The MomSpeak

Your clever little ones already figured out that the best fun of all is made with the stuff you have on hand. Or outside the front door. Or pretty much anywhere you look.

It’s you who occasionally benefits from a reminder.  No trips to the toy store or the art supply store or even any outing in the car or stroller necessary.  Here are some great ideas from the Savvy Source to make fun with what you’ve already got!

Making something cool out of crayon nubs: 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 put them in the tins. Put in oven and check periodically until fully melted. Take tin out and allow to cool. Once the crayon rounds are cool, you can take them out and give them a try. These also make great party favors!

Materials Needed: Muffin tin, tin foil, non-stick cooking spray, old, broken crayon pieces.

Ages: 2-6 year olds

Cleaning up your toys, on a cosmic level: Get the whole family together to do some spring cleaning - outdoors! Visit a park or lake nearby and spend an hour or two picking up trash in the area. Teach your child about litter, appropriate places to put trash, keeping our world clean, and recycling. Be sure to take a trash bag and to bring gloves for the whole family!  (Add in a special reading of The Lorax for good measure!)

Materials Needed: Trash bags, gloves, and a good attitude!

Ages: 2-6 year olds
Like the Lorax, speaking for (and about) the trees: Inspired by the Lorax’s tale, learn more about the trees in your own yard! Start by taking a picture of each tree in your yard. If you do not have any trees, use the ones on your street or substitute house plants.

Next do a little research with your child on the internet. Try to figure out the names of your trees and any special characteristics they may have (flowers, berries, etc). Next, paste the photo of the tree, along with the tree’s name and a leaf from the tree, into a spiral notebook or journal. This activity will help your child gain a special appreciation of the importance and beauty of the trees he sees around him every day.

Materials Needed: Camera, printouts or copies of pictures, glue or tape, markers, notebook or journal, information from the internet.

Ages: 3-6 year olds
Harnessing the power of the sun: You’ll just need a sunny day, a few leaves (or other objects) and some construction paper for this fun, mess-free activity! Place a piece of construction paper in the sun. Have your child arrange leaves, sticks, or other natural items on the paper. Leave the paper and objects out in the sun for an hour or so. The sun will fade the paper around the objects, leaving the area under the objects dark.  (This is also great fun with sun-print paper or fabric, but that would require a trip to the art store!)

Materials Needed: Construction paper and leaves.

Ages: 2-6 year olds