Kids Activities

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hi Moms and Dads,

Have you heard the latest trend in party-giving? More parents are shying away from parties at fast food restaurants and amusement parks and saving time and headache by giving birthday parties at home for the kids.

Theme parties are an old idea, but the choices are so varied that you can easily come up with a party idea new to the neighborhood. This is one I have tried with my own kids and it proved a real sucess --The Crazy Hat Party.

Each child is asked to design and create a hat to wear-- freaky, funny, silly, goofy, crazy hats. Ideas for invitations, decorations, food and games make it lively and fun.

The party can be for birthday or just about any celebration of family and friends. I hope you have fun.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

I hope you are enjoying the first few days of summer. If you should be going to the ocean this summer or spending anytime on the beach if even near a lake or stream, you might encourage your child to create a treasure box to remember his summer with. He can collect, clean, sort and glue small seashells to a wooden box and shellac it to keep as a reminer of the fun he had.

If you are staying at home, or far from any beaches, the child can still use shells from a hobby store and make a box. Studying the shells and about the ocean with its sand shores and tides is a good summertime educational project.

The box pictured with the article, Make a Seashell Treasure Box, was made by a small girl. She didn't like my directions and used her own eye for art to decorate her box her own way. Hey, that's what it is all about, right? Creativity and individualism?

If we as parents and teachers take over craft and art projects and demand they are done in the prescribed way we are liable to squelch a child's creative spirit. So use the project idea and allow the child leeway to decorate his box in the way most beautiful to him.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hi Parents and Grandparents,

With school out and the whole of the out-of-doors begging to be explored what better way to entertain the kids than by having them hide and find treasure!

Remember hiding the loot and then writing a trail of clues for friends and cousins to follow? I remember digging up a black kettle filled with bubble gum--better than gold! Mom used to throw some great birthday parties. On long summer days we entertained ourselves and treasure hunt was a favorite activity.

For summer parties, when children are anxious to be outside running and playing, the old time treasure hunt is a great choice. We had some wonderful hunts in our childhood days. Little ones enjoy a treasure hunt and you would probably be surprised to find teenagers relish the game too!

Find ideas aplenty for prizes and instructions for preparing and conducting a treasure hunt. Have fun and if you are good maybe the kids will let you play.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Readers,

Any young Leonardos in your crowd? Start them in sketching and they may develop into artists, inventors, engineers, designers, writers, teachers, or some such occupation that is dependent on the ability to observe and to describe that observation.

An art journal is a great place for a child to draw and copy what he has seen. It is a place for recording found ideas and for exciting memories to be preserved. Summer is so full to a child and he has so much to see that he can only remember for long those sights that impress him most and the ones he has recorded.

A simple booklet of art paper stapled together or a fine hard bound sketch book can serve the purpose. So get those little ones started on this creative project which can entertain them in the quiet spots of summer. I wish them and you many of those.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Dear Readers,

Spring is here and the farm is a great place for children to learn about baby animals and see them up close. Children love animals and are thrilled with the wonder of baby animals. They may see colts, calves, kids, lambs, kittens, piglets, and chicks.

Do some reading and researching at the library then head for the country on a mission to see some newborn animals. If you can arrange a visit with a farmer or just take in drive by glimpses of animals grazing, it will be an adventure for a child.

If not, why not take your trip to the zoo to look for babies there? Visiting farm babies is a late spring event. Your children might want to make it a spring tradition. Don't forget the camera!

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends, Teachers, Parents, and Grands,

Are your children itching to get their hand dirty? Do they want to dig and garden with you? Here is a good way to growplants even in a small space. Does your child want to plant something?

A container garden is an ideal way for any child to experience the joy of gardening. With containers a child can plant flowers and even fruits and vegetables where there is no room for a full scale garden. With some container creativity, a child can plant in an old shoe, a bucket, a pickle crock, even a basket leftover from Easter.

Study gardening and do some reading and you are on your way to a happy adventure and a beautiful container garden.

Grab a trowel and some potting soil and come on!

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Teachers,

Your students will love reading and reasearching different trees and presenting tree artwork through the Arboretum project. The students will study trees together as a group, and then study on their own one specific tree. They will be making a small book about their tree listing its information.

They will be directed to collect tree bark , cones, flowers, nuts, and leaf specimens and to make a large drawing of their tree. Students can write reports or poetry about the trees.

The class will host an arboretum in their classroom where guests can tour the tree displays and look at the student's work. This is a hands-on tree study project that will work well in the classroom or for groups of homeschool students.

Kids will enjoy not only the learning from books, but learning from observing trees in the area and preparing and presenting a unique program for classroom visitors and parents.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Collage, melange, hodgepodge--call it whatever you please.This art project provides a great way for children to occupy themselves in an artistic endeavor. It allows them to openly express themselves.

The making of a collage is very hands-on and messy--cutting, arranging, and gluing fun from beginning to end. Kids of all ages love making collages. Then too, every young artsist has the leeway to create his own way--with bright colors or dark, pastels, or fantastic.

Collage is an art form that allows the child a great deal or room for creative expression. There are really no "wrong" collages, so any child, whether he happens to be talented at drawing or not, can succeed with collage.

I hope you will enjoy the tips and tricks for collage artists in The Art of Collage.

~ Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Americans are intrigued with sushi. Many people think sushi is very complicated food made with raw fish and shrimp wrapped in seaweed. Really, sushi is rice cooked, cooled, seasoned, and formed into rolls to be sliced and eaten with gusto. Sushi incorporates vegetables and other healthy goodies.

Sushi is fun to prepare, fairly simple, versatile and healthy. It is one of the fast foods of Japan. Why not try it with your children or students? It would be a good precursor to a study of the country of Japan. You may find you like sushi enough to make it a part of your own home meals.

Children will love learning some foreign words and new cooking methods. They will try some new flavors and new foods--good for them. Sushi making--It all starts with rice.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Americans are intrigued with sushi. Many people think sushi is very complicated food made with raw fish and shrimp wrapped in seaweed. Really, sushi is rice cooked, cooled, seasoned and formed into rolls to be sliced and eaten with gusto.

Sushi is fun to prepare, fairly simple, versatile, and healthy. It is one of the fast foods of Japan. Why not try it with your children or students? It would be a good precursor to a study of the country of Japan. You may find you like sushi enough to make it a part of your own home meals.

Children will love learning some foreign words and new cooking methods. They will try some new flavors and new foods--good for them. Sushi--It all starts with rice.

~Elece