Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Holidays

Gift Guide for the Young Scientist

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I’m a big fan of gift guides. I love having a themed selection of ideas to choose from when it’s time to do my holiday shopping and I hope you do too. I plan on sharing a few with you over the next couple of weeks in the hopes that it will give you some new and fun ideas for holiday gift giving.

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My Lizzie is a scientist. She loves everything about science… questioning, exploring, and experimenting. I know she would love all of these items and I hope your young scientist does too.

For the older kids, this crystal growing kit from Imagine Childhood would be a fascinating look at geology.

Educational Insights Geosafari Talking Microscope will help your child take a close look at a micro-world in addition to learning facts along the way.

I can think of few things more fascinating that watching the metamorphosis of a butterfly. You can give your kids that gift with the Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden.

My girls love their magnifying glasses. The Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Blossom Bright Magnifying Glass is a fun option. (Melissa and Doug has has a Mombo Snake Magnifying Glass for those who want something a little less girly.)

Not only is this nature study kit from Imagine Childhood beautiful, but it’s also a practical kit for finding and keeping all sorts of nature treasures.

Another fun find from Imagine Childhood are these fabulous nature cards. They’re easy to bring along on nature expeditions and would make a perfect stocking stuffer for your young scientists.

A set of binoculars is a must-have for any young scientist. The Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Happy Giddy Binoculars are fun, affordable, and useful.

You don’t have to travel very far to make some cool scientific discoveries. My First Backyard Explorer Kit will guide your young scientist to some fun science experiments right in your own backyard.

Get Crafty: Gratitude Leaves

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This year, a lot of our Thanksgiving activities have centered around gratitude.

We’ve been practicing gratitude at the table as well as celebrating all the things, big or small, that we are thankful for in our everyday life.

As a way to illustrate all that we are thankful for, we made these simple gratitude trees.

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Supplies Needed:

Orange, yellow & brown construction paper
Leaf template
Empty paper towel tube
Brown paint
Pipe cleaners
Tape

Using your leaf templates, cut several different leaves from the construction paper. We made nine leaves.

While you’re cutting out your leaves, you’ll also want to prep your cardboard tube by painting it brown.

Once your leaves are ready, it’s time to start talking gratitude. What are you grateful  for?

We included the big things like family, God, and sisters. We also included such things as sunshine, trees, and flowers.

There is no wrong answer! Write one thing you’re grateful for on each leaf.

Once the paint is dry, punch one hole for each leaf in your cardboard tube. I used a tiny screwdriver to punch my holes. I also put all the holes in the top third of the tube to mimic a tree.

Using your pipe cleaners, which have been cut in half, lace them through the holes from one side to the other.

You should have one end of each pipe cleaner half on each side of the tube. By lacing them through the holes, you won’t need glue to hold them in place.

The final step is to tape a leaf onto each pipe cleaner.

Now you have a fun and easy gratitude tree to use as a reminder for all the things you are thankful for.

What are some of the different ways you’ve taught your kids about gratitude?

Halloween Word Search

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Lizzie has recently discovered word searches.

Maybe she’s seen me work so many of them, that she wanted to try them out herself. I don’t know, but once she tried them, she was hooked.

The only problem I’ve found is a lack of word searches suitable for the Kindergarten/1st grade crowd.

So, I did what I always do and created my own.

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This word search is simple and she had no problem working it.

The words are easy to recognize and are only located horizontal and vertical.

I created it based on a Halloween theme, since we’re so obsessed with Halloween lately.

Would you like a Halloween word search for your kids? You’re in luck! Just click on the link below and print out your own copy!

Do you like to play word games? If so, what are your favorites?

Please feel free to print and share as many as you would like. If you would like to share online, please link to my blog post and not the document. Thank you!

*Note: The word search is on Google Docs. If you have a problem downloading and printing, please let me know. If you would like me to email you the PDF, please let me know your email address (either via comments or email) and I will send it to you. Have fun!

Get Crafty: Candy Corn Wreath

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Candy corn is a favorite around our house.

We love how it looks and we love how it tastes, which is why Lizzie challenged me to come up with a candy corn craft she could do. (Yes, my 5-year-old does give me craft challenges!)

After a lot of thought and a bit of trial and error, I can up with this candy corn wreath made from paper plates.

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:

Paper plate
Yellow paint
Orange paint
Ruler
Scissors
Tape

The first step is to paint. We painted on the bottom of our paper plate. We left the center white, painted a thick orange circle around it, and then painted the edges yellow. Your plate will look like a candy-corn-colored bulls-eye.

After the paint is dry, turn the plate over and make your cutting lines.

I drew lines across the plate, dividing it up as I would cut a pizza. You’ll want it divided into 8 wedges.

Once you have all your wedges cut out, your bulls-eye will become 8 pieces of candy corn.

Turn your candy corn pieces to the backside and arrange them in a circle, pointed sides out. Overlap the edges and use your tape to connect them together.

When you’re done taping, turn it over and you’ve got a fun candy corn wreath.

Voila, candy corn wreath challenged completed! I wonder what Lizzie will come up with next?

Kid’s Co-op: Fun Costumes

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It’s Kid’s Co-op time! Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

Last week there were so many fun ideas linked up to the Co-op.  Outdoor fun, indoor fun, cooking fun, and lots, lots more. This week I’d like to share some fun costume ideas I found on last week’s link-up.

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Atkinson Drive shared a cute no-sew shark costume.

 

 
Lessons Learnt Journal shared this adorable Very Hungry Caterpillar costume.
 
 
And Pi’ikea Street shared this fun squid mask.
 
 
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!