Heather Riggleman

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Rainbow Rice and 15 More Toddler Activities (Nebraska.TV News)

January 12, 2015 By Heather

Rainbow Rice and 15 More Toddler Activities (Nebraska.TV News)

“There’s only so much rolling a ball I can take, what other activities are there for toddlers these days?” My friend Marylyn asked me early one morning while we were prepping for a news segment. Gosh…it’s been a LONG time since my kids were ‘littles’. My youngest since six. SIX! But I still remember the days of pans banging, bottom cupboards and draws spilled out on the floor and blocks every where. 

Even those activities get a little boring so I made a list of my favorite activities that kept my kids busy. The best part is most of these are learning and sensory activities designed to keep their attention. The rainbow rice is one my kids loved best. It’s easy to make and can be created into other activities besides a treasure bin!  

Marylyn this post is just for you! 

Rainbow Rice 

An easy DIY sensory bin your toddler will go crazy for! 

Rainbow Rice Heather Riggleman

Sensory activities are so much fun for little ones who are just learning to interact with the world around them. From different textures to fun colors, this activity is awesome! 

You’ll Need:

Bin with lid (large enough to fit your rice)

Lots of white rice—4-10 pounds

Large plastic zipper bags

White Distilled Vinegar

Food coloring in 3-6 colors

Treasures and play things (measuring cups, funnel, balls, jewels, creatures, etc.

What to do:

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First, divide your rice into equal portions and pour into your zipper bags. I chose to have 4 different colors of rice, so I used 4 different bags.

Next, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 5-10 drops of food coloring to each bag of rice. Remove most of the air and seal the bag shut. Gently, shake and turn the bag until all of the rice is colored. Add more food coloring until you reach the color you like.

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Pour rice onto wax paper and allow to air dry, usually about an hour.

Once the rice is dry, add your treasures and play things and let your little one go to town! Let her play with it on the floor; this is will make clean up a cinch. Just sweep it up. 

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Other Activities 

1. Cardboard Tubes and Pom Poms 

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2. Soapy Jars

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3. Cloud Dough

cloudough

 Cloud dough is a simple activity! To make a batch, combine 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of oil. Then mix with your hands for 3-5 minutes. When dough starts to sticks better, you’ll know it’s ready. Next, let your toddler go to town with a toy or just her hands. 

4. Water Play with a Whisk

Materials 

Bowl 

Water

Wisk

Hand your toddler a bowl filled with just a little water and a wisk and let her go to town.

5. Flashlight Fun

Materials

  • Scissors
  • Uninflated balloons (one red, one yellow, and one blue)
  • Flashlight
  • Rubber bands

Directions

  1. Cut the rounded ends from the balloons.
  2. Stretch one balloon end over a flashlight and hold it in place with a rubber band.
  3. In a darkened room, have your child shine the flashlight on the ceiling or a wall to see the colorful light.
  4. Change colors.
  5. Layer balloons to see how mixing the colors creates new ones: yellow over blue to make green, red over yellow to make orange, and so on.
  6. If you have three flashlights, place a different color on each.
  7. Shine two or more colors on the same spot to create a new color.

6. Ice Trains

ice-play-and-train-moulds-simpleplay

7. Spaghetti Potion.

 Cook up some spaghetti (or even better, use leftovers), add some color to it to make spaghetti potion.

8. Slim Gel

A slimy gel bag is a squishy sensory delight for toddlers!

9. Flour

 Just flour. Let your toddler explore flour freely.

10. Water and Flour Piping.

Add water to the flour and put in a baggy for some flour & water piping.

11. Play with Pasta

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12. Googly Eyes

Add hair gel and some googly eyes to a large bag and let your toddler have all the fun! 

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13. Shaken Ball Art 

14. DIY Finger Paint

Finger paint for toddlers can be as simple as giving her a pudding cup and letting her finger paint on paper. Other ideas include DIY Finger Paint with corn starch. Visit At The Butterfly Ball for the recipe. 

15. Flarp 

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Filed Under: Crafts, DIY Activities, Kids, Nebraska TV, Sanity Savers, Slider Tagged With: activities for my kids, Kids, kids activities, Moms, Sensory Activities for Toddlers Leave a Comment

25 ideas to keep your kids busy

June 17, 2013 By Heather

25 ideas to keep your kids busy

It’s summer! Love the warm weather, loathe the phrase, “I’m bored.” Between Pinterest and other fun sites, I’ve put together a list of crafts and fun things to keep your sanity and keep them busy!

1. Carboard Cars by Kifli es Levendula 

How cute is this toilet paper tube car craft from kifli es levendula? Start saving your empty rolls now, so you and your kids can make a garage full of these adorable autos. Simply paint the cardboard cylinders in bright colors and let dry, then cut out and paint (or color) circular “wheels” from a cardboard box and attach to the tube with brass-plated round head fasteners. Use scissors or an x-acto knife to cut a rectangular slot on the top of the tube and push the flap back to create a seat. Then let your kids decorate their vehicles with numbers, chevron stripes…or whatever strikes their fancy. Add a masking tape starting line and you’ve got the makings of a race!

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2. Icecube painting Fill your ice trays with water and a couple drops of food coloring. Once frozen, send your kids outside with sheets of white paper.

3. Camp in. Too hot to go outside. Set up a tent indoors, better yet pretend you’re camping the beach. Lay out towels, make s’mores and let the fun begin.

4.  Project runway. Have your kids dress up their stuffed animals and create a “runway” in your living room with pillows. Crank some music and let those stuffed pups stuff their stuff.

5. Bake/Cook: Experiment with recipes and find ones your child can learn to do on their own.

6. Decorate Flip Flops. Load up on your child’s favorite color of beads, sequins and flowers. Then create masterpieces on their fliplops with a hot glue gun.

7. Change Search. Have the kids comb through the house looking for extra pennies, nickels etc. Then with the change take them to get their favorite flavor of icecream.

8. Make homemade popsicle. Fill the blender with their favorite fruit, add 1 to 3 Tablespoons of Agave Nector and blend! Pour into trays and serve when frozen.

9. Drive in theater. Have your create cars out of large old cardboard boxes.

10. Fly Kites

11. Catch Lighting Bugs

12. Hunt for bugs. Give each child a jar and a list of bugs to find.

13. Create a memory Jar. Give each child a set of permanent markers and a canning jar. Let them decorate it and then each day they can fill in with an example of a memory they created for that day. At Supper, discuss what each child has in her jar.

14. FREE Month of movies: I always recommend grabbing a free month of Netflix.  During the Summer I allow the kids to watch more tv than during the school year.  Sometimes we watch 1 movie per day.  Or if we have a “pj party” we may watch a few.  I love free, so our first month was completely free.  I chose to continue and pay $7.99 per month.  Well worth it especially in the summer months.

15. Make and Race Soap Boats. This one is from A Girl and a Glue Gun

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16. Freeze N Smash. Fill a bowl full of water and several small toys like the kind you can find in a dollar bin or from Happy Meals. Freeze it and let the kids go to town with hammers smashing the ice to free their toys.

17. Make Bangles. I found this project at 1825.  Purchase oven bake clay and have your kids twist, mash and mix different colors to make their bangles. Then bake the bangles at 275 degrees for 15 minutes. Let them cool completely.

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18. Glowsticks in the Tub: Make bathtime more fun with glowsticks, toss a few in and let their imaginations take over.

19. Summer Sponge Bombs. You’ll need 6 colorful sponges and two rubber bands to make 2 Water Sponge Bombs. Click the photo for directions.

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20. Backyard Scrabble. This one has been by far the one my kids love most. Create a scrabble board using your backyard and make the pieces from cardboard boxes.

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Filed Under: Crafts, DIY Activities, Kids, Slider Tagged With: crafts, kids activities Leave a Comment

Making Bouncy Balls at Home

May 7, 2012 By Heather

Making Bouncy Balls at Home

I just had to share our little adventure with you with my ‘pinspiration’ fun and  found a fantastic recipe to make bouncy balls at home. Since it looked like so much fun and we wanted to attempt it at home, besides the usual playdough and fingerpaint recipes! 

Gather these Items

  • borax (found in the laundry section of most grocery stores)
  • cornstarch
  • white glue (e.g., Elmer’s glue – makes an opaque ball) or blue or clear school glue (makes a translucent ball)
  • warm water
  • food coloring (optional)
  • measuring spoons
  • spoon or craft stick to stir the mixture
  • 2 small plastic containers for mixing
  • zip-lock plastic baggie

Directions:

  1. Label one cup ‘Borax Solution’ and the other cup ‘Ball Mixture’.
  2. Pour 2 tablespoons warm water and 1/2 teaspoon borax powder into the cup labeled ‘Borax Solution’. Stir the mixture to dissolve the borax. Add food coloring, if desired.
  3. Pour 1 tablespoon of glue into the cup labeled ‘Ball Mixture’. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the borax solution you just made and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Do not stir. Allow the ingredients to interact on their own for 10-15 seconds and then stir them together to fully mix. Once the mixture becomes impossible to stir, take it out of the cup and start molding the ball with your hands.
  4. The ball will start out sticky and messy, but will solidify as you knead it.
  5. Once the ball is less sticky, go ahead and bounce it!
  6. You can store your plastic ball in a sealed ziploc bag when you are finished playing with it.
  7. Don’t eat the materials used to make the ball or the ball itself. Wash your work area, utensils, and hands when you have completed this activity.

And here’s a few shots of our adventure.

Elijah adding the glue to his mixture

Mixing the ingredients

Rolling the balls

And here it is. Tori’s didn’t turn out as well. She dumped in extra borax. And remember, the more food coloring, the brighter the ball.

Store in plastic baggies when not in use.

Filed Under: DIY Activities, Family Togetherness, Nebraska TV, Sanity Savers Tagged With: crafts, DIY with kids, kids activities, NTV, Sanity Savers Leave a Comment

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