Summer Fun 2014 - Lego Set Hide and Seek

As much fun as we had building a Lego model without buying the set, I couldn't resist picking up a few small, 3 in 1 sets for under $5.00 each, as part of one of those Amazon add-on deals.

The small sets don't take long to build on their own, but they're great for using in boredom buster treasure hunts (a fun way to get reluctant readers reading), or for a little Lego hide and seek - a variation on our last activity, in which the pieces are taken from the box, and mixed in with loose blocks of our own...

...for children to sort through and find...

...before they can build the set.  Not only is it a fun game of hide and seek, and a time stretcher, it's also a sneaky way to strengthen children's math skills, as they sort the blocks....

...organizing, and overlooking the clutter of unnecessary pieces (like the extra information in a story problem)...

...to focus in on what they need for the problem at hand.

Summer Fun 2014 - Building Bridges

The girls came home from signing up for the summer reading program, and announced they had to build bridges.  Silly me, I thought they'd need to read books, and was caught off guard. Well, a little off guard, I knew the library had a science theme going this summer, and it's not like we've never built a bridge before.

I sent the girls in to watch The Magic School Bus Under Construction, and then sat back to see what they would come up with on their own.  The younger girls (ages 8 and 9) opted for a toothpick and marshmallow construction.

They used triangles for extra strength in their design.  They learned quickly, that the squishy marshmallows allowed the toothpicks to move, and come apart.  A problem they attempted to solve by reinforcing the connections with clear tape - a lot of clear tape - nearly an entire roll of tape.

Then, they discovered another problem.  They had wanted to test their bridge with a couple of Lego cars, but they had forgotten to allow a high enough clearance on their bridge.

Finally, they decided to test the bridge with a Hot Wheel.  The bridge held, but even with the tape, was not very stable.  We all agreed it was not the sort of bridge we'd want to be stuck on in a traffic jam, but it might do for a quick river crossing in an emergency.

A (age 13) had some sort of suspension bridge in mind, but decided it was too much work, and modified it to a simple rope bridge, along the way.  She used Dixie cups with toothpicks stuck in the top...

...to support straw pieces tied with dental floss ropes...

...with a straw "bar" threaded between them.  There was no pulley system, so the Lego man would have to lean across the bar, and pull himself down the ropes by hand.

While the girls were busy engineering, I did a little Googling, and found a simple craft stick bridge idea from Nicola at My Little Explorer, for us to try together.  Nicola's bridge was made by gluing jumbo craft sticks to parallel strips of ribbon.

We opted for masking tape...

...under...

...and over our craft sticks...

...keeping them secure, and covering the sticky side of the loose ends of tape, so they could be used like ribbons...

...for tying up both ends of the bridge.  The bridge was sturdy, but without side rails, would be risky on a windy day.  It gave me flashbacks of crossing the Royal Gorge Bridge as a child, except that one has side rails.

What do you think?  If you were a Lego man which bridge would you choose to cross?

Summer Fun 2014 - Sidewalk Chalk Painted Rock "Fairy" House

Pile up small stones to resemble a house...

...and your children will come...

...most likely with Lego men in hand...

...and all kinds of ideas for improvements, such as dismantling the house to paint the rocks with sidewalk chalk.

When they survey the pile of painted rocks, they will probably ask for help rebuilding the house...

...maybe in the garden this time.

The Lego men will then feel under-dressed, and  need a new accessory...

...or two.  I suggest mint leaf fairy wings, held on with sticky tape...

...and flower blossom hats.

Summer Fun 2014 - Sidewalk Chalk Scribble Art

I'm sure you've probably seen scribble, or doodle art done on paper, with paints or crayons, before.

This is just like that...

...but with sidewalk chalk.

Turning one large messy scribble, ending where it began, into a work of abstract art, by simply coloring in some, or all of the closed shapes along the line.

Summer Fun 2014 - Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches

July is National Ice Cream Month (thank you President Reagan), and I have a number of ice cream themed treats I'd like to try out with the children. 

At the same time, I've been following along with angelicscaliwags' Wibbly Wobbly Weight Loss series.  It's had me thinking about larger activities, and smaller snacks.

That's where my mind was when I spotted the mini Nilla wafers on the store shelf, and realized they'd be perfect for down-sizing our ice cream sandwiches.


They were a snap to make, using a round, teaspoon sized, measuring spoon, dipped in hot water, as an ice cream scoop (working with ice cream that was completely frozen - not soft).

Sandwiching the ice cream between two similar sized cookies (without squishing them down too hard), I used a butter knife to smooth the edges...

...gave them a quick roll in sprinkles (the smaller sprinkles worked better than the larger sized ice cream add-ins)...

...and placed each sandwich onto a plate in the freezer, as soon as it was made.  When finished, I covered the plate with plastic wrap, and let them sit in the freezer overnight, before serving them up to a skeptical crowd.

The children thought they looked a little small...

...until they realized they could each have three (not even amounting to a single serving of the cookies, or ice cream, or the calories of one of my "diet" ice cream sandwiches).

I'm not sure if these little combinations of crunchy cookie, and chewy ice cream are just extra satisfying, or if  there is a mental trick to having three servings of anything, but the children not only loved the mini ice cream sandwiches...

...they were even pleased with the portions.

Summer Fun 2014 - Quiet Time Coloring Circles

I was desperate for a few minutes of non-destructive, quiet time.  So, I dug out Edward Eager's Half Magic (our favorite, summer go-to, audio book), and sat down with Paint's circle maker to sketch out a quick, but complicated coloring sheet.  Quick, in that it didn't take long to make, especially since I wasn't too particular about drawing perfect circles...

...but complicated, though not necessarily difficult, to color in.  Circles can become almost anything - from beach balls to planets, faces, eyeballs, or bubbles.  They can be colored in with crayons, or filled with geometric designs.  The choices are nearly endless.  And, picking one design to repeat throughout all of the circles is an extremely absorbing activity, in a calming sort of way.

I  printed enough for each of the children to have one, or two sheets, suggested a few coloring possibilities, turned on the audio book, and left them to pick their own themes, and work away in relative, beautiful silence.

For more children's art with circles, you might also enjoy:

Sir Cumference inspired circle art

Apollonian Pumpkin Patch

or Ed Emberley inspired sugar cookies.

We really like circles.

Summer Fun 2014 - A Super-Sized Game of Dots and Boxes

Played just like the traditional game of Dots and Boxes - where players connect two adjacent vertical, or horizontal dots, one line per turn, with the goal of being the player to close in the most squares (labeled with the player's initial), winning a point, and an additional turn for each square completed...

...but with the rows of dots drawn onto...

...an extra large sheet of paper...

...for an entire evening, or two, of family play.

The game moves slowly at first, leaving plenty of room for conversation, and snacks, and then takes off into a flurry of box making activity, with the last players closing the majority of boxes, and winning in a landslide big enough to test the good sportsmanship of winners, and losers alike.