This makes me happy.

Go outside and play!

That’s what I really want to say to my my kids when they got bored at home. We did have a swing set for them, bicycles, and lots of attentive neighbors where we all kept our eyes open for the kids.

Spring time is the best time to send the kids outside to play.  Some of the best ideas for outside activities comes from Momma’s Fun World and include:

Boat races down a creek.

Fly a kite.

Lay back and watch the clouds take on different shapes and pictures.

Feed the ducks.

Camp in your backyard.

The list is endless, but it’s also FREE!  Go visit Catherine’s page and read her great ideas!

I saw my first hummingbird this week so we know spring has officially arrived in my part of the country! With that, I’ve seen a lot of families out walking and riding bikes and enjoying the great fresh air.

If you want to get outside and get your children outside, too, here are some excerpts of great ideas from Mums Make Lists,

1.  Listen for owls
2.  Look at the stars
3.  Splash in puddles
4.  Dig in mud
5.  Collect stones
6.  Collect shells
7.  Make your own tent
8.  Find a walking stick

Personally, I love taking my camera out and finding things to photograph!  Especially this one of Earth Day where some kids were digging up worms!

Photo from Pinterest.

Some of the games kids love the most can be the most tedious for adults to play with them. It’s kind of like listening to a child tell you about what happened in a television show they were watching!  You love it when you child communicates with you, but … oh dear … listening to one of those endless stories about a carrot who accidentally falls in love with a turnip is nearly unbearable!  Nearly unbearable like playing the card game of “war” with kids.

So if you play games with kids, find some games that you enjoy. Why play games with kids?  Mess for Less outlines some of the benefits:

• Math skills – Counting how many spaces to move forward.
• Reading – Some games have words that kids must read.
• Fine and gross motor skills – Games have small pieces that kids must manipulate. Some games like Hungry, Hungry, Hippos encourage kids to use larger muscles as they open and close the hippo’s mouth.
• Listening skills – to be able to follow the rules, kids need to listen when they are explained.

Great benefits! Now let’s all go play a fun game like Hungry Hungry Hippos to play!

Photo by David Goehring.

If you have a toddler (or a child who was once a toddler), you know they can flat wear you out.  They have tons of energy. They love exploring – opening drawers and cabinets and taking things out, dropping things in the toilet, throwing things, biting things, chasing things.  So why not direct their attention to something productive, something that will help their brains while entertaining?  Simple Little Home offers 40 ideas that will distract your toddler,

Rubberband/shoebox guitars. These are fun to play, and fun to make. Just a couple of shoeboxes with rubber bands around them create music (but not too loud) and lots of opportunity for exploration.

Water bins/tables. These require a nice day and a deck…smile… but are great. Again, fill up a tub with water and provide scoops, bowls, and a few fun trinkets (some that float and some that sink) and let kids play ’til their heart’s content. Add a few drops of food coloring for extra fun! Accept before you begin that each child who plays will require a full wardrobe change. I actually use this one a lot while I’m making dinner- the kids are going into the bath at that point anyway, right? Please use your best judgement when allowing young children to engage in water play and ensure close supervision at all times.

For the record, I personally loved making rubberband music boxes when I was a kid! I have a little bit of regret that I didn’t remember this in time to do it with my now older kids.

It may be too cold to do much of anything outside, but there are a couple of experiments that could be fun.  A friend of mine lived in Alaska for a couple of years. One frigid, below zero day, her husband took a cup of boiling water outside. He threw it in the air and it turned to snow. Very neat to see!

My own brother lives in New Hampshire and recently tried to blow a frozen bubble.  Here’s what happened:

On my first attempt, I dipped the wand in the solution, pulled it out, inhaled deeply, and then blew into an ice-coated bubble wand. I dipped it in again and gave it another go. I blew several bubbles, but the wind was blowing, and they all escaped.

Then the wind died. I blew several more. The first one I tried to catch with the wand popped immediately, but I kept trying. Then I caught one. I tried to set the wand down on top of the bubble jug, but as soon as I did, the bubble popped. I tried again, eventually catching another.

What a fun experiment and it definitely sounds like something I’d try if our Tennessee winters were cold enough.

Photo from Martha Stewart.com.

My favorite thing to do in the Fall was take the kids to local pumpkin farms.  That was way back when they were still sweet and didn’t talk back and argue about how far they can drive the car away from home (no more than 30 minutes!).  Besides pumpkin farms, there are lots of great things for kids to do in the autumn.  From Kids Activities Blog,

1. Pick a preschool fall craft to do together and have fun being creative together.
2. Pumpkin slime.  Goop is a blast to play with.  This goop is pumpkiny-orange.
3. Pumpkin pie play dough – this stuff smells SO good!
4. For an indoor kids activity, go on a spider hunt and see if you can find any cobwebs hiding in your house.  After you dust them, create your own spider web using popsicle sticks, yarn, egg cartons and pipecleaners.
5. Do your kids collect acorns?  Mine love to squirrel them away.  This is a great kids painting activity using acorns to make art.

There are 45 more great ideas if you click through the link!

Photo from Creative Chalk Photos.