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
Vintage Butterfly String
I kept the leftover paper used in the Vintage Secret Treasure Box and Vintage Paper Hanging Lantern to make a Vintage Butterfly String for my daughter to run around with in the fallen leaves. It’s a simple joy.
What you need:
Vintage Paper (from a vintage book) ** Ribbon/Wool/String
1. Fold paper back and forth to make a fan / 2. Fold in half / 3. Repeat four or five times and tie each butterfly on a length of string
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.
I’m pleased to introduce the Be A Fun Mum Cards: Imagine . Inspire . Enjoy.
My daughters and I brainstormed fun activities and positive rewards, and the end result is the Be A Fun Mum Cards.
How to use the Be A Fun Mum Cards
1. Print, laminate, cut and place in a Glad Bag. Keep the cards in your handbag for positive rewards; like an IOU.
2. Use as a Lucky Dip to determine what to do.
3. Use as a reward for a child to work towards.
4. Use as flash cards to facilitate word learning.
5. Give as a birthday gift.
6. Make a story sequence (great for times a child has to wait).
7. Print mutiple copies and play the memory game or snap.
I’ve created six pages of fun things to do. Contact me if you have other ideas to include and I’ll add them to the document. Click on the first page below to access all six pages via PDF file.
How NOT to use the Be A Fun Mum Cards
1. As constant bribery. I believe children (and adults) should learn to do things because it’s right, not merely to recieve a reward. I mostly reward my children when they least expect it; that is, when it’s obvious their attitude is right. Bribery is okay; I do it myself. Bribery was one of the many things I said I would never do when I became a Mother but that went right out the window with the first child; however, constant bribery is not a good idea.
2. Not following through on a IOU promise.
Imagine . Inspire . Enjoy
*******************************
Be A Fun Mum Related Posts
External Links
Little Billies: positive parenting tools
Magnetic Moves: smart charts for busy people
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.
Glass Meets Nature Wind-chime
My sister and I enjoyed doing this craft activity together: Glass Meets Nature Wind-chime. It was simple to do and the finished product looked fantastic. The children were excited so I’m going to do one with them too but with old cutlery instead of ceramic shapes (see note below).
Materials
Stick (hunt the backyard for the perfect stick)
Ribbon (about a metre)
Fishing Line
Glass Beads (think about texture and colour)
Clay or ceramic shape (or use cutlery)
Assemble
Start with tying fishing line to a ceramic shape.
Tread a sequence of beads following the shape.
Repeat on four differing lengths of fishing line.
Tie beaded strings on the stick — an even distance apart.
Add ribbon to the stick and tie a bow at both each end.
Hang
TIP: You can use cutlery instead of ceramic shapes. Choose some with a hanging hole or use a steel drill to make a hole. Op-shops sell old cutlery cheap.
NOTE: If you want to keep this craft , I suggest using utensils tied on wool, string or fishing line. Forks and spoons sound so pretty in the wind and they sparkle too.
LeechBabe did a cutlery wind-chime post here. You won’t believe what she used to tie it all together.
I’ve created a ‘Love the Moment’ moment as I come through my front door.
{Smile}
For more Be A Fun Mum craft ideas click the button below:
Make Lunch Fun for Little Ones
The theme for this month’s Unplugged Project (via Unplug Your Kids) is bread. This reminded me of something my own mother did with me when I was a little girl.
Materials
Bread, butter and a cup.
Method
Twist the cup on the bread to punch a hole. Eat.
The children thought this activity/lunch was brilliant (bless their little socks). You can use a cookie cutter but I find a cup works better with little hands. Make sure you talk about the shape of the bread. You may even like to sing “The Wheels on the Bus” or talk about what circle shapes you can see. Never miss an opportunity to incorporate learning into an activity (but not in a forced way).
Make lunch fun for little ones.
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.
