Nicola McClure
Children's Author
Hello! Here is a selection of my favourite fun activities; all of which have been tried, tested and loved by the three Mini-McClures. Our house loves messy play, small worlds, science and getting crafty. There are also some printable activities, so come take a look and enjoy!
Melting Ice-Cream Dough!
Create your own pretend scoop shop with this simple, taste-safe dough. Melty, messy fun and smells delicious too!
You will need;
-
1 cup cornstarch
-
1/2 cup water
-
Flavours and/or food colouring
Try 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, strawberry or banana milkshake powders.
What to do;
-
Put the cornstarch in a freezer safe container.
-
Stir in any flavour powders if using.
-
Pour in water and stir everything. Once mixed it should stir easily. Add more water if necessary.
-
Freeze for at least 6 hours.
-
Leave to stand for a few minutes to loosen from the container.
-
Use sequins, pom poms or real baking sprinkles and get playing!
Messy play
Top Tip - the above quantities made the two ice-creams photographed. Split the cornstarch before adding a different flavour to each and remember to split the water accordingly!
Recipe from FunatHomeWithKids.com
Get creative
Veg-printing
You will need;
-
A potato (or any other vegetable)
-
Paint
-
Paper
-
Glue
-
Pens, paint sticks or crayons
-
Googly eyes, pom poms, feathers, sequins or anything else you can find!
Make your very own veggie print critters (or monster friends) and have fun bringing them to life with doodles and anything else you can find in your arts and crafts stash!
Think of names for your creatures. What is their favourite food? Where do they live? What do they like doing?
Cut them out and attach to lolly sticks to make puppets and tell a story!
What to do;
-
Cut the veg, paint and print onto paper.
-
Leave to dry.
-
Decorate!
Get creative
Pimp your playdough!
You will need;
-
Playdough
-
Googly eyes, pom poms, feathers, pipe cleaners, coloured matchsticks, shells, sequins or anything else you can find!
Use playdough to make animals or ocean creatures and then add crazy pipe cleaner hair, googly eyes, stick legs, sequin scales...let your imagination run wild!
Can you make a whole animal scene with your creatures? Draw in backgrounds such as seaweed, forests or mountains.
Add real shells, use leaves to make trees, what can you find in nature to add to your artwork?
Science Slushy!
Use salt to make a yummy slushy drink- super cold, super fast!
Edible Experiment
You will need;
-
Juice or flavoured milk
-
Crushed ice
-
Four tablespoons of salt
-
Two resealable bags, one big, one small
-
Gloves
Adding salt to ice, makes it even colder (because it lowers it's freezing point.) This extra cold crushed ice in the outside bag, is now cold enough to freeze liquid nearby, thus turning your ordinary drink into a slushy!
What to do;
-
Pour your juice or milk into the smaller bag. Squash out any air and seal carefully.
-
Put the small sealed bag inside the big bag. There should be lots of room.
-
Add enough crushed ice to the big bag to completely surround the small one.
-
Sprinkle all the salt onto the ice, squeeze out the air and seal the bag.
-
Wear gloves and start squishing! Move the mixture around as much as you can, being careful not to break the bags!
-
After 10mins, take out the small bag and enjoy your yummy slushy!
My House is Full of Animals- activities
Think
Wordsearch 1 Wordsearch 2