Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Weekly Theme: The Fabulous Family – More Activities
Family Puppets
Have the children cut out pictures of family members in parents magazines. Have the
children glue them to a piece of heavy paper. When the glue is dry, cut out the pictures
from the heavy paper and attach the pictures to a Popsicle stick or straw with tape to
make a puppet.
Family Puppets 2
Ask the parents to bring in pictures they no longer want. Cut out the people in the
pictures and attach the pictures to a Popsicle stick or a straw with tape to make a
puppet.
Paper Bag Family Puppets
Supply each child with a brown paper bag, yarn and other items to make a puppet. The
flap at the bottom of the bag is the mouth. Ask the children to give the puppet a name.
Family Home
Need: Milk carton, paper, crayons and markers, tongue depressors
Directions: Use a milk carton cut in half and cover with construction paper. Have
children add doors, trees, etc., cut from construction paper (or draw on details) to
resemble the child's house. Have the children draw the members of their families and
include pets on tongue depressors and place them into the house.
Fingerprint Family
Materials: Non toxic ink pad, Paper, Black pen or crayon
Show your child how to make finger prints on a piece of paper. Have your child draw
eyes, nose mouth and hair to create a face. Ask the children to name the people in the
picture.
Family Place mat
Have the children cut out pictures of families in parents magazines. Have the children
glue the pictures onto a piece of paper. Laminate the paper and use for a place mat.
Animal Families:
Talk about animal families... what do we call a baby chicken, baby dog and so on.
Bean bag toss
Have your child toss bean bags into a box with pictures of people on it. You can use
masking tape to mark where the child should stand.
Family Bowling
Obtain 10 2 liter bottles. Fill the bottles about 1/8 full with sand or water and seal the lid.
Then, decorate the bottles like people, adding yarn for hair, and use permanent markers
for the eyes nose and mouth. Set the bottles up like they were bowling pins and have
the children roll a ball to try to knock them over. If they don't knock over easily, remove
some of the sand or water.
July 2009
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Dramatic Play
You can add these items to your home living area. Make sure all bottles and boxes are
empty and cleaned thoroughly. Plastic baby bottles, (preschool and up) detergent
bottles, dish soap bottles, hand soap bottles, cereal boxes, food boxes, aprons, hot
pads, child safe utensils, (potato masher) oven mittens, hand towels, wash cloths,
shampoo bottles, baby soap bottles, cleaning spray bottles, dresses, clip on ties,
scarves, shoes, bibs, baby spoons.
Family Duck, Duck, GOOSE!
Substitute other names in this game to suit your needs. Try Duck/Duckling, Cat/Kitten,
Mommy/Baby, Daddy/Baby etc.
Are you my Mother?
Play this like doggie doggie where's your bone! Except you choose one child to be the
baby bird in the middle and the child with a block or toy is the mommy. The Bird points
to a child and asks "Are you my Mother?" the child answers "Yes" if they have the block
or "No I am a ___". Fill in the ___ with cat, dog, boat.. etc On the third guess if the child
guess incorrectly the child should respond "I am a Snort" and everyone can point to the
"Mother".
Rock Families
Take a walk and have the children collect four or five different sized rocks to make a
family. Bring them back and paint them. Then let the children play with their families.
Encourage them to make up stories about their rock families. For example have them
name their rocks and tell what each one likes to do. Help them expand their stories by
asking questions.
My Family Quilt
What You Need:
 Construction Paper
 Crayons/Markers
 Glue
 Cardboard
What You Do:
 Have the children bring in a picture of each of their family members (be sure to
tell the parents that they will not get the pictures back) and have the children cut
the picture into pieces. Then have them make a quilt by gluing small pieces of
construction paper and the pieces of the picture.
Family Match
Ask the parent to bring pictures of themselves as a baby and the children as a baby.
Then let your students try to match them up. (Write names on tape back so as not to get
them mixed up yourself)
July 2009
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
What Is It?
Place objects pertaining to a family into a box. Include items such as a baby rattle, a
toothbrush, a comb, baby bottle, etc. Have the children feel the objects and try to
identify them.
Family Quilt 2
Send home a note to parents to have students bring back 5-10 items that depict their
family by a certain date. On that date, give students a small piece of poster board to
decorate with their items. For those who do not have items, they can cut pictures of
things that depict their family from magazines. After posters are finished and dried,
punch holes around the edges and lace them together to make a family quilt for your
group.
Absorption (Science)
In a large group, ask children to guess how many cups of water a baby diaper will
absorb. Try the experiment by pouring cups of water into the diaper while writing a tally
mark for each cup on a chart. Continue pouring cups of water until it will not absorb any
more. At small group, children can do an individual absorption experiment. Give each
child an ice cube tray, a cup of water, and a medicine dropper. Have them drop a few
drops of water into each section of the ice cube tray. Provide them with a variety of
materials for the experiment, some that will absorb and some that will not. The children
will place one item in each section of the ice cube tray to see which ones absorb water
and which do not. Examples of materials to use: small piece of wood, facial tissue,
tissue paper, writing paper, paper towel, Unifix cube, cotton ball, rock, etc.
Family Traditions
The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy is a wonderful book that talks about family
traditions and the impact they have on family members. Read and discuss the book with
your students. Next, have students create a page for a class book on family traditions.
This is a great book to display for a family night.
Family Musical Chairs or Freeze Dance
Play these favorite games with fun music such as “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge.
July 2009
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Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials