For many kids the signs of spring are simple; warmer weather, flowers in bloom, an occasional rainbow and the appearance of bugs. However spring doesn’t arrive at the same time everywhere. So if there is still snow on the ground at your house or the mud is too deep here are some fun ideas for ways to create these signs of spring with your kids.
Paper Flowers
This craft is such a simple and great way for kids to practice their small muscle skills of cutting and tracing.
Items Needed
- Flower shaped cookie cutters
- Colored paper
- Scissors
- Pencils
- Push pins
- Choose a piece of colored paper and trace several flowers on it with a pencil.
- Repeat with other colors of paper.
- Cut out the flowers.
- Hold a flower so it is centered above the eraser part of a pencil. Insert a colored push pin through the paper flower and into the eraser below. Now you have a paper flower with a pencil stem. You can actually stack more than one paper flower together and rotate the paper petals so multiple colors are showing.
Make several flowers and put them into a vase for a centerpiece that won’t wilt over time. If the kids want to be really creative decorate the paper with markers and stickers before cutting. Wallpaper scraps also make fun flowers.
Make Your Own Rainbow
This activity is actually a science demonstration, but it will create a rainbow of color and hopefully a “wow.” It is also a great way to practice adding primary colors together.
Items Needed
- Milk
- Food coloring
- Liquid dish washing soap
- Shallow bowl
- Pour enough milk into the shallow bowl to cover the bottom with about ½ inch of milk.
- Imagine the bowl of milk is a clock. Place three drops of yellow food coloring in the milk at about 10:00 in the bowl.
- Place three drops of red food coloring at about 2:00 in the bowl.
- Place three drops of blue food coloring at about 6:00 in the bowl.
- Add a small amount of dish soap to the center of the bowl and watch what happens.
The food coloring should be moved around by the dish soap and create a rainbow of colors. Where it mixes the primary colors will make purple, green and orange. Don’t shake the bowl or the colors will all mix and make brown. If the colors don’t move much, add some more dish soap. Repeat the experiment as desired.
Spider Tag
Another sign of spring is the appearance of bugs. This can be ants, ladybugs, butterflies or spiders. This game of tag is a great way for kids to use their imagination and pretend to be spiders and flies. You will need some chalk and a driveway to play.
Have the kids draw thick lines of any color on the driveway that all connect. The lines they draw should be wide enough for them to walk on and have plenty of empty space in between. These lines are the spider’s web. The player who is “it” is a spider and must stay on their web. The other players are flies and must not step on the web. The spider runs around the driveway while staying on their “web” and tries to tag the other players. If a player is tagged they must freeze still on the closest web. Now other players can’t use that part of the web as it is blocked. Play continues until all of the flies have been captured. The last fly then becomes the spider for the next game.
Spring is on its way in many areas and these fun activities will help everyone have fun while we wait.
Photos by Franklin Park Library and In Paris Texas
