Parents are looking for fun activities to keep kids occupied through quarantine. Thankfully, it’s not hard (or expensive) to turn an underwater flashlight craft into a fun little game that children will love.
A video from the Yoyo Facebook account shows how simple it is to use a zip-close plastic bag, markers and construction paper to bring a beautiful underwater scene to life.
You’ll start by drawing sea creatures on the plastic baggie. Depending on your kids’ ages, you can get them to help out with this stage. Let your imagination run wild as you draw jellyfish, sea horses and more for your little ones to discover under the ocean.
Next, place a piece of black construction paper inside the plastic bag so that the creatures you’ve drawn can barely be seen. Then, use white paper to draw a flashlight and its light beam. When you slide the flashlight around inside the plastic bag, you’ll reveal all of the animals you drew before. Your kids will have fun finding and naming each of the sea creatures — and parents will love the entertainment this easy-to-make, cheap “toy” brings.
See how it’s done in the Facebook video:
Good news for the parents out there! This isn’t the only fun activity that you can DIY with the kiddos. In fact, this rainbow sensory activity can be made with little more than a plastic sandwich bag, hand sanitizer (if you have any to spare these days!) and colorful counters.
Drawing a rainbow on the outside of the bag and then filling the bag with the corresponding color counters and hand sanitizer creates a game where your kids have to drag the counters to match up with the rainbow guide lines. The hand sanitizer offers a bit of resistance, so kids have to push and pull the counters with their fingers to get everything lined up just right.
This tutorial from the Raising Dragons Facebook account walks you through the steps of bringing this bit of fun to life:
Both of these games offer kids the chance to learn through exploring their sense of touch — sliding the flashlight in one game and moving the colorful counters in the other. And according to the Educational Playcare website, it’s through sensory-engaging activities like these that children learn their best. So, not only are these activities providing entertainment, they’re teaching your kids a little something along the way, too.
All right, parents — let the playing and learning begin!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
