This easy to make Pumpkin Slime is a great activity for young children during pumpkin season. With only four ingredients, it can be whipped up easily and quickly, giving children a great activity to enjoy for the rest of the day.

Check out the list of materials that we use with this activity.

Pumpkin Slime

To make this gorgeous slime, you will need only four ingredients:

• 1 x 6oz bottle Elmer’s Clear Glue
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup warm water, as needed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Liquid Starch, as needed
• Pumpkin Glitter

To make this slime, first pour the clear glue into a medium-sized bowl. Use a fork to stir in 1/4 cup warm water.

Add 1/4 cup Liquid Starch and stir well for 2 minutes.

Test the slime and add more water if too stiff, more Liquid Starch if too sticky.

Continue stirring until the slime forms into a ball, then knead for 2 minutes, adding more water or liquid starch, as needed.

Once the slime is stretchy and no longer sticky, knead in the glitter.

Note: Our glitter dyed the slime orange, but if yours doesn’t you can add a few drops orange food dye to achieve an orange color.

Slime is best stored in an airtight container in the fridge when not in use.

More Slime Recipes

Let’s be real—Halloween costumes are cute (until your kid changes their mind the night before), candy is fun (until the sugar crash), and trick-or-treating is a blast (until you’re carrying your preschooler four whole blocks home). But you know what your kid will actually enjoy and love long after October 31st? A Halloween Build-A-Bear.

This isn’t just about buying another stuffed animal (because let’s face it, the toy bins are full). It’s about making a memory. From picking out the spooky-cute bear (hello, vampire bats and pumpkin cats!) to dressing it in exactly the right costume, it’s an experience. 

The best part? You get to sneak in some quality time with your kid. It’s hands-on, creative, and let’s be honest, kind of adorable. 

We all want those magical mom moments where everything clicks—and this one’s easy, low-stress, and ends in hugs (not tantrums). Whether your kid is into ghosts, skeletons, glittery witches, or even axolotls, there’s a Halloween Build-A-Bear waiting for them.

So go ahead. Hit the mall, grab a coffee, and head to Build-A-Bear. You’ll walk out with a happy kid, a stuffed friend in costume, and the kind of memory that doesn’t melt like chocolate in a plastic pumpkin bucket.

Trust me—this is one Halloween treat that’s totally worth it.

Bananas are large berries that grow on tall herbaceous plants. These plants are able to float, and can be used to make paper and fabric. Learn more about the life cycle of these palm-like plants with these Banana Life Cycle Printables.  With these banana worksheets children can learn more about these plants that only produce one bunch of bananas, while working on their math and literacy skills.

 

Check out the list of materials that we use with these printables.

Banana Life Cycle Printables

 This 100+ page printable pack contains a variety of activities including:

• Alphabet Cards – Cut out, laminate and use to match the lower case letters to the uppercase ones. Can also be used to spell words.
• Trace the Letters – Improve handwriting skills while learning to spell.
• 3 Part Cards – Can be used to match the words to the picture or in games such as memory. These cards can also be used together with the alphabet cards, using the alphabet cards to spell out the words.
• I Spy – Count the Objects – Count the objects.
• Counting Puzzles – Cut out, laminate and use the numbers to place the puzzles back together.

• Counting Cards – Cut out, laminate and use a peg or paperclip to clip or place a pom pom or candy onto the correct answer.
• Addition Cards – Cut out, laminate and use a peg or paperclip to clip or place a pom pom or candy onto the correct answer.
• Subtraction Cards – Cut out, laminate and use a peg or paperclip to clip or place a pom pom or candy onto the correct answer.
• Size Sequencing Cards – Cut out, laminate and place in order from largest to smallest or vice versa.

• Coloring Activity – Color in the object using the color listed below.
• Do-A-Dot Letter Activity – Using a dot marker or bingo marker, dot out all of the correct letters.
• Dice / Graphing Activity – Cut out the dice and glue together. Roll the dice and graph each object the dice lands on.
• Size Sequencing Cards – Great for practicing order from largest to smallest or the other way round.
• What I Know/ Want to Learn about Bananas – Write what you want to know and then research bananas and write the answers to your questions.
• Life Cycle Writing Pages – Research the banana life cycle and write our what you find.
• Life Cycle Pages – Place / write the banana life cycle in the correct order.

• Emergent Reader about Bananas – Print out this book and have children read it to you. As they read, they will learn all about bananas, and the life cycle.

Other Life Cycle Printables

 

For all the cards and puzzles activities, I prefer to print them out on white card stock and laminate them for durability and repetitive use.

To grab your Banana Life Cycle Printable Pack, click below:

Colour Version of the Printables

BW Version of the Printables

‘Tis the season, parents. As if the ‘ber months didn’t send our bodies into fight-or-flight immediately, this is also the time of year when schools start getting spirited. Yes, the School Spirit Weeks are upon us, from homecoming-themed dress-up days to holiday weeks (seriously, “holiday accessory day” is a wild choice), there is going to be a whole lot happening. And you? Well, you’re the one who has to find black-and-white-striped tights for your kid who insists they’re going as Olivia for Book Character Day.

But it’s not the time to panic — and it’s not the time to pull out a spreadsheet and start treating this like it’s a big holiday and you’re now one of those TikTok moms who begins all her Thanksgiving meal prep in September. Listen, you can handle a Spirit Week for the kids. I promise. You just need to follow this guide.

(And maybe scream into the void a few times, that’s always helpful.)

First thing to remember: Spirit Week is not that serious.

Deep breaths. Take one, and then take another. This is Spirit Week. This is not your child’s last chance at school, or a test of your parenting prowess, or a grift set up by the board of education so they can judge you. I promise, not one single school has created the Spirit Week calendar, set it aside, and let out an evil villain laugh while rubbing their hands together with glee. No principal is in their office shouting, “I AM RUINING PARENTS’ LIVES, MWAHAHAHA.”

You’re the one making this weird.

Kids actually do find these days fun, I’m sorry.

Do you know how many times I’ve assumed my kids won’t be interested in Book Character Day or Wear Purple Day or Crazy Sock Day, and then they wake up at 6 a.m. so excited about their tacky outfit? If your kid isn’t into it, it’s fine to move on, but I’m begging you — don’t ruin your kid’s joy.

Don’t match other parents’ expectations; just make your kid happy.

And because your kid is excited, it’s super easy to just focus on them and what they want. Stay off social media if you need to, and don’t worry about what any other parents are doing for Wacky Wednesday or Team Friday. Just ask your kid what they want, manage their expectations (because you are not making a dragon costume, sorry about it), and go from there. When in doubt, review rule number one: It’s not that serious.

Do not spend a lot of money. Save everything in a storage container.

Every Spirit Week, I feel like I hear a bunch of parents talking about how expensive it is, and I’m begging y’all: Do not spend a ton of money. No matter what the theme is — Western Wear, ‘80s Day, Taco Tuesday — you can probably spend less than $5 and make a great look. And whatever you buy, throw it in a storage container. We have used the same pack of craft unicorn horns from when my oldest was in first grade to make a million Spirit Week outfits, along with face paints, hair color crayons, random items like cowboy hats and leis, etc. If you have multiple kids, this will save you so much stress.

And seriously, go raid your child’s dress-up box. Look under their bed. You’ll be amazed at how many things you’ll find for Spirit Week. Ask your friends on Facebook, join a local Buy Nothing group. Somebody somewhere has a pair of knee-high orange socks they aren’t using.

And yes, Spirit Week has always been a thing.

Finally, here’s your reminder: Spirit Week has always been a thing. Maybe you didn’t participate when you were a kid, or maybe you don’t remember it being stressful because you — wait for it — had parents who either didn’t get involved or went insane keeping up with the laundry so your tie-dye shirts were always ready to go. But this isn’t something new, and parents have always been busy — ‘90s moms managed to handle it, why can’t we?

Remember: This is supposed to be fun.

That’s it. That’s the truth. And if Spirit Week isn’t fun for your kids? Then skip it. The minute you’re stressed and trying to force some kind of core memory into your family, the less and less fun it gets.

Children will love learning about different types of vegetables with this fun hands-on Vegetable Paper Craft Activity.

Check out the list of materials that we use with this activity.

Vegetable Paper Craft Activity

To make these vegetables, you will need:

Instructions:

Select different colored craft papers for each of the vegetable papercraft. The pattern for each vegetable is quite simple and easy to craft. Let’s start with the cabbage papercraft. Select 3 different shades of green colored craft papers for the cabbage craft. Trace the cabbage patterns on the selected green colored craft papers. Trace different patterns on different shades of green papers. Cut out the traced patterns.

Grab the big pattern and attach the medium pattern (teardrop-like) in the middle of it.

Grab the 2 similar patterns and attach them on both sides of the big pattern.  

Attach the square pattern on the bottom side of the big pattern.

Now attach the 2 thin patterns on both sides near the bottom end of the big pattern, making sure that the thin patterns touch each other in the middle of the bottom end.

Done! The paper cabbage is ready!

Similarly, trace, cut and stick the patterns for the rest of the vegetables and craft them all!

 

Other Craft Activities

 

Other Fruit and Vegetable Activities

Ideas for Kids 
Make Time for Friends-It’s important that your kids make time for their friends amidst homework and other activities. They can hang out together for an hour after school, have a fifteen-minute video call, or go to the football game together on Friday night. As long as your kids are making time for their friends and vice versa, it doesn’t matter what they do, how big or small. 

Use Technology- As we all know, technology can be a blessing and a curse in our world. Let your kids use apps and other platforms to stay connected to friends with the same interests and through communities. For example, they can play a game together online or join a community for kids/teens that revolves around their interests, like STEM, reading, or cooking.

Some apps for teens to check out include Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Hoop, Yubo, and Houseparty. Be sure to check out these apps yourself before allowing your child to join to make sure they are age appropriate and also appropriate for your child’s maturity level.

Send a Quick Text-Sometimes just sending a quick text can make a difference. It’s easy for kids to get caught up in their lives and what they’re doing because they’re kids. So if you know they haven’t seen a friend in a while, remind them to send a quick ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ to help stay connected.

Plan Joint Activities

You can plan all kinds of joint activities for your kids to help them connect with their friends outside of school.

Movie Night—Invite your kid’s friends over for a movie night. Provide pizza, snacks, and beverages. Ahead of time, choose a few approved movies and add them to your playlist.

Picnic-Invite your kids’ friends to go on a picnic in the park. Supply sandwiches, chips, and beverages, and have everyone bring a dish or dessert.

Group Outing-Invite your kids’ friends for a night out at the escape room, VR lounge, or the movies. You can also invite them for an afternoon out at the children’s museum (depending on age), park, or playground.

A Day at the Library—This is a great idea for little ones. The library always has something going on. Invite two or three of your child’s friends to story time and see what else is going on that will appeal to younger ages.

Ideas for Adults

Why Should Adults Stay Connected to Friends?

Adults have much more on their plates than kids, so staying connected to friends’s even more important. You can count on these people when you get in a pinch and the people you enjoy hanging out with most. Sometimes you simply want to talk to another adult about things only they can understand. 

How to Stay Connected with Friends as an Adult

Set Weekly Check-ins-Weeks fly by fast; before you know it, it’s Friday, and the week is gone. Talk to your friends and set up a specific day of the week to check in with them. It doesn’t have to be the same day for everyone since people have different schedules, but try to pinpoint a specific day with each friend to connect. 

Chill in the Car Before Carpool-Meet with a friend in the school parking lot an hour before school lets out, and chill out in the car until the kids get out of school and the carpool line starts. This will give you a solid hour of ‘you’ time to catch up before the kids leave school. 

Meet for Coffee- If you can, meet a friend (or friends) for coffee after dropping your kids off at school. Or schedule a coffee meetup on the weekend. 

Go to Lunch-If you’re married, leave your kids with your spouse or significant other and meet your friends for lunch. Single parent? Hire a babysitter for a few hours or leave your kids with a family member.

Send a Message/Meme—During the week, send a quick message or meme to your friends to help them stay connected. 

Create an Online Group-Create a group online where your friends can meet virtually during the week if need be. Maybe someone has a problem they need to talk about or big news to share and doesn’t want to wait until they can meet in person. This is also a great idea if you live in a part of the country that has harsh, long winters, and it’s hard to get out to go places. Overall, try to meet in person as much as possible, but having a backup plan is always great. 

Watch the Game-Meet up with friends at a restaurant to watch the game, or have a party at your house. 

Do the Holidays Together-Nothing brings people together like the holidays. Go Christmas shopping with friends, have a cookie swap, or have a wrapping party together. 

You could also get together on a Saturday and have a Christmas movie watch party together. You could make a pot of soup with rolls and have your friends bring something to share. Another option would be to see a classic Christmas movie on the big screen. Sometimes, small, locally owned theaters will feature Christmas movies like White Christmas, Holiday Inn, or It’s a Wonderful Life on the big screen during the holidays for a limited time. 

The school year has just started, but it never hurts to make a plan to keep in touch. Choose your favorite way to communicate and then make a list of people you want to stay connected with. Next, talk to your friends and set a specific time to connect with each person. Make sure you add it to the calendar on your phone with a reminder so you don’t forget. If you can share a digital calendar with your friends, that would work too. Also, talk to your kids about who they want to stay connected to and make a plan for them, too. Overall, remember to be flexible. Sometimes life happens and plans get canceled, and that’s okay. You can always try again another time. 

Staying connected in our busy lives is more important than ever. With the tips above, you and your kids will have a happier, more connected school year.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Goodboy Picture Company

Carrie Lowrance is a freelance writer and author. She has had her work featured on Crosswalk, iBelieve, Huffington Post, and the Penny Hoarder. She is also the author of three children’s books, three clean romance books, one romance novella, three books of poetry, and one non-fiction book. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and hanging out with her husband, and sweet cat, Cupcake. You can find out more about Carrie and her writing at www.carrielowrance.com.

My daughter’s school has project-based finals instead of tests in the spring, and in her geometry class last year the students constructed a scale model of a town complete with three-dimensional buildings. 

Of course building a paper town doesn’t have to include a geometry lesson (they also calculated the volume of their buildings) but it is a fun way to get kids to express their creativity by decorating the buildings and talking about the things they would want to include in their own town. 

Putting buildings together is a test of fine-motor skills, and if kids are working on a town together they’ll need to negotiate what goes where and why. 

Get started with the house printables from Kids Activities Blog. They’ve got a “plain” roof house and a “fancy” roof house to choose from. Just print, color, cut out and assemble. 

You might want more than just houses in your little town, though, so I went hunting for some more printable templates you can use to make different kinds of buildings. 

Brother has printable skyscrapers, cars, people, trees and lights (shown above) that are meant to be printed in color buy you can do them in black and white so kids can color them in if you want.

Printablee has another colorized set of paper buildings including different kinds of houses and something that maybe looks like a church or school. 

If you’re willing and bale to pay for printables to use in your paper town, there are lots of great ones available on Etsy. Ludlow Prints has a collection with a school, grocery store, bakery and other buildings, while Paper Fun By Yumi includes things like a hospital, fire department and police station (essential if you’ve done a community helpers unit!). 

Tiger Bee Learning has a printable set with 20 different buildings, including a bank, library, museum and zoo to name a few, as well as a blank template for kids to design their own buildings. Once you have the basics of making a piece of paper into a 3D building down, kids are sure to want to make their own buildings to add to the town. 

Older kids can also write about why they picked the buildings they did, and littler kids will have fun building their town over and over again. 

[Photo: Brother]

Back to school craft ideas that you’ll actually want to try!

Back to school season will be here before you know it. And if you’re a parent or caretaker with kids, I’m gonna guess that you’re searching for clever ways to get kids excited about going back to school. I know I am!

So, I rounded up 29 of my favorite back to school craft ideas – from DIY backpacks and reusable lunch bags to desk organization and pencil pouches.

No kids? You can still get into the back to school spirit with these elevated project ideas. No cheesy red apples here, I promise!

 

29 Back to School Craft Ideas

1. One of my fave back to school crafts to date is this one for a memo station that serves several purposes at once. A place to hang a hat or backpack, write notes and reminders, hang your child’s newest masterpiece, and somewhere to throw down the keys or tiny treasures from little pockets. Make your own with this tutorial for how to make a chalkboard.

2. A classic pen holders craft with an updated look. Which means you’ll never have to answer the question, “Mom, where are all my markers / pencils / pens?” again! 

 

3. Another clever way to keep track of reminders for kids or just a place for whimsical doodles is this DIY whiteboard idea. I updated it more recently for my son’s room (pictured) and he loves using it. All the fun of drawing on the walls, without the permanence. 

4. Looking for a new lunch bag? Try these DIY canvas lunch bags – they’re eco friendly and washable too.

5. Something like a DIY drawstring pouch is a colorful way to bring some organization to a kid’s backpack and/or school desk. Easy to make too!

6. For the kids with paperwork to keep track of – like folders and homework – a modern DIY desk organizer like this one is a solid option. There’s even a spot for a little plant to liven up their desk at home.

7. Make a concrete DIY desk accessory for organizing small papers, lists, and photos.

8. Have a kiddo that isn’t into backpacks? What about a DIY ice dye tote, from Alice and Lois, for carrying books around from class to class?

9. For an at-home bulletin board, maybe some gold foil thumbtacks?

10. A wall organizer like this one, made of canvas drop cloth, is not only cost effective, it also holds a TON of stuff! Great for stuffies and small toys for younger kids too.

11. Another cute option for DIY reusable snack bags. This one is from Sarah Hearts.

12. Easy and whimsical vibes for this cloud-shaped DIY cork board for back to school.

13. Love a compact way to keep supplies nearby and this DIY rollup organizer does the trick for pencils and pens.

14. What kid wouldn’t want to try melting crayons into whatever shape they can dream up?

15. Mimic the popular Fjallraven style with a mini backpack from scratch from With Wendy.

16. Stamp your own pencil pouch from Almost Makes Perfect.

17. DIY a pencil holder with a chunk of wood, from The Sweetest Occasion.

18. Grab a roll of cork and try these DIY office organizers.

19. Or what about a basket backpack from Delia Creates?

20. Stumbled upon some unique office organization from an unlikely material.

21. And a way to make brightly colored lunch bags, for back to school and beyond.  

22. Here’s a clever idea for inspiring creativity in kids – a DIY hanging paper roll from The Merrythought. The drawings never have to end!

23. Had to included these shibori lunch bags from Sweet Paul. Probably the most gorgeous lunch bags I’ve seen.

24. Because every kid needs a notebook, here’s an idea for DIY journal covers using leather and wood. Something a little different to display their uniqueness.

25. Make a giant mood board organizer!

26. DIY half moon magnets for hanging fridge art, etc from Almost Makes Perfect.

27. Redecorate a plain basket with this textile-heavy DIY basket storage idea.

28. More mini notebooks, but this time with fun patterns. Learn how to make a notebook with this tutorial.

29. Lastly, use these DIY leather pouches for erasers, pencils, highlighters and more. They’re quick to whip up and can be customized with kids drawings, stickers, and more.

Which back to school craft is your favorite? See anything you might try?!

Need ideas for beach activities with kids year round? And preferably ideas that don’t require lugging around a huge tote of toys? Try these!

Whenever we go to the beach, we bring a specific beach bag, that is stocked with sand toys and a few essentials for creative play. Aside from the sand toys, I almost always bring some kind of paper (like a mini notebook), something to draw with, a couple empty containers, and small scissors. Occasionally, I’ll also bring a watercolor set and some string. And that’s basically it, aside from snacks, sunscreen, and beach towels.

We try to keep it easy, so we can just get going. Sometimes the beach chairs make their way in and sometimes they don’t. But once we get there, we all take some time to do our own thing for a bit. Relaxing for the grownups and sand play for the kiddo.

And then after a while, we’ll all do activities together as a family. We almost always search for rocks and shells or go for a walk. And more recently we started bringing a kite, which has been nice for windy days.

Once we’ve done those couple of things that we so frequently do, we’ll switch it up with some activities outside of our typical beach routine. If you’re searching for something like that to do too, here’s a list of creative beach ideas to try with your family…

Fun activities at the beach (for kids)

1. Beach tic-tac-toe

Use shells and pebbles as Xs and Os and draw a grid in the sand. And maybe save some of the shells you find to make some seashell crafts at home later as well.

2. Ocean potion

Set up a pretend lab using cups or jars and natural ingredients like seaweed, crushed shells, sand, saltwater, and flower petals. Kids can mix potions with a stick and give them magical powers and silly names.

3. Sand kitchen

Set up a pretend beach restaurant with seaweed salad, shell soup, and sand smoothies.

4. Nature portraits

Collect shells, seaweed, rocks, and driftwood to create a portrait of a person and have the rest of the family guess who each portrait is supposed to be.

5. Shell painting

Bring a small set of non-toxic paints or food coloring and brushes to decorate shells on-site.

6. Float your boat

Make tiny rafts or sail boats out of sticks, leaves, shells, etc. Decorate them with flags, and set them afloat in shallow pools or tide streams. You may need some string and scissors for this one.

7. Beach scavenger hunt

Make a checklist of things to find: something smooth, something spiky, something green, something shaped like a heart, etc. Or just grab one of my kid scavenger hunt printables and it’s done for you.

8. Cloud acting

Lie on towels and look up at the sky. What do the clouds look like? Are they fluffy or wispy? Do they move fast or slow? Do they look like anything you recognize? Can you act out a few of the clouds you see and mimic their movement or the way they take up space?

9. Natural sand dyeing

Bring powdered food coloring or beetroot/ turmeric and let kids experiment dyeing small patches of sand using water and color. Watch how the colors spread and mix. This one is probably the most ambitious on the list, since it involves remembering to bring a very specific thing. So, we haven’t tried this one yet.

10. Beach ring toss

Search for 3-5 pieces of driftwood or sticks and poke them into the sand, for a game of ring toss. Pool rings work great for the rings for this one. Or make your own with some cardboard cut into ring shapes (wrap tape around it to give it a little more weight).

11. DIY nature brushes

Create paint brushes from sticks and natural materials like sea grass, feathers, and spongy seaweed. Then ‘paint’ in the sand or on rocks with seawater. You may need some string for this one.

12. Saltwater watercolor

Bring watercolor paper and let kids paint using brushes dipped in seawater. Does the salt water add an interesting textures? Try it out and see for yourself.

13. Sand stamps

Make a stamped work of art by creating imprints in the sand using shells, toys, hands, or even flip-flop soles with interesting patterns.

14. Sand stencil spray art

Make homemade paper stencils (like seashells, turtles, or initials), place them on the sand, and use a spray bottle with colored water to “paint” the designs on the beach. Etsy also has some cute kids stencils as well, if you don’t wanna make your own.

15. Shell rubbings

Use blank notebook pages or thin tracing paper to create little shell rubbings from the shells you spot on the beach. Crayons and colored pencils work the best for rubbings like this.

16. Rock balancing challenge

Find smooth stones and stack them into cool sculptures. This activity is great for patience and coordination.

17. Sand animation

This is the only beach activity that involves screen time, but I think it’s a good one to include because it produces some really great (creative) results. Use a phone or tablet to film a stop-motion animation in the sand. For example, move a series of items around in the sand (likes shells, rocks, stick people, etc) to tell a story of your day at the beach. It helps to have a little tripod for this one, or at least something to rest your phone or tablet on. And leave the video rolling the whole time to avoid changing the placement. Once all the ‘moves’ have been complete, its ready for editing.

Have your own creative activities to add to the list? I’d love to hear what you do as a family when you’re at the beach.

 

 

Monster Truck Board Game

Monster Trucks are so much fun to watch as they racing around or traverse crazy terrain. With such a fun theme, kids will enjoy playing this easy to prepare Monster Truck Board Game.

To Prepare

This Monster Truck Board Game is easy to prepare, just print out the pack and join the two pages of the board together.

 

These pages can be glued together or paste them side by side onto a large sheet of cardboard or even laminate them together or separately. Then tape them together on the back side.

 

There are also games pieces included that I recommend cutting out and laminating for durability. You could also use counters, markers or mini trucks toys if you have some.

 

There is one dice included that only has the number of monster trucks on it. To read this die, children will need to be able to count the number of trucks on the face they roll.

 

If you have younger children, there is another die that has the pictures as well as the number on each square.

 

These die are easy to make, just cut out and glue together on the parts shown. You could also use your own dice.

 

To Play

Now the fun begins!

 

To play, roll the dice and move the number of squares. If there is writing on the box, read it and do what it says.

 

The first one to the end of the game board wins!