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printable

I've always been inspired by the underlying messages of Dr. Seuss's books. I love that they encourage coloring outside of the lines, trying new things, and exploring creativity in unconventional ways. As a treat for our kid testers, we pulled together this quick game challenging them to explore creativity and get a little goofy! We loved seeing the creatures they dreamed up which were all a little wild and very silly.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/Kiwi_Make-A-Monster-Game.pdf">here</a>&nbsp;to download our printable game board to start playing!

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Download and print our printable game board that assigns a body part to each number of the die. If you like, you can also make up your own! With a marker and paper, have each kid start by drawing the body of their creature.

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Use the game board as a prompt. Have your child roll the dice and draw the body part that corresponds with the number rolled. If they roll a 5, they got the wild card and add anything they want to their drawing!

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Keep rolling until you feel like your monster is complete. Your creature might end up with 6 arms and 3 mouths, but that's all part of the fun!

paper

markers

Make-a-Monster Game

bird

homemade craft

household craft

toy design

By building simple levers out of paper, brads, and paper clips, you can create a whole flock of mechanical flapping birds!

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Print out the flying bird toy&nbsp;<a href="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/printables/KiwiCrate_FlyingBirdToy.pdf">template here</a>.Your paper color will be the base color of your bird!

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Cut out the template along the black lines. Use a hole punch to punch out the circles.

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Fold the two flaps back along the orange lines.

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Overlap the two top tabs so the blue area is covered. Secure it with a piece of tape.

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Grab a wing and align the hole closer to the center of the wing to the holes on the body flap. Use a brad to attach the wing in place. Repeat on the other side.

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Loop some string through the holes on the wing tips. Then, tie the string. Make sure not to over tighten the loop or the wings may tear!

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Add a face to your bird! We cut out and glued on some eyes, a beak and feet. When we did this project with our kid testers, they created some aliens and little monsters. Get creative and see what creature you create!

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Add a paper clip on each wing tip. This will bring the wing back down after each flap.

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Place a string through the top two holes and tie. 

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It's time to start flying! Hold onto the top loop and gently pull down on the bottom string. If your wings are having trouble dropping back down, check to make sure your brads are not too tight and that your paperclips are still in place.

colored cardstock

brads

string

Scissors

Glue

Tape

paper clips

hole punch

Flying Bird Toy

slime

clay project

chemistry

physics

Butter slime gets its name from its buttery smooth look and feel, but surprisingly, actual butter is not an ingredient! Follow this recipe to make some seriously satisfying butter slime.Want more slimey science fun without the hassle of gathering materials? Explore the science of thermochromism with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/color-changing-slime-project-kit/2948" target="_self">Color Changing Slime</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Gather your materials! Measure out 1 cup of white glue, 1 tsp baking soda, 3 tbsp water, 1 tsp oil, and 2 tbsp lotion. You also need ¼ cup of air dry for later.

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Add 1 cup of white glue, 1 tsp baking soda, and 3 tbsp water to a medium bowl.

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Add in 1 tsp oil and 2 tbsp lotion, and mix again!

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Add in 1 tbsp contact solution. Mix until the mixture begins to thicken a bit.

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Pour the butter slime onto the table (it will still be pretty sticky and loose at this stage). Add a heaping ¼ cup of air dry clay and knead!

The slime should have a smooth, buttery, thick texture. If the slime is still sticky, add some more air dry clay and keep kneading!

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white glue

baking soda

water

oil (cooking oil or baby oil)

lotion

contact solution

Rainbow Air-Dry Clay

Butter Slime

easy experiment

art-science projects

magic tricks

flowers

This project is half art, half science, and all fun! Just write a message or draw a picture in lemon juice or baking soda invisible ink, then reveal the hidden message by rubbing the paper with flowers.

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Gather the materials to make your secret flower messages.

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Start by making your secret message juice. In one small bowl, pour a little bit of lemon juice. In another small bowl, mix up a big scoop of baking soda with just enough water to make it a liquid. You want a lot of baking soda to get a good color-changing effect.

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Using a paintbrush or cotton swab, paint your secret message or drawing on the paper. You can just draw a picture, or write a secret note. Or, write a riddle in pen, and then write the answer in the invisible ink.

You can use both the lemon juice and the baking soda in the same drawing if you like. The lemon juice and baking soda will turn different colors.

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Let the paper dry for at least an hour or so, until all the water has evaporated and your message is invisible.

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When you're ready to reveal your secret, rub a flower over the surface of the paper. The smudge will change colors wherever you painted with the lemon juice or baking soda.

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Rub over all your painted papers with the flowers to reveal your messages and drawings.

Lemon juice and baking soda aren't the only liquids that work. Test out other liquids (like vinegar) and see what you can find.

The secret here is that the flowers act as pH indicators, changing color in an acid or a base. By using both an acid (lemon juice) and a base (baking soda), you can create a painting that reveals two different colors when you rub the flowers over it. We had a great time experimenting with our flowers, since different flowers create different color changes. Definitely worth the sacrifice of a bouquet!

fresh flowers

paintbrush or cotton swab

bowls

lemon juice

Invisible Ink

outdoor activities

painting

summer fun

backyard games

This summer, we decided to try our hand at making colorful chalk paint! This easy recipe only requires three ingredients and your imagination.

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In a large bowl, fill it with one part water and one part corn starch. We started with two cups of each, but you can increase or decrease this amount as needed.  Our first batch was a little runny so we ended up mixing 2 cup water to 2.5 cups cornstarch for our  second batch.

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Pour some into a squeeze bottle, leaving some extra space for mixing in watercolor.

You can also use paint cups, but we found squeeze bottles to be extra fun!

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Add liquid watercolor until the mixture reaches the vibrancy you'd like. Shake well to make sure the coloring is fully incorporated.

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Repeat steps 2-3 until to create a whole rainbow of chalk paint colors!

Squirt a little paint on a driveway or sidewalk to test out the paint. Our paint washed away with water, but you might want to test your paint on a small area first. Try making colorful patterns, drawing different scenes, or starting a round of hopscotch! Can you think of any other games to play with the chalk paint?

If you are storing the paint for later use, the cornstarch will settle at the bottom of the bottle so make sure to shake well before squeezing!

corn starch

liquid watercolors

squeeze bottles 

large bowl 

whisk

Chalk Paints

STEM

outdoor experiments

science project

sensory activity

summer

My daughter loves anything messy.  She'll find the tiniest spot of mud in the grass and find a way to cover herself in it.  So when I saw this flubber slime activity, I knew that the kids (and neighbors' kids) were in for a gooey-good time! Borax (sodium tetraborate) is a naturally-occurring mineral salt commonly used as a laundry booster or cleaner. As with any other cleaning product, it should be kept away from children not under direct supervision of an adult. Do not allow children to ingest Borax. If consumed, contact a poison control center immediately. Wash hands after play, as prolonged skin exposure may cause irritation. 

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Add 1/2 tsp of Borax to a bowl.  Then add 1 1/3 cups of hot water and stir. 


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In another bowl, add 2 cups of white school glue.  Then add 1 1/2 cups of hot water and stir well.

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Add a few drops of food coloring to get a color that the kids will like and then pour the Borax mixture into the glue mixture and stir.


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You can use strawberry baskets, but I had this great shopping basket, so we tied this up in our tree and poured the flubber in it.  Then I gave the kids children's scissors so they could try cutting the flubber.
We put a tub underneath the basket to catch the flubber.  Once the flubber ran it's course, we just took the tub and dumped it all back into the basket.



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You can just see how much fun my daughter is having with the flubber slime.  I think in the end, the girls ended up getting most of the flubber on them!  If the flubber slime gets on your kid's clothing, I recommend soaking the clothes in warm water for 20-30 minutes to loosen up the glue before sticking it into the washing machine.  This is definitely a bit on the messy side, but it's definitely worth it considering how much fun these kids had playing with flubber slime!


borax (1/2 tsp)

hot water (3 cups)

white glue (2 cups)

food coloring

strawberry basket or toy shopping basket

Flubber Slime

imaginative play

pretend play

learning activity

at-home learning

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s your very own superhero peg doll! These characters are almost as fun to make as they are to play with!

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Paint the bodies of your peg people. Add hair and a mask!

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Using a black marker, draw belts & faces onto your peg people.

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Cut out your capes! Wrap the felt around your peg person to measure the distance around its neck, and make that the width of your cape’s upper edge.

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Secure your cape to the peg person using liquid glue and hold in place until the glue is dry. Hot glue would work here too.

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Play with your peg superheroes!

74 best playdate activities projects for kids

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