Children love to manipulate and handle food. This is wonderful as it provides great sensory play and even helps build math skills. And of course they love to eat it too! Here are some fun ideas for food crafts that are healthy. Bonus: Easy clean up and prep make it easy to do these in the after school setting!
Baking Club in and after-school setting? Crazy right? Well if you have access to a microwave and a small toaster oven it can be done! And don’t think baking club = edible baked goods. It can be so much more. It also will add that extra special something to keep children excited. And remember — this club will require adult supervision at all times.
1) Pop Art Boards
These fun boards can be found at S&S Worldwide. The boards start out flat. Then children color them with markers and hand them to an adult. The adult then places it in the toaster oven for a short time and poof! The board now looks raised up — like popcorn.
2) Shrink Art
Also known as shrinky-dinks! Shrink art can be colored with permanent markers without much work. If you’d like to be extra fancy you can sand them down a bit, trace black and white clip art images with black sharpies, and color them with colored pencils. This helps makes the craft appealing to younger and older grades and you can vary the difficulty level. Once the children complete their project the adult will place them in the toaster oven and watch them shrink.
Now this one is super fun. And yes it is edible. Let the children know in advance to bring in a coffee mug from home. You can even allow a little sharing time for the children to share special words about their mug. Then make sure to have some coloring sheets or other alternative activity handy so you can call up the children one a time to mix their ingredients. Then the adult will place their mixture in the microwave and two minutes later they will have a muffin!
Ahh… Legos. Children love legos! Hosting a Lego Club can be a win-win situation for children, staff, and parents alike. They bust boredom, keep children engaged, encourage imagination, and reinforce tactile and building skills. The activity possibilities are endless. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
1) Lego Quest – This was an awesome Pinterest find. Check out the resource blog page here.
What is Lego Quest?
Lego Quest is a non-competitive, creative building challenge resource for LEGO loving kids.
When can you use Lego Quest?
It works great outdoors or indoors and doesn’t require too much space. Just lots of legos. Be sure to sort them into several bins so small groups can work with them.
2) Candy Lego Building – Children will enjoy building with candy blocks and then when they’re all done you can pack them up in a zippie bag for them to take home and play with (or eat!) later.
3) Design a Lego Person
Now this activity is just precious. All you have to do is provide a blank lego person template such as this one, and glue, markers, construction paper, and scissors, and let the children go to town. They can design their very own lego person. You’ll be delightfully surprised at their creativity. I’ve seen ‘Mini-Me’ Lego People, Darth Vader Lego People, and even Rapunzel. The sky’s the limit.
Enjoy!
Ever wanted to start a Scrapbooking Club with the kids at your center but worried that all the scrapbooking materials you need to buy would break your budget? Not to worry, you may be suprised that most materials needed you may already have on hand.
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Each year as I am preparing for my return at the beginning of the school year I gear up for a great year. I think about all the new kids I am going to meet and what they are going to be like. Will there be more boys or girls? Will they like outside games or crafts more? What will their favorite books and hobbies be? Usually I am very well-prepared — I’ve laid out lesson plans and event ideas that are sure to keep everyone happy, safe and entertained. I have my magic sack of handy dandy, tried and true games and activity ideas that I just know the kids are going to love! Continue reading “Breathing new life into your After-School Program: Introducing an Idea-Sharing Forum”
I have loved art and reading from a very young age thanks very much in part to the adult role models I had in my life. They constantly exposed me to the Arts, Music, and Literature. As an adult I have been always advocated that children to be exposed to Literature and the Arts as much as possible so that they too can develop a love for them. Many times when I seek to plan an After School Club I like to incorporate Art and Reading into the overall theme.
I have recently stumbled a wonderfully rich blog called, “Deep Space Sparkle…Out of this World Art Lessons” created by Patty. If you are looking for ideas for clubs such as Art from Around the World, Children’s Picture books, Artists, and more you should check it out.
Continue reading “Deep Space Sparkle: Great Resource for Art and Book Club Ideas”
Recommended ages: 5-9
Spring time is such a beautiful time for kids observe the world around them. Whether they are buzzing in the air or crawling around in the dirt. I’m sure your kids have noticed a bug or two outside. “All About Bugs” Club is a neat way to teach kids more about Bugs.
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