Groundhog Day is February 2nd

February 2nd is the infamous day that Pucksatawny Phil is brought from his down out into the sunlight. Whether or not he sees his shadow will determine how many weeks are left of winter weather. This is great fun for little ones, so be sure and plan your activities with The Idea Box by visiting our Groundhog Day section.

Here are a couple ideas to get you started:

Popping Groundhog
Have the child color the picture of the groundhog, cut it out and glu it on to the cr ...

Groundhog Tunnel Game
Have the children line up in a row. To make the tunnel, have them stand close togethe ...

February is Black History Month

February is Black History Month. Be sure to visit our site and see some of the fun learning activities and crafts we have for this special month. You can check out the entire Black History Month section here, but we'll also selected a few links for you!

African Village
Have your students spend time exploring different types of African Homes. They can c ...

Colors of Africa
Study the colors that represent Africa. Display the African Flag. Teach the four co ...

Martin Luther King Jr
Check out our ideas for Martin Luther King Jr, an important segment of Black History ...

This Week's Crafts, Music, Activities & More

In honor of National Oatmeal Month, I've built this week's ideas around oatmeal! Hope you and your kids enjoy it, and as usual, feedback is always welcome. See the list of dates at the end of this post to see more special days!

However, before I share these with you, I'd like to ask all of you to help out one of the members of our message boards. Below is her question, hopefully some of you can help her out!

Random Acts of Kindness
The week of Feb. 15 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. For my preschool class we want to do some ACTS with the kids. We've already decided to make valentines to send to area nursing homes and Send Thank Yous to members of the community. We're thinking about doing a cookie give away where we give two bags of cookies to a person with instructions to keep one bag for themselves and give the other bag to someone else.

Does anyone have any other ideas that preschool age children would be able to do and understand?  

This Week's Issue

Music: Eat Your Oatmeal 

Sung to the tune of Frere Jacques ...

Recipe: Oatmeal Dough

Gradually add water to flour and oatmeal in bowl. Kneed until mixed (this dough is sticky, but unique in texture. Model as with clay ...

Craft: Junk Box 

Take a box like a round oatmeal container and cover with wrapping paper or contact paper ... 

Game: Bucket Toss 

Line up oatmeal containers in a single file line. Place a line of tape where child sh ...

Activity: Texture Fun

Place some of each ingredient into separate bowls. Child should be blind folded then ...

Coming Up:

January 25th is...

Opposite Day

January 26th is...

Australia Day

January 27th is...

Chocolate Cake Day

January 28th is...

National Kazoo Day

January 29th is...

National Puzzle Day

January 31st is...

Backwards Day

 

See all of our Winter Ideas here and please be sure to submit your favorites as well!

More from Our Forums:

Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day will be here before you know it.
Anyone have any fun finger plays, songs, crafts, or activities for this holiday?

11 year old birthday
Last year when Dominic turned 10, I took him and a few of his friends to the movies. They spent more time going to the bathroom, chatting, and playing with their handheld games under their jackets than they did watching the movie! UGH Dominic's birthday is at the end of the month and he wanted me to take them to the movies again. I told him no, even though he swore no one would bring games. LOL He wanted to go see Avatar. Well i just saw Avatar, it's an excellent movie and I am sure they would enjoy it, but it's very long. I don't think they can sit through it.

The boys are very athletic, they like to play sports, etc, but it's very cold outside, lots of snow and ice, so outdoors is probably not an option.

Anyone have any ideas? I wonder if I could find an open gym somewhere??

See you next week!

~ Amanda

This Week's Crafts, Music, Activities and More

This week is proving to be cold again, so you'll need plenty of indoor activities to keep the kids busy. I've built this week's ideas around some special days during January. See the list of dates at the end of this post to see those special dates!

Music: Five Little Squirrels Fingerplay 

Five little squirrels sitting in a tree. The first one said, "It's getting cold for ...

Recipe: Cheese Tortilla 

Take a tortilla, spread with cream cheese, then sprinkle some shredded cheese on top ...

Craft: Jester's Cap 

Cut petal shapes around the open end of a paper bag. Cut away the bottom of the bag ...

Game: Musical Hugs 

This game is very similar to musical chairs, except everybody wins. The teacher play ...

Activity: Animal mix-ups 

color on poster board (recipe cards work also) or cut out animals from construction p ...

Coming Up:

January 15th is...

Hat Day - so make Pirate Hat & Eye Patch 

Trace a pirate hat shape onto a piece of black craft foam - use the picture to get an idea of the shape. Cut out. Put the hat up to your child's ...

January 17th is...

Benjamin Franklin's Birthday - make a Paper Kite 

Cut construction paper into a diamond shape. Cut the scraps into small bowtie shapes ...

January 18th is...

Winnie the Pooh Day - make Pooh Sandwiches 

Put together and eat. Quick, easy and fun to eat. I call them Pooh Sandwiches because the kids in my day care love Winnie the Pooh ...

January 19th is...

Popcorn Day - so make a Chewy Popcorn Balls 

Add the popped popcorn to the mixture, stirring until all the popcorn in entirely coated. Remove from the stove and let cool ...

January 20th is...

Cheese Day (see above recipe!)

Penguin Awareness Day - make a Paper Plate Penguin 

If using paint, paint top and both sides of the plate black. If using paper, glue bla ...

January 21st is...

National Hugging Day (see above game!)

Squirrel Appreciation Day (see above music!)

See all of our Winter Ideas here and please be sure to submit your favorites as well!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 18th

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 18th. He was born in 1929 and is considered one of the most influential African Americans ever. Many great strides were made because of his peaceful movements. Celebrate his life with these fun activities and crafts:

Freedom Bell
This is a simple and easy craft to make for little ones. Trace the pattern of a bell ...

Happy Handshake
Trace and cutout 1 handprint on the skin toned construction paper. Cut out rectangles ...

I Have a Dream
Use blue consruction paper for base - Print "I have a Dream" at the top. Have childre ...

You may also find some helpful activities in our Black History Month section!

Winter Theme Ideas

This week on The Idea Box we are experiencing cold winter weather! So what would be more fitting than some fun winter themed activities to engage your kids. If it's too cold to play outside, try some of these fun ideas:

Music: I'm A Little Snowman 
I'm a little snowman, Short and fat. Here is my broom (pretend to hold broom handle ...

Recipe: Edible Snowman 
Using a toothpick, dot on eyes and a nose and mouth on one marshmallow for the snowma ...

Craft: Shining Snowflakes 
after the paper is cut to look like a snowflake, place it on a piece of wax paper or ...

Game: Indoor Toddler Relay 
Put one shoe (boot, sock, glove) of each pair in ...

Activity: Garbage Sack Snowman 
Stuff the garbage sacks with newspaper making a large, medium and small sack. Draw a ...


Coming Up:



January 8th is...


Bubble Bath Day - so make Bubble Bath Art 
Cut the paper plate in half. Glue half of the plate to the construction paper, cut si ...


January 9th is...


National Apricot Day - make a Handprint Apricot 
Paint child's palm with peach colored paint and press onto construction paper. Immedi ...

January 11th is...


Milk Day - make Condensed Milk finger paint 
Pour condensed milk on fingerpaint paper adddrops of food coloring. We like to use r ...


Secret Pal Day - make a Clothespin Pal
On the top (head) of the clothespin, draw or paint a face for your pal. Decorate the ...


January 13th is...


Rubber Duckie's Birthday - so make a Baby Chick 
Paint the pinecone yellow and let dry. Then cut out yellow feet a little larger than ...


January 14th is...


National Dress Up Your Pet Day - so play Cat and Mouse 
One child is the cat and hides. The rest of the children are mice and sneak up to the ...




See all of our Winter Ideas here and please be sure to submit your favorites as well!

Change is coming to your daily emails

Hi everyone :) I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know that I am changing the format of your daily ideas from The Idea Box. In the past you received music on Monday, a recipe on Tuesday, crafts on Wednesday, game ideas on Thursday, and an activity on Friday. From this point forward I will be consolidating these ideas into one weekly mailing that will be issued on Thursday mornings.

My hope here is that you will be able to benefit by using this weekly post to plan your activities for the following week with your kids. :) I will put together themes for each week and will set up separate mailings that are holiday related. 3-4 days before a major holiday, you will receive notice here of that holiday and I'll provide you with relevant crafts, activities, games, songs and more!

Would you like to share?
I would love to increase the number of activities, finger plays, songs, crafts, recipes, etc, available to you on The Idea Box. Occasionally someone will send me something fun to include, and I am more than happy to publish those to share! If you have anything you would like to share, please send them my way at editor@theideabox.com

Forums!
The Idea Box forums have been given a makeover! It's pretty quiet right now as the old gang that was there have moved on. I am still here though and have opened things back up and hope to see some of you join me. I've moved things around a little and hopefully cleaned it up, hopefully some of you will stop by and say hello (please??)! :)  Visit the forums now

Please watch for your first weekly mailing on Thursday, and if you have any questions or comments please leave them here or email me directly. Thanks!

Top 10 in 2009

Hi everyone! I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday and a wonderful New Year. The Idea Box is brimming with activities, crafts, songs and recipes, and we wanted to share with you the most visited of 2009. This past year was a great one, we are hoping for even better in 2010.

If you have any activities, songs, crafts, finger plays, or anything else to share that we can post on our site, please send them to editor@theideabox.com 


TOP 10 COUNTDOWN
(to get the materials list and instructions for any of items listed below, simply click on its name)


#10 - 3D Pumpkins 
This fun craft project is great for just about any age. it promotes dexterity and keeps kids busy and happy for quite some time. Adapt this fun project to work with the season (make apples, flowers, snowmen, etc)

#9 - Snowman Soup 
These are such fun gifts and they sure were popular around Christmas time! but don't limit these to just Christmas. These would make a fun wintertime project or even fun take home goodies for a wintertime birthday party!


#8 - 5 Little Pumpkins 
Such a cute craft for fall or Halloween, this is even easy for preschoolers! All you need are some popsicle sticks, orange paint and styrofoam balls.

#7 - Clean Mud 
This activity is so fun, it'll be hard to get the kids to stop! All you need is a roll of toilet paper, a bar of Dove soap and some warm water.

#6 - 3D Crayon Pictures 
When you see this activity, you'll be amazed at how easy it really is. Gather lots of fun items from around the house for the kids to use in this project.

#5 - Baby Chick 
This sweet little craft idea is perfect for your springtime activities. It also makes a great project for Easter!

#4 - Celebrate Freedom Hat 
This is a great project for older children, though the little can join in the fun as well with a little help! A great project anytime, but especially fitting for July 4th, President's Day, Memorial Day and Veteran's Day!

#3 - Handprint Flag 
This is a marvelous classroom project. When all finished, hang this amazing poster up on the wall for all to see!

#2 - Hand Washing Song 
In light of this past year's H1N1 situation, this was the perfect song to get kids exciting about keeping their hands clean.

An the #1 most visited idea from The Idea Box for 2009 was....

#1 - Beaded Valentine 
This fun craft has been a favorite on The Idea Box for quite some time. Make one or two or three this Valentine's Day with your kids!

Thank you for making it a great year, and here's to 2010! Happy New Year everyone!