Category: Activities

Ingredients

Loaf of bread
Favorite sandwich makings (Our Acorn friends enjoyed peanut butter and jelly.)
Star-shaped cookie cutter

Directions

Invite your child to help cut several star shapes out of bread. Help him spread an even layer of jelly on half of the stars and an even layer of peanut butter on the other half of the stars.

Gently place a jelly star on top of a peanut butter star to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Continue until all jelly stars are matched with peanut butter stars.  

Enjoy as a special snack or for lunch. Add other star-shaped food to your plate (e.g. watermelon, cheese, jello jigglers).

Ingredients

4 ounce bottle of Elmer’s Clear School Glue
Bottle of saline solution
Bowl
Star glitter or star confetti

Directions

Pour the whole bottle of glue into a medium-sized bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of saline solution and mix.  

Once the slime forms, place slime on a hard surface and knead with your hands.  If slime is sticky, add a little more saline solution (1/2 tablespoon).

Add glitter stars for a fun effect.

Materials
Star-shaped cookie cutters
Tempera paint – white
Black construction paper
Paper plate with paper towel

Ingredients
1 bag mini marshmallows
2 tbsp coconut oil, plus additional for mixing
1/2 cup corn starch, plus additional for mixing
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for mixing
Food coloring (optional)
Black glitter stars

Directions
Place marshmallows and coconut oil in a large pot and heat over medium heat. Stir continuously until melted. (You can do a microwaved version of this as well.)

Once melted, pour your marshmallow melt into a mixing bowl and add in corn starch and powdered sugar. Mix with your hands. Note: this will get STICKY! To help with this, coat them in coconut oil. (As the slime cools, invite your child to help with the mixing.)

Transfer the mixture onto a cornstarch coated surface, and continue to knead and mix until the “right” slime consistency is reached. It should be stretchable and not sticky. Keep adding corn starch, powdered sugar, and coconut oil until you feel happy with your texture.

Add stars and knead. Have fun rolling, stretching and playing with your slime!

Ingredients
12 cups warm water
1 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup Dawn dish detergent
1 tablespoon glycerin (can be purchased at Michael’s in the cake decorating aisle)

Directions
Put half the water in a bucket and vigorously stir in the cornstarch until it’s dissolved. Mix in the rest of the water and baking powder until it’s all combined.  Add the soap and glycerin to the water mixture. Stir slowly with a big spoon so that you don’t make suds or foam in the bucket.

Let the bubble solution sit for an hour or more before using. Stir it gently for at least two minutes before making bubbles.  Stir the bubble solution every 10 or 15 minutes while you’re using it since the cornstarch and baking powder tend to settle at the bottom.

Use giant bubble wands to make giant bubbles.

Materials
Chenille pipe cleaners
Pony beads

Directions
Have your child decide which shapes she wants to make the bubble wands—circles, hearts, ovals, etc. Form the shape at one end of the pipe cleaner, leaving a little extra bit to wrap around the body of the pipe cleaner in order to keep the shape. The bigger the shape, the bigger the bubbles.

Next, slide pony beads onto the pipe cleaner.  This is a great fine motor activity for your child. When all the beads are on the pipe cleaner, twist the end of the pipe cleaner to keep them from falling off.

Use the fun bubble wands for blowing bubbles. 

Materials
Small plastic cups to hold the paint mixture
Tempera paint in a variety of colors
Liquid dish soap
Water
Straws
Push pin
Small pieces of card stock

Directions
Using the push pin, poke a hole into the straws so your child can’t drink the paint/bubble solution. The hole will still allow him to blow bubbles, but it will be much more difficult to suck up the solution. You can also do the activity with food coloring instead, if you’re uncomfortable using paint.

Pour a small amount of paint to the bottom of a plastic cup. Then add a squirt of dish soap and fill the cup with a couple inches of water.  The solution should be thin enough so that when your child blows bubbles into the liquid, the bubbles expand over the top of the container. Invite your child to gently blow through the straw to make bubbles. As the bubble begin to expand over the top of the cup, invite your child to lightly press a small piece of paper over the bubbles. The bubbles will leave an interesting print on the paper. Add a variety of colors of bubbles to one piece of paper. Your child will enjoy looking at how the colors mix together on the paper.