It’s winter and we’re all stuck inside either because of the snow or the cold. If your kids get stir-crazy, you’re not alone! But before your kids get blue (and you do, too), try whipping up these two fun activities with items you probably already have on hand. The best part? Your kids get to eat their activity when they’re done to clean up the mess. Say what?!
Why You Need This Activity
This super easy activity will solve your problem of your kids’ most dreaded complaints: I’m bored and I’m hungry.
Everyday when Charlotte gets home from school, she is still amped up, wants to do something to burn more energy (why do kids never run out of it is beyond me), and is hungry. Colin always follows her lead. I’m usually making dinner by the time she gets home, so yesterday I got smart and had this activity ready to go as soon as she got home.
Your Materials
All you need is four things:
- Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Straws
- three crayons (yellow, orange, and green)
- paper
- and craft string.
My kids love all of these things, so I always have them in my house.
The Set Up
First, I cut up some twine/craft string into two long pieces (about 24 inches each) and two short pieces (about 10 inches). One piece for a necklace and piece for a bracelet.
Then with the three crayons I had on hand, I drew three circles big enough to hold sorted Veggie Straws. I used our white craft paper that we use on their kid table in the play room. Veggie Straws have three color variations of green, orange, and yellow which makes it super easy to create an activity like this.
I then filled two bowls with the Veggie Straws and snack time and play time was ready to go!
I gave Charlotte and Colin very little directions: string the necklace in a color pattern and then sort the rest of the Veggie Straws into its designated circle. Charlotte also counted the number of straws in each circle once she was done. You could do a few things if your child is older: draw out numbers with a simple addition problem and have them use the straws as a manipulative to figure out the answer, have them count batches into sets of 10, or practice writing out numbers and pairing the correct number of straws with the corresponding number.
WHAT IT HELPS
This activity helps and reinforces a few things: fine motor skills, math skills, and sensory skills.
It’s perfect for your younger kids with a bit of an age gap; Charlotte and Colin are 3.5 years apart, and they both loved doing this together. Colin mostly ate all of the Veggie Straws but he tried to help Charlotte sort. Charlotte snacked while she sorted and strung her necklace and bracelet together, too.
Why We Love Veggie Straws
Veggie Straws have 30% less fat than chips, with no artificial flavors or preservatives. Veggie Straws are delightfully free of genetically modified ingredients, have 0mg cholesterol and 0g trans fat per serving. They’re also certified Kosher and gluten-free!
Colin and Charlotte are obsessed with them, and I don’t feel guilty feeding this to them during snack time, travel time, and everywhere in between. I eat them all the time, too, because if they’re made of vegetables
You can purchase Veggie Straws at your local Walmart in the chips aisle! I use their grocery pickup option making it easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Have a good one, friends! Stay warm!
