REC at HOME

Weekend Activities

SOCKer Ball, learn how to make your own SOCKer Ball with Canada Scores:

https://www.canadascores.org/scores-at-home

Static Electricity Butterfly Craft/Experiment:

https://iheartcraftythings.com/static-electricity-butterfly-experiment.html

Spell Your Name Children Workout Activities:

https://www.730sagestreet.com/spell-your-name-workout

Try out yummy recipes and more this weekend!

Weekend Recipes

Special S' mores 

Take a classic s' more recipe - graham cracker and marshmallow and chocolate and kick it up a notch!
Nutty Buddy - add a peanut butter cup

Salted Caramel - add a caramel square and sea salt

Mexican Hot Cocoa - add cinnamon and nutmeg

Grasshopper -  add a peppermint patty

S’mores Dip

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 bag of chocolate chips
• 1 bag of marshmallows
• Graham Crackers, Fruit, Cookies etc. for dipping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Pour chocolate chips into an 8 or 9” skillet
3. Bake for 3-4 minutes or until the chocolate is melted
4. Arrange the marshmallows over top of the chocolate chips
5. Bake for 2-3 minutes or until marshmallows are browned
6. Serve immediately with graham crackers, cookies and fruit for dipping

Campfire Cones

Campfire Cones are a fun twist to S’mores and easy to make! Use any ingredients you have on hand. These cones can be wrapped in foil and thrown in the coals of a fire or baked in your oven.

Ingredients Needed:

• Waffle cones
• Mini marshmallows
• Chocolate chips
• Graham cracker pieces

Directions: Fill your cones with your ingredients

Completely wrap in foil

Place in the coals of your fire for 5-7 minutes or preheat your oven to 400°F and bake on a cookie sheet for 5-7 minutes

S’mores Banana Boats

Ingredients Needed:

• Bananas
• Mini marshmallows
• Chocolate chips
• Graham cracker pieces

Make a deep lengthwise cut down the middle of the banana being careful not to cut all the way through

Open slit to form a pocket

Using marshmallows, chocolate chips, crushed up graham crackers etc. stuff the pocket

Wrap each banana completely in foil, with the opening being at the top

Place your bananas in the coals and cook for 8-10 minutes.

*These treats can also be made in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes

S’mores Trail Mix

Ingredients:

• Mini Marshmallows
• Chocolate Chips
• Teddy Grahams

All you need is one bowl to combine the above ingredients. Mix it together and enjoy!

Games to Play / Get Moving

Bean Bag Toss

Using cardboard boxes cut a hole in the middle of the box. These will be your targets
Fill Ziploc bags with dirt, sand, kernels, rice etc. to use as your bean bags

Marshmallow Toss

Set up buckets about a foot or so apart from each other. Give each bucket a different point value.
Each participant gets 5 marshmallows to toss. At the end of each round tally up your points to find a winner

Flashlight Tag

This game is played best at dusk. The tagger gets a flashlight while everyone else hides outside in the dark. If the tagger shines the flashlight on you, you have been caught!

Rainbow Bubble Snakes

Only a few items are needed to make these rainbow bubble snakes. Follow along here: http://www.housingaforest.com/rainbow-bubble-snakes/

Flashlight Dance Party

Make sure everyone has a flashlight, crank up the tunes and DANCE!

Crafts / Gardening and more!

Fireworks Salt Painting

Items Needed:

• Cardstock (paper plates can work too)
• Salt
• White School Glue
• Watercolour Paints

Using your white school glue draw out firework shapes on your cardstock
While the glue is still well, pour salt all over your designs- would recommend using a baking sheet or plate to catch the excess salt!
Dip your watercolour brush gently into paint and dab your picture. Keep dabbing until all of our salt is covered. 

Star Gazing
On a clear night lie outside in your backyard and see if you can spot any constellations

Garden Grass Head

Supplies Needed:

• Plastic Cup
• Markers
• Dirt
• Grass Seed

Using your markers draw a face on your plastic cup
Fill your cup ¾ of the way with dirt
Add your grass seed and water generously
Leave in a window or sunny spot and watch it grow

Egg Carton Greenhouse

Supplies Needed:

• Egg Carton
• Soil
• Flower Seeds
• Plastic Bag or Plastic Wrap

Fill your egg cartons to the top with soil
Add your seeds to each carton- make sure to label them if using more than one!
Water generously
Cover your egg carton in plastic wrap or a clear plastic bag and place in a sunny window
You won’t need to water these again until they have started to sprout

Build a Bird Feeder

Learn how to make a bird feeder from recycled materials you have at home:  Make a Bird Feeder

Other cool links to check out:

County of Brant Public Library

Follow the County of Brant Library on Social Media for Craft ideas and more!

https://www.facebook.com/brantlibrary/

https://twitter.com/brantlibrary

https://www.brantlibrary.ca

Sign up for Earth School

30 days of daily adventures – or Quests – that will help you understand and celebrate our natural world, while learning about how dependent we are on our planet.
https://ed.ted.com/earth-school

Take the Online Recreation Programs Survey

Let us know if you, or your family are interested in participating in registered online programs.

Please fill out the survey in the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/programsonline

Bath and Water Friendly Play Dough Recipe

1/4 cup Bubble Bath – I like to use a more natural product with no additional scents (we add essential oils to create our own scents), but you can use your favourite bubble bath. Just pick one that makes lots of bubbles!

1/2 – 3/4 cup Corn Starch (varies slightly based on your bubble bath type)

1 tsp Coconut Oil – You can substitute sweet almond oil or grape oil, but we always have coconut oil in the house, so that’s the easiest for us. You can also leave out the oil if you wish, and simply increase the bubble bath a bit. It is so dry where we live, the oil really helps my son’s skin. It also gives the play dough a much smoother, silkier feel.

Essential Oils – optional, it depends if your bubble bath is scented already

Colouring – optional, but fun!

In a bowl mix together the bubble bath, essential oils and add the colouring (if you want uniform colour or leave it until later for a marble effect). Melt the coconut oil in the microwave if it’s solid, then add that to the bowl.

Finally, add the corn starch. Start with 1/2 cup and mix it in, if it doesn’t pull together add another 1/4 cup of corn starch and continue mixing. As you mix it will pull together into a nice, solid ball. Start kneading with your hands to really mix it all in. This is a great activity for the kids to do.

There may be some extra corn starch left in the bowl, that is fine. Simply discard it.

If you wanted the marble effect, add the colouring now to your bubble bath play dough, or leave it creamy white for a beautiful, natural finish.

Store in an air tight container and use within a week. We found it started to dry out and pull apart after a a few days. Of course, once you are in the bath and getting it wet, you don’t notice that anymore.

How To Use Homemade Bubble Bath For Kids

To use simply give your child about a tablespoon sized ball of the playdough bubble bath to play with in the bath. Holding it under the water will help create more bubbles.

You can also use it in sensory play, as part of a water table, for your kids to use when cleaning toys like Lego or figurines.

The making of this DIY playdough is also a fantastic sensory experience and fine motor strengthening activity.

Walking Trails

Be sure to check out various walking/biking trails throughout the County of Brant this fall!  For more information including our Outdoor Adventures Map please visit www.brant.ca/trails

Easy & Moderate Walking/Biking Trails

TH & B Rail Trail

LE & N Rail Trail

SC Johnson (Brantford to Paris)

Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail

Brantford to Hamilton Rail Trail (Cainsville to Jerseyville)

Lions Way

Vigorous Walking/Biking Trails

Barker’s Bush

Grand Valley Trail

Jacob’s Woods

ParticipACTION Great Big Move

For the month of October ParticipACTION is inviting all families and friends to join together, virtually, and compete for a chance to win prizes. https://www.participaction.com/en-ca/programs/app check out their website for more details

Try out these fun ways to get moving at home!

Penguin Waddle Relay

Set up an area either inside or outside of your home to complete your relay. Place an object in between your legs and waddle through the course. Use a bucket or mark an area for items to be dropped into.

Concentration Ball

Standing in a circle all players must underhand toss the ball to another player. Pick a theme such as animals, colours, fruits, etc.
One person starts with the ball and says something that fits the theme, and the name of someone else standing in the circle
Try and see how many rounds you can complete without repeating any words!

The Floor is Lava

This game can be played either inside or outside. Use objects (couch cushions, pillows, sheets of paper, books etc.) to make your way from one end to the other without touching the floor. See how creative and how far you can get.

Beans on Toast

Choose 1 person to be the leader; they are going to call out different types of beans. Each bean will have an action associated with it. When the bean is called out the group does that action. The goal of the game is to see how quickly each action can be completed without any mistakes.

String Bean- stand up straight with your hands above your head
Chili Bean-Shiver like you’re outside in the cold
Red Bean- freeze
Green Bean- run as fast as you can on the spot
Dancing Bean- show off your best dance move
Beans on Toast- drop to the ground and lay flat on your back

Design your own obstacle course

What kind of obstacle course can you create in the backyard? Raining? No problem! Move your course indoors throughout your home

Family Fun Exercises

Nothing beats a little exercise, so why not do it all together?
25 Star Jumps

20 Squats

15 crunches

Hop like a bunny around your living room

Frog Races

Play a game of Popcorn!

How to play? Find anything you can toss in the air. Throw it as high as you can and see how many times you can clap your hands before catching it again.
Follow along with our friends at Playworks -  YouTube link

Freeze Dance

Put on some music and bust out your favourite dance moves. When the music stops don’t forget to freeze! Challenge family and friends over Facetime/Zoom

Keep Up

Using a balloon see how many times you can hit it before it hits the ground

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Stretch!

Challenge someone in your household to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Stretch! The goal of the game is to stay balanced without falling over.  Start out by facing your partner and play a round of Rock Paper Scissors. Each time you win a game stay where you are and don’t move your feet! If you lose a game, stretch out by one foot length. Keep playing and stretching out after each round! The game is played until one of the players loses their balance.

Get the whole family involved in these fun at home activities!

EarlyON

EarlyON is offering both virtual and in person programming. Check out their website for programming details:

EarlyON Website

County of Brant Public Library

Be sure to check out the library’s webpage to see all the exciting things they are offering this fall

http://brantlibrary.evanced.info/signup/calendar

Colour Scavenger Hunt

Set a timer, pick a colour and see how many household items you can find that is the same colour. The person who finds the most can pick the colour for the next round.

Marble Painting

Items Needed:

A cookie sheet or container big enough to hold your paper
Paper
Different colours of paint
Marbles or other small balls

Directions:
Place dabs on paint onto your paper
Place the marbles onto your sheet of paper and move your cookie sheet around to make the marbles roll through all the different colours of paint

Minute to Win It Challenges!

Cookie Face
Place a cookie (Oreos work best) on the child’s forehead. They’ll need to use their facial muscles to move it down their face and into their mouth—without using their hands.

Stack Attack
Give each player one single stack of plastic cups. Everyone gets one minute to stack all of the cups into a pyramid and then unstack them, making a single column again.

Johnny Applestack
Each player has one minute to stack five apples (or three for younger kids) on top of each other and stay for three seconds.

Noodling Around
Start this minute to win it game with one strand of uncooked spaghetti; the player puts the end of the dry noodle in their mouth. You then have 60 seconds to pick up six uncooked pieces of penne pasta—with the spaghetti, without using your hands!

Cereal Scramble
Cut the front of a cereal box into equal pieces. Stack the pieces into a flat tower and set a timer for one minute. Everyone has their own minute to piece the cereal box together.

Go Fish!
All you need is straws and 2 plates. In one minute see how many goldfish (mini marshmallows also work!) you can transfer from one plate to another only using the suction from the straw.

More fun ideas for at home!

Paper Airplane Races

Have everyone make their own paper airplane and choose a designated start and stop line. See who’s airplane can go the farthest, the highest, who’s has the best crash landing etc.

Fort Building Contest

What kind of fort can you build in 30 min? Challenge your families and friends to a fort building contest. Once the timer is up share your pictures with your competition to determine a winner.

Family Movie Night

Pretend you’re at the theatres. Create tickets and have someone collect before the movie begins.

Don’t forget to purchase your snacks from the Snack Bar Attendant!

Backyard Bird Watching

What kinds of birds can you see and hear from your backyard?

Chalk your Walk
What do you love about your community? Share on your driveway or sidewalk why you love living in the County of Brant.

Hawaiian Beach Party

Throw on some Hawaiian music and dress in your best beach wear for an at-home beach party. Try out a game of limbo and learn to do the hula dance.

Family Talent Show

Organize a family talent show where everyone can show off their hidden talent. Create posters, set the stage and get ready to perform!

Lego Colour Stack Challenge

What can you build using only one colour of Lego? Have everyone choose a different colour of Lego and see what kind of structure they can design.

Lego Sky Scraper

See who can design the tallest Lego structure without falling down.

Around the World Trip

We may not be able to travel right now but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring their cultures to us. Explore new countries and what makes them unique. Print off a world map to colour in with each new country you’ve visited.

Family Camp Out

Plan a camp out in your living room. Set up your tent (or build a fort) and roll out your sleeping bags. Take turns telling spooky stories and singing campfire songs.

How creative can you be?  Try these DIY at home activities!

No Cook Pumpkin Spiced Play-Doh

Supplies:

1 cup flour
½ cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice seasoning
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup boiling water
Food colouring (there are natural options!)

Optional: essential oils like, clove, nutmeg, thieves etc

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and cinnamon.
2. Combine the oils and food colouring with the boiling water. Stir the oily water into the dry
ingredients. If you want to add some essential oils, now is when you would mix a few drops in. Mix well.
3. Remove the dough and knead until it is no longer sticky.

Yarn Pumpkins

Items Needed:
Balloons
Orange Yarn
White craft glue
1 plastic fork
1 brown pipe cleaner
1 green pipe cleaner

Directions:

Blow up the balloons only half full, tying it off at the end
Cut 20 long pieces of yarn (arm’s length works best!)
Put your white glue into a bowl.
Dunk one piece of your yarn in the glue. Hold the end of the piece of yarn with your fingers and gently run it between the tines of a fork to remove the excess glue.
Take the glue covered yarn strand and press the end down, starting at the top or bottom of the balloon, and wind it around the balloon, making sure the press down the ends of the yarn to secure them when they’re in place.
Continue with the remaining strands of yarn making sure to switch up where each strand is placed .
When you’re done, find somewhere to hang the yarn covered balloons to dry (24 hrs or so).
When completely dry, have an adult poke a tiny hole in the balloon and once completely deflated, carefully pull it out one of the openings of the yarn.
Wrap your green and brown pipe cleaners tightly around a pencil to make it curl, and secure it at the top of the pumpkin with glue.

Pumpkin Volcanoes

Visit the following website: Pumpkin Volcanoes

Cardboard Crafts — Pretend Cookie Shop

To make your own cardboard cookies, you will need:

• Cardboard cut into shapes (we traced the bottom of a soup can, and I cut them out)
• Wide Craft Sticks
• Shaving Cream
• School Glue
• Tempera Paint (optional)
• Safety Scissors
• (Assorted Colours)
• Paper Cups

How We Did It:

• To create paper “sprinkles”, I cut long thin strips of construction paper. Then, I invited the kids to use the safety scissors to cut the strips into tiny pieces and gather the bits up into a small paper cup.
• In another small paper cup, I mixed up equal parts shaving cream and glue to create our own puffy paint “icing”. For a coloured version, I added a few drops of tempera paint – in this case, a drop of red paint to create pink “icing”.
• Next, the kids enjoyed using a craft stick to spread the puffy paint on top of the cardboard! While the paint was still wet, they sprinkled the bits of paper on top.
• We let the “cookies” dry overnight, then set up a pretend cookie shop for an afternoon of imaginative playtime fun! I managed to sneak some Math practice with counting out change and adding up totals. Yay for crafty fun that is educational!

More fun at home activities!

Design your own Maze

Have lots of sticks in your backyard? Create your own maze and challenge others in your home to make their way through

Fort Building Contest

What kind of fort can you build in 30 min? Challenge your families and friends to a fort building contest. Once the timer is up share your pictures with your competition to determine a winner.

Family Kitchen Challenge

How creative can you be? Use ONLY ingredients you currently have in your kitchen that are not essentials (think sprinkles, jello, etc) create a fun treat! Set a time limit and GO!

Build your own structure

What kind of structure can you create using only recycled materials?

Design your own Puzzle

Draw a picture on a piece of paper making sure to cover the whole area (cereal boxes work great too!) Stencil out your puzzle pieces and cut along the lines to create your puzzle pieces. 

Cardboard Boat Challenge

Using supplies you already have in your home create a cardboard boat that can float! Test it out in your bathtub or sink. 

Fluffy Cloud Dough

This fluffy cloud dough is easy to make and only requires 2 ingredients!

Ingredients:

2 heaping cups cornstarch

1 cup conditioner

Food Colouring (optional)

Add corn starch and conditioner to a bowl. Begin stirring it with a spoon until it gets too tough to stir. Begin kneading with hands until completely mixed together, if using food colouring add it now (don’t forget gloves)

Rock Painting

Look for rocks in your backyard for a fun art project. Create your own Rock Monsters or garden markers for your vegetable garden.

DIY Calm Kits for Kids

https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2016/09/homemade-calm-down-kits-for-kids.html

Visit the websites below top take a virtual tour - all from the comfort of your home!

Visit Mars

Tour Ontario’s Parliament

The Royal Tyrell Museum

LEGOland

Tour the Amazon Rainforest

Parks Canada

Parks Canada 360 lets you explore Canada’s national parks and hidden gems.

Ripley's Aquarium

Check out the live Shark camera from the Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto

Canada's Wonderland

Take a virtual Roller Coaster Ride! Head over to Canada’s Wonderland YouTube page and select Rollercoaster POV, Thrill Ride POV or Family Ride POV. 

Click on the links below!

Action Songs:

Monster Shuffle Link One

Monster Shuffle Link Two

Halloween Dance Party

Scarecrow Song

Sensory Activities:

30 Fall Sensory Activities

Fall Playdough

Pumpkin Spice Clean Mud

Sensory Crafts:

Dish Brush Tree

Leaf Marble Painting

Halloween Activities:

Neighbour Scavenger Hunt

Life Size Jack Lantern Matching Game

Outdoor Sensory Motor Scavenger Hunt

https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/activities-for-kids-sensory-motor-scavenger-hunt/

What you’ll need:

-Outdoor Sensory Motor Scavenger Hunt Printable (fill out the form below with your first name and email address)

-pencils or crayons

What to do:

Print the scavenger hunt list, round up your little ones, and head outside!  Give everyone a pencil or crayon to bring along so they can mark off the things they have found.

The kids will notice right away that this isn’t just any old scavenger hunt.  Rather than just finding and collecting items on a list, they’ll have to find the listed objects and perform a variety of gross motor tasks.

They’ll use all of their senses, looking, touching, and maybe even getting a little messy along the way.  Who will be the first one to find everything on the list?

How to change it up:

-Make it a photo scavenger hunt!  Take a picture of your child performing each activity and pictures of each of the items they found to complete the list.

-Make it a team effort – have two groups competing against each other to find everything on the list!

DIY Calm Kits for Kids

https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2016/09/homemade-calm-down-kits-for-kids.html

Let's get physical!  Check out the links below:

10 exercises for a great parent and kid workout from ActiveKids

Jays Cares posts new activities each week. Take pictures of completed challenges and submit for your chance to win a Jays prize pack.

hwww.mlb.com/bluejays/community/jays-care/unstoppable-kids/challenges

P.E with Joe. Follow along each weekday for a new class with Joe.

PE with Joe YouTube

Little Sports uploads new exercises each week to keep kids moving

YouTube link

Get moving with Disney Family and the Incredibles with their super hero inspired workout

YouTube link

Every weekday at 12pm ParticipACTION stream’s Live Fit Breaks. Missed the stream? Not to worry! All of their Live Fit Breaks can be found in their Videos on Facebook.

www.facebook.com/pg/ParticipACTION/videos/

Cosmic Kid’s Yoga teaches Yoga and Mindfulness to Kids—while keeping it fun! Cosmic Kid’s offers a variety of different videos for a variety of ages and skill levels.

www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

Follow along with BOKS Canada at 12pm each weekday with their Family workouts. All workouts are posted online, along with BOKS Burst activities for kids.

www.facebook.com/BOKSKidsCanada/

Alphabet Fitness

https://www.canadascores.org/scores-at-home

Seniors Section

Healthy Aging Without Walls Program – City of Brantford / Brant County Health Unit / Adult Rec and Therapy Centre

https://www.brantford.ca/en/living-here/healthy-aging-without-walls.aspx#

Safe Zone

https://www.safezonebrant.ca/exercise-videos.html

Check back for updates to fitness class information. Need equipment?  Please look at the Lending Program information in the section below.

Check out the following online links to fitness classes:

Yoga With Cassie - Free online yoga classes - Check on Facebook for dates and times

CORE Dance Studio - Offering virtual workout classes

https://crunchlive.com/

Pop Sugar Fitness

Home workouts for seniors

Believe in Yoga Online

https://shop.lululemon.com/story/yoga-videos

https://ymca360.org/on-demand#/category/85

https://www.fitnessblender.com/videos

Try out the following at home exercises using minimal equipment:

Check out the following Free* workout apps!  Download where ever you get your apps!

Nike Training App

Sworkit App *Some in-app purchases may apply

Fit App *some in-app purchases may apply

My Fitness Pal

Fitbit App

The County of Brant wants to help keep you active while you’re at home by lending out the following fitness equipment:

• Free Weights/Dumb Bells 1lbs, 2lbs, 3lbs and 5lbs  (a limit on one size weights per person)
• Yoga Mats

The items will be dropped off on your porch, along with suggested exercises, that our fitness staff have developed.

Find fitness classes information in the section above.

The County will be making the following items available to residents of the County of Brant:

• Hula hoops
• Skipping ropes
• Sidewalk chalk
• Volleyballs
• Basketballs
• Soccer balls
• And a variety of other recreation and sports equipment

If you’re interested please send an email to lisa.koekoek@brant.ca with what equipment you’re interested in borrowing.

Check out Activities you can do with…

Hula Hoops

Hula Hoop Ring Toss

Using bean bags, (or fill Ziploc Bags with beans, rice, etc) See how many you can toss into your hula hoop.

Paper airplane Toss

Design your own paper air plane and see if you can get it to land in the target.

Basketballs

Basketball Pass Tag

Select 2-5 taggers depending on the size of the group.
All students must dribble the basketball around the playing area and avoid the taggers.
Taggers must dribble the basketball at all times.
If a student is tagged they must stop and place the ball on the floor between their feet.
Freeing process: A different student passes the ball to the caught player, who must catch it, and return the pass back.
Game is played until all players have been caught.

Sharks & Minnows

Choose one player to be the Shark
The rest of the players will have a basketball; they are the minnows
The object of the game is to make it from one boundary line to the other without getting tagged.

Red Light Green Light

All players start with a basketball. When Red Light is called everyone must stop dribbling.

Soccer Balls

Get to the Base

Mark a large area with 4 different coloured objects
Start the game by dribbling soccer balls around the playing area
Once a colour is called everyone must dribble their ball as fast as they can to that colour.

Crab Soccer

All players must remain in the crab position during the game- Sit down with knees and hips up, using their hands and feet to walk with.

The County will be making the following items available to residents of the County of Brant:

• iPads - Please note that all are currently booked.  We will contact those that have requested if any become available.

Scholastic Canada is allowing free access to their digital platforms to keep kids reading, thinking and learning. Resources are available from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

http://scholastic.ca/education/free_digital_resources/

Sesame Street offers ideas to help your family to breathe, laugh and play together. Online and Offline resources are added weekly.

https://www.sesamestreet.org/caring

Crayola Canada offers a number of create-it-yourself activities for all ages and FREE colouring and activity sheets for kids!