CM CLUB: Add your tip for fun things to occupy Children/mindee's

[StrawberrySnowflakes]

Because im always racking my brains trying to think of new things to do with dd/mindee's...today we are..

Number One cutting out 'body buddies' from old rolls of christmas wrapping paper!-turn it over so white side up, lay mindee on their back on paper, draw round them, cut out shape then together add all the names of body parts, getting them to name them, point them out, count how many we have etc.
then we're going to cut out t-shirts, trousers, skirts socks, coats, hats , scarfs etc etc, colour them in and 'dress' the body buddies each day according to weather

my fave...........messy play, cornflour is a particular fave of mine!
the messier the better!!!

do you just add water to that?
and do you have flooring??..or do you have nice cornflour patterns on your caperts

yep just add water to cornflour,other messy play things i use are...........

tea bags and coffee with water
baken beans
toothpaste
pasta (cooked and dried)
quinoa or bulgar wheat
cereal(cornflakes,krispies etc..)
jelly

i usually mix these things with some glitter and depending how messy im feeling some paint!

and i have wooden floors!!!

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'Fishing' with tea strainers in a baby bath / bowl of water for all sorts of floating / sinking small objects. I put a big bath towel on the floor first, then the bath on that - soaks up most of the spills!

i give mine paint brushes and a bucket of water (outside) and they paint the walls, floor, slides etc

go for a walk to the park and collect leaves and do leaf prints or just stick leaves to paper with glue

i put plates of paint on lining paper on the floor (i have wooden floors too) and strip the children to their nappies and let them get on with it, they stand in the paint and make footprints or do hand prints. ps b4 you let the loose run a bath ready

we once made special pictures for mums and dads and then we went for a walk and posted them the kids were thrilled when their parents recieved the letters through the post

something I have heard of is you put bicarbinate of soda in "something" like tuppaware then add water and food colouring and it makes a volcano type erruption ! Im going to give it a go....if anyone has any experience of that some guidance would be greatly appreciated !!

erm???...ill let you try that one first!!

it is bircarb and vinegar - food colouring optional Looks good if you make a volcano shape out of clay, with a hollow in the top to put the bicarb and vinegar. It great!

Mattysmummy- We did that when I was at primary school, but used yeast (it must have been exciting for me to remember it after all that time!!!)We put it in empty drinks bottles and watch them erupt!

My midee's (little and big!!) enjoy mask-making. I draw a face (animal or such like!) and they have great fun tearing up tiny bits of paper, and sticking them all over. It's something you can do to celebrate different celebrations- eg: with Chinese new year, make a mask in the animal of the child's birth year!

They then have great fun afterwards making up games eith their masks!

Baking biscuits this week in heart shapes and then decorating with sweets and red icing for valentines day. Will also make cards and post them to parents!

Thanks PandaG and laalaaposh, I will give it a go, I think I will do a test run first. ....

yeah...in the garden!!!!!

I have visions of the shed going up with it and me with blackened face and singed hair ! wouldnt be the first time.... looked like that after my one and only san tropez !

LOL!

Put a piece of paper in a shallow tray. Get mindie to put a golf ball in a pot of paint then drop into tray. Gently rock tray to roll ball about.

Use toy cars or toy animals to dip in paint and make tracking patterns across the paper.

CM cuts out animal shapes (I trace from a book cos I can't draw) from card. Decorate with one of (glue on scrunched up balls of tissue paper/string or sponge painting etc)

Texture pictures - put out a pot of glue, paper & piles of various items - foil, wool, foam/card shapes, fabric, felt etc.

Cut out a large tooth shape from black paper & another from white paper. Give mindie pictures of food items (use clipart or cut out from magazines). Healthy food on the white tooth, not so healthy on the black.

Cut out furniture pictures from catalogues and mindies can glue on their paper to "design their own room"

wshing up and cutting out are favorites here, however mine are all under 3 1/2. i love the painting the garden with water idea - my ds would LOVE this.

Posh travel brochures are a great source for pictures of animals and peoples of the world also asda magazines for food pictures to stick on paper plates .
my favourite craft item has to be paper plates great for lots of things just google paper plate crafts and you will see what I mean.

I'm not a CM - so gatecrashing - sorry
I'm always looking for ideas of what to do with dd (3.5) AND i'VE GOT LOTS OF IDEAS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS FROM HERE. THANK YOU! (Don't know where the caps came from!)
We do a lot of baking, washing dolly and her clothes and hanging them up to dry, potato printing to make wrapping paper, tea parties etc.