Activity packs are designed to use common materials across multiple activities across a week. Doing so will save you time and money as most resources used are household products.

Flour, oil and water

  • Play dough

    • 3 parts flour

      2 parts salt

      1 part oil

      A pinch of creme of tartar (optional)

      Food colouring (optional)

      Enough water to bring it together

      Add all of your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix in your oil, if you want your playdough to be marbled with flecks of colour though out add it here to. If you want your playdough  to be one solid colour, add it to the water and add enough water to bring all of it together into a smooth elastic dough. You will have to kneed the dough for about 10 minuets before use you want your dough to bounce back slightly when pressed.

  • Moon sand

    • 1 part cooking oil

      16 parts plain flour

      Rub flour into oil a third at a time until you get a soft crumbly texture that will clump together but not hold and isn’t sticky. Use a powered colure if you wish to colure it as food die will not work with the oil. Set up with balls of tin foil for space themed fun.

  • Salt dough.

    • You will need

      1 part water

      1 part salt

      2 parts flour

      Mix flour and salt in a large bowl, add the water and and combine. Allow your children to roll out, cut out and shape the dough. Place you finished items on a lined baking sheet and bake on your oven’s lowest setting for 3 hours or until the salt dough is fully dry. Allow to cool and paint.

Paper glue and paint

Collage,

  • White paper

  • Glue, I find that clear craft glue or PVA works best

  • Patterned/coloured/magazine paper

  • Bubble wrap

    Ask your child to cut or tear the patterned/coloured/magazine paper into pieces and cut up the bubble wrap. allow your child to glue the bubble wrap, etc onto the blank white paper

Colure mixing

  • You will need

  • Red, yellow, blue and white paint

  • Zip-lock bags

  • Masking tap

Pour your paint into your bag, I like to use 2 parts white paint to 1 part the colures you wish to mix, this way the colures turn out brighter. Add either blue and red, red and yellow or yellow and blue paint together to make purple, orange and green. Or give your child the option of whatever colures you like.

Paint droppers

  • Food colure/ paint

  • water

  • cups

  • paper towel or butcher’s paper

  • medical droppers

    Add 1 part food colure to 10 parts water in a cup and mix until combined. Teach your child how to use the dropers and place one into each colure. encourage your child to drop the cloures onto the paper towel.

Paint, glue, dye and paper

  • Bubble Painting

    • Food dye (in colures that will mix well)

      Bubble mix

      Cardstock

      Disposable straws

      Paper cups (one cup per colure)

      Lay out your cardstock. Split your bubble mix between your paper cups and dye your bubble mix with food dye. Dip your straw into each cup and allow your child to blow bubbles on to the paper. When the bubbles pop they will leave a colourful pattern on the paper. You can make your own bubble mix using the quick activity guide on my page.

  • Colure mixing

    • Red, yellow, blue and white paint

      Zip-lock bags

      Masking tap

      Pour your paint into your bag, I like to use 2 parts white paint to 1 part the colures you wish to mix, this way the colures turn out brighter. Add either blue and red, red and yellow or yellow and blue paint together to make purple, orange and green. Or give your child the option of whatever colures you like (or have lying around).

  • Collage

    • A sheet of white paper to glue everything on to.

      Glue, I find that clear craft glue or PVA works best

      Patterned/coloured/magazine paper

      Bubble wrap

      Allow you child where age appropriate and skilled to do so, to cut up everything but the while paper and glue. Use the glue to stick everything else to the white paper.

  • Pasta necklaces

    • Penne pasta

      Pipe cleaners

      Food dye (optional)

      Allow your child to thread the raw penne pasta onto the pipe cleaners to create a bracelet. I recommend dyeing your pasta to add a pop of colure by mixing your dried pasta with food colouring.

experimenting

Compost jar

  • Food scrapes

  • A jar or plastic bottle (the bigger the better)

  • Soil

  • Paper,

Soft plastic

Add the soil to the jar and place the food scrapes, paper, and soft plastic to the top. Set your jar on top of a counter and make it a part of your routine to observe everything but the plastic degrade away.

Sun vs sunscreen

  • Black paper

  • SPF 50 sunscreen

Using your fingers apply the sunscreen onto half your black paper Per the instructions on the back of the pack. Place in the sun and wait 2 hours, your paper should have faded in the areas that the sunscreen wasn’t applied.

Water still

  • Salt

  • Plastic container

  • A cup

  • Water

  • Clingfilm

  • A marble

    Allow your child to mix the salt into the water and place into the container, add your empty cup in the middle insuring that it sinks into the water. Cover the container in clingfilm and place into the sun with the marble sitting centred over the cup. Allow the water to evaporate and drip into the cup leaving the salt behind.

Experiments

  • Flower dyeing

    • 8 white flowers

      Red, yellow, blue and green food colouring

      4 tall slim containers

      Water

      Trim your flowers to match the length of your containers. Half fill your containers with water and add one colure of die to each. Make your coloured water fairly pigmented. Add your white flowers (I’d use 2 flowers per container) and leave in a space that they can’t reach but can see. Over a few days the flowers will change form white to what ever colure you’ve dyed your water.

  • Pasta towers

    • Dry spaghetti or match sticks (just the wooden bit available from most craft stores)

      Marshmallows

      Cellotape

      Give them a roll of Cellotape and a handful of the other ingredients. Instruct them to build a tower. I often do this with my 4 and 5yos.

  • Obleck

    • One part water

      One part corn flour

      Food colouring, optional

      Mix cornflour, water and colouring (if used) together in a tray. Pair with sand toys or kitchen wear for gooey, slimy fun.

Grain and flours

  • Crunch sand

    • 16 parts corn flour (or corn starch)

    • 1 part oil

Mix together your corn flour and oil to make a crunchy texture that will clump together and hold its shape but not become runny

  • Room temp snow

    • 4 parts corn flour (starch)

    • 2 parts plain flour

    • 1 part bi-carb soda

    • shaving cream

      Mix the corn flour and plain flour together. Add the bi-carb soda and mix again until clump free, then add enough shaving cream to bring to a soft paste that resembles a soft snow texture.

  • Cloud dough

    • 1 part corn flour (starch)

    • 1 part conditioner

      Mix the cornflour and conditioner untill they make a smooth past. You wont need all of the conditioner at the start, instead reserve the extra and add as the dough starts to dry out.

Under the sink

  • Shaving cream paint

    • 1 part shaving cream

    • 1 part chalk

    • Paper

      Grind your chalk into a fine powder mix into your shaving cream until no lumps remain using a paint brush for best results and paint onto your paper as normal

  • Bubble mix

    • 1 part dishwashing liquid

    • 2 parts water

      Dilute the dishwashing liquid with the water. I prefer the ‘Earth’ branded dishwashing liquid here in Australia.

  • ‘Cleaners’

    • Spray bottle

    • Water

      Allow your child to assist you with the cleaning without the risk of actual cleaning chemicals.