Chick Day Playgroup

My kids just love chicks! My 2 year old doesn't say too much, but she says "chick" and "peep" if that is any indication. So, it was about time that we did something for playgroup to spread the love!We started things off with the "Chicken Dance." It was a great version of the song and the kids loved it! Heck, I loved it, too! It was "Hear Me Sing, Watch Me Dance" performed by Mar.The song and dance got everyones attention, so while they were listening we quickly herded them over the the table to do the craft for the day. Pom-pom chicks in a paper bag nest! All you do is scrunch the sides of the paper bag down, glue some twigs on it, and then glue the chicks inside. The chicks are as easy to make as they look. A triangle of orange felt and two googly eyes on a 2" pom-pom.Then, while the glue dried, we read a couple of our favorite chick stories and sang some songs. The two songs that I found were: Five and five eggs (Hold up hands)That makes ten Sitting on top is mother hen (Fold one hand over the other) Crackle crackle crackle (Clap hands three times) What do I see (Fingers around eyes) Ten fluffy chickens (Hold up ten fingers) As yellow as can be! Said the first little chick with a wiggly little squirm, "I wish I could find A fat little worm." Said the second little chick, with an odd little shrug, "I wish I could find A fat little bug." Said the third little chick, With a sharp little squeal, "I wish I could find Some nice corn meal." Said the fourth little chick with a sigh of grief, "I wish I could find A little green leaf." Said the fifth little chick, With a faint little moan, "I wish I could find A wee gravel stone." "See here,” said mother hen, In a little garden patch, "If you want any breakfast, Just come here and scratch!" After that, we moved back over to the table to help our chicks scratch for their food! I made cupcakes with chocolate icing and green coconut for our grass.Then, the kids put sprinkles on their cupcakes and helped their chicks scratch for food in the grass! We ended things with a coloring page of a chick hatching out of an egg. All in all, a good day!

Snow Day Playgroup

I've actually done a Snow Day twice for playgroup now. The first time we made marshmallow snowmen for our craft. We put frosting in between the marshmallows to hold them together but it didn't work that well. I would've used toothpicks but didn't since we have such a young group. I also brought Pull-n-Peels to use as scarves for the snowmen.

Then, we had a marshmallow snowball fight! Always, always, always a success! I've done this at two different playgroups (one with a really small group and one with a large group), at home for a family activity, and once when my son had a friend over for a play date. It doesn't matter how many or how few people you have, it's always fun!

The second time we had a Snow Day playgroup, I skipped the marshmallow snowmen and we made paper plate snowmen instead. I brought tape, little black pom-poms, glue, and big & small paper plates. This was fun and not as messy as the frosting!

Christmas Party Playgroup

For our playgroup Christmas party we had a few different activities. I made these little "Jingle Bells" (with popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and bells) that we passed out to the kids so we could sing some Christmas songs. Can you guess what the first song was that we sang?Our craft was making Christmas tree ornaments out of homemade playdough! I added a tiny bit of mint extract to the playdough so it smelled better than a big handful of salt!

Roll out the dough, cut out your shapes with the cookie cutters, poke a hole with a straw for the string, and then let it dry for a day or two on a piece of wax paper. Merry Christmas!

American Indian Playgroup

November is American Indian Heritage Month so I wanted to do something to celebrate. Plus, it would be something new and different for the kids!I found a couple of books that I thought would be fun but also teach something to the kids.I also planned a dream catcher craft for the kids to do. We ended up having a fairly young group though so it turned into a craft for the moms! Oh well, I think they all enjoyed it!
And to top it off, a coloring page to go with the book The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses.

Carnival Playgroup

With winter coming/here, we have to keep playgroup interesting so we don't go crazy from being indoors too much. What better way to spice things up than to take the kids to a carnival?We had a bunch of different stations with activities for the kids to participate in. Pin the nose on the clown was a simple and fun game to start off with!We had a fishing game with bouncy balls for the prize which the kids absolutely loved.I was in charge of a bean bag toss game. The object of the game was to toss bean bags and flip over three popcorn buckets to win a prize!Surprise, surprise, the prize was a bag of popcorn!We also had one mom in charge of balloon animals/other objects!And another mom in charge of face painting!

To finish everything off we had a parade set to some fun carnival music. We asked the kids to dress up in a crazy outfit. Another mom also brought a big tub of dress up clothes to add a little more fun to it!

I wish I could take all the credit for this carnival, but I just helped with my one game. Kim, if you ever read this, you're amazing!

Fall Nature Walk Playgroup

This week for playgroup, we went on a Fall Nature Walk.I brought bags to collect all the fall "treasures."When we finished the walk we glued all of the treasures to the bag.

The kids had a great time and when my son got home from school and heard about what we did, we had to go on another walk so he could collect his own fall treasures!

Christmas in July Playgroup

The first game we played for our Christmas in July playgroup (after letting the kids run around for a while) was Christmas Kisses. It's played like Hot Potato except that when the Christmas music stops everybody blows kisses at the person holding the presents. It's actually supposed to be played with Mistletoe but I couldn't find any in July, imagine that!

Next, we played Bingo. I found a website (listed on my sidebar) that does custom-made Bingo cards! Easy and fun, what else can you ask for when planning something for a big group of kids?? I didn't have prizes for, we just played until everyone got a chance to call out, "Bingo!" so that nobody felt left out.

And last but not least, we played Decorate the Tree. I made a big Christmas tree out of green and brown poster board and outlined the summer "ornaments" on the tree. Then, each child took a turn and put the ornament where it was supposed to go!

Butterfly Playgroup

For playgroup we had a popsicle day! One of the moms brought popsicles for all the kids and I planned a craft to do with popsicle sticks!There was a little preparation involved. Before going I had to hot glue the pipe cleaners onto the popsicles sticks. The picture is a little dark, but you just fold the pipe cleaner in half and only glue about an inch onto the stick.Then, all the kids colored their "butterfly wings" (coffee filters). After the filter is colored, you pinch it in the middle and lay it on top of the pipe cleaner, fold the un-glued part over the wings, and twist the top of the pipe cleaner together to make the antennas!

Before we made our butterflies, the kids drew flowers on the sidewalk with chalk. Then, all the butterflies got to fly around exploring the flowers!

I was also planning on having some facts about butterflies so we could talk a little bit more about them and learn a few things, but I didn't have time to put that part together. None of the kids minded though, they just had fun playing!

Space Camp Playgroup

I think I may have mentioned my son's interest/obsession with space, so I planned a whole playgroup based on space. It was so much fun and the kids loved it!I made these NASA "badges" for all of the little astronauts to wear.

The first activity we did was How Do Rockets Fly? Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the actual demonstration, but it was so awesome! All of the kids freaked out, I really want to do this one again!Next, we played Musical Planets. I've done this one before at a birthday party and it's always a lot of fun. I have a CD that plays songs that talks about the sun, the moon, and each of the planets. When I stop the music, I ask one of the kids to identify which planet they're standing on. Then, using one of our many space books, I show an actual picture of the planet and tell the kids several interesting facts about each planet. The game ends once we make it through the whole solar system!After that we played Pin The Astronaut on the Moon. We have a young group of kids in our playgroup, so I made this game pretty simple. I drew an outline for each of the pieces that I had and then, taking turns, the kids had to find where each item was supposed to go. We ended up having a few more children than I thought we would so I didn't have enough pieces, if I did this again I would also have the moon itself be a piece to play with!

Last but not least, a fun song to sing with everyone:

Four Little Astronauts (Hold up fingers as rhyme indicates.)

Four little astronauts winking at me,

One blasts off, now there are three.

Three little astronauts with nothing to do,

One blasts off, now there are two.

Two little astronauts afraid of the sun,

One blasts off, now there is one.

One little astronaut alone is no fun,

He blasts off, now there are none!

Nature Walk Playgroup

For a fun summer playgroup activity, a couple weeks ago we went on a nature walk. During the summer we usually just meet at a park for playgroup, so this mixed things up a little without having to stray too far from the norm.We made construction paper binoculars by cutting a piece of construction paper in half, rolling it up and taping it, then taping the two rolled up halves together. Then, using a hole punch, we made one hole on each side and tied a piece of yarn through each hole. I had printed off a nature walk check-list and we went on a walk and the kids had to use their binoculars to find all of the items on their check-list. The kids really enjoyed it and it was nice for everyone to stretch their legs on the walk!

St. Patrick's Day

Here's what I did for playgroup this week (but it could also be used as a fun family activity) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and the kids (hopefully) learned a little something, too! We started off by talking about what rainbows are and how they're made. I did a demonstration by putting a glass full of water on a window sill and a...

White poster board on the floor right in front of it. Make sure the sun is shining brightly through the window or I doubt this would work as well! The sun shines through the water and creates a rainbow that the kids can see. You could also pull out the crayons and let the kids trace and color the rainbow onto the poster board or paper that you're using.

Then I asked the kids what they could find at the end of the rainbow on St. Patrick's Day which led us right into a scavenger hunt! (My latest obsession...they're so much fun!)

The hunt led everyone outside where there was a pot of gold hiding behind a tree! It was so nice out that we all stayed outside and enjoyed the chocolate coins and sunshine. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Valentine's Day Playgroup

I love games, it's what I enjoy planning the most, so I always make sure to have at least one for any party or group gathering that I plan. The preparation for this game was so easy to turn into two activities so it really worked out.
Depending on the size of the group, cut out hearts and write out different actions on each heart. You'll have to get really creative if you have a large group! The first activity you could use them for would be:

Find the Hearts
Hide all the hearts in a separate room before everyone arrives. Then, when it's time to start the games, have all the kids lined up at the door. Once they're ready open the door and let them search until they find all of them!

If you have an older group you could play:

Heart Scavenger Hunt
Have clues written down (either hidden with the hearts or on a separate piece of paper) that lead the kids to find each heart.

After collecting all the hearts I separated them into two bowls and we were ready to play:

Follow Your Heart
Divide the kids up into two teams and the put the bowls ot the opposite side of the room. On your mark the first child on each team runs to the bowl, takes a heart and does the action while returning to their team. Once they get back the next person in line runs to the bowl...etc. The first team to finish all their hearts wins! It's also a really fun game for parents to play alongside their own children, especially if you have younger kids in the group.