Earth Friendly Kids Activities

In honor of Earth week this week, here are some suggestions of how the earth-conscious and the budget-conscious can come together with fun activities that work all year long.

• Greeting Cards: Save the gas and expense of a trip to the store by creating your own greeting cards at home! Sit down with the kids and pick-out pages from their coloring books and have them color them. Then glue to construction paper and have older children write-out a message on the back, or help younger children with their letters. Visit ColoringBook.com for some fun subjects to have on hand. These books are all spiral bound, and 5.5” x 8.5” so they are the perfect front to a greeting card!

• Flowers: A fun way to send a bouquet to Grandma for Mother’s Day or her birthday is to make her one! Save pretty pictures that are full of color from magazines and junk mail (you can even use the covers from your coloring books when you are done coloring them). Cut out ovals, circles or any petal shape you like. Use yellow circles of construction paper for the flower’s center and green construction paper for the stem. You can even decorate a vase to put them in, or wrap a paper cup with decorated paper.

• Party Favors: Colorable placemats are unusual and fun homemade party favors for birthday and holiday parties. Start with a blank sheet or have the kids draw some basic shapes. You can also order them from ColoringBook.com!

Save a little green by going green!

Eggciting Dyes

With Easter just around the corner, it is time to dye eggs!  It is a great tradition for ushering in the bright colors and warmer weather of spring. 

There are lots of ways to end up with dyed eggs (just start with eggs already hard boiled).  There are easy to use kits you can purchase online or from a local store.  In addition to traditional solid colors, you can buy kits that will do special effects like marble or turn your eggs into cute animals with additional feet and ears.

You can also dye eggs using things around your house!  ¼ cup white vinegar mixed with two cups of water is good general base.  Then experiment with things you have around the house – just make sure everything is safe to eat.  Food coloring is an obvious choice – add drops to your base until you are happy with the color.  Chopped fruits (about 1 cup) like blueberries and strawberries can create some vivid colors.  Grated vegetables (about 1 cup) can give you bold greens and bright orange!  You can also raid the spice cabinet for unique colors (simmer the spice in water for about 15 minutes – then let cool and strain before adding vinegar).  Remember, the longer the egg sits in the dye, the more intense the color.

For very unique eggs, break out the non-toxic paints and markers and decorate each egg by hand.  This is a fun activity for older kids especially.

To dye without vinegar, use powdered drink packets (like lemonade or kool aid).  For each packet of powder you will need about 2/3 cup of water.  Different brands offer many different flavors that will translate to different colors.

For a tie-dye or marble look, use liquid water colors and shaving cream.  It can get pretty messy, so be prepared!  Fill a large container with shaving cream.  Put a few drops of your liquid water colors in different areas.  Then using a utensil or gloved hand to swirl the colors.  Then drop your eggs into the swirled mixture until covered. 

Whichever method you choose you are going to have a fun and colorful egg hunt!

A Heartfelt Valentine

Here are some great tips for making your own Valentine.

You Will Need: Scissors • Glue • (3) pieces of paper

Decorating Materials: Crayons, Markers, Glitter, Foil, etc.

To make my example, I used a piece of pink plaid paper, a piece of blue construction paper and a piece of pink plaid paper.

1. Choose the (2) pieces that will make up the heart (blue construction paper and pink plaid). Put the lighter of those on the top (pink plaid). Trim to two-thirds the size of the (3rd) piece of paper.  Fold the (2) pieces in half, the piece you want to be larger (blue construction paper) should be on the outside.

2. Practice drawing the pictured shape.  Once you are ready, draw that shape on the outside of your folded papers.

 

3. Cut BOTH pieces of paper along the edge of the line you drew.

 

4. Separate the (2) pieces, but keep them folded.  Trim JUST the inside piece (pink plaid) to be about the width of your finger smaller than the outside piece.

 

5. While still folded, add glue to the edges of the smaller inside piece (pink plaid) you just trimmed, place over (be sure to center it before the glue dries) the larger outside piece, unfold.  Now the two hearts are glued together.

 

6. Now add glue to the edge of the larger (blue) heart.  Place it on the uncut (purple herringbone) paper.

 

7.  Once the glue dries, address and decorate your homemade Valentine’s Day Card.

 

 

TIPS:
• Use paper from the recycling bin, use cards from last year, or use some free coloring images from ColoringBook.com
• Put glitter in a baggie. It is easier to put clean-up, and you can snip the tip of the baggie to direct the glitter.
• If creating multiple cards, set up an assembly line. Finish step 1 on all cards, then move on to step 2.
• Aluminum foil is a cheap and fun way to add shine.

Retro Crafting Adventure

Has the hum-drum of winter set in at your house?  Now that the holidays are over the rest of the winter can be filled with cabin fever!  To keep from spending too many hours in front of the TV and video games, embark on a crafting adventure. Try some fun "old school" crafting ideas:  make paper snowflakes or indoor icicles.  There are tons of ideas online, but if you are looking for more instruction (and less time searching the internet for instructions) you can always try the retro crafts in Really Big Coloring Books®, Inc.’s Busy Book of Fun.  In addition to fun coloring, puzzles and mazes, there are great cut-out activities like paper dolls (for girls and boys), covered wagon, totem pole and tee pee.  They can play cowboys and Indians or dress-up with toys they have made themselves.  There is even a cut-out Air Force One, and a cut-out pirate mask.  A fun idea to integrate the pirate mask into another activity: wrap-up some candy or small gifts in foil or gold paper and hide them around the house, then draw a treasure map and with the mask you can have a real pirate adventure!  Cold days can fly by with a little imagination and a whole lot of fun.

Great Ways to Keep Kids Busy!

Busy days filled with family and travels are on the horizon as the holidays approach. It can be a stressful time for kids and parents with changes in routine, bedtimes, meals and even location. Coloring is a great stress reliever, even for the littlest holiday reveler. Follow this link to the free coloring pages on ColoringBook.com and stock up. Or check-out some holiday titles or just for fun titles to give kids at the beginning of a car trip. Challenge them to finish the book or a section of pages by the time you arrive at your destination. For older kids, give them page challenges: coloring only with colors that start with a letter in their name, coloring with only three colors, or whatever sounds fun! Make sure you have plenty of crayons, markers and pencils, and if you have to get a last minute gift, you will have plenty of home-made wrapping paper. Happy Holidays!

Come out and see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes here in St. Louis at the Peabody Opera House from November 8th - 17th!

 

*Get The Official Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes 2012 Coloring & Activity Book here at www.ColoringBook.com

 

 

Get your FREE Halloween Coloring Page from your friends at ColoringBook.com


http://www.coloringbook.com/freecoloringpageshalloween.aspx