Balloon Fight Fun
Simple-Cheap-Easy Activity
1. Materials: newspaper, masking tape and a balloon.
2. Roll a section of newspaper
3. Tape roll together along entire roll
All that is left to do is blow the balloon up and let the fight games begin. I must warn you, this is a fun but LOUD activity. Disclaimer: Enjoy in small doses.
Loud Fun Game ideas:
Hit the balloon - Roll a pair of socks and play golf or baseball – Sword fight (obvious rules apply) – Balloon soccer – Snowball fight using rolled pairs of socks with teams on either side of a bed – Light Saber - French Cricket - Perfect for Party Games
Join in the Childhood101 We Play too.
Other Be A Fun Mum Links
Nature Hunt
Chatting over a coffee without interruptions is a thing of the past for mothers with young children. Does that mean ’doing coffee’ stops? Of course not! My sister and I often meet at a park with take-away coffee. We keep our children busy doing a nature hunt, gathering and bringing back bits and pieces they’ve found around us. It keeps their hands and minds busy, in a positive way, so we can catch up.
Try asking questions:
Can you find me a stick? ** Oh, I think we need a rock now. ** Can you find 10 leaves?
Children love it, and Mums can snatch snippets of talk between treasure finds. It’s what Mums do, isn’t it?
“Wise mamas don’t give up the things they loved pre-kids, they just find new ways of doing them!” — Cath (SquiggleMum)
Take it home idea from Mon: The kids could make a collage out of the things they’ve collected when they get home as part of their recount of their day out. Lots of fun with glue!
Other Be A Fun Mum Links
Make Scramble Eggs Tonight, Have Fun Tomorrow
OP Shop Cubby
$5 in an op shop goes a long, long way. My sister and I allowed our children to explore a second hand shop for items to create a cubby-house.
Talk about excitment central. It was like a great big treasure hunt.
Items to look out for:
mosquito net — pots — utensils — foldable child seats – basket — bell (for a secret call) — ribbons — blankets — phone — cushion — ropes — tarpaulin — cutlery — ribbon
Children are incredibly resourceful and imaginative and I love to see how they think (I know, you can’t see thinking). Scottie found a retro telephone directory (pictured) to keep special codes in.
Awesome job girls.
This activity combines the outdoors, creativity, ingenuity, construction and environmentally friendly play. Can’t get much better than that.
Note: This activity is suited to school aged children, although my 2-year-old son enjoyed picking out a truck quilt cover. Be wary of broken and dangerous items.
Try this: Friday after school, raid a second hand shop. Come Saturday, you won’t see the kids all day. Remember this activity for the September school holidays.
Relevant Be A Fun Mum Posts
Make Scramble Eggs Tonight, Have Fun Tomorrow
A Pile of Straws
Straws + Sticky-tape + Children = Easy Creative Fun
Tip: Straw boats make great bath toys.
Be A Fun Mum related posts:
Come and join the Childhood101 We Play Link-up.
We Play : Blu Tack
I discoverd Blue Tack Colour. It costs about $3 and is a fabulous moulding material. It’s less messy than play-dough and not sticky like clay. Blue Tack holds its shape and is easy to work with.
The children I was with today (2-5 years) enjoyed this activity with little adult intervention. My older children loved it too! When you are finished, just stick it on a wall for next time. You have to love the easy storage.
It’s a 
activity.
Part of Childhood101 We Play Link-up
Missed last week’s post? Inhibiting Play.
Inhibiting Play
Saturday morning: The husband let me sleep in! Would you believe it, I got out of bed at 10 o’clock (wonders never cease). I left the comfort of the bed to find a huge pirate ship box display set up in the kitchen, equipped with half the linen cupboard to make for a sea.
If I was up earlier, I may have stopped the children pulling out everything blue from the cupboard. Maybe I would have asked them to set up in a different space. Perhaps I would have freaked at the bathroom towel on the dirty broom (for the sail). But it was already done — and it was wonderful. I often, unwittingly, inhibit play and imagination for the sake of order and ease.
Look at the different blues the children found in the cupboard. They weren’t being disrespectful with property or acting naughty in any way. You see, they needed a sea (of course) and were resourceful enough to find convincing materials to work with. Thanks to my eldest daughter’s wonderful mind, the ship was not only on a sea but also equipped with sail and port holes at each side.
I’ve learnt a lot from my daughter when it comes to creativity. Her art teacher said, “Flossie is not confined like the other children. She dosen’t worry about being neat or staying between the lines; there’s a freedom to her work.”
I believe freedom and creativity go hand in hand.
Self portrait done last year (8 years old)
Freedom: the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints.
It’s hard to find the balance between having rules (which are important) and creating an environement that produces the freedom to be creative (which is also important). I think one key to achieving this balance is spaces — creating spaces (watch for a post on this). Also, FunMum Wendy’s tip comes to mind: Think like a child. Too often, adults lose the ability to be ‘free like a child’. Watching children play is one way to recapture this beauty.
Too often, adults lose the ability to be ‘free like a child’.
Thanks to me being up late and not imposing restrictions on the children’s play, an elaborate game was enjoyed by all, throughout the day and into the next. Lesson learnt. Maybe I should say lesson learning.
Missed last week’s contribution? Make Scrambled Eggs Tonight, Have Fun Tomorrow.
The humble egg carton is a wonderful thing. Here are three ways to use it:
If you don’t have painting pots, an empty egg carton makes for a wonderful pallet. It’s a cheap way to distribute paint, especially if there are a lot of children.
Compartmentalise glitter, glue and craft bits and bobs for ease of distribution.
After reading Picklebums fabulous We Play… sorting post, it occurred to me to use the egg carton as a nature sorting tray. Look what we found outside our house.
Make scramble eggs tonight, have fun tomorrow.
Missed last week’s contribution? Play Memories.
Play Memories
One of my fondest childhood play memories, was at my Grandmother’s green house. The house was full of nooks and different levels and right down the bottom, my Granny kept a box filled with zoo animals. I remember spending hours setting up fences and playing with the animals. It’s interesting to think back on what play memories stand out in my mind and why. I was reminded of this memory when my daughter asked for the animal box I had stored high on a cupboard. You see, I keep some toys stored so they can be rotated. Perhaps, subconsciously, I had stored the animal box because, in my mind, they are special toys. In any case, my daughter had a lovely time setting up the animals, just as I had done when I was a child. It made me happy: remembering.
I’d love to hear about your Play Memories.
Missed last week’s contribution? Just Go and Play!
This post is part of the Childhood 101 We Play link-up.
Just Go and Play
“Will you just go and play!”
I catch myself saying this when my young children are hanging off my legs. Sometimes a child doesn’t know where to start when it comes to play. When this happens, a little effort in terms of set-up, goes a long way.
To be honest, I often don’t want to take the time to instigate play for my children, let alone sit down and play with them. I’m just too busy; I’ve got too much to do; I don’t feel like it. This is truth; however, what I find is, when I take the time out to be with my children this is what happens:
1. I actually enjoy it!
2. The children play happily and independently for longer periods.
This is the secret: just decide to take the time.
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Tips for setting up toys:
1. Try setting up somewhere different. For example, a table, outdoors, in a different room or on a bright coloured picnic mat.
2. Spend 5 minutes with your child/ren before leaving them play (this may be a little tricky if you only have one child but it’s good for a child to play independently so work towards it as a goal).
3. Leave the toys set up. I know it’s good to “pack things away after we have finished with it” but when I take the time to set up toys for the children, they tend to play with it, on and off, throughout the day.
4. Pull out toys your children haven’t played with for a while.
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If your child is stuck in terms of how to play…
It’s worth it in the long run.
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This is part of the Childhood101 We Play Linkup.
