Adventure - Day 1 - building

Mindfulness activity

Trivia question: What is a skyscraper?

a) A very tall building
b) An apartment building
c) A pool

Mindfulness activity:

• Put your palms together at chest height.
• Push your hands against each other as hard as you can.
• Which muscle gets tired first?

Mini stick raft

Supplies:

• Sticks
• String
• Piece of fabric or paper

On your next walk in your neighbourhood, have your child collect some sticks that would make a good raft.

Tie the sticks together using string or other materials.

Create a sail and mast with a piece of fabric or paper and a stick.

Test your raft in a pond or a bath tub. Make adjustments to your raft so it floats.

Cheerio tree ornaments

Supplies:

• Pipe cleaners
• Cheerios

Help your child thread plain Cheerios onto a pipe cleaner. You can twist more than one pipe cleaner together to make a bigger ornament.

Mold the pipe cleaner to a shape of your choosing e.g. heart, start, circle. Attach it to a tree and watch for which birds come to visit your ornaments.

Mini water slide

Supplies:

• Paper towel tubes
• Plastic wrap
• Plastic spoons
• Paper cups
• Tape
• Glue

Create a slide

• Have your child draw different ideas for what a waterslide could look like.
• Cut paper towel tubes in half (length wise) to create 2 parts that look like a slide.
• Add a strip of glue down the centre and wrap the tubes with plastic wrap (or a piece of a plastic bag) to make them water-tight.
• Attach the tubes together by placing one tube slightly overtop of the other and securing with tape.

Holding up the slide

• Have your child create a structure to support your slide. It needs to be at an angle to bring the water down.
• Flip a cup upside down. Poke two spoons into opposite sides of the cup so the scoops face each other (should look like a Y). Tape them in place so they don't move around. Put your slide between the spoons.
• You can create a higher level by taping two cups together and adding another Y.

Test the slide

• Find a place outside or in a tub where you can experiment with your slide. If you have small plastic toys, see if they make it down the slide.

Review questions

Ask your child:

• How does it make you feel to see all the different birds visiting your tree ornament? Do you think the birds are happy with their little tree snack? (Feel)
• What do you think the hardest part was about planning the waterslide or your stick raft? What kinds of things did you learn from your activity? (Think)
• What other types of building activities can you do at home? (Act)

Mindfulness trivia answer

Answer: A very tall building held together by a steel skeleton, beams and columns.

Mindfulness activity

Trivia question: How many countries are there in the world?

Mindfulness activity:

• Imagine that your pointer finger is a candle.
• Hold up your candle, take a deep breath in, and then blow out the candle on your finger for as long as you can.
• Notice how your breath fills up your belly when you breathe in.

Scavenger hunt

Supplies:

• Paper
• Pen
• Camera (optional)

Have your child find all of these items in your house:

• Stuffed bear or doll
• Flashlight
• A mug
• A colourful sock
• An alarm clock
• A ball
• A picture of people you love
• 5 orange things
• Something that makes you happy
• Something that starts with the first letter of your name
• An elastic band
• A piece of LEGO or small game piece
• A paper clip
• A coin
• Something square
• Something that sinks
• Something that holds things

Next, create an art piece that uses all the items. Take a picture of your creation, then put the items back where you found them.

Make your marble run

Supplies:

• 10-12 toilet paper rolls
• Cardboard base
• Tape
• Paint
• Glue
• Marbles
• Scissors

Watch the marble run video

A marble run is a structure or track with bends, obstacles, etc. that marbles can run down.

Have your child build 2-4 towers using toilet rolls by taping them together. Cut 3 toilet rolls in half length wise and tape them together to make shoots. Cut holes in the towers for the shoots to rest in, making sure that they tilt downward so the marbles roll down. Make sure the holes in the towers are high enough to allow the marbles through.

For the base, glue the towers to a carboard box. Paint and decorate your marble run, then test it out by seeing if the marbles make it all the way through.

Build an obstacle course

Supplies:

• Various at home objects

Have your child build 8-12 stations in different areas of your house (kitchen, washroom, room, yard, stairs, etc). Each station should contain a different activity, challenge or movement that you must complete to move forward to the next station.

Create signs to help you remember what to do at each station.

To make it fun you can use a timer, music or create challenges between people in your home.

These are some ideas for the obstacle course:

• Crawl under or over a row of chairs.
• Dance like an animal
• Crawl under a string stretched between two chair legs
• Sit against the wall
• Jump into and out of a hula-hoop five times
• Walk while holding a spoon with small marble on it
• Balancing on one leg
• Jump on the bed
• Throw balls into a laundry basket
• Run in place while balancing something on your head
• Somersault from one point to another
• Skip with a jumping rope while singing a song
• Do an exercise like ten jumping jacks, sit ups, star jumps, etc.

Review questions

Ask your child:

• How do you feel about adventures or trying new things? (Feel)
• Do you think it is important to get out of your comfort zone and try new things? (Think)
• What can you do in the future to feel more comfortable about new things or changes? (Act)

Mindfulness trivia answer

Answer: B: 195​​​​​

Mindfulness activity

Trivia question: A truck driver is going opposite traffic on a one-way street. A police officer sees him but doesn't stop him. Why didn't the police officer stop him? (See Answer at bottom of page)

Mindfulness activity:

• Sit comfortably.
• Close your eyes or keep them open.
• Imagine sitting in the warm sun. Feel it.
• Notice how the sun warms your legs.
• Notice how it warms your back, then your arms, then your face.

Spider web

Supplies:

• String/rope
• 2 chairs
• Tape

Spread 2 chairs out with enough space that rope/string can reach both chairs. Make an "X" by criss-crossing the ropes/string creating small gaps in the "X" shape. Use tape if you need to keep the rope/string intact.

The object of this game is to not disturb the string/rope and to make your way through the spider web. If you disturb (touch) the web you must start over.

To make it more challenging, add another set of chairs and string/rope to create more gaps for you to work around. Try this with a family member to see who can get through first without disturbing the web.

Balloon rocket

Supplies:

• String
• Balloon
• Tape
• Straw
• Scissors
• Clothespin/paperclip
• Paper
• Markers

Draw and colour a rocket, then cut it out. Thread the string through a straw. Tape or tie the ends of the string at different points across a room (you can use two chairs).

Blow up the balloon to fill it with "potential energy". Use the clothespin to hold the balloon closed so you have time to get it set up perfectly.

Tape the balloon below the straw. Make sure the straw can still move along the string. Tape the rocket to the side of the balloon.

Bring your balloon to one end of the string. Release the clothespin and let your rocket fly! You can use your rocket to deliver messages to people in your house.

Photo taken by Calgary Neighborhoods

The floor is lava

Supplies:

• Any items in your house that can support your weight. For example, Furniture (chairs, couches, tables, mattress, pillows), sporting equipment (hockey stick, soccer ball, baseball glove, frisbee disc), etc.

For this game, pretend the floor is lava and you must get safety to the other side of the room before the floor turns everything into lava.

Use the space and items you have to build a course (indoor or outdoor) of safe landing spots away from the floor that help you get across the room. If you touch the floor, start over. If it's too easy, spread out your items.

Review questions

• What do you like about building things? (Feel)
• How can building things help you or other people? (Think)
• What is something more complicated you’d like to build? (Act)

Mindfulness trivia answer

Answer: He is walking.