Activities:

1.) “What I Like” Cut & Paste
Materials:

• Large piece of paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Glitter
• Photographs
• Magazines

Directions:

• Look through old magazines or photos for things you like or that describe you.
• Cut them out and arrange them on your paper.
• Make any design you like. Put pictures on that make you feel good, that express what you like and who you are.
• Hang on your wall.

2.) Thumbprint Pictures
Materials

• Paper
• Paint
• Paint brush
• Crayons or markers

Directions

• Using a paint brush, lightly paint onto your child’s thumb and then have them press it onto paper.
• Using the crayons or markers, show your child how to turn the thumb-print into a picture. Adding arms and legs etc
• Let them use their imagination to see what they can come up with.
• Ideas for pictures using thumbprints may be: farm animals, people, mice, fish, feet (with the thumbprints as the toes)
• Use your own thumb and perhaps one of an older or younger sibling, and then compare the different sizes.

3.) Scribble Drawing
Materials

• Paper
• Crayons

Directions

• Show your child how to scribble on a piece of white paper with a crayon, using big circular motions to form loops.
• Then have your child colour in each loop with a different colour, creating a very pretty and unique design every time.

4.)  Outlines
Materials

• Drawing paper
• Crayons, markers, or paints

Directions

• Have your child stand on a piece of paper while you trace around her feet with a pen or crayon.
• Then trace your own feet and compare sizes.
• Colour the feet with crayons, markers, or paints.
• Older children may want to use crayons, markers, or paint to add nail polish and funny rings to the toes.

5.) Chalk Fun
Materials

• Chalk
• Paper
• Hair spray (optional)
• Water (optional)
• Sponge (optional)
• Liquid starch and/or buttermilk (optional)
• Paintbrush (optional)
• Sugar (optional)
• Cotton balls (optional)

Ideas :

• Draw with chalk on a piece of plain paper or construction paper. Spray with hair spray to set the chalk.
• Wet your paper with a damp sponge and draw on the wet paper with chalk.
• Paint a piece of paper with liquid starch. While it's still wet, make designs with coloured chalk.
• Draw on the concrete outside

6.) Paper Bag Puppets
Materials:

• Paper bags
• Glue
• Scissors
• Markers or Crayons
• Scrap paper or other collage material

Directions:

• Your children can make their puppets anyway they like.
• They could cut facial features out from magazines and glue them on
• They could draw on faces using markers
• They can cut long strips of paper or use string for the hair

Another idea is to stuff the puppet with newspaper and insert a long cardboard cylinder so that it sticks out the bottom. Staple or sticky tape the cylinder in place. Your child can then hold the puppet by the cylinder to make it move.

7.) Splat Paintings
Materials:

• Paper
• Brushes
• Colourful paints

Directions:

• Show you child how to fold a sheet of paper in two
• Open the sheet & have your child paint on one side only
• Fold the paper over & press down firmly
• Open up the paper to see the amazing picture that has been created
• Once the paint is dry, your child can trace around it, draw on it or cut it out.

8.) Hand & Feet painting
Materials:

• colourful paint
• paint brush
• paper
• newspaper

 Directions

• Cover an outdoor area in newspaper to give some protection form the paint
• Have your child sit on a seat while you paint their feet
• Place the paper under their feet and have them stand up onto the paper
• You can also paint their hands and have them make handprints on paper in the same way
• Do your own feet & hands to show them the difference in sizes

Have a bucket of warm soapy water on hand for cleaning up

9.) Hopscotch/Jumpscotch
Materials:

• Chalk

Directions:

• Draw a hopscotch pattern on the concrete with chalk, making sure that the spaces are large enough for your children to jump in
• Show you younger children how to jump with their feet together from space to space until they reach the end – then have them turn around and come back
• Show your older children how to hop from space to space.

10.) Leaf Art
Materials:

• Leaves from plants in your garden
• Paper
• Pencils or Crayons

Directions:

• Collect various leaves from plants in your garden
• Place the leaf with the vein side up on a piece of paper
• Put a piece of paper over the leaf
• Hold it still and rub over the paper with the side of a pencil or crayon
• The leaf shape, veins and stem will appear on the paper

11.) Garden Rubbings
Materials:

• Paper
• Crayons

Directions:

• When your children aren’t looking, go into the garden and do some rubbings – using bricks, pavers, tree bark, flowers, grass and anything you can find
• Show your children the rubbings and invite them to go on a rubbing hunt. Let them find all the objects that created the rubbings.

12.) Balloon Volleyball
Materials:

• Balloons
• String

Directions:

• Blow up a balloon (more for spares in case one pops)
• String up a rope between two trees, posts or walls, and hit the balloon over the rope as in volleyball
• The aim is to keep the balloon off the ground
• Points may be awarded to the opposition if you allow the ball to hit the ground on your side

13.) Chalk targets
Materials:

• Coloured chalk
• Balls or beanbags

Directions:

• Draw a large circle on a brick wall of your house using chalk.
• In the middle of the circle draw a red target. This is the bullseye
• Standing a few paces away, the children throw a ball at the target
• They can earn 10 or 20 points for hitting the bullseye, & 5 for the outer circle

14.) Paper Chains
Materials:

• Paper
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Stapler

Directions:

• Cut the paper into strips around 5cm wide & no more than 20 cm in length
• Fold the strips over to form loops and then staple
• Put another paper strip through the loop and staple, and so on, until the chain is as long as you want

15.) Straw Painting
Materials

• Coloured paint
• Paper
• Drinking straw

Directions

• Drop a bit of paint onto your piece of paper.
• Give your child a straw and have him/her blow the paint around.
• You may want to add a second and third colour.
• You can also try different types of paper for different effects.

16.) Crumple Painting
Materials

• Coloured Paint
• Newspaper
• Heavy plain paper

Directions

• Crumple up some newspaper into a ball and dip it in the paint.
• Press the newspaper ball lightly all over the heavy plain paper.
• Use two or three different colours if you like.
• Let dry.

17.)  Marker Painting
Materials

• Dried-up markers
• Coloured paint
• Paper

Directions

• Let your child use dried-up markers in place of a paintbrush.
• Dip them in liquid coloured paint and use to write or draw on paper.

18.) Mud Handprints
Materials

• Mud
• Paper plate
• Spatula or knife for smoothing

Directions

• Fill the plate with thick mud and smooth into a flat, even surface.
• Have your child press his/her open hand into the mud and remove.
• Place the mud in the sun to dry.
• This won't last, but its fun to look at for a while.

19.) Bubble Time
Materials

• Straws
• Home-made bubble solution
• Scissors
• Tape

Directions

• Make a bubble wand by cutting two plastic drinking straws in half, then taping the four pieces together.
• dip into your bubble solution, then blow

20.) ABC MACARONI
Materials:

• Macaroni
• Paint
• Poster Paper
• Crayons or markers
• Craft glue

Directions:

1. First have your children paint the macaroni using the coloured paints
2. Draw a letter of the alphabet onto your poster paper. Another idea would be to write your child’s name in bubble style writing
3. Once the macaroni is dry have your child trace over the letters with the glue and then drop the macaroni onto the glue
4. Press the macaroni down so that it sticks properly and allow it to dry
5.  Hang up your creation somewhere special

21.) Sponge Printing
Materials

• Sponge
• Chalk
• Water
• Paper

Directions

• Soak a sponge in water and squeeze to release the excess.
• Use a piece of chalk to draw on the wet sponge.
• Press the wet sponge onto a piece of white or coloured paper to create a print.
• If you like, use chalk in various colours and a variety of sponges in different shapes and sizes.

22.) Pipe Cleaner Characters
Materials:

• Pipe cleaners
• creativity

Directions

• Bend and twist the pipe cleaners into shapes of people,
  animals, cars ...
• Tip: Keep pipe cleaners in the car to entertain your children
  when you’re on a long drive or stuck in traffic! 

23.) Coloured Rice Pictures
Materials:

• Uncooked white rice
• Food colour
• Vinegar
• Paper
• Glue

Directions:

• Place 1/2 cup rice into a bowl. Add ~ 5 drops 
  of colouring and 1/2 tsp. vinegar to set the colour
• Spread flat onto a baking sheet. 
• Bake at 200 for 45 min to dry.
• You may wish to make more colours at the same time. 
  Be sure to keep them separate when baking. 
  After they dry, they can be packed together.
• Spread glue over your paper in whatever pattern you choose, and then sprinkle the rice on top.
• Once the glue has dried, tap off any excess rice.

Tip: Teach your little ones their letters, 
by placing the rice onto a letter written in glue. 
After it dries, they can trace the letter with their 
finger tip.

24.) Egg Carton Flowers
Materials:

• Cardboard egg carton
• paint or markers
• Pipe Cleaners

Directions:

• Cut the cups away from the rest of the egg carton.
• Cut 4 -6 petals out of each cup so that it resembles a tulip
• Thread the pipe cleaner trough the hole and knot to create the stem.
• Use more Pipe cleaners to bend and shape leaves then attach to stem by twisting on
• You are now ready to decorate your flower with paint or markers.

25.) Macaroni Necklace
Materials:

• String
• Uncooked, tube-shaped macaroni
• Scissors
• Paint – for colouring macaroni
• Tape
• newspaper

Directions:

• Place macaroni out onto newspaper & have your children paint it
• Let macaroni dry
• Cut enough string to make a necklace
• Wrap one end of the string with tape to make it easier to thread macaroni
• Thread one piece of macaroni onto the string and tie it to one end (this keeps the other macaroni from falling off)
• Thread the macaroni onto the string
• Tie the necklace off when you are done
• Tie the ends of string together
• You now have a necklace to wear!

26.) Paper Plate Masks
Materials:

• Paper plates
• Scissors
• Markers, crayons
• Ice cream sticks
• glitter

Directions:

• Cut out holes for the eyes
• Have your children draw on and decorate the mask in whatever way they choose using markers, crayons and glitter
• Punch small holes in either side of the mask and attach a piece of string once the plates are painted or drawn on.
• For masquerade masks, halve the plate and attach an ice cream stick as a handle.

27.) Layered Crayon Drawing

Materials:

• Crayons of different colours, but including black
• Paper
• Blunt pointed instrument (e.g. fork)
• coin

Directions:

• First colour an area of the page using all the colours except black. You could just do something as simple as stripes or patterns.
• Scrape off any excess using a coin
• Now cover the area with black crayon, covering all the colour
• Use a fork to draw wavy patterns in the crayon. As It scrapes off the black layer, multicoloured lines are revealed

28.) Garden Picture
Materials:

• paper
• crayons or markers
• leaves from garden

Directions:

• Help your child to draw a tree trunk on their paper
• Have them go on a leaf hunt in the garden or park and collect as many leaves as they can
• Glue the leaves to the drawing of the tree trunk to make their very own tree.

29.) Balloon People

Materials:

• balloons
• markers
• paper
• sticky tape
• coin

Directions:

• Blow up the balloon
• Use markers to create the face
• Draw some large feet on the paper, colour them and cut them out
• Make a hole in the centre of the feet & push the tied end of the balloon through the hole
• If the balloon person has trouble standing up, tape a coin on the bottom of the feet to balance it
• If you want you can create a whole family of balloon people

30.) Alphabet Posters
Materials:

• Paper
• old magazines
• Scissors
• glue

Directions:

• Take your piece of paper and write a letter of the alphabet at the top of the page – you may ask your child to choose a letter
• Then with your child look through magazines for pictures of things beginning with that letter. An example would be a picture of an airplane on A etc.
• Cut out the pictures and glue onto the page.
• You can do a page for each letter of the alphabet
• Stick the posters up in your child’s room where he/she can see it

Note: Besides alphabets, you can create other themes such as occupation, transportations, food, etc.

31.) Sponge Painting
Materials:

• sponges
• paper
• paints
• newspaper
• scissors

Directions:

1. Put down some newspaper on your work surface.
2. Cut up your sponges so they resemble different shapes e.g. squares, hearts, triangles or anything else you like.
3. Dip your sponges into the paint and stamp away on your paper. Make sure you don't put too much paint on your sponge. If you do, dab your sponge on a piece of scrap paper first.
4. Let the paint dry and hang up your picture.
5. As a variation you could cut some shapes out of paper and then use them as stencils.
6. Put the stencils on your paper and sponge around them. You can sponge more than one colour. Lift the shape up and you get a cool effect.

32.) Paper Butterflies
Materials:

• paper
• scissors
• glue
• pencil
• glitter
• markers

Directions:

• Fold the paper in half.
• Draw two semi-circles using the fold line as the base, the bottom semi circle needs to be smaller than the other.  Both should overlap each other
• Cut along the outline. But don't cut along the fold line.
• Using more paper cut out different types of decorations for your butterflies.  The decorations could be circles, lines, triangles.  Glue them on the butterfly's wings in patterns.
• Cut a thin piece of paper for each antenna.  Scrap scissors along the paper to curl it.
• Use your glitter & markers to decorate your paper butterfly

33.) Handcrafted Bookmarks
Materials:

• poster paper
• glue stick
• markers, paint or crayons
• glitter (optional)

Directions:

• Cut poster paper to the size of the bookmark your child wants to make
• have your child write their name at the bottom of the bookmark, or you can write it for them
• Have your child decorate the bookmark however they wish. They could draw, paint or colour it in.

34.) Musical Plates
Materials:

• 2 paper plates
• Macaroni
• Crayons, markers, or paints

Directions:

1. Take two paper plates and staple them together (all around the outside edges) with the fronts of the plates facing each other
2. Put some dried beans or pasta inside before you close them completely.
3. Decorate them with crayons, markers, paints and other materials

35.) Paper plate monsters
Materials:

• paper plate
• coloured paper
• scissors
• glue stick, or sticky tape
• markers or crayons
• pipe cleaners

Directions:

1. Take your paper plate and transform it into a scary or silly monster face by adding facial features
2. Colour your monster face with pieces of coloured paper, pipe-cleaners, and by using your markers
3. Enjoy Creating!

36.) Cookie Cutter Puppets
Materials:

• cookie cutters
• poster paper
• icy pole sticks

Directions:

1. Collect together your animal or figure shaped cookie cutters
2. Take 2 pieces of different coloured paper
3. We want to cut these two pieces of paper separately to make rectangles. So, fold them in half and in half again.
4. Cut along the folds.
5. Take a cookie cutter and trace the outline on one of the rectangles you have made and then cut it out.
6. Glue it onto a different coloured rectangle.
7. Attach a craft stick to the back of your puppet to be to use as a puppet holder.
8. Now decorate your puppet figure with all sorts of materials from your get started tub.
9. Make as many as you want and put on a show

37.) Easy Peasy Cookies
Materials:

• Ingredients:

  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla 
  • choc chips (optional extra)

Directions:

1. Using your hands, combine all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
2. Preheat oven to 180ºC 
3. Using your hands roll the cookie dough into small balls 
4. Place onto greased or lined oven tray and gently flatten with a fork
5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until very lightly browned
6. Remove from oven allow to cool and enjoy!

38.) String Painting

Materials:

• string
• paint
• pegs
• paint brush
• scissors
• cups (in which to put different colours of paint)

Directions:

1. To begin pour your paints into different cups and lay out your paper on a flat surface.
2. Next take your scissors and cut pieces of string in different lengths.
3.  Attach one end of these lengths to a clothes peg so they will be easy to dip into your paint and then onto the paper.
4. Dip the string into the paint, use the brush if you wish to cover the string completely
5. Then place it and swirl it on the paper.
6. Repeat using as many colours as you like.
7. Let dry.
8. Enjoy Creating!

39.) Bubble wands

Materials:

• pipe-cleaners

Directions:

1. Take a pipe-cleaner and twist it into a fun shape and you will have a great bubble wand.

40.) Ice-Cream Stick Art

Materials:

• newspaper
• ice-cream sticks
• paint
• craft glue

Directions:

1. Cover your work space with newspaper to prevent glue from getting everywhere
2. Set out the craft glue & sticks & let your children create – ask them what they would like to make
3. It might be a small box they could use, or a plane or an animal. Let them use their imaginations.

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