Kid Fun

So... If you didn't know.. I am on the Relief Society and Ward Activities committee. It's FUN, busy, and sometimes confusing to remember what's what and who's who. But I'm enjoying myself. I love helping and planning fun things. On Saturday we are having our FYC (fill your cup) activity. These activities are just a fun get together potluck with a fun small activity, presentation, craft, or whatever. It's just laid back fun... I am doing the small presentation on Saturday about fun things to do with you kids. I thought I would share it all with you.... Enjoy!

Also, some fun blogs and sites I found...
www.greatgroupgames.com
www.gameskidsplay.net
familyfun.go.com
www.familycircle.com/family-fun
www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com
www.kidztivity.com
www.thriftyfun.com
KidsActivities.suite101.com

Newspaper Snow ball Fight

Summary: Let it snow! This is an active game for children.
Goal: To move as many paper balls to the opponent’s side as possible.
Preparation:
- As much paper as you can find- Leftover newspaper or leftover printer paper that needs to be recycled
- Masking tape
- Timer

How to Play Snowball Fight:
1. Place masking tape on the floor to mark two equal sections of the room (similar to a pie shape). Split everyone into two equally numbered teams. No one can cross to the other section. Distribute the pieces of paper and newspaper equally to the two groups..

2. When you say “go”, everyone needs to crumple the pieces of paper and try throwing the crumpled paper balls to the opponents’ sides.
3. Time the group for 3 minutes. Then, tell everyone to stop. Count the number of paper balls in each side. The team with the least paper balls gets a point.
Repeat step 3 and play the game again. The team that reaches 2 points first wins the game.


How I’m Feeling

Magnetic sign material works best for this project and is easily obtained from most sign shops. You can buy sheet magnet at most hobby shops. Begin by brainstorming all the different feelings your kids may experience - happy, sleepy, cheerful, silly... you get the idea. This is a good way to get them thinking creatively. Draw a grid on the sheet magnet with pencil, allowing about 1 square inch in each box. Print one feeling per box at the bottom of the space. Illustrate each feeling above the word by drawing a facial expression. They may also choose to cut out a character's face from the comics section of your local newspaper, or even from a coloring or comic book. Color in each expression and decorate the entire magnet. Next, they will design a "picker" to select an expression. Cut a piece of magnet that is 1.5 inches square. Inside this piece of magnet, cut out a 1" to form a small window, leaving about 1/4" of magnet at the top to write on. On this top section write: Today I Feel... This "picker" can now be placed over an expression to indicate the kind of day they're having. This is a great way to raise awareness about the way we perceive our own attitude and disposition. By becoming more aware that we are feeling sad, or mischievous, we pay more attention to our own actions that reflect this feeling towards others. Letting others know we they feel can also affect the way we are received. This gives you the opportunity to address any negative feelings and encourage more positive ones.



Shaving Cream Painting

Let's face it, playing with shaving cream is always fun, and having a beautiful craft to show for it gives you a good excuse. This activity is fun for children and adults alike. You can use the result for cards, book marks, or almost any other paper craft you can think of.
1. Dispense shaving cream
Apply shaving cream to the pan so that you can make a layer that is a little wider than your card stock sheet and about 1/2 " (1.25 cm) thick.
2. Spread to a thin layer
Use the back of a squeegee to spread the shaving cream out to a nice even layer.

3. Drops of coloring or paint
Drop about 8 – 10 drops of food colors or paint, evenly spread out, on the shaving cream layer.
4. Swirl the color
Use a stick or toothpick to swirl through the shaving cream and color drops to spread the color out in streaks across the shaving cream.
5. Lay cardstock on color
Lay the cardstock on the shaving cream and gently press to make sure the cardstock contacts the colored areas.
Peel the cardstock off the shaving cream and lay on a clean area.
7. Scrape the squeegee across the cardstock to remove the shaving cream, leaving the color behind.
8. Set the painted cardstock aside to dry. If the paper starts to curve or curl, you may wish to put a book or pan on top to flatten it out before it dries.

Bubble Snakes

Create wacky foam snakes by blowing air through this simple, homemade bubble-making device.
Materials
• Scissors
• Plastic water bottle
• Used towel
• Rubber band
• Shallow bowl
• Dish soap
Instructions
Cut the bottom off a plastic water bottle.
 Cover the open end with a circular piece of towel that's a few inches wider than the bottle. Secure the towel with a rubber band.Dampen the towel with water, then dip it into a shallow bowl of dish soap. Blow gently through the mouth of the bottle to create snakes of tiny bubbles. 
Parents: supervise younger children to make sure they do not suck in any soap bubbles.

Sidewalk Water Painting

Painting with water is a fun game for young children, and is a good way to spend an afternoon outdoors. Water is an attractive alternative to paint, which is much messier to clean, and disappears more quickly on driveways or sidewalks than chalk. Supply a toddler or preschooler with a plastic bowl of water and an assortment of paintbrushes, and let the fun begin!

Colored Rice

Materials:
• uncooked rice
• food coloring
• rubbing alcohol
To food color rice, add a healthy amount of food coloring to two 1 tsp of rubbing alcohol in a ziploc bag. 
Pour in about 3/4 cup of UNCOOKED rice. 
Close the bag
Shake well (like shake and bake)
Pour onto a piece of wax paper or tinfoil to dry (put it in a cookie sheet so it doesn't accidentally get knocked on the floor)
Making the colored rice is messy and food color doesn't come out of clothes well... the shaking part can be done by kids, but the rest should be done by an adult.
I like using food coloring PASTE instead of drops as I find the color is richer, but drops work too. 
Let dry (about 1/2 a day -- less if you spread them out well in a warm airy place)
The rice can be used to hide treasures in for the kids to find, scoop in cups and dump, pour in funnels, or anything else you can think of. It’s always a big hit.

Cornstarch Fun

What is needed
• Cornstarch (available at the grocery store)
• Water
• Bowl or dish
That's it!
What to Do
This is a very messy experiment - but it cleans up really easily. Go somewhere that you can make a bit of a mess, and do this:
 • Take some cornstarch, and put some in the bowl.
• Add water, slowly. As you add the water, stir the water into the cornstarch. Don't use a spoon - use your hands to do this. This is part of the fun, and you will also be able to tell when you have put in enough water!
The key is to add just enough water so that the cornstarch and water mix will flow very, very slowly. Now you have something which is a very strange goo indeed. If you walk fast enough, you can actually walk on it:
But if you pour it, it will flow like water! Here are some things to try:
• Smack it! If you hit the mixture really hard, it might even break.
• Pour it from hand to hand. If you go slowly, it will pour freely.
• Roll it into a ball. If you keep rolling, you can roll it into a nice ball. Of course, as soon as you stop rolling, it will ooze and turn back into a puddle.
• Bounce it! If you get the right consistency, you can even bounce a ball of this goo!
What is Happening
The cornstarch is made up of long chains of atoms - a polymer. These chains can move past each other, but they take some time to do this. If you pour it slowly, it can flow like a liquid. If you try to force things and make the chains slide more quickly than they want to, they get entangled - and the mixture gets firmer. So if you push hard on it, it acts more like a solid.
The real explanation is actually a bit more complicated than this. But the exact workings of mixtures like this is something that is not all that well understood. Folks sometimes get upset when there is no really good answer for things in science, but really that's a good thing - if we already knew everything there was to know, there would be no reason to try new things - and what's the fun in that?
Other Things to Try
If you add different amounts of water, you can get mixtures that work very differently. You can also try different liquids. Corn syrup and cornstarch can make a mixture that will do weird things in the presence of static electricity, for instance.

Gak

2 cups white glue
1 1/2 cups tap water
2 tsp Borax
1 cup hot water
food coloring

combine glue, tap water, and food coloring
in a bowl. In a larger bowl, dissolve Borax in
hot water. Slowly add the glue mixture to the
Borax. It will thicken quickly and be difficult
to mix. mix well and drain off excess water.
(with hands is the easiest) Let stand for a few
minutes, then pour into a shallow tray. Let dry
for 10 minutes. Store in a zipper-closure plastic
bags. (will keep for 2-3 weeks)


Kool-Aid® Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid® in a medium pot. Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. When mixture forms a ball in pot, remove. Knead until smooth. Put in a plastic bag and refrigerate.