More loose parts ideas this week: 

1. Send the kids outside and tell them to gather 15 objects (any size). When they get back have them create a landscape "painting" with the objects.  

2. Gather scissors, paper, ruler, pencils, pens, paperclips and clothespins.  Create an articulated person or animal.  

3. Gather string, paper clips, popsicle sticks, buttons, and 2 objects of your choice.  Create something that moves.  

Send us your pictures and we'll post your creations! 

Loose parts

Here are 5 loose part prompts: 

 1. Put out buttons, bottle tops, sticks, cotton balls and q-tips. Prompt: create a winter scene. 

 2. Put out feathers, sticks, pipe cleaners, and nuts or seeds or leaves. Prompt: create a playground. 

 3. Put out nuts, bolts, screws, and cans. Prompt: create a robot 

 4. Put out acorns, sticks, dirt, dried flowers, rocks, leaves, seeds, and sand. Prompt: create a space for fairies. 

 5. Put out tree cookies, moss, shelss, pods, peach pits, sweet gum balls, anise stars, and cinnamon sticks. Prompt: create a living creature. 

 Send your pictures to kidthinkers@gmail.com and we will share them here!

American Thanksgiving challenge:

Use only the following to create a Thanksgiving centerpiece.  Send us your pictures and we'll post them! Send to kidthinkers@gmail.com.  Challenge yourself to think outside of the box!

6 inches of tape (any kind, any color)
6 paper clips
6 pieces of chewing gum or starburst candies and wrappers
6 pipecleaners
1 sheet of newspaper
1 sharpie or marker of any color
1 sheet of orange paper

Good luck!

Here's a new summer challenge:

Two pool noodles and 12 inches of duct tape.  What can you create?  Send pictures.  We'll post!

T-shirt challenge

Try this: take two old t-shirts, 48 inches of thread or string, a needle, scissors, and turn the tshirts into something new (these are the ONLY materials you can use so be creative) -- could be a new shirt with a new style or it could be anything else from your imagination. Send us pictures and we'll post them!

Here's a new challenge for you: Build a car using only these materials. two pencils (preferably unsharpened), two straws, scissors, four buttons, 4 CDs, and a toilet paper tube (or a cardboard box), and rubber band(s). Send us your pictures or video and we'll share!

Create!

Pool noodle challenge. Create a sculpture from pool noodles.  You may use one other item of your choice such as duct tape or toothpicks.  To make to it more challenging, make a kinetic sculpture! If you want to learn more about kinetic sculptures, check this out.

Send us your pictures or videos or stop animation:) We'll share them!

Sticks

What can you create with 50 sticks? Try it - and send us your pictures:)

Solutions -- Mandalas

Check out these awesome solutions from the Bayer family! Congratulations on great work!

Mandalas

Summer is a great time for art -- tell your student to gather 50+ items from outdoors and then create a mandala with them. Send in your pictures:)

Our Boat Challenge Returns

Start off your summer with this challenge: build a duct tape boat using only cardboard and duct tape -- it can be any size or any shape. Then, test it and send in your pictures:)

Altered Quotes for Daily Living

Quick research project: choose a famous person and search for 3 quotes by that person. Then, combine just 3-5 words from each of the quotes to create a new quote for daily living. It can be silly or serious. Post your quotes in the comment section below with the name of the person whose quotes you altered. Here's an example: Martin Luther King said: We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. Altered quote: We must learn a true education is that love is great.

Leaf people or critters?

It's Spring. So, here's a spring challenge for you. Ask your student to go outside and find 20 leaves or petals (preferably on the ground). Then give the student a piece of white paper, some glue, and a box of markers and tell them to create a piece of art that represents something real or imagined that lives in nature. Send in some pictures. We'd love to see what you create!

Solutions to 10 books

Check out this awesome solution to 10 Books (words from each of the 10 books in bold): Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Fire Crackers went off. I looked up and the stars dot the sky like some one opened a jar. My little sister and our dog run fast in the grass. The dog turns around and gives me a big doggy grin. "Aawww," I say to the dog. "Go," I say as the dog turns back to my sister. I look at my mom and dad sitting on a picnic blanket with my baby sister, I grin, I cannot help it. I am staring up at the sky, we hear a big boom, red and blue dot the sky. "Pretty," I said. by Ashlyn, age 10 For more solutions, check the comments on the 10 Books post. Everyone did a marvelous job! Note: there are more solutions in the comments section below the original challenge -- congrats to you all!

Here's a good one inspired by Unschool Me using just 10 squares of toilet paper for each person, make a soft family. You may use one other object of your choice such as a marker or string.

10 books

Gather up ten books. Go to page 30 of every book and write down the 30th word on that page. Now, using those ten words, write a story that is only 10 sentences long. Send us your stories and we'll post them! Check out two awesome solutions sent in by clicking on the comments to this post! Great work!!!

Landfill Harmonic

Inspired by Landfill Harmonic, this challenge asks you to go to your trash and/or recycling bin and create an instrument (or two or three) and then play it. Videotape your result and send it to us -- we'd love to share.

Circus Card Collage

If you haven't thrown them out or recycled them already, use all of your holiday cards to create a circus, complete with animals, acts, and clowns. You may use 1 sheet of blank white paper, 1 black sharpie and glue or tape as needed. Send pictures!

Create a Creature.

Another simple challenge: using all of the paperclips in a box of paperclips, create a creature. Be sure to send pictures and then, recycle your paperclips!

Forks

This week's challenge is simple: create a house using only forks. Send pictures -- we'd love to see them and post them!