Toddler's and craft activities (4)

School is now over and everyone is excited where to spend summer vacation, but we are still having our classes and hopefully we will be able to finish our curriculum 'till second week of April.  We started our classes second week of August that's the reason why we are still having our classes.

When I was a child my mom would always end up nagging when she sees us watching TV shows (cartoons) and playing video games.  You know during summer for students it would mean freedom!  I understand moms would want their children have that freedom during school vacations and still be productive. My mom would chose to send us in the province at our grandparents house, I now understand what is her reason for doing that - to have a more productive summer vacation instead of wasting time in front of the TV and computer. 

To all moms out there thinking of activities for your toddlers here are some of my ideas that you can do.

Home made finger paint

1.  Finger Painting

Toddler's love to draw and color.  I'm not good in drawing and coloring, tough trying hard; I still enjoy doing this activity with my children.  We have lots of coloring pages at home and instead of using their crayon, I made paints for finger painting.  This is so easy to do.  But I am not sure if you'd like the idea of making a lot of mess in the house because this is a messy activity.

Dissolve cornstarch in water then put it in a stove, continue stirring and bring it to boil.    Just add water if you find your solution too sticky. 1/4 cup of cornstarch can make a lot paste. I found it better to use cornstarch compared to all purpose flour.  Make the solution in a flowing consistency.  Divide the solution and transfer in different containers the number will depend on the colors you want to produce.  Simply use food colors to tint the paste solution.

Make sure you cover your working area with news papers or any big sheets of paper to keep the area clean as I have told you earlier, this is a messy activity.  Have the children wear their working clothes, because the colored starch paste might stain their clothes.  In our experience, food color stains can still be removed in soap and water.

With this activity children can also learn mixing colors.  My children loved making new colors by mixing them.  Actually, my youngest son would also want to join messing things up.  I was glad that her sister's educational laptop caught up his attention.  I'll let him join the finger painting activity when he's a bit bigger and no longer puts his hands in his mouth.

2.  Animal Fishing

Have fun playing the animal fishing game.  You'll need animal pictures and place them in a big tub.  A magnet with a string attached in a stick to serve as the fishing pole.  Attach paper clips at the back side of your animal pictures so that it will stick with the magnet.  You can also use the animal pictures your child has already colored in some of your previous activities.

My children and I played this game to teach them about the air, land and water animals.  They will catch the animals and try to sort them.  Designate where to place the animal.  In our activity, I used colored papers so they can segregate the animals.  White paper for water animals, green for land animals and blue for air animals.  You can use small buckets or any container to place the animals it depends on you.

3.  Balloon Fun

My children loves to play with balloons.  And since we are homeschooling, we always have balloons in our supplies.  There's one time that I needed to work and something and I can't give time to play with my children and sit with them.  I needed to give them activities that would keep them busy so they will not bother me specially my daughter.  With a quick thinking, I gave my daughter a balloon and a marker.  I instructed her to draw on the balloon and she loved the idea.  When she was a little bit younger she would draw on our walls and on any surface, I needed to teach her and remind her that crayons, markers and pencils are not for walls, chair and tables, etc.  That's the reason why I know this trick will work on her, she didn't disturbed me while working and I was able finish my activity.  I am glad when I came back to look at her and found no marks on the tables and walls, she listened to my instruction.    

The balloons can also be used to teach them addition and subtraction.  Pop balloons when teaching subtracting. My children also loves to sit on balloons to pop them.  So they loved the idea of popping out balloons and the same time learn the concept of subtraction.

So what activities have you lined up for your child this summer? I'd love to hear them from you.