Popsicle Paints

Here is a fun twist on paints. Perfect for hot summer days! Use popsicle molds to freeze colored water. I used three drops of food coloring for each "popsicle." Make sure to have real popsicles on hand for your little ones when you do this activity. You don't want them to be disappointed since these popsicles are not meant to be eaten.

 

Messy Play Date

This is a great summer activity. We had a messy play date! Ours consisted of the following stations:

Colored water mixing station:

Use recycled plastic jars and containers for mixing. I used recycled honey bears filled with water and food coloring. Kids were able to mix the colors to make new ones. It was fun!

 Water Table: 

 Cornstarch Paint Finger Painting:

Line the fence with art paper. Mix several bowl of corstarch, water, and food coloring. 

 Shaving Cream Slip n Slide:

Three cans of cheap shaving cream and a slip and slide did the trick. 

We also had a bubble machine and a fun sprinkler going. 

Perfect for when the weather is warm! 

Construction vehicle pretend play

Here is a fun and easy idea boys and girls would love. Just set up a box/planter or just a rocky or dirt area in your backyard and bring out the construction vehicles. We bought several of these at the dollar store. Gather a few large rocks, pebbles and even some sticks for the kids to play.



Chalk Roads

Here's a quick and easy idea my little ones enjoyed for several days. They still ask for it now! All you need to do is draw roads using sidewalk chalk. They had a great time playing with their trucks and cars. If your little ones are a little older you can even have them help draw the roads and maybe even add stop signs, lights, houses and buildings.

Little Pintesters: Bubble wands and Homemade Bubbles

Bubble wands and homemade bubbles

My little Pintesters were eager to try out these homemade bubble wands and bubbles. The bubble wands are made using pipe cleaners and plastic beads. They were fun to use on a pinch, but they soaked up a lot of the bubble solution so it was a little wasteful. 

Bubble wand score: 8 

why not a ten? Because they soaked up more solution than necessary which made my Little Pintesters and I all wet. 

The bubble solution:

4 cups water

1 cup dish soap

1/4 cup corn syrup

container

Mix the ingredients together in a container to store in such as a gallon jug. Pour the bubble solution into a shallow dish and give your little cookie cutters, water bottles with the bottoms cut off, and bubble wands to explore with. 

Now for the review: This solution was fun to play with the water bottles and cookie cutters. It made big bubbles that would not float away so it was not as useful for the bubble wands. The most that would come out of the wands were about 5 bubbles. 

Bubble Solution score: 8

Why? Because it did entertain the little ones for a good 15-20 minutes, but I would've liked for us to be able to use the bubble wands and produce lots of "floaty" bubbles to play with. 

That's our review for now! Have a nice day!

Sidewalk Painting

 What you will need: 

cornstarch, food coloring, water, tray or large lid to put paint on, painting tools or just your hands!

Mix together a couple tablespoons of cornstarch, a few drops of food coloring, and enough water to make your paint runny. Place on an large lid and have fun painting. 

 I took out fly swatters from an idea I found here, but they preferred just to use their hands. I would recommend changing your little ones into clothes that are okay getting dirty and possibly stained with the food coloring. Bath time was a must after this fun but messy activity. 

 This paint is liquid when you touch it but it can be picked up with your hands easily. When it dries it turns back into powder. The little ones had fun exploring with the consistency and getting all messy. 

ABC's , 123's Scavenger Hunt

I wrote the alphabet and numbers 1 through 9 on a small dry erase board. We walked around the block and tried looking for all the letters and numbers. Each time my son saw one he erased it off the board. We looked for letters and numbers on street signs, traffic signs, the mailboxes, on cars, on home security signs, etc. It was a fun outdoor activity. 

Shaving Cream Sensory Activity

This is a messy outdoor activity. I took out a couple of trays with a bunch of random toys from the house on them. Then I covered them in shaving cream. I gave the kids brushes to "uncover" the toys. They had their own ideas and just started covering themselves with the shaving cream from head to toe. I actually recommend being careful because it can get in their eyes. My littlest one had a hard time keeping it out of his eyes but it wasn't a huge deal. Bath time followed this activity :) I found the idea on Pinterest, including this website. 

Bean Bag Toss

My son loves to throw things! I discovered he loves bean bags for that reason. I decided to make some simple bean bags out of old scraps of clothes and fabric I had. Then I set up a few baskets and containers for him to throw them into. If I get more ambitious maybe I'll eventually make him a bean bag toss board with holes to throw them into out of cardboard, a box, or wood.