Last month, our playgroup chose a St. Patrick's Day theme and a basketball theme (for March Madness). We had great fun, as usual!
Ruth brought a wide selection of green foods for our St. Patty's Day snack. Cody sampled the kiwi and green grapes and then dipped his snap peas, broccoli and cucumber in his green-tinted Ranch. Creative ideas.. and healthy too!
Our two activities were ideas borrowed from my sister, as she has started a themed playgroup of her own now, too. The kids LOVED these ideas! (Thanks so much for sharing, Kimbo.) The first game was a rainbow color hunt. Each of the kids got a sheet of paper which had the outlines for the various color strips on it.
The kids had to hunt for the color strips (all hidden downstairs) one at a time. After finding each color, they had to run upstairs to put the color strip on their paper. The kids enjoyed hunting for the colors, and they got GREAT exercise with their multiple trips up and down the stairs.
Abby proudly displays her green color strip. |
Kenzie locates the tricky hiding spot for orange. |
The paper included the words AND colors for each of the color strips, so all of the kids could match up their colors independently. This made them all quite proud! Here is Jaden's completed color-strip rainbow.
The second activity was also a winner for the kiddos. Before the playdate, I had hidden 8 pennies and a couple shamrocks underneath a layer of baking soda in each of these containers.
The kids' job was to go on a treasure hunt for their St. Patrick's Day items. They slowly poured vinegar into their containers and were quite excited to see the bubbling that ensued.
When the bubbles settled down a bit, the kids could catch glimpses of their hidden "treasures." Then, they could fish out the items with a spoon.
Jaden and Cody worked together on their treasure hunt. |
The kids laid their treasures on this paper, on top of their items' pictures. This way, they knew exactly what they had left to find. This activity kept them very interested and occupied for quite some time.
With all the activity fun, we ran out of time for the craft. Thankfully, Samie was well-planned with all of the craft supplies in individual bags. This made it super easy to send the crafts home with each child. Jaden and Cody made their craft (these cute rainbow & pot of gold chains) later that afternoon.
The chains made a beautiful addition to our St. Patrick's Day mantle. What a festive idea!
Our second March playdate was on a beautiful Montana spring day, so we spend the first part of the playdate just enjoying some freeplay in the nice outdoors. After a while, Samie led the kids in a "Crazy Shot" activity. The kids had to find ways to shoot the basketball in the craziest way possible. This first shot is obviously not a crazy shot, but I thought Jaden's arc and follow-through looked pretty good for a 2-year-old. :)
Cody did a little drive-by layup type shot...
....while Jaden attempted a behind-the-hoop shot. Ha!
Kenzie's behind-the-hoop shot had a little better result. :)
Abbie actually made this on-the-tricycle shot. Way to go!
After playing outside for so long, the kiddos were hungry! Can you tell they're all ready to eat? :)
Landon, Jaden, Ryder, Kenzie |
Jenna prepared this super-creative string cheese and carrot basketball net snack. This idea wasn't even a Pinterest pin... Love it, Jenna! :)
Now that they're eating, the kiddos look a bit more content.
Ruth put together the craft for our March Madness theme. Each of the kids had to decorate their own basketball player.
Our playdate was right before the Final Four showdown, so the kids got to choose from basketball jerseys that represented the remaining 4 teams in the tournament. Ruth had about three times as many Wisconsin jersey as any other team... not that she was trying to persuade anyone to choose red... :)
Cody happily chose a Duke jersey and decided that his player needed to be kicking his basketball.
After selecting their jerseys, the kids added hair and facial features. These four were all apparently Wisconsin-lovers, too.
Abbie decided that her basketball player needed some purple shoes!
The kids' basketball "team" turned out fairly cute. Be sure to notice Jaden's basketball guy (second from the left on the bottom row). Jaden insisted that his player was catching the basketball, and that's why it needed to be stuck right in the middle of his face. :)
Again, another month of fun playgroup memories!