Hey Everyone! Here are some awesome indoor games and projects to keep you busy on this Rainy Friday. We have flying paper footballs, flipping picture books, and shooting hoops!
Paper Football Field
Brought To Us By Tyler
Grade Level: 2-5
Individual or multiple people: 1-4
Materials:
Paper
Scissors
Tape
Recyclables (paper/ plastic cups, straws, popsicle sticks, etc)
Pipe cleaners
Markers or crayons
Play Dough
Location: An open table at home
Links and resources:
Further instructions or accommodations:
This is a two part activity. It begins as a STEM, building activity that evolves into a game that can be played countless times.
Building the Goal Posts and Football:
This activity begins by crafting two goal posts to use in paper football games. Typically you use your hands as goal posts by making “L’s” with each hand and connecting your thumbs. In this we will give our hands a rest and create our own!
Use cups or play-dough to form a stable base for your goal posts. You can then use straws, pipe cleaners, and crafts sticks to form the uprights. Tape or play-dough can be used to adhere these pieces together.
Feel free to get creative and use other materials around your house.
Football:
There are a few different techniques to making a paper football. Some have varying weights that are adaptable to everyone's skill level and preference. Attached is a link that I use that provides a solid evenly weighted paper football.
Use thicker computer paper for added weight or a standard sheet of lined paper for a lighter football.
Write a number 1 on one side of the football and a 2 on the other. This is used in certain rule sets.
Game Time:
Find a table where two players can sit across from each other at a distance up to 3 feet.
The rules of paper football are fairly simple. The goals of the game is to score points either by getting a Touchdown (6 points +1 for extra point for a total of 7) or scoring a Field Goal (3 points) just like in regular football.
A Touchdown is scored by flicking the football to hand partially over the opponents edge of the table. (See photo).
The game begins with a Kick Off. One player hangs the football over the edge of the table closest to them and flicks the football towards the opponent. The number on the top of the football that shows after the kickoff corresponds to the amount of taps the offensive taps gets to try to score. (1 means one tap or one field goal attempt, 2 means 2 taps, or 1 tap and 1 field goal attempt)
The receiving player begins by lightly tapping the football towards the opponents end-zone trying to score either a field goal or touchdown.
Once a player scores, that player then Kick’s Off to their opponent.
If a Kick Off goes over the table it is considered a Touchback and the football is placed about 8 inches from their end zone.
If a player does not score or there is a missed field goal there is a turnover and the player who was on defense is now on offense and may flip the football to determine a number of taps and may start from the Touchback line.
The game is over when a mutual score is reached. (ex. 21)
GO GET ‘EM!
Cartoon Flipbooks
A Hut Favorite Shared By Jonathan
This is another Hut staple and a great way to spend some quality time letting your imagination run wild with very few supplies. All you need is a Post-it Note pad, some tape, and a pencil!
If you’re a beginner, start with about 40 pages of a 3x3 Post-it Note pad (roughly half of a standard pad). Wrap a couple of layers of tape around the top of the pad (where the sticky part is) to help keep the pages together as you make your book. I recommend using yellow or white Post-it pads because those have the easiest pages to see through, which is very important when making flipbooks.
Think of a simple scene that you can animate and picture it in your head. It should have a beginning, middle, and end. Take advantage of what you’re already good at drawing and see if you use that in your flipbook! Popular beginners’ ideas include dots moving around the page, a ball bouncing, words appearing or disappearing, a stick figure doing something simple.
Now that you’re ready to start, open your pad to the last page and draw your first picture. I recommend only drawing on the bottom half of the page so that I don’t have to open the pad too much when making (and later flipping) your flipbook. Once you’ve completed your first drawing, flip to the next page, where you should be able to see your first drawing through the new page. You can use that to figure out what your next drawing is going to be. Draw your subject again, slightly moving its position if you want to show movement, or tracing it as-is if you want to keep it still. Make sure your changes from page to page are not too extreme - this will make your animation look jumpy and confusing. Keep going until you’re done, checking on your progress from time to time by flipping the pages from back (your fist page) to front (your last page).
As far as options and complexity, the sky’s the limit! As you get better at making these, see if you can make more detailed animations or use double the number of pages for longer ideas. If you get tired of drawing the same thing over and over, take a break or start a second flipbook. Have fun with it!
This video shows the basics very well:
Indoor Hoop Course!
A Slam Dunk Activity Presented By Chloe
Grade Level: K-5
Individual or multiple people: Multiple or individual!
Theme: Active, Basketball, Rainy Days
Materials:
Newspaper
Buckets, baskets, or large bowls
Painters Tape
Timer (Can be on phone)
Location: Multiple rooms inside
Further instructions or accommodations:
This is a safe basketball variation that can be played inside on one of these upcoming rainy days.
Step 1: Wad the newspaper into fist size or larger balls - you may want to use some tape to make them heavier. If you already have a foam/indoor balls you could use, then skip this step.
Step 2: Place a bucket at one end of the room, and then make a tape mark on the floor where the shooting line is.
Step 3: Repeat step 2 and set up shooting challenges around the house with varying degrees of difficulty (between 5 and 10). Using different levels makes the game harder.
Examples you could use:
Place a bucket at the bottom of the stairs and have the shooting line at the top of the stairs.
Place a bucket on the dining room table and have the starting line underneath the table so the shooter has to either curve the ball or bounce it off the wall.
Step 4: Time how long it takes to complete all the challenges. If playing with multiple people, declare a winner, or challenge your kid to beat their own score.
Have A Great Weekend Everyone! We'll See You Next Week For More Fun Activities!
