Octopus in the Red Sea

Required: Hot dogs, pan, water, ketchup, knife and toothpick

Start cutting the hot dog in half but only up to one inch before the other end, the uncut end will be the head. Roll the dog over and match the cuts so that one cut is on top of the other. Cut again up to the same point, about one inch before the end. The hot dog should now resemble an octopus with four legs. Fill a pan of water and when it’s boiling, place cut dog in water. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Squirt ketchup into serving plates for the Red Sea and place new octopus in the middle to cool off. Legs of the octopus will curl up from the boiling water. After cooled, you can even give kids a toothpick to make eyes and face for their new octopus.

Pastel & Glued Artwork

Required: Black construction paper, glue, pencil and pastels

Draw a design on 8½” X 11″ piece of black construction paper. Here are some ideas of what to draw that would fit with this project: tropical fish, turtle, snake, bird, butterfly or kite w/tail. Once you or the child has made the drawing have the child retrace the drawing with a bead of white glue, only putting glue on the lines. Allow the glue to completely dry which should take about 2-4 hours. Once the glue has dried fill in the inside areas with pastels to make your drawing come to life. The dried glue will look grayish and make your artwork have a mosaic look.

Safe toys for the whole family. Even grandpa can play!

Sand Castle Pencil Holder

Required: Empty toilet paper rolls, clean sand, tacky glue, 4X4 finished boards, hot glue gun and scissors

Here’s a Holiday or Father’s Day gift that students can make for their parents. You’ll want to have parents start saving empty toilet paper rolls because you’ll need three rolls per student. You’ll need something to mount this project on like a small piece of board that glue and sand will stick to.

On two of the paper rolls cut about one inch off the bottom of each and then notch both of the tops so that they look like castle towers. On the third paper roll cut a small rectangular hole about 3/5ths up the tube for a castle window and then cut notches at the top to complete the castle tower. The cutting can be done ahead of time if you’re working with younger students. Have student put tacky glue on the rolls and roll into clean sand. Position the rolls standing up on the mounting board and tacky or hot glue to the board. Add tacky glue to the board surface and sprinkle with sand. Let dry and now they have a very nice gift for their loved ones.

Stamp Art

Required: Poster paints, potatoes or apples, paper, toothpicks and a knife

Cut potatoes or apples in half and have kids draw a design with a toothpick or small pocket size screwdriver (Shhh… don’t tell dad we’re using his tools). The deeper you carve into the vegetables the better your design will show. You can carve out excess areas around a single artwork design but this takes a little bit more work. Pour different colors of poster paint into small plates and dip the design work only into paint, then press onto paper. You can add different types of glitter and this artwork can be also used for special napkins designs, table decorations or homemade wrapping paper for a holiday or special occasion.

Sugar Cube Art

Required: Sugar cubes, tin foil, egg whites, cardboard and confectionery sugar

Find a piece of cardboard to do your project on and wrap it with tin foil. Make mortar for your design by mixing 2 egg whites with 3 cups of confectionery sugar. You could also use white glue if you prefer less work. Plan out a design for your project. Researching various building designs can be fun and an educational experience. Some designers may choose a freestyle or artistic design, or an igloo is the most popular design with sugar cubes.

Treasure Map

Required: Paper, crayons or pencil and an imagination

On those cold boring or rainy days it’s hard to come up with new ideas to entertain the troops. Here’s an idea we used to entertain our son that doesn’t like to sit and read or play a game. Have them imagine the yard or area nearby and try to draw a map of it. To spark their interest, tell them that they’re drawing a treasure map. If it helps, place them in front of the window or send them outside to draw details like rocks, trees, bushes and key markers on the map. Once they have completed drawing the map they must decided where they would put a treasure. Have them draw a map key that labels bushes, roads, trees, rocks, logs and other details in the area. They can have directions on how to find the treasure by how many paces (steps) and what direction to go next. Instruct them as to what direction north, south, east and west is at your location. Once they have completed this task give them some type of treasure to hide like quarters or chocolate coins. This activity will teach about their surroundings, how to plot out maps and how to communicate to others what there trying to express. Later show them different types of maps such as a county map, state map, amusement park map, biblical maps, and property survey map. Talk about people that use maps and people that had no maps at all. Columbus had no map; The Israelites had no map when they wondered in the desert. – R. Scheel, Fun-Attic Inc.

Remember – The object is for everyone to have fun. The moderator is the all-powerful dictator. You may at any time change the rules or boundaries or handicap players to help balance out the wide spectrum of abilities. We want the tentative athlete and the superjock to play together at the best of their abilities.

Have Fun! ?

Now here are some colorful ideas to liven up play time.
If you have a fun game that is entertaining and healthy for kids of ANY age, you can send it to us for consideration and addition to our Games and Activities Guide.
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