Kids On Tuesday

Here is a fun craft to do with your siblings or to make for a class setting!  You can customize it for any occasion by designing the playing pieces!

Homemade Tic Tac Toe

You'll Need:

Foam Sheets of different colors

Scissors

Pen

Ruler

Glue Gun

 

Cut out a square and draw Tic Tac Toe lines on it.

Then draw an outline in another color.  It helped me to place the colored sheet over the playing board and drawing around the lines as shown below...

Cut out and glue.

Next create your playing pieces.  This is where you can make it into any occasion, like hearts for valentines day, crosses for Easter, presents for Christmas, etc...

And there you go! 

Let the games begin!

Jordan

Kids On Tuesday

This is a really fun, outdoor game for a large group of kids!

Scavenger Race

 

The point of the game is the first (or the first three, depending on how many kids you have) child to bring you what you call out gets a piece of candy or wins that round.

So have the children stand in a line.

Then, call out something the children cam find in the area you're in.

Like....

A clover

A flower

A rock

Or make it harder like...

A piece of trash

After you call one item out say "Go!"

Then all the kids go and look and the first to bring it to you wins!

Do this several times!  It's a great time filler!

Jordan

Kids On Tuesday

Here is a game kids of all ages love!  Great for a class or 5 Day Club setting.

Balloon Says Game

You'll need:

Balloons

Little pieces of paper

Pen

And some hot air  ;D

Take your pieces of paper and write simple, fun commands.  Like:  Say the alphabet as fast as you can.  Jump up and down 3 times.  Give your neighbors a high five.  Run around the circle backwards.  Etc...

Then, blow up your balloons BUT BEFORE YOU TIE THEM OFF slip a piece of paper into each balloon.

Have the children sit in a circle.

Hand one balloon to a child and start singing.  Have the children pass the balloon around the circle as long as you are singing.  When you stop, the child holding the balloon pops the balloon and does the command inside.

Once done hand another balloon to another child to start and do the same thing til all the balloons are gone!

Jordan

Kids On Tuesday

Thank you SO much to the girls who have sent things in and to those who are going to!

You all have encouraged my heart! ;) Really! Thank you!

Here is a GREAT idea for a game for kids that helps out Mom too!

Jordan

"Soldier."

It's one of those days where your mom is "frazzled." It's been crazy and the house is a utter mess. You want to help out but you really don't have the power to do it all. How do you get your rambunctious siblings to help? They'd be good at it if you could only channel their energy!

Line each of them up. You are "Sergeant", and the kids are "Privates". Private Olivia, Elizabeth, Daniel, Julia, etc. Teach them the word "attention" and "at ease."

"attention!" you say loudly. They line up. "At ease." Then you proceed by telling them your course of action: The rooms you are going to hit. Maybe the kitchen and living room. Maybe two bedrooms. maybe the play room. Once you tell them what you are going to clean, don't change it and add stuff to it. They will quickly lose their enthusiasm.

Once that is done, give them a little job. I say little- because one thing that you don't want to do is tell Olivia to clean up all the toys, Daniel to get all the trash and clothes/shoes up, and Ellie to dust and vacuum. Very likely if they did that the room would be spic and span. But... do you truly expect that will happen? I'm sure- I can guarantee it- that they will lose heart very fast and start goofing around. It won't work!!! So give them little jobs. "Private Olivia- you take those books and put them straight up on the shelf." "Private Ellie, you take those doll clothes and put them in the basket in your room." "Private Daniel, you see those crayons on the floor? Go put them in the crayon box." They aren't big jobs and can be accomplished very fast. Then you say, "Go!" Everyone salutes and runs off. Once they finish their job they run back and stand in attention. Once everyone is back, (Make sure you do not complain if someone is slower than the others as long as he is being thorough! Oh. And don't think that you can just sit back and read a book while they are working hard. No way!!! While they are working, find something small to do that requires an older person, such as organizing some school books or cleaning off a high shelf. Or help one of the kids with their job of they are having trouble.

Give them all one more job, and repeat till the room is clean. One messy room- and I mean messy- can be completely cleaned and vacuumed/swept in less than twenty minutes as long as you make it fun and don't nag. Offer rewards too if you are having trouble, such as a craft, or maybe- (This really works well!) a small piece of candy. Another really good incentive is a movie(s). That really aids when you are going to tackle a few rooms with your "troop." Make sure you ask your parents. (Although most of the time, when I ask mom, "If I get the kids to clean up the frontroom, kitchen, and playroom, can they have ----?" She won't say no=D

Well, all of you big sisters out there- round up your siblings and get to work- make your mom's day!

Ashlyn Y. IL

Kids On Tuesday

A great activity to do with kids when it gets this nice out is a Nature Scavenger Hunt!

Write a list of 10-12 things they can potentially find in the yard, at the park, in the woods, etc...

Example:

Green Leaf

Purple Flower

Snail

Worm

A Blade of Grass

A Seed

And then just let them go out and have fun!

If you wanted you could even go out before hand and hide a little toy or something and put that on the list!  Like a lego man!

Jordan

Frugal Kids Craft & Game

Here is a fun and frugal craft and game to do with your siblings or a class!  All you need is paper, pen or pencil, and some sort of "treasure"!

Treasure Map / Hunt

I used to make these maps all the time when I was a kid.  I was VERY imaginative as a little girl (I guess I still am) and always doing stuff like this.

Anyway, that was free.  ;) 

Take your paper and draw a map of your house, yard, classroom, etc... whatever you are using for the treasure hunt.

C'mon now, be creative!  Like if you are drawing a couch in your living room, draw it but then maybe put a tree on it, or give it a tail and a head and give it an imaginative name like Cozy Island, or the Lazy Boy Serpent.  Make it fun but not too easy, make it where they have to figure it out!

Now after you have it all drawn out here is the cool part!

Crumple it up, that's right, as tight as you can.  Now open it up fully.  Repeat crumpling and opening until the paper feels soft!  It can take quite a few times!  (If you want you can have your siblings help with this step ;)

Now that you have you're "old" looking treasure map hide the treasure!

It can be candy, little trinkets, or even Birthday presents if you choose to do this for a Birthday game!

Now, give the child the treasure map and let them go find it!  If it's your siblings you can just let them have at it while you go back to whatever you where doing!

Have a great weekend!

Jordan

Kids on Tuesday

Here is a game that is good to teach Attentiveness to your class kids that I got from IBLP Character First.  I've used it quite a few times over the years and the kids think it's lots of fun!

Attentiveness is "Showing the worth of a person, by giving my full concentration, to his or her words."

Teach the Attentiveness definition.

Set out two chairs, sitting across from each other, in the front of the class.

You sit in one chair and choose a child to come and sit across from you.

Tell them to practice attentiveness by keeping his or her eyes and ears on you no matter what is going on around them.

Then have one or two other children, "distractors", come up and try to distract them by making noise, talking, etc... but they CANNOT touch them!

You can set a timer for a min. and start talking to the child reminding them to keep their eyes on you and not look at what is going on around them.  Or, you can have the 'distractors' start making distractions and amongst their noise you give a command to the the child and then have them carry out exactly what you said without having to come back for reminders.  Like "Go pick up any trash in the room, turn the lights on and off three times, do a jumping jack, and then come back and sit down." 

Take a turn with each child being attentive and being distractors.

Jordan

Kids on Tuesday

Here is a game/activity that would be good in a teaching setting or for just a time filler.

Before class come up with a different sound for each member of your classroom.  It can be hard like the tinkling of keys or drop of water in a cup... to something easy like making an animal noise.  Depending on the age of your class.

Then, take a blind fold and in turn have each one of the kids come to the front of the class and have them sit in a chair.  Cover their eyes to were they can't see at all.  Make one of the sounds and have them see if they can guess what it is without any help from their classmates. 

Do this til each child has had a turn.

This would be a good activity after a lesson about that God made our eyes. Telling the story about Jesus healing the blind man.

Or about the ears, telling the Bible story of Jesus healing the deaf man.

Whichever one, stress how good God is and how grateful we should be if He gave us hearing ears and seeing eyes.  And how He is so powerful and awesome to create such things!

Jordan

Kids on Tuesday

Here is a fun and simple yet captivating thing to do with kids (or even just to see it yourself) on these freezing cold days...

Blow Bubbles!

Yep, you read right!  It's really cool!  It has to be in the teens or colder for this to work.

All you need is normal bubble solution and a wand!  Go outside and blow and see what happens! 

If it's cold enough the bubbles will freeze into what looks like floating glass balls!  And the coolest part is when they pop... they shatter!  If your careful you can even hold a bubble in your hand like you've always wanted to! 

I really encourage you all to try this!  It is sooooo neat!  :D

Jordan

Kids on Tuesday

Fun kid tip for today is....

Play with them!  I know it's really deep and needs lots of pics. to demonstrate ;D but it really is something that kids LOVE!  I know it's sometimes harder as we get older to find time or even the energy to play with our siblings or kids in a classroom but it is really important to them!

So if you have snow where you are, go out and make a snowman!

If you don't, play a board game or with their favorite toys! 

Have a great wintery day!

Jordan

Kids on Tuesday

<<<- Find the Pickle ->>>

This is a family tradition my grandparents have done for us kids every Christmas since I was very small!  It's a lot of fun.

They hide a pickle ornament somewhere in their Christmas tree.  And at the appointed time all the cousins start looking for it.  The child that finds the pickle first gets to open their gift first, or gets a prize!

You could use any ornament.  You could play this game in a class setting too for a Christmas party!

Jordan

Kids On Tuesday

Here is a another fun kid engrossing classroom game.  I used this a lot for a starting game.  It would get the kids attention right away.

- Find The Button -

Hide a button, lego, or any small toy in a hard spot in the class room.

When children arrive tell them you hid a button, or whatever, somewhere in the classroom and the child that finds it gets to hide it next time.  

You can have them start out just looking on their own but if they are having trouble you can give them hot and cold hints. 

When a child finds the object have everyone else hide their eyes while the child hides it.

Something I did to help with peeking is we had a hallway attached to the room and I had all the children go in there with a teacher in front to make sure that there was no peeking.

This is also a good time filler if you run out of things to do!  :)

- Jordan -

Kids on Tuesday

Hey all!  I'm seeing a lot of new followers but don't know who to count them for!  So if you are a new follower make sure to leave a comment to tell me who invited you!

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Here are just a few simple ideas of some fun Fall things you can do with your siblings or a class.

- Nature Scavenger Hunt -

Make a list of some Fall items that the kids can find in the area you have them in.  The child, or team that finds the most wins!  i love nature hunts because it helps the kids look and see things they normally wouldn't.

Here's some ideas:

Red Leaf

Yellow Leaf

Nut

Feather

Wooly Worm

Etc...

- Leaf Identification -

Have the children go out and find as many different kinds of leaves as they can.  No two looking alike. 

Take them and lay them all out on the table, sorting them by kind if you get more than one.  Get a good tree identification book and have the kids help you look and find the trees the leaves belong to in the book.  It would be a great way for the children to learn their trees and what colors they turn in the Fall!

- Leaf Chain -

Have the kids go out and get a LOT of soft colored leaves.  Then show them how to sew them together like you would a popcorn or cranberry chain.

This would be really cute to hang somewhere for Thanksgiving!

Jordan

Kids on Tuesday

Here is a fun game to play in a classroom setting when you need to get kids energy out in a constructive, non-destructive, way. ;)

~Statues~

This game has to be played in a room where you can tell when the lights are on or off.

Clear an area in the room where the kids can move around.

Turn off the lights. Tell the kids when the lights are off they can act like animals, or pirates, or just be silly! But when you turn the lights back on they have to freeze and not move at all, just like a statue, til' you turn the lights off again.

Do this a couple times then go through and pick the best looking statue that hasn't moved at all while the lights where on. The one you pick can come control the lights for a few times then they can pick their favorite statue and so on.

Kids LOVE to play this game because they can act silly and move around. I like to use this when the kids are really acting up and not listening very well. It gets their wiggles out and also gets their attention back on the teacher.

Hope this is useful!

Jordan