Monday, June 21, 2010

Theme Park

Pull out those old wooden blocks and create a theme park together. Ask your child what kind of rides and attractions they would like to include in the theme park, and start building!

The theme of our park was movies, and our biggest attractions included:
a delicious chocolate river (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Elephant rides (Jungle book)
Flying ride (Peter Pan)
the Truck roll (Goofy movie)
Alice's house (Alice in Wonderland)
The Racer (Cars)
and a Twisty Tornado ride (Wizard of Oz)












See what your child comes up with!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Don't tell Daddy....

that we borrowed a little bit of his shaving cream today :)










Monday, June 7, 2010

Mush

Fill a couple of spray bottles with water, and add a few drops of food coloring to each one (different colors)

Choose 2-3 ingredients that are white in color, and place them each in a small bowl.
Have your child spray the ingredients with the colored water and see what happens.



Saltines will swell and grow soggy....flour and water will form dough, sugar will soak it right up...and rice gets sticky.
It's like magic. ;)


Miss Tia wasn't satisfied with the results. She wanted to mix all of the ingredients together and make her own version of a cake.



and one hour later (after a few more trips to the spice cupboard) she was still mixing.
Try it out!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Ice Cake

Before bed, fill a mixing bowl (any size) with water and put it in the freezer for the night. In the morning it should be completely frozen. Turn the bowl over and let the ice slide out into another bowl or deep pan.

Place the 'ice cake' in front of your child, as well as a spray bottle filled with hot water, a small bowl of salt and some food coloring (if you trust them with it).
Have them experiment with different methods of melting/decorating the ice cake. It's fun to watch the colors spread, and the cake slowly shrink






I was just as entertained by this as she was.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Bake for a cause

Do you have a Ronald McDonald House in your area?
Check out their website HERE for information on who they are and where they are located.

Often times they are in need of baked goods, so the families who stay at the house are able to have something to snack on. This is a fantastic service opportunity to involve the kids in.

Explain the mission of the charity to your children, so they understand why their services are needed-- Allow them to give some input on what kind of cookies/treats to make....then get to work!
Baking is always fun, but even more so when the children know they're doing it for an important cause.

(The woman I spoke to at the RM house said that it would be appreciated if the baked goods were wrapped/bagged so they could be frozen for later use...)