the Month Melinda loves simple ways to keep her kids active and engaged!
Before joining The Activity Room®, Melinda and her two kids did a lot of outside play. But living in Canada, cold weather prevents a lot of outside play for a good bit of the year.
“When you live in northern Ontario, we have quite the winters,” says Melinda. “Going outside came to an awful end when we had those minus 40 degree days.“
After the outdoor play options were impossible, Melinda was at loose ends. She found things to do via online searches, but it just wasn’t quite enough.
“It just became really difficult,” she explains. “It was a lot of television and just pulling my hair out and trying to Pinterest or Google some basic crafts.”
Melinda really needed some extra help getting started and staying motivated.
“I didn’t really have a support system,” Melinda shares. “None of my friends necessarily did anything other than what I was already doing.”
Busy Parents Find Online Community & Support
Shortly after, Melinda found The Activity Room® and discovered a motivational, supportive community!
“Just having people that are in the same situation that you can kind of fall back on,” she says. “It makes you feel like you actually accomplished something!”
Plus, all of those cool, creative activities were suddenly super accessible! In The Activity Room®, Melinda gets monthly plans with complete activities scheduled (and explained!) for every single day!
“I just need to have it right in front of me and then do it. And have people care that I do it other than my kids.”
Now, instead of feeling stressed about finding, planning, and doing activities, Melinda is relaxed and super fun!
“The Activity Room® has really helped me in changing the mood in the household and refocus the little ones to get through the day in a fun and wonderful way!”
I love how much this has helped me become a funner mom.
Let’s Meet Melinda
How many kids do you have and how old are they?
2 kids. 3 year old boy and 1 year old girl
How long have you been in The Activity Room®?
Since January 2019
What is your favorite activity you’ve done in The Activity Room®?
My favourite activities have been outdoor ones. We love to do nature hunts since we live on 20 acres of forest and my son loves collecting rocks.
We also really loved the painting with water activity where we filled our driveway with chalk and painted and sprayed water all over!
What’s your favorite thing to do with your kids when you get a few moments?
Getting outside is always a gamechanger for me and my kids. We get fresh air and it boosts everyone’s mood!
What’s your best tip for doing activities with your kids?
Remember to keep it simple and do what you can.
Coming from a full-time shift working mama, I know how hard it can be to commit to activities when you’re tired, have piles of laundry and other things to do. But if all the supplies are obtained at the beginning of the month, then it usually only takes a couple of minutes to prep and get the activity out, ultimately making for some independent play at times and giving mama a break!
Also, don’t give up! It can feel frustrating if your child will only sit for a few minutes for the fun activity that you’ve planned, but it’s worth it when you find an activity that they finally love!
And you really get to know your child along the way!!
If you were to tell a friend about The Activity Room®, what would you say to them?
The Activity Room® is an awesome, easy, user-friendly tool that has really made a difference for us, especially during awful weather when we can’t get outside to play!
Before The Activity Room®, I relied a lot on television or basic play with toys that became very boring for my oldest child within a short time frame.
Now with The Activity Room®, I always have fresh activities and fun stuff to do to engage with both my kids and a wonderful accountability group and accountability buddy (Krystyna) to keep me going and give me new ideas to keep the kids happy and keep my mama sanity!
Share your favorite quote
“There’s no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one” – Jill Churchill
Easy Indoor Cup Stacking Challenge for Active Play
When the weather turns chilly, we end up playing inside a lot more often. But inside play doesn’t have to mean being less active!
My kids love this easy cup stacking challenge! It sets up super fast and can be played in almost endless ways!
To set up your own easy cup stacking challenge inside, you’ll need:
cups
Yup, that’s it!
I love how easy this is to set up! Seriously: 5 minutes.
Challenge Your Kids with Indoor Cup Stacking Activities
Whenever you really need to work out some energy, bust out your stash of extra cups. Paper party cups, SOLO cups, leftover kid cups from restaurants, anything works.
The first challenge is simple: stack the cups into a pyramid. Let your child try this on their own, if you want, or help them out.
Stacking cups into a pyramid can be challenging since it involves lots of planning and fine motor skills to balance everything. Start small with a 3-2-1 pyramid and go from there.
Your second challenge: cup bowling! Show your child how to roll a ball and knock down the cups. Challenge your child to knock everything down with just one roll.
Older kids might want to keep score. Play by traditional bowling rules and assign one point per cup knocked over – highest score wins!
Add Some Learning to the Challenge
If you have different colored cups, add patterning to the mix! Start the pattern yourself, then ask your child to keep going.
You could also work on counting. As you set up the pyramid, count the number of cups in each row.
You could start counting, point to each cup as you go. Then, ask your child to count on.
Write down the number of cups in each row, then challenge your child to add up all the numbers! It’s great early addition practice.
For critical thinking, give your child a certain number of cups and ask them to build at least one pyramid. The challenge: they must use every single cup!
If your kids aren’t into any of these specific cup stacking challenge activities, that’s totally fine! Just give them the cups and let them go.
The best part about the cup stacking challenge is that it’s totally open to creative interpretation!
What are your quick setup indoor energy busters? We’d love to check out your ideas!
It is no secret that water is the best possible beverage of choice in just about any situation but when it comes to our kids, what is the best drinks and best intake of those drinks? Well, Pediatricians Released New Drink Guidelines for Kids 5 and Under, Here’s What Parents Need to Know… New Drink...
Paper plate crafts are so much fun! We’ve made paper plate roses and other paper plate crafts with kids. But this time, we were inspired by imagination. Since my three-year-old pretends to be a fairy or a superhero almost every day, we crafted these quick and easy paper plate masks to help look the part!...
I then let it lay flat in my fridge until it cooled off.
When it cooled off, I added in the googly eyes to make this a slimy eyes sensory bag. However, you could stick anything in at this point, like buttons.
I added both large googly eyes and small googly eyes (affiliate links). Make sure that you get googly eyes that are the non-adhesive type.
And then lay it in the fridge to finish setting up. You want the JELLO to be almost all the way firm, but still squishy.
I do want to say this. Lay your sensory bags flat in a sheet pan in your fridge. We had a leak and my fridge was covered in red Jello.
Also, you may want to double bag it. If you do that, you’ll need to tape the inside bag to the outer bag, so it doesn’t fall down when you hang it up.
Get in the Halloween Spirit with Slimy Eyes Sensory Bag for Toddlers
Once everything was ready, I taped the slimy eye sensory bag onto a window for the kids to explore.
The boys thought it was fantastic! They spent a ton of time squishing and playing with the sensory bag.
They liked to try to get all the googly eyes up to the top, and then wipe them back down.
George and Louis raced each other to see who could do it faster. I don’t think they ever successfully got all the eyes to the top before they started sliding down though.
It looks awesome in the sunlight and feels cool on their fingers!
Once you’re done playing for the day, stick the slimy eye sensory bag back into the fridge. That will stop the JELLO from totally melting and allow it to reset.
What’s your favorite edible sensory activity? We’re always looking for creative new ideas!