Olympic Ring Bottle Cap Color Sort

Recycled bottle caps; the Olympic rings and a classic toddler activity rolled into one fun morning of play and learning. Kids love simple activities, and I love using items that I have laying around our home. Making this simple Olympic ring bottle cap color sort activity a sure hit. Whew! Did I really just jam all that in one sentence? It must be all the coffee I am drinking to stay warm;)

I save all our bottle caps (especially the colorful ones), for time just like this. I have an ever growing stash that is taking over a corner in our basement. I have even enlisted a few of my dearest friends to save their bottle caps for me as well.

Anyway, as I dug through my bottle cap stash, I came up with some interesting statistics. Ready for it? In our house (and my enlisted friends homes)…

We drink approximately 10 blue capped beverages to ever 1 red capped beverage.
I also discovered that yellow capped beverages are preferred over black capped beverages.
and finally, I am convinced that no one likes the green capped beverages because I only scrounged up 3 (the rest are apple sauce caps).

If there are any beverage marketers reading out there, make sure you cap your beverage in blue. It is clearly the cap of choice;)

Since this is an Olympic Color Sort event, I could not let the kids sit at the table and sort quietly.

So instead, we pushed the table to the side and geared up for a fun morning of running. The addition of movement to our simple activity, make it twice as exciting for the kids. I honestly haven’t heard this much giggling and excitement over a few colors in a long time.

PS if you are looking for a fun way to count down to the Olympics, check out our Fun Fact Olympic Paper Chain (with free PDF).

Instead of an individual Olympic event; this is a team challenge.

The event was held in our living room, where hidden bottle caps were waiting to be discovered. The kiddos raced around in search of the colorful caps. Once they found one, they ran back and placed it on the matching colored Olympic ring. They were working together to beat the clock. The event was complete once all the caps were found and correctly placed on the corresponding ring before the 2 minute timer beeped. The kids LOVED it!

The kids loved working on color recognition, team work, problem solving skills and so much more. Ok really, the kids really had no idea they were learning all those things, but that’s what makes it a successful activity right? It was a hit because of all the giggles and that they had no idea that they were learning. Love it!

I left the bottle caps out, and look what the kids discovered all on their own.

Beautiful child lead towers. The caps were a little tricky to stack, but the kids were determined to create the tallest tower.

These kids truly are Olympic athletes. We love the Olympics. Here are a few of our favorite Olympic activities.

Count down to the Olympics with our Fun Olympic Fact Paper Chain.

I love the star burst effect of these iconic rings in this simple Olympic Ring Art.

Easy projects are always a hit, and our Olympic Ring Painting is one of the easiest.

Hosting an Olympic party? Check out our 10 fun Olympic activities for kids.

Olympic Paper Chain Countdown

PDF of Olympic facts your kids will love.

Our family loves the Olympics. We enjoy gathering around the TV and watching all the unique events. To help build the kids excitement for the upcoming games, I created an Olympic fact printable. As I scoured the internet for fun facts, and couldn’t help but be amazed. Have you ever wondered why Olympic rings are blue, yellow, black green and red? or Who the youngest/oldest athlete was to compete in a games? Find the answers to these questions and so many more in our fun Olympic Paper Chain Countdown.

Paper Chains are a classic kids craft and the perfect way to create a little excitement around an upcoming event. We turned this classic paper chain countdown into a simple Olympic learning tool.

Each Day the kids will remove a ring and discover a fun Olympic fact. My kids can’t wait to tear off the first fact. I was giggling as they were putting the paper chain together. They were careful not to read the paper strips, so they did not spoil the surprise. I love my kiddos:)

Materials needed:

1 sheet of each color of paper (Blue, yellow, black, green and red)
Printer
Scissors
Stapler or tape (you choose)
Printable Olympic Facts PDF

We were able to print on all the colors except black. We ended up printing on white paper and then gluing it to the black strips. I thought about writing on the black paper in white ink, but well let just say I wanted to finish the project. So yes I settled on white paper, but it turned out OK. I would love to hear if you have any suggestions. Clearly I’m not loving the white paper inside the black circle.

Each page contains 5 Olympic facts with a total of 25 days. Simply cut on the lines provided, which will result in 5 blue strips, 5 yellow strips, 5 black, 5 green and finally 5 red strips. Have the kiddos staple the paper strips together to make a chain. You can encourage patterning by having then follow the pattern of the Olympic rings.

Ready for a sneak peek of a few of the questions?

Which 3 continents have not held an Olympic games as of 2014?

What year was the first Winter Olympic games held?

and finally…

What is the warmest city to ever host the winter Olympics?

If you want to find the answers, you can either

a) Google them like me

b) the easiest option…print off my PDF that includes 25 fun Olympic facts! I would love a quick follow on Facebook and Pinterest, hint hint;) Not too much to ask for a free printable right?

Looking to create a little Olympic art with your kids?

Check out our Olympic Ring Art. I love the star burst effect of these iconic rings.

I love this simple Toddler Olympic Ring Painting. Easy projects are always a hit.

10 fun Olympic activities for kids that are perfect for you Olympic party.

Cold Weather Activities

Activities and experiments that embrace the cold.

Today Minnesota is experiencing record breaking freezing temperatures. Our governor closed all public schools state wide due to the freezing weather and wind chill. Brrrrrrr! I am a native Canadian girl, but I am most happy when the thermometer hits 90 degrees F. Not so conducive to Minnesota winters. The only thing that gets me through the cold is my Cuddle Duds (they are truly amazing), knowing that summer has to return at some point and a delightful cup of coffee.

Minnesota Cold

For todays activities, I am turning to my friend and Minnesota Cold expert Nathan. He enjoys embracing the cold and uses science to turn the frigid temperatures into a fun learning opportunity. He has made a series of fun videos that I just had to share with you.

Frozen Banana Experiment

Did you know that you can actually pound a nail into wood with a piece of frozen fruit? Amaze your kids with this easy to duplicate frozen experiment. And when you are done experimenting, why not make a yummy smoothie. Experiment and snack rolled into one fun learning moment, sounds delightful to me.

Blowing Frozen Bubbles

I have seen this idea done a number of different times, and I have yet to try it. Bubbles are always fun to play with. We have made colorful Bubble Snakes, blown beautiful bubble art, but have yet to create a frozen bubble. Adding this to our ever growing list of things we need to experience.

Sledding on a Frozen Towel

Ok sledding is cool, but seriously does it really work on a towel? I might advise using an old towel that mom does not want anymore:) Check out how to make your own sled in the video below.

How to build an Igloo

I grew up making simple snow forts as a kid. It is a classic winter activity that is loved by all ages. I love how Nathan and his son tested the strength of their structure. Also note the icicles on Nathans beard, yep thats cold!

Nathan’s Minnesota Cold Series currently has 11 videos, but I am sure he has more in the works. Make sure to click like on his YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on his new experiements. You can click here to see them all. He has been featured on WCCO 4 News, NBC’s Today show and CNBC news. I love being friends with a local celebrity:) Thanks Nathan for sharing with us and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

Fine Motor Painting Activity

We love painting in unique and fun ways. This simple activity is no exception. It is perfect for developing hand eye coordination and those all important fine motor skills. Your utensil drawer is the perfect place to find all the items you need for this simple Fine Motor Painting Activity.

Fine Motor Skills

Helping kids develop their hand muscles is so important, this simple exercise is a fun way to do just that. You will need a few simple supplies including…

A Chip Bag Clip
Skewer with a blunt end
Paint ~ we used left over pots from a DIY art kit

We love painting with unique materials. Some of my kids favorite no brush painting techniques include Pour Painting, Credit Card Painting, Exploding Art, and Compass Painting. If your kids like painting as much as mine, you may want to check out our Painting Archives.

Dots, dots and more dots. Perfect for making adorable wrapping paper or cute kid made cards.

We have used Q-tips to create a simple Pointillism art piece, however skewers are a great alternative.

I love how all the wooden skewers look dipped in brightly colored paint.

If you are looking for more simple fine motor play, check out our simple DIY Toddler Sewing boards. No need for special sewing supplies, these can be created straight from your recycle bin.

If you love process art like us, then check out my Painting Without Brushes Pinterest board. It is packed full of fun ideas.

Beaded Twig Christmas Ornaments

Simple Kid Made Christmas Ornament

There it something so special about kid-made ornaments. Like most kids, mine love blessing me with simple ornaments that they made. So much so that I have an entire tree decorated with their handiwork. I am one of those crazy people that loves to have a lit and decorated tree in every room. I know a little over board for most, but I love it! These simple Beaded Twig Christmas Ornaments have a special spot on the tree. Right next to the pompom candy cane and the glittered juice lid.

I fell in love with the Twiggy Trees from Happy Hooligans last year. Make sure to check them out, they are absolutely adorable and so simple to create. I could not resist making our own Twig Ornaments.

We found a number of “y” shaped branches in our back yard that worked perfectly as the base of our ornament. I helped the kids cut the branches so that all we were left with was a simple 4″ “v” shape.

Tools:

thin wire

small beads in assorted colors and sizes

“y” shaped twig

They simply stringed the beads on the wire and then wrapped it around the “v” shaped twig. It really does not get any more simple than that. I find that it is easier for the kids to work with wire than with string when beading. However, string or yarn would work great too.

I love that the kids left a little bit of wire showing. The part that took the kids the most time was stinging the beads, but even that was quick. I showed the girls how to make a quick loop with the wire and a bead to create a simple hanger.

I am so excited to be joining a group of my fav kid bloggers to bring you over 50 kid-made ornaments over the next 20 days!

We would love for you to join us, all you need to do is:

Simply pay my sweet friend Melissa from Mama Miss a visit. She is one creative lady, and I just know you are going to fall in love with her blog.
Once you are there, link up your favorite kid-made ornament that you created with your kids. It is that simple. Hope to see you there.
You can find a schedule of all the creative blogs joining in the series here so you don’t miss out on any of the creative ideas shared.

Looking for more Simple Kid-made Ornaments?

Find our favorite ornaments here or follow our Simple DIY ornaments Pinterest board.