Crayons

This may be my last entry about the 100 activities for the summer thing.  There are a few more I plan to do but am not sure I'll actually get to them.

100. Make your own melted crayons.

Yesterday I was desperate for something to do with the kids so I decided we'd make crayons in the only silicone mold I own - an old Homer Simpson ice cube tray.  The kids had fun.

backward day

96. Have a backwards day- breakfast for dinner, dinner for breakfast, dessert before your meal, wear your clothes backwards, etc.

You can imagine how much fun this was.  I gave them ice cream for breakfast!  CRAAAAZY!  It was actually just frozen bananas that I put in the food processor.  But we did add sprinkles and chocolate syrup.  They never had ice cream for breakfast before so they just loved it!  For dinner....guess what we had?!  Breakfast!  Woot woot.  They always get a kick out of having breakfast for dinner.  I made caramelized French toast (YUM), eggs, bacon, and one serving of potatoes from our garden!

$$ the cost of food

journal

30. Write a summer journal.

guess what - this is it!

$$ free

Treasure Hunt

 58. Make your own treasure hunt. Make a map (burn the edges to make it look like an old pirate map) and show how to get to the "treasure".

We had a lot of fun with this.  There was 1 boobie trap and 2 stops leading up to the treasure box. Oh what fun!

$17.77 on the box and filler

Photo Booth

55. Make your own Photo Booth, complete with props!

We included some friends but since they don't read this blog I'm going to leave their pictures off.

 

$$  I spent $3

A-Z

72.  Go on an "Alphabet tour".

We met some friends at Woodside Creamery.  We ate lunch, went through the alphabet, then had ice cream!

Tree starts with a T

ice cream and a few stories

$$ free

Drive-in Movie

61. Have your own "Drive-In Movie". Give each child a large cardboard box and let them make their own car to sit in and watch the show.

Used some old boxes to create cars.  Cut the lid flaps off and made the wheels out of them.  The kids colored their cars.  Claire wasn't very into this activity but Trent had fun.  I helped him create a flame on one side.  He added a "W" because he was making a "Woodland race car".  One the other side he wrote his name.  He added headlights and tail lights, and spokes on the wheels.  The next day he sat in the car during part of a movie.

$$ free

Forts

37. Build a fort in your house out of blankets

They had fun doing this with their Aunt and Uncle while on vacation.

We also played croquet on vacation but didn't have a camera or phone on us to take pix.

feed the ducks

82. Feed the ducks at a local park or pond.

Kevin took care of this one.  While him and the kids were waiting for me to complete a race they fed ducks.  The fact that Kevin thought to bring bread at 6:30am boggles my mind.  He's fantastic like that!

$$ free

potato potato

51. Do some Potato Stamping.

Trent decided he wanted a "T".  Claire wanted a flower.  I really enjoyed this activity - easier than I thought it'd be to cut a design into the vegetable.

$$ cost of a potato

Tea Time

91. Plan a picnic/tea party for all your dolls and stuffed animals.

$$ free

cookies for firemen

46. Visit the fire department (and take them some cookies!)

On August 2nd we spent our morning making chocolate chip cookies.  In the afternoon we met some friends and walked to a local firehouse to deliver said cookies to the hard working firemen that volunteer their time to keep our community safe.  There was only one young man there but he was kind enough to show up a fire truck and even like the kids climb on it!

Michael's

77. Michael's Arts and Crafts stores offer fun Kids Craft Classes for very cheap.

On July 27th I took the little ones to our local Michael's to participate in their Kids Corner event.  It was a frog puppet thing on a stick that they got to decorate (meaning they got to put warts and eyes on it).  It only cost $2 per child, so I'm not complaining, but it definitely should have been free.  Maybe I'm just too spoiled by Lowes' kid activities.  For some reason I didn't think to take any pictures. 

$2 per child.

Date Night

34.  Go on Daddy-Daughter/ Mother-Son date! Let the daughter or son make the plans for the date.

On July 27th I had to take Trent to a birthday party, so Kevin and Claire went on a date.  He let her choose where they went.  They decided on dinner at McDonalds then they went to Vince's Sport Center for indoor jungle gym play, some games & putt-putt golf!

$$ variable

Movie Day

13. Host a friend movie night

For us it was much easier to host a friend movie DAY.  We invited our friends over.  One brought corn kernels, one brought a popcorn popper, one brought nachos, we ordered pizza, we had candy, we watched Cars!  The kids were all off-and-on into the movie. 

$$ the cost of candy, pizza, and kernels

BINOCULARS

56. Make your own telescope and look at the stars.

We were all set to finally sit down and make telescopes using toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls - and then Trent changed his mind.  He decided he was going to make binoculars instead.  Then Claire decided the same thing.  We took a similar approach.
Trent and Claire really enjoyed making them.  I will say that embroidery floss isn't strong enough for this type of project.  I'll try yard next time.

$$ free

Sponge Ball

94. Make Sponge Balls

This was not fun to make.  The kids couldn't help at all.  I only made one.  They seem to like it though. It's fun to play catch with on a hot day!

$3 for a pack of sponges.  I have enough left over to make another ball or two.

playdoh

16. Make homemade edible play-doh.

We used this recipe using grape flavored kool-aid.  Unfortunately the purple wasn't as vibrant as I'd hoped, but it was cool nonetheless.  The recipe made more than enough!  Too much to store, in fact.  It says edible but that's only because it's made with baking ingredients.  It's not something you're supposed to eat - it's nasty!  Trust me.  Very salty!

$$ 0.25 on Kool-Aid

Lemonade & Kites

66. Make a lemonade stand.

It all started so simply.  I went to some friends and said "anyone want to do a lemonade stand with me?  maybe we can sell some cookies too" and boy did the brainstorming begin.  In the end it was a wild success.  Seven families contributed to the stand and the same 7 families told their friends and family members about the stand, giving us a great turn-out come L-Day. 

It really was a collaborative effort!!! 

We ended up raising over $183 to donate to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

During the lemonade stand we:


75. Make your own kites and try them out!

Joy took the lead here.  She helped the kids make paper bag kites.  The idea here was that the bags would open up and the kites would fly even if it wasn't a windy day.  Super cute kites!  Trent drew a picture of himself and me.  Claire drew our neighbor.

"Baby J"

$$ supplies!

Farmers Market

87. Go to a Farmer's Market. Let the kids pick out some fresh fruits and vegetables

We hit Carousel Park farmers market on Friday.  It was a rainy day so several of the stands didn't show, but the main Amish produce stand was there.

$$ free to go.