Inspring Creativity! Surprise Bucket
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There are always going to be days either you or the kiddos don't feel like doing what was on the schedule. I am an over-planner, but some days I look at the lesson plan for the day, and I just don't want to do it! Some days I do, but the kids just don't want to do it!
I recently came across a really cool idea for those days. I've adapted it some to fit our life and the current season, but if you would like to view the original post, you can find it here.
A creative person is someone who is open to new ideas, curious, and able to embrace complexity and ambiguity. Learning to be creative helps us to navigate change. There are so many ways to inspire creativity in children and adults of all ages.
For more ideas visit Creativity and Education
So... What do Surprises have to do with Creativity?
Introducing surprising elements into your child's life builds flexibility. Flexibility is important for developing creative capacity. Mental flexibility is important because it helps our children, as well as ourselves, to adapt to changes and explore opportunities to the fullest potential.
Surprise Bucket Activity: Step by Step Instructions
First, we started with a canister, because I have way too many canisters, and as I've mentioned before, I don't like to throw anything away.
Next, I took a page from my coloring book, The Miracle Morning Art of Affirmations and we colored it, laminated it and used double sided tape to secure it to the canister.
Then, I cut up 3 pieces of black construction paper. I was able to make 24 total pieces of paper. You could also use post-it notes, index cards, be creative!
Next, I laid out the "rules." You can set this up however you like, but I would definitely suggest knowing how long you are willing to spend on each of these activities, as well as, how much money you are willing to spend.
I decided to stick to free on these activities. We chose activities that would take no more than 3 hours. We stuck with activities that could be done in the winter.
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| Our completed project -- Surprise Activity Jars |
Here are some of the ideas we put into our bucket, plus a ton more we did not use:
- Make a YouTube video
- Make a TikTok video
- Watch a video and learn how to draw or create something new
- Go to The Discovery Center (this fell into the rules because we have an annual membership to the Discovery Center
- Go to Wonders of Wildlife (same. We have annual membership, so no money would be required)
- Make Diy candles
- Make DIY lipgloss
- Make paper snowflakes
- Bundle up and go for a walk.
- Build a fort.
- Play flashlight tag.
- Make cookies
- Find a new recipe and make snacks
- Go for a scavenger hunt, indoors or outdoors. (Links at bottom of post)
- Play tic tac toe using items from around the house.
- Have an indoor picnic.
- Make an obstacle course.
- Make an obstacle course in Minecraft
- Play Roblox together
- We use Minecraft and Roblox in our homeschool often. The girls love playing both. I use it as an opportunity to get in some education without them even knowing. They think we're just playing games.
- If you're interested in learning more about using Roblox or Minecraft in your curriculum I would suggest checking out some of these links:
- Create a silly rhyming song
- Watch a movie together
- Donate Items, Gather food, clothes or toys and take them to your local pantry or shelter or even drop-off in your nearest donation bin
- Make a new craft from something in the "crafting box"--this is my daughter's word for where I keep all of our random art and craft items. We almost never throw anything out. Tissue paper, small pieces of material, it all goes into the crafting box to be re-purposed at another time.
- Tackle a giant puzzle as a family
- Make ornaments
- Snow Bowling (fill water balloons with water and a little bit of food coloring, freeze them, and then peel off the balloons and use them for an outdoor bowling game. You can use empty bottles or even plastic cups as your bowling pins)
- Have a Pajama Day! We do this one a lot!
- Write Thank You Notes -- They can practice their writing, and decorate them for art time. Added bonus, use this time to talk about gratitude, compassion, and thankfulness.
- Play freeze dance
- Play Simon Says
- Yoga
- Make up a new dance
- Make up a new story, one line at a time from each person
- Make a collage from pictures or even magazine clippings.
- Camping in the living
- DIY Valentine's Day cards and mail boxes
- Superbowl Sunday snacks, find some cool, easy to make snack recipes and plan out a whole Superbowl feast
- Start your own Crafting box...add old buttons, zippers, wrapping paper scraps, fabric scraps, etc.
- Host a family game night
- Host a trivia game
- Make s'mores in the microwave
- Build a house out of cardboard, you can even cut out a door and some windows, and paint or color it
- Take your own family pictures
- Make an indoor sandbox
- DIY stuffed animals (link here)
- Dyed Paper (link here)
- Make your own book
- Make your own book mark
- Make finger or sock puppets and put on a play
- Have a conversation with Alexa, or better yet, put Alexa and Google together and let them have a conversation with each other!
- Have a dress up tea party
- Research a new country or state and plan an imaginary, or maybe even real, trip there
- Make homemade egg nog
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