Snow Globes

THESE snow globes would be fun to make and put in a rice tub. I would want to put things that remind me of spring in them. I would also like to find plastic containers. I would worry about small children breaking glass containers.

Ice Animals

I purchased several frogs/izards (6 for a buck) and Farm Animals (12 for a buck) from the dollar binds at Target.

I plan to freeze these animals in water and have the children chip them out using golf tees and plastic hammers. I will probably have the ice in the watertable so it will be contained as it melts. (Yes, I own two watertables so I can have more than one activity.)

The children may rescue one animal to take home with them.

I have done this activity at home and playgroup before. It is always popular.

Other Watertable Ideas

Birdseed table at Halloween party.

Rice
Beans
Birdseed (2011)
Cotton balls
Cornmeal
Oatmeal

Things to put in the table:
tongs
spoons
funnels
little animals
plastic containers
shovels
water wheels
measuring spoons


All of these are fun and can easily be swept up. Children don't need a prize to take home for these things. They love to just sit and play.


Also fun at home in the winter. This is our after lunch activity almost daily.

Watertable

Water in the water table is fun too!

We always tape plastic table clothes to the floor and then lay old sheets and/or towels down.

In the water, this year we put little plastic fish, boats, and seahorses. Last year, we put plastic frogs on floating lily pads. The lily pads were made out of craft foam from the dollar store. Then the kids were given old ketchup and mustard bottles filled with water to squirt the frogs off the lily pads. They had a great time.

Coffee Eggs

These are so cool. They look like real rocks.
We put little bouncy balls in our rocks. Each child got to dig through the coffee grounds in the water table to find a rock then break it open to take home the toy inside.

Here is the recipe:
1 cup Used coffee grounds
1/2 cup Cold coffee
1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Salt

Stir the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour and salt until well mixed. Knead together put around a toy to dry over night. (Okay, mine took 2 days to dry because they were around the bouncy balls!)


I made 10 batches of these eggs. I called a local coffee shop for the coffee grounds. My local coffee shop saves their coffee grounds for a local community garden but they were more than willing to share some with me.

Some kids just wanted to dig and play in the coffee grounds themselves and didn't care about the eggs with the toy at all. Kids love tactile experiences; in the coffee grounds were funnels and little animals.

We put printed recipe sheets out so children can make things at home.

White Mud

1 1/2 rolls toilet paper, torn into 2-3 square pieces
1/3 bar grated Ivory soap
4-6 cups of warm water (I used about 4 cups because I had cheep Sam's club toilet paper.)

Then you just mix it together with your hands. It looks horrible at first but then it just turns in to white globs that hold shape really well.


We put this White Mud in a baby pool with cups and shovels. (Of course, we put plastic drop cloth taped to the floor under the baby pool!) This activity is simple and inexpensive but keeps small children entertained for a long time.

To fill the baby pool with the mixture you need 6 to 9 times this recipe. It was made about two days before the outreach so it didn't smell bad. It does store well in an air-tight container.

Baby Pool with Easter Grass

We simply filled a baby pool with paper Easter grass, a few shovels and small bendable animals. The children loved to dig in the pool. The babies just loved to sit in the pool.

We used PAPER Easter grass not plastic for the safety of the infants. This activity is really inexpensive. Someone had a baby pool, shovels, and small toys. All that needed to be purchased was the paper Easter grass. The grass was purchased after Easter the previous year for 10 cents a bag!