All play and no work...

Here is our past week, in a nutshell:

We played:

Auto Repair Shop



Carwash



Airplane Derby




Card Towers




Sponge Stamping





Measuring Cup Math (Learned the sizes of each measuring cup and spoon and got to follow a recipe all on their own)




Paper Snowflakes



And... Homemade Air Hockey!




I would highly recommend......
all of them!
Have fun!

Blast from the past

Summer time is fabulous...but sometimes it's just too flippin hot to go outside...
Here are a few ways to bring the party indoors.


Remember the 'BEST FRIENDS' necklaces from back in the day? I think I had at least three of them. If you have any girls around the house, this makes a fun,quick craft.


My girls pretended that whenever they put the two pieces of the puzzle together, they would be transported to another world of their choice. (Chocolate world, Giant world, etc.)


Make a homemade basketball hoop out of cardboard boxes. All you need is some cardboard, hot glue (or tape) and a ball.


After shooting a few hoops, my 5 year old said, "This is the best toy you've EVER MADE!"


What about Lincoln Logs? Remember those? Just set out some pretzels, a little bowl of peanut butter and a butter knife and let them build until their supplies run out!




(Check out the sandboxes made of cinnamon sugar! That was Hayley's idea.)


Best part about this one is that you can use it for their afternoon snack :)

Catcheroo

Play a game of Milk Jug Catcheroo. (At least that's what we call it.)

With scissors, or a knife, cut two empty gallon-sized milk cartons in half. You'll be using the top half for your game (the side with the handle.) You'll also need a small ball for your game.

And here's how it works.
Have one player place the ball in their carton. Without touching the ball with their hands, have them fling the ball into the air to be caught by the other player's milk carton.





And there you have it. Super cool, right?

If you'd like to turn this game into a learning activity, here's how we did it.
Every time one of us tossed the ball to each other we had to say the name of one of the states in the USA. We did this until we named all 50.
Or so I thought.
When my 5 year old woke up from her nap today the first thing she said was: "We forgot one state when we were playing that game. Vermont!"

Not interested in reciting States?
Every time your child tosses a ball into the air have them say a word that rhymes with _____
or a word that begins with the letter ________
Or have them list a favorite food, a friend's name, etc. etc. You get the picture.

Have fun (and give yourself a pat on the back for recycling :)!