Rainbow Treasure Hunt

K, 6+

After school today, my kids found a note from the leprechaun leading them on a rainbow treasure hunt. And they loved every minute! I hid the clues around the back yard and dressed up a Costco box and hid it out iof sight. I put a few $1 store goodies inside, and it was a blast to watch them find it!

I found this great idea here--and you can print the shamrock clues, or save ink like I did and write it on construction paper that you cut into shamrock shapes!

For this game you will need:

• All colors of construction paper, or a printer
• A few goodies

Candy Land

This is also a great week to pull out your old Candyland game! I don't plan to attempt it with my toddler, but Gracie still loves to play games.

What better game to match the gingerbread week theme?!

Mitten Game

Mommy Craft

Toddler, Pre-K

This is a simple matching game for you and your toddler or preschool aged child that I think you will both enjoy. I hung mine on a rope to make it look like a clothesline and add a little more fun to the game, but you could place them on a table and you child can still match them.

To make this game you will need:

• Different color construction paper
• Mitten pattern (I included one below)
• Rope or string (optional)
• Clothespins (optional)
• Contact Paper (optional)

I simply cut out several different color mitten (2 of each color) and hung one mitten up and had my son match the mitten I held up. It took him a while to get the idea, but once he did he amazed me at his ability to recognize the similar color and patterns. (I added some patterns on the mittens to give it an extra touch)

I laminated mine with contact paper for durability, but that is optional.

Football Bean Bag Toss

Save your Costco boxes, because your kids could also have as much fun as mine have this week!

This is the second hand made bean bag toss I have made so far, and they love them! I was hoping to make some football shaped bean bags, but my sewing machines are dead, so we just used the ones we have.

I decorated my box with a football field look and used a sharp knife to make a hole for the bean bag toss.

You never know what you can use with an old box!

Football Math

Mommy Craft for
K, 6 & Up

This idea I have had before, and I even made one for my then Kindergartner, but it was just before the move, and it was a little above her skill level. So, I made a new one now that she is much farther along in the math department.

To make this game you will need:

• Green construction paper
  
• Brown construction paper
• Permanent marker
• White crayon
• Yellow construction paper (optional)
• Contact paper (optional)
  

I simply made a field from my green construction paper. I ended up using a sheet and a half of green and I glued it to some left over poster board I had to make it stiff--but you could just made a one sheet field.

Use your white crayon to make the yard lines on the field, only instead of doing 10, 20, 30 etc do 1, 2, 3 ...to 10.

Add some yellow goal posts if you would like. I free handed mine and folded a small part of the goal post and glued it to the field so it would stick upright.

Now cut out football shapes from your brown construction paper. Use a dark black (thick is better) marker to make addition or subtraction problems on the football. I was unfortunately out of brown construction paper and thus I had to color my white paper brown and it looks super dark. I also wrote problems on both sides of the footballs, and I laminated them to hold up to use.

Have your child choose a football and they have to land the ball on the correct yard line. Gracie likes to toss hers, but the idea is to get the football on the correct answer. For example one football might say "1+1" and the child would put the ball on the "2" yard line.

Even being as girly as she is--Gracie loves this game and I am hoping it will help her to memorize some simpler math tables.

Nutty Squirrel Game

Mommy Craft

Game great for: Pre-K, K, 6 & Up

*I let my toddler play this game with me and his big sister, but since it calls for a small but, you want to be aware of the choking hazard. I keep the nut put up and will pull it out for games. But, you may just want to make this cute little squirrel with or for them**

Where is the nut?! That is the question my daughter keeps giggling to her little brother. What a fun fall craft and game wrapped in one! These squirrels make a great addition to my fall decor and they double as a fun afternoon game for the kids and I.

It is definitely a win/win.

To make this craft/game you will need:

• Egg carton (empty ;)
• Brown paint
• Brown pipe cleaner (just 1)
• Brown felt
• Black mini pom-pom (I just used a piece of scrap black felt, my pom poms were too big)
• Googly Eyes
• An acorn/nut

(I am copying the instruction from the Family Fun site where I got the adorable idea. They do a pretty good job of explaining it, and I wouldn't want to miss anything as I recall how I did it.)

Instructions

1. To make the squirrels: Use a pencil to poke a tail hole in one side of each cup, then paint the cups. For each squirrel, cut a face, ears, and a tail from brown felt. Once the paint dries, glue the faces onto the cups, then glue the eyes, ears, and pom-pom noses onto the faces, trying to make the squirrels look identical for a better game. Fringe the edges of the felt tails and glue a piece of pipe cleaner in the center of each, letting a 1/2-inch stem extend beyond the bottom. Attach each tail by inserting the stem through the hole and gluing it to the inside of the cup.

2. To play the game: With the other players watching, place a nut on the table and cover it with one of the squirrels. Now begin sliding the squirrels around the tabletop, weaving them around each other to make the other players lose track of which squirrel has the nut. The faster you move them, the more likely you are to distract your audience. After a while, stop and challenge one person to guess which squirrel hides the nut.

Mommy Tips: First, when they say "be careful making your hole"--be careful--ouch! As I mentioned in the supply list, I just used a piece of black felt for the nose, but you could use black construction paper. Now, here's another thing with the game, maybe my egg carton was too big, but Gracie could clearly see the nut under the side of the squirrel whom posses it. So, I plan to go back over and add some felt around the carton openings to make it a little harder. And, don't forget your nut can be a challenge with small kids who like to put things in their mouths. I couldn't find an acorn, and I have no idea what nut that is that I did find, but it works. You could substitute the nut for a pom-pom or something else clever, but it would still need to be small, and thus a possible wind pipe blocker--so keep it up around small ones.

Apple Games

Toddler, Pre-K

I needed a fun way for my toddler to play with apples this week, and I stumbled across these two very fun game ideas.

For these games you need:

• Cut out apples. I cut out some red, some yellow, and some green apples from construction paper. I also laminated them for future use. (well, I use contact paper)
• Cut out worm on brown construction paper. I just free handed this worm and laminated as well.

Game 1:

Hide the apples around the house or room and let your toddler or preschooler find them.

Game 2:

Lay the apples out on the floor and hide the worm under one of the apples and let him or her find the missing worm by turning the apples over.

Mommy Tip:

I turned these two games in to many more with my Thomas. Since I used three different color apple shapes we worked on sorting, and we worked on counting and colors. Talk about a multi-use activity.

The above picture shows my laminated apples that I put up on Monday for this week. I wanted a place to store the apples when we weren't using them, plus a I wanted a way to show the different colors and for him to be able to count. So, I got the idea to make an apple tree. The board and the plastic clips came from the Dollar Store. I painted a bushy green tree and hot glued on the clips (15 for $1 and much safer than the old fashioned wooden ones!). Thomas has had a ball playing with these apples today. I think I will recycle my idea and make a new board for next week and turn it into a pumpkin patch!