The next few weeks are going to be quite tough for a lot of us with children, especially with less or no childcare available to most. Keeping little minds amused and little hands busy is going to be a bit tricky! As a little helping hand, we thought we would put together some of our creative activity ideas that we have shared on our social media channels over the last few months. We hope you find them useful!
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Making a bird feeder
What you need: string/twine, pines cones, peanut butter and bird seeds
Keeping your little ones in touch with nature is a lovely way of capturing their imagination and ensuring they still get a blast of fresh air, despite the cold weather. We think when kids interact with their natural environments, it really allows them to learn by doing and it really helps them to develop those naturally inquisitive little minds!
Tie the twine to the top of the pine cone tightly. Then let your little one spread the peanut butter all over it. Tip the birdseed into a bowl and roll the cone around until it is completely covered. And you're done!
Pick a good spot outside where you can hang them but you can still see from indoors when you get a little visitor! The kids will love it when the birds fly down for a snack!
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Tin Foil Painting
What you need: tin foil, paints
All you need is tin foil (!), paints and some paintbrushes, cotton wool, sponges etc to paint with. It's a good idea to secure the tinfoil down on to a surface with a bit of sellotape and then let them get painting their masterpiece.
It's a great activity to develop your little one's fine motor skills and explore their creativity by using a different medium rather than just paper.
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Frozen Shaving Foam Fun
What you need: unfragranced shaving foam, medium sized plastic container, food colouring, small toys/figures
This one could get messy so before we get started you might need an apron for your little one and a wipeable cover for wherever you do this activity!
Squirt all of the shaving foam into the plastic container, add some food colouring to give it a bit of colour and then add in your plastic toys (some visible and some hidden). Pop the container into the freezer for about an hour
Once frozen, let your little one try and find all the hidden toys and see what the foam feels like! It is a great sensory play activity as when the foam is frozen it is really light and airy but as it defrosts, the texture will change (and that's when it can get messy!).
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Build a fairy/animal house
What you need: to be outside, lots of sticks, some string (optional)
This is a really fun, imaginative idea - getting them to build a little house in the garden using twigs and sticks. You can let them decide who might want to live there - a fairy, an elf, a hedgehog, a mouse....it's up to them! It's also a great way to clear up all of those twigs and branches from the garden!
To build it, start your structure with four sturdy sticks that join together in the middle. To make it even stronger you could tie them together at the top with some string and really dig them into the ground at the ends. And then collect up a nice big pile of sticks and twigs and simply lay them on the structure. You can add as many as you like - remember to leave a gap for a door!
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Stack the hoops
What you need: dry spaghetti, playdoh, cereal hoops (like Cheerios)
This is a great indoor activity and should keep your toddler amused for a little while whilst working on their fine motor skills.
Stick the spaghetti into the playdoh like in our picture and then encourage your little one to slide the hoops on to the spaghetti! You can mix it up by using a variety of items to slide on - pasta tubes, beads, hula hoops - or whatever you can find around the house or in the craft cupboard!
