Cupcake Shop
Rainy day = Cupcake Shop Day! Who doesn’t love cupcakes(especially when calorie free)?!?
We started by talking about what a baker/pastry chef is and then we got to work as one. She put her name on her chef hat (see template below) and named her cupcake shop (see printable below). Then the creating began (see materials). Everything we used was already in our house- didn’t buy anything. Get creative with supplies already in your house. After we made each flavor of cupcake, we listed it on the cupcake flavor sheet. We also made a name card for each flavor too.
Once all of the “baking” was done, it was time to open the Cupcake Shop. It was a pretty busy day, we sold out quickly. All of the adults in our house supported the shop and then the stuffed animals went too.
In this part of the activity, you could also incorporate money. We are working on coin identification, so our cupcakes were 25 cents each. You could also put the cost of each cupcake next to the flavors on the flavor handout and create receipts (see below). Great way to sneak in math, writing, & reading practice, while having fun.
We also used a few props we already had- cash register, play plates, & cupcake pan. Not necessary. More props the better though. Search your child’s play kitchen stash.
My daughter also insisted that more than one person works at a Cupcake Shop, so her penguin became an employee too. Not sure why i didn’t count as an employee? 🙂
We put our sign in a sheet protector & used dry erase markers. This way if she messed up on writing the flavors, we could easily erase. We can also use the sign again in the future- when we have new flavors.
You can also make your own play dough for this activity. Have your child pick out the flavors and icing colors before making. We didn’t have any brown play dough (for chocolate), next time we’ll make it and incorporate a lesson on color mixing to make brown.
*Please see Terms and Conditions on “About” page. To copy images, simply drag into a word document or onto your desktop. I hope you enjoy creating your own cupcake shop as much as we did! Please comment below with how it went!
INVISIBLE SCAVENGER HUNT
My daughter loves scavenger hunts. I’m always coming up with new ways to do them for her. This one is great because it takes a little “magic” to complete. The clues were written in white crayon and labeled by numbers in a green crayon (to help keep in order). Once she found a clue, she had to paint over the word for the clue to appear. I used simple words of things in our house (see examples below).
Since my daughter can’t read yet- I had her identify each letter in the word and then guess what she thought the word was. I then told her what the word was, if she didn’t guess it. Older kids can read the words themselves/do this activity independently. The last clue (#10) took her to a small prize to complete the scavenger hunt.
Hero of the day!
Great activity utilizing imagination, problem solving, & fine motor skills. I recommend doing the prep work (below) once your child/children are in bed. That way the “bad guy” had all night to tie up the “good guy”. Don’t help your child- let them figure it out! They are the “Hero“, not you. You can remind them of this if they ask for help.
Here are some example ideas:
Thanks to my friend Emily, i was able to use some boy action figures & learned a little about them.
For younger kids- this is a great opportunity to use scissors. I was hoping my daughter would use them when saving Rubble, but she found it easier to just tear the paper off. She did need the scissors for the yarn knots on Chase and Zuma. The pipe cleaners she just untwisted. Defiantly recommend if trying this activity to have the bad guy figure too. She was very suspicious how Mayor Humdinger did this to the pups when he’s never been in our house. She knew i was behind it, but most older kids will. It’s still a fun activity!
Once one pup was free, my daughter had them help her free the other pups (see Chase above).
Enjoy & have fun! My daughter keeps asking to do this activity again- so i know it was a great activity! I see a witch tying up some Disney Princesses in our near future.
SPIDER SMASH
These are fun worksheets. No real spiders are harmed in the learning process :). I made the worksheet in two sizes, use which size best fits your purpose.There are several ways you can use this worksheet with your child. Number review, letter review, color review, sight word review, high frequency words review and spelling simple words are all ideas you can use for these worksheets.
*If you want to reuse the sheet, place a sheet protector on it or laminate. Then use dry erase markers.
Example with high frequency words
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
Hope everyone is having a great three day weekend! Thank you to those who have sacrificed their lives for our country and those who are serving our country now.
Artist & Photo credit- Emily & Abigail
My friend & daughter made this in their drive way. I just loved it & she said i could share it.
As a surprise breakfast i made star pancakes and marshmallow/fruit kabobs (see above). It was a big hit! Super simple… i just made pancakes and then used a star cookie cuter after to create the star shape in them. The kabobs were easy too- strawberry-blueberry- marshmallows. Of course i asked her what the pattern was on the kabobs (any chance to quiz her pattern knowledge:)). This could also be a fun activity to make with your kids anytime- pattern review & fine motor skills utilized.
We have “Surprise Snacks” at our house. They appear when i can tie them into what we are learning or as a pick me up. Today we talked about what the US flag represented and why we celebrate Memorial Day. The base was a graham cracker. I used Jet-Puffed Marshmallow cream for the background (white), blueberries for the stars, and then cut up strawberries to create the red stripes. Simple as well and yummy (sort of healthy too).
ROLL & COLOR GUMBALLS
This game is a great way to introduce/review counting, number identification, and simple addition. Pick one of the worksheets depending on skill level or do both. If doing both, use the first worksheet as a warm up/review and second worksheet to challenge them! You can also complete the worksheet with multiple players.
Roll & Color Gumballs #1-6 Worksheet: Have your child roll the dice and count the dots on the side it lands on. Then have your child find the number on the worksheet and color in. Repeat until worksheet mostly full & no more blank gumballs of numbers rolled.
Roll & Color Gumballs #2-12 Worksheet: Have your child roll the two dice and count the dots on each dice. Then have them count the dots together (add together). Lastly, have your child find the number on the worksheet and color in.Repeat until worksheet mostly full & no more blank gumballs of numbers rolled.
The larger the dice, the better (easier to count). I found our dice at DollarTree in the kids section. You can also google “dice template” and print one up & assemble.
Multiple players can play. We both played. We took turns rolling the dice (she would count every roll )& then we took turns coloring in the gumballs. The more interaction the better!
JELLO OCEAN & SAND
Fun and edible activity! This is a great sensory activity or a fun dessert to share.
Dessert: Make the Jello (ocean) ahead of time. Have your mini chef help you measure out the amounts of water and milk you will need for both boxes. They can help mix all of the ingredients in the bowl for the jello sand. Once the blue jello is hard enough and the pudding has set a few minutes, have them help you scoop the jello sand & ocean into the large container to create the ocean/beach. Lastly, have them add the stickers (come with Jello) and gummy candy. They’ll be proud of their work & as a reward they get to eat it later too. This activity is a great review of measuring as well.
Sensory– Complete the steps above first. Then have your child make up a story of what is going on at the ocean/beach by adding marine life themed gummy candy or plastic toys.
This is either a great sensory activity or dessert..not both. A bad storm came through in our ocean and destroyed the beach. The fish also liked to swim underwater a lot and i mean a lot! So we weren’t able to have a dessert in the end. So i wanted to make this clear up front! She did enjoy a snack as she was playing. In this activity, you MUST monitor them closely to avoid a major sugar high.
If we do this again (for play, not eating) i would only mix half of the sand/powder with milk. The additional “sand” i would sprinkle on top of the pudding to make look more realistic (like sand) and add another texture.
Our ocean & beach, before the storm…
MOVIE THEATRE AT HOME
Next rainy day = Movie Theatre Day! Create a movie theatre in your house. Put the print outs below in page protectors and have your child write on them (can mess up and just erase), plus can use in the future then.
Kids can learn about jobs at the Theatre too. Assign everyone a job or multiple jobs.
Job ideas: ticket sales person, snack stand worker, usher, cleaning crew (after the show).
Educational without realizing! Practices writing, simple math (money/paying for tickets & food,) scissor skills (cutting tickets out). Measuring if customers are free under a certain size (see below).
Have your child pick the movie and then write the movie in the above box, or if unable – adult can write. See our example above left.
Ticket sales! How much are the tickets? Have your child if possible write the amount in. For younger kids, keep the ticket price simple- so its not overwhelming when customers pay for tickets.
We had a huge crowd show up. So we decided if you were under 8 inches, you were free. It was a nice way to add more math into this activity. We put a ruler at the ticket stand and measured each stuffed animal (see left picture above).
To practice cutting skills, have your child cut out the tickets. They can color them as well!
Everyone loves snacks at the movies! You can use real or pretend food. We used pretend food for the stuffed animals and real food for us and the dog. Popcorn is a must at the movies!
Have your child write the items on the menu and price. For younger kids this is a great way to review coins or single dollars. Older kids prices can be more advanced, since they already know how to do the math.
Please see Terms & Conditions in the “About” page. To copy the above pages, simply drag into a word document onto your desktop.
Let the fun begin! Have a great day at the movies!
PAPER PLATE FACE HAIRCUTS
Let the cutting begin! This is a fun interactive activity to do with your child that focuses on feelings/emotions & cutting practice. All of the needed materials you should already have in your house!
Notes:
- We completed several plates before we did any haircuts. We found it fun for both of us to make them.
- We also labeled the feelings at the bottom of each plate. You could have your child get writing practice by labeling them if old enough.
- If additional time, you can add color to your faces. You could make them even sillier by coloring them in.
- Another topic to cover- Feelings are associated with colors. By adding color, you could show this. Examples: “sick” (color the face green), or mad/angry (color the face or cheeks red), “sad” (color the blue face).
Example Emotions & Feelings:
Happy Creating!
MAT Create 