Terri Thompson

Stop Summer Slide with Outdoor Math Games

May 4, 2017 By Terri Thompson

It’s official.

Summer break is coming soon and my girls’ school has started sending home info sheets about preventing summer slide. Luckily, their school suggested some fun things like outdoor math games along with workbook recommendations.

What is summer slide? I’m not going to get into stats for you, I’ll leave those to the educational sites. But basically, it’s the tendency for kids to lose some of the things they learned in school over break. As a result, teachers have to spend time time at the beginning of the school year reviewing the year before instead of moving on to new things.

Stop summer slide and practice your math with some fun outdoor math games. They'll get you out in nature and get you moving while you practice math.

Luckily, it’s not that hard (or painful) to prevent summer slide and give your kids a head start on the next year.

You don’t need workbooks (although they’re certainly available if that’s what you prefer) and you don’t need to sit and do “schoool” over the summer.

I want summer learning to be fun and I want it to be different from what my kids typically experience in school. It can be more hands-on and individualized. I don’t want this to be a chore.

Summer learning can also take place outside, like these outdoor math games. Try one of these ideas to keep your kids’ math skills fresh. They can move and learn or even explore nature while practicing math.

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Learn On the Driveway

(Pictured left to right)

Add a twist to a classic game. Math Geek Mama added a fun twist to hopscotch to practice skip counting.

You can also use hopscotch to practice your multiplication facts. Check out Coffee Cups and Crayons for this fun version of Multiplication Hop Scotch.

Draw a hundred chart on your driveway. There are so many fun games to play with it.

Or, draw a giant clock on your driveway. Practice telling time with this fun Sidewalk Chalk Clock Game.

Play with a number line. No Time for Flashcards has some great ideas of ways you can use your giant Outdoor Number Line.

Brush up on your measuring skills. Measure your chalk drawings with this fun idea from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Learn With Nature

(Pictured left to right)

Explore some trees. Math Geek Mama has some great suggestions to incorporate trees into your math practice.

Practicing the math concept of counting on can happen just about anywhere. Here are some suggestions of how to practice on a nature walk.

Turn a wood stump into a geoboard. Mummy Musings and Mayhem shows you how to make this fun tool that you can use again and again.

Use rocks as a manipulative to practice math. Here are some suggestions of ways to use the rocks to practice many different math concepts.

Play Some Fun Outdoor Math Games

(Pictured left to right)

Water play and summer go hand-in-hand, so add math into the mix and you get this fun Water Squirter Math game from Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

Do math at the park! Practice your number stories while you have fun on the playground equipment. What could be better?

You can find even more fun outdoor math ideas here at Mama Smiles.

There’s no need to purchase a workbook when you can have fun playing these outdoor math games!

Have some summer fun and do some learning at the same time with these outdoor math games. It's a great way to stop summer slide!

Find more ways to prevent summer slide here:

Stop Summer Slide While Learning in the Garden

Stop Summer Slide with Fun Reading Challenges

Outdoor Shape Activity: Driveway Shape Maze

May 3, 2017 By Terri Thompson

We recently started reviewing shapes with my youngest (age 3).

One thing I love about learning shapes is that there are so many fun ways to teach them… endless ways to learn about them!

So, while the weather was nice, it was time for an outdoor shape activity. This Driveway Shape Maze is perfect for kids who like to move and learn outside.

Move and learn at the same time with the fun outdoor shape activity, a driveway shape maze. It's fun for both preschoolers and toddlers.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Grab some sidewalk chalk and set up your shape maze

This outdoor shape activity takes a little effort to set up, but you’ll be able to play with it for days (at least until it rains). Grab your sidewalk chalk and let’s get going.

One beautiful morning, I ran outside, grabbed the sidewalk chalk, and started drawing shapes. I filled in a substantial section of our driveway.

We have been working on one shape at a time and the current focus is squares.

So, I made sure to include more squares than any other shape. You can focus on any shape or draw a variety of all the shapes.

It’s time to play!

When the girls came outside, I explained the game to them.

They each stood in a square on the first row, then they had to get to the other side, stepping only in squares.

Ready, set, go!

Both girls had a lot of fun with this game.

Even my oldest (age 5), who knows her shapes really well, loved the physical aspect of the game.

She soon challenged herself with all the shapes and also tried to see if she could jump over shapes and make giant steps.

Extend the fun of this outdoor shape activity with a few variations:

*Go through the maze many times choosing a different shape each time. First step on squares, next step on triangles, and then step on circles.

*Instead of just walking a maze, challenge your child to jump on all of the squares or all of the circles.

*Adapt this for older kids, by adding more challenging shapes like octagons and hexagons or 3-D shapes like cones or cubes. You could also make a maze identifying the different types of triangles, like equilateral triangles and right triangles.

It’s easy to add a little physical movement to learning. You can play the same game using numbers or even the letters of your child’s name. Have fun learning!

Make it a Family Adventure

Cost: Free (Under $5.00 if you don’t already have sidewalk chalk)
Planning Time: 5-10 minutes to draw the maze on the driveway
Ages: 2-5
Time Needed: At least 15 minutes to play.
Notes: This is a great project for some spur-of-the-moment fun. And, if you don’t want to draw the whole maze yourself, enlist the family and get out there together!

Find more shape activities here:

Get Crafty: Shape Collages

Shape Hunt

Sewing Circles: Simple Shapes to Sew

Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids

10 Shape Activities for Toddlers at Hands On As We Grow

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Fun Kitchen Science Experiments for Kids

May 1, 2017 By Terri Thompson

My favorite type of science experiments to do with my kids is kitchen science.

These types of projects are easy to do, I usually have all the supplies I need, and the projects are typically safe (and don’t use weird chemicals). Perfect, right?

Luckily, there are tons of great kitchen science experiments you can do with your kids.

Your kids will have tons of fun with these great experiments and they’ll learn so much while they’re at it. You’ll learn about the science behind food, do some fun ice experiments, and also use kitchen supplies for some great classic science experiments.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

The Science of Food

What is the science behind butter? Make your own butter and learn the science behind the process with this Little House inspired butter science project.

Discover the science behind popping popcorn with this fun popcorn science activity from Inspiration Laboratories.

Can you keep an apple from turning brown? Try some different methods with this apple science experiment from Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

Can you figure out the quickest way to bake a potato? Test your hypothesis with this potato science experiment from Left Brain Craft Brain.

Learn the science behind a fun treat, a Slurpee, with this fun science experiment from Steam Powered Family.

How does temperature effect the rate at which hot chocolate dissolves? Set up a simple experiment to find out with this hot chocolate science experiment from Creative Family Fun.

Learn with ice

Can you make ice melt faster? Try and test several different variables with this melting ice science experiment from The Chaos and the Clutter.

Why does salt melt ice? Find out with this simple science experiment from Science Sparks.

Can you light ice on fire? Schooling a Monkey shows you how to do this fun experiment.

Classic experiments

Mixing baking soda and vinegar is a truly awesome experiment. Add a little twist to this classic and make erupting rainbows from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Explore density by layering liquids with this class experiment from Inspiration Laboratories.

Use the classic pepper and dish soap experiment to show how germs scatter with this fun idea from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Creating fireworks in a jar is a classic way to learn the science behind why oil and water do not mix. Go Science Girls shows you how to do this fun science experiment.

What melts in the sun? Playdough to Plato adds a sweet candy twist to this classic experiment.

Have you ever made naked eggs? Try this colorful twist on a classic with Rainbow Magic Eggs from Schooling a Monkey.

More kitchen science experiments

Use bread and gummy worms to learn about sedimentary rocks with this fossil experiment from Teach Beside Me.

What are the effects of different liquids on marshmallows? Find out with this fun marshmallow science experiment from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Learn about chromatography with this M&M science experiment from Playdough to Plato.

Design your own science experiment by asking a simple question, what foods taste good. Inspiration Laboratories walks you through the process with this fantastic experiment with a printable data recording sheet.

What are your favorite kitchen science experiments?

Indoor Color Scavenger Hunt for Preschoolers and Toddlers

May 1, 2017 By Terri Thompson

There are so many fun and playful ways to learn about colors.

One of my favorite ways is with a color scavenger hunt.

It’s fun for both preschoolers and toddlers.

This preschool scavenger hunt is so easy to set-up. There is very little prep time so there is more time for fun.

Learn all about colors with this fun and simple indoor color scavenger hunt for preschoolers and toddlers. It's easy to set up and perfect for a rainy day!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Set up is easy!

It took me only a few minutes to set this up.

I chose several sheets of construction paper: red, yellow, green, and blue and laid them in a row on the floor. You can choose whatever colors your would like, but I just stuck with the basics.

Let’s go on our color scavenger hunt!

After our color hunt was set up, I sent the girls on their quest. They needed the find items that matched these colors and the items must be small enough to fit on a piece of paper.

It turns out our house is full of small items in primary colors! Who knew?

The girls found puzzle pieces, Duplos, crayons, card games, craft supplies, game pieces, play food, and more. They brought all the items over and put them on top of the correct piece of colored paper.

It was so much fun to see the items that they found.

This simple color scavenger hunt got the girls thinking and moving. It was perfect for some indoor fun on a rainy day or a cold winter’s day!

Do you kids like to go on scavenger hunts? It’s a favorite game at our house!

Make this a family adventure:

Cost: Free

Planning time: Under 5 minutes. Or, as long as it takes you to find some construction paper.

Ages: Preschool and toddler. While anyone can play and it’s a fun family activity, this activity is best enjoyed by kids under age 5.

Time Needed: Varies. You can follow your child’s lead with this activity. When they start losing interest, it’s time to wrap up the scavenger hunt.

Notes: It can also be fun to set a timer. For example: How many red items can you find in two minutes?

Have more colorful fun with one of these activities:

Colored Ice Fun

Color Mixing Lab

Story Time: Great Book About Color

Fun Color Games for Toddlers

Color Sorting Train at Mom Inspired Life

My Book of the Four Seasons: A Paper Bag Book

April 28, 2017 By Terri Thompson

I’ve stumbled across the idea of a paper bag book several times.

I’ve filed it away in the back of my mind as “something I want to make with the girls some time.”

Now that I’m working on writing with my oldest and we also plan to do some four seasons projects, that “some time” became now. Yay! We’re going to make a Four Seasons Paper Bag Book.

A paper bag book is a fun homemade book for kids to make. Put one together and then fill the pages and pockets with information about the four seasons.

Paper bag books are so much fun to create, plus they’re unique and easy-to-make.

And the best part is that they have all sorts of fun pockets for hiding little treasures. Imagine all the fun things you can put in the pockets!

Supplies needed:

Lunch-sized paper bags (for each book)

Hole punch

Yarn (or string)

We used three paper bags for each book we made.

How to make your paper bag book:

We first folded each paper bag in half. Since one side of the bag is open and the other closed, we alternated the directions of the bags when we put the books together.

If you don’t alternate the directions, you’ll have all of your pockets in either the front or the back of the book.

Once we had the bags in the order we wanted, we punched two holes along the middle seam of the book. Punch through all three paper bags.

We then threaded the yarn through the holes and tied a strong knot in the middle.

Special note: If you find your knot does not want to stay tied, add a drop of glue to the middle of your knot. Once it dries, your knot will not come untied.

Write your four seasons book:

The process of making the book was quick and easy, but it definitely wasn’t the best part.

We loaded the table full of supplies, such as markers, stickers, crayons, old magazines, scissors, construction paper, and glue.

Our goal was to write a book about the four seasons.

We used a spread of two pages for each of our seasons.

The girls wrote the name of the season and then filled the two pages with images.

They used Christmas and Valentine stickers for winter and then drew snowflakes and Christmas trees.

They added the sun for summer and lots of flowers for spring.

Add an extra writing challenge:

I added an extra writing challenge for my first grader.

She used an index card to write words that described each of the seasons. When she was done, she tucked the card into one of the pockets.

A few other surprises made their way into the pocket too, such as big stickers and special pictures.

Book making is fun! Early writers get to practice their new skill. Older kids can learn to be more comfortable with writing. And, pre-readers get a chance to practice story-telling with pictures. It works for every level.

Have fun making a paper bag book with your kids!

If you enjoyed this post, the photo above is perfect for sharing on Facebook, or you can share the photo below on Pinterest.

More fun writing activities:

Write Hand Print Poems

Give flowers a personality with this Flower Personification Activity

Making Lists: An After School Writing Activity

Beach Ball Poetry

Are you looking for more activities?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share idea for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Terri Thompson