#169: Visit Via Webcam

Do you know someone who lives far away? Use a webcam to visit your cousins, grandparents, friends, aunts, uncles or even your parents.



Make this a family activity: Visit with family.

This activity promotes staying in touch with people.

#168: Rain Paint

Let the rain paint you a picture!




Drop food colouring on a piece of cardboard or paper plate. Place the cardboard or plate in the rain. The rain will splash the food colouring, making it spread as well as make the colours mix. When the picture is as mixed as you want, pull it inside and let it dry.

Hint: if it is raining hard, the rain will splash the food colouring--be careful, it stains clothes.


Make this a family activity: Everyone makes a rain painting. Frame them and hang them on your walls.

This activity promotes creativity.

#167: Catch Butterflies

Let's go outside and catch butterflies!




When catching butterflies and moths, you must be gentle. They have a layer of special dust that coats their wings that is needed for their health and ability to fly.


This activity promotes curiosity and learning about flying insects.

#166: Watch Fireworks

Happy birthday, Canada! It's Canada Day today! Let's watch the fireworks display!




If you live in Canada, find out if your local city or town is having a fireworks display tonight. If you are in the United States, wait until July 4th (Independence Day) to see where and when the displays will be.

As well, at this time of year, sometimes there are fireworks competitions. This is amazing to see as fireworks specialists pull out their best fireworks and coordinate their fireworks to music. It is worth watching.


Make this a family activity: Gather up your family and head out to watch the fireworks display together.

This activity promotes appreciation for one's country and admiration for the visual display put on by fireworks specialists.

#165: Build a Sandcastle

Build a sandcastle. To build a sandcastle, you will need damp sand that can be packed into a container or can be shaped by hand into different castle parts.



Hint: Shells, grass, sticks and leaves can be used to decorate your sandcastle.


Make this a family activity: Have the whole family work together to build the castle.

This activity promotes planning and designing.

#164: Make a Birdhouse

To make a birdhouse, you will need some building supplies. You can find these at a hardware store. Sometimes hardware stores also have birdhouse kits that include all the pieces you need to make a birdhouse--already cut--along with instructions.



If you are feeling creative and want to build a birdhouse without a kit, you can create your own birdhouse plans or use the ones on this free website.

When placing your birdhouse, try and find a place where cats won't pester the birds. Birds prefer to build their nests in areas that are not really busy. That means a quieter corner of your yard is better than a place where you walk by a lot. As well, make sure the birdhouse is secured to the place you choose to hang it so a strong wind doesn't knock it down.

I hope the birds enjoy your birdhouse for many years to come.


Make this a family activity: Have the whole family work together to select the birdhouse plan, build the birdhouse as well as find a good location for the birdhouse.

This activity promotes construction skills as well as caring for the Earth's creatures.

#163: Pick 20

Are you stuck in the car for hours and bored out of your mind? Play the car ride game, Pick 20.

20

Pick something, then try to find 20 of them.

What did you pick? Red cars? Waterfalls? Semis? Yellow signs? Trees? Traffic Lights? Minivans?


Make this a family activity: Everyone picks 20 of something to find. See who finds 20 of their items first, or work together to find 20 of the same thing.

This activity promotes visual identification skills.