More Indoor Activities

I am really looking forward to October. I'm getting really tired of hot and humid. That being said, I wanted to post some of the indoor activities my kids and I have been doing lately to keep occupied and air conditioned.

Activity 1: Tube Ball

For this game I took the tubes from 2 rolls of wrapping paper and taped them to the sides of our couch. Then I found some small wooden balls and had the kids roll them down the tubes and let them drop into boxes at the end. We took a short break to paint the balls different colors to which ended up being another fun little project.Then after a while I moved the tubes next to each other and the kids spent a long time having contests to see whose ball would roll the farthest.
Activity 2: What's Missing?

This game was geared more toward Lizzy. I gathered up several small items from around the house and put them in a box. Then I would take out 5 items and lay they them out on the table in front of Lizzy. I'd give her a few seconds to look at the items and then she had to close her eyes while I took one away. When she opened up her eyes she had to figure out what was missing.
Activity 3: Marshmallow Construction

I pulled out mini marshmallows and toothpicks to let the kids build things. This activity didn't go quite as I had planned it though... All Lizzy wanted to make were "lollipops" and Jacob decided to forgo the toothpicks altogether and just eat the marshmallows. I, however, made a horse and a house.

Activity 4: Smell and Match

For this game I had the kids help me to glue different herbs and spices onto cards. (I happened to have some craft paper that had holes in it so I cut it into index card-sized shapes.) We made sure to make 2 cards of each kind of scent. I think we used garlic powder, lemon zest, oregano, cloves, curry, and cinnamon. When the cards dried I turned half of them over and let Lizzy have the other halves. She picked out a card in front of her to smell it and then had to pick another turned over card to try to find the matching smell (without looking at it.)

Activity 5: Musical Animals

The kids and I picked out some stuffed animals and arranged them into a circle on the floor. Then I turned on some music and let the kids walk/run around the outside of the circle until I paused the song (musical chairs style). When they stopped they had to look at the animal they landed in front of and then act it out.