Creativity is the freest way for anyone to express themselves. In children, the ability to be creative can reflect and nurture children’s emotional health, especially in the first years of their life. The Butterflies Learning Center (BLC) team encourages creativity to promotes mental and emotional growth by providing opportunities to try out new ideas, new ways of thinking and problem-solving skills. We believe that creative activities help celebrate a child’s uniqueness and diversity.
With the outbreak of a world-wide pandemic, we have had parents come to us asking for some fun ideas to do at home. Here are our top five summer activities for your children that can be completed at home:
1. Make your own play dough (ages 3-6)
A great way to develop fine motor skills, build creativity, enhance pre-writing skills and develop eye-hand coordination.
Recipe:
2 cups plain flour
4 tbsp cream of tartar
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup of salt
2 cups of boiling water
Food coloring
Mix all ingredients until it’s play dough consistency.
2. Prepare yummy homemade sorbet (all ages with adult supervision)
In the summer heat this activity is almost guaranteed. Cooking/baking with your child enhances their social-emotional development; these types of activities develop confidence and skill. Allowing a child to follow a recipe encourages them to be self-directed, independent and to follow directions. This is also a great way to add bonding time with your child.
Recipe:
500g of frozen fruit of choice
6 tbsp of simple syrup (add equal parts of sugar and boiling water and mix until sugar is dissolved)
Add the ingredients into a blender and wizz it all up.
3. Musical Inspiration (10+)
Songwriting is a creative activity that helps your child express a range of ideas, feelings and often address personal issues, therefore, creating emotional stability
During this activity you can spend quality time with your child; parents can even try to write a song themselves. This activity enhances creativity, improves reading & writing skills. All you need is a pen, some paper and imagination.
And why not add some music too, if parents play a musical instrument.
4. No spill science experiment (all ages with adult supervision)
Who loves a good magic trick? This one is simple yet mind blowing, take a zip lock bag and fill it up halfway with water, close the bag so that it’s airtight, now start poking pencils through the bag and notice how no water spills (we were amazed!).
This trick is easy enough to make any child excited and filled with curiosity, it makes children want to try and figure out the “magic” behind this trick. The ziplock bag is made from polymer, which “hugs” the pencil when it’s poked through and avoids water from spilling.
5. Go for a family hike in Serra de Sintra (all ages)
This has got to be our favorite one! Going for a family hike improves everyone’s cardio-vascular health, it is a fantastic way to get some exercise without being stuck at the gym. Being out in nature allows you to get your daily dose of Vitamin D – the sun keeps your muscles and bones strong. Most importantly, going for a hike makes everyone HAPPY. Being outdoors and surrounded by nature allows us to feel more peaceful, relaxed and it elevates our mood. It is a great way to spend quality family time.
At the BLC we believe that every child, including the child within each one of us, should be given the opportunity to express themselves in their own way. We fully understand that the long summer break can be daunting for many parents, that is why we have created the Summer Smiles program, to bring a smile to every child. It is designed for children ages 4-12, keeping in mind that they are on holidays, the program is filled with fun educational activities to ignite their curiosity about the world around us.
For more information feel free to contact us via telephone or email.
Make the most of your summer – be happy and stay safe!