Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

A Pretend Snack Bar

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I can’t think of anything my girls like better than a pretend play setup, unless it’s a messy craft project.

We’ve made forts, stores, and even a zoo in our living room. Recently, we decided to create our own snack bar.

We were following a suggestion from Let’s Explore on their Ways to Play in October printout (yes, we are a few months behind). Each month Let’s Explore offers a new printout with about 10 fun ways to play. We print it out every month. It’s great to have around when we need new ideas for something to do!

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Our snack bar set-up was simple. I gave Lizzie the wood crate and asked her to go through all of her play food and find some items that she thought would be good to sell at a snack bar.

She picked out nine different things, which turned out to be the perfect amount. We then decided we needed plates, cups, a bowl and spoon, and a few napkins.

We constructed the bar by setting a wood trunk across two chairs.

After we had that set up, we made a sign and the menu. I wrote out the name of each of the foods, and then drew a picture next to each.

Since neither of my girls can read, I wanted them to use the pictures for reference. The girls then took their crayons and decorated everything.

They had a blast playing snack bar!

The girls would take turn being the “chef” or the customer. They would pour over the menu, make their selection, then have a seat at the table. The “chef” would then come serve the food.

I was impressed by my 2-yr-old’s ability to remember the orders. They even managed to rope Mommy into playing with them several times!

We’ve had a lot of fun with this, and I’m sure we will set it up again soon!

What kind of pretend play does your child enjoy?

Christmas Tree Cards

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We were inspired by Dilly-Dali Art’s homemade Christmas cards on day 2 of the Creative Christmas Countdown and decided to make some of our own. We did our own twist on the paper scrap ornaments and came up with these Christmas tree collage cards. It was such a fun Christmas craft to make.

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Supplies Needed:

Colored tissue paper torn into small pieces
White paper (we used copy paper)
Cardstock or construction paper
Glue (I used a mixture of 1 part glue to 1 part water for this project)
Paint brushes
Markers
Stickers

For the first step in this project, we made collages with our tissue paper on the white copy paper.

When gluing down tissue paper, you will want to thin out your glue. Using 1 part glue to 1 part water was perfect for this project. We were able to apply it with paint brushes in a thin layer.

To further secure your collage, apply more glue on top of your tissue paper. Don’t worry, it will dry clear.

We worked and worked until our papers were covered.

This was the messiest part of the whole project, so of course, it was the part the girls liked best!

The paper was a bit soggy when we were done, but it did dry nicely.

After our collages were dry, we cut simple triangles out of the paper.

We attached them to the front of the folded card stock with double-sided tape. You could also used a glue stick to attach the triangles.

We used the markers to draw the trunks, then had fun decorating our trees with stickers.

Here are Lizzie’s finished cards. She wanted to make sure her trees were well decorated!

And yes, your eyes do not deceive you, there are Halloween stickers on the first card!

These are AJ’s finished cards. She decided to put her stickers inside the cards!

We had a lot of fun making our cards! Thank you Dilly-Dali Art for the inspiration!

Loving Literature: Snow Books

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To go along with our snow sensory bin and our snowy snowman craft, we’ve been reading a lot of books about winter and snow.

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We’ve been enjoying all the stories in Jan Brett’s Snowy Treasury. It contains some of her “snowy” best stories, The Gingerbread Baby, The Mitten, The Hat, and The Three Snow Bears. If I’m not reading the stories, Lizzie is thumbing through the book enjoying the pictures.

Snow by Uri Shulevitz is a beautifully illustrated book about a snowy day that starts our one snow flake at a time. It’s lyrical and calm and a perfect book to illustrate the peacefulness of a snowy day.

We’ve been reading a lot of Cynthia Rylant books lately, and Snow is fast becoming another favorite. It’s the perfect book to curl up with on a snowy day. What do you like to do in the snow? Playing, exploring, or curling up inside and staying warm. Cynthia Rylant will take you through the perfection of a snowy day.

These are some of the snow books we’ve been enjoying lately. Do you have a favorite book about snow?

A Snowman in the Snow

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Since we were talking about snowy days with our snow sensory bin, I though it would be fun to do a snowman craft.

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Supplies Needed:
Blue construction paper
White construction paper
White paint
Cotton swabs
Markers
Glue sticks

The first thing we needed to do was cut our necessary parts out of the white construction paper.

I cut out three circles of varying sizes for each girl.

We also tore a strip of white paper to use as the ground.

The girls started gluing.

We glued down the torn strip first, then constructed the snowman from the circles.

Next, they took the markers and drew faces, buttons, hats, arms, etc.

I had to help AJ draw her face, since she is 2, but Lizzie decorated her snowman herself.

Finally, it was time for the snow.

I poured a bit of the white paint in a container and gave the girls the cotton swabs.

They dabbed (or glooped) the paint on the cotton swabs and started making dots on the paper for the snow.

They dotted and dotted and smeared just a little until we had a couple of pretty snowy scenes.

It’s not the same as a real snowman, but it was still a lot of fun!

Snow Sensory and Small World Play

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I’ve seen wonderful ideas for sensory play all over blogland, but up until now, I haven’t set up a sensory bin for my girls.

Last night, I decided it was time to do it, and I set up a small sensory bin for the girls.

Instead of filling a large bin, I decided to put the items in a small basket and provide a piece of fabric for them to set up their own snow scene.

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Sensory Basket Contents:
Cotton balls
Blue puff balls
Clear white and blue glass marbles (vase fillers from the dollar store)
Cardboard snowmen (made from a cracker box)
Small polar bears (a toy we’ve had for years)

The girls got busy making a snowy wonderland.

They spread it out.

They made the snow fall.

They stacked snow on the polar bear’s head.

And, they even made a river from the glass marbles.

That, my friends, is our little river!

After playing for awhile, Lizzie found our painter’s palette and decided it needed to be a part of our sensory bin.

I did lay down a couple of rules while playing. I certainly didn’t want the little pieces all over the house!

I told them they could play with this at any time as long as everything remained on the table and there was no fighting over the pieces.

So far so good!

Note: I did let my 2-year-old play with the little pieces. I was sitting at the table with them and she doesn’t have the tendency to put things in her mouth. Please know your child’s limitations and supervise carefully!

The girls had fun and so did the polar bears! I hope they continue to enjoy it for the days to come.

Do you have any examples of sensory play? I enjoyed setting this one up and hope to do more in the future.