Art Project: Papier-Mache Bowls

We recently finished up an art project making these papier-mache bowls! I loved to do this when I was younger and it was great to share with my kids. They liked having their hands in the gooey mixture, as well as getting to paint the bowls any way they wanted. It was a days-long process, with several drying stages, but really easy and fun.

I didn’t take any pictures of the process, because my hands were too messy at the time! This is what we did:

Materials Needed:

• household bowls (to build on and then remove)
• aluminum foil
• nonstick cooking spray
• newspaper-- both whole pieces for work surface and strips for papier-mache
• flour and water
• acrylic or tempera paint, brushes
• Mod Podge 

Steps:
1. Choose a household bowl you like the size and shape of. Cover it as smoothly as possible in aluminum foil, then give the outside of the bowl a spray with nonstick cooking spray (this is so the hardened paper will pop off the bowl easily later).

2. Mix a slurry of flour and water in a bowl in about a 1:1 ratio. Rip some newspaper into long strips.

3. Invert bowls on large pieces of newspaper. Dip a strip of newspaper in the slurry, pull it up through your index and middle fingers to wipe off excess, then drape it across the bowl and smooth it down. Cover the bowl in slightly overlapping strips of newspaper like this all going the same direction until bowl is covered.

4. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and add another layer of newspaper strips the same way. Do more layers as desired (we did a total of 4-6 layers on each bowl). Let dry completely overnight.

5. Cut the overhanging part of the strips off the next day and pop the foil-covered bowls out of the now-hard paper. To smooth the rough paper edges, make more flour-water mixture and dip short strips of newspaper in it in order to lay them over just the edge of the bowl, overlapping all the way around. Let dry overnight.

6. Paint the bowls any way you like with acrylic or tempera paints. Let dry overnight.

7. Paint a coat of Mod Podge to give it a shiny, glazed finish. (We Mod-Podged the outside of the bowl one day, let it dry, then the next day flipped it over and painted the top edge and inside of the bowl.) Let dry completely.  

We haven't decided what to put in our bowls-- they'd have to hold something that's not wet! But they would make a nice gift or decoration. 

Ideas for Virtual Playdates

It's midwinter at the height of a pandemic, so, like many people, we're trying to avoid indoor gatherings-- which eliminates traditional playdates. That has been tough. 

Some may think that homeschoolers would be accustomed to limited socialization, but this school year has felt like night and day compared to (the first two-thirds of) last year. Last year we were new homeschoolers, and we were happy and relieved to find how connected the kids still felt. W attended PE twice a week at the school with his old classmates, and participated in every seasonal sport. We took one class for homeschoolers and did frequent after-school things like playdates and dance class. We were pleasantly busy; there were always people to see and places to go. 

The last few months, with none of that happening, is the first time I have worried about socialization and trying to keep my kids from feeling too isolated. 

We're lucky to be able to sometimes meet up outdoors with friends who like to cross-country ski or ice skate, but for the most part other than that, we've focused on finding ways for the kids to have fun with friends and family from home, via Zoom or FaceTime. Given the options right now, they love it. Especially on the days when morale is dragging, I've found it is amazing how much happier my kids are after spending an hour or more face-to-face with a friend, even if it isn't in person (which they frequently reminisce about, and look forward to doing again...). 

My biggest aha with my kids and video calls is that, while there are times we all want to sit down and share a family call, in general the kids do best with their peers when I just get them set up (if needed) and then let them be free to wander around the house and to do whatever they feel like, even if it doesn't seem that they are really doing any particular thing. That might mean two 5-year-olds just peek at each other through their empty Connect 4 boards and giggle. While I as the adult might feel inclined to step in and organize things for them, if they are happy and spending time with someone they like, that's what matters. Kids are amazingly flexible and adaptable and mine always seem to find a way to have fun one way or another when they are given the time and some friendly company on the other end.  

But there are times, on calls with grandparents or newer friends, where I've found it's nice to have a little more structure in the way of a game or activity, at least to get things started. To that end, here's our list of favorite activities for virtual playdates. I hope this list gives some ideas to other parents out there. What ideas have worked well for your family? Please share your other, no doubt better, ideas for getting kids together safely. I would be excited to get a comment :) and we would absolutely love to get more ideas.  

Our Favorite Activities (So Far) for Virtual Playdates

Games 

We don't do online video games (yet) in our house, and I know that's a way kids connect with one another from home these days. So far we've stuck with some old-school games we've found to work well over a video call. Many only require one of the players to actually have the game, while others require no special equipment.

• Guess Who-- Perfect over FaceTime; just make sure you both have the same version, which was an issue we ran into once...
• Battleship-- Another that is absolutely perfect for playing remotely, as the whole point is to hide your board and guess the other person's.
• Connect 4-- Some friends of ours taught us the trick of labeling the columns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Then kids (of any age!) can play with anyone, even if their opponent doesn't own the game. The opponent just says which column number to drop their chip in when it's their turn. This one is good for a wide range of kids and for play with grandparents as well (and it's quick so you can play several rounds). M actually played recently for the first time with a friend who owned the game and it was honestly a little more confusing to have two boards and have to try to mirror/stay caught up with one another. We decided it's best for just one person to have the actual board set up on their end. (She also played with a different friend recently where they didn't play the actual game but both just ended up stacking their Connect 4 chips and comparing their walls/towers/patterns, so it's a multi-use game.) 
• Hangman-- Another good one with grandparents, and adaptable for multiple ages, by using simpler or harder words. 
• Charades-- We played recently in a group of adult cousins and our kids. It was really simple and fun, especially by googling a simple word generator like this one (with easy, medium, and hard levels to choose from) so that you didn't even have to first brainstorm words to act out, but can jump right in with playing. Teams do not all have to be located in the same house together to guess and act for one another which was fun, because there were more kids than adults so we decided to play adults vs. kids. (We had the kids' team use the "easy" words and the adult team use medium or hard words.) (My sister tells me Pictionary was fun this same way, using an online word generator, so we are looking forward to trying that, too.)
• Scattergories/Categories-- Choose several categories, and a letter of the alphabet. Set a timer for a certain amount of time. Everyone privately tries to think of and write down examples of each category beginning with the chosen letter. When time is up and answers are compared, you receive a point for any word that other players didn't also think of. Play several rounds with different letters of the alphabet and compare scores. Here is one description of how to play.    
• Yahtzee-- This is a great game, with a fun mix of chance and strategy. We've learned it can be played over FaceTime easily. We scanned the blank score sheet and emailed it to grandparents. As long as they have that and can find five dice in their house, they are good to go! 
• Board Game Arena-- We need to further explore this site that a friend introduced us to, but it seems great! It is a free way to be able to play a whole slew of traditional board games and card games online with friend. It provides the interface to play games that wouldn't otherwise work well over a video call. After 30 seconds to create an account on the site, W recently spent an hour playing a few rounds of Kingdomino over Zoom with a friend thousands of miles away and reported that "that was SO fun."  
• 20 Questions-- no materials needed. 
• Rubik's Race-- This may fall in the category of games W and his cousin found to play in the early days of quarantine that perhaps seem like less obvious choices to others but they made it work. It's a two-person game where both need to own the game in order to play it virtually. You quickly try to move the pieces around to be the first to make a specified arrangement. It's intense and fast-paced, so not a lot of chit chat on the side with this one. 

Other

Here are some other things, besides specific games or just chatting, that have been fun for the kids over video chat. 

• Impressions-- I once had the idea that I would get W and his homeschooled cousin together to talk about a book they had both read. I had question prompts ready and everything, but my lofty book discussion became a game of impressions. "Okay, okay, who am I now?..." one of them would say, as they acted out things specific characters from the book said or did (or the types of things these characters might have said and done based on their personalities) and the other guessed.  
• Dress up-- M enjoys doing this. The funny thing is, kids don't seem to mind abandoning each other for several minutes as they go change or retrieve a prop, and don't seem to mind waiting as the other does the same. It's not the same as being in the same room together, but it's amazing how naturally they do it and go with the flow of it all.
• Dolls-- Another of M's favorites. It's great when she has gotten a chance to play "Babies" with her cousin. They are on the same wavelength (in contrast to how the rest of this household secretly feels if M asks one of us to play babies with her) and they don't care whether they can see each other the whole time. They chatter at each other and occasionally stop to see or show something on the actual screen that they leave propped somewhere as they are happily engrossed with their own dolls in their own rooms while hearing each other's voices.   
• Show & Tell-- If there's an adult on the other end, especially one prone to motion sickness, they may get tired of kids running around the house carrying the iPad/phone while on a call. But kids love to show off their room, pet, or newest toy or creation, and seem genuinely interested in seeing each other's things as well.
• Legos-- This one doesn't seem like it would work well, but from the earliest days of quarantine, W and his cousin have contentedly built Legos together over Facetime. They'll hang out for long moments peacefully building in silence in each other's company, then they'll show things, or ask ideas and be totally engaged in it all. (One of the sweetest things I overheard was when W and his cousin made the (questionable) plan to each build half a boat out of Legos and to put it together when they can get together again.) They seem so focused and satisfied doing Legos over FaceTime, approximating one of the most natural pastimes they'd be doing if they were actually together.
• Reading-- Kids can read to a grandparent, or take turns reading to each other. 
• Performance-- FaceTime works great to play or sing a song or do a dance for an audience. 
• Teach each other something-- Kids can take turns or set up different times to be the teacher, teaching and demonstrating a gymnastics or dance move, or other how-to for a friend. 

Last, but not Least, School-Related Stuff

If you are lucky enough to have some homeschoolers (or remote schoolers) as friends or family, virtual bits of the school day here and there where you can share learning are a fun way to break up the routine.

• Jeopardy or other learning game-- Quiz kids on a shared topic of study.
• Book talk about a common book or author or topic-- Could be a discussion you structure and lead, or one you leave to them.
• Share/Present-- Last spring we had a few "talent shows" for my kids and my niece and nephew when each kid could share or show off any new skill or learning they wanted to All the Grandparents. Our four kids read writing aloud, performed magic tricks, recited things they'd memorized (state capitals), played a piece on an instrument, and did gymnastics routines. Remembering this makes me want to do it again. It was a fun way to bring people together and give the kids all an audience and an ego boost.   
• Share a lesson-- During normal life there are homeschool classes, and homeschool co-ops where parents come together and take turns teaching groups of homeschoolers on topics of individual expertise. This is not something we've tried this year, but seems like a reasonable thing to do virtually. 

For Adults, Too

My husband and I don't play many games but we have played more in the last nine months than usual. Here are a couple things we've really enjoyed.   

• Sporcle Virtual Live Trivia-- For $5 per device, a team of people in separate locations (up to ten households) competes against other teams. It's low key and fun. After each question is posed, you get a few minutes in a private "breakout room" with only your team members to discuss your answer and chat. Sign up on their site couldn't be quicker and easier. They have plenty of "all topics" trivia nights, and we've also done a couple of themed trivia nights with particular groups of friends-- and we let W stay up one night to play Harry Potter trivia too.
• Jackbox Games-- A drawing game called Drawful and a funny game of brainstorming funny responses to questions called Quiplash have been our favorites, but this company has a whole suite of games. Most of these can be played with up to eight people/devices so it's another fun way to get together with friends and family. (W and M are both fans of playing Drawful, and we just keep the "family-friendly" setting checked when playing with kids.)

One of the many unexpected gifts we are thankful for in these strange times is that, in some ways, we see friends and family more, and on shorter notice, than ever before. It's not the same of course, but it can still be a lot of fun. Please share your favorite ideas that we should try next!