sensory caterpillars

This activity took us a while to complete but the kids loved doing it and were (surprisingly) very patient. This is a good sensory activity for preschoolers that I found in The Mailbox magazine.

Materials needed:

Several cut circles from construction paper
popsicle sticks or pipecleaners (for antennas)
glue
Different "sensory" materials ( we used cotton, aluminum foil, uncooked macaroni shells, glitter glue, foam stickers, and feathers)

Glue a different sensory material on each circle. As we were gluing we talked about how each material felt. Was it soft, smooth, sticky, etc.? You can also talk about what each object looks like....hard, shiny, sparkly, dull, etc. You may need to help younger children with the squirting of the glue.
Finish your caterpillar with a face that has antennas attached to the top. You could also add legs if you are really ambitious.....we stopped with the antennas.

Let your project dry for most of the day or overnight before displaying on a wall. This was indeed one of my kids favorite activities!

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messy, mushy, mud

This activitiy is not for the neat-freak mom. It WILL make a mess! But the kids loved it. I told them they were scientists and we would mix all of these items together to see if we could make "mud".



Materials:
aluminum or plastic container with lid (to stir and put mud in)
spoon
wet paper towel or washcloth (to clean up)

Mix the following together (or for more fun, let the kids do it. My 3 year old and 22 month old did fine with it).
1/2 cup cold water
1 TBS oil
2 TBS brown paint (washable is best)
1/2 cup salt
1 TBS cornstarch
Gradually add 1 1/2 cups of flour. You can add more oil and paint if mixture ends up too dry.

My kids loved this "science" activity. We stored the mud in containers to play with later. Have fun!!

birthday collage

Ever wonder what to do with all of your birthday cards? Make a birthday collage!

Materials:
posterboard
cards
glue
scissors





This is a great way to practice cutting and pasting. My son loved the finished product and taped it to his closet door!

whiteboard fun

Materials needed:
Whiteboard
Dry Erase Markers

This is another great activity to keep kids busy and practice writing & drawing. My kids can stay entertained for several minutes with their dry-erase boards and markers. You can practice shapes, numbers, or just have fun drawing with these nifty markers!

music shakers

Materials:
Empty coffee can
beans
fabric
ribbon
thread
glue (I used a glue gun to make extra secure)



This is an easy way to make a music shaker and not worry about beans getting into little mouths!

Fill an empty coffee can with beans. Place lid back on can. Cut a large piece of fabric and roll around can, gluing down to secure the fabric. I secured each end with thread then tied large ribbons around the thread. This gives the children "handles" to hold while shaking their music makers!



Play some fun music and enjoy shaking to the beat!!!

cheap & easy disposable paint containers

My kids love to paint. The bad part is always the cleanup, though! Here is a great way to make paint holders to separate your paints.

Materials:
Cardboard egg carton
scissors

Just cut the carton into sections. I usually make four 3-color sections for the kids.



Just fill each section with desired amount of paint!

stamping fun

Materials:
Several large ink pads
Sheets of paper
Several patterns of stamps

This is a simple and fun activity that you can do anytime. The kids love it when I pull out the stamps!



You can buy the large stamps several places. My mom got this set with the inkpads from Oriental Trading Company. These are the beach theme stamps. I saw more fun ones in the catalog that I may order later!