Recreate at Home (Page 2)

Make nature with this DIY easy play dough and elements from nature to create a beautiful and sensory-filled natural display. Remember to include aromatic flowers and pine cones. Nature doesn’t just look good, it smells good too. Follow these simple instructions.

Check out cool art, games, citizen science projects, and other resources from museums and libraries from around the country in Entomology Today. The e-newsletter, published by the Entomological Society of America, has an issue devoted to learning about insects while at home during the pandemic. Let’s see what’s buggin you!

Join Michelle Atkin in this 7 minute lower body stretching video. Elongate those lower body muscles. Find a soft spot, lay down and don’t forget your second side!  

Watch the video.

With the weather warming up, you might want to try these simple techniques to grow your own garden right now with seeds you have in your home. Watch this short YouTube video to get ideas on how to get started.  

Do your kids love to dance? Then check out the videos Go Bananas Dancing has been posting online, including Movement Storytimes, Tappin’ with Ms Collen and more! And check out free classes to Dance at Home! (best for ages 2 – 6). It’s time to GO BANANAS!

Experience what NASA’s Curiosity Rover recorded in Mars, learn about the mission, and move around from point to point to see what the red planet next to us is all about!

Turn a box and household items into a fun family communication game: Mystery Box/Bag.

1. Cut two hand-sized holes into your box for top or side entry.
2. Decorate the box with fun shapes and colors.
3. Gather sensory-thrilling household items. Look for things that are: cold, smooth, rough, spiky or slimy.
4. Have someone stick their hands into the box (don’t let them see the inside of the box).
5. Put items one at a time into the box for the “blind” guesser.
6. If they cannot guess by feeling, give clues without using the word of the object.

With the entire family at home, it’s the perfect time to break out the board games again. Take it up a notch by having someone complete a physical activity with each roll of the die. That is, every time you roll a dice or pick up a card, you complete a physical activity. For example, if you roll a six, before you can move your player, you’ll have to do six body squats or six jumping jacks. You pick the activity, or even harder, have your opponent tell you what exercises to do. This quick twist to any board or card game will help keep your body active under quarantine.

Join Michelle Atkin, DPR Fitness Manager, for this quick 3 minute workout. Challenge your core and lower body muscles by holding a bridge position with or without movement on one or two legs!

Need a little escape from home? Join this virtual tour of the former home of French royalty! Google Arts and Culture has curated an extensive collection from the Palace of Versailles. You will be able to explore some of the décor up-close with behind the scenes options.

ACPD’S School Resource Officers have launched a virtual read aloud series! Join them on Facebook Live at 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as they share their favorite books and take questions from viewers!

You might know him from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus!; now you can learn to draw with Mo from home! He is inviting everyone into his studio for his LUNCH DOODLE. You and/or your child can draw, write and doodle along with Mo. So, grab some paper and your favorite drawing instrument and join him on YouTube. (BTW: There are 15 doodle episodes; scroll left to get to the first.)

Are you lost in a sea of toilet paper rolls? Here’s a fun activity to sharpen your child’s fine motor skills.

1.  Draw faces and cut varied lengths of fringe into the rolls
2. Let them cut to desired length OR get out the ruler for a math lesson about measurement and give the kids a specific length to cut
3. Use markers to “dye” the hair different colors
4. See if the “hair” can be curled by wrapping the fringes around a pen or pencil to make coils

For more creative activities do with toddlers & preschoolers click here.

Test your paper skills with this origami YouTube channel, then take a crack at Jo Nakashima’s videos when you feel like a pro after making 10 cranes.

Watch these videos and then add them to your bucket list to visit! <3 Parks!

• Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
• Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
• Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
• Statue of Liberty

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 4 oz of milk
• 4 oz of cream
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla. (Try other flavors for other ice cream or put in some frozen fruit for an extra special treat. M&Ms are a great treat!)
• 4 tsp of sugar
• Ice
• 1/2 cup of salt. (Rock salt works best)
• Small (quart size) zippered freezer bag
• Large (gallon size) zippered freezer bag

Directions:

1. Put the milk, cream, flavoring, and sugar into the SMALL zip-bag and zip it shut (be sure it is zipped up and closed completely).
2. Put about a cup of ice into the LARGE bag and the cover the ice with a small handful of salt. Put the SMALL bag with your ingredients into the LARGE bag.
3. Add some more ice and then some more salt. Keep adding salt and ice until the bag is almost full.
4. Zip it shut (be sure it is zipped) and then carefully hold opposite sides of the bag and shake the bag back and forth (like your steering a car) for about 5-8 minutes.
5. Open the LARGE bag and take out the SMALL bag. Rinse off the bag under running water to remove any salt that may be near the opening of the bag.
6. Ta-Dah! …you’ve made ice cream! Enjoy :)

Feeling like you want to be creative and not sure where to start? Try these 4 Easy Art Projects to Help You Relax & De-Stress by Sea Lemon. With a soothing voice, she guides you through a variety of creative projects. Check out more on YouTube.

Tammy, an Arlington fitness instructor, can help you get active and have fun while at home. No fancy equipment needed. It’s important for all of us to stay moving for our overall health, especially now. Watch in order, or just the video you want. BTW: Be sure to consult with your physician for professional medical advice before beginning this or any exercise program. 

1. Warm-up
2. Tabata
3. Merengue Zumba
4. Tone & Strengthen
5. Final Stretch 

Share your creativity! Arlington Public Library is showcasing a digital collection of creative works from our community! Submit visual art, writing, photography and more. Click here to learn more and submit your entry. (BTW: check out what some people did when a museum asked them to recreate famous paintings with stuff they had at home.)

Got a lot of recyclable containers? Make them into a garden planter!

Step 1: Clean out containers or cans, file down or tape any shape edges.
Step 2: Fill with potting soil or dirt from your backyard.
Step 3: Use fingers to poke holes. (Kids fingers work best.)
Step 4: Drop in seeds, and cover with soil. Pat gently, don’t pack.
Step 5: Place in window sills or area with full or partial sun.
Step 6: Water daily and enjoy!

For more ideas visit Garden Outline.

Check out this video. Strengthen your core by drawing each capital letter with your whole leg or foot. This can be done sitting or standing, holding on or balancing. Start with half of the alphabet on each leg and work your way up to all 26 letters on each side. Extra credit if you can go in reverse order: ZYX…!

Bird feeders are a great way to enjoy wildlife at its best and doing so is proven to decrease stress. Arlington has loads of birds. Try making these simple bird feeders out of household items and watch as different birds stop by! A great project to do with kids.

While you complete the census have your kiddos take some time and color these pages! Once they have finished, take some time and read the pages together and learn how important it is that everyone is counted.

English version / Spanish version

Use yarn, crepe paper or masking tape to turn any hallway into a crafty and fun challenge for kids of all ages. Tape the yarn on the wall in a zigzag pattern, back and forth, high and low, moving down the hallway. The idea is to create a “maze” that you can work your way through, like the laser mazes you often see on spy movies. Turn on a spy soundtrack in the background or put on a timer for a different experience.

Bonus: Can your cat or dog get through?

Use this Nature Scavenger Hunt for outdoor learning while keeping a safe distance. Bring a basket or tote to collect fallen items and remember to use this as a teachable moment to respect living nature. 

Sensory-stimulating activities can help calm the body and mind as well as aid in self-regulation. Visit the Therapeutic Recreation Facebook page for new fun projects every week day at 1 p.m. Activities have been selected that use typical items found around the house, but not food.

Got some paint, crayons or oil pastels laying around the house? Use this video to recreate  Monet’s Water Lilies with our Community Arts Programmer, Jim Halloran!

Try this short, body-weight leg workout that will challenge muscular endurance and cardio stamina while building leg strength. (No worries, there are options for beginners and advanced.)

Ever dream of cooking like a pro but never had the time? Here’s a link for the Ultimate Cookery Course, an educational cooking series with lots of recipes and skills designed by the famous Gordon Ramsay. 

Find yourself with plenty of toilet paper? Then you’ll find you have plenty of cardboard tubes to make binoculars! This is a great way to feel adventurous in your own backyard and to help kids slow down and focus on one area and really take in details, even without lenses! 

What you’ll need:

• 2-cardboard toilet paper tubes
• Masking tape or duct tape
• String
• Hole punch
• Scissors 
• Crayons, markers, stickers 

Step 1: Take two rolls and place them side by side and tape them together.
Step 2: Cut 18 inches of yarn or string. Punch one hole out of the side each tube. Thread one end of the string through the hole on one side of the tube and tie a knot. Then do the same with the other end of string.
Step 3: Decorate! Use crayons, markers or stickers to decorate your binoculars.
Step 4: Take them outside and see what you can spot! Go on a backyard adventure.