Family-Fun Magical Idea Jar
A recycled jar filled with fun drawing and writing prompts.
Submitted by
Laura
Laura
Next time your kid is short on artistic inspiration and you're looking for some family fun, have her make a Magical Idea Jar to get her creative juices flowing. Help her pick out a bunch of magazine pictures to use as prompts to come up with ideas to draw or write about. She'll never turn to the TV out of boredom again. (Well, at least not for the next 20 minutes.)
- Magical Idea Jar:A large recycled jar or Tupperware container big enough for your kid to reach her hand into.
- Paint
- A paintbrush
- Embellishments:Stickers, glitter, rhinestones, etc.
- Hot-glue gun:If your kid wants to decorate her jar with things that need to be glued on. Kids and hot glue don't mix so make sure you do all the gluing.
- Paper
- Crayons, markers or pencils
- A stack of old magazines
Grab an old peanut butter jar or Tupperware container and help your kid clean it out. Dishwashing training can never start too early!
Invite her to paint it in her favorite color and dress it up with stickers, glitter, rhinestones, buttons, etc. She needs to give it that magical je ne sais quoi.
While the Magical Idea Jar dries, pull out a stack of old magazines and help your kid pick out a bunch of photos. They should be pics of simple things like a cat, a house, a flower, etc.
Have her tear the photos out, fold them up so the image is hidden and stick them in the Idea Jar.
For some family fun next time your kid's bored, have her reach into the jar and pull one of the pictures out, as if she were drawing names out of a hat. (You should probably do a practice run as soon as her jar is finished, to show her how it will work.)
Next, have her use the image as a prompt to draw a picture or write a little story, depending on how old she is. For example, if she pulls out a photo of an airplane, have younger kids draw their own rendition of a 747 while older kids can write a story involving an airplane. How about 20 words on the fabulous trip she'd like to take over summer vacation (with no promises that you'll be spending three weeks at Knott's Berry Farm, of course)?
When she's done, have her pull out another photo and repeat steps 5 and 6 again and again until she's completed several of her cool creations.
When she's used up all of her prompts, give her another stack of magazines and let her start over. It's the gift of activity time that keeps on giving!
- Change up the prompts to change up the game. Clip out your kid's favorite characters and have her write a story about them or act out a short skit. Or print pictures of your kid's favorites using printables from NickJr.com for some more family fun.
Submit!
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