I can’t wait for spring to arrive.
Actually, I’d love to fast forward to summer. However, when it’s 2 degrees out with a windchill factor of 25 below zero, I will happily settle for a shot of spring.
Since I can’t control Mother Nature, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands by injecting a little spring fun into our home. My 8-year-old is sick and tired of the snow and cold, but we can’t afford a trip to the Caribbean, so we’re making do with the following budget-conscious spring-themed activities:
Spring Art: Let your kids flex their creative muscle by crafting colorful collages using leftover magazines. Have them cut-out pictures of trees, animals, flowers, bugs, and rainbows. Next, have them arrange and glue the images on a piece of construction paper or poster board. Then, cover the entire collage with contact paper and display in a central location.
Fuzzy Bugs: Raid your craft closet for pipe cleaners that can be shaped into a variety of different bugs. Children can use their imagination to help fold, bend and twist the pipe cleaners into colonies of creepy creatures. When they’ve created a bunch of the fuzzy bugs, let them display the colorful crawlers on windows or walls.
Flower Pizza Cookie: Gather a tube of refrigerated sugar cookie dough, 3/4 cup strawberry or raspberry preserves, red and green fruit roll-ups, and some shredded white chocolate. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread cookie dough onto a 12-inch pizza pan. Bake until golden brown. Let cool completely. Cut red fruit roll-ups into flower shapes and the green ones into the shape of stems. Spread strawberry preserves on the baked cookie like pizza sauce, top with strawberry flowers and green stems, and then sprinkle with shredded white chocolate. When it’s time to eat, slice the flower pizza into wedges.