Here is a closer look at some of the activities I have done with my kids. Some are my ideas but a lot of ideas from friends, Instagram and Pinterest. We are not scared of mess.
This page is in develop, so check in later with more fun activities
Cooking
Pizza Making
Pizza making is so much fun and so easy to do. You can make your own dough but I just the roll out dough or buy the bases from the supermarket. The kids can experience with different toppings.
Dinner Time
Letting the children help with dinner time is a great way to get dinner cooked on time, while keeping the children occupied. It also encourages them to try new food and I have found they are more likely to eat something they have cooked themselves.
Tip: pour the ingredients in to individual to help them pour out the right amount
Both my children absolutely love buttering bread. Of course it is a little mess and takes longer but I can't resist their little face when they complete the job and look so proud.
Sweet Tooth
If your little ones are anything like mine then they love sugar! I am far from a baker so we find the Just Roll packs brilliant.
A great gift that a lot of people get us is the baking packs where you just add a few extra ingredients.
Painting
Potions & Experiments
Spring/Easter
Gardening/Bug Hotels
It's great for children to be outside and one with natural. Let them help plant flowers or evening veggies. This will also help teach learn where food comes from and encourage them to try new foods and help those fussy eaters.
Chicken Making
Lots of craft kits are available all year around from places like Hobbycraft, the Range and B&M.
Butterfly
Another fantastic kit is watching the caterpillar life cycle at home. The caterpillars come in a tub in the post and as they grow, they can be transferred into the net and wait to be reborn in butterflies.
Cornflake Cakes
As i'm not a baker these cornflake cakes are an easy and tasty way to celebrate Easter. Note: Please be careful with mini egg choc as they are a choking hazzard.
Autumn
Halloween
Halloween Crafts
The toilet rolls are back out and monsters and mummies are created with tissue paper and coloured card.
Apple painting is also a great way to create little pumpkins and as you can see Grace enjoyed snacking on them mid painting.
You can't beat a cotton wool ghost. Draw a ghost outline and let the kids glue the cotton wool to the paper to create a fluffy ghost.
Pumpkin Carving
Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes on the pumpkin easier and then let the kids so wild with sensory play touching and getting messy removing the pumpkins insides.
Halloween party activities
Every year I host a Halloween party for our neighbours. Here are some activities...
Sensory boxes - Allow the kids to blindly put their hands into the boxes. I normally feel boxes with jelly, cooked spaghetti and chocolate.
Treasure Hunt - I hide chocolate around the house in spider webs.
Potion making - fairy dust (glitter), eye of newt (googly eyes), witches brew (bi carbonate), liquid love (white vinegar) when bi carbonate and white vinegar mix it bubbles so add the vinegar last.
Halloween Cooking
I Scream station - ice cream with jelly worms and strawberry 'blood' sauce
Eerie eyeballs - sliced grapes with blueberry inside
Pumpkin oranges
Mummies sausage rolls - Puff pastry strips and sausages.
Fireworks Night
Toilet Roll Painting
Cut lines in the end of a toilet roll holder and spread them out then dip them in paint and onto paper. This is an easy activity for younger kids too.
Chalk Drawing
Chalk is a fantastic tool for creating fireworks. Lines can be smudged to look like they are whooshing through the night sky.
Christmas
Salt Dough
Making salt dough is great for hand/foot print keepsake. It is also really easy to make.
Click here for the recipe
Making Snow
Just add a little water and create snow. Kits can be purchased online and I add snowy characters and let the kids imaginations run wide.
Art and Crafts
Toilet roll is a great tool for arts and crafts and who can resist coloured gems. Prit sticks are an easy and mess free glue for the kids to use.