WORK-READY WATERMELON
05/08/2020
How cute AND practical is this juicy ‘lil melon dude? Bonus points for upping the kawaii factor for your own take on this fruity storage tin!
Materials
- Empty Tin
- Construction Paper
- Scissors
- Markers
- Tape
- Glue
- Ruler
Instructions
- Find an old empty tin (it can be any size). Be sure to wash it out before you begin!
- Cut a strip of green construction paper which is long enough to wrap around your tin. The width will depend on how tall your tin is. For our 5.25” tall tin, we used a strip of green paper that was 1” wide. Use the tape to attach the paper to your tin.
- Cut a strip of white paper which is long enough to wrap around your tin. The width will depend on how tall your tin is. For our 5.25” tall tin, we used a strip of white paper that was ~0.75”- 1” wide. Use the tape to attach the paper to your tin.
- Cut a strip of red construction paper that is long enough to wrap around your tin. The width will depend on how tall your tin is. For our 5.25” tall tin, we used a strip of red paper that was 3.5” wide. Use the scotch tape to attach the paper to your tin.
- Cut out two eyes from white paper. Use markers to draw in the pupils. Attach them to the tin with glue.
- Use the marker to draw on the mouth and the seeds of your watermelon.
- Your watermelon friend is now ready to be filled with art supplies, so you can get to work!
TIPS
What other juicy friends can you create? Brainstorm a list of fruits and create your own fantastic assortment of artfully delicious tins!
Download and print this activity sheet here for future use.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.
ALL ABOARD: WE’RE GATHERING STEAM!
04/08/2020
Join the Global Guardian Project for FREE online classes, projects, and activities that are great for kids and their families. Learn more about how to protect endangered species and the world around us through hundreds of hours’ worth of activities as you become a true Global Guardian!
Seacoast Science Centre in Odiorne Point State Park is a great resource full of activity sheets, videos, and more that cover a variety of STEM and art topics. Head over there now to become a bird scientist, learn about everything from clouds to sea urchins, and so much more.
The National Science Digital Library is an extensive library with resources that can be sorted by subject and grade level so you can find the topic that be interests your little one. With everything from history to mathematics, there’s something for everyone.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.
MINI MONDAY: UNDER MY UMBRELLA
03/08/2020
Rain or shine, come hide-away under your own teeny-tiny umbrella! Dip and dab to decorate, and once it’s dry, let the peek-a-boo fun begin!
Materials
- Paper Plate
- Paint
- Pom Poms or cotton balls
- Pipe cleaners
- Tape
- Scissors
Directions:
- Cut a paper plate in two. Choose one half to be your umbrella, and one half to hold your paint!
- Pour some paint onto the plate
- Use a pompom or cotton ball to help you decorate! Dip the pompom into the paint and press it onto your plate to create a series of colourful dots!
- Give your plate some time to dry
- Put your fine motor skills to the test as you twist two (or more!) pipe cleaners together to form a handle for your umbrella
- Use tape to attach the pipe cleaners to the back of your paper plate
- Twist the bottom end of your pipe cleaners upward to create the handle
- Hold the handle, and practice moving your umbrella up and down as you play peek-a-boo!
Keep the fun and learning going! Can you…
- Sing a song about the rain?
- Practice moving your umbrella in different ways? Can you raise it above your head? To the right? To the left?
- Practice identifying the colours you used to decorate your umbrella?
ESSENTIAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are developed when children learn to use their smaller muscles, like the ones in their hands, fingers, and wrists. Fine motor skills are used for everything from picking up a utensil to eat, buttoning clothing, and holding a pencil when learning to write.
This week’s craft helps to support the development of fine motor skills by inviting children to use their smaller muscles to manipulate the pompoms and pipe cleaners as they decorate their umbrella!
Exploring Position and Direction
Up? Down? Side to side? How do things move? As they play, children will begin to recognize and use vocabulary to explain how their own bodies, as well as objects in their environment, can move!
This week’s craft helps supports children’s exploration of position and direction by inviting them to move their newly created umbrella up and down as they play peek-a-boo with a friend or family member!
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.
SUNDAY FUNDAY: WAYS TO SPEND THE LONG WEEKEND IN WINNIPEG
02/08/2020
(Source: cornmaze.ca)
Looking for ways to spend your long weekend? Check out these awesome activities happening around Winnipeg!
Join the Manitoba Museum in celebration of their 50th birthday! Explore the Museum Galleries and learn about some of the staffs favorite artifacts and specimens with their scavenger hunt activity. Complete your scavenger hunt sheet (available at the Box Office) and submit your answers into the draw Drum for a chance to win a terrific Manitoba Museum prize!
KidsQuest is a scavenger hunt that guides participants around Transcona to discover community landmarks. Spend the day hunting around Transcona with your KidsQuest booklet – which can be purchased online or in-person at the Transcona Museum for $1.00 – and be entered to win a grand prize!
A Maze in Corn is now open! Enjoy the corn maze, hay bale and pony rides, petting zoo, and more this weekend at A Maze in Corn just south of the perimeter highway in Saint Adolphe. Tickets can be purchased online here.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
SHOP FEATURE 5
(For The Week Of August 2, 2020)
Check out this week’s Feature 5 – a list of top-selling products from Shop, the Children’s Museum’s gift store, now with FREE shipping in Winnipeg on orders over $25!
Grow Unicorn
Price: $5.99 each
Just add water to hatch your own unicorn friend and watch it grow!
Suitable for ages 5+
Mould & Paint Unicorns
Price: $16.99 each
Shape, paint, and decorate six different plaster unicorn fridge magnets or badges! These adorable unicorns make great gifts for friends and family. Includes mould with 6 designs, plaster powder, magnet, pins, 5-colour paint strip, glitter, paint brush, and instructions.
Suitable for ages 5+
Mould & Paint Robots
Price: $16.99 each
Shape and paint six different plaster fridge magnets and badges! These adorable robots make great gifts for friends and family. Includes mould with 6 designs, plaster powder, magnet, pins, 5-colour paint strip, paint brush, and instructions.
Suitable for ages 5+
Robot Claw
Price: $7.99 each
Have fun picking up items with the amazing Robot Claw. The claw reaches up to 18 inches away and makes a ratchet sound when you squeeze the handle to give you an authentic robot feel!
Suitable for ages 5+
Race Car Craft Kit
Price: $16.99 each
Sale Price: $8.99 each
Each Paper Robot is pre-cut, scored, and perforated so you can simply punch them out of the page, fold them up with easy-to-follow instructions, and they become cool, iconic 3D objects to love and enjoy. Paper Bots includes 20 unique robot designs, each with their own personality such as the party-loving Burger Bot, the cantankerous Cranky Bot, and the vintage Retro Bot.
Suitable for ages 7+
LOVE LOCAL: SPARK CREATIVE LEARNING WITH THESE MANITOBA PARTNERS
01/08/2020
(Source: wag.ca)
Enjoy outdoor fun and games on the WAG Rooftop Retreat! Croquet, Lawn Darts, and Bean Bag Toss can be reserved beside the entry to the rooftop during regular Gallery hours. Be sure to check out the fun next time you’re at the Winnipeg Art Gallery!
Did you know that Louis Riel rested in three coffins after his death? Check out this video courtesy of Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum to learn more about how and why that came to be.
Join this FREE art walking tour to celebrate the city this long weekend. Starting at DIY Field in Central Park at 10:30AM this tour will take you through various public artworks.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.
FEATURE FRIDAY: BOREDOM BUSTERS
31/07/2020
Check out these random activities to keep your little ones busy when they say they’re bored!
- Find some scarves, or other sturdy fabric, and get the family together for 3-legged races in the backyard.
- Have everyone in the family make their own paper boat and then race them to see who the winner is.
- Pull out your dress-up trunk and put on a fashion show. Don’t worry if you don’t have dress-up clothes or costumes, mom and dads old clothes work just as well!
- Grab a deck of cards and try out a new card game.
- Find a comfy spot in the grass and watch the clouds. What shapes or animals do the clouds look like.
- Practice your tongue twisters and show off your cool new talent to family and friends.
- Make up your own language that only you and your family can understand.
- Do blind taste tests with food or drinks to see if you can guess what it is. Try to choose foods that you know the other person likes so there isn’t any bad surprises!
- Make a family time capsule and bury it in your yard, or keep it in another safe place until you decide to open it.
- Have bubble blowing contests to see who can blow the biggest bubble.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.
SUMMER READING RESOURCES
30/07/2020
(Source: tdsummerreadingclub.ca)
It’s not always an easy task keeping your little one reading throughout the summer – but these resources are here to help!
Check out #StayHomeSummer with Usborne Children’s Books for six weeks of adventurous learning! Sign up for the Usborne Newsletter and receive various activities, ideas, and adventures straight to your inbox. All adventures tie into books and stories so you can be sure your little ones are getting their summer reading in.
Starfall offers educational games and resources to help children from pre-kindergarten to grade 3 with their reading and writing skills, mathematics, and so much more. Get ready for endless learning with songs, activities, and games!
Join the TD Summer Reading Club for book recommendations, comics, jokes, activity sheets, and more! This FREE club celebrates Canadian authors and inspires kids to build a lifelong love of reading. Join today and get started with this summer reading fun that’s perfect for little ones and their families.
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
WISHING STAR AIRPLANES
29/07/2020
Send your wishes soaring to the stars with this wishing star airplane!
Materials
- Coloured Paper
- Scissors
- Pencil Crayons
- Pencil
- Streamers
- Tape
Directions:
- Draw a star on a piece of paper. Make it nice and big!
- Use scissors to cut the star out
- Use pencil crayons to write your wish on your star, and decorate it. See below for our suggestions on how to tie your wish into learning outcomes from Kindergarten to Grade 5!
- Cut three strips of streamers. Use tape to attach the streamers to the back of your star
- Lay your pencil over top of your streamers. Use tape to attach the pencil to the streamers
- Go outside and send your wish flying!
How does this spark creative learning?
Kindergarten – Grade 2
There’s so much that nature brings to our lives, how can we make sure that we take care of the world around us? Think of a wish that would help nature thrive!
Grade 3
Ready your time machine! Choose a time and place in history that you wish you could visit. It could be anywhere in the world! What kinds of things would you like to see and do there?
Grade 4 & 5
What treasures are hidden in Manitoba’s history? Choose a historical figure from Manitoba’s past that you wish you could meet! What did they do to help shape our province? Why would they be an interesting person to get to know?
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.
ALL ABOARD: WE’RE GOING TO VIRTUAL SUMMER CAMP!
28/07/2020
(Source: mindkraft.ca)
Get ready for some awesome virtual summer camps that will keep your kiddos entertained and busy all summer long!
Introduce your kiddos to the world of coding with this exciting virtual summer camp! MindKraft is offering FREE 90-minute trial sessions so you can see if coding is a good fit for your little one. These camps are designed for kids ages 6-12 and will get them familiar with various coding concepts in a way they can understand. Start your free trial today!
Staples Summer Camp features a ton of interactive tutorials and activities to keep your little ones busy all summer long. From making friendship bracelets to learning to code your own robot, there are activities for all ages, interests, and skill levels.
Actua is providing weekly STEM resources that include everything from the human body to coding to the world around us. Use their weekly materials to create your own at-home STEM summer camp! With grade appropriate activities, live events, and more, you’ll have weeks’ worth of STEM fun!
Stay tuned for more resources to help spark kids’ creative learning!
Donate Today
Your support of the Children’s Museum is more important than ever during these difficult times. If you are able, please consider making a donation today.