Being a parent can be a tough job, but it’s worth it when you know you’ve found your calling. Most people spend 11 hours per week searching for the perfect job, but you’re already there. And with winter fast approaching, your parenting and entertainment skills need to be at their best. So if you’re looking for some great activities to do with your kids while you’re all at home this winter, here are a few educational crafts to try!
Recycled Planters
Teaching kids about how plants grow and how an ecosystem works is a classic science lesson. Fortunately, there are crafts that can help you teach your kids about plant life and about concepts like recycling at the same time. Recycled planters are an excellent option for this educational lesson. You’ll need the following materials to get started.
- Empty plastic bottles (any size)
- Pea gravel
- Potting soil
- Plant starters or seeds
- Scissors
- Paint, markers, and other embellishments
- Glue
To begin, cut your plastic bottle about one-third of the way up from the bottom. Poke three or four holes in the bottom for drainage when your kids are watering their plant! After this step, it’s time to grab the kids for decorating. While decorating, make note of how you’re reusing something old and turning it into something new. You can tell your kids how recycling is happening on a larger scale, too. For example, plastic can be recycled into things like three-sided barriers to keep people safe. In this case, you’re reusing old plastic bottles to help plants grow.
Once your kids’ decorations are dry, have them place a layer of pea gravel at the bottom and cover that with a layer of potting soil. Once they plant their seeds, set up a schedule to check in on the plant and water it with them and watch the plants grow! If you want this to be an ongoing activity, you can have your kids draw the different stages of their plants’ growth for the next few days or weeks.
Paper Plate Food Fractions
If your kids are struggling with math, paper plate food fractions are great tools that combine creativity and arithmetic. With some craft supplies and a little bit of imagination, you can transform a plain old paper plate into a learning activity for the whole family. Before you start this activity, you’ll need the following materials.
- White paper plates
- Crayons, markers, and/or paint
- Scissors
- Construction paper or felt
- Glue
Begin by having your kids decorate their paper plates to look like any kind of food they want. Some popular options for this activity include, pizza, pie, cake, ice cream, and cookies. As long as you can divide it into equal pieces, then you’re good to go! If you’re going for pizza, use red construction paper as the sauce and cut out pieces of felt or other construction paper colors to use as toppings. If you’re not sure where to get felt, you can visit your local craft store or take to a search engine like 48% of consumers do. Once you have your paper plates fully decorated, the real learning begins.
Cut your various paper plates into different fractions. One plate gets cut in half, another in thirds, and so on until you feel you have enough fractions for your activity. Next, gather an assortment of “guests” for your paper plate pizza party. Dolls, stuffed animals, and action figures make great party attendees for this exercise. After the guests are assembled, have your kids decide what fraction of the pizza each guest needs so that everyone gets an equal serving. you can create all sorts of math problems with this activity to help your kids understand fractions.
Continuing your kids’ education at home can be a challenge, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with it! If you’re stuck for educational activities this winter, try these two fun crafts. Thanks for checking out these educational crafts, I hope they help!
A fun craft and a lesson in recycling! Love it!
great idea for kids