What Time is it Mr. Wolf?

I am currently a missionary in Ensenada Mexico and work with children of various ages here. This is a game I learned here and all the kids I have EVER played this with LOVE it!! It is a variation of the classic "Red Light, Green Light" game we used to play as a kid.

Can be played with as little as 2 people but so much more fun when you add more!!

Kids are in a line with one across the room (he is Mr. Wolf) with his back to the others (see diagram below). Kids all ask, "Mr. Wolf, What time is it?". Mr. Wolf says a number between 1-12 (like a time of day). The kids take that many steps towards Mr. Wolf (ex. if Mr. Wolf says it is 2:00 or 2, kids take two steps forward toward Mr. Wolf). This is repeated until the kids are close to Mr. Wolf. When the kids ask the next time, "Mr. Wolf, What time is it?," Mr. Wolf says, "Dinner Time" and turns and chases the kids back to the starting line trying to catch on of them. The person that is caught is the new Mr. Wolf.


This game is super fun and can be played for hours. It is a great outdoors game but can be played inside a larger facility.

More Painting Ideas

Tired of the painting with a paintbrush? Try these fun and unusual objects to make really cool designs.

old toy cars and trucks
marbles
old comb
drinking straw
old toothbrush
old cookie cutters


Suggestions:

Drive the cars and trucks through the paint and then drive them around on your paper.

Roll marble in paint and then using a shoe box top roll the marble across the paper. This is create for stimulating hand-eye coordination. For a fun Halloween decoration, use black construction paper and white paint. Using a plastic container or old coffee can, cut paper to fit inside and roll marble around on the paper creating a "spider web". Simply add a plasic spider ring with the ring part cut off and hang.

Use the comb to create texture in your picture.

Water down some paint and put drops on the paper then have the child blow those drops around using the straw. Watch as the paint dances around the paper leaving really fun streaks.

Flick paint specs onto paper using an old toothbrush. Dip the toothbrush into the watered down paint and using your thumb or finger, run it along the toothbrush with the bristles down toward the paper. Watch as the paint drops in small dots all over the paper.

Dip the cookie cutters in paint and create fun villages or holiday pictures. This is also a great and easy way to make your own wrapping paper for Christmas. Simply use a roll of brown or white butcher paper. Spread the paper out and paint away with various Christmas cookie cutters. Let dry completely. You can do this outside on the sidewalk or driveway in the summer and roll it up ready to use at Christmas.

Look for more unusual things to paint with. Find things around the house that have different shapes and textures.

Marbleized Painting

Another fun way to paint cool designs is using Shaving Cream. This gives the picture a marbleized look and is very fun to play with afterwards. Talk to kids about textures.

Supplies:
Shaving Cream
washable paint
card stock paper or construction paper (works best)
plastic tray or other large flat surface
paper towels


On plastic tray or other flat surface, spread shaving cream in a thick layer. Add paint to the top of the shaving cream in strips or other fun designs (not too thick). Add more colors to give more texture and layers to your art. If you want, you can also use a chopstick to swirl the paint together in even more fun designs.

Remember the paint doesn't need to be thick or it won't turn out properly.

When you are happy with the paint, lay a piece of paper (the heavier the better) on top of the paint. Pat the paper lightly to make sure it is covered with the paint.

Take the paper off the shaving cream and place on the table.

Wipe the shaving cream and paint off the paper with paper towels in one direction. If done properly, this will create a fun marbilized effect on your paper.

Let dry and hang. Experiment with different paints and thicknesses.

Suggestions for using the shaving cream after you paint:

Use as bathtub painting: You can paint on the walls of the bathtub and then wash it off. Just mix the paint up into the shaving cream and paint away.

Make fun sculptures: Play with shaving cream making fun shapes, like a snowman. Just mix the paint up into the shaving cream and have fun. You can also write your name or draw pictures on the tray in the shaving cream.

Painting with Bubbles

Tired of plain painting? Want some fun ways to paint beautiful pictures with your kids? Here is one fun way to paint while learning things like surface tension, circles, etc.

Supplies:
cup half-filled with water
paint
liquid detergent (hand soap or dish soap) a few drops will do
straw
paper

Mix the paint, liquid detergent and water in the cup. Using the straw, blow bubbles in the water (if child is doing this, make sure they are able to blow and not be tempted to drink the paint). If you aren't making many bubbles, add more soap.

When your cup is overflowing with bubbles (not running over the side of it), take straw out of cup and pop bubbles with the paper by placing the paper onto of the cup and move up and down. You should have circle shapes in paint on your paper. If not, add more paint and try again.

This is a fun way for kids to paint cool looking pictures. Do this with several different colors to make some colorful art.

Shake and Make Ice Cream

1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Rock Salt (in a box, not the regular table salt)
Ice
Ziploc bag
plastic container with tight closing lid (can also use a bigger Ziploc bag)

Mix up ice cream (sugar, milk and vanilla) in a bowl or pitcher and then pour some in the ziploc bag and secure closed.

Add ice and rock salt (amount doesn't really matter, just enough to coat the ice) to plastic container with lid or larger Ziploc bag. Place ice cream mixture bag into the container and close lid tightly (if using the plastic container, I like to stick the top of the mixture bag so that it is hanging out of the container, especially if you are going to eat out of the bag, that way the lip doesn't get really salty and ruin the ice cream).

Shake until ice cream is frozen adding ice and rock salt as needed (when it melts). If you have individual sized portions in the bags (abt 1 1/2 cups or so) this should take about 5-10 minutes to turn to ice cream, depending on how hard and fast the kids are shaking the container.

Shake away!! I would also suggest wrapping the container with a towel as it gets REALLY cold!!

Butter in a Jar

Making homemade butter is super fun for kids of all ages. You can use this time to talk about how we get our food or how butter was made in the "olden" days with a butter churn. This is a really simple activity and works great with preschoolers as well as "big kids".

Supplies:
small empty clean jar/container (baby food jar works well for smaller hands)
Whipping Cream (the liquid not to be confused with WHIPPED CREAM the solid)


To make the butter you just get an empty jar and put some whipping cream inside. Then you shake it until it becomes a solid (make sure the lid is tightly closed). It will take several minutes. If you have a video about cows or a book to read, now would be a great time to do so and the kids can continue shaking. If you have smaller children, they may need some assistance as it does get tiring and they can't shake as hard. You may want to add a clean marble to the jar for small children to help with the "churning" process.

Periodically have the kids check the jar and you will begin to notice that the milk will start to form small yellowish spots. It is really cool because it is a liquid for like ever and then all of a sudden, it hits the side and it is a solid ball. REALLY COOL.

I wouldn't necessarily advise eating it in this state. To be able to eat the butter you should pour out the left-over liquid and rinse with water to remove any excess liquid (known as buttermilk) and squeeze out the liquid in cheese cloth or press with a wooden spoon against the side of a bowl and then add salt if desired.