5-6 Years

Lava Lamps

Take a jar or bottle of any size and pour a small amount of vegetable oil in it and then pour a small amount of water into the same bottle. Add a few drops of food coloring if you want to color the liquid. Then add sparkles, confetti and glitter ...(read more)

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Paper Plate Tambourines

Take 2 paper plates and decorate the bottoms of them with markers, crayons, tissue paper pieces, ribbons -- anything you have handy. Then put the two paper plates together so that the decorated bottoms are facing out. Begin to fasten the paper plates together by stapling ...(read more)

Blowing in the Wind (Creating a Wind Vane)

Teach your kids about wind and the weather with this fun activity. Decorate a large piece of construction paper with markers, paints or other art supplies. Then roll it into a long tube (about the size of a paper towel tube) and staple or tape the paper along ...(read more)

Marshmallow Architecture

Take a box of tooth picks and a bag of mini marshmallows and put them out on a table. Then show the kids how to create three-dimensional structures by placing the marshmallows onto the tooth picks. They have a great time creating big structures, houses, tunnels, etc. ...(read more)

Indoor treasure hunt

Tell the kids to hide in one room of the house. Then take some toy cars, action figures, or other non-breakable toys and objects and hide them in a different room. Once you are done hiding, give each kid a brown paper bag and then have them come ...(read more)

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Painting with Golf Balls

Take an old shoe box or shirt box and put a piece of construction paper in it. Then take some poster paint and dab it on the paper in the box. Next place a golf ball in the box and have your child tilt the box all around ...(read more)

Freeze Dancing

Turn on the radio or CD Player and start to dance with the kiddies. Then turn the music off randomly and surprise the kids by saying 'Freeze.' If they don't freeze, they can be out or you can just continue to play without doing the elimination. With ...(read more)

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Rainbow Stew

Stir together 1 cup cornstarch, 4 cups water, and 1/3 cup sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat on the stove until thick. Remove from heat and wait for it to cool. Pour the mixture into sandwich-size ziploc bags, filling each one halfway. Scatter drops of ...(read more)

Dreamcatchers

Making dreamcatchers is an easy, fun craft. Stretch a wire hanger into a diamond or circle shape. The kids love using their 'He-man' strength. Next stretch a nylon stocking over the hanger and tie at the top. Glue feathers, ribbons, sparkly beads, or any other decorations on. ...(read more)

Hunting for Dinosaurs

This game can be played indoors or outdoors, but we usually save it for a rainy day. Give a child a large basket and have her gather all of her plastic toy dinosaurs. Once she is convinced that she has them all, count them according to size (e.g., ...(read more)

Touring a Fire Station

Contact your local Fire Station and ask if they give tours. Most fire stations will provide tours for children and will tailor the tour to the age of the children attending. This is a great group activity! Many stations will even allow you to have a birthday ...(read more)

Spying the ABC's

While in the car ask your child to look at billboards, road signs, license plates and buildings to find the letters of the alphabet in order. For instance, to find an 'A'-the child might see Applebee's and say it aloud, then move on to finding a sign or ...(read more)

Tactile Fun with Textures

Using different textured materials (e.g. corduroy, silk, wool, etc.), cut out 4X4 squares of the materials and then punch hole in one corner. Hang all of the fabrics together on a single shower curtain ring. Babies can use this to explore different textures, toddlers can find new descriptive words for the ...(read more)

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M&M Math

Dump a bag of M&Ms on the table and ask your child to sort them into different piles, by color. Then ask her to create vertical lines to show, without counting, which color has the most M&M's. You can add to the game by asking other questions such ...(read more)

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DIY: Seashell Picture Frame

Create a homemade seashell picture frame to remember your precious memories at the beach. Collect a variety of seashells from your summer vacation at the beach, and then glue them onto a simple frame for decoration....(read more)

Itty Bitty Bye... About So High

This is a great treasure hunt game that can be played indoors or out with older children and ones as young as 2. My 7, 5, and 3 year olds love it. Pick an object to hide and show it to your child. Your child covers their ...(read more)

Crayon Games

While out and about, I always keep a bag of crayons in my purse for those moments in the day when like it or not, my kids are just forced to wait. When they tire of drawing and coloring pictures, we play crayon games (this is especially good for ...(read more)

Homemade Playdough

Mix together the flour, salt, water, food coloring, cream or tartar, and cooking oil in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook until the mixture forms a large 'ball' and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the ball from the heat. Once ...(read more)

Noodle Art

Let your kids get creative with what's in the pantry. Each time I cook pasta, I always save a little bit of the noodles in a baggie. Then once we have accumulated enough different types of noodles, we make art. Let the kids use their imagination and ...(read more)

Chalk the Walk

Mark off an area of your driveway, sidewalk or any other washable surface and let your kids go to town with Sidewalk Chalk. You can ask them to draw shapes, letters or numbers, or just let the little ones doodle. I'll draw objects or animals and then ask ...(read more)

Paper Plate Masks

Use a small white paper plate as the base for a child's mask. Cut two holes about where the child's eyes will be, then punch one hole on either side of the paper plate and tie a piece of string or yarn through each hole. This will be ...(read more)

Paper Tube Maracas

Take an empty paper towel or toilet paper tube. Cover one end with a small square of construction paper and fasten the square to the tube with a rubber band. Then fill the tube with dried beans or uncooked rice -- you can experiment with different amounts and ...(read more)

Life Size Paper Doll

Take a long piece of butcher paper and have your child lie down on top of it (his or her entire body needs to fit within the edges with a good margin around the sides). Trace around your child's body with a Sharpie. When your child stands up, ...(read more)

What's in the Sock?

Place a small object inside a large tube sock. then, have your child will stick his or her hand inside the sock, feel the object, and try to guess what it is. This activity helps children focus on their sense of touch. Select items such as ...(read more)

Picture Toast

Read a book with your child. In a small cup, mix 1/4 cup of milk with a few drops of food coloring. Use a Q-tip to paint the colored milk onto a piece of bread. Ask your child to paint their favorite part of the story or ...(read more)

What's Missing?

On a cookie sheet, place 5 or 6 small objects, such as a spoon, brush, book, toy, sock, or crayon. Allow your child to look at all the items on the cookie sheet. Have your child turn around, so you can remove one of the objects from the ...(read more)

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Paper Tube Bird Feeder

Take an empty toilet paper tube and spread peanut butter all round the outside edge of the tube. Roll the peanut butter tube in bird seed. Cut a piece of yarn that is about 12 inches long. Attach it to each end of the tube to make ...(read more)

Clothes Pin Names

Write each letter of your child's name on a separate clothes pin. On a piece of paper, write your child's name. Mix up the clothes pins and have your child find each letter in their name, match it to the letter on the paper, and clip it on ...(read more)

Pinto Bean Letters and Numbers

Give your child a handful of uncooked pinto beans and have them use the beans to make letters or numbers. They can develop fine motor skills as they carefully lay the beans in rows and curves.

Picture Sort

Sort pictures into groups of boys/girls, tall/short, hair color, or young/old. Kids could also make a line of all the pictures from youngest to oldest or shortest to tallest.

Making Play Binoculars

Tape or glue two clean toilet tissue cardboard tolls together and then tape some string to each roll so that the child can put it around his/her neck. To make it extra fun, paint, color or add stickers before or after taping/gluing the rolls....(read more)

Oatmeal Drum

Making a drum out of the tall 42 oz cylindrical shaped oatmeal container. Take top off and cover the container using decorated paper. You can use glue to seal the edges. Then seal opening with construction paper by securely using tape. Little kids will enjoy drumming ...(read more)

Letter Hunt

Get a stack of index cards and write one letter on each card and then hide them around a room. After hiding the letters, ask your child to find as many of the index cards as possible. As they find each card tell them to say the letter out loud. ...(read more)

Rock Family

Collect enough rocks to represent each member of your family. Paint the rocks either to look like each person, or simply write each person's name on the rock. Place your new Rock Family in your garden or near the front door for your family's enjoyment. ...(read more)

Blessing Ring/Birthday Ring

Cut thin strips of colored construction paper. Write the name of a blessing on each piece of paper. (Optional - Decorate the paper with stickers, etc.) Link the pieces of paper to form one long chain that you can hang on the fireplace or anywhere in the house. ...(read more)

Digital P's and Q's

With an easel and a digital camera, you can send thank yous for all the gifts your children receive on their birthdays. Write on the easel..."Thank you for the '.....' " With your child in front of the easel, snap the picture. Then change ...(read more)

Point and Shoot: Digital Photography for the Preschool Set

While waiting for the doctor, toddlers get pretty bored. I found that bringing my digital camera (or phone) in and having my son take pictures of my funny faces, or having him pose with funny faces, helped the time go by more quickly. Short videos of him singing his favorite ...(read more)

Popsicle Painting

Paint pictures on white paper using different colors of popsicles. You can use this activity to illustrate the concept of melting ice turning into water.

Homemade Crayons

This is a fun craft you can do with your leftover broken crayons. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Get a muffin tin and line it with foil, spray foil lightly with non-stick spray. Then, take your old, broken crayon pieces (use pieces smaller than 1/2 inch) and ...(read more)

Homemade bubbles

Mix together 2/3 cup of dishwashing liquid (Joy or Dawn work best), 1 quart of water, and 1/3 cup of glycerin. Stir with a whisk to combine all ingredients. Then pour a small amount of the liquid into a bowl or bowls for the kids to use. ...(read more)

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Texture Walk

Take a texture walk with your child or children. Use the outdoors to take advantage of an excellent learning opportunity for your little ones. Take a walk and look for things that are soft like sand, dirt, etc. Look for pine cones or rocks that are hard ...(read more)

Pantry Painting

Painting doesn't have to be limited to paint brushes. You can use lots of different painting tools to produce different artistic results. Some ideas include: feathers, twigs or leaves, eyedroppers, toothbrushes, vegetable and pastry brushes Also, try adding something to change the texture of the paint. ...(read more)

Homemade Playdough -- No Cooking Required!

Into a large bowl, put 3 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons of warm water, and 1 and 1/2 cups vegetable oil. Knead all ingredients together and form into balls (this is a great sensory development skill for younger children). Then gently work in a few ...(read more)

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Indoor Tennis

My son invented a great new indoor game when he found a splatter screen in the kitchen and started hitting one of his stuffed fabric balls...indoor tennis! Splatter screens are wire mesh covers with a plastic handle that are made to keep grease from popping out of the pan ...(read more)

Two Scoops of Sugar ...or One or Three?

When you are out at a restaurant and want to occupy the kids, try this activity at the table as an alternative to Tic Tac Toe. Place ten (white) packets of sugar and one (pink) packet of artificial sweetener on the table. (Or you could use coins -- ten ...(read more)

Spin Art Cards

Have your little one help create birthday and/or holiday cards using a spin art machine. Once your child has completed the spin art, they can then add their artistic touch by 'signing' or adding a personal message....(read more)

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Greeting Card Lace-Ups

Using the pictures on the front of old greeting cards, punch holes around the outline of a character. Have your child lace a shoestring through the holes. Your child will think that she is 'sewing'!

Beanbag Balls

Use this activity to make totally awesome squishable balls. They are great for beanbag games or a good old game of catch. 1. Stretch the first balloon by inflating it halfway, holding it closed for about 30 seconds, and then deflating it. 2. Place a funnel in the balloon's neck ...(read more)

Mixing Colors

Teach your child how to mix two colors together to make another color (e.g. yellow blue makes green and red blue makes purple). To begin, fill up a couple of clear glasses with water. Then, allow your kids to add drops of food coloring to make your color mixes -- ...(read more)

Special Soup

If you're trying to cook and your little one keeps demanding your attention, give them their own large mixing bowl and spoon. Hand them the odds and ends of whatever you're using: i.e. potato or onion peels, celery leaves, pasta, etc. Add water and any spices you feel ...(read more)

Inside Out Science

Science isn't just projects, it's everywhere. My kids enjoy learning about things by taking them apart to see what's inside. Collect a few flowers and examine them together. Talk about their texture, take them apart carefully so you can see how they're made. Squish them in ...(read more)

Sardines

What child doesn't love hide-and-seek? Here's a fun variation to play with a group, inside or outside. While the group counts to 50, one person goes to hide (find a place that's big enough to fit the whole group). When the group is finished counting, everyone spreads ...(read more)

I'm Going to the Beach and...

This is a good memory game for car rides, restaurants, or anywhere that requires you to sit still. One person starts the game by saying, 'I'm going to the beach and I'm going to bring my ....' Fill in the blank with anything you want, 'flip flops' for ...(read more)

Mixed-Up Words

This game requires that your child know at least some of the consonant sounds from the alphabet. Start by choosing an object (for example, a table), then substitute the first letter with another one (maybe a 'P'). Say the result, 'pable,' and see if your child can guess ...(read more)

Where I Live

All kids should know their address, but sometimes it's hard for little ones to memorize it. Help them by making your address part of a rhyme. Here are some examples: When I see my house I start to holler: 'That's where I live, #57 ...(read more)

Sticker Tag

A new twist on the old game of tag - great for all ages and sure to get your blood pumping. Get a bunch of stickers, any kind will work but I use sheets of colored adhesive dots that are inexpensive and can be found at office supply stores. ...(read more)

Water Bottles Decorations

Before your next backyard party, have your older kids help you with this fun activity -- or set it up as a beginning-of-party craft. Take a small ponytail holder and pull it so that it is like a line. Slide a few beads onto it from ...(read more)

What's the 411? Important Information about Where You Live

Take a picture of your house and paste it on a piece of construction paper (older children can help with this). Cut out a picture of your state and paste it on the paper as well. Then write out your full address, city, state, and telephone number. If you have ...(read more)