Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Maze Help the dog fetch his ball! The solution can be found at the end of this book.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Word Search The solution can be found at the end of this book.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Crossword Puzzle Identify each item and fill in the crossword puzzle grid with the name. Use the word bank if you get stuck. Answers are at the end of this book.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Mad Lib One player acts as the “reader” and asks the other players, who haven’t seen the story , to fill in the blanks with adjectives, nouns, exclamations, places and more. These words are inserted into the blanks and then the story is read aloud to hilarious results. There are no winners or losers, only laughter!
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Cooking with Kids Recipe Fruit & Donut Kabobs What you will need: • Skewers • Donut holes • Your favorite fruits
How to make: • One at a time, poke the skewer through the donut holes and fruit. • Arrange until the skewer is full, leaving 1-inch on each end. • Suggestion: Have melted chocolate or whipped cream for dipping.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Homemade Playdough This craft will provide days worth of entertainment. Kids can be proud they made their own playdough!
What you will need:
• 1 cup flour • 1/4 cup salt • 2 tablespoons cream of tartar • 1 cup water • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • Food coloring if desired • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 5 drops, ¼ teaspoon, of essential oils) • Food coloring (optional)
How to make: • Mix flour , salt, & cream of tartar in a medium cooking pot. • Add water , vegetable oil, vanilla extract/ essential oil, and food coloring (if using). • Stir constantly over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. • When the mixture forms a ball in the pot, remove. • When cool enough to touch, knead until smooth. • Let cool. • Mold, play and create! • Put in a plastic bag and refrigerate to store for later use.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Classifying Crayons This activity is new way to have fun with crayons before or after you color .
What you will need:
• Box of crayons
How to play: • Ask your kids how many different ways they can sort their crayons! Challenge them to find five different ways to sort their crayons. • Examples: • Divide the crayons by color group - reds, oranges, yellows, blues, greens, etc. • Divide the crayons into dark and light colors. • Divide the crayons into with paper and without paper , • Divide the crayons into long and short. • Remind them that when they classify or sort, they should look for similarities and differences in shape, size, color , texture, weight, and other shared characteristics. • Suggestion: This activity can also be done with buttons, coins, marbles, books and more.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Recycled Crayons Recycle your old unusable crayons into little pieces of art you can use again!
What you will need:
• Muffin pan or silicone mold • Broken or old crayons
How to make: • Preheat oven to 300 degrees F . • Remove paper wrappers from crayons. • Break crayons into small pieces. • Place crayon pieces in the muffin pan, filling each at least half full. • Bake for 15-20 minutes or until wax has completely melted. • Remove pan from oven and allow to cool completely . • Once crayons have fully cooled, flip pan over and firmly tap each circle. If some of the crayons don’t pop out easily , just place the pan in the freezer for 10-15 minutes then try again. • Admire your results, grab some paper and give each color a go.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Indoor Bowling Create a simple bowling alley in your house and have fun. This game is ideal to build hand-eye coordination in children.
What you will need:
• Flat floor space to play • Ten empty bottles or soda cans • Ball (plastic ball, tennis ball, rubber ball) • Tape • Paint
How to play: • Peel the wrappers off of the bottles. • Paint the bottles and allow them to dry . • Use the tape to create a bowling lane. • Arrange the bottles at the end of the lane. You may arrange them like bowling pins or stack them on top of each other to form a pyramid. • Have the child roll or throw the ball to knock the bottles down.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Inventive Minds This STEM activity brings out the creativity and ingenuity in your child’s mind.
What you will need:
• Paper • Drawing utensils
How to play: • Ask your children to make a list of chores they don’t like to do. • Have them select one chore from their list and tell them invent a machine to do that chore. • What’s the name of the invention? • What is needed to build it? • How does it work? • Have your children draw a picture of their invention.
Leaf Catcher
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Pitching Pennies This coin toss game will help in building your child’s hand-eye coordination and can teach them the value of a penny!
What you will need:
• Coins • Plastic drinking cups or mason jars
How to play: • Place the cup/plate on a chair or a table in front of the children. • Give each child 5 coins each. • You can ask the child to take a few steps away from the cup in accordance with his age. • Have the child toss the coins, one at a time, into the cup. • The person with the most coins in the cup wins. • Suggestion: Teach the coins while playing. Ask questions like “Who is on that coin?” or “How much is that coin worth?” • Suggestion: You can use marbles or ping pong balls in place of pennies to play this game.
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Maze Answer Sheet
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Word Search Answer Sheet
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org Crossword Puzzle Answer Sheet
Village of Hawthorn Woods Parks & Recreation Department | (847) 438-5500 | www.vhw.org
