Young kids love noisemakers. Color, paint, and decorate paper towel rolls. Cover one end of a paper towel roll with waxed paper and close it off with a rubber band. Pour a handful or two of dried beans (split peas work well) in the open end, close open end the same as the other. Poke toothpicks through the rolls at different intervals to add a “rain shaker” sound.

Place 1/2 cup rice into a bowl. Add ~ 5 drops of coloring and 1/2 tsp. vinegar to set the color. Spread flat onto a baking sheet . Bake at 200 for 45 min to dry. You may wish to make more colors at the same time.

Be sure to keep them separate when baking. After they dry they can be packed together.

Spread paint thinly on the bottom of trays. Drive the car through the paint a few times and then onto the paper.

Stick the toothpicks into the marshmallows. Keep adding on in any shape you wish. The kids can make simple items like a star or hexagon or complex structures like a tall building or a bridge.

Cut straws to different lengths. Snip a slit at one end of some of the straws. Insert straws into each other to form desired shape. Paper clips can be used for angled joints by bending into S & U shapes and inserted into the straws.

To make the “fireworks” cut several slits and curl with scissors as you would do to curling ribbon.

Cover boxes and cartons with paper, younger children will need help. Carefully cut windows and decorations from construction paper or simply color to decorate. Help cut doorways and tunnels.

Now it’s ready for play! For fun make cone trees out of green paper and signs for roads and business. This town works well with building blocks added to it also!

Paint the inside of a shoebox with black or dark blue poster or acrylic paint. Alternatively, you can glue black construction paper inside the box. Using white crayons or stickers, make a night scene with stars and the moon on the black background. Get creative, use small plastic toys to create a scene inside your shadowbox, or make your own with construction paper and glue. Cut out small pictures from coloring books and color and adhere to your scene. Hang a spaceship or shooting star with a piece of string and glue.

Decorate an old shoebox and lid with construction paper, markers, paint, glue and glitter, crayons, wiggly eyes, stickers, lace, doilies, or whatever else you can find. Be sure to put the child’s name inside the lid.

This box make a great box for treasures found out in the yard, on the way home from school, or anywhere else your children “hunt”.

Have the kids cut pictures from old magazines or draw pictures of something they want. Decorate the cans with glitter, the pictures, stickers or anything else you have around. Cut a hole in the plastic top of the can for the kids to deposit money. Each time they add money to the can, they are contributing a little bit more to the “wish” item. A great way to teach kids to save money!

Wash and dry an empty cardboard juice carton and cut off the top. Using bits and pieces of masking tape, have the children tape up the entire carton, covering all sides, the more tape the better. Use crayons to color the masking tape box. The tape makes the box sturdier and will make a great crayon holder for their desk or dresser.