31 Days of Play: March

Yay March! The official start of spring. St. Patrick’s Day. There is lots of fun to be had this month! Here are 31 ideas for fun and connection.

The idea is to pick one activity from the list each day, in any order you choose. Have a wonderful March!

1. Make these quick and easy chocolate pretzel bites with the kids. What a cute snack for St. Patrick’s Day!

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2. Glow balloons! You can do this for bath time fun or for a sweet night light surprise.  For the bath, put a glow stick inside a balloon and fill with water. You make several of them, throw in the bath, and turn out the lights. You can also blow up balloons with glow sticks inside and hang from the ceiling for a fun and special bed time.

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3.  Let them help you plan and cook dinner.

4.  Make a St. Patrick’s Day craft.  Here are several to choose from.

5.  Play glow in the dark ring toss. Get glow sticks and glow bracelets from the dollar store. Make the glow sticks into rings using the connectors from the glow bracelets. (The bracelets themselves aren’t big enough.) Stick one glow stick into something to make it stand upright. We poked a whole in a CD container. Turn out the lights and play!

6.  Have a green-themed day for St. Patrick’s Day. Put some green food coloring in the bath water for a colorful bath. (Just a little won’t stain the tub or your kid!) Make green lemonade, or make your child’s milk green. Wear green. Bake cookies and decorate with green icing.

7.  Grab some index cards or construction paper (whatever you have on hand). If you’re using paper, cut 31 square pieces. For index cards, gather 31 cards. Write 1 thing on each card that you love about your child. Each day, play a game so that your child has to find the card for that day.

8.  Have a picnic at the park.

9.  Plan a special date with each of your children separately. Do whatever you two would like to do on that date; see a movie, visit a play land, go out for ice cream. One-on-one time is valuable for each of you.

10. Make a spring craft. Here are several to choose from.

11. Pick a clear night, and gaze at the stars and the moon.

12.  Start a garden! Seedlings grow quickly, and they stay interested when they see something happening. Sunflowers are easy – get a packet of parrot seed, sprinkle around, cover, and water. Watch them grow!

13.  Make a bird feeder. All you need is a empty toilet paper tube, peanut butter, and bird seed. Poke a hole in the tube for hanging. Spread with peanut butter and roll in bird seed. Hang it and watch for the birds to come.

14. Make slime! The easiest recipe is cornflour/cornstarch. Put some in a bowl and add water a little a time. To jazz it up, add some food coloring.

15. Fly a kite!

16.  Flashlight treasure hunt – Hide small toys or objects, turn off all the lights, and go hunting with the flashlight.

17.  Unplug from the electronics for a whole day and focus completely on play and connection.

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Water with food coloring added
Vegetable oil
Shaker filled with salt

Directions: Fill a glass jar with about 3 inches of water and add food coloring until the shade matches the tapestries in your pad. Add 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and wait until the layers settle. Watching carefully, shake salt into the jar while you count to five. The oil and salt should form a glob and sink to the bottom of the jar. As the salt dissolves in the water, the oil should float back to the top. Keep adding more salt to watch the action repeat.

29. Make a fun marble game with a shoe box, scissors, marker, and marbles.

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30.  Bake and decorate cookies, brownies, or cupcakes.

31.  Have a family game night.  Here are some free printable game boards.