Have you ever wondered how you're going to fill the week or even a day with your kids when the hours seem so long? Do you find it a daunting task to come up with activities to keep them busy? Listening to your kids can be the key as they share stories, conversations and questions with you. It's possible to find a whole host of activities to stretch their little minds when they give you the cues.
A few weeks back Miss M and I had a lovely conversation together about butterflies. We talked about their beauty, their colours and how they fly. This gave me the idea to get out the paints and show Miss M how she could make her very own colourful butterfly.
Butterfly Printing
You will need...
White paper - I used easel paper for ours
Paint - colours that mix well are great to use - Cel Mix or acrylic paints work best
Plastic spoons
Fold the paper in half and open out again.
Have your child put paint on one side of the crease in the paper using the spoons.
Fold/ close the paper in half allowing the paint to touch the other side.
Use your hands to press the back of the paper. The paint will smudge and create a beautiful semetrical butterfly print.
Open it back up to reveal your beautiful butterfly.
Hang out to dry and then hang up to enjoy.
Some other activities I could have done to follow Miss M's interest would be....
- Read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'
- Make butterfly cakes or biscuits
- Make a butterfly stain glass window from cellophane and contact
- Sing and Dance to 'The Buttefly Dance' from The Wiggles Safari dvd
- Fly like butterflies with wings on
- Go on a butterfly hunt in the garden or at a local park
- Borrow books about butterflies from the library
- Make butterflies in playdough using a butterfly cutter
- Visit the Museum to see the butterfly display
- Do butterfly sticker collage
There are 10 different activites listed, lots of opportunities to fill the hours but more importantly there are lots of opportunities to follow an interest or stretch a mind. What is your child talking about today? Is there an art activity, song, outing or story you can think of to develop their current interests further. Children's cues can keep you creatively busy together all day long and then everyone's happy.
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