16.
PONGS AND TONGS
Buy a bunch of colorful Ping-Pong balls, and a pair of salad tongs that little hands can manage. After your child opens the Pongs and Tongs game, show him or her how to play by putting the balls in a bowl of water and then picking them up with the tongs. It's a little like bobbing for apples.
17.
TREASURE HUNTS!
Set this up to lead to a holiday gift, then use it over and over again throughout the year. On index cards, draw freehand, glue pictures from a magazine, or print computer-generated pictures of things in your home. Make about a half a dozen for youngest players and a dozen for kids ages five or older. Draw on each clue a directional arrow to indicate on top of, under, beside, etc. Wrap up the first card to give to your child as the first clue. Hide the second clue near the item pictured on the first card. Hide the third clue near the item pictured on the second card, and so on, until all the clues are hidden. Make sure to hide a treasure (a gift, a coin, small toy, food treat, etc.) near the final item. Send your child on the hunt with the first clue! You may need to help a young or first-time hunter "read" the clues and follow the directions, but soon, she or he will become an expert.18.
COLOR AND SHAPES GO FISHIN' GAME
To create a game where you child will "fish" for colors and shapes, first cut paper of various colors into different shapes. Consider laminating them, or pressing them between two pieces of clear contact paper. Glue paper clips to one side of each piece. Make a fishing pole by tying a string to a stick, and attaching a magnet to the end of the string.19.
OBSTACLE COURSE
Wrap up the materials for an obstacle course, or go ahead and set it up as a surprise. To make a course, create a path of things to give your child a chance to run and jump off some steam: a hula-hoop on the floor to jump into, colored masking tape in zigzag lines on the floor to walk along, hurdles made from blocks to jump over, felt squares and one or two squares of bubble wrap taped to the floor for stepping stones, large boxes lined up in a series on their sides to crawl through, etc. Mix all of this with pillows and cushions from your home to jump over for a grand course!20.
TUBES AND BALLS
Collect colorful scarves, a wrapping paper or other long, cardboard tube with diameter of about 3 or four inches, and lightweight balls (Ping-Pong, foam, whiffle) and toy cars that are small enough to fit inside the tube, but big enough to not be a choking hazard. Cover the tube with colorful contact paper. To play Tubes and Balls, tie the tube at an angle to your stairway banister or the side of a clothesbasket with the scarves, and then have your child put the balls and cars in the top of the tube and watch them come out the other end. This is a real pleaser for the youngest kids.21.
