This is TV Turn-Off Week, but wooing kids - and yourself - away from the TV can be challenging. So here’s a fab five round-up of alternative pastimes.
1. Make flower fairies. These Family Fun magazine creations play off one of our all-time favorite craft projects, the Beadle dolls from the Family Fun Craft book, by teaming up the basic body - a wooden bead for the head, pipe cleaners for limbs and torso, and embroidery floss for hair - with faux flowers and wings. Adorable. (If you’ve got non-fairy-loving kids, make mad scientists instead, using neon green embroidery floss for the hair and white felt for “lab coats.”)
2. How about a game of golf… on the driveway? Use sidewalk chalk to plan a course. Tape cups to the asphalt as “holes” and break out the plastic golf clubs, Swiffer or whatever impromptu clubs you’d like to use. Read the rest of this entry »
As children, we spent many happy hours playing with small paper boats we’d folded out of magazine pages, tin foil and anything that boasted some level of seaworthiness - or puddle-worthiness, anyway. Our grandmother’s garden had a large mossy cistern for collecting rainwater and on a hot day, we’d lean against the cool concrete sides, and float a flotilla of tiny boats. Later, we branched out into rubber band-powered styrofoam, bars of Ivory soap, walnut shell boats and, eventually, some store-bought kits, which were not nearly as much fun as the homespun variety.
You too? Then wait’ll you hear about this, a Viking ship made out of 15 million popsicle sticks! Some 5,000 school children worked on this project and the craft is currently at sea. It’s sailing to England and then Iceland, Greenland and North America:
We all remember the PBS series “This Old House” and its spinoff, “Ask This Old House” - although, wouldn’t the old house just say, “Creak creak”? Anyway, a new season gets underway today (or tomorrow or next week, depending on your PBS affiliate), and TOH is going kid-friendly with home improvement projects including DIY soccer goals, stilts, tool boxes and a sandbox. Cool. You can download video how-tos, step-by-step photos and templates online too. Supposedly, you can check the TV listings for the show on the ATOH web site, but we found it way confusing. Either we need vastly more coffee, or we’re spoiled by Tivo. If you’re a Bay Area-ite check the KQED-TV listings instead.
Got a budding artist at home? Oakland’s Museum of Children’s Art is mounting its annual children’s art exhibit, “SINGULAR CREATIONS: Salon of the Independents,” in January. And young Bay Area artists - young Picassos, ages 18 months to 17 years - are invited to exhibit their most creative work.
Just download an entry form and drop off your framed or mounted, ready-to-hang masterpiece at MOCHA, 538 Ninth St., by 5 p.m. on January 6. (Need help framing your creativity? MOCHA is hosting a “Frame It” family workshop Jan. 5-6 from 1 to 4 p.m., $7 materials fee.)
Then join the festivities January 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. as artists, family and friends are feted. C’est magnifique!
So, we were watching our latest Tivo’d episode of “Chuck” last night, and laughing hysterically as Lester, one of the Buy More’s Nerd Herd crew, took total advantage of his colleagues’ lack of Hanukkah game savvy, and absolutely cleaned up during a game of dreidel. Hey, we’ve played dreidel at classroom holiday parties. We know “nun” gives you none, not access to the entire pot. Pretty funny. Anyway, to all of you celebrating the holiday this week, happy Hanukkah, may your dreidel roll nothing but gimels, and may your festivities include these gorgeous, gilted paper Hanukkah cones from the crafty folks at Disney Family and FamilyFun.com. We just love the look of these, and we’re thinking they’d be perfect for all sorts of celebrations: birthday party favors, Valentines and even May Day (did anyone else hang flowers on neighbors’ doors on May Day?). Read on for the how-to… Read the rest of this entry »
As the holidays approach, the always frenetic pace of family life gets even … freneticker? So here’s a Fab Five of arts & craft ideas to keep young hands busy, and add a dash of panache to the Thanksgiving table.
1) A Thanksgiving tree – Anchor an interesting-looking branch in a terracotta pot (fill the pot with small stones for stability). Have your children cut leaves out of autumn-hued construction paper (or use these templates from the HP ideas site as a guide), punch holes in each and thread them with ribbon loops so the leaves, decorated with the thankful thoughts of children, family members and guests, can be hung from this centerpiece.
This is TV Turn-Off Week, but wooing kids - and yourself - away from the TV can be challenging. So here’s a fab five round-up of alternative pastimes.
