Hey MRASP-ers! Welcome back to the LFH Blog. It's Thursday and we have some fun activities on Zoom today like Charades, Choose Your Own Adventure, Show & Tell, Scavenger Hunt, and Drawing Club. Head over to the calendar to sign up and we will see you there! On the blog today we have back to back jump rope activities, a card game for one, and another sweet treat. Let's get started . . .
Plastic Bag Jump Rope
Crafted By Aurora
Grade Level: 3rd-5th
Individual or multiple people: Individual
Theme: Reused/recycled crafts
Materials:
Plastic bags (grocery bags, bread/bagel bags, or any other plastic bags). The number you need will depend on how long your jump rope is. Start with ten and add in more if you need them.
Scissors
Duct tape
Painter's/Masking Tape
A chair
Location: Anywhere
Links and resources:
Further instructions or accommodations:
Safety note: it is dangerous to put plastic bags or plastic material over your mouth or nose. Please be careful when doing this project.
Start off by cutting your plastic bags open so that they're in one flat piece. Then, cut off any handles or extra bits so that they are all rectangles. Next, cut all of those rectangles into long strips about 2-3 inches wide (it doesn't have to be exact).
Start tying your plastic strips together to make 12 long strips. Each strip should be a little bit longer than you want your jump rope to be, because it will lose some length when you braid it. Try standing on the middle of your plastic strip and holding the ends up as high as they can reach. It should come up to your chin or a little bit higher, so that after it's braided it will be the right size.
Once you have 12 long strips of the right size, take 6 of those strips and attach them together at one end using painter's tape. Then, use painter's tape to tape that to the top of a chair. It'll look kind of like a giant friendship bracelet when you first start it.
Now, braid the strips together all the way to the end using a standard braid. Since you have six plastic strips, each section of the braid should have two strips in it. Use a little bit of painter's tape to secure the end so that it doesn't come apart after you finish braiding.
Do the same thing with the other six plastic bag strips so that you have two long plastic braids.
To finish off your jump rope, twist your two braids together tightly and duct tape the ends to hold it together and create handles. This part is easier with an extra set of hands, so make sure you ask a family member for help if you need it!
Now you have your very own, homemade jump rope made of recycled materials!
Individual Jump Rope Challenges
Challenged by Aurora
Grade Level: K-5
Individual or multiple people: Individual
Materials: A jump rope
Location: Outside
Try these jump rope challenges:
Scissor jumps: Land with one foot forward. Switch feet on every jump.
Cross jumps: Land with your feet crossed. Switch between crossed and uncrossed feet every jump.
Duckie: Land with your toes pointed in and your heels out. On the next jump, switch so that your toes are pointed out and heels are in. Keep alternating with every jump.
Swing: Land on one foot and swing your other foot out to the side. On the next jump, switch legs.
Straddle: Switch between having your feet together and your feet apart with every jup, like doing a jumping jack with a jump rope.
Crossovers: Do a regular jump, then cross your arms for the next jump. Switch between crossed and uncrossed arms for every jump.
How many jumps of each challenge can you do? Can you switch between multiple different types of jumps? Can you come up with any of your own jump rope challenges?
“Solitaire” Card Game
By Brendan
Grade Level: 3-5
Individual or multiple people: 1 player
Theme: A basic card game that is played by one person only!
Materials: 1 standard 52-card deck of cards
Location: Any flat surface to play a basic card game.
Instructions:
1. The purpose of the game is to release and play into position certain cards to build up each “foundation”, in sequence and in suit, from the ace to the king. The ultimate purpose is to build the whole pack onto the foundations, and if you can do that, you have won Solitaire! The rank of cards in Solitaire games is: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low).
2. There are four different types of piles in Solitaire:
The Tableau: Seven piles that make up the main table.
The Foundations: Four piles on which a whole suit or sequence must be built up. In this Solitaire game, the four aces are the bottom card or “base” of the foundations. The foundation piles are hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs.
The Stock (or “Hand”) Pile: If the entire pack is not laid out in a “tableau” at the beginning of a game, the remaining cards form the “stock” pile (where additional cards are brought into play according to the rules).
The Talon (or “Waste”) Pile: Cards from the stock pile that have no place in the tableau or on foundations are laid face up in the “waste” pile.
3. To make the tableau, you need to make seven piles. Starting from left to right, place the first card face up to make the first pile and deal one card face down for the next six piles. Starting again from left to right, place one card face up on the second pile and deal one card face down on piles three through seven. Starting again from left to right, place one card face up on the third pile and deal one card face down on piles four through seven. Continue this pattern until pile seven has one card facing up on top of a pile of six cards facing down.
4. The remaining cards form the stock (or “hand”) pile and are placed above the tableau. When starting out, the foundations and waste pile do not have any cards.
5. The initial card setup may be changed by "building" - transferring cards among the face-up cards in the tableau. Certain cards of the tableau can be played at once, while others may not be played until certain blocking cards are removed. For example, out of the seven cards facing up in the tableau, if one is a nine and another is a ten, you may transfer the nine to on top of the ten to begin building that pile in sequence. Since you have moved the nine from one of the seven piles, you have now unblocked a face down card; this card can be turned over and now is in play.
6. As you transfer cards in the tableau and begin building sequences, if you uncover an ace, the ace should be placed in one of the foundation piles. The foundations get built by suit and in sequence from ace to king.
7. Continue to transfer cards on top of each other in the tableau in sequence. If you can’t move any more face up cards, you can use the stock pile by flipping over the first card. This card can be played in the foundations or tableau. If you cannot play the card in the tableau or the foundations piles, move the card to the waste pile and turn over another card in the stock pile.
8. If an empty space is made in the tableau by the removal of cards elsewhere, it can only be filled in with a king. Filling a space with a king could potentially unblock one of the face down cards in another pile in the tableau.
9. Continue to transfer cards in the tableau and bring cards into play from the stock pile until all the cards are built in suit sequences in the foundation piles to win!
Links and resources: https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/solitaire/#filter=.family.solitaire
Frozen banana “popsicles”
Cooked Up By Meg
Grade Level: All ages
Individual or multiple people: Either!
Theme: Cooking
Ingredients:
Bananas-use as many as you want (the recipe calls for 5)
Popsicle sticks (if you don’t have any, it’s not a big deal)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup granola
Parchment paper
2 small bowls
2 spoons
A plate or tray
Location: Kitchen
Links and resources: https://tasty.co/recipe/yogurt-granola-frozen-banana
Further instructions or accommodations:
Peel your bananas and cut them in half
Place the popsicle stick inside of the bananas and lay them on the parchment paper that’s on your plate
Freeze your bananas for about 1-3 hours, depending on how frozen you want them
Take them out of the freezer and coat in your yogurt and granola
Freeze them again for 20 minutes
Enjoy!
Have a great day everyone!
