Invisible Ink

In honor of National Lemon Month, let your kids do this fun activity. 

All you need is a lemon, bowl to squeeze the lemon juice in, white paper, q-tips, and a heat gun (or something else that produces heat).

Let your kids squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl.  Make sure to let your kids lick the lemon to see what it tastes like.  Have the camera ready for some funny faces.  Give each child a q-tip, dip it in the lemon juice and paint on the paper.  When they are finished, let the paper dry completely.  Once they are dry, use your heat gun to reveal their pictures.

These are the dried pictures before using the heat gun.

Their images are revealed!

Hot Air Balloon Day - June 5th

The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. The first hot air ballookn launched in Paris, France in 1783.

In honor of Hot Air Balloon Day, I want to share a fun, easy hot air balloon craft from my friend Melanie at www.espressoyourselfcreatively.com. 

Hot air balloon craft:

supplies: plastic cup, three flexi-straws, zip dry glue, one balloon

First, we put glue at the bottom & middle of straws - where they touch the cup.

We let them dry for 20 minutes and read Oh the Places You'll Go while we waited:).

Apply glue to the bottom of your balloon, where it touches the straws,

and gently press the balloon in place!

Voila...your very own hot air balloon! These would be fun homemade teacher gifts

and you could add candy and/or a gift card to the inside of the cup.

Drawing Day-June 4

Grab your favorite drawing utensil and get sketching!  Today is the day to pick up a new drawing habit.   I’m sure we all have our favorite drawing medium, but here are a few ideas that my kids have enjoyed over the years.  About 6 years ago my son, Jake, began his true interest in drawing.  He was just 5 years old.  We used to line one of the walls in the basement with butcher paper and I would tie crayons to a string and hang them in front of the paper.  It became a perpetual picture that he would add to day after day.  As my kids grew older they would draw while I cooked dinner.  They would always ask me what they could draw.  I finally came up with the idea to create a sketch and journal jar.

It's a Ringer!

They loved it and could draw pictures and journal to their heart's content.  I found that they would take the jar in the car and that perhaps I should come up with a more compact way for them to bring it, so I developed two products. The Sketch It and Journal It are sketch and journal prompts on a ring.  They are easy to stuff in a bag or pocket and accompanied with a journal or sketch pad make the perfect gift.  You can purchase your on Sketch It or Journal It by contacting Mulberry Creek Embellishments at the right.

Okay, we all have the problem of what to do with the kid's art work, right?  One of my friends came up with a great idea and she photographs her kid's artwork and makes a scrapbook of photos.  It is more compact than saving it all.  I had a blank wall upstairs and decided to buy random sized frames and frame their drawings and artwork.  We change it out and the kids have a great time selecting what will be on display next.

Are your kids into duct tape crafts yet?  You can find all sorts of fun patterns at Wal-mart, Michaels and Hobby Lobby.  My daughter, Maddie, made this super fun duct tape flower pencil.  It's super easy very cute.

First you cut several duct tape rectangles.      

Then fold one corner over so there is still tape revealed.

Simply make several of these and wrap them around the eraser side of the pencil to form a rose.

Another fun thing to do with a child of any age is rainbow crayons.  Take 5 or 6 of their favorite crayons, rubber band them together, and let them draw on paper.  It forms a nice rainbow of colors.  They can practice their name, just scribble, or draw a picture.

One last idea, and then I'm off to draw......

Be Green.  Take and old muffin tin or other mold and melt old, broken crayons at 300 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.  You can only melt Crayola brand crayons.  Other crayons will not smoothly melt.  However, you can add them to the melted Crayola's for a 3-D effect. 

Happy Drawing Day, 2011.  Have fun with the kids today.  Let us know what fun things you do to make drawing interesting.

Knowledge is Sweet!

Summer is upon us and sometimes it is hard to get the kids to stay away from the tv.  I have decided to make a little incentive for my kids to do some reading/school work over the summer.  I have created a "Knowledge is Sweet" jar.  They can earn candy by reading for 30 minutes, journaling or any other "school activity" approved by mom or dad.  June is also National Candy Month. 

We headed to Hobby Lobby, picked up a glass jar and some stickers which were all 50% off.  I do not have a machine that will cut vinyl, so I chose to use stickers.  My daughter enjoyed helping me make the jar and her and her brother look forward to their candy they earn each day.

(You can print this for the back of your jar)

Fill with your kids' favorite kinds of candy and encourage them to do some school work.  I have decided to have my older two kids work for candy while my youngest is taking his nap.  It will be a good time for everyone to have some quiet "me" time.

Lemonade Stand Kit

Encourage your little entrepreneur this summer with this fun Lemonade Stand Kit from Mulberry Creek Embellishments.  It comes complete with a table cloth announcing, " Lemonade Stand", enough lemonade for 3 pitchers, cups, a spoon and comes in in the pitcher.   The kit is $17.  Have it personalized with your child's name for just $5 more.  You can pick one up at the mommyshop in Overland Park, or click on the Mulberry Creek Embellishments button on the right.

Amy

Running Day June 2nd

  I have fond memories of running with my dad as a kid.  I started when I was about 11 years old.  We ran around town, we ran at the track, and we did road races in my home town, and surrounding areas.  It was a great opportunity to spend quality time with my dad, and a major self esteem builder.  My favorite race memory was the Maur Hill Run in Atchison.  I came in first in the entire women's division.  I got a trophy, a medal,  my picture in the newspaper.  I remember how proud my dad was. 

My kid's elementary school started a program called the running coyotes.  The kids meet once a week after school and run with the principal and parents.  They do two road races a year, one in spring and one in fall.  Last year I had the opportunity to run a 5K with my 9 year old.  She finished the race without stopping and I could just feel her sense of pride from that accomplishment. 

I know what you are thinking, pain in the knees, out of breath, a side ache, but let's put a kid twist on running today.  Get them started early with fun backyard games.   Here are a couple of ideas........

Backyard Obstacle Course
Have the kid's create an obstacle course out of things in the backyard. Crawl through the swimming pool, use the swing set monkey bars, swing and slide, use soccer cones or baseball bases, jump rope, etc.  If the kids are old enough, have them create them with their friends.   If they are little, you can create it for them.

Dizzy Bat Race
Create several relay lines depending on the amount of kids.  Each team has a bat.  When "go" is shouted, the first person in each line places the end of the bat on the ground and the other end on their forehead.  They run around in a circle 3 times and run to a cone and back.  Then the next person in line goes until everyone is through the line.

Red Light, Green Light  
In this game, one person plays the "stop light" and the rest try to touch him/her.
At the start, all the children form a line about 15 feet away from the stop light.
The stop light faces away from the line of kids and says "green light". At this point the kids are allowed to move towards the stoplight.
At any point, the stop light may say "red light!" and turn around. If any of the kids are caught moving after this has occurred, they are out.
Play resumes when the stop light turns back around and says "green light".
The stop light wins if all the kids are out before anyone is able to touch him/her.
Otherwise, the first player to touch the stop light wins the game and earns the right to be "stop light" for the next game

Old Fashioned Sack Races
If you can find old potato sacks that is perfect.  But if not, you can always use trash bags or pillowcases.  This can be done as a relay, or just place all the kids on a line and have a finish line. 

Marathon Challenge
Kids are too young to run 26.2 miles in one workout. But a fun way to challenge your kids and improve their endurance is to have a marathon challenge. The object of this running game is for the kids to run a full marathon over a period of time. Don't give each kid a specific number of miles they need to run on a daily basis. Let the child determine their own progress. Keep a mileage log for each kid. When they reach their 26.2 mile challenge the kid gets a reward such as a marathon challenge t-shirt. Use your imagination on the rewards and always keep it fun and rewarding. One good way to keep your marathon challengers motivated is to have levels similar to martial arts. For example they may get a white belt at the 6 mile level, a yellow belt at the 13 mile level, a red belt at the 20 mile level and a black belt when they complete their challenge.

Bean Bag Relay
Here is a fun kids running workout that will also teach them to run efficiently. Divide your kids into relay teams of 4 each. Place one kid from each team at the relay transition points on the track, around your cul de sac, or backyard.  The first kid to start places a bean bag on their head and runs to the first relay transition zone. If the bag falls off their head they must stop where it falls off and replace it on their head before continuing. At the transition zone each runner places the bag on their team mates head and that running continues on. The first team to complete the relay wins.

Donut Day - June 3rd

We love donuts at our house!  Most of the time we just go to the store and pick some up, but for this special day, we have tried making them at home and the kids had a blast!

Baked Donut Balls
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix batter ingredients together until smooth.  Grease a mini muffin pan and fill 1/2 full with batter.  Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.  While they are baking, melt butter and mix cinnamon and sugar together in a separate bowl.  Test donut balls with a tooth pick to make sure they are baked in the center.  Remove from pan and roll in melted butter. Then dip in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Enjoy while they are warm with a glass of milk.

Super Easy Donuts

1 tube of pop can biscuits (or more if you would like more than 10 donuts)

2 cups oil

1 cup powdered sugar

Pop your biscuits out of the can and place them on the counter.  Let your kids use a small circle cookie cutter to cut out the center.  I do not have a small circle cookie cutter, so I always do what my mom used to do and use an old medicine bottle that I have washed.  Unfortunately we had an amoxicillin bottle on hand and it worked perfectly.  Place the dough in a skillet on the stovetop, filled with oil that has been preheated on medium high heat.  Let dough cook until it is has a golden hue to it and flip.  Total cooking time is around 3 minutes or less.  Place donuts on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the oil.  Put your powdered sugar in a paper bag, throw in a couple of donuts and let the kids shake away.  Repeat until all donuts are covered.  Enjoy warm!  Variations include shaking them in sugar, or a sugar/cinnamon mixture, or making a glaze out of powdered sugar and milk.  You could even put sprinkles on the glazed donuts.

A little messy, but Delicious!