Rainy day...
1 Body painting
Buy a selection of bathtime body paints, then hop in the tub to paint designs on each body part, naming the body parts and the things you are drawing as you go... bees on their knees, a sweet on their feet and so on.
2 Put on a puppet show
If you don’t have puppets to hand, then retrieve those fuzzy winter socks from the charity bag and turn them into colourful sock characters. You can do the same with paper bags and even those floppy yellow washing-up gloves. Cut out a large square from the centre of the bottom of a big cardboard box (to create a ‘proscenium arch’ for the show), put ‘curtains’ inside the box at either side, then see what the puppets have to tell you.
3 Where are we going today?
Pull out a suitcase and have each child pack a bag – tell them not to tell you, but to choose a specific destination (the snow, the beach, a safari etc), then they can pack their bags with all the appropriate gear. When all the bags are packed, arrive at ‘the airport’ (aka your living room), then open the bags one at a time and have everyone decide where the bag was going. Everyone can then make postcards from their ‘destination’.
4 Your home cinema
Set a start time, make big tubs of popcorn and ice-cream cones, then set up your comfy 'cinema' seating in rows and ‘sell’ tickets for the show. You could also make posters for the event. Winnie-The-Pooh, Babe, The Lion King, Shrek and Mary Poppins are all great ideas for a rainy-day movie.
5 Hollywood star
Line a kitchen tray with a layer of PlayDoh (about 2cm deep), then have your child press her hands down into the PlayDoh. Tell her to hold the pose for 30 seconds (while you take a paparazzi picture), Then help her scratch her name above the hand prints. Spray the PlayDoh with hairspray (so it will dry shiny instead of cracked) and let it dry.
6 Line dancing
Create a repeating pattern of steps (such as 4 steps left, clap, hop, jump, jump; turn around and repeat), then repeat over and over again until you all know how to do it really well. Try and come up with imaginative spins and turns to make it an even more dramatic performance.
7 Take turns writing a story and illustrating it
Get a large scrapbook and have one child write the story on each right-hand page, then switch books and the other child can draw their illustration for the story on the left-hand page. Get out the glitter, glue and colourful paper for creating the cover illustration. And have a competition to
come up with the title.
8 Make a family tree
Give your child a big board of cardboard then show him how to ‘grow’ his family tree – starting with himself at the very bottom and with you and your partner on the next branch. The next branch will split further with each of your mothers and fathers, followed by more branches for aunts and uncles. When all the details are in place, he can draw a big tree picture over the top, using the chart’s branches to guide the drawing of his tree.
9 Get a pen pal
Inspire your child’s love of writing letters by setting her up with an international pen pal. Over the
age of three, the excitement of getting her very own letter in the post will be inspiration enough. If you have friends living overseas
who have children of a similar age, this is the perfect way to begin – for older children, remind them that they can collect stamps and postcards from another part of
the world. If you are not in this situation, your child can join a
letter-writing organisation.
10 Start a holiday diary
Buy a book that you can fill with drawings, photographs, musings, poems and dried flowers – anything that reminds you of each and every day. Even toddlers can have a holiday diary – although you will have to help them quite a bit.
In the garden...
11 Afternoon tea party
A tiny table, a pot of lukewarm ‘tea’, cups, saucers, serviettes and spoons and your toddler will be acting like the perfect lady of the house... Encourage her to ‘pour the tea’ and ‘add the sugar’. Offer plenty of pleases and thank-yous.
12 ‘Paint' the fence
A bucket of water and a big wide paintbrush will be all your preschooler needs to set off on the man-size task of ‘painting’ the fence.
13 Make a daisy chain
Pluck the flowers so you have nice long stems, then pierce the stem lengthwise and thread the next flower through. Now make necklaces, bracelets, garlands and crowns.
14 Hopscotch
Use chalk to draw a hopscotch pattern on the ground or use masking tape on the floor if it’s indoors. There should be 8 squares set off in ones and twos. Number them in order. Each player
will need a different marker (stone, shell, bottlecap, button, etc) then, standing behind the start line, each player tosses their marker into square one; they then have to hop over the square that has the marker and hop
and jump all the way to square 8, hop and jump back and stop at square 2 to pick up
the marker; hop in square one and then
start again, this time tossing the marker
into square 2. A player is ‘out’ if the marker lands outside the appropriate square or if they lose their balance or put down their other foot or a hand.
15 Blow bubbles
Set up a big bucket with a mix of one part detergent with 10 parts water (for super-strong bubbles, add a dash of glycerine as well), and put together a collection of bubble blowing ‘wands’ (a piece of string tied in a loop, a wire coathanger twisted into a circle). Compete to blow the biggest bubbles, do a bubblechase, or see how many bubbles you can burst in one minute. For more ideas visit www.bubbles.org
16 Start a water fight
Gather as many parents/children/friends as you can. There should be a goal, which each team is protecting from getting wet (and one they are trying to get wet); when one of the goals has been soaked, you know you have won.
17 Set up camp
Pitch camp in the back garden. You’ll need a tent, some bedding, seating and food to cook on your
fire. If fires aren’t allowed in your area, light
a trangia (make sure there is very close
adult supervision at all times) and roast marshmallows, flame-grill your (pre-cooked) sausages, or toast some bread. Take some digital photos for the holiday diary. It might even inspire a camping excursion in the future.
18 Make a scarecrow
Help your child bend a wire coathanger into a diamond shape, keeping the hook at the top. Put the hanger inside the leg of a stocking and pull until the fabric is taut. Tie a knot in the stocking to prevent it slipping off (make sure the hook still sticks out the top). Give your child a range of old clothes and fabrics – these will be used to make eyes, a nose, mouth, scarf and hat. Help her cut out the shapes she wants and glue them on to the nylon. Use the hook at the top of the face to hang your scarecrow from a tree.
19 Hold a mudpie-making competition
Buckets, ladles, spatulas and shaped cutters will be everything you need to start the competition. Save the scoring until the next day to test if any of the pies crack or to add decoration.
20 Slug and bug hunt
Send your child on a slug and bug hunt with a glass jar and a small net (for catching their finds). When they have a few specimens, talk about what food the bugs will need. For inspiration, check out www.insectlore.co.uk and www.sciencemuseumstore.com
At home...
21 DJ and disco
Give your child the run of the CDs for the day and have her put together a playlist for a disco. Ask her to make decorations and name the event, then set a time when she will play DJ (with Dad’s help) while you take to the dance floor. If your child is too young to work the necessary equipment, ask her to choose a favourite song and learn a special routine together.
22 Put on a play (indoors or out)
This works especially well if you have friends over for lunch who also have children. Send all of the younger set into one room – or preferably the garden – to devise and rehearse their performance. Ask for
a theatrical 10-minute call before the performance. Inspiration should run wild, but if they are struggling, remind them that fairytales are a very good place to start.
23 Desert island survival
Before you are set adrift, make up a ‘desert island box’ of random objects, then imagine that you and your child are marooned on a desert island. All you have are the clothes on your back and whatever materials you can find (in your island box). After making a place to spend the night, search for food, or go fishing (using string and a yardstick) and see what you can catch. Then tell stories about your adventure and draw pictures from the journey.
24 Do a night-time safari
OF YOUR GARDEN As evening falls, don wellies and arm yourselves with a torch for an outdoor adventure. Listen for the trills of birds and the froggy ribbets from watery ponds. Talk about where all the sounds are coming from and who they belong to. If no natural beasts are around, then be on the lookout for gurgles (very hard to see, but with a noise similar to that of drainpipes) and boogalots (who dance about frenetically but live only in the shadows): both species are very friendly and protect children from the dark.
25 Make a DIY band
Make a kazoo – use an old toilet roll with a piece of waxed paper secured over the end with an elastic band, then just hum into the open end; percussion – collect pots and pans (and perhaps a big plastic bucket for a bass drum); create a water glass xylophone – line up at least five glasses filled with water to different levels to create different tones; chimes – pull out a set of picnic cutlery and just set one piece on each ‘arm’ of a cutlery stand; bells – collect old bottle tops and string about five to 10 on an old hair band. Now that your ‘band’ is ready, see what tunes you can play.
26 Set up shop and sell your wares
First ask your child what kind of shop she wants – does she want to sell clothes, food, musical instruments (see 15 for ideas to make these), or even her own art? For younger children, use monopoly money to barter and trade with them. Older children could invite their friends around to be customers and run their own market.
27 Do a scavenger hunt
Make a list of 10 items your child will need to collect. Ask him to put the first object in a ‘Treasure Chest’ in the room where you are, then tell him the next item on the list; when he has collected all 10, offer him a prize. You could also choose the items so that number one is one apple; number two is two shoes, and so on.
28 Set up a fortune teller's stall
Curtain off a corner of a room to be a fortune teller’s ‘stall’, tie a scarf around your child’s head and wrap her in some big gypsy-style jewellery, then set up
a range – about four origami fortune tellers (see number 57) from which her customers can choose. Cross her palm with silver and the future is yours for the knowing...
29 Decorate your bike
Using at least three different colours of crêpe-paper streamers, fluffy wools, coloured straws (for your wheel spikes), bells and toys, create your new super fun bicycle. (Now do that Tour de France – in your garden.)
For babies and toddlers...
30 Do a traditional wash day
Lather up an old-fashioned washing tub (an old tin is perfect, but a plastic bucket will do) and give your child a scrubbing board (a big wooden chopping board is ideal), then set them to scrubbing your old, worn-out clothes with a bristly brush. All the washing then has to be rinsed – using water from the well (the outdoor tap) and wrung out before being hung out to dry.
For babies and toddlers...
31 Jump and hop
Make two circles with two pieces of string – a big circle with a longer piece and a small circle with the shorter piece. Then show your child how to jump up and down inside the bigger circle, then do the same for the small circle. Count each complete jump or chant ‘jump, jump, thump’. Then do the same with hopping.
32 Outline the shape
Use straws and string to outline circles and squares, then talk about curves and lines. Hold your child’s hand and make a pretend circle in the air, then tell him to do it again by himself. Ask him to recall the names of the shapes, tell your child that the square is made up of square lines and talk about the square’s corners. Children can form circles and squares using cooked, coloured spaghetti.
33 Rub-a-dub-dub
Read the nursery rhyme: ‘Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub. And who do you think they be?’
Ask your child to imagine three men in a tub floating on the water, rocking back and forth. Talk about all the jobs that people do in the song and emphasise the numbers.
34 The coat hanger hoop
Take a metal coat hanger and put tape around the hook and the area where it is fastened together. Bend the hook and hold the neck of the coat hanger so that it is secure around the knob of a door. Bend the rest of the coat hanger out until the part where it is fastened is flush with the door. The metal can then be adjusted to be a round hoop. Use a ball of wool or a sock ball and show your child how to toss and aim the ball through the hoop.
35 Name and find
Give your baby a book to hold, then tell him he is holding a book. Ask him to give it back to you and to watch as you hide the book under a pillow or magazine, then ask him to find the book. Repeat the word ‘book’ as often as possible. Choose different familiar toys to hide from your baby, but only hide one object at
a time.
36 Home sounds
Emphasise one familiar home sound each day of the week. For example, choose the washing machine or telephone or the clock. Exaggerate the sound verbally and encourage your baby to imitate you.
37 Listen to the sounds
Take a large empty tin can with
a plastic lid and use a wooden spoon or stick to tap on the lid. Develop the rhythmic 1-2, 1-2 pattern as you tap it. Encourage your baby to copy you, using the wooden spoon or stick. Count out the rhythmic pattern as you tap. Line up a shoe box, a stuffed paper bag, a magazine, a piece of wood and other similar items for your baby to tap.
38 Look at me
Lay your toddler down on a large sheet of paper and trace around her body using a crayon. Once you’ve finished, ask her to draw a left eye, then a right eye, the nose and smiling mouth and ask her to name them. Point to the position where the left ear should be and ask her what should be drawn there. Instruct her to find the eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
39 Avoid the shark
Create stepping stones across the room or the garden, then have children carefully make their way across the room. If they fall off they are ‘eaten’ by the sharks (the other players) who are all lying on the floor.
40 The sock ball throw
Take an old sock and fill it with newspaper or old stockings. Tie it securely to make a sock ball. Allow your baby to hold and feel it. Take the sock ball gently from her and throw it a short distance. Retrieve the ball and throw it again. Give the ball to your baby and encourage her to throw it.
41 Do a circus routine
Encourage your child to practise being a clown (for costumes, use ping-pong balls for a big red nose, colourful oversize clothing, some funny glasses and a big hat), an acrobat (who does cartwheels, somersaults and handstands), a juggler (you could use three large pom poms). If there are a group of children, each can perform their own ‘speciality trick’ before ending with a human pyramid as the grand finale.
42 Skipping games
For group skipping games, two people turn a long skipping rope while one does the jumping. However, if there is only one person to turn and one to jump, then tie the other end to a tree. There are lots of games, rhythms and songs to go with them – try Salt and Mustard, where a number of children can jump into the revolving rope singing “salt, mustard, vinegar, pepper” – when they say pepper the rope gets faster and faster. The
last person to successfully jump the rope is the winner and gets to turn the rope next.
43 Three-legged race
We’ve all done these – if you’re with someone your own size, then well and good. If not, you’ll be in for plenty of laughs – and falls.
44 Stuck in the mud
Decide on the boundaries, then one person is ‘it’. She must chase the others around and try to touch them; if you’re ‘tagged’ (even a little bit), then you must stand with your arms in the air and your legs spaced apart. You can only be freed by someone crawling through your legs (they are safe while doing so). When everybody is ‘stuck in the mud’ with no one left to ‘freeze’, a new person is ‘it’.
45 Dancing
Watch a music video, then copy the moves. Try doing a range of different music styles – jazz, classical, rock ’n’ roll, country ’n’ western and blues.
46 Carnival of the Animals
Saint-Saëns’ wonderful Carnival of the Animals suite of music is great for toddlers – have them dance in the style of the animals that appear in each of the 14 movements; there are tortoises, elephants, kangaroos, as well as fossils and pianists – imagine how they walk!
47 Pillow fight
Pull out the biggest, fluffiest pillows, and go for it – the only rule being that nothing except the pillow hits another person, and make sure the area for the ‘fight’ is clear of any hazards.
48 Play dodgeball
If you have a group of children visiting, divide them into two teams. One forms a large circle and throws a big soft ball at the other team inside the circle, who dodge the ball being thrown at them – if they get hit they must join the other team and join in throwing the ball. The last player left in the circle is the winner.
49 The box walk
Use two shoe
boxes that will fit on your child’s feet, then have her put one foot in each box as though they are skates. Play or sing ‘The Skaters Waltz’ as the child ‘glides’ along.
50 Obstacle course
Set ‘stations’ around the garden with three or four hula hoops (which your child will have to jump from one into the next), a skipping rope (skip 10 times), a few cardboard boxes (to use as ‘bases’ to run/somersault/hop/or cartwheel between), a ball (to be thrown into a hoop), and a run of chairs (set so their legs form a tunnel to crawl through). If it’s a rainy day, simply vary the routine for an indoor course. For younger children, simplify the actions they need to take at each station.
In the home ‘lab’…
51 Make your coppers shine
Collect up a handful of copper coins, then set up five glasses on the kitchen bench and put at least one coin in each glass to test out ‘cleaning solutions’ that are ‘rumoured’ to magically shine your copper coins. Your child can choose any ‘magic solution’ for each of the glasses, but do try lemon juice; hot Tabasco sauce mixed with baking soda; white vinegar as some of the solutions. Ensure your coin is covered with the liquid for at least five minutes, then wipe off with paper towels. Tell your child to sit each clean coin in front of its glass so they can judge the winning solution.
52 Make slime
Pour half a cup of glue into a bowl. Add half a cup of liquid starch and two drops of green food colouring. Stir until it is mixed and leave to sit for five minutes. Use your hands to mix it all up until it all comes together.
53 Make raisins dance
Pour one third of a glass of water into a clear container; add one third of a cup of white vinegar and one tablespoon baking soda. The mixture should begin to fizz. Add a handful of raisins and watch them move up and down. Have your child do a ‘raisin dance’ alongside.
54 Code making
Give your children a range of symbols (dashes, dots, shapes) which they can use to create a code to represent either things (like hieroglyphs) or letters of the alphabet. They can then make up words or sentences in code for others to break. There are many variations on this theme to suggest.
55 Blow up a balloon with a bottle
Using a bottle with a narrow neck, pour approximately 5ml of water and 5ml of vinegar into the bottle. Using a funnel, fill half a balloon with baking soda. Stretch the open end of the balloon over the bottle neck, but be careful not to let any of the baking soda drip into the bottle. Once the balloon is in place, lift up the baking-soda-filled end of the balloon so the soda pours into the bottle.
In the kitchen...
56 Pack a picnic hamper
...with damper (recipe below), fruit and chocolates, then enjoy an afternoon in the garden with a variety of traditional games: boules, a giant snakes-and-ladders, skittles.
57 Make gingerbread men
Why not try making characters from your child’s favourite storybooks? Then tell gingerbread man stories.
58 Animal restaurants
Ever heard of the Fresh Fly Café? You would if you were a frog. How about the Thoroughly Scared Mouse Brasserie? It would be your eatery of choice if you were a cat. Have your child invent zany restaurants for their favourite animals. For each restaurant, create a menu with starters, mains and desserts, a decor, entertainment and a promotional poster..
59 Make dampers
A fun and easy recipe to make with young children. Heat the oven to 210°C, then grease a baking tray. Sift 1 cup of flour into a bowl, add a generous pinch of salt. Meanwhile, combine 30g of melted butter, a splash of milk and a splash of water. Make a well in the centre
of the flour and pour in the liquids. Stir with a knife, then turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Place on the tray and score a cross in the top of the dough with a knife. Brush with milk and dust with flour. Bake for about 25 minutes (lower the heat for the last 15 minutes). Remove and serve with butter and honey.
60 Taste testing
Blindfold your child, then set up a range of foods that she will have to identify (ice-cream, pickles, yogurt, cereal, cookies, and so on). Ask her to describe each taste and texture, whether they are sweet, salty, sour, spicy, bitter.
61 Make craft dough
Mix two cups of flour with one cup of salt and 2/3 of a cup of water. Knead the mixture until it is doughy. Add food colouring or glitter. Make shapes and sculptures using cutters or by hand. Dry the shapes in the oven for 10 minutes at 100°C. When cooled, the objects can be painted.
62 Vegetable printing
Cut large potatoes in half. Carve out shapes and patterns, then stamp the vegetables into ink and press on to paper.
63 Wooden-spoon puppets
Take a wooden kitchen spoon and have your child draw a face on the back of the spoon using a fine liner pen. Add string to the top for the hair (knot in the middle, then glue to the top). Cut a full circle out of a chosen fabric and then cut in half to make into the spoon’s ‘dress’ (or use half a paper doily if you want a lacy frill at the bottom). Tie around the spoon’s ‘neck’, then button up at the collar or tie with a piece of string.
64 Make pancakes
At the age of three, there’s nothing better than adding all those ingredients to the mixer, then pouring the batter into the pan, watching the bubbles rise to tell you they’re ready, then eating your own creation!
65 Make lemonade
Cut six lemons in half and give to your
child to juice. When done, mix the juice,
six cups of cold water and one cup of sugar
in a large pitcher. Stir and serve over ice.
For an art lover...
66 Chalk drawings
Draw a large ‘frame’ on the driveway, give your child some coloured chalk and set them the task of making a mural. Suggest a few objects they can use as ‘stencil shapes’ – boards, plastic containers – for their Cubist masterpiece.
67 Consequences
Give each child
a piece of A4 paper. Fold it in half (the top edge folded to the bottom), then in half again (the same direction). In the top quarter of the paper, the first child will draw a face and neck, then fold the paper over so the picture cannot be seen. They then pass it on to the next person who draws the top half of the body; the next person, the bottom half; then the legs, folding and passing on each time.
68 Patterns
Show your child what a pattern is then have them make a pattern. Use pegs, buttons, toothpicks or coloured paper strips: a button pattern can be made with big and little buttons; a clothes peg pattern can be made with one straight up, another on its side; a coloured strip pattern can be made with red, blue, red, blue colours. Frame the finished line drawing.
69 Two parts make a whole
Cut out five large colourful pictures from a magazine and glue on to cardboard. Cut the picture in two pieces (increase the number of pieces for older children) in a curvy shape from top to bottom so each picture has a left and a right side. Let your toddler put the ‘puzzle pieces’ back together.
70 Three triangles
Using three pieces of A4 cardboard, cut one triangle, each of a different size, out of each piece of card. Place the triangles on top of each other with the largest at the bottom. Have your child fit each triangle into the correct frame, then stack them in order again.
71 Start with a splodge
Make a colourful ink splodge somewhere on a piece of paper. Fold the paper in half and press down on the splodge until it has spread, then open the paper again. Now ask your child what the splodge might be – a beetle? A car? A monster? Have them draw the extra features so you can see what it really is.
72 Make rubbings
Give your child 10 piece of paper and 10 different coloured crayons, then have them search out 10 different objects to make rubbings of (coins, leaves, the bricks on your house, the pavement etc). Remind them to use a gentle touch to get a perfectly detailed finish.
73 Circle and square
On a piece of cardboard, help your child trace around a saucer and then around a square book. Fold the cardboard in half and cut out the shapes so there is a square hole in one and a circular hole in the other. Tape the cardboard ‘stencil’ (not the circle or square itself) to another piece of cardboard and give your child a crayon to ‘colour in’ the circle hole. Using a different crayon, they can colour over the square stencil. When you remove the tape and stencil, your child will discover a neatly coloured circle and square. Hang these up to help your child learn the difference between the colours they have used and the shapes.
74 Make alphabet cards
Make up 36 rectangular cards. Draw a
line down the middle (so there are roughly two ‘squares’ on the card). In the left-hand square draw the letter of the alphabet to be illustrated, then ask your child what object they think begins with that letter. They might not be sure – or for toddlers, they might say ‘car’ for every single letter. Remember this is their very personal ‘first alphabet’, so see how imaginative you can be (for the cars: A = Aston Martin, B = Beetle, etc); ask them why they chose this object (if it’s a funny story, write it on the back of the card). Then have your child draw their illustration in the right-hand box.
75 Hold an art exhibition
Chalk and chalkboards, paints, brushes, a sketch book and modelling clay should have your budding artist ready to create a ‘body’ of work. Once they have five works ready, it’s time to hold the exhibition, complete with opening party ‘champagne’ and a speech.
76 Make balloon animals
Inflate some long balloons, start twisting and get creative. There are endless possibilities but for inspiration, check out www.balloondesigns.net and select the free section for many animal design instructions.
77 Origami fortune tellers
Fold the two opposite ends of a square piece of paper to make a triangle, then fold the opposite ends of the triangle to make a smaller one. Open the paper up and fold a corner into the centre point, repeat with the opposite corner – you should now have a square. Turn the square over and fold all the corners into the centre as you did on the opposite side. Turn the square over again, then fold the square in half, then unfold and fold in half the other way then unfold. Draw the four loose ends together as you push your four fingers inside the flaps to sit inside the corners. Write the names of four colours on each of the four flaps, then flip it over and write eight fortunes under the flaps. Then have your child choose a colour, then one of the numbers, then a number again to find out their fortune.
78 Learn French Knitting
Take a wooden (preferably) cotton reel and hammer four nails into the top so that the nails are protruding fully. Thread some wool through the middle of the reel. Step one: wind the wool once around each nail so that each nail as a ‘loop’ around it. Step two: wind the wool once around the outside of all four nails. Step three: using a knitting needle, flip the loop from each nail over the nail and over the wool that was wound around all four nails. Go in the same direction – clockwise or anti-clockwise. Repeat.
79 Make Playdoh jewellery
Use small cookie cutters to press out shapes of flowers, hearts – whatever shape your child wants for her necklace or bracelet – from PlayDoh that is about 5mm thick. Use the end of a straw to pierce the PlayDoh, so the shape can be strung on to a thin ribbon when it dries. Colour and decorate with sequins and sparkles.
80 Make a rainbow frisbee
Divide a paper plate (or plastic plate) into six sections, then use three different colours to colour each section (for example: orange, purple, yellow, orange, purple, yellow). Allow to dry before throwing to each other in the garden or park.
81 Make a mosaic
Look at mosaic designs and choose a central image – it could be a truck, a moon or a face that inspires your designer – then either sketch your design or paste a picture of the object on the back of a paper plate to give them a template. Using colourful magazine pages, have your child cut out lots of little shapes from the different shades of colours they want to include (ask them to name the shapes as they go, and the shapes don’t have to be perfect to work for their mosaic). Remind them that they will also need a few triangle shapes to fit in corners. The size of the pieces will depend on the age of your child – the older they are the smaller the pieces should be. Mix together equal parts white glue and water to paste the pieces on. When they have covered their design with the different colours for the different parts, fill in the gaps with a few smaller pieces, then cover with a top coat of the glue mixture. When they are finished, let the project dry completely.
82 Make pom poms
Cut two circles from cardboard about the size of the pom poms to be created. Cut a circle out of the middle (fold the card in half to cut out this circle). Place the two cardboard circles together, then wind a ball of wool through the centre hole and around the outside. When you have a thick layer of wool the whole way around the card circles, carefully cut the wool along the outer rim of the two cardboard circles so the wool is cut the entire way around. Slip another piece of wool between the two pieces of cardboard and tie so that it is secure, then remove the card. It’s time to twirl!
83 Create papier mâché masks
Cover the floor with newspaper, as this is messy. Blow up a balloon; sit the end in a cup. Tear newspaper strips about 15cm long, dip them in papier mâché paste (one part flour, two parts water) and spread them across the balloon, covering everything except the end in the cup. Let this layer dry. Make ‘facial features’ out of cardboard; use masking tape to attach. Add three more layers of papier mâché. Allow to dry between each layer. Once dry, pop the balloon and paint the mask.
84 Make a mobile
Use cardboard or straws as the hanging frame of the mobile. Pierce holes for objects to hang from, then choose a theme – ocean life, cars, fairies.
85 Make peg doll angels
Use a black felt pen to draw faces on big wooden pegs. Colour in the feet to look like shoes, then cut out wrap-around ‘robes’ and glue on – add a trimming of lace. Cut out a pair of small wings from silver cardboard and glue the back. Twist a pipe-cleaner into a circle to form a halo for the peg’s ‘head’. Cut a length of narrow, sheer ribbon to tie around the peg doll’s neck and form a hanging loop.
At the beach...
86 Have a rock-pool ramble
Learn about the food chain of this natural aquarium so your child understands how it works: look at the different seaweeds, then periwinkles, crabs and seagulls. There are also the beautiful sea anemones. Remember to leave the plants and animals on the seashore as you found them. Also handle animals and rocks with great care, returning them to the place where
they were found originally.
87 Build a sand monster
...instead of a sandcastle, then tell each other stories about where it comes from, who its friends are, what it lives on.
88 Play sand bullseye
Draw a large circle in the sand and mark a ‘throw line’, then take turns tossing shells or small stones to hit the bullseye.
89 Run a shell race
Ask everyone to line up shells where they think the waves will come to. The shell that moves the furthest wins the game.
90 Play beach detective
Make a list of things you might see at the beach, then do a competition to see who can find them all first.
Craft...
In the park...
91 Have a cricket tournament
There’s nothing like learning to bowl a cricket ball to inspire a love of the game. So grab a bat and a ball (a softball rather than the traditional cricket ball) and set up a cricket pitch in your local park. For a fun history of the sport, as well as rules and tall tales, visit www.cricket-game.co.uk
92 Discover the wildlife
See the rare Konik pony at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire; watch otters at play in Stackpole in Pembrokeshire; or spot the endangered red squirrel on Brownsea Island in Dorset. There are plenty of species around so visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wildlifewalksfor an excursion in your area.
93 Frisbee competition
Piggy in the middle (one in the middle while two throwers throw the disc to one another); disc golf (send it spinning along the grass to a ‘hole’); or target practice (where you aim for a certain object) are all good games to play.
94 Teddy Bear's Picnic
If you go out in the woods today... the whole family will have some fun. Learn songs and take a few storybooks with you (Winnie-The-Pooh and Goldilocks And The Three Bears are spot on).
95 Go on a National Parks day event
Visit www.nationalparks.gov.uk
and search Events for a date and location that suits you.
96 Cloudwatching
Pick a shady tree, roll out your rug, then watch the sky go by. Try looking for the animals, the machines, the monsters and the people in the cloud shapes. Before you’re faced with any questions by your budding meteorologist, you might want to know your cirrus from your cumulus, so visit www.42explore.com, where children can also explore a Cool Clouds link; there are also excellent suggestions for projects to do once you get home.
97 Fly a kite
All you need for a spot
of kite-flying is a wide open space
and something that flies. For links
to the templates and designs for making
your own kite, visit www.oneskyworld.org; if you would rather watch the experts at work, visit www.kitecalendar.co.uk for
a list of kite-flying events around the country. Expert tips and advice on technique and safety are available at
www.thekitesociety.org.uk
98 Run a caterpillar race
Each of you can find a caterpillar (or a worm, or an ant, depending on the wildlife available). Get your racer on to a piece of paper or a leaf so they can all set off from the same start line.
99 Tell time by the sun
Before you head to the park, make your own sundial to keep track of time. Visit www.sundials.co.uk for instructions (note, stick to the easier ones).
100 Collect colours
Parks are bursting with colour so encourage your child to collect leaves and stones to make a ‘colour diary’ of what they see. If the park has restrictions
on removing these objects, take
digital photographs.
And...
101 Do nothing...
but daydream
Resources
Useful books
- 365 Activities You And Your
Toddler Will Love by Dr Roni Cohen Leiderman and Dr Wendy Masi, Bonnier Books, £7.99.
-
Art Attack Great Stuff by Neil Buchanan, Dorling Kindersley, £9.99.
-
Big Book Of Things To Do by
R Gibson, Usborne Publishing, £6.99.
-
Cooking With Kids by Linda Collister, Ryland Peters & Small, £10.49.
-
Crafting With Kids by Catherine Woram, Ryland Peters & Small, £14.99.
-
Creative Child by Dorothy Einon, Hamlyn, £14.99.
-
Creepy Creatures by Julie Sharp, GMC Books, £12.95.
-
Fun Start by June Oberlander, HarperThorsons, £10.99.
-
The Gardening Book by Jane Bull, Dorling Kindersley, £6.99.
-
Getting Your Kids Active by
Claire Gillman, A&C Black, £12.99.
-
Getting Your Kids Fit by Kelly Holmes, Virgin Books, £14.99.
-
Great Big Book of Children’s Games,
by Debra Wise and Sandy Forrest, McGraw-Hill, £9.99.
-
I’m Bored! and I’m Bored… Again!
by Suzy Barratt and Polly Beard, Bloomsbury, £7.99 each.
-
Mama’s Little Book of Tricks by Lynn Brunelle, Chronicle Books, £7.99.
Useful websites
