Magic Fizzing Colour Bicarb Soda and Vinegar Science Experiment

Are your kids interested in science experiments but you don't know where to start? Want a really easy experiment you can do together? In this post I'll show you how to create an easy chemical reaction using three simple household items you'll find in the kitchen. It's a fun way to teach chemistry to young children and create some real life magic.

One of the simplest and safest chemical reactions to create at home is the reaction between bicarb soda {also commonly known as baking soda} and vinegar. Both of these items are commonly found in a household pantry as they're both readily used for baking and cleaning. To take this experiment to the next level and add in even more magic, add some food colouring to create magical fizzing eruptions of colour.

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Before you start your experiment get your child to hypothesis by asking them what they think will happen. What will happen to the liquid when we add the bicarb powder? Will it make a noise? Will it make something new? Come up with a list of ideas then perform the experiment to see if they were right.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Spoon
• Container
• Vinegar
• Small bowl
• Shallow tray
• Food colouring
• Bicarb Soda {Baking Soda}

We used a plastic mini cauldron as the container for our reaction because we have a heap of them saved from Halloween and I thought it was fitting to make a fizzing potion in a witches cauldron. You can of course use any container you have, we've done the same experiment before in glasses and cups, however if you want the colour eruption to be a surprise it's best to use a dark coloured container. Also be aware that the mixture will bubble over so you'll want a tray or plate underneath to catch the run off.

To do this experiment I filled the plastic cauldron with vinegar and mixed in a few drops of food colouring, while my daughter wasn't around, so she didn't know what colour was going to come out. Because the container was black even with it right in front of her she couldn't tell that the liquid mixture inside was coloured so it was a complete surprise to her. 

I gave her a small bowl of bicarb soda for her to spoon into the cauldron to cause the chemical reaction. As you can see from the video below, it didn't take much bicarb soda powder to set off a pretty impressive eruption. Once the fizzing has stopped and the bubbles have calmed down you can add another spoonful of bicarb to make the eruption happen again.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLOURFUL BICARB & VINEGAR REACTION

1. Half fill a container with vinegar.
2. Add a few drops of food colouring to the vinegar.
3. Fill a small bowl with bicarb soda powder.
4. Set both on top of a shallow tray and add a teaspoon of bicarb powder into the vinegar container.
5. Add more bicarb as needed to create subsequent colourful bubble reactions.

This experiment is a fun hands on way to teach colours as well as chemical reactions. Use different pots for different colours if you want to do more than one. The same experiment is also how the popular erupting volcanoes come to life {just use red food dye to create lava}. The experiment can also be done starting with the bicarb and food colouring in one pot and adding the vinegar, the reaction is exactly the same. We chose for her to spoon in the powder as it was the less messier option {in case she spilt a whole lot of vinegar while pouring it out}.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WHEN THE BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR REACT?

Depending on their ages, the kids may not be interested in the science beyond knowing that mixing bicarb and vinegar together makes an exciting fizzy eruption. I know my toddler would only care that I magically made bubbles appear, however older kids may ask more questions, so it's always good to understand the chemical reaction going on behind the smoke and mirrors of the exciting fizz or volcanic lava.

Baking soda and vinegar react in what's known as an acid-base reaction when an alkaline solution reacts with an acidic solution. Baking soda {bicarb soda} is chemically known as sodium bicarbonate. The sodium bicarbonate which is alkaline reacts with the vinegar, which is acidic to form sodium acetate and carbonic acid which quickly dissolves to water and carbon dioxide gas. The fizzing bubbles are a result of the intensity of the reaction and the quick rate at which the carbon dioxide gas is expelled. For a more detailed insight into the chemical reaction have a look at the equations for the bicarb and vinegar reaction here.

OTHER FUN SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS

• Lava Lamp Sensory Bottle

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How to make a Lava Lamp Sensory Bottle

Do you want to create all the fun of a lava lamp for your kids without the risk of heat that could burn or glass that can smash? Thankfully it's easy to create a magical lava lamp sensory bottle that's completely safe for kids with this Alka-Seltzer science experiment using four household pantry staples. Follow the tutorial below to make a lava lamp sensory bottle in less than five minutes.

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Probably my most favourite thing about my bedroom when I was younger was having a lava lamp. It was so mesmerising watching the oily blobs float up and down. Of course I didn't really have any concept at the time of how dangerous it was due to the heat it emitted. Looking back now I can see how much of a hazard lava lamps are, not to mention the huge amount of electricity they require and all of the big fire hazard warnings make me much more nervous now as an adult. So, when my daughter found my lava lamp stashed in it's box and begged me to show her, I decided it was the perfect time to do the Alka Seltzer lava lamp experiment I'd been meaning to try for ages. I took it one step further and together we created some lava lamp sensory bottles that she can use over and over again.

SUPPLIES YOU'LL NEED

- Water
- Vegetable oil
- Food colouring
- Alka Seltzer tablets
- Pyrex jug {optional}
- Bottle, jar or glass

To make a kid safe lava lamp you'll only need four common household supplies: vegetable oil, water, food colouring and Alka-Seltzer tablets. If you're in Australia you may not have heard of Alka-Seltzer tablets as they're not as well known here as they are in America. Alka-Seltzer tablets are an antacid and pain reliever combined with three active ingredients: asprin, sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. When placed in water the tablet quickly dissolves and forms bubbles while reacting with the water {which is what makes them great for this experiment}. In Australia you can buy Alka-Seltzer tablets from Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse and other smaller chemists.

You can create a lava lamp in any clear jar or bottle, I've even seen them done in big wine glasses. If you want to make a sensory bottle that can be used again, I recommend using a plastic bottle with a screw top lid so you can save the mixture to reuse. For ours we used plastic candy jars from Kmart, but they would also work well in plastic Voss water bottles that we've used for other sensory bottles, or you could even use an empty softdrink bottle.

HOW TO MAKE AN ALKA-SELTZER LAVA LAMP SENSORY BOTTLE

You can make a lava lamp sensory bottle following these four simple steps. Yes it really is that simple. If you follow these steps you'll have a bubbling lava lamp sensory bottle in under 5 minutes. It's so easy to do my 6yr old did steps 3 and 4 by herself. The chemical reaction will last 5-10 minutes, however if you want the lava lamp to erupt again simply add a new Alka-Seltzer tablet to the sensory bottle.

STEP BY STEP PROCESS TO MAKE A LAVA LAMP

1. Fill your bottle {or jar/glass} 2/3 full with vegetable oil.

2. Pour in water so the bottle is almost full. Make sure you allow some space at the top of the bottle as the chemical reaction will cause gas and bubbling. The water will settle on the bottom under the oil layer.

3. Add in a few drops of food colouring of choice. You can use any colour, however we found that darker colours worked best against the yellow background of the oil. Also using squeeze bottle food colouring means children can do this step themselves, however if you only have normal food colouring bottles you could use a pipette.

4. Add the Alka-Seltzer tablet to the bottle and replace the lid. We found it works better if you slightly crush the tablet in the packet before adding it. Click play on the video below to see the lava lamp come to life with the Alka-Seltzer chemical reaction. *Please note it is safest to let the reaction occur with the lid off, especially if using a glass bottle due to the pressure created by the gas*

HOW DOES AN ALKA-SELTZER TABLET REACTION MAKE A LAVA LAMP?

If you're doing this lava lamp experiment with a toddler they obviously won't care about the science behind the chemical reaction that makes the lava blobs occur, however we all know older kids have loads of questions so here's a simple explanation. When you initially create your sensory bottle the water and oil layers will split with the oil floating at the top above the water. This is because oil is less dense than water so it rises to the top and the water collects at the bottom. When you drop in the food colouring it will fall through the oil layer without mixing and once it reaches the water layer it will mix together to make colourful water. The real fun happens when you drop in the Alka-Seltzer tablet.

Alka-Seltzer tablets are effervescent which means they're water soluble. When the tablet drops to the bottom and hits the water layer the sodium bicarbonate and citric acid react with the water to form carbon dioxide bubbles which shoot up to the top of the bottle in a fizzing motion because gas is lighter than liquid. Once the bubbles reach the top and pop the air is released and the coloured water blobs sink back down to the bottom. The process continues until the entire Alka-Seltzer tablet is completely dissolved.

LAVA LAMP SENSORY BOTTLE VS REAL LAVA LAMP

My 6yr old was still really intrigued by my actual lava lamp after we'd made our own lava lamp sensory bottles so we decided to set up the lava lamp next to the sensory bottle to see the difference between the two. I set it up high on the kitchen bench so the girls couldn't touch it as it got hot. It took over an hour to get hot enough to start working properly and in the end we decided the sensory bottle reaction was actually a lot more impressive. So, overall a lava lamp sensory bottle is not only a quicker, easier and safer option for kids, it's also a more impressive eruption of lava than an actual lava lamp.

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Baby Doll Bandaid Shape Matching Play Activity

Last time I cleaned out and reorganised our medicine cupboard I  discovered we had a heap of really old homebrand bandaids at the back of the cupboard. They'd obviously been there for a while and had started to lose stickiness, but instead of simply throwing them out, I decided to use them for a fun fine motor activity. 

My girls are obsessed with bandaids and always say they've hurt themselves purely so they have an excuse to get a bandaid, because they know they're special and only get them if they're really hurt. So I decided to put together a quick doctor themed invitation to play using their two favourite things, a baby doll and bandaids. This baby doll shape matching activity was a fun way to reuse the old bandaids and I snuck a fair bit of learning in too.

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WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Plastic bandaids
• A Washable marker
• A plastic body baby doll

This activity works best with a plastic body doll as there'll be more surface area to draw on. It's important to make sure you're using a washable marker so it'll rub or wash off after they've finished playing. You don't want dolly having permanent boo boos! We used a cheap Kmart doll for this activity, but we now have a few miniland dolls and love them because they're anatomically correct and look super realistic. I've also found that the more plastic style bandaids {plasters} are easier for kids to peel on and off rather than the thicker fabric ones, but you can do this activity with any type of bandaid.

It only took about five minutes to set up and that included the time it took me to find her baby doll {why are toys never in their correct spot!}. I drew a circle, square, triangle, heart, star and moon onto the dolls body in spots where it would be relatively easy to stick a bandaid and then I drew matching shapes onto 6 bandaids. I left the bandaids sitting beside the doll so she had to peel off the backing paper and stick them onto the correct spot.

Peeling off the backing paper was a fine motor workout in itself then she had to find the matching shape and stick them in the right spot. Some of the bandaids like the chest and head were easy to stick down and others on the arms and legs needed more manipulation to get the bandaids to stick the whole way around. It was also good for hand strengthening as they had to be pushed down to stick {especially ours as they were losing a bit of their stickiness because they were so old}.

My big girl loved this activity so much that she peeled the bandaids back off the doll and stuck them down again for about twenty minutes. It was a really simple and creative way for her to practice and reinforce shapes. You could include trickier shapes like a hexagon, octagon, pentagon or oval if your kids already know basic shapes. Once the bandaids stopped sticking to the doll properly we wiped off the marks on its body with baby wipes and then gave it a bath to make sure it was really clean.

This is a great activity that combines imaginary play, fine motor skills and shape recognition into the one process. Including items she normally wouldn't get to play with meant my daughter was focused a lot longer than she would be with a traditional learning activity or worksheet. The same doll bandaid activity can also be done to help learn colours, letters and numbers instead of shapes.

OTHER FUN FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS

• Alfoil puzzle hack
• Tape resist activity
• Playdough rescue activity

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Dinosaur Egg Small World Sensory Play Tray

There seems to be many phases kids go through with toys as they're growing up, but one that's almost certain for both boys and girls is the dinosaur phase. When I was little this was all thanks to The Land Before Time cartoons. Little Foot, Petrie, Cera, Ducky and Spike were soooo cute I used to watch the movie and cartoons on repeat.

When I had my girls and they first started getting into animal figurines I thought dinosaurs would quickly become favourites, however it took them a little while to get interested. Once Dinosaur Train was on ABC Kids however they got into dinosaurs in a big way. Then when Dino Dana and Andy's Prehistoric Adventures were added it just cemented their love for dinosaurs and the history of them. We've done many dinosaur play activities now, but this Dinosaur Egg Small World Tray we did recently has been a firm favourite.

DINOSAUR EGG SMALL WORLD PLAY TRAY

Do you ever come up with awesome ideas at the most random of times? It happens to me all the time {probably because my brain never switches off}. This dinosaur small world idea popped into my head while I was cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast. I had an idea to do a dinosaur small world in the back of my mind for a while, but when I started cracking the eggs for breakfast it's like a light bulb suddenly went off in my head. 

Straight away I knew if I carefully cracked them right I could keep them and set up an awesome small world complete with real hatching eggs. So the rest of the eggs I cracked right down low near the base and carefully got the egg out then thoroughly rinsed them and put them aside. I wanted to set up a dinosaur nest loosely based on the intro to Dinosaur Train where Tiny, Shiny, Don and Buddy hatch out of the eggs as the theme song plays.

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SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED

• Play tray
• River Rocks
• Bark {optional}
• Leaves {optional}
• Dinosaur figurines
• Mini dinosaur figurines
• Empty egg shells {rinsed}
• Wooden mallet or hammer
• Chocolate mud {flour, cocoa powder + water}

We didn't have to buy anything to do this activity as we have a tub of small river rocks that we use for all sorts of small world set ups and we have a growing collection of CollectA dinosaurs. I was going to set up the dinosaur nest on the rocks, but because we had 6 eggs to use I decided to go on a nature walk with the girls and collect other items so I could set up two different nests in two different dinosaur habitats. We found some bark in our garden and picked some fern fronds, curly leaves and a big leaf that reminded us of the tree stars in The Land Before Time.

We don't have any real dirt in our backyard so every time we need mud or dirt for small world play I make my own edible version. It's edible purely because I make it from pantry staples, not because I actually want my children to eat it {especially in a play tray like this where it will mix with leaves and bark}. However, it does mean if your children are curious and sneak a taste it won't do them any harm.

EDIBLE CHOCOLATE MUD RECIPE

1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Water {add as needed}

To make edible mud it's very similar to oobleck. I simply started with flour and then added cocoa powder until the mixture was brown enough to look like mud. The flour does make it a lot lighter than the normal dark brown colour of cocoa powder, however you can just keep adding more powder until you get the colour you're happy with. Once the powder is mixed together, slowly add water while stirring until you get a mud like consistency. 

DINOSAUR PLAY TRAY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Pincer grip
Hand strengthening
Hand/eye co-ordination
Tactile sensory stimulation
Hypothesising {what babies will hatch}
Dinosaur names & facts
Imaginary play

I set up the dinosaur play tray inside while the girls waited outside. As soon as I decided to add chocolate mud to the small world I knew this would 100% be an outside activity, but I wanted to surprise them. They were so excited when I put the tray down and it had dinosaur eggs in it. When we went for our nature walk they knew we were collecting things for a dinosaur small world, but they had no idea I planned on adding eggs and babies

I gave them a little wooden mallet we have so they could crack the eggs open to make the babies hatch. Hitting the eggs was a great way to sneak in lots of fine motor practice while they gripped the mallet. They also had to concentrate and try to hit the eggshell in the right spot with the right amount of pressure to make them crack. This was of course quite easy for my eldest at almost 7, however it was a good way to get my 2yr old to work on her hand/eye co-ordination.

Both girls played together really well with this small world, despite their big age gap. Some of the activities we do descend into arguments pretty quickly or need to be done separately due to their different skill levels, however this play tray entertained them both for a long time. They even took turns sharing the mallet and smashing eggs one at a time.

Using real eggshells made the hatching process look quite realistic. The baby dinosaur figurines looked so cute emerging from the cracked shells. The girls also had lots of fun guessing which dinosaurs would hatch out as I'd hidden them so they didn't know which mini figurines were under each egg. The eggshells also ended up providing lots of sensory stimulation as they cracked and crushed them while playing.

The chocolate mud was a huge hit, especially with my sensory seeking big girl. She loves getting her hands dirty and squishing, splashing and splatting any type of sensory material. She especially loves it when we use liquid based ones {which we don't do as often because of the extra mess}. She loved scooping up the mud then dripping it all over the dinosaurs.

Eventually it all descended into a big sensory play mess of gooey, slimy mud and crushed bark and eggshells. It actually looked quite reminiscent of a fancy body scrub when they were finally finished playing. Despite all the mess, it was really easy to clean up and the girls even did most of the clean up themselves washing all the rocks and dinosaurs in their mud kitchen. They've since asked on more than one occasion to repeat the play tray again.

DINOSAUR LEARNING RESOURCES ON AMAZON

If your kids are as inquisitive as mine then this dinosaur play activity may spark an ongoing interest in dinaosaurs {or maybe they're already firmly obsessed with them} so I've added a selection of dinosaur learning resources available on Amazon. There's lots of dinosaur books full of fun facts for children of all different ages and reading levels. There's also puzzles for toddlers through to older children and our favourite dinosaur shows The Dinosaur Train and Andy's Prehistoric Adventures.

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Alfoil Puzzle Piece Fine Motor Activity: Learn ABCs and Phonics With This Simple Invitation to Play

Did you know puzzles can be great open ended toys? Although they appear to only have a single purpose, to match the correct piece into the correct slot, you can use them in many different ways. One of our favourite ways to use older puzzles is an alfoil wrapped puzzle piece invitation to play. It's a game, fine motor and sensory play activity combined.

I already use toy rotation to try and make sure the girls don't lose interest in their toys, however when we've had a puzzle for a long time and they've done it numerous times it can become boring. Before thrifting them or buying new puzzles, I use this activity to spark new interest and make the puzzle exciting for the girls again. My big girl loved this alphabet puzzle activity that helped her practice letters and phonics.

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ALFOIL WRAPPED ALPHABET PUZZLE ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN

Wrapping puzzle pieces in alfoil is a really easy way to make an old resource feel new again for children of all ages. By wrapping the individual pieces it adds an element of surprise not knowing which letter they'll unwrap each time. It also makes doing the puzzle into an interactive game.

To set it up you'll need to individually wrap each piece with alfoil while your child is not watching. I chose to use alfoil because it adds sensory input as it crinkles as they touch it and it also sticks to itself so it doesn't require any tape. It can also be easily unwrapped and reused to wrap the letters again if you want to repeat the activity. However, if you don't have any aluminium foil you could use tissue paper or newspaper as they scrunch and unscrunch easily, or wrapping paper and tape.

Once all the letters are wrapped up present them in a tray or container alongside the empty puzzle board. If you want to make it easier {or think your child might lose interest after a few letters} you can leave some letters on the board in their correct spot and wrap the remaining letters. When we first did this activity I prompted her so she knew what to do by saying oh look at the presents, let's unwrap them and see what's inside. Once she realised they were letters we tried to guess which letter it would be by feeling the shape of the package before opening each one. 

It's worth mentioning that although my photos only contain an uppercase puzzle {because that's the first letter puzzle we had}, we've since got a lowercase alphabet puzzle too and this activity works well with both options. When I first started teaching her letters I naturally taught uppercase because it was easier for her to learn, but since she started school I've realised teachers place much more importance on learning lowercase letters so it's important to expose children to both options if possible.

*This activity is intended for children who are no longer mouthing and should be done under strict supervision*

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

• Fine motor skills
• Concentration
• Hypothesising
• Problem solving
• Letter recognition
• Phonics {extension ideas}

Although this invitation to play is essentially quite simple, it has so many developmental learning opportunities. The most obvious one being the many opportunities for fine tuning fine motor skills. As children grasp each piece and work to remove the alfoil they're using their pincer grip which is imperative for good pencil grip development later on. If they decide to repeat the activity and wrap the letters back up again then they'll also be building hand strength as they push the alfoil together tightly.

When they guess what each letter is before unwrapping it, and while they try to find the correct space on the puzzle board to place each letter, they're hypothesising and problem solving. These are cognitive skills which will help exercise their brain, improving their ability to process information. Doing activities that involve thinking skills like reading, playing games and solving puzzles will help children strengthen neurological pathways and improve their attention span, memory and reasoning skills.

The entire activity is great for letter recognition and matching the pieces to the empty puzzle spots also helps with letter formation as the kids need to analyse the shape of the letters before placing them. Extending this activity to include phonics practice is also really easy, simply use some of the prompt questions below. 

EXTENDED PHONICS PLAY FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND SCHOOL CHILDREN

When I last set this activity up my big girl was 5 and I initially had it out as a fun fine motor activity for her to come home to after kindy, however once she started playing with it she extended the activity herself. I left it out simply for her to find assuming she would unwrap the puzzle pieces and find the correct spot as we'd done with other activities before, but as she opened each letter she said the letter and then started saying the sound they make and a word starting with the letter. I'm really passionate about following the girls lead when setting up any play activities for them so the fact that she loved it to much she extended her play herself made me so happy.

She also surprised me with the word choices she came up with as they weren't the standard default words I expected her to choose. For example for L I expected her to say lion, but she said L lah, lah love. At the time she hadn't started school yet and was only in kindergarden so she hadn't done any formal phonics learning, we'd only practiced words from books and objects we owned at home. To extend the activity like this if you have preschoolers you can simply ask them to sound out the letter and think of a word that starts with that letter, e.g 'What sound does S make. Can you think of a word that starts with S?' If they're only just starting to explore sounds and words you could give them examples e.g 'B says ba like ba-ba-ball'. It's easiest to start using examples of items they're familiar with in their everyday lives.

Please note these are very simple ways to introduce the concept of phonics to preschoolers before formal schooling. The way schools teach phonics will vary between each school {for example some use Jolly Phonics and others use S2L programs here in Australia}. Once your child has started formally learning a specific phonics program I recommend consulting with their teacher and doing activities that align with that particular teaching method.

ANOTHER EASY PUZZLE PIECE GAME FOR TODDLERS

Four years ago when my big girl was only 2 and a half years old she was learning the letters of the alphabet and I was coming up with some fun play based activities to help her learn. Being a toddler still she only had a short attention span, so anything interactive and play based was the key to getting her interested and learning for longer. One of the games she loved to do was pulling puzzle pieces out of an empty wipes container. 

To do this you'll need a plastic wipes container {we used an old Huggies one} so you can fill it with letters and then they can pull them out through the dispenser lid. Just like wrapping letters in alfoil, pulling the letters out of the container adds the element of surprise and suspense into learning letters. She loved pulling them out, guessing which one they were and then finding the matching spot on the puzzle board. I shared this video of us playing the game on Instagram way back in 2015 {her baby voice is so dam cute}.

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A post shared by Toni | {Finding Myself Young} (@finding_myself_young) on Mar 2, 2016 at 2:26am PST

ALPHABET GAMES AND RESOURCES FROM AMAZON

FOR MORE FINE MOTOR FUN TRY THESE ACTIVITIES

• Tape Resist Animal Rescue
• Animal Habitat Playdough Sort & Rescue

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Tape Resist Animal Rescue Activity for Toddlers

Once my daughter was over 12 months old she developed a strong aversion to being strapped into her highchair. Toddlers short attention spans + disdain for being restrained means sooner or later the highchair is going to morph from a place of excitement to a place of resentment. Unfortunately for me the highchair was the only way I could keep her safely contained beside me while I prepped dinner during the witching hours. I used to give her some toys to play with on her tray, but she soon learned she could just chuck them on the floor and scream. So, I had to get a little more creative.

In order to keep her happily sitting in her highchair I started doing tape resist activities on her highchair tray. It was a great way to keep her occupied next to me while I got meals safely prepared. Her favourite was a tape resist animal rescue using our animal figurines. It's super easy to set up and as an added bonus it has loads of developmental learning opportunities.

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SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED

- Animal figurines
- Washi tape {or masking tape}

You can use any animal figurines you have on hand for this activity, just make sure that they are large so that they don't pose a choking risk to mouthing children. We have an extensive collection of CollectA  brand animals so I picked out our manta ray, lion, tiger and zebra because they were easy to tape flat to her high chair tray. We also have lots of the CollectA mini figurines which would be ok for this activity if it's being done with a child over 3 years old who's no longer mouthing. Schleich, Wild Republic and Safari also make great animal figurines.

I used washi tape for our activity because we had it in lots of plain bright colours that I knew would draw her attention and it's relatively easy for her to peel off. Masking tape works just as well. Regardless of which tape you use, ensure this activity is always done under supervision as some children may be inquisitive and try to eat the tape once they have peeled it off.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

- Pincer grip
- Hand strengthening
- Hand/eye co-ordination
- Language development
- Colour recognition
- Cause and effect
- Animal names

This activity is great for helping younger children to develop pincer grip by trying to remove the tape and also when they grasp the animals to pick them up. Pincer grip is an important fine motor skill needed in order to pick up small objects and in order to hold a pencil properly later on at school. At first kids may just try and grab the animals off the table, however they'll soon realise that they're stuck down and they need to work at getting them free. 

This activity is also great for learning cause and effect and helping to improve concentration as they'll have to concentrate on picking up the edge of the tape in order to pull it all the way off to release the animals. You might have to pull up the very edges of the tape at first so that they can grab onto it, but once they've done it a few times they should be able to work it out themselves. You can also add in some language development by saying the animal names as they're removing them.

Don't be discouraged if your child pulls off a few pieces of tape and is then done with the activity. Remember that young children only have very short attention spans and often won't sit and concentrate on an activity for longer than five minutes, so this is totally normal. Even if they only remove one piece of tape it's still great fine motor practice.

You may be lucky however, and they may want to take the tape off and keep doing it over and over. My daughter took the tape completely off each animal and inspected it trying to figure out why one side was sticky and the other wasn't. She then stuck the tape back down over the animals and rescued them again. Sticking the tape back down was also great for hand strengthening as she had to push it down around the animals to get it to stick. She did this multiple times until the washi tape started to have trouble sticking down properly.

The animal tape rescue activity was great for keeping her entertained in her highchair while I prepped dinner {she was always set up right beside me in the kitchen so I was watching her the whole time}. This activity can be done on any flat surface so you could do it on a table top or the floor. It can also be done vertically on a wall or window to help practice standing with younger children. You could also use other objects like foam letters or numbers, lightweight blocks or matchbox cars {always ensure children are supervised with small objects}.

MORE ANIMAL PLAY IDEAS

• Playdough Rescue Activity
• Animal Figurine Play Ideas

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16 Mother's Day Cards Kids Can Make at Home or in the Classroom

Of all the Mother's Day gifts I've ever received my favourites are definitely the handmade cards or questionnaire lists my girls have made themselves. Sure a notebook or pretty soap from the school Mother's Day stall are lovely, and I appreciate all the thought that went into picking them out, however nothing tugs at my heart strings more than something they've made.

I live for all the pretty Mother's Day craft ideas that come home from kindy or class, no matter how cliche they may seem. Give me a painted canvas or collage card any day. Whether you're a teacher looking for a crafty Mother's Day classroom activity, or dad looking for a special Mother's Day gift the kids can make themselves, then have a look at these 16 Mother's Day card ideas. They're sure to make mum or grandma smile and they don't even require a trip to the shops.

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BASIC CRAFT SUPPLIES YOU'LL NEED

Before your kids decide what type of Mother's Day card they want to craft, check what basic craft items you have on hand. We're lucky to have quite a large craft hoard stash so we pretty much always have everything we need on hand. If you do need some supplies you can usually pick up most craft items for a few dollars from stationary stores {like Officeworks here in Aus}, dollar stores, department stores like Kmart  or Target, or even the stationary aisle at the supermarket. You can also get lots of craft items online from Etsy, Catch {AUS} or in my Amazon store.

CARDS FOR MUMS WHO LOVE FLOWERS

Everybody loves receiving flowers right? I know I do, even though most of ours are just picked from the neighbours garden. If your mum loves flowers why not give her one of these gorgeous flower themed Mother's Day cards. The best part is they don't need watering and won't wilt or die over time, they'll stay as vibrant and beautiful as the day she received them.

Give mum the perfect flower with this mix and match flower craft. Use the free printable from Messy Little Monster, some cardstock and googly eyes to mix and match the template to create the perfect card. You can also add a photo to make it a personalised keepsake. 

This adorable mother's day flower card is so easy to make even the youngest of kids can help. You'll need cardstock, paint, buttons and an empty softdrink bottle. Arrange the flowers like Rainy Day Mum, or you could even put them in a bunch and draw stems and a vase.

Make some these cute heart bouquet cards created by Barley & Birch for mum or grandma. Just like a real bouquet of flowers they even come wrapped in some newspaper. To make these you'll need some cardstock, coloured paper, newspaper and ribbon if you want to pretty them up even more. Follow the instructions over at Red Ted Art to put them together.

Bring mum flowers and let her know all the things you love about her with this mason jar flower card. You'll need some cardstock or coloured paper and the free template from The Best Ideas for Kids. There's a blank template included if you want to make the card for grandma instead {or for us Aussies who spell mom, mum}.

These cute cupcake liner flower cards are so bright and colourful. They're also really easy for younger children to put together using different sized cupcake liners, buttons, some cardstock and a green crayon. Follow the steps at I Heart Crafty Things.

Mum will love this cute hand print chrysanthemum picture. It is designed as a picture, however you could always staple or glue another piece of paper at the back to turn it into a mother's day card. This one is really easy to make using paper, pipe cleaners and glue. Follow the instructions at Fun Handprint Art.

This cute dancing flower pot card is a great personalised Mother's Day card. You'll need some coloured foam, a photograph of the kids, glue, a pen and the free flower template from The Soccer Mom Blog. Download the free template here.

This paper flower bouquet card is so easy to put together. Simply print off the template from Fireflies and Mudpies and colour it in with coloured pencils or crayons then stick it onto some cardstock. You can play around with the positioning of the flowers and stems and colour them in your mum's favourite colours.

I love the 3D effect of these tulip flower pot cards. They're also really simple to make with the template from I Heart Crafty Things. You can make the tulips any colour you want depending on what coloured paper you have.

The photo flower cards are another adorable personalised card idea. Make these really easily with just coloured paper, glue, a photo and the template from Arty Crafty Kids. You could also attach a magnet to the back so they can be permanently displayed on the fridge. Download the template here.

This flower basket paper weaving card is great for older kids to put together. Colour in the flowers with coloured pencils and then weave the basket with coloured paper. Follow the instructions at Red Ted Art.

If a bunch or basket of flowers isn't enough, give mum a whole flower garden with this 3D flower pop up card. Kids can draw their own flower designs on any coloured or patterned paper then follow the instructions at Red Ted Art to turn them into a 3D garden.

MAKE MUM'S HEART FLUTTER WITH THESE CUTE HEART CARDS

If flowers aren't mum's thing then don't worry, these heart themed Mother's Day cards will surely make her smile. Nothing says I love you like a heart. The great thing about these cards is they're also all suitable for birthday's or Valentine's Day as well. 

My girls loved making this sticky heart Mother's Day card for their grandma. It was a great collage activity and it can be decorated with whatever you have on hand at home. We used tissue paper, sequins, stickers and some confetti. Get all the instructions in my post here.

This tissue paper heart card is a similar option to the sticky heart card, but uses glue instead of contact paper so is better for kids who are a little older. All you'll need is some tissue paper, glue, a pencil and a piece of card or paper. Follow the instructions at The Joy Of Sharing.

This pop up heart card is the best of both world's combining flowers and a heart. It's also really simple to make, but makes a big impact. All you'll need is some cardstock and the template from Red Ted Art. Then colour in the heart design with crayons, pens or pencils.

FOR ALL THE SUPER MOMS

Every mum is a supermum so why not acknowledge her superpowers with a special supermom Mother's Day card. You'll need some coloured cardstock, googly eyes and the template from Our Kids Things. The card template comes with the words mom you're super, however you could always use a blank piece of card and write your own message.

OTHER MOTHER'S DAY IDEAS

• Printable Mother's Day Colouring In Cards, Bookmarks and Questionnaires 
• Sticky Heart Collage Mother's Day Card
• DIY Heart Wall Hanging

Disclosure - This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you make a purchase. All craft images featured within this post have been used with express permission from original authors.

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