Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

Get Crafty: Painting Rocks

By

On a particularly nice day recently, we decided to tackle one of the items on our summer bucket list, painting rocks.

We set up outside and spent a lovely afternoon creating.

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.

Supplies Needed:

Soap & water
Rocks
Paint brushes
Craft paint

We found all of our rocks in our yard, so they were quite dirty.

I filled a plastic bin with soap and water to clean up our rocks. The girls started washing… and washing.

After I was beginning to wonder if we were going to forgo the painting for washing rocks, the girls decided their rocks were clean enough to paint.

We each took a pile of rocks (even me) and started painting.

There were no directions or rules to this activity. We just painted.

We talked and we painted.

We enjoyed the summer sounds all around and we painted.

We painted the day away.

Parents, this is the perfect project to sit down and do with your kids. They would love to have you join them!

Some of us decided that their rocks should be all the same color.

Others went for stripes, polka dots, and even rainbows.

In the end, we had a very colorful pile of rocks.

We spent a lovely afternoon painting outside.

It was relaxing, creative and we enjoyed each others company immensely.

I’m so glad we added this to our summer bucket list!

Did you make a summer bucket list? How many things have you crossed off the list so far?

Make this a family adventure

Cost: Free (minimal cost if you need to buy paint)
Planning time: About 15 minutes to gather supplies and set up a spot for painting
Ages: 2 and up. Use washable paint if you are worried about your younger kids. Your toddler will have plenty of supervision if you’re joining in on the fun.
Time needed: 30 minutes (or longer)
Notes: Do this project on a nice, sunny day. It can be done indoors, but it’s a fun art project to do outside.

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 3

By

Kid’s Co-op: Let’s Paint!

By

 

It’s time for the Kids Co-op! I posting the Kid’s Co-op a little early this week so you can get a head start linking up your favorite kid-related posts. Make sure and check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

There was so much information shared last week! There was also sensory play ideas, baby play ideas, book recommendations, kid-friendly recipes and more. Today, I’d like to share three posts with some fun painting ideas.
Love, Play, Learn shared a super, simple pudding paint… that’s also edible!

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.

 

 
Learn With Play at Home shared an awesome idea for comb painting.
 
 
Now it’s time for you to share all the fun you’ve been having! Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!
 
 

 

Story Time: Counting Books

By

There are so many counting books to choose from. We love to find a new one at the library and I truly believe counting books are the reason that both of my girls learned to count to 10 at a very early age. Recently we went on a quest to find some fun counting books to share with you.

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.

 

My Granny Went to Market by Stella Blackstone and Christopher Corr was voted the favorite by the girls. In this story, Granny travels the world picking up items starting with one flying carpet in Istanbul to ten llamas in Peru. We loved our trip around the world with Granny and it was fun to see the items she chose on her journey.

One Big Building: A Counting Book About Construction by Michael Dahl is a perfect counting book if your kids are into construction vehicles. Counting along as a building is built starting with one big plan and ending with a twelve story building.

We’re big fans of Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin, so their book Click, Clack, Splish, Splash: A Counting Adventure was a natural fit for this list. Once again all the animals fool poor Farmer Brown. Your kids will love what happens after they see one farmer sleeping and two feet creeping.

A little lion cub is looking for friends to play with in Roar!: A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Unfortunately, his roar tends to scare everyone off! He scares one red monkey and two pink flamingos. Will he ever find a friend to play with?Do your kids have a favorite counting book? Tell me in the comments. I’d love to check them out!

Sewing Circles: Simple Shapes to Sew

By

After learning all about squares, we moved on to the circle.

One project I set up for the girls was this simple sewing projects.

I was able to combine two things in one project, learning shapes and fine motor skills.

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.

Awhile ago, I had purchased a package of foam circles from the dollar store.

When we started talking about circles, I pulled them out. I knew we would find a way to use them.

One idea I came up with was these sewing circles.

I took my hole punch and punched holes around the outer edge of a few of the circles. Voila, the circles were ready to go.

For the needles and thread, I cut a length of yarn and tied a thick knot in one end.

I made needles from a small bit of pipe cleaner. I made a small loop of pipe cleaner at one end, threaded the yarn through, then twisted the looped pipe cleaner nice and tight. The “needle” won’t come off and it helps the girls with their sewing.

I packaged it all up in a cute little basket. Now the girls can grab their sewing basket anytime they’re in the mood for a little sewing.