Hey, yous guys, Take it outside!

Activity #1.
Materials needed: paint, brushes or other, rocks, paper, etc.

Gather paint. I like tempera, comes in big bottles, fairly washable, weird schoolroom smell you remember from first grade. Craft paint (acrylic) is okay, too, but be forewarned that it probably won't come out of the clothes. (I personally have a tub of clothes labeled 'play clothes'. This is where the yuck-o clothes go- the ones with the holes, the paint, the ground-in blueberry juice.)

Paint brushes are good. Your little angel ripped all the bristles out? That's okay. Gather sponges cut into strips, q-tips, pencils, whatever could conceivably be used to apply paint. Take it all outside. Small plasticky melamine type plates that can be rinsed afterward and thrown in the dishwasher are great for mixing paint, too. And yes, they will love to mix the paint.

Let's be honest. We usually start out painting on paper. Or a wood frame from Michaels for Father's Day. But I also like to paint rocks (glue on googly eyes when they dry!), the sidewalk (add a bit of dishsoap for washability, and rinse with hose before it dries or your husband sees it), the lawn, the Little Tikes picnic table, you name it. We paint it. Our clothes. Our hair. Each other. And then we get to turn on the hose and wash it all down. A good 45 minutes or more of fun, with very little planning on your part. Congratulations, you are now the mom who organizes "The most funnest day I ever had!!!" (The Meatloaf).

Bonus activity: Sudsy Painty Water Table
Have a water/sand play table? Or a big tub/bucket/storage container? Fill it with water and a little squirt of dishsoap, make bubbles. Lots of them. Then dump all your painting supplies in there and let your littles (and bigs) swish them around. They're cleaning, and they don't even know it. And the water turns interesting colors.