Un-school Activities for Home

Today we are going to explore art! We know not everyone is an artist, so these are just fun activities to get the kids using their imaginations!

Paint some rocks. There’s a lot you can do here! Find oddly shaped rocks and turn them into rock monsters. Find flatter rocks and create ladybugs, Easter eggs, turtles, bumblebees or whatever you can think of! Use acrylic paints, add googly eyes, yarn, buttons or anything else that strikes your fancy! Click here for more ideas.

Play Pictionary. This game can be played by any age. Use paper and pencil for older kids. Get the little ones involved letting them draw their pictures in a cookie sheet covered in shaving cream or pudding. Click here for Pictionary clues to use.

It’s Writing Day. Not everyone enjoys sitting down to write so we have some suggestions to make the art of writing more appealing to all.

Every kid loves secret messages. Well, click the links below for a few easy ciphers that they can use to get started.

Make You Own Codes Pigpen Code The Ultimate Decoder Send an e-greeting. You’re all stuck in the house together and missing your friends and extended family. This would be a great time to have each child send a personal e-note to a grandparent, aunt/uncle or friend to keep in touch. Evite.com has some specials just to help people deal with the COVID19 stay-at-home and social distancing practices we are all using.

Start a Family Journal. This is a great way for the family to create a personal history of this unprecedented time in our lives. Check out this article about the benefits of journaling for children Think outside the box – use pictures and drawings as well as text. Create a virtual journal so you can produce a copy of for each family member when it is complete. Have the kids design and decorate the cover.

Time to burn off some energy! Click the links below for ideas on games and activities. for both indoors and outdoors. You can always fall back on good old fashioned races – running, hopping, jumping, skipping and of course, bikes and scooters!

Indoor basketball Balloon Volleyball You will need: string and a balloon •Suspend a piece of string across the room are at approximately head height.

•Divide players into two teams and position them on either side of the string.

•One team serves by hitting the balloon over the string and the other team must

return the balloon without allowing it to fall to the ground.

•When the balloon is not returned, the other team scores a point.

•First team to reach 10 points wins.

These games and more can be found at frugalfunboys.com.

Did you know the Park District offers movement and sports programs for all ages? Check out the seasonal brochures for more infomration!

It's Spelling day but don't worry, no spelling tests involved. We just have word games for all ages to play. You can find more at www.spelling-words-well.com.

Letter Lane Game 50 States Word Search Corny Crossword Summer Word Search Movie Crossword (for teens and adults) Remembering Elvis Crossword (for teens and adults) Oxymoron Scramble Scrambled Animal Crossword

Click here for 50 at home science experiments using household ingredients. Some of our favorites are: • Learn about the crystallization process by growing rock candy in a glass.

• Build a container for an egg that protects it from breaking and then test it out by dropping it from on high • Your egg will be so embarrassed when you leave it naked! Dissolve the shell right off an egg by simply placing it in a cup of vinegar.

• Grow a bean in a clear cup to watch the roots grow down and the stem grow up.

• Create a tornado in a bottle by taping two plastic bottles together neck to neck— one filled, the other empty—and swirling it quickly.

• Engineer a tall tower using red party cups and sheets of paper. How high can you go?

• Dish soap, pepper, a toothpick, and a little bit of water are all kids need to feel like science wizards. Watch a little drop of soap chase pepper away in the Pepper & Soap Experiment.

• Be a DIY spy with this fun fingerprint experiment. Collect fingerprints using one of these methods, and then dive a little deeper with a forensic study of fingerprint patterns.