Cut Up Poetry

One fun way to have kids just learning how to read is to take magazines and cut up some of the more simple sight words and then turn them into poems.  Have the kids go through old magazines and cut out the words they can read.  Then have them work on their skills further by putting the words together to make poems that are either non-sense or fun-sense.

Sound Guessing Sensory Box

One great way to use left over plastic eggs is placing small noisy items within them matching 2 sounds for each egg and placing them all in a bin for an auditory sensory box.  Kids will need to guess which sounds match and will have fun finding out if they're right.  Items to try include:

- Coins
- Beans
- Water
- Rice
- Beads

Shaving Cream Bath Paint

Simply add food coloring to shaving cream and let the kids paint in the bath.  They'll have fun squishing the foam and combining the colors to learn about primary and secondary combinations. 

Have kids will craft makes them in a muffin tin.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.havekidswillcraft.com/homemade-bath-paints/

Jello Numbers Sensory Box

One way to get kids to start thinking about numbers is to add them to fun and edible sensory play, by mixing them into fun jello colors.  You can mix them all into one big bowl or add them into individual blocks and have kids investigate what numbers they uncover. 

Tin Can Robots

Tin cans have a great second life as an upcycled craft making robots.  They're so shiny and metallic they make the best base for your kids to create a pretend artificial life form.  Just add some additional objects such as stickers, paper, pipe cleaners, pom poms and tape.  Make sure to tape the sharp edge before playing.

A fancier version that doubles as a table centerpiece storing yummy cookies and plastic utensils.

Cutting Sensory Box

Give the kids a bunch of different types of papers and fabrics and a scissors. They'll have a lot of fun feeling the different textures and seeing how difficult and easy it is to cut the different types of items.

Washi Tape Magnet Bookmarks

Lemon squeezy home covers card stock with cute washi tape and sticks on magnets to the end to solidify the bookmarks. 

Good for ages 7 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.lemonsqueezyhome.com/2013/05/magnetic-washi-tape-bookmarks-diy.html