After school activities and games

Parenting expert Linda Williams, author of " Parenting From the Heights ," says that when a child gets to play should depend on each child, but "age is irrelevant in that decision. I do think you need to set up some expectations about when it will be done. It doesn't have to be the same every day. Public school teacher and blogger Chelly Wood believes that "it's important for kids to get at least one hour of play time after school, regardless of age.

That's 'real' play time, not computer play, video game time or TV time. And if you hired an after-school sitter , share them with her so she can enjoy them with your children too. Recycle Objects Grace Hawthorne, consulting associate professor at Stanford's Institute of Design and creator of the construction toy Paper Punk , suggests taking something from the recycling bin and making it into something else.

Design a Comic Strip This is a great indoor activity for kids of all ages, and is sure to get the creative juices flowing as children invent characters and story lines. Artistic drawing skills can be honed by drawing and coloring characters and scenes. Measuring the strip boxes can also add an educational element to the activity. Become a Scientist Grab a notepad and pencil and head outside. Whether in your backyard, a park or a playground, spot a squirrel, chipmunk, bird or other animal and "pretend you're a scientist and track an animal, noting what it does from minute to minute," suggests Koestler Ruben.

Play Improv Games "Improv games are effective for teaching initiative and expression," Hawthorne says. Weave a Basket A great activity for older kids that can be done indoors or outdoors, making a basket can help with dexterity and provides an active creative process, as kids gather the materials. Get started with these easy instructions on how to weave a basket. Once the basket is made, send the kids outside to pick berries or collect rocks, autumn leaves or other natural treasures in the basket.

Kids of all ages and genders like to play dress-up , so invest in some dress-up clothes for a dress-up trunk whenever you see them on sale at thrift shops. You can also get a good deal on different costumes right after Halloween for imaginary play. A few ways to play dress-up with children is to put on a short play with costumes or throw a fashion show.

Drawing on the sidewalk is a great after-school activity for warmer months, and a mural on the front sidewalk is a great way for children to leave positive messages or holiday greetings for their neighbors. The major advantage of letting kids draw with sidewalk chalk is that their art will wash away naturally in the rain over time. DIY sensory jars like these jars from Preschool Inspirations come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties, but the one thing they all have in common is that kids and adults alike enjoy them.

Craft bottles can be used, but other bottles such as water bottles or sparkling drink containers are also good recycled bottles for sensory jar crafting. Storytelling is a time-honored tradition for people of all ages, and encouraging children to tell stories can help their imaginations to blossom in an age where their attention is usually held by electronic devices.

To help children learn to tell stories, make up a jaw full of paper slips that contain simple story prompts and draw a prompt for children to launch off from with their story. Baking can help children learn simple kitchen concepts such as measuring out ingredients, separating eggs, and cleaning the kitchen as you go along while cooking.

To increase the motivation for kids to bake, allow the kids to decorate their baked goods individually with a sprinkle or icing bar. Once the baked goods are done, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor with a nice cold glass of milk! Making homemade slime is a fun activity that has gained popularity over the past few years, with many recipes available on Pinterest and elsewhere across the Internet. Making slime usually only requires a handful of ingredients, and many kids love the sticky, oozy texture.

The objective of a hunt is to choose an object for the kids to hunt and then hide it somewhere in the house. The first kid to find the object wins the game. Object hunts can also be done to coincide with light house cleaning, allowing kids to help clear away clutter as they move from room to room looking for the object of the hunt. Including a prize for the winner of the hunt, such as a special privilege, can help encourage kids to play.

Games such as Old Maid, Go Fish, and Crazy Eights are simple enough for kids to catch on to quickly and often come with simplified rules designed for children. Playing hide and seek with kids can be done either inside or outside the house, depending on where the best places to hide are. When playing hide and seek indoors, be sure to remove any tripping hazards that children may stumble over as they try to make their way back to base. Hide and seek can even be played in the dark for added excitement.

After school is a window of time when older kids are often required to do some light chores around the house, and chores are good for child development. Take bike hikes with your family and watch your miles add up! If your family is into biking, try planning some bike hikes.

One great incentive to keep everyone biking is to plan an imaginary trip. Find out how far your "destination" is, then see how long it takes to bike that many miles. Everyone can keep adding up the miles to see how long it takes to bike around the country -- or the world! If you're going to be out more than an hour, bring water and snacks. Use a map to plan your route and figure out how many miles you will travel.

After a while you'll get pretty good at estimating how far you've biked. After each hike, record your mileage in a notebook. On a wall map, mark your town and your "destination" with push pins, then use a colored marker to note on a highway the number of miles you've biked. Inflate the tires, check the brakes, and lubricate the chain properly.

Make sure your helmet protects your forehead. Always buckle the straps and make sure they fit snugly. You must follow the rules of the road.

Ride on the right-hand side. Obey all traffic signs and signals, using hand signals to indicate when you turn. Always assume that the driver doesn't see you. Watch for cars turning at corners or backing out of driveways. Read more to find out how the next after-school game puts your kids in a friendly skee ball contest.

You may have seen skee ball, where players bowl wooden balls up a ramp, at an arcade. Shoot the Shoebox is similar, but relies on skill, not luck. Your kids can play with one friend, or in a larger group. The materials are inexpensive and the game is easy to make.

Step One: Turn an empty shoebox over and mark various-sized holes on one long edge. One hole should be just big enough for a shooter to go through. Another should be so large that it would be hard to miss. Make the rest of the holes various sizes in between. Step Two: Cut out the holes with scissors and mark points over them.

The largest hole should score zero points. The smallest should have the highest point value. Step Five: Each player gets ten shots at the box. If a marble passes through a hole, the shooter gets the number of points marked over it. The player with the most points wins. This rag-tag replacement will score a few laughs with your kids and their friends.

It's easy to play and fun to watch. Imagine your child thinks he's Michael Jordan. He grabs the ball and heads down center court. He's dying to make that famous "Air" Jordan dunk. Then he realizes the "ball" he's palmed won't even bounce. This time, he's playing basketball bundle, and his ball is a well-tied lump of old rags.

No fear of double dribbling during this game. No traveling is possible when the ball won't bounce. So just carry, kick, or throw the bundle down the court, shoot and -- hopefully -- score.

Then be glad that rags aren't part of the ordinary NBA plan. Some old-fashioned games just need a little updating to keep your kids entertained. Learn more about another fun game on the next page.

No, your kids and their friends don't have to chow down on li'l fishies to win this fun-filled Sardines game. It's a new twist on hide-and-seek! Ready or not, here I come! Step One: For this game of hide-and-seek, you'll need at least four friends. To get started, one player should be given a chance to hide. Step Three: Here's where the twist comes in! When a player finds the pal's hiding place, he or she must hide with that player.

Step Four: Both players must stay where they are until another player finds them. Then that player hides there, too. Step Five: The hide-and-seek fun will continue until the last person finally finds everybody.

At that point, everyone will be squished like -- you guessed it -- sardines! Step One: Begin by choosing an "it. Step Two: The rest of the players run off in the same direction to find hiding places, but must mark their paths by chalking arrows on paved areas or placing arrows made of sticks on the ground. Marks should be several yards apart. Step Three: When the players reach a good hiding place, they leave arrows pointing in four different directions.

At this point the players scatter and find hiding places within twenty paces of the mark.