Fun With Noodles

I made a batch of dyed noodles using this tutorial. Keep in mind that when you dye yellow noodles, the yellow color will alter whatever color you are attempting. So my "red" noodles ended up coming out quite a bit orange and the purple ended up looking more brown than purple.

I made a small hook on the end of a pipe cleaner (so the noodles wouldn't slide off) and Connor practiced threading the noodles onto it.

There are quite a few activities we play with the noodles. They are great for fine motor skill practice, counting, colors, and making messes.

Color Sort:

Take clear plastic cups and have the kids sort the noodles by color into each cup. 

Number Guessing:

Scoop a random amount of noodles into a cup and try to guess how many are in it. After making a guess, dump the noodles into a pile and count them to see if you are right. For older kids, you can practice addition and subtraction skills by having them figure out how many noodles their guess was off by.

Noodle Necklaces:

Take shoelaces or pipe cleaners and have the kids string them on. You can start a pattern and have them figure out how to finish it.

If you have any more variations of noodle games please feel free to share in the comments section!

Active Kids Indoors - Obstacle Courses

This week's activity was a simple obstacle course. The kids loved racing through it, and Jenna had to dig out some medals from previous 5Ks we've done so I could award them to the "winners".

It started with a "balance beam" created by wrapping an old 2x4 in a towel.

Then they crawled through our Ikea tunnel and climbed through the "spiderweb". This was created by wrapping ribbon randomly between two chairs so they had to weave their way through.

They needed to throw the ball into a "basket" for the last obstacle. While I could have dragged Connor's basketball hoop out of his room, I decided it was easier to just flip Jenna's play table upside down instead.

The obstacle course was a hit with both kids and they played with it even when I stopped to make lunch. For some of our activities, I've noticed that they seem to have fun while I'm playing with them, but once I need to move on to something else, they do too. So the fact that they continued to play was a testiomony to them truly enjoying this game the most!

Active Kids Indoors - Tired Mom Style!

This week's indoor "game" is brought to you by tired-not-feeling-good mom. 

Items Needed:

TV

Netflix account

Set Up:

Turn on tv and start (slightly) annoying show called "Bo on the Go"

Directions:

Lay on the couch and rest while your kids run around following the actions of the show.

Notes:

I know I'm being silly with this one, but sometimes mom is tired, sick, or just needs a little time out. In my honest opinion, the characters are slightly creepy looking, but the idea behind the cartoon is to get kids to move. The whole cartoon the main character Bo has the kids doing active things like jumping, crawling, etc. My kids get really into it and it's a little like a fun workout video for kids.