HOW TO: Stay busy over Spring Break

With spring break around the corner, I came up with some activities to do at home. As much as kids want a break, they tend to end up being bored a lot. So here are a few things that we had a lot of fun trying out! 

1- SLIME! Who doesn’t like slime? Seriously, I played with it for about an hour after I made it, it’s fun! This project is super easy too!

Supplies:

¼-½ Liquid starch – I got mine at Walmart, and I will have plenty for future slime!

Glitter glue. You can do clear glue and glitter instead if you prefer. I did one bottle Elmers glitter glue, one bottle craft glitter glue, and one bottle Elmers clear gel glue. It ended up about 12 ounces of glue.

Food coloring. The amount doesn’t really matter, just until you like the color.

<ul><li>First, dump all the glue into a bowl (it washes out really easy)</li><li>Add the food coloring and mix together.</li><li>Add the liquid starch small amounts at a time, stirring after each addition. I used about ½ cup in total with my 12 ounces of glue. It will look a little clumpy and separated, so start using your hands kneading and pulling it like dough until it comes together. Keep adding starch as you do this to get the consistency you want. The more you add the less sticky and stiffer it will get.</li></ul>

2- Sharpie art. This was fun once I figured it out. And could be fun for every age. 

Supplies:

Sharpies, more colors the better!

Rubbing alcohol

Plastic-like canvas, notebook cover etc. This is where I hit some trouble. I tried using watercolor paper and the Sharpie wouldn’t smear, so I used a notebook with a smooth finish on it. The thin canvases at Hobby Lobby should work too. Just find a material that the ink won’t soak into.

<ul><li>First color all over your object of choice. I found that solid coloring works better than scribbles here and there.</li><li>Next sprinkle the rubbing alcohol over the coloring as lightly as you can, you want it to come out in small drops, I used a spray bottle first and it was too spread out.</li><li>Add drops where you want it to smear more, you can use your finger to help smear and a rag to dab excess alcohol as well as make a cool pattern.</li></ul>

3- Giant bubbles. Always fun! My toddler had a hard time doing it by himself, but it was a hit!

Supplies:

4 cups Water

8 oz Dish soap

1 cap Glycerin

<ul><li>Mix water and dish soap together, let settle for a couple minutes if you have time</li><li>While letting that settle, make some bubble blowers by threading yarn through two straws, we did ours pretty small because it was windy and we had a small pan. But you can go as big as you want.</li><li>When you’re ready, add the glycerin to the mix. This helps the bubbles not pop as quickly. You can use vegetable oil instead it just won’t work quite as well.</li></ul>

We had a blast with these projects! Though it’s a hit or a miss when trying out new projects, there are tons of fun ideas online to test out. But I will leave you with this, don’t try to make the bouncy balls! 

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