Each child had their own creative abilities that they express in their own way as they develop. Creativity lets a child fully explore and learn from the activity. Often for parents it is hard to determine activities which are fun and also generate knowledge. Children can learn by doing just about anything, it just takes a little creativity. Here are a few options for a parent to do with their child.
Spot the Difference – Winter Snow Flakes
This activity is great for ages 2-4 but can be adapted to work for any age range.
The objective of this activity is to have the children create snowflakes with crayons, markers and scissors. Then children will explore the differences between each snowflake created.
The materials needed for this activity are: Children’s scissors, Multi-colored construction paper, markers, and crayons.
Before beginning this activity parents need to sit down and spend a short amount of time talking about snowflakes, what they are and how they are created and ask the children what they think about snowflakes. A book can also be read to the child instead of having an open discussion.
One main questions that needs to be asked of the children is whether they believe that snowflakes are different or they are all the same? Then you’ll encourage them to create snowflakes and explore whether any other children have created the same snowflake as them. Then they should be asked to explain the similarities and also the differences.
This activity asks children to be artistic by creating their very own snowflake. The parent will let the children do whatever they please with the snowflake, only help with cutting if needed.
This activity helps with children’s cognitive abilities and development. They will have to explore how snowflakes are different and how they are the same. They’ll have to determine why the snowflakes were the same (used the same colors, cut the same way) and why they are different (cut the paper differently, didn’t use the same colors).
Language Development is the next area this activity address. At the end of the activity the children will be asked to explain what differences they see and what they see that are similar. This will broaden their language abilities and help them learn language skills.
Fun with Splat the Cat
Splat the Cat is a novel written by Rob Scotton. It’s about Splat a cat who is going to school for the first time. This activity is great for children ages 2 through 4 and even for older children if adapted.
The objective of this activity is to explore the book, Splat the Cat by discussing how the children felt on their first day of school, what they believe cats do in their everyday lives, and participating in creative play together.
The materials needed for this activity are:
Art supplies: Crayons, markers, construction paper, other supplies for art creation.
Creative Play Supplies: Cat Costumes and an area for play.
Book: Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton
Other Materials: Splat the Cat posters, figures, coloring sheets (if available online)
At the start of this activity the children will sit and read the book, Splat the Cat. While reading the parent will occasionally stop to discuss how children felt on their first day of school. Were they scared? Excited? Happy? Because the children are younger, they probably won’t be able to fully express how they feel but they can describe some feelings with the help of their parents. After the discussion has ended the parent will continue reading the book and stop to discuss what the children think cats do during the day. The parents will then finish the book and the children will discuss how they felt after their first day of school as well as discuss what they liked about the book.
After they finish the book the children and parents will engage in some creative activities together. They will dress up as cats and play as if they’re cats. Another option is to dress up and play as it’s the first day of school.
When the imaginary play is done or if the child isn’t interested in dress up play they can create Cat the Splat art with their parents or draw pictures of what their first day of school was like.
After the art and play is done the children and parents will sit down together and discuss what they did, what they liked and what they disliked about the activities. It’s important that after the activity is finish to discuss it with the children because it gives them the opprotunity to reflect on the activity and learn from the activity.
The Joys of Painting
This activity is great for children of all ages but best done with 2 to 6 year olds.
The objective of this activity is to experiment with colors, shapes, and the texture and marks other objects make.
The materials needed for this activity are: Paper, Paints, Paint Brushes, Various objects that can be used to paint with (sponges, sticks, etc..)
Children will be provided paper, paint and various objects to choose from and will be asked to play with the paint using whatever the child would please to do. They’ll experiment with colors, objects and explore the possibilities with paint.
This activity will help build children’s skills with art and also their creativity. Once they are finished with the activity parents will sit down with the children and discuss the art they created together.
Fun with Foam Dough
The objective of this activity is to explore the use of Colorations® IncredibleFoam™ Dough and what can be made with it.
Materials needed for this activity are: Multiple colors of Colorations Incredible Foam Dough and a Polaroid Camera or digital camera.
Colorations Incredible Foam Dough is an alternative to Play Dough and much more natural. This activity can be done with any age but works best with children between 6 and 10.
Provide the child with multiple colors of the foam dough and encourage them to create a work of. At the end of the activity have each child present their work of art to you. Then take a picture of each child with their work of art and post it to a bulletin board or on the refrigerator. Children love impressing their parents and this activity gives them the chance to create something and proudly display it for the family and their friends.
Shake Your Move Thing
The objective for this activity is to build musical instruments and then create music with them. Also learn dance moves and create a song with the instruments.
Materials needed for this activity include: Clean empty food containers, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, sticks, boxes, buckets, paper , crayons, markers, tape and glue.
This activity is great for any age but works best for children between the age of 5 and 10.
At the beginning of this activity the children will determine their favorite music. Then they’ll get all the objects out and make instruments with them, having them explore what certain objects can do. Once the instruments are put together they will come up with a song to play music to also create some dance moves. The focus of this activity is just to have fun with the music and recognize the beat and be able to come up with lyrics to the beat.
Dancing with Scarves
The objective of this activity is to explore movement to music with scarves.
The materials needed for this activity are: Scarves as well as music of your choice.
Star the music and ask the children to dance with the scarves. Should they be timid or not know what to do, demonstrate to the children what dancing with scarves might look like. If available you can record the dancing and save the tape for later to be watched.
Eating Healthy
The objective of this activity is to have fun creating healthy foods and teach children the appropriate things to eat.
Materials needed for this activity include: Various healthy foods, apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, plums, melons, healthy crackers, cookies, breads, etc. Also a book on healthy foods to review.
This activity is great for the older children because it will give them independence to create their own snacks at home and know what is healthy and what isn’t.
Ask the children to create a healthy snack with the foods that are provided. Remind them to think of flavors and textures while putting together their snack so that it can appeal to the whole family. Once they’ve made their snack have them present it to the family and send samples around for tasting. Discuss what the kids liked about the healthy food and how they can apply what they learned to their future eating habits.
These activities are all fun for the children and parents and also are very educational. Most if not all activities in the home can be educational and fun. Hopefully this article gives you a few ideas and an understanding of how to adapt everyday things into fun, educational activities for a child.
