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May
15
Memorial Day Ideas for Kids
Posted in Teachables, Printables | 1 Comment
First observed in 1868 in honor of Civil War soldiers, Memorial Day these days for those of us who live in the US is often just a day off from work for parents and an opportunity for some family time. As we try to teach our kids an appreciation for those who have served, and are serving our country to ensure our freedom and security, here are some links to teach about the history of the holiday and ideas for observing the day:
Send a care package to a service member through the USO
E-Cards to send to those serving in the Armed Forces
Some Memorial Day wallpapers and links to memorial sites
May
13
Looking for some great coloring sheets? Color Your Own has many different breeds of dogs, cats and horses, as well as farm animals and wildlife to color. There are fairies and holiday pages, and even some dancers to allow the kids to express their creativity. The sheets are all original artwork by the site owner and should provide hours of coloring fun!
May
7
Mother’s Day Crafts for Kids
Posted in Makeables | Leave a Comment
Ready to make something special for Mom for Mother’s Day? FamilyFun.com has some great Mother’s Day craft ideas, as well as some fun card and gift ideas. There are projects for little ones to make, and more complex ideas for the older kids. I love this ABC Book of Mom, and these painted glass vases!
Last year on FreeStuff4Kids, we published a free print and color card for Mom- check it out!
May
3
Have you seen the new Rubik’s Revolution toy? It features 6 addictive, fast-paced electronic games in one. This is not the Rubik’s Cube I grew up with. When I took it out of the package, I was expecting to be able to twist it around like you did with the old ones, but this is actually a completely different toy. The light games get progressively more difficult, and there are multi-player settings as well. The package says it’s for ages 5 and up, but my almost 3 year old really enjoys playing with it, and he can play the simplest game- it’s great for developing coordination.
Ready to get one for free? I have 6 of these to give away - one of which is the micro version that’s on a key chain. Just leave a comment below before May 10, midnight (US Eastern Time)!
(I’m sorry, but I’m only able to ship these to US addresses. Be sure to leave a valid e-mail address so I can contact you!)
Apr
29
Can you believe May Day is this Thursday? This year is just flying by! Some people celebrate May Day by making a small flower-filled basket and leaving it on someone’s doorstep. Celebrate the day by trying this cute May Day craft from Kaboose.com.
What you’ll need:
- 2 Flimsy paper plates
- Construction paper
- Markers or paint, optional
- Scissors
- Decorative scissors, optional
- Glue
- Stapler
- Hole punch
- Ribbon or yarn
How to make it:
- Cut one plate in half. Set aside one half for another project or for another child to use.
- Decorate the outside (bottom) of the plates using markers, paint, construction paper, or whatever you wish. Let dry.
- Staple the circular paper plate and the half plate together, outsides facing out.
- Hole punch two holes in the top of the circular paper plate. (see photo)
- Attach a piece of ribbon or yarn so you can hang the basket on the door handle.
- Create flowers and leaves from construction paper. Glue pieces together.
- Assemble in your basket. Glue in place.
- Early on the morning of May 1st place it on your mother’s bedroom door.
- You can also make more baskets to hang on your neighbor’s door, a friend’s, or anyone special to you.
- Remember, it’s supposed to be a surprise!
Apr
25
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie comes out in theaters three weeks from today, on May 16th, 2008. It’s the sequel to the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, he Witch, and the Wardrobe, and it is based on the wonderful kids book by C.S. Lewis. Click here for a fun Prince Caspian online game!
Apr
21
Free Geography Fun for Kids
Posted in Teachables, Printables, Downloadables, Playables | 1 Comment
Owl and Mouse Educational Software has boatloads of free educational games and activities good for a wide range of ages. My favorite part of their site is the geography - free on-line map puzzles and interactive maps. Whether you’re learning the 50 United States and their capitals or you’re trying to memorize all the countries in Africa, these are a fantastic way to learn and review. Also available on the site are activities to learn letter sounds, and games to learn about medieval life (Castles, Shields, Knights, and Heraldry). Have fun!
Apr
17
If you’re a fan of the Angelina Ballerina books or of the animation series based on the books, check out the Angelina Ballerina website. While there you can learn all about Miss Lily, Sammy, Mrs. Hodgepodge, and the rest of the characters from Angelina’s world. Make sure you visit the fun and games section too to print out coloring pages and stage a ballet!
Apr
14
Check out Sesame Street Workshop for these great free alphabet coloring sheets, perfect for teaching kids their ABCs! Also available are coloring pages to learn numbers and shapes. Have fun!
Apr
11
Easy Microwave Fudge Recipe
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I’ve just recently read the Betsy-Tacy book series for about the billionth time (an exaggeration, but only slightly), and enjoyed them as much as ever. I first read them as kid, but I still love them; like Anne of Green Gables they can be read over and over again by anyone at any age and still work their charm. The first book starts with Betsy meeting Tacy at her fifth birthday and the series continues through Betsy’s elementary and high school years, with Betsy’s wedding in the tenth and final book. If you’ve never read them before, do, they’re fantastic! I remember wishing I could just jump into Betsy’s world, with the Sunday Night Lunch and The Crowd and all the family jokes. In particular, I’m always enthralled by the fudge making parties; every time Betsy and her friends get together they unfailingly make up a pan of fudge. After finishing one of the books the other day I had a craving for chocolate fudge and promptly made a batch. So the next rainy day, or snowy day, or sunny day, or any day when you need something to do, dig up a copy of Betsy-Tacy and make a pan of fudge.
Here’s an easy microwave fudge recipe.
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14-oz can condensed milk
4 T. butter
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt
Line an 8×8 pan with aluminum foil and spray it withe nonstick cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, condensed milk, and butter. Microwave one minute at a time until melted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, then add the vanilla and salt. Stir until the candy is smooth and well-mixed. Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Place the fudge in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours. Once set, cut into 1-inch squares and serve at room temperature. Store excess fudge in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Apr
7
Birthdays are always fun for kids, but what makes them especially fun is receiving free gifts; toys, food, clothes, etc. A free meal is always welcome, so here is a list of restaurants where you can get free stuff for your birthday!
Baskin Robbins - a free scoop of ice cream (who can say no to that?)
Moe’s Southwest Grill - for kids 10 and under, your child will receive a birthday greeting for a free kid’s meal during the week of his or her birthday
Sonic - for kids 13 and under, a birthday greeting for a free Wacky Pack kid’s meal during week of birthday, plus a $1.99 Wacky Pack with the purchase of a combo meal coupon on their 1/2 birthday.
Cold Stone Creamery - a free Cold Stone ice cream creation on your birthday
Bob Evans - for kids 12 and under, a free kid’s meal
Brigham’s - for kids 12 and under, a free kid’s meal including a kids sundae
Denny’s - for kids 10 and under, a free kid’s entree and sundae
Apr
5
Free Soccer Printables For Kids
Posted in Printables | 2 Comments
It’s soccer season! But then it seems like it always is these days. In any case, here are some fun soccer printables to enjoy today.
Apr
3
101 Dalmatians is hands down my favorite Disney cartoon, and has been since I was a kid. I remember driving my siblings crazy watching it over, and over, and over again! I just received the DVD as a gift a couple weeks ago and I can’t wait to watch it again! The 101 Dalmatians website has some fun games to play; Dog-Gone Escape and Twilight Bark (a Simon style memory game with barking dogs instead of colored lights). Also available are some free printable masks with six different character choices.
For more 101 Dalmatians fun check out these free printables.
Anita and puppys coloring page
Pongo and Perdita coloring page
Roger and dalmatians coloring page
Mar
31
Weather Channel Kids!
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The Weather Channel kids! website is a fun, educational website with free fun for kids. Check out the Weather Encyclopedia (in the WeatherED section) for information on flooding, thunderstorms, tornadoes and more cool stuff. The Let’s Play! section as some neat ideas for both outdoor and indoor activities. Do you know what advection fog is? What about the ionosphere and the intertropical convergence zone? Visit the weather Glossary to find out, strike up a conversation on the subject with a sibling or parent, and watch their face when you start talking about mammatocumulus!
Mar
28
Spider-Man is one of my favorite superheros (he definitely has some sweet powers!). Here are some Spiderman coloring pages for your enjoyment.
Doc Ock - hands down the coolest villain of the Spiderman comics.
Mar
24
I have another fantastic website for you to check out today! ActivityTV is a fun website with boatloads of free step-by-step activity videos. There are 15 different categories to chose from, including Cooking, Jewelry, Paper Airplanes, Juggling, and Origami; with multiple videos in each section. Each activity is labeled under one of three different levels of difficulty, Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert. All the activities are simple, creative, and fun for all ages. Be sure and check out my personal favorites, Cartooning and Magic.
Stop by the games section of the website too, and play four free online games. Have fun!
Mar
18
Free Printable Spring Activities
Posted in Printables | 3 Comments
Spring is almost here! Celebrate the season with these Spring themed printable activities.
Mar
18
And the winners are…
Posted in Orderables | 1 Comment
Kendra Cleavenger and Richelle Fawcett have won the FreeStuff4Kids contest! Kendra won the toy from KangarooBoo and Richelle won the Amazon.com gift certificate! We’d like to say a special thanks to everyone who participated in our first contest!
Mar
13
Free Religious Easter Coloring Pages
Posted in Printables | 3 Comments
Here are four Christ-centered coloring sheets to enjoy this Easter season.
And for more Easter coloring try this great site, it’s absolutely full of good pages!
Mar
12
The new adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s beloved book, Horton Hears A Who comes out this Friday. The movie website had lots of free games; Unicycle Streets and Horton’s Coloring Club are really cool. And make sure you check out the activities page for some fun printable coloring pages and bookmarks. Have fun playing!
Mar
6
Some of my most fun Easter memories are of decorating Easter eggs. My family does it every year, usually with a store bought kit, but sometimes we spice it up with other cool ideas. Here are thirteen of my favorite decorating ideas for you to enjoy this Easter.
1. Marbled Eggs - wrap fresh eggs in onion skin, insert the egg (with skin) into pantyhose and tie the ends so the egg can’t escape. Place eggs in deep saucepan. Add cold water to about 1″ or more above the eggs. Heat until water is boiling, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand about 24 minutes. Immediately cool eggs in cold water in a bowl to prevent further cooking. Remove the pantyhose - eggs are marbled.
2. Tie Dyed Easter Eggs - tie dye hard-boiled eggs with food coloring, vinegar, and a colander following these easy instructions.
3. Ribbons - use double-sided tape to decorate eggs with strips of rickrack or ribbon (attached lengthwise). This looks really good on eggs that have already been dyed.
4. Crayons - after boiling your eggs let them cool for a few minutes. While the eggs are still warm hold an egg with a paper towel and use a crayon to color it. The heat of the egg will melt the wax, making fun designs.
5. Mosaic Eggs - completely cover blown egg shells with tiny dots of pasta or rice by putting tiny beads of glue on the shell (not on the pasta or rice). After the glue has dried color egg by putting a dot of paint on the pasta and rice.
6. Rubber Bands - wrap your egg with a few rubber bands before dyeing it. To get a few different shads, take the egg out of the dye, remove one of the bands, and put it in a different color dye.
7. Lace Eggs - decorate ceramic eggs with a lovely lace pattern using a doily.
8. Sponged Eggs - paint a hardboiled egg with acrylic craft paint and a brush. After the egg is dry sponge white paint on the egg to create a fun pattern.
9. Disco egg - dye a blown egg. Dilute craft glue with equal parts water and glue and cover the egg. Roll it in superfine glitter and let it dry.
10. Stamped Eggs - use canceled postage stamps and glue to decorate your eggs. If the stamps are stuck to the envelope, soak them in warm water for 15 minutes and peel them off. Just make sure they’re completely dry before you glue them to the egg.
11. Easter Bunny - cut two egg cups from a paper egg carton and paint them white. Cut pieces of craft foam for feet, ears, and teeth. Glue the feet to one cup, and the ears, teeth and some googly eyes to the other cup. When the glue is dry put the egg in the bottom and cover with the top cup. Follow the link to see how to make a chick.
12. Stickers - if you don’t want the mess of dying the eggs, just use markers and stickers to make your own patterns and swirls.
13. Silk-Tie Eggs - this is my favorite idea, my family has been doing it for a few years now and its a blast! It uses silk from old ties or shirts to die the eggs. If you don’t have old ties to cut up, try thrift stores and yard sales, the crazier the pattern the better!
Blown Eggs Some of these ideas use blown eggs. To blow out an egg, begin by using the tip of a sharp utility knife to pierce both ends of the egg; turn the knife in one of the holes to widen it slightly. Then, poke a straightened paper clip through the larger hole to pierce and “stir” the yolk. Hold the egg, larger hole down, over a bowl, and then blow the contents out with a rubber ear syringe (available at drugstores). marthastewart.com
Hard-boiled Eggs One of many ways to hard-boil eggs: Put eggs in a large pot, in a single layer and cover with COLD water. Turn on the heat under the eggs and as soon as they come to a full boil, remove them from the heat and let them sit in the hot water for about 15-20 minutes.
Mar
4
Here are some great Easter treats for you to enjoy while waiting for Easter day!
Easter Birds Nests
- 1/3 cup butterscotch morsels
- 1 cup chow mein noodles
- candy robin eggs or jelly beans
Melt the butterscotch morsels in a medium microwave safe bowl. Add chow-mein noodles to melted butterscotch and mix. Shape the mixture into a circle on wax paper. Use a large spoon to make indention in the nest’s center. Let it harden and then put the jelly beans or chocolate eggs in the center of the nest. Enjoy!
Two more tasty Easter treats:
Feb
29
My little sister has been having a blast the past few weeks making dolls out of pipe cleaners. She has been so creative using all kinds of items to embellish them; a cotton ball for grandma’s hair, googly eyes, sequins and beads for earrings and other jewelry. Use whatever you want, there’s so much scope for the imagination in these pipe cleaner crafts. Here’s some instructions to get you started.
Or, if making people just isn’t your thing, try making these fantastic creatures!
Tiger, Squirrel, Chameleon, Monkey, and Deer
Feb
26
Free Stuff 4 Kids is having a contest! There are two prizes to be won: KangarooBoo has graciously offered to sponsor our contest and one winner will choose one of these great bead toys! Choose from stringing beads by Melissa & Doug, and several cool bead kits by Haba - there is something for everyone. The other prize is a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com!
There are four different ways to enter:
1 entry for leaving a comment on this post telling us about your favorite kids site.
2 entries for being a subscriber to the FreeStuff4Kids feed.
2 entries for adding FreeStuff4Kids.net to your blogroll.
3 entries for writing a post on your blog about Free Stuff 4 Kids and the contest.
THE RULES:
To enter, please e-mail your entries to freestuff4kids [at] gmail [dot] com. If you’re a feed subscriber, you must provide the name of the site that is advertising at the bottom of the feed (hint - the site provides product reviews). If you add us to your blogroll or write a post, just provide the link. (If you leave a comment, as long as you provide a valid e-mail address with the comment, there’s no need to send an e-mail.) You can have as many entries as you can stack up!
The deadline for entries is March 14, 2008, midnight EST. Winners will be randomly drawn. Good luck!!!
By the way, have you ever visited KangarooBoo? They are one of the best toy retailers on line- all of their items are hand selected and they’re simply the best quality toys available. If you’re concerned about the recent recalls of toys made in China, they have a whole section of toys not made in China to choose from! Some of my other favorites:
| These lovely dolls made in France by Petitcollin: |  |
| and these beautiful Haba Clown Blocks: |  |
Feb
22
Two Easter coloring pages
Posted in Printables | 3 Comments
Easter is coming up quickly! Here are two coloring sheets to enjoy and to get you in the mood for Easter baskets and coloring eggs!
Feb
16
February is Black History Month in the US, and this is a great time to learn about African American leaders and heritage. Here are a few resources and activities to get you started!
Resources
Frederick Douglas - American Visionary online museum exhibit chronicles the history of Douglass, his ideas, and his influences.
American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology a collection of interviews with former slaves who discuss their lives before and after freedom. The site features photos and RealAudio sound clips from one of the original interviews.
Coloring Pages
Jackie Robinson
Craft
Sparkling African Collar Necklace transform an ordinary paper plate into stylish ethnic jewelry.
Feb
14
Free Screensavers for Kids
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Screensavers are a great way to entertain the little ones for a while. My son would sit enthralled, looking at the family pictures while I had the screensaver set to randomly display pictures from the MyPictures folder. I recently downloaded a wonderful screensaver from Dream Aquarium. The demo is free, and the design of the aquarium is excellent. You get all the enjoyment of a fish tank, without having to clean it! I normally wouldn’t pay for a screensaver, but my son enjoyed it so much and it is so well done that I bought the full version. We love it!
There are tons of other screensavers available for download that kids would enjoy. Here are just a few:
Dinosaur Screensaver - includes pictures and dinosaur facts
Disney Characters Screensaver - Features Mulan, Peter Pan, Winnie The Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and more. Has 16 full size wallpaper pictures, rotating automatically.
Pokemon Screensaver - pictures and movie soundtrack with animation
SpongeBob Screensaver - pictures with various animation and beautiful sound.
Lego Screensavers - 3 to choose from!
Feb
11
Free Sudoku for Kids
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Sudoku is a great exercise in logic, especially for kids. These fun online Sudoku puzzles are made just for kids with three different levels of difficulty; Easy, Standard, and Difficult.
If you don’t want to play online, try this free printable version. Enjoy multiple puzzles on 2×2, 3×2, and 3×3 grids.
Feb
8
President’s Day, or Washington’s Birthday as it’s still called officially even though the date is now the third Monday in February instead of February 22 (George Washington’s actual birthday), is the perfect time to study, learn about, and honor all the Presidents of the United States. These fun crafts are a fantastic way to do just that.
Little Log Cabin Craft - This log cabin craft made out of a cardboard box, twigs, and hot glue takes quite a bit of time and effort, but it looks really cool, and will last a long time too.
Presidential Powdered Wig - How cool is this! A great looking wig made out of a paper bag and cotton balls, this is a craft I’m definitely going to have to try myself.
Feb
4
Here are three great Valentine’s Day cards to use for your family and friends next Thursday the 14th.
Mutts About You - this puppy card made out of hearts is adorable if you want to give a handmade card.
Printable Cards - if you don’t have time to make your cards by hand, try these sheets of printable cards.
Lots of Smiles for You - a cute Valentine’s Day ecard.
Feb
2
Free Football Coloring Pages
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Here are a few football coloring sheets to enjoy while Dad watches the Super Bowl tomorrow night.
