Creative Corner
Easy ideas for activities to do with your kids that involve fun, learning, and creativity.
6 Ways to Keep Your Child Safe Trick-or-Treating on Halloween
In Colorado, we have terrible weather on Halloween. Last year was the only exception in my memory. No matter the weather, it’s important to keep you kids safe when trick-or-treating. Here are six important rules for Halloween safety, rain or snow! Costume Safety: Wear face paint, not masks so vision is not obstructed. Make sure the hem is not dragging so child won’t trip. Night Lights: Wear reflective clothes, costumes. Carry flashlights, glow sticks and reflective bags. Road Rules: Look both ways before crossing and stay on the sidewalks. Don’t approach or enter a car. Never go inside a house. Make sure you supervise children up to age 12. )After age 12, suggest that they travel in packs a group or get a life?) Don’t eat the poisoned apple, Snow White: Only eat...
The Circus comes to Denver and front rooms near you
In honor of Cirque du Soleil’s Denver presentation of Kooza, I thought a little circus fun, of the Cirque kind, was in order. (Don’t get me started on the other kind of circus — I’m not much of a fan.) But, I LOVE Cirque – the costumes, the music, the athleticism and the hilarious clowns. I emphasize the word — hilarious because usually I think clowns are terrifying. Cirque’s are not. (I still have tragic childhood memories of my mom performing in her mime troop. Mime horror — might explain a few things?) Anyway, whether you bring your child or not — and I recommend you do, over age 4 — take the wonder of Cirque home to your own living room. Juggle I learned to juggle while working the front desk at a health club in college – squas...
Bubble experiments
Scientists are great observers. So are writers. Why not combine the two? Get out your bubbles, your thinking cap and a notebook! Experiment #1: Homemade bubbles vs. store bubbles Homemade bubble directions: 1 cup water 2 Tablespoons dish soap Test which make the longest, biggest, bubbles. Write down observations. Experiment #2: Best bubble wands store bought pipe cleaner shapes plastic lids with the middle cut out “Pipe” cup and straw – insert straw into a small hole at the bottom, dip top of cup into solution and blow into the straw straw Record observations. My daughter who is 7, wrote down smiles and frowns for her results. If your child is older, get fancy by polling friends and graphing the results. Experiment #3: Writing similes Bubbles look like . . . (a globe) Lis...
Wave your flags, it’s the fourth of July
The 4th of July reminds us adults that we’re in free country! Kids, not so much . . . Look at the flag – get small ones if you can. Colors? Stars? All have meaning, did you know? The stripes = 13 = the number of original colonies The stars = 50 = the number of states in our country The colors = red, white, blue = Red: valor; White: innocence; Blue = Justice *If you want, say together the Pledge of Allegiance: I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Think of all the activities for stripes and stars in red, white and blue! Many websites will tell you step by step instructions. I’m a big fan of providing materials and letting your kids cre...
Welcome to Imagination Soup!
Welcome to your vacation destination. If you’re anything like me, you’re not going to the Bahamas for three months, you don’t have the time to be crafty, you don’t read Martha Stewart Living, and you think kids might be able to live on Mac and Cheese, especially if it’s organic. What to do over the summer with those cute children who are home all day? Worry no more! I post easy (emphasis on easy) ideas to do with your children that involve fun, learning, and creativity – and if at all possible, independent of an adult. My posts should make you say, “Oh, I can do this! Easy.” I am a writer, a teacher and a mom, who knows how those long summer days can be crazy-making. I hope, a few ideas from my blog will get you through. And, . . . maybe you won’t worry ...
