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Looking for a fun way to stimulate young minds? Organize some interactive activities. Instead of letting video games and TV rule your child's day, parents should get together to structure group activities. Meeting once a week in a neighbors' home, the basement of a church or community center, kids can create with found materials, build with construction toys or expand their writing skills.
Here are some ideas:
- Use old shoe boxes, paper towel tubes and other found materials to create and build Recycle City. Kids paint or cover the boxes with colorful paper and use crayons and markers to draw details. Roads created between the buildings and city become the perfect terrain for small metal cars and trucks, offering endless hours of imaginative play.
- Build moving vehicles out of construction toys and race or drive them through Recycle City. Each child can bring construction pieces to build a K'NEX Rubber Band Racer or other car. Race the vehicles on a hard floor, Ping-Pong or train table. Parents can help with the construction and judge the races.
- Use construction toys to build bridges and test to see which designs are strongest. Kids can work together in groups to see who can build the highest and sturdiest tower. While staying active and away from the tube, children will learn about physics.
- Write and publish a weekly neighborhood newspaper. A variety of ages can participate. All junior journalists can contribute ideas for the newspaper's names and stories. Older children take charge of writing and publishing, younger ones help with illustrations and delivery. Keep it short and fun so it can be created in one afternoon.
- Start a Junior Cooking Club. Make brownies one week, chocolate covered pretzels the next. Each week different parents host the club in their home and cook a house specialty with the kids. All taste the results and collect copies of the recipes. (NAPSI)
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