Another activity we did recently was hands on and crafty. The kids and I spent a good hour working on these projects...each had their own thing to do which helps with the difference in their attention spans.
Elijah received several Star Wars action figures for Christmas and I had given him a basic shoe box to keep them in. I decided he might enjoy decorating the box to fit the contents that it holds. I wrapped the box in white butcher paper and taped down the inner edges with sticky tape...the lid and the box. Then he set to work coloring, drawing and placing stickers from his Star Wars sticker books all over the box. I love how he felt that the inside as well as the outside needed to be decorated and he liked to put the stickers at the top edge and then fold them over, so they are half inside the box and half outside. I try so hard not to impress my ideas about how things should be done on the kids...I don't want them to think there is a right or wrong way when it comes to drawing, coloring, crafts etc. How else would anything new ever be created? So I hold my tongue a lot.
While Elijah worked on his box, I had Evelyn going on her own thing. I had saved a milk jug from the recycling that I washed and dried. Then I gathered up our wooden clothes pins and set her to work. It is a simple activity where she drops the pins in the top of the jug, rattles them around, shakes them out and then does it all over again. It's great for a toddler's gross motor skills, but most important (to the toddler) it makes a delightful racket! I also gave her stickers to stick all over the jug to make it her own. She still carries the jug around and I have found that she has started putting other things in it as well...buttons, wooden acorns etc.
My kiddy kats love to work on projects and this filled the need for that day. Elijah still talks about his box and wants to put more stickers on it, here and there. I like that his action figures are safe and cozy in there own personalized home. And all we needed for these two projects were things that I already had on hand...no expense what so ever. The shoe box, milk jug, and even the butcher paper were all recycled from other things. Elijah's stickers were a favorite Christmas gift, while Evelyn's stickers were new and unopened packages that I bought at Goodwill several months ago for just a few cents each. We've done several other fun activities this week...check back, I will be sharing about those in the next few days, including a fun crayon recycling project for Valentines Day.
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