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For this quick science trick, you need a bottle or cup with a bunch of holes, some water, and room to make a splash! With a slo-mo shot (or quick eyes), you’ll see that as long as the bottle is falling, the leak stops. Why? Keep reading!

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Use the pushpin to poke holes around the bottom of the bottle.

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Pour water into the bottle. To get some good leaks, you’ll want to fill it most of the way.

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Now… drop it!

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This is a little hard to see, so we recommend working with a friend to film the drop in slow motion.

In the slo-mo, you’ll see that as long as the bottle is falling, the leak stops. That’s because gravity pulls everything down at the same rate, called the acceleration of gravity. While the bottle is falling, the water can’t leak because, if it did, it would be falling faster than the bottle is.

plastic bottle (or cup)

push pin

water

No-Spill Bottle Experiment

easy craft

decorations

I have heard that shiny things scare the pests away from snacking in the garden. I hope that's the truth, but either way adding these beautiful shining sticks to the yard makes a beautiful addition to the garden!

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Collect all things that shine for this fancy craft. We found gems and sequins galore in our art bin. We also grabbed some glitter glue, which we ended up not using in the end.

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My daughter spread the paint stick (you can get paint sticks from hardware stores) with tacky glue. 

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Next, she added each shiny piece like a little shiny puzzle. 

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While the sticks were drying in the sun, we admired the sticks' shiny reflection. We almost needed sunglasses to look at them! If this doesn't scare those birds, I don't know what will!

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Once dry, we headed to the garden where Emma pointed out each plant that has been getting munched on. This is how she found the perfect spot for the garden sticks. 

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Next to the spinach, good choice. We shall hope for the best--all while admiring our new fancy garden accessory!

paint sticks

gems

glitter

sequins

tacky glue

Jeweled Garden Sticks

frog

outdoor game

outdoor activities

backyard games

Frogs or turtles--who will land on the lily pads and win? 

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Twelve milk caps or water gallon caps will make 6 game pieces. Glue the bottom sides of two caps together. I quickly found out that they don't really stick together unless there is something in between them...so cut a circle of cardboard or craft foam to put in between each pair of caps. 

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After the glue between the caps dries, draw details on top of the bottle caps and glue on googly eyes. The red bottle caps were our turtles. The frogs were made from the clear bottle caps with a circle of green craft foam stuck to the top. 

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Using sidewalk chalk or sidewalk chalk paint, draw a pond with 3 lily pads. 

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This is how it looked when we were finished. (It took longer than I thought it would for the kids to color it in!)

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One player pushes the turtles across the pond and the other player pushes the frogs across the pond. The player to land the most animals on the lily pads wins! For a challenge, assign different point values to each lily pad. 

milk caps

sidewalk chalk

googly eyes (optional)

glue

Frog Pond Game

pretend play

household craft

We are fans of all things involving forts and hideaways. This one was super easy to put together with the kids and I think it will get used all summer long.

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I get PVC pipe at the hardware store for just a couple dollars. They will cut it for you there, but on this day I wasn't quite sure what length I needed. Instead, I used a knife at home (grown-up only step) and it was very easy to do. They need to be just a little longer than the height of the pillowcase.

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I stuck the pipes into the ground we wanted to "spy" from. They should be the same width apart as the pillowcase is wide.

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Next, I cut a rectangle out of the pillowcase where the kids' eyes would be.

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I placed in on the pipes and my little spy began painting. He was way too excited to get too involved in painting at this point.

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That's my daughter enjoying the spy fort just as much as my two-year-old. They had a blast and it also became a great hide-and-seek spot.

Pillowcase

paint & paint brushes

scissors

pvc pipe

Easy Backyard Spy Fort

art project

Let the driveway be your canvas with this homemade sidewalk paint! 

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Mix 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water for each color. Stir. 

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Add 6-8 drops of food coloring to each 1/2 cup of cornstarch mixture. Stir. 

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Use paintbrushes to spread the chalk paint and create your masterpiece. 

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Write a message for Dad, paint a family portrait, draw a road to ride your bikes on, decorate for a party, or just create an abstract piece of art. The possibilities and fun are endless and it all washes off with the hose--or the next time it rains! 

cornstarch

food coloring

paint brushes

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint

flight

motion

Make a simple paper plate flyer. Just toss it like a frisbee, and see how far it flies!

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Just paper plates, glue and scissors for this one!

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It was my job to cut a slice in the middle of the plates, then I showed the children how to follow the line around the plate with the scissors.  They were able to cut them two at a time.

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We ran a ring of glue round the bottom of three of the plates, 

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Next came the decorations..... then they were left to dry.

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paper plates

Glue

Markers

Scissors

Paper Plate Flyers

rocks

My kids love being in the garden, so making them feel like it's their special place, too, is important to my husband and I. Garden crafts are a great way for them to personalize this space and get involved.

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You can get large rocks like this in any garden center for under a dollar. 

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My daughter was very excited to make this special and personal. She painted right on the rock.

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Once it was dry she was so excited to add her rock to our garden. She is sure to show everyone that comes to our home her beautiful garden artwork. 

rock

acrylic craft paint

paint brush

Garden Rock

plants

nature crafts

craft

I love the natural art materials the earth provides this time of year! My four-year-old daughter and I have been having a great time making all sorts of things with acorn caps, such as tiny acorn cap candles, felted wool balls with acorn caps on them, and little fairies acorn caps for hats. This time we created acorn cap "jewels."


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I have seen this idea around the web lately, so I thought we'd give it a try at home. 

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We had all of the materials on hand, and I'll bet you do, too. 

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First, my daughter had a great time coloring the insides of the acorn caps with each color marker, and placing them securely in the play dough.


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Then she filled each acorn cap up with the school glue.


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There were lots of "oohs" right away, as the colors started to seep into the glue.


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We set our acorn caps aside to dry for 48 hours. My daughter was very excited to check on them periodically over these days and watch the colors begin to show through the drying glue. Once they were all dry, they looked like vibrant, shining jewels!

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We've had lots of fun playing with them since they were made. They've become jewels for indoor and outdoor treasure hunts, pretend "money" in store-related play, and tokens used in our own game of memory (flip them upside down and try to match the colors and remember where they were--if you want to play this, be sure to make two of each color.) The uses are as endless as your child's imagination, and when you're finished playing with these little gems, they bring such a autumnal decorative touch sitting out in a bowl in your home.


acorn caps

white glue

rice, beans, or play dough (to hold your caps in place while they dry)

Acorn Cap Jewels

printable

wind

art-science projects

summer

summer fun

What better way to celebrate spring than to go outside and fly a kite? Try making your own paper kite with this easy-to-do DIY! Download the printable <a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Stained-Glass-Paper-Kite.pdf">here</a>.

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Cut out all of the little squares on the printable. You may need a grownup assistant to help you. 

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On the creased side that doesn’t have squares cut out, mark the paper with a pencil 2 ½ inches (6.4 cm)&nbsp;and 3 inches (7.6 cm) from the short side.

22 fun outdoor project projects for kids

Screen-free fun!