KIDS SPECIAL.... FREE `FUN' ACTIVITY WEBSITES FOR KIDS

FREE `FUN' ACTIVITY WEBSITES FOR KIDS  Its summer-vacation time again and your children  are probably getting restless at home and driving  you nuts. Ashutosh Desai and Savio D'Souza tell  you about some... ...that will keep them occupied, and away from  trouble and the searing heat PRINTABLE BOARD GAMES Before computer and smartphone gaming, almost all of us played Ludo (Pachisi), Snakes and Ladders, Battleship, Dominoes, and Back gammon. This summer vacation, introduce your child to these simple pleasures. Printable Board Games presents you with 39 such free of ferings in PDF format. All you have to do is print these sheets and paste them onto cardboard. Voila! You have games that promise hours of fun. Some need dice or a deck of cards, others just a pencil or scissors to play. In case you need to brush up on the rules, don't worry: most PDFs come with instructions. http:www.printableboardgames.net FREE COLOURING SHEETS & DOT TO DOTS Both resources are sister websites to Printable Board Games. You can browse their contents by categories such as Animals, Flowers, People, Sports, Vehicles, Objects and Buildings to find printable designs in PDF for your children to colour, paint, and join the dots. And you can even download PDFs from Adult Coloring Pages for your spouse and yourself to make it a fun family activity with your children. http:www.freecoloringsheets.net | http:www.dottodots.net | http:www.adultcoloringpages.net MR PRINTABLES Similarly , Mr Printables is home to DIY projects for the entire family. You can browse the website by categories such as Learn, Play , Party, Celebrate, Stationery and more to download PDFs with activity instructions and designs. There are crafts like cardboard sea creatures, puppet dolls, party favours, colouring pages and even flash cards that you can use to introduce your pre-schooler to the English alphabet, colours, numbers, fruits and vegetables. Mr Printables is a great way to spend time with your child and get them involved in group activities. mrprintables.com TIM'S PRINTABLES Yet another fantastic resource when it comes to activities for kids, Tim's Printables is home to over 900 sheets in categories such as Coloring Pages, Mazes, Connect the Dots, Word Searches and Drawing Tutorials. The website even has shape and animal templates ­ along with printable stickers ­ that you can use for crafts. And you can browse most of these by themes like pirates (including mock treasure maps), fantasy and sci-fi. http:www.timvandevall.com JO NAKASHIMA'S ORIGAMI The Japanese art of paper folding is easily one of the most simple and rewarding craft activity there is. Not only does it encourage kids to work with their hands, it even has a calming effect. Now one of the foremost experts on the art of origami is Jo Nakashima. On his web site, you will find over 400 detailed tutorials that teaches children to make fun objects, including a Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex), a modular snake, and a penguin-shaped bookmark. If you want to start off with simple objects like flowers, balls and cubes, then head to his YouTube channel ­ you will find a link on the website ­ and sort the videos to view the oldest tutorials first. The resource also has step-by-step folding diagrams for certain tutorials, which you can print and use offline. jonakashima.com.br ARTSY CRAFTSY MOM Artsy Craftsy Mom is a blog run by Shruti Bhat, a Bengaluru-based mother who shares crafty ideas that you can make with your children. The projects are easy to follow and “tried and tested“ at home. You can browse the website by Art Ideas, Craft Ideas and Lifestyle. Notably, Lifestyle will give you tips for party planning, along with easy recipes that you can make with your kids. There are seasonal craft ideas and art-appreciation workshops that feature artists like Andy Warhol, Van Gogh and Michelan gelo; you will find tutorials on folk art like Warli, Madhubani and Gond, and loads of printables too. Plus you can look for crafts by age group, whether toddler, kindergartener or preteen. artsycraftsymom.com SCIENCE KIDS This summer, use this website to introduce your children to the world of fun experiments, cool science facts, quizzes and videos. You can pick from over 30 topics including Amazing, Earth, Electricity, Humor and Weird. The experiments on Science Kids are simple and fun. Among many other things, you can make a volcano with just vinegar and baking soda; a balloon speaker that amplifies sound; learn the recipe for fake snot, and what happens to marshmallows in a vacuum jar. Plus, there is lots of trivia on every page, as well as a Projects section that will provide your child with inspiration for the next science fair in school. http:www.sciencekids.co.nz MAGIC TRICK FOR KIDS Everybody loves a good magic trick, and anything that teaches kids how to be magicians is bound to be an absolute winner. Dad Kenneth Kelly has been a professional magician for over 30 years. Daughter Kristen Kelly is a magician in training, while mum Colette is the person behind all the photographs and graphic design of the site. Magic Trick for Kids is home to 29 trick videos, each of which is accompanied by detailed instructions and photos on how to perform the magic, and even build the props (if any) with common household items. Additionally , you can download a PDF with instructions. The site includes a magic dictionary for terms used in the trade, and also an entire section dedicated to the history of magic and write-ups of great magicians. And it even has a separate section with 78 “Magic Lessons“ which are taught by Julian Mather, who has his own channel on YouTube. So if you and your little Harry Potter or Hermione Granger want to learn how to bend a spoon, eat a dinner knife (don't worry , it's absolutely safe) or even make a glass float in the air, you'll find it all here. magictricksforkids.org | http:www.youtube.comjulianmather1 STORYBERRIES Kids love stories, and Storyberries is a wonderful resource that you can turn to whenever your little angels requests a fairy tale. In fact, you can also use this website to encourage your child to get into the habit of reading. You can choose stories by age (0-3, 4-6, 7-12, and for early read ers), by time (5-, 10-, 15-, 20-minute stories, and longer tales that have been serialised into chapters), and by topic (adventure, animals, bedtime, fables, magic, mysteries and more). The website offers both classic and contemporary stories ­ with illustrations ­ in an easy-to-read format. It even offers discussion guides to help you and your children explore real-life issues such as bullying, empathy, selfconfidence, helping, and stranger danger after each story .storyberries.com BEDTIME FM Now if you just want to relax with your kids and listen to stories being told, make your way to Bedtime FM ­ a website that's home to two free fortnightly podcasts ­ `Story Time' and `Peace Out', featuring stories written by children's authors. The episodes in Story Time ­ narrated by Rob Griffiths, the website's founder and father to two little sons ­ are usually less than 20 minutes long, short enough to keep your little ones engaged.Every now and then, Story Time also has guest narrators to mix things up a bit. Peace Out, on the other hand, has stories that help children calm down and relax by guiding them through visualisation and breathing exercises. These are narrated by Chanel Tsang who has two daughters of her own and also works with families in an `early learning centre'. It is recommended that your kids and you listen to Peace Out on loud enough speakers, to follow the calming activities that Tsang incorpo rates in her narrations. At present, Story Time has 50 narrations, while Peace Out is on its twelfth episode. Each story description on Bedtime FM also lists the age group for which it is suitable. And you can choose to stream the audio, or right click and download the podcast in MP3 format. bedtime.fm TOI 15APR17