#297: Invite Friends for a Sleepover

Stay up all night! Well, maybe not. Invite friends over to stay the night. Camp out in the living room in sleeping bags, watch movies, play games and have a few laughs.



Make this a family activity: Friends can't come over? Get your family to have a sleepover camp-out in the living room.

This activity promotes independence and social and hosting skills.

#296: Snorkeling

While it might be a bit cold in the ocean or lake right now, check out the swimming pools. Put on your snorkel gear and check out what the bottom of the pool looks like.


Make this a family activity: See if you can find snorkel gear for the whole family, or take turns.

This activity promotes curiosity, breath control and swimming skills.

#295: Buy Something Strange at a Second Hand Store and Wear it All Day

Take a peek in your local second hand / used clothing store. Is there something strange and wonderful that you would like? Buy it and wear it all day.



Make this a family activity: Everyone picks one thing each and wears it all day. Maybe you could find something that has a theme (like safari hats) and pretend you are all on a safari.

This activity promotes self-expression, free play and creativity.

#294: Make Shadow Puppets / Make Shadow Figures

Shine a light against a wall in a dark or dimly lit room. (You can use a flashlight or lamp.) Hold your hands or body between the light and the wall. You will create a shadow on the wall. See what shapes you can make by moving your body or hands/fingers. Can you make rabbit ears?



Make this a family activity: Put on a shadow play or make up a story to go with your shadows and what they are doing.

This activity promotes creativity and spatial awareness.

#293: Count the Pictures/Paintings in Your House

Look at the walls in your house. Do you have posters, pictures, or paintings on your walls? Count them! You can count pictures that aren't on the walls, too.



Make this a family activity: Everyone counts and sees if everyone got the same number.

This activity promotes math and visual identification skills.

#292: See If Your Name is a Website

Type your name into a search engine and add things like .org, .com., and .ca to it to see if there is a website. For example: JeanOram.com.




Hint: If you type your name directly into your browser's address bar, you could end up going to a ‘bad’ site. Check it out on a search engine first—just to be safe.


Make this a family activity: Check out everyone's names.

This activity promotes global awareness.

#291: Listen to Music

Turn on the radio, mp3 player, CD player, record player, tape deck, or whatever you've got. Listen to the music and see what happens!




Make this a family activity: Get the people in your family to share their favourite music with you.

This activity promotes music appreciation which can improve math abilities.