Have you seen the flying carp streamers in Japan? They are known as Koinobori. (Admittedly, I just learned that term.) They are typically made from a woven fabric and flown during the Japanese celebration known as Tango no sekku. This celebration is dedicated to children and also referred to as Children's Day. This is a celebration of the children of Japan in the hope they may grow up to be strong and resilient like the carp that swim up the waterfalls. Read more about the festivities here. I'v

Want to learn how to make a catapult? It's easy and fun and the perfect STEM activity for kids of all ages! Toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten kids

It’s obvious that Boo loves to paint….it’s one of the first things she’ll ask to do each morning. What’s different about the paintings below from the painting in my last post about painting is the TYPE of paint. In the large painting last week we used washable paint…..it’s is easy to clean up but the […]

It's time to set sail for a classic crafting adventure with this easy-to-do paper boat… all aboard!

This is the BEST paper tube Koi Fish, and one of several other Lunar New Year Animal inspired art lessons that we offer. This fun DIY craft is an original idea from ART CAMP Studio. It's a great year round project for all ages.

Celebrate year-round holiday traditions and choose to bake from a list of 30 breakfast delight options. The holidays are all about spending time with family and loved ones and sometimes that means you'll be baking

This fire breathing dragon made from a toilet paper roll is an easy kids craft that uses simple craft supplies. When you blow into the end of the tube the tissue paper looks like flames coming out of the dragon's mouth! Fire Breathing Dragon Craft Add this activity to your crafty bucket list, because it's SO MUCH FUN! And it's ridiculously simple to make. Kids, toddlers and preschoolers will love to see the dragon blowing fire! The photos make me smile, just looking at them. Watch the Video Tutorial Here: (Or scroll down for the step-by-step photo tutorial and printable

I've been busy working on setting up a project for my sons 1st grade class! It's an easy "knitting" project that is perfect for elementary age kids. With a cardboard roll, tape, and popsicle sticks, you can set up a simple loom. Then just like you would finger weave, you wrap the yarn around the tops

Simple balloon tennis game for a quick energy buster. Balloon tennis makes a great indoor gross motor play idea.

Learn how to combine 2 colours of yarn to make these cute Finger Knitting Snakes. We also show to to increase and decrease Finger knitting stitches. COOL!

The origins of this art lesson came from a pin that I found on Pinterest connecting to the blog B Art Z - Elementary Art. I have been SO excited to blog about my new and improved cup weaving lesson! So last year I attempted to do cup weaving with my some of my students.. and while I loved the results.. the process was infuriating! For some reason I thought it was a great idea to weave with plastic cups - which made sharp jagged edges when cut by children. When that didn't go smoothly I thought myself sooooo clever to switch to styrofoam cups - which ended up making spokes (warp strips) that snapped off when pulled on to much. FINALLY I figured it out - PAPER CUPS!! These work PERFECTLY!! It is easy for the kids to cut the strips themselves AND they are surprisingly very durable. **Get them in bulk here! The first thing I had my kids do was write their name on the bottom of their cup with a sharpie. Then they placed their upside-down cup onto a template I created and made a tick mark on the rim of the cup everywhere where they saw a triangle poking out - this gave them evenly spaced points to cut from. When cutting out the spokes/warp strips, it is extremely important to remember to cut out an odd number of strips so that when you are weaving your AB pattern, the pattern alternates each consecutive time around. I found that with the 9oz cups my kids were using, 9 strips turned out to be the perfect number. Once the strips were cut, students double-knotted a piece of yarn to one of the strips, then began weaving! This particular class worked for 5 days straight on this (they really are a wonderful group).. and I had a few students who even completed 3 very well done cups in this amount of time (a couple even got pulled for our county art show)! :)

This Canada Day windsock craft is perfect for kids of all ages! It's quick and easy, and the perfect way for kids to display some patriotic pride!

Guest post by Johanna Bless of Bless Nest Learning. In this post I’m going to show you how to make a butterfly or fairy wings costume using pressed flowers and contact paper. Superbloom blessed the California hillsides this past spring, and it was definitely a sight to behold! We came home from hikes with wildflowers

Discover over 45 vestibular activities that can calm, regulate, and improve attention in your child. Plus, get vestibular exercises for...

These DIY ribbon wands are easy to make and can be done in about 5 minutes! The video tutorial will show you exactly how to make them..

Remember the Mayflower, and give the little ones a fun way to play out scenes from the first Thanksgiving with these paper bonnets. You do the cutting, and the kids can do the gluing and tying.

Summer may be over, but don't put those hula hoops away just yet. Bring 'em on inside and weave a hula hoop rug with Disney Family Fun! All you'll need is

Dancing Ribbon Rings: With my niece's birthday (6 years old!) coming up, I was searching around for something to get her when I discovered these beauties: Dancing Ribbon Rings. These would make awesome party favors for a little girl’s party! They’re quick and easy, and …

Crafters of all ages will love getting creative with these fun and easy projects. From handmade jewelry to science projects, paper crafts and pom-poms, these crafts for kids will delight little ones and adults alike.

We have been unpacking boxes like crazy (from our recent move from Colorado to Oklahoma)! And the pile of perfectly good boxes is growing into a mountain out in the gar

These 20 SUPER FUN home science experiements will teach your little ones all about science while keeping them busy and having a great time!

Check out how you can make a simple popsicle stick catapult with materials you already have at home. It's a fun STEM project that you can do with your kids indoors on a rainy day!

We've rounded up our fifteen favorite family reunion games including some for the family history buff, the spunky kids, and the strategist.