Summer Arts and Crafts

Once again I have relied on pinterest for some ideas in the arts
and crafts arena.  Here are some of the things that we will be tackling this summer:


1.  Photo Bookmarks: (since they will be doing more reading this
summer . . . thought this would be a great idea!

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http://www.creativefamilymoments.com/awesome-homemade-bookmarks-with-tassels/

2.  Make lava lamps:



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Supplies:  cooking oil, water, food coloring, an empty water bottle, and alka seltzer antacid tablets

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Fill bottle 2/3 of the way with oil, then fill the rest with water, leaving an inch free at top

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Add several drops of food coloring,

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Take an alka seltzer tab and break it into several pieces and then drop a piece in and watch the magic

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As soon as the tablet hits the water it will start to fizz and the colored water will erupt!

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The bubbles will stop once the tablet dissipates but it will start again when you add a tablet

3.  Make tealight lightning bugs:



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Pop an LED battery powered tealight inside an easter egg and decorate.

4.  Make playdough:


1 1/3 C Flour
2 packets unsweetened KoolAid powder
1/4 C Salt
1/2 t cream of tartar

Mix ingredients in a bowl.  Have an adult help you boil one cup of water
and 1 1/2 T of oil.  Carefully pour the boiling water and oil into the powder. 
Did the color and scent magically appear?  Stir the mixture with a large spoon
until it's mixed and cool enough to handle.  Remove it from the bowl and knead
until completely combined.  If too wet and sticky add some flour.  Have fun playing
with it and store in ziplock bag or container until you want to play with it again.

Summer Outings

What would summer be without a few fun outings?  Here is a summary of where we plan on venturing out to . . . we would love for you to join us!  Let me know if you're interested and we can coordinate dates!

1.  Grapevine Friday Fun Train.  I had my kids make goals for 2012 and one of theirs was to ride a train.  So . .  off we go!  I don't think the Friday fun train actually goes anywhere.  It's just for the experience of riding the train.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

2.  Dallas Museum of Nature and Science.  We have season passes, so it goes without saying that we will be finding air conditioning at the free places.  \

3.  Bob Jones Nature Center - we recently discovered geocaching, and this place in Southlake says they have lots of geocaching so it should be fun!

4.  Adventure Landing in Dallas - looked fun and it's something we wouldn't normally do - will keep us in the air conditioning so I'm all for trying it once!  My kids love play places so it seems it like it would be hard to go wrong here.

5.  Scitek Discovery Center in Frisco - someone told me it was great so we plan on trying it out!  My kids are way in to science so seemed like a good idea!

6.  Bowling - In Lewisville AMF kids 15 and under gets 2 free games a week.  Um - yes?  Can you say air conditioning?

7.  Dollar Movies - this is a winner all around.  Yes.

8.  Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth.  They make money here and I'm certain my kids would be fascinated.  Maybe we will try and wrap in a money lesson the week before. 

Of course these are the PLANS - what actually happens is a totally different ballgame.  If the 2 year old is screaming all morning all plans are a no go.  Momma can't deal with the noise when I can't contain it!  (i.e. naptime).  If any of these sound interesting to you let me know!

Science Projects

I am frequently searching pinterest for great ideas for the kids.  I have selected some science projects that I found there to try out this summer.  Here are a couple of the winners:

The Exploding Sandwich Bag
What you will need:
-sandwich sized ziplock bag
-1/4 c warm water
-1/2 c vinegar
-1T baking soda
-toilet paper

Tear off a square or two of toilet paper and put a tablespoon of

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baking soda in the middle.  Twist or fold the toilet paper around
the pile of baking soda making a small packet.
Next, open your sandwich bag and pour in 1/2 cup vinegar and
1/4 cup warm water. Zip the bag closed, but not all the way.
You'll want a small opening just large enough to drop in the
packet of baking
soda.  Move the experiment to the sink or outside!  Put the baking
soda packet into the bag and then quickly zip it all the way
closed.  (I found it helpful to carefully put the packet in, then
hold it towards the top away from the liquid so I could zip the
bag all the way closed, then let it drop in)
Once the bag is sealed, give it a quick, gentle shake so the
packet drops into the liquid and set it down.  The reaction will occur
almost immediately and the bag will start to fill with carbon dioxide
It'll get bigger and bigger until it finally POPS! Site I borrowed this from: http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2012/02/exploding-sandwich-bag-experiment.html Swirling Colors Milk What you will need: -milk (whole or half and half - skim won't work) -tray or shallow bowl -food coloring -cotton swabs -liquid dish soap (dawn works well) Pour some milk into your tray.  You'll want it at least 1/4" deep. Add several drops of food coloring near the center of the tray. Dip a cotton swab into the color (don't stir it, just dip!).  Nothing really happens. Now, dip your cotton swab into your liquid dish soap and then dip back into your milk.   (again, don't stir, just dip it in and hold it in place for a few seconds!).  Watch how the colors "jump" away from the soap, and then begin swirling around on their own!

Passports for the Summer

Last summer I got the kids each a notebook to journal about their summer, draw about it, etc., and I think they wrote all of 2 sentences in it.  One of the moms from my son's preschool shared with me her great idea of making passports for the kids to date stamp their activities.  This was a brilliant idea for a few reasons:  1.  they are used to the idea of a passport because with their "Highlights, Top Secret Mission" puzzle book they get it comes with a passport and they get to add a country sticker to their passport every time.  I think this is actually their favorite part of receiving a new puzzle book.  2.  Now they can just date stamp an activity when they do it if they want, or add a little more if they want.  Lynn showed me how she did hers, but I improvised some.  Here are the pictures: 

I took brown cardstock and cut it in half for the cover and back.  I stamped their names and the title on the front with my stamp letters.  I bought the tag on the front from hobby lobby.



Then I thought of what activities we would be doing this summer, and found some clipart.  I printed the clipart, cut it out, and glued it onto black construction paper, like so:  :)

I cut computer paper into the size of the passport and added 2 pages for each activity which includes things like swimming, sports camps, California, Family camp, bowling, etc.  Here is another picture:



Obviously this isn't professional work, but we are talking a 7, 5 and 2 year old here.  They can take a picture of something and add it, date stamp it (I have stamps with each month as well as number stamps but you could get a date stamper or just write it), draw something, write something you liked about the day, etc.  Hopefully they will actually do it and have a little journal of their summer at the end of summer!

Summer plans begin!

OK, so it's been awhile since I've written!  But, I hope with the next few posts to inspire you to take advantage of this summer with your kids.  If you're anything like me, you need to make a plan in order for anything to actually happen!  So much thought has gone into this summer.  With the removal of the daily routines of school and sports, I always have high hopes of re-orienting our family to each other and to use the time to deepen our relationship with God.  Over the next couple of weeks, I plan on sharing with you the scripture reading plan I hope to engage our kids in, some fun science projects, outings we plan to go on, etc. 

Today I ventured out to the local Christian bookstore to find them each (the boys are 5 & 7) their own actual Bible - an upgrade from the picture/preschool Bibles they have been using over the years.  I've been finding the younger one reading his Bible in bed at nighttime, and in the morning as time permits, so I figure the time had come to get him the real deal.  (He was jumping up and down with excitement when we got it - made me so happy)  I also got them a journal to jot their thoughts down on questions they have, or to draw pictures about what they read, etc.

Our church gave us a very helpful resource for the summer that includes all kinds of summer activities to consider.  Included in that resource were recommended weekly readings for the kids.  With each reading were questions to consider reviewing with your children to help provide some clarity to the readings.  I'm so excited to begin this new routine with them.  Here is the link to the Summer Family Activity Book if you are interested:  http://www.thevillagechurch.net/mediafiles/2012-summer-family-activity-book.pdf

I created a calendar for the summer with all the plans that I will be sharing with you, and on that calendar I have included the readings we will be focusing on week by week.  They are all from the book of Mark.  And for the adults, if you didn't read my prior post on the Chronological Bible I have been going through, it has continued to be a great Bible for me.  I highly recommend it.  It separates the readings into a daily reading and provides great summaries of each reading to help prepare you. I like that I don't have to think about what I am going to read and that I can just dive right in as soon as I wake up.