What to do on Children's Day?
This is the question that all parents ask when approaching this special day for the little ones. Right after Christmas, this is the day most loved by children, due to the activities and celebrations made especially for them. To liven up this day, we have created a list of activities that you can do in order to socialize and have fun with your children.
1. Get down to business
Children always like to create and build objects. This is the time to put your hands to work and create. You can discover the wonderful world of handicrafts by developing pieces with clay and plasticine, creating objects with recycling or exploring watercolor with the help of the P55 article: how to paint in watercolor If handicrafts are not your child's forte, you can always choose to teach them a recipe for cake, cookies or muffins.
2. Visit a museum in person or virtually
Going for a walk and visiting a museum or art gallery near you might be the ideal plan for this day. If you want to stay at home, you can opt for a virtual tour. Thanks to virtual reality and photography, it is possible to visit the rooms of more than 500 emblematic museums, galleries, among other cultural spaces, with the Google Arts & Culture application. In Portugal, you can visit National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA), National Museum of Contemporary Art – Chiado Museum, Berardo Collection Museum, National Palace of Ajuda, National Coach Museum, National Museum of Ethnology & Museum of Popular Art, National Pantheon It is National Tile Museum.
self-portrait in red in Paula Rego, 1962 - National Museum of Contemporary Art - Museu do Chiado
3. Discover a new movie or series
We all like to see a good movie. In this list there are films and series for all tastes and several decades, from the fantastic classic of The Wizard of Oz to the recent animated film Soul: An Adventure with the Soul, passing through enthusiasmvery Bob Ross show. You can also put your hands to workwith multiple episodes from the series Art Attack that teach children to create their own artistic objects.
1. Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz (1939)
2. Furandāsu no inu / The Dog of Flanders by Nippon Animation (1975)
3. The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross (1983)
4. Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
5. Art Attack by Neil Buchanan (1900-2007)
6. Pixar's Toy Story (1995)
7. Pixar's Monsters Inc. (2001)
8. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005)
9. Night at the Museum (2006)
10. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
11. Matisse by Tom Geraedts
12. Rich Moore and Byron Howard's Zootropolis (2016)
13. Frida from Finger and Toe
14. Coco - Viva - Life Is A Party by Adrian Molina and Lee Unkrich (2017)
15. Soul: An Adventure with Soul by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers (2020)
4. Read
Reading is an opportunity to learn and to rest the body while exercising the mind. There is a variety of options, from comics to books on art such as life doesn't scare me by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Maya Angelou, or How to talk about art with children from Françoise Barbe-Gall to classics such as the short story Le Petit Prince (The little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Harry Potter by JK Rowling or An adventure by the authors Isabel Alçada and Ana Maria Magellan. There are a variety of children's stories that you can tell such as the classic duckling stories. feio, Pinocchio and Cinderella. If you want to get creative, write a story to tell your children or ask them to create their own story. Whatever the option, you will have the opportunity to enjoy time with your children in an exciting and dynamic way.
5. Time to play
Children love games! Introduce your children from the classics to the latest, in order to challenge their skills and provide them with a new challenge.
Games that only need pen and paper
There are many types of simple games that just need pen and paper. An example of this is the stop game, which is based on categories decided together, such as “Names”, “Countries”, “Brands”, “Cities”, “Animals”, “Objects”. To begin with, one of the players has to think of the alphabet and the other has to stop it by saying stop. The first person to fill in all categories must say stop and then all players must mention the words placed in each category. The objective is to finish all the columns as quickly as possible and whoever has the most complete fields wins.You can also opt for the classic game of tic-tac-toe or hangman or who's who. In the latter, you will need a post-it note, so that all players can write the name of a well-known public figure, such as actors, musicians or artists. Then the post-it is placed on the forehead of the player on their right and they try to guess who the character is with affirmative or negative questions to the group. The first player to find out who their character sells.
Card games
Card games are one of the great sources of entertainment to interact with the family. There are several types of games, from the most difficult to the easiest, such as uno, peixinho, sueca, hearts, patience, hole, canasta, among others.
puzzles
Exercise your brain with a good puzzle. You can make a puzzle that you already have at home or create a personalized one for your children. Ask your children to draw on a piece of sturdy cardboard. Then use a pencil to outline the puzzle pieces on the drawing. Cut the pieces with good scissors, mix them up and finally play with your children.
Treasure hunt
Children love to find hidden objects, especially if there is a prize at the end. Be creative, write clues on paper and choose the final prize. Put the first clue in an easy-to-find place, like on your nightstand. Then leave as many lanes around the house as you like, making a trail to the final lane. A fun game that can include the whole family.
Board games
Currently, there are several genres of board games that encourage memory and logical thinking. We always have the classics like checkers, chess and backgammon to the latest ones like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble. Whatever the option, you will have the opportunity to enjoy time with your children in an exciting and dynamic way.