Safari Animals in Ice

Boy is it hot outside! We are loving every minute of it and spending as much time as we can outside - mostly in Monkey's little pool :)

I thought it was a perfect time for this ice sensory play activity I've had in the back of my mind for a while. 

I got the idea here: http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/05/rainbow-ice-tower-excavation.html?m=1

It takes a day or two to get the ice ready so you really have to think ahead for this one. 

Supplies: freezer safe container, squeeze bottle, plastic safari animals, hammer (optional)

I used a milk jug to get the ice ready, but any plastic container would work fine. I found these little safari animals at the dollar store. I also plan to do another ice block with magnetic alphabet letters and possibly one with coins. 

As I mentioned before, to get the ice block ready took me about two days. First I froze a little bit of water in the bottom of the milk jug for a few hours. Then I added a couple of the animals and more water and let that section freeze. I repeated this until all the animals were frozen and finished it off with another bit of water at the top. The reason I did only water at the top and bottom was so that the animals would be more hidden in the ice. 

When it was time for Monkey to start the activity I ran hot water over the milk jug and the ice popped out. I put the ice block in a bucket for Monkey to play. 

I thought Monkey would be able to tell what was inside the ice but he had no idea! 

I found the squeeze bottle at the dollar store, but any old empty dish soap or shampoo container would work, too. I filled the bottle with very warm water. 

I gave the squeeze bottle to Monkey and he got to work.

It took more water to melt the ice than I had anticipated. I had to fill up the squeeze bottle about ten times. But it was worth it! Monkey got so excited once he had melted enough ice to recognize one of the animals. "They're so cuuute!"

At one point I asked him what else we could use to get rid of the ice and he went and got his hammer. 

He definitely had the right idea there but his plastic hammer just wasn't tough enough to do any real damage to the ice. I guess he thought he wasn't doing it right because he gave the hammer to me and said, "Be a good girl and bang it out." Where does he come up with that?!

After that he stuck with the squeeze bottle. 

I could tell this activity was a big hit - Monkey had a smile on his face the whole time. 

Mar

Bird Feeders (Part 2)

The bird feeders we made a couple of months ago were a big hit. Today we replaced them with a different kind. 

Supplies: Cheerios, pipe cleaners

This was a very easy activity to set up. All I had to do was twist the end of the pipe cleaner into a loop and then Monkey got started. 

Getting the Cheerios onto the pipe cleaner requires focus and fine motor skills. 

I was so proud of Monkey - he took his time, didn't get frustrated, and did the whole thing by himself! It may have been due to the fact that he was eating more Cheerios than he was putting on...

I did one, too, but I didn't eat any Cheerioes :)

Here they are outside:

Mar

Tinfoil Starfish

Okay we did another art activity for our ocean mural. I figure it's going to take a while to do all creatures I have in mind. 

I got the idea for this one here: http://nurturestore.co.uk/foil-fish-craft-ocean-theme-preschool

Since we had already done fish earlier (see the Bubble Wrap Fish Print post) I decided to do a seahorse instead. 

Supplies: tin foil, seahorse template, card stock, Sharpies

The first thing I did was print off and cut out the seahorse template. Then I traced it onto the card stock and cut that out. 

Next, I covered the seahorse in tin foil. This was tricky - doing a fish like the link above would be much easier. I would definitely stick to an easier shape to work with for next time!

Once the tin foil was done, I let Monkey get to work! He's been eyeing my pack of Sharpies the last few times I've had it out and I knew he'd be excited to get to try them out! I took off his clothes and covered him up with a painting smock - better safe than sorry!!

He wanted to do the whole seahorse in one colour but I convinced him to do a few. He wasn't super interested in this activity, but I tried not to push it. 

It's always fun to use tin foil for art, it's so shiny and reflective. 

I think it looks great!

Mar

Chalk Alphabet Bugs

It's been a while since my last post - we've been busy! We had some time off and then we all got sick :( But now I'm back! 

The weather here has been incredible over the past few weeks. We've been spending a lot of time in the backyard and at the park. I thought today we'd take our alphabet activity outside. 

I got the idea here: http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2012/07/alphabet-bug-spray.html?m=1

Supplies: sidewalk chalk, spray bottle

I took a few minutes while Peanut was sleeping and Monkey was having his snack to set this activity up. I wanted to do bugs like I saw in the blog above since I knew Monkey would like that, and because they're pretty easy to draw. But there are so many other options if your kids don't like bugs. 

I did lowercase letters because Monkey already knows the uppercase ones but is still learning the trickier lowercase ones. I also did the bugs in all different colors so that I would be able give Monkey a hint when we were doing the activity.

I brought Monkey outside to get started. He thought the bugs were so cool. He was jumping all over them. 

I gave him the spray bottle and we got started on the alphabet. He loved spraying the bugs - "I'm gonna get you bug!" 

He ended up needing more help than I thought. I'm really glad I did the bugs in all different colours so that I could tell him which colour big he was looking for to find the next letter. 

We finished up the alphabet together. I think we can do this activity again because Monkey really liked it. Maybe I could draw clouds or flowers instead, or do numbers instead of letters. If you did bigger bugs you could even do words for older kids. 

Mar

Canada Day Handprint Flags

Today we did a great Canada Day art activity. There are lots of different ways you can do it, depending on how old your kids are, what supplies you have, and how much mess you want to make. 

I got the idea here: http://puddlesandmud.blogspot.ca/2011/06/more-canada-day-activities-crafts-etc.html?m=1

Supplies: red finger paint, paintbrush, finger paint paper, card stock 

The first thing we did was the handprints. I painted the boys' hands (Peanut did this one, too!!) and then stamped them in the middle of a piece of card stock. 

I chose to do the paint handprint here, but you could also trace their hand on construction paper then glue that on, or you could trace their hand right on the flag and colour it in with red crayon or marker. 

Next, Monkey did some finger painting. 

He only used red and I encouraged him to cover as much of the page as he could. 

Once the boys were in bed and the paint was dry, I finished up the flags.

I measured and cut out the sides of the flag from the finger painting Monkey had done. 

I purposely chose parts of the paper that were more textured and had a little bit of white on them still. I wanted it to be obvious that Monkey had finger painted them and not just painted them with a paintbrush. 

If you're not into finger painting or you're looking for a different option, you could use red construction paper, or colour directly on the card stock with red crayon, marker, or paint. 

Finally, I glued the sides onto the flags. 

I think they look so fantastic! They are one of my favourite art activities I've ever done. 

Happy Canada Day!

Mar