For parents, The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions is a great resource to have on hand for rainy days. There are numerous activities (more than 65) to keep any child happy and busy. For example, there's Gooey Gunk which is made with water, white glue, food coloring, and borax. Both of my children love to play with this slimy goop, and will spend hours at the kitchen table letting the stuff ooze through their fingers and splat on the table. Another fun concoction is Bathtub Finger Paints. It's a simple recipe using mild liquid soap and food coloring to create a safe paint for children to use to make bathtub art.
If it's a gorgeous day outside and you want to get your children outdoors, make a few batches of Super Sidewalk Paint out of cornstarch, water, and food coloring. Your children will spend the rest of the day painting every inch of your patio and sidewalk. The sidewalk paint is also a great way to decorate for spring, summer, and autumn events.
As any good teacher knows, children learn best when there's a hands-on activity that accompanies the main lesson. Many of the activities in The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions can be easily adapted for school and home school use. An example of this is Fantasy Fossils. For this concoction, a student uses sand and Plaster of Paris to make an almost realistic fossil. For my own two children, I had them recreate a simple dinosaur footprint. However, you can also use the Fantasy Fossil guidelines to make seashell fossils or even fish fossils.
The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions by John E. Thomas and Danita Pagel (ISBN 0-9661088-0-9) continuously generates limitless ideas for fun and education in my household. It's one of those rare books that never finds a home on the family bookshelf because it is always in use.
