|
Tons
of Fun In May
If April
showers brought you down,
these May holidays will lift you up!
By Deborah Shelton,
the author of The
Five Minute Parent:
Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones
Get out your
calendar and a nice bold pen and make note of these
fun activities
to do with your kids! Each one is a
memory
in the making!
National
Barbeque Month
* Fire up the grill and invite family and friends over for a
backyard barbeque.
* Host a barbeque contest: Invite guests to bring their own
special BBQ goody. Bake a fresh pie as the prize for the
winner.
* Keep the mess off your clothes with your own BBQ apron.
Customize a plain apron with iron-on photos, fabric paint,
handprints and other designs.
National
Mime Month
* Assemble the family for the ultimate pantomime game:
Charades!
* Challenge yourself and others to remain silent for one
hour. Absolutely no talking! Do you think you can do it?
* Learn American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with
your hands instead of your voice.
National
Photo Month
* Give each family member a disposable camera and snap
pictures of anything that strikes your fancy: cool buildings
in the neighborhood; animals; funny signs; and even your
brother sticking his tongue out at you. The best part? This
holiday lasts all month!
* Show off your talents at a "gallery opening."
Display photos on a clothesline strung across a wall,
propped against windows, or standing on plate racks.
* Shop at garage sales to find inexpensive frames and albums
to preserve your photos. Decorate plain frames with fresh
paint, flat marbles, gem stones, glitter, puzzle pieces,
bottle caps or other small "found" objects.
Cinco
de Mayo (May 5)
* Celebrate this festive holiday by inviting family and
friends over for a potluck fiesta! Younger children can help
by mixing salsa ingredients and making yummy cheese
burritos.
* Make maracas for your guests by painting plastic film
canisters red, green and white; then cut a slit in the
bottom of the canisters (a grown-up's job) and slide a Popsicle
stick into the opening. Fill the canisters with popcorn
kernels and replace the cap.
No
Socks Day (May 8)
* Free your feet! Leave the socks in your dresser drawer and
feel the coolness of floor tile and the warmth and fuzziness
of carpet.
* Put your socks to fun use. Make an entire family of sock
puppets from orphan socks.
* Create your own beanbag toss game. Fill the toe end of a
sock with uncooked beans or rice. Knot the open end closed.
Write point numbers on squares of paper, and spread the
squares on the ground. To earn points, gently toss the
beanbags to land on the paper squares.
Mother's
Day (May 11)
* Show Mom or Grandma your love and appreciation with a Fond
Memories Jar. Fill a glass Mason jar with small index cards
folded in half. On each card, write a special memory you
have of her, or something about her that you love.
* The best things in life are free. This year, honor Mom by
giving her a soothing foot massage at home. When she's
relaxed, pamper her even more by brushing her hair.
* Visit an online auction to buy an autographed book written
by Mom's favorite author.
National
Limerick Day (May 12)
* Make up your own silly limericks in a limerick-writing
contest. Invite your funniest friends to participate.
* Record all of the limericks into a spiral notebook and
continue to add to it. Keep the notebook handy for when you
or a friend are feeling down and need a couple of laughs.
National
Hamburger Week (May
11-17)
* Make tiny bagel burgers to snack on. Use miniature bagels
as buns and make extra small hamburger patties.
* Start a new family tradition: Pick a night each week to
have a Hamburger Hang-Out Night. Put on your pajamas and
make a batch of burgers. Use this time as an opportunity to
talk about things that happened during the week. Why not
discuss weird dreams that you've had throughout the week?
Circus
Day (May 19)
* Celebrate the day with an animal walk parade! Turn on your
favorite upbeat music, then walk and dance the way your
favorite animal would. Have a video camera on hand to
capture the laughs.
* No circus is complete without wild animals. Your dog can
"speak", roll over, play dead, catch a Frisbee,
and even jump through hoops.
* A circus just isn't a circus without clowns! Paint each
other's faces, make your hair look crazy and act silly for
the entire day.
Memorial
Day (May 26)
* Show your patriotism with USA sun visors! First, cut the
center out of a paper plate, leaving the rim intact. Color
one side of the rim with red crayon. Then, cut a visor shape
from blue construction paper and glue it to the red rim. Cut
star shapes out of white paper and glue them onto the blue
visor. Patriotic and practical!
* Don't forget to honor the true meaning of this day by
paying your respects at memorials, and explaining to your
children what this day of remembrance is all about.
|
About the Author:
Deborah Shelton is the author of The Five Minute Parent:
Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones.
Visit
The Five Minute Parent for fun rainy-day activities,
family
links, and a free email newsletter filled with craft
ideas,
guest articles, contests and so much more!
http://www.fiveminuteparent.com
|
