Hobbies And Interests
Online Games
Plenty of fun, safe online games are available for kids to play. They can visit sites such as Webkinz World and Littlest Pet Shop to interact with virtual pets. Other options are educational sites where they can play games that help to reinforce fundamental skills. Fun Brain and Fun School are websites where kids can play games that help to improve math, reading, spelling, science and more. Play Mad Libs on Fun Brain for potential hours of fun. This electronic version of Mad Libs has you pick 11 random words from lists of nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives. When you have picked all of the words your Mad Lib appears for you to read and print out and share with friends and family.
Outside Games
Hopscotch, Hide-and-seek and Tag are all fun yet simple games for kids to play outside. Other ideas for outside play include basketball, football, and four square. Try involving children in a game of Capture the Flag for hours of outside fun. Divide kids into two teams of at least two players. Give each team a flag to hide. When the flags are hidden, each team goes in search of the other team's flag. Team members can be captured by opposite teams and held until one of their side's team members breaks them out.
Crafts
Kids almost always enjoy making crafts and exploring their creative instincts. Many fun crafts can be made with simple household items. Allow kids to tear or cut pages and pictures from old magazines and glue them onto paper to make a collage. Make salt dough with 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of salt and ½ cup of water. Kids can mold and play with the dough to create endless crafts. For your budding jewelry maker, gather some pipe cleaners and a few buttons or beads and help her make pipe cleaner bracelets. Another idea for a fun craft is to take sheets of craft foam and use small cookie cutters to cut shapes. Have the kids color the shapes and then glue them onto magnets to hang on the fridge.
Painting
Painting is usually something that kids love to do. It can be done inside or outside and does not have to be done on a paper surface. Gather rocks and allow the kids to paint them. Use them as paperweights or put several together for a decorative rock wall. Give kids finger paint and allow them to draw their masterpiece with their fingers on a piece of cardboard. Cookie cutters make painting fun when the kids are allowed to dip the cookie cutters into the paint and create pictures or collages.