Kids activities

I will have a house load of kids aged 3-10 for the next two weeks. The weather has been terrible so I'm not counting on having them outside tomorrow. Anyone have any idea what type of indoor activities I can do with them?
Alicia, I expect to hear lots of good ideas from you!

goes off in search of "Muppets Big book of Crafts" that's in the bedroom.....

right I had a look but some of the stuff is too intense for even me to tackle with a bunch of kids...


I'd say have a look in woolies they have wonderful Windowsticker making kits...and also crafty boxes full of bits and bobs. I went to the market and B-wise and got some white shirts. We made Rainbow brite iron ons when she was about 3...but you can get some fabric paints/pens so they can design their own shirts. Scoobie dos are popular and you Tie- dye shirts....if you've got room in the garden ...sticking the tent out for the night and the kids have a pretendy camp night. Depends on how "active" the kids are sometimes a plonk in front of the tellie watching classic episodes of Battle of the planets or he-man works a treat....

Thanks. Ill take them to Woolies tomorrow but it would be much easier if I could hire you for the day or for two weeks even! 

 


they also has a badge maker thingie as well that would keep folks busy too

Indoor treasure/scavanger hunts are always easy and fun!

I don't know how "messy" you are willing to get.  BUT paper mache is an old favourite with kids and it's cheap.  Hold on to your toilet paper rolls, shoe boxes, blow up some balloons, etc., etc. 

I've done everything from hand made napkin rings (out of toilet paper tubes) to grim reaper heads.  The kids would join in with their own projects.  Think Christmas or Halloween.  Or you can easily make maracas - put rice inside the balloon...

It's fun they made Christmas tree ornaments and my son did a hot air balloon, which we hung from his ceiling when it was finished. 

Along the lines that Kellie suggested, Art Attack stuff always looks fun to make.  You can try their website for ideas:

http://www.hitentertainment.com/artattack/menu_artattacks.html

Ricki, have you been to  that big Hobby Craft in Coventry?  I believe it's just off of the A249, The Warwick Road, just outside of the ring road (but double check to be sure).

They've got loads of fun kids crafts there all ready in kits like plaster moulds, stained glass kids, paint by numbers, etc., etc. 

There's a big Discount book/craft shop called "the works"

http://www.theworks-art-books-music.com/shop/


I find them cheaper than  hobby craft ...I got large amounts of stuff for under £20.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
I ordered a bunch of stuff from "The works". We are doing face masks, greeting cards and I bought each kid a scrapbook. I bought lots of little odds and ends!

Well its day 2 and Im lucky I havent pulled all my hair out! The ten year old girl is an angel. You dont even know she is around. The 6 year old boy is really weird. He's not even wild. He's just weird and quiet sort of like my son Jordan. Yesterday they left early because their mom came home from work early. Today we made playdough. The boy touched it and decided he didnt want his hands dirty so he walked away. All the other kids were at the kitchen table with shape cutters, rolling pins, etc. They were having a blast. Then the boy comes back and plays for five min and walks away again. This went on for about an hour. I have lots of specks of play dough all over my house I had to clean up. For lunch I was gonna make PB&J but the kids were put off by the idea. They never heard of peanut butter! lol So I made mac n cheese. The boy said he didnt like it but scofffed it down in two minutes.
The stuff from "the works" came today. Tomorrow we are making masks.  God, give me strength!!

I know what you mean..Jess isn't bad but wants me to do stuff ALL day with her. My classes are not finished yet I've got stuff to organize before we head into placement...Phil's buried his head into his laptop and then puts fecking annoying techno on..grrrr. He thinks because I'm at home I haven't got any work to do despite me telling him.  Plus I looked in my workbooks....Jess drawn princesses over the pages .AARGGGH!!!

She's got her school workbooks which we do in the mornings , then her flashcards...then lunch , then afterwards a bit of footy or PE exercises.  I went to the post office and found some obscure American programs (St Dolls hospital , WTF is that ) 6 episodes for £1!! so she's watching that. 



(bangs head on desk)

I just caught this thread...

If you want some theatre games/sketches (stories) for kids, I can type them up for you...  not sure about three year olds (tried to teach an 'acting/improv' class to under 6's once and wanted to kill myself), but definitely 6 and up!

I just caught this thread...

If you want some theatre games/sketches (stories) for kids, I can type them up for you...  not sure about three year olds (tried to teach an 'acting/improv' class to under 6's once and wanted to kill myself), but definitely 6 and up!

Thanks! Your'e a star! I just sent you a PM.


Kids gone now. Now its just my three. I am exhausted and have a headache and Im not even sure why. It wasnt noisy here and I wasnt telling them off every five minutes its just the stress of having extra kids in the house I suppose.
Frank is off work for three weeks starting on Monday. Maybe it will be easier with him around.

I decided NOT to have guilt about taking the money for watching them!