Springtime Fun! Activities To Celebrate Spring

Welcome spring with these fun, easy-to-do projects for you and your child, ages 2 and up. Most of the materials needed are items you might already have at home.

Coffee Filter Flowers:
Using a paintbrush or dropper, dab white flat bottom coffee filters with watercolor paint or liquid food coloring. When the filters are dry, poke the pipe cleaner through the filter (tape down any sharp edges) for a flower stem. Spritz with perfume and use as a centerpiece for your kitchen or dining room table.

Brown Paper Bags:
Paper Bag Kites: Use crayons (glitter crayons work great) or markers to decorate a regular, everyday, brown-paper lunch bag. Staple or tape a bit of streamer to the bottom of the bag for the kite’s “tail.” Next, make a little hole and tie yarn (put tape on for extra strength) through the top side of the bag for the kite’s string. Then run around the yard catching the wind in your kite.

Nature Walks:
These walks are a great time to talk about all the changes that come with the season and promote an appreciation for the out-doors. Go on a spring nature walk with a bag and collect bits of nature: twigs, grass and leaves. Ask your child: what would a bird use to build a nest to lay its eggs? When you finish your walk, empty the bag, roll down the edges to form a small “nest” of your own, using the things you collected together with bits of yarn, fabric and shredded paper. Carry over the theme by placing a hard-boiled egg in the nest.

Ice Cube Painting:
When the weather gets warmer and you need a “cool” project, try ice cube painting. Fill an ice cube tray with water and squirt some gel food coloring (Betty Crocker brand) into each section. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and insert one-half of a Popsicle stick into each section/cube. Then, freeze. Frozen cubes make great paintbrushes; they work especially well on shiny sided finger-paint paper.

Fun In The Mud!
Enjoy getting out of doors again: make a mud puddle in the garden and let your little one go crazy! Bake mud pies in the sun. Make homemade fossils too: press leaves, twigs or rocks into the mud pie, let dry and remove the object. The impression will remain. Make sure you have a camera (and a hose!) close by to capture the moment. It will be worth the mess!