Terri Thompson

Cardboard Tube Bear Craft

June 8, 2021 By Terri Thompson

We’re building a zoo.

Unfortunately, it’s not a zoo that you can come and visit. But, it’s one that we can share with you and one that you can make yourself.

This should be fun!

Let’s make a zoo full of cardboard tube animals. We’re going to start with this friendly cardboard tube bear craft.

Create a zoo and fill it with this simple cardboard tube bear craft. It's a simple and fun kids craft that makes use of recycled materials.

How to make your cardboard tube bear craft

Begin by choosing the color for your bear. My oldest daughter wanted to make a brown bear and the youngest wanted to make a black bear. Either one is a super cute choice.

Use the color you chose to paint your entire tube.

While your paint is drying, cut two ear shapes and a round snout out of your brown construction paper. (See the picture above for examples.)

Use your marker to add the details. Color the insides of your ears and add a nose and mouth to your snout.

Once the paint on your cardboard tube is dry, glue on your eyes and snout.

Glue your ears to the top inside of the tube so they’re peeking out from the top. They should be placed directly above your eyes.

Once your glue is dry, your bears are ready to play with.

Our zoo is just beginning, but it’s off to a great start.

What else should we add? Hippos, tigers, alligators, pandas… They all sound like fun! Let’s get crafting!

Find your supplies here:

In addition to some cardboard tubes from your recycle bin, here are a few other supplies to help you make your cardboard tube bear.

June Simple Family Fun Ideas

June 1, 2021 By Terri Thompson

For our family, June marks the beginning of summer. School ends, the weather warms up, the days get longer, and we’re all ready for a change of pace and some family fun adventures.

These June simple family fun ideas are perfect for the changing season. Some of these ideas will get you outside and others are perfect to do inside on a hot day. And, several can be done at any time of the year (not just summer). But, what brings all these ideas together is that they are simple, inexpensive, and a great way to connect.

Let’s plan a family adventure!

Get ready for summer with some family adventures! Save and print these ideas for June simple family fun and you'll be ready for family time any time.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Fire up your printer, print out your simple June family adventures, hang it up, and plan some fun.

I know you’ll find an activity (or two or three or four…) that your family will love.

June Outdoor Adventures

June is a great time to get outside and have some fun. So, these family fun ideas will give you a nudge to enjoy the outdoors.

1. Blow up a beach ball and play beach ball volleyball in your backyard. No net needed! Just have some fun.

2. Take a trip to a nearby nature center. Go on a hike, explore their visitors center and have fun learning about the wildlife in your part of the world. Nature centers are a great community resource and most are free or inexpensive to visit.

3. Trace each other’s shadows on the driveway. Add faces, hair, and clothes to make a silly shadow family.

4. Go stargazing. Pick a clear night and go outside to study the moon and stars. You can find tips for stargazing with your kids as well as a printable night sky journal at this link.

5. Lie together under a tree and look up. What do you see? Use this time to relax together and talk about all that you see.

6. Explore a pond together. Observe and learn about all the animals and plants you see or try one of these simple activities for pond play at Buggy and Buddy. This might even inspire a second family adventure to the library to find some books about pond life.

June Indoor Family Adventures

Even in summer, sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate. Save these ideas for a rainy day, a steamy hot day, or anytime you’re looking for some indoor fun.

7. Have a letter writing evening and write letters to faraway family or friends. Use pretty stationary or decorate your own with markers and stickers. You can even go all in with a fun set of personalized notecards for your kids like this set from EightTwentyOneStudio.

8. Go to the grocery store or farmer’s market and buy a few new-to-you fruits (or vegetables). Have a family taste test and maybe you’ll find a new favorite snack.

9. Learn to make play dough together. You can find many fun recipes on my play dough Pinterest board. Gather up some loose parts (like rocks, pipe cleaners, or craft foam pieces) and start creating.

10. Discover a new genre of music together through books and music. YouTube and your local library are both great resources.

Print Out Your June Simple Family Fun Ideas

You can find all these family adventures on a printable list here. Just download it and print. Hang it on the refrigerator and you’ll be ready for a month full of family fun ideas.

Jot a few ideas on the calendar and you’ll be sure to have time with the family. Remember, a family adventure doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. You just need a couple of hours and a fun idea.

Get your printable June Family Adventures here.

Which of these June simple family fun ideas are you going to add to your calendar this month?

More June Family Fun Resources

In addition to all the fun ideas listed above, the following items are fun to have around for last minute family fun. Yard games are always a lot of fun!

Balloon STEM Activities for Kids

May 17, 2021 By Terri Thompson

STEM activities don’t have to be complicated. In fact, all of these fun ideas use simple supplies and have one thing in common – balloons!

So, swing by the party supplies and pick of up a pack of balloons so you can get started on these fun balloon STEM activities.

Have fun learning with the simple Balloon STEM Activities. Your kids will learn so much and have a lot of fun while they're at it.

Fun Balloon STEM Activities

The ideas below are great for learning after school and on the weekend. And, any of them would make a fun family activity.

Are you ready to have some fun?

Check out all these awesome activities, choose your favorite, gather some supplies, and get started learning.

Balloon STEM Activities

Fun STEM activities that you can do with balloons!

Grow the Grinch's Heart Science Experiment

Use a chemical reaction to blow up your balloon! Hint: You can do this any time of the year, just change the design on your balloon.

Balloons over Broadway: Book and Craft

Make your own parade balloon with this fun STEM project.

Cool Balloon Experiments

Photo Credit: www.teach-me-mommy.com

Try one (or all) of these 3 fun experiments.

Cupid’s Arrow Balloon Physics Challenge – STEM Activity

Photo Credit: www.steampoweredfamily.com

Get out the balloons for a fun physics challenge that's not just for Valentine's Day!

Confetti Cannon STEM Challenge – 2 Design Challenges For Young Engineers

Photo Credit: www.steampoweredfamily.com

Use balloons to make a fun confetti cannon!

H is for Hovercraft

Photo Credit: inspirationlaboratories.com

Use a balloon to power a hovercraft.

LEGO Balloon Car DIY Lego Building Kit

Photo Credit: littlebinsforlittlehands.com

Use balloons to power a LEGO car with this fun idea.

Balloon Air Pressure Experiments for Kids

Photo Credit: www.darcyandbrian.com

Learn about air pressure with this simple balloon experiment.

Magic Light Bulb Balloon Science Experiment

Photo Credit: happybrownhouse.com

Try the magic light bulb experiment.

Balloon Rocket STEM Activity

Photo Credit: happybrownhouse.com

Make a simple balloon rocket.

Make a balloon powered sponge boat

Photo Credit: www.thecrafttrain.com

Use a balloon to power a simple sponge boat.

How To Make a Solar System Model

Photo Credit: creeksidelearning.com

Use balloons to make a model of the solar system.

Which one of these fun balloon STEM activities are you going to try first?

If you’ve got a whole pack of balloons, I bet you’d have enough for all these projects!

More Simple STEM Activities You’ll Love

Color STEM Activities

Hockey Science Experiment

Phases of the Moon Mobile

Melting Crayons Science Activity

My Must-Have STEM Resource

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have time to prep a fun science project. That’s why I love Green Kid Crafts Discovery boxes. The boxes are packed full of projects that are fun and inviting. You can choose to get a subscription or a one-off box based off of a specific theme. Any one you choose would be a lot of fun!

Try the Kitchen Science Box
The Green Energy Box
Or try a monthly subscription.

Printable Family Summer Bucket List

May 13, 2021 By Terri Thompson

I must have blinked. That’s the only explanation.

One day I was taking first day of school pictures. And the next… my kids are bringing home backpacks full of all their stuff from school. Yep. It’s time for summer.

And guess what, I have no idea what we’re going to do!

So, it’s time to create our family summer bucket list.

Plan your family summer bucket list with this fun printable. Use your own ideas or use some of our suggestions for summer fun!

Why should you create a summer bucket list?

There are a few reasons why I love creating a bucket list for summer. First, it’s a great resource for ideas. That brainstorming session you had to create your list is so useful when everyone is sitting around bored. Don’t know what to do? Check your list!

Plus, it gives everyone a chance to provide input. Maybe your kids were hoping for some specific activities this summer. This gives them a chance to tell you their wishes for summer fun. And you can record them and make sure everyone gets to do something they were wishing for.

I always think of our bucket list as a source of inspiration for the summer. It’s not a requirement at all. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever had a year where we crossed off everything on the list!

Family Summer Bucket List Ideas

So what are you going to add to your bucket list?

Here are a few ideas:

Go to the beach
Make a blanket fort
Have a picnic
Go camping
Make root beer floats
Build a photo album
Catch fireflies
Have a water balloon fight
Tie dye shirts
Plant a garden
Make s’mores
Feed the ducks. But, don’t feed them bread! Here’s a better option for duck food at Playground Park Bench.
Watch fireworks
Go fishing
Go to a drive in movie
Roller blade
Make ice cream
Ride a ferris wheel
Build a sandcastle
Go on a hike
Make suncatchers, like these easy painted suncatchers!
Bury a time capsule
Volunteer (Here are some great ideas if you want to help your local animal shelter).
Go on a boat ride
Run a 5K
Visit a museum

And if that’s not enough ideas. Here are 200 more fun ideas for your summer bucket list!

Record Your Summer Bucket List Ideas

Now that you’ve come up with your fun summer ideas, you need to write them down.

I’ve got just the thing for you, a cute watermelon-themed summer bucket list printable.

Just save and print. You’ll find space to record 10 ideas and also a printable with all the ideas I listed above. If you have more than 10 ideas, just print multiple copies!

Get your Watermelon Summer Bucket List here.

Are you ready for some summer fun? We are!

Awesome summer fun resources:

In addition to all the fun ideas listed above, you could also add one of these fun outdoor activities to your list. Play ring toss, ladder toss, laws darts or more! So much fun!

Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Words

May 12, 2021 By Terri Thompson

Can I make a confession? I almost didn’t post this sidewalk chalk spelling idea because I thought it was too simple.

But, then I realized that we’re all looking for simple ideas. And, when we’re practicing spelling words, we really don’t need to get too complicated.

So, if you’ve got beautiful weather and your kids just want to be outside, have them spend a few minutes writing their spelling words with sidewalk chalk.

Set Up Your Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Activity

All you need to do for this activity is to make sure you have sidewalk chalk and some concrete to write on. That’s it. No prep needed.

You can use your driveway, the sidewalk, a back patio, or even a brick wall!

Our driveway is usually quite colorful when the weather is nice because of all the learning activities, games, and artwork we do!

Go outside to practice spelling words with this simple outdoor learning activity: sidewalk chalk spelling words. It's easy and fun!

Write Your Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Words

To do this simple outdoor learning activity, have your child write out all their spelling words with chalk.

They can write them big or small, all one color or in every color in the box.

They can get creative and add swirls and other embellishments or write the words in block letters. Anything goes!

You can even do a practice spelling test ouside!

(And if they write them big, they can always walk their spelling words too!)

Remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated to have fun with your spelling words. You can simply just get out the sidewalk chalk and write some sidewalk chalk spelling words.

Terri Thompson

Supplies needed for your cardboard tube bear

How to make your cardboard tube bear craft

You may also like one of these fun crafts for kids: