You can measure one rain storm, or leave it outside to measure several rainfalls and add it up to see how much you got over a week. Remember: The water will evaporate between rain storms so it is best to check after each rain fall and write it on a chart (if you want to be accurate and scientific), and dump the rain gauge so it will be empty again for the next rainfall. After it rains again, add that measurement to your chart and add it up! Hello math skills!

Note that you can also use this homemade rain gauge as a homemade snow gauge! Measure the snowfall, or even how much water the sprinklers left on the lawn.

Here’s how to make an easy homemade rain gauge for kids:

You will need a flat-bottomed, wide-mouthed jar, a ruler (a plastic ruler is best, but not essential), and tape. (And rain. )

Place the ruler in the jar so the end of the ruler (where “0” is) touches the bottom of the jar. Tape the ruler to the side of the jar so it stays in place. Your rain gauge is ready! Don’t you wonder why you haven’t made a ton of these?

Find a good spot outside for your rain gauge (in the open where the rain can fall into the gauge is best–i.e. not under a tree or sheltered by the house) and see how much rain falls.

So? How much rain did you get?
Have you made a rain gauge? How did your work out? What supplies did you use?

Enjoy!

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Here are instructions on how to make different kinds of puppets:

Paper Bag Puppets: Take a paper lunch bag and where the bottom of the bag folds, create a face. The fold will be the puppet’s mouth. Decorate your puppet by colouring, drawing, painting or gluing things to the bag to give your puppet character as well as face.

Sock Puppets: Take an old sock that you can fit your hand into. The toe of the sock will be the mouth and nose area of the puppet. Glue or sew scrap material to the sock to make a mouth, nose and eyes. Buttons make great eyes, and yarn or string makes excellent hair.

Finger Puppets: Take a piece of cardboard and cut it out into the shape of a person or an animal—but without legs. Your fingers will be the puppet’s legs. To do this, cut holes in the bottom of the puppet for your fingers to fit through. Decorate your puppet. If you would like a template (something you can print off and cut out) look for ‘finger puppet templates’ online.

For instructions on how to make more elaborate puppets, check out the arts and crafts section of your public library.

Once you are done making your puppet, put on a puppet show!

Make this a family activity: Make puppets together and put on a little show.

This activity promotes creativity and storytelling skills.

What to build? A shelf, a box, a small table, a bird house, a bird feeder… the ideas are endless!

Make this a family activity: Get mom or dad to help you plan and build your project. You might also need their help with some of the tools.

This activity promotes math skills, and spatial skills.

Safety First: Don’t forget to check for water hazards (rocks, rapids, waterfalls), your lifejacket and a paddle! Also make sure an adult knows where you are going.

Make this a family activity: Get your family to work together to build a raft and test it out.

This activity promotes learning about buoyancy as well as math and carpentry skills.

If you are feeling creative and want to build a birdhouse without a kit, you can create your own birdhouse plans or use the ones on this free website.

When placing your birdhouse, try and find a place where cats won’t pester the birds. Birds prefer to build their nests in areas that are not really busy. That means a quieter corner of your yard is better than a place where you walk by a lot. As well, make sure the birdhouse is secured to the place you choose to hang it so a strong wind doesn’t knock it down.

I hope the birds enjoy your birdhouse for many years to come.

Make this a family activity: Have the whole family work together to select the birdhouse plan, build the birdhouse as well as find a good location for the birdhouse.

This activity promotes construction skills as well as caring for the Earth’s creatures.