Lego Spoon Race!

One of the games we played during LM's Lego Party was this Spoon Race Game.

It was incredibly simple and easy. The boys LOVED it! This went perfectly with our other fun Lego Games: Homemade Lego Pinata

Lego Race with Straws

(Legos are a perfect theme for any birthday party for kids. There are so many cute products out there! Like these Lego birthday candles for your cake. And these cute Lego forks & spoons to all that yummy cake!)

Lego Spoon Race Supplies:

• Legos
• 2 Bowls or Buckets
• 1 spoon
• Timer (optional)

How to PLAY!

1. Put a few handful of legos into one of the bowls and line the kids up behind it.
2. Place the other bowl across the room/yard.
3. One at a time, have the boys get a spoonful of legos and quickly take it to the next bowl without spilling their spoonful. Then run back and give the spoon to the next in line. 

The boys had a lot of fun with this simple activity. Here are a couple variations you can add to it if you want:

• Use a timer and see how long it takes for them to complete the task as a team

• Set the timer for 3-5 minutes and see how many legos they can get in the bowl before the timer runs out.

Have Fun!!

And don't forget to check out all our other posts about this fun and simple Lego Party!
Easy Home-made Lego Invitations
Make Lego Cupcakes using Airheads
Homemade Lego Pinata
Lego Race with Straws
Easy homemade Lego Goodie Bags

And bonus! You can have a great collection of craft ideas when you buy

**MY BOOK!**

Get your copy on Amazon (on sale!) for some super fun and easy to make craft projects for Holiday themes all year long!

(this post contains affiliate links)

Easy & Energetic St. Patrick's Day Game for Kids!

I love the excitement surrounding any Holiday.

Even St. Patrick's Day gets my kids excited and full of energy!

If your kids have a little extra excitement this time of year, here is a fun way to burn off some of that energy!

Supplies:

• White cardstock
• Green construction paper
• Marker
• Scissors
• Glue

Prep Work:

1. Use a small cup (or something else round) and trace 24 circles onto a couple pieces of white cardstock. Mine are about 2 1/2" big.

2. Cut them out. (*HINT: You can also use the stack & cut method I always use: Trace onto one paper and put 1-2 more underneath to cut out more at once!)

3. Using the green construction paper, draw and cut out 6 small clover shapes that fit onto the circle.
     OR you can draw clover shapes right onto 6 of the circles with a green marker.

4. Glue the clovers onto 6 of the circles.

5. On the rest of the circles, draw a smiley face with a marker.

Time to Play!!

• Lay out all the circles on a table or floor.
• Take turns choosing a circle and turn it over. 

• If you get a SMILEY FACE ---- RUN to the nearest mirror and show yourself your biggest smile!

• If you get a LUCKY CLOVER ---- JUMP up and down as you say, "Hooray! Hooray! Today is my LUCKY DAY!" 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Magic Pencil Game for Kids!

Our final activity in our "Back to School" preschool@home theme is this: A fun & simple activity using a box of pencils!

Supplies:

• About 20-30 pencils
• Permanent marker
• Cup

Prep Work:

• Take out all the pencils and choose one (or 2, or more depending on how you want to do it).
• Color a dot on top of the eraser with a permanent marker.
• Place all the pencils (including the one with the dot on the eraser) in a cup and get ready to play!

How to Play!

These ideas can be adapted to however many kids you have. With a group of kids you might want to have more than one pencil with a dot, so more people get a turn:

• Sit everyone in a circle and pass the cup around.
• Everyone takes a turn choosing a pencil.
• Whoever chooses the "magical pencil" (the one with the dot) gets to do something magical. Here are some ideas:
• Everyone in the circle gives that person a hug
• That person gets to say their favorite color, or food, or toy, etc.
• That person gets to jump up and down 10 times
• That person gets to run to run around the circle and sit back down

Whatever the "magical" reward is, 

have FUN! 

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Jumping Eggs!

Continuing with our "Easter Egg" theme, LB(3) and I played this fun, energetic, 

and educational game. It was a HUGE hit! 

And better yet.....it took exactly 1 minute to put together. :) Check it out!

Put it Together:

• Cut a piece of paper (or craft foam--that's what I used) into small squares.
• On each square write a number (I had 11 squares and wrote #'s 10-20 on them).
• Gather up a bunch of plastic Easter eggs.
• Put a number inside each egg and put them into a basket.

How to Play!

• Have your child reach into the basket and choose an egg.
• When he opens it, have him tell you what number is inside 
• Then both of you stand up and JUMP that number of times!! (this is the FUN part, and a GREAT way to get some physical activity for your little one and yourself!)

It was a really fun way to be active and learn at the same time. 

And according to my calculations, LB and I jumped exactly 165 times!! No wonder we were both exhausted!

:)

HAPPY EASTER!

Rainbow Run!

I'm always trying to come up with energetic activities that LB(3) will enjoy, and that will burn some of his endless energy! He had a blast with this super simple Rainbow activity!

Prep Work:

• Cut out strips of craft foam OR construction paper in each of the 6 basic colors of the rainbow. (Mine are about 1 3/4" wide and 6" long).
• Using a black permanent marker, write the name of each color on the strips.
• Cut a piece of white paper or cardstock so it's 6" x 11"
• Using one of the color strips, draw black lines on the white paper so there's a place for each of the strips.
• Write the names of the colors in each box--using corresponding colored markers.

Here's how you play:

• Lay out all the color strips on the kitchen table, and place the white paper in the living room. 
• Have your child sit on the couch and wait for you to say a color. Then they get up and run as fast as they can to go find that color on the table, and bring it back.
• Then they place it on the correct spot on the white paper and sit back down on the couch to wait for the next color.

• And added bonus was that each time LB finished getting all the colors, we sang the Rainbow Song which I posted about yesterday. LB loved this part. :)
• Then we started all over again!

Click below to see the Rainbow Song post:

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Candy Cane Hunt

You may notice that we do a lot of "hunting" activities around here. I remember how much I used to LOVE to play hide & seek with different things when I was little, and lucky me--my boys love it too! Hunting for anything is fun, especially when they are delicious CANDY CANES!

Here's what you do:

• Get a box or 2 of candy canes and take turns with your kids hiding them in a room and then finding them!
• Variations:
• You can even make a rule that they have to be hanging on something if you want.
• Or you can hide them all on your Christmas tree and search for them on there.
• You could set a timer and see which team can find them the fastest.
• You could even play outside and hang candy canes in the trees & bushes in your yard!

And if you're looking for another fun Candy Cane game to play, check this cute Candy Cane Ring Toss game!

Merry Christmas!

 

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Christmas Games with Gift Bows

This was one of our activities for our "Presents" - themed week. Was so easy and fun, just like our Candy Cane Hunt, and 

And don't forget to check out this post where we show you how to use practically any Christmas wrapping paper to make cute file-folder Christmas games for kids!

Keep reading to find out how you can create some super fun and easy games with gift bows! 

These Christmas games would be great for parties or even as Birthday party games! All you need is a bag of bows and kids who like to have fun. 

You will need:

• A bunch of gift bows (You can buy them fairly cheap this time of year. I actually bought this big bag of bows 3 years ago and have barely made a dent in using them---so finally I can put them to good use!)
• 2 big bowls or buckets or bins.
• A child or children with lots of energy!

Here are a few easy game ideas:

1. Bow Run:

• Place 2 buckets each at opposite ends of the house. Fill one of the buckets with the bows.
• Have the child pick up one bow at a time and run it to the other bucket, then run back to get another one. Continue until all the bows have been transferred. Then do it again!
• OR you can have the child place a bow on their head and walk slowly to the other bucket and drop it in.
• OR you can have them balance a bow on their arm(s).
• AND/OR you can have them find 2 matching bows at a time and take both of them. (Here's LB(3) playing):

2. Bow Pick-up Race

• Have your child grab handfuls of bows and throw them up in the air. Then time them to see how fast they can pick up all the bows and put them back in the bucket.
• OR you could choose a color and have them just pick up bows of that color. (Here's LB in action!):

3. Bow Hunt

• Just like an Easter egg hunt---only with BOWS! Hide all the bows in a room, or all around the house and have your child(ren) search for them.

4. Bow Fight

• Place a long jumprope or string or line of pillows in the middle of the floor to section the room into 2 equal halves. Have team A on one side, team B on the other.
• Each team starts with an equal number of bows. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes and say "go!" Everyone picks up the bows and throws them to the other team's side of the room! 
• When the timer beeps everyone drops all the bows and counts how many bows are on their team's side. Whichever team has the least amount of bows wins.
• Then play again!

Also check out:
Fun Electronics for Kids!




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Family Balloon Games!

Our theme for this week and next is "Family Unity." 

The Thanksgiving season is time for family, and remembering how we cherish these relationships. So over the next few days, I'll be sharing some activities we've done as a family that have been FUN and have helped us become more unified. :)

This first activity is using balloons to play a few fun family games! 

Prep work:

• Blow up the same number of balloons as people in your family.
• With a permanent marker, draw each persons face on one of the balloons (or you can have each person draw their own face. OR each person draws someone else's face and everyone tries to guess who it is!) :)

There. Now you have your own little balloon family:

Games to play:
     (We have played the first 2 games and had lots of fun! Here are a few more ideas too!)

• BALLOON BOUNCE: Get a BIG blanket or sheet and each person hold a corner or edge. Pull it out and hold it up--then place the balloon family on top. Everyone shake the blanket and watch the balloon family bounce all over the place! TRY to keep all the balloons on the blanket, but when a balloon falls off, everyone drop the blanket and go "rescue" that balloon. Whoever's face was on that balloon gets a big group hug! Then put all the balloons back on and play again! 

• HIDE & SEEK 1:Take turns hiding all the balloons in a room for the rest of the family to find! (The boys (5&3) love playing hide and seek, so this was a VERY simple and fun way to use the balloons!)

• HIDE & SEEK 2: Each person take their balloon face and go hide it somewhere in the house. When everyone's balloon is hid say "ready, set, go!" and everyone search for the balloons! (But you can't find your own balloon).

• BALLOON LAVA: Stand in a circle and everyone throw the balloons up in the air. Do whatever you can to not let any of the balloon family land in the lava (touch the floor). 
• ADVANCED: do the same thing, but lay on your backs and only use your feet to keep the balloons up in the air! :)

• BALLOON SURPRISES: ***Before you blow up the balloons---cut up small pieces of paper and have each person write or draw something they love about each member of the family. Stuff the little papers into the balloon. THEN blow them up and draw the faces on them. One at a time, pop the balloons and read the sweet messages inside!

Got any more ideas? Share in the comments below! :)

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Turkey in the Bag - Game for Preschoolers

Our 2nd activity in our "TURKEY" themed week was this extremely easy, energetic, and educational activity!  All you need is paper, markers, and a bag.

Prep Work:

1. Cut a couple pieces of construction paper into squares/rectangles (you'll need 27).
2. On one of the squares, draw a turkey. 
3. On the rest of the squares, write each letter of the alphabet.
4. Fold all the papers in half.
5. Get out a bag (I just used a brown paper lunch sack).

Here's how you play:

• Take 5-8 of the letters and put them in the bag, along with the turkey.
• Have your children take turns reaching into the bag to pull out a piece of paper. 
• If they get a LETTER --- have them say the letter and what sound it makes.
• If they get the TURKEY --- everyone runs around the room flapping their arms and yelling, "gobble! gobble! gobble! gobble!......"
• After choosing all those letters, put 5-8 new letters in, along with the turkey and play again!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

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