Indoor balloon sports

Have extra balloons lying around from a birthday party? Has your balloon bouquet lost its enthusiasm? You can squeeze a little more life out of them by by playing indoor balloon sports. Since they are not very aerodynamic, they probably won’t break anything.

Volleyball: knock the balloon back and forth over the kitchen counter, sofa, or some other obstacle.

Tennis: Same as above, only use a notebook or paper plate as a racquet.

Soccer (this one can be a little rough!): Put paper bags on the floor as goals.

Hacky Sack: Just try to keep the balloon in the air. You can make it harder by adding more balloons. For groups you could assign a color to each kid.

DIY ministry of silly walks

This is a great activity for siblings, or for a parent to entertain a child who needs to sit in one spot (say, in the bathroom…).

Go to a room that opens into a hallway, and have the child sit in the room facing the door. Then, go out into the hallway and walk back and forth past the open door in various silly ways. Run, hop, crawl, tiptoe, whatever comes to mind. This absolutely cracks them up!

If you can get siblings to take turns doing this, you can go have a cup of coffee in peace.

Veggie baby

Have the child lie on the floor, and tell her that she is pretending to be a cucumber. Then, pretend to make a salad as you describe what you are doing:

1. Wash the cucumber
2. Rub in some salt
3. Wash off the salt
4. Jiggle out the water
5. Use your hand as a knife to chop from end to end
6. Pour on some dressing and pretend to taste with your finger
7. Finally, say “I’m going to eat you!” and pretend to nibble on her belly (OR, if she is big enough to crawl or walk, chase her.)

The more you do this, the more the baby will anticipate the end of the game.

Finger chase

This is an easy activity for babies who can reach out and grasp things:

Get the baby’s attention by wiggling your finger, and when he reaches out to grab it, do some slow evasive maneuvers. Let him catch your finger from time to time also, to avoid frustration.

This is a great activity to promote hand-eye coordination, and it also stimulates the connection between the two lobes of the brain if you cross from one side of the body to the other.

Find play spaces in your area!

KaBoom.org is a great site where you can search for play areas near you. The locations are conveniently on Google Maps so you can easily get directions, and the parks have photos and ratings so you can see if it’s right for your child.

With the summer coming, this will be a great resource for those times when everyone is bored with the same old parks. Plus, you won’t have to drive around scoping out new places to play!

They are currently trying to list 100,000 new play spaces in 100 days, so let them know if you know of a place that is not listed. With every new space that is listed, $1 will go to a charity of your choosing.

Homemade toy from yogurt containers

If you eat a lot of yogurt, or any other food that comes in a small container, you’ve got a free toy in the making. Just gather up your containers, wash them, and use them as stacking blocks.

They’re light, won’t injure the kids, and they pack away into a small space since they nest. If you gather enough to make a wall you can play Godzilla. Or the Kool-Aid guy.

THE best origami site for kids

No matter what age your kids are, this site has origami projects that will keep them interested. And the best part is, the instructions are animated so you don’t have to sit there forever puzzling over “valley folds” while the kids fidget.

Each project is rated according to level of difficulty, so your 3 year old can stick to 1 star projects (like a puppy face) while your 8 year old whips up a scale model of Notre Dame.

They even have paper designs for you to print out so you don’t have to make a special trip to the import shop for your origami paper. Nice.

Tip: Try the “fun origami” section where all the projects do something. Frogs hop, birds flap their wings, etc.

http://www.origami-club.com/en/

How to make your own glitter globe toy

UPDATE: When I first made this toy it was pretty cool looking, but after being tossed around for a while the oil part started looking a little cloudy and unappetizing. If I were to do this again I would use baby oil, and make sure the glitter or other stuff you put in will not lose its color.

It’s like a baby lava lamp, but without the lights. If you’ve got about 10 minutes to spare, it’s worth it. This toy will last a long time!

You’ll need:

• a bottle (I used an old cough syrup bottle)
• rubbing alcohol
• food coloring (optional)
• corn syrup or vegetable oil
• glitter or small objects to put inside the bottle

Assembly (see photos below):

• Pour the alcohol into the bottle (about 1/3) and add food coloring if you like.
• Pour in the oil or syrup till it’s about 4/5 full.
• Add your glitter or other objects.
• After the oil settles a bit, top it off with a little more alcohol up to the brim, and put the cap back on. Try to keep out any air bubbles.

Notes: I put a little plumber’s tape around the mouth of the bottle just in case.

Chain in a bottle

This is one that sounds like a huge yawn, but babies cannot get enough! Take a wide mouth plastic bottle (say, half and half) and a length of plastic chain. Show the baby how to put the chain into the bottle and dump it out again. Then go get yourself a sandwich; your baby will be occupied for a while.

Baby calligraphy

If you’ve got a little space (and a strong back), try holding your baby securely under his arms and then pretend to write his name with his feet in cursive on the ground.

You can do a variation of this while holding your baby on your hip. Just take her hand (or foot) and “write” in the air.