Category — Activities

I traveled to Denver last weekend to visit with my daughter who will be married next month. With that marriage I not only will have a great son-in-law but also 2 grandchildren. This was the first time I had met them so I wanted to do a fun but easy project. We made pom pom animals. These came in a kit that I got at an Arts & Crafts Store but you could easily make them without a kit.
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Download Conversation Hearts Activity Graph

This is a fun activity to do with any colored candy but especially fun at Valentine’s to do with Conversation Hearts.
What you will need for each person:
A graphing sheet
Conversation Hearts
Before you begin estimate how many Conversation Hearts you have then check to see how close you were to the exact number.
1. Classify the hearts by color
2. Cut out the squares on the graphing sheet.
3. Color a square for each heart. If you have 8 pink hearts you color 8 squares pink.
4. Create a bar graph by placing all the squares with the same color together as shown in the photo.
5. Talk about the graph. Ask questions like; which color has the greatest or least squares? Are there any the same? How many more or less does one color have compared to another color? What is another way to classify the hearts.

During the winter months many birds benefit from fat in their diet so why not make a suet bell or suet pine cone bird feeder with your grandchildren.
You will need:
Fat (lard or drippings from a roast or bacon ). If you don’t have enough fat you can add unsalted peanut butter.
Filler (bird seed, dried fruit, cookie or cake crumbs).
For each ½ pound of fat you will need 1 pound of filler.
Paper cup
String
Make a small hole in the bottom of the paper cup and insert the string. Be sure it is long enough so you can hang the bell on a tree branch. Tie a not on the inside of the cup so the string won’t pull through. Leave some string hanging inside the paper cup.
Melt the fat in a heavy saucepan and add filler. Mix well. Let the mixture cool slightly then pour into paper cut. When the mixture has hardened tear off the paper cup. Hang on a branch and see what birds come.

There are lots of activities to do once the suet bell is hung.
1. Predict and count how many birds will come in 10 minutes.
2. Predict and count how many different birds will come.
3. Take a picture of a bird eating the suet bell and write a poem or a story.
4. When your grandchildren leave, keep an eye on the suet bell and call or write them about what you’ve noticed. How long until it was all eaten.
5. Make 2 bells, one to keep at your home and one for your grandchild to take home. They can call or write you about what they have noticed.
For a pine cone bird feeder, I used the same mixture and spread it all around the pine cone. Hang with string or wire.

More Bird Feeder Ideas

20 IDEAS for grandparenting long distance.

Who cares if it's a mess, the grandkids are all here!

This calendar has fun activities to do each day counting down to Valentine’s Day. Many of them are service oriented. You could even make up some of your own ideas.
PRINT COUNTDOWN CALENDAR

Scrabble Slam! Card Game is the fast-paced, family card game, where four letters words are o.k. to spell! Players are simultaneously racing each other to change the existing four letter word to another, trying to get rid of their cards. On the command “Ready, Set, Slam!”, the spelling frenzy begins. A word such as home could become come, some, or dome. Lucky players will draw a blank card which can be any letter! The first player to have no remaining cards is the winner! Perfect for home or travel.

Everyone has a story to tell. Help your child develop their writing skills while telling about their life.
How to get started:
1. Make a “memory chart” by dividing a sheet of paper into three columns: people, places, activities.
2. Using the chart write a memory to go with each person, place or activity.
3. Organize the information. It can be done sequentially by months or seasons of the year.
I read about this idea in the Home & School Connection sent out by Granite School District each month.

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I Have A Dream Speech Fill in the Blanks
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I Have A Dream Speech, August 28, 1963
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I had so much fun with my grandchildren making snowman sandwiches. I had 3 different sizes of circles for the kids to cut their snowman parts. I used an empty soup can, a small funnel and a lid from a peanut butter jar. They pressed the shape into the bread to make the 3 parts of a snowman. Then they spread tuna salad, peanut butter and jam on the sections. The face and buttons were raisins, olives and cashews. We also made snowmen from oranges slices. I sliced the orange and let them create their snowmen. You can also use cookie cutters and make different sandwiches throughout the year depending on the season.

This is a fun and easy activity that can be played almost anywhere. It helps your grandchildren with their SPELLING. It’s a version of “hangman”. Using a pencil draw a snowman on paper. Be sure to include the eyes, nose, mouth, hat, and scarf. Think of a word and write one blank per letter. Have your grandchild begin guessing letters. For each incorrect guess, erase one part of the snowman. Can your grandchild figure out the word before the snowman melts. I found this idea in the Home & School Connection newsletter that Granite School District sends out monthly.