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Nine Easy to Assemble Activities for Kids

by Jill Jarvis 2 Comments

Easy to Assemble Activities for Kids… All Made with Dollar Store Supplies!

We are really good at getting out into Houston and exploring the city… and really bad at making our own fun at home. I’m not at all crafty or creative and often run out of ideas for at-home entertainment. If it’s not Legos or books, I usually don’t have any new ideas…

But recently I was challenged by Kat Cosley at ABC13 to see what I could create with supplies from the Dollar Store, and I suddenly have 9 ideas that are new, fun, reasonably priced and easy enough for me to make.

Nine Easy to Assemble Activities:

  1. Ice Eggs
  2. Hula Hoop Tents
  3. Pool Noodle Hurdles
  4. Noodle Sprinkler
  5. Doll Swing
  6. Treasure Boxes
  7. Coke Explosion
  8. Tic Tac Toe Frisbees
  9. Doorstep Surprises

Look below for easy instructions on how to put these together in just minutes… And Watch ABC13 for the video clip!

Ice Egg Made with Dollar Store Supplies Easy to Assemble

1. Ice Eggs

Supplies: Balloons, Small Toy & Water

To make these frozen eggs, just squeeze a small toy into a balloon. (I used little lizards and frogs.) Fill the balloon with water, tie the top and put in the freezer.

Once frozen, cut off the balloon, and let the kids play with the ice eggs outside!

Hula Hoop Tent Made from Dollar Store Supplies Easy to Assemble

2. Easy to Assemble Hula Hoop Tents

Supplies: Hula Hoop, Twine, Safety Pins, Bed Sheet

These tents are much easier to make than I expected! Just take the bed sheet, loop it up and around the hula hoop, and safety pin the sheet to itself. (You’re make a little pocket like a curtain… the sheet is the “curtain” and the hula hoop is the “curtain rod”.)

Dollar Store Supplies to Make Hula Hoop Tent BigKidSmallCity

Use the twine to make an “x” on the top of the hula hoop, and tie it in 4 places to the hula hoop. This will hold the tent up.

Have a picnic or read a book in the tent.

Hopping Over Hurdles Made from Dollar Store Noodles Easy to Assemble

3. Pool Noodle Hurdles

Supplies: Pool Noodles, Kabob Sticks

This is easy and fun. Put two sticks into the grass and loop the noodle up and around the sticks.

These make a great obstetrical course and you can jump over or crawl under. (Just be careful no one will fall on sharp sticks!)

Noodle Sprinkler with Dollar Store Supplies Easy to Assemble

4. Noodle Sprinkler

Supplies: Pool Noodle, Bottle Cap & Hose

Poke holes in the pool noodle with a pencil or pen or screw driver or… On one side, use a cork or water bottle cap as a stopper. Connect the hose on the other side.

The water does not spray super high, but the kids loved playing with the sprinkler.

Dollar Store Supplies Used to Make Doll Swing BigKidSmallCity

5. Easy to Assemble Doll Swing

Supplies: Stackable Bin, Duct Tape, Shoe Laces

Use the duct tape to make the seat belt for the swing. Loop the shoe lace through the holes in the bin (which are already there because it is a stacking bin), and hang it to a pole or branch.

Keep It Please You are Special Note Inside the Park Treasure Box

6. Treasure Boxes

Supplies:  Plastic Containers, Markers, Small Toys

Teach the kids about random acts of kindness with these treasure boxes. Just put together little boxes with Dollar Store toys, write a  special note, and bury them at the local park. Just think how excited someone will be to uncover treasure at the park! Read more about these HERE.

Joe and the Coke Experiment

7. Coke Explosion

Supplies: Diet Coke, Mentos, Sheet of Paper

This science experiment is really fun! Diet Coke and mint flavored Mentos work best.

Roll up paper to make a tube. Fill it with the entire pack of Mentos. Open the Diet Coke, drop in all the Mentos at one time… and watch out!

Tic Tac Toe with Dollar Store Frisbees and Chalk

8. Tic Tac Toe Frisbees

Supplies: Sidewalk Chalk, Frisbees

This is easy. Draw a tick tac toe board with chalk and use frisbees as the pieces.

Bubble on Doorstep

9. Doorstep Surprises

Supplies:  Bubbles (or Small Gift) & Note

Just like “Booing” friends at Halloween, leave a special surprise at your friend’s doorstep this summer. Have the kids write a nice note, attach it to your bubbles or small toy, and leave it for your friends to find!

9 {Easy to Assemble} Activities for Kids… All Made with Dollar Store Supplies

Filed Under: All, Blog Archives, Gear & Bargains, Things to do July 20, 2015

About Jill Jarvis

Jill Jarvis is the owner of JillBJarvis.com, a BigKidSmallCity.com and Things to Do in Houston, with Kids, blog!

She is the mom of 4 and started the website years ago... when she was tired of constantly cleaning up the same mess in the family room.

Another mom showed her that you could just go do fun things in Houston, without hours of planning.

This inspired the blog and changed everything about how she enjoyed life in Houston, with kids!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Joe Colunga says

    July 23, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    Thanks for the tips! Especially like the ice egg idea. I think I might mix it up a little and use dark colored water (food coloring of course) to hopefully conceal a toy of the same color and make it a wait-n-see surprise. And that pool noodle sprinkler! My daughter loves to water the flower gardens. She can use the noodle to do that while I wash the cars and then we can play!!!!

    Reply
    • Jill Jarvis says

      July 23, 2015 at 6:07 pm

      Thanks Joe. Those are great ideas. Tell me how it all goes!

      Reply

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On this website you will find a full list of Houston weekly events, things to do around the city, travel ideas and resources for parents.

I know just what it’s like to be overwhelmed by work, life and family. I spent a lot of years traveling for work, missing big milestones for my kids and feeling bad about everything.

I started this website to make a list of all the events happening around Houston and then pick one to enjoy with my kids. And instead of thinking of all the things I was missing, I started to enjoy the things we were doing together.

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