Looking for some fun and frugal ideas for crafts with your grandkids? Maybe a fun way to supplement their home schooling program? I’ve got three great resources for you !
Fun-With-Pictures has a website full of fun coloring pages for kids along with other printables and activities. One of my grandkids loves it for its Batman pictures. They also have Pooh, Care Bears, and other “name brand” pix. On top of that they have a lot of plain-Jane pictures such as fairies, cars, trucks, dinosaurs, and more.If you are like me and want to be notified when they add pictures, you can even go to the bottom of the page and click on one of the RSS buttons and you’ll start getting their occasional blog updates.
Uptoten is a very cool site I just discovered, thanks to Stumbleupon (I will definitely be telling you about Stumbleupon in a future post!). It looks like a lot of fun for both the kids and me! I had fun experimenting with their Kaleidoscope and I’m betting my younger grandkids will enjoy it as well. And be thrilled to have something they can “do” on the computer themselves after we push the button.
They have coloring pages where the children do the “painting” online, and then can print out their masterpieces. No mess for me – and lots of fun for them! They have a raft of other goodies and I am looking forward to exploring them with the grandkids.
This is a combination site – it offers a free portion with ads and that’s what I’m going to start with. It also offers a paid-for site which you might want to look into later, if you really enjoy it and want the added protection of no ads and no external links. The paid option reminds me of Webkinz which we really love, but does seem a bit more pricy. It might have more to offer though so I will definitely be checking it out. (If you have tried it, please let us know what you think about it – both the free side and the paid side. Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. We LOVE comments! 
Coloring Pages offering pictures you can color online – In that same area, they had several other choices, including a word and color match game.
ReadyMech – This site offers cute patterns for little paper toys that you can print out, cut out, and assemble. You should use matte paper for these projects, and they are only supposed to take a few minutes to assemble. I would think they would be entertaining for all ages, though the younger children will need more help, of course. There are a couple of the patterns I would not care to use with my grandkids – a skull, for example. But the little girl called Jules is adorable and there are some super-hero type ones that boys will like.
CAVEAT – All of these sites look like they are fun, educational, and entertaining. They can be a great addition to a fun playtime with your grandkids and even be great for their online homeschooling. It is important to note, however, that they, along with all other sites on the internet, do require close supervision for your young and not-so-young grandkids. It’s especially vital to note that the first two sites both have ads and links to other sites.
That said, let’s have a safe and fun time giving them a whirl!
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Hi, there’s a website I like that has thousands of paper toy soldiers that you can print out. Juniorgeneral.org even includes ships, tanks and rules so you can play instead of shouting “you are dead”, “no you are dead” and so one.
It also includes many battles, but one that I find particularly fun is that of the Lake Erie http://www.juniorgeneral.org/naval/erie/erie.htm
Miguel de Luis’s last blog post..See you December the 22nd