Tag: Kid Fun

Our Classroom for a Perfect Autumn Day

A couple of Fridays ago we took class outdoors, what a breath of fresh air! It was amazing, fantastic, refreshing and down right FUN!

We love going to Hudson Gardens, several acres of God’s beautiful creation! We searched for leaves, watched ducks and geese, chased butterflies and bugs, tumbled in the grass and climbed a rock cave, we even did some bird watching.

Since we are now into to the Fall, we were thrilled to see the …

Hay Maze!

and…

Pumpkin Patch!

We also checked out a Leaf Explorer Pack from the Office, we learned all about leaves and trees. There were a ton of fun activities and surprises in the pack.

We also took along this, (thanks Scribbit!):

Thank you God for the Best classroom we could ever ask for!

October 2, 2011
Adventures in My Fathers World Wk.2, Columbus’ Ships

We are using Adventures in My Fathers World for our school year. I have a 2nd Grader, Kindergartner, and Preschooler; so far it is working very well. We started off the year by learning about Leif Ericson and Christopher Columbus. The boys have been fascinated. We used a wall map and a globe to trace the explorers routes.

We heard about how long they were out to sea and the hardships involved in such journeys. My boys were wondering why it would take so long to cross the Atlantic Ocean. This came after they asked how long it would take in a plane. I had the opportunity to explain Sailboats and their dependence on the wind.

One of the hands on assignments for Week #2 is making Christopher Columbus’ ships and use the sails to move them across the water.

We used aluminum foil, craft sticks, modeling clay, thick paper

We folded 12″x12″ squares of foil in half then in half and then one more time. Then we folded the sides up to create the boat. We used a dab of modeling clay to hold the craft stick and then attached sails made from resume paper and voila, we had a Nina, Pinto and Santa Maria.

All three ships with Christopher Columbus in the lead. I was not thrilled that Mr. Columbus is a skeleton but the boys scrambled to find some lego men,

boys gotta love em!

After the ships were complete we had them set sail in the best make-shift ocean we could find… the bathtub. They worked really well. The rules: you can only blow on the sail to move your boat. We used straws. The boys loved it! One word of caution – if you have an eager preschooler perhaps wait until naptime to do this. Our lil guy sunk our ships in under 3 minutes.

September 16, 2011
Art Time with the Boys

This year we are doing Adventures in My Fathers World, included in that is “I Can Do All Things” art lesson book. We did assignments out of there to start off our homeschool week. The lessons are good but it starts out with coloring and drawing and my boys were dying to paint something. So I headed over to Pinterest and searched for Kids Painting, got so many great results but one piqued my interest. It was a paper with swirls, dots, waves and stripes. I thought it would be a perfect, easy and fun lesson with the boys. The original post is here at Be a Fun Mum.

I set the table up while they were all on break. I usually have them share paint and brushes but that never turns out the way I imagine it can. This time, everyone got their own palette and a variety of brushes.

I asked them to watch me paint the different items and then told them they could make any kind of painting they wanted as long as they used dots, stripes, waves and swirls.

mommy’s sample

They liked being able to have freedom with their painting, I liked that they actually incorporated the items into their creations.

Oliver painting the Solar System

Preston creating a Robot

Adam’s is ocean waves, fish “and the red part is a force field” -lol

Samuel immediately mixes all his colors up and made this masterpiece

Preston’s Robot (sideways)

This was fun! I even got in on the action, what a blast! Thanks to “Be A Fun Mum“!

September 8, 2011
Fun with Shaving Cream

Recently I discovered another amazing blog! This one is called Meet the Dubiens. I have seen so many things on this blog that I want to do with my kids. Very inspiring!

Our first inspiration we did today. She mixed food coloring with shaving cream and used it as paint for her kids bath time.

We did not make it for bathtime, just craft time. I let them play at their little table and gave them some utensils.

I do wish I would have had primary colors, Oliver was mixing colors and discovering new colors, would have been more effective with primary colors.

I am still trying to use up the neon colors I used for Oliver’s Rainbow Cake.

The boys had fun for about 1 hour, record time for my 3 and 5 year olds.

Next time: More tools and Primary Colors.

FUN: YES!

August 3, 2011
Summer Centers

We love centers! I used them throughout the past school year for all 3 boys. Some structured some as free-play. The boys are always happy to pull them out and play with them it is a guaranteed 30 minutes of constructive play.

For the Summer I reorganized them, rearranged and grouped different things together to get the boys geared up for summer indoor activities.

I put everything in one cabinet thanks to my sister who gave me a nice white cabinet. Thanks Tia!

Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards

Styrofoam shapes – Good for Math, Sorting and Building

10 Base T set – great for Math and Building

Random Tools (thanks Liv for the Magnifying glasses)

Colored rice, items are buried, fun!

Great for Math, Sorting, Building and Art

it’s also a Geoboard!

shapes

for building

Learning Robots, Phonics and Math

travel size Concentration game

card shuffler

One Happy Boy!

July 25, 2011
Making Art with Rice
I am always looking for fun ideas the kids. They love experiments and art. This Summer, I signed us up for the Activities Challenge at education.com. They have a sortable list of activities for kids. Arts & Crafts, Science, Games and Summer Fun are just some of the categories listed. We have done a few of the activities and the kids have really enjoyed them.

Today we chose the “Make Rice Pictures” activity. We needed:
- Rice
- Food Coloring
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Glue
- Paintbrush
- Construction Paper
The only step I added: I thinned my school glue down with a little water and let the kids apply it with a paintbrush. I only laid out the colors that matched the colored rice (that didn’t last long, lol). We ended up with a dolphin, a robot on a beach and a “fuzzy” robot.

Here in Colorado the rice only took about 2 hours to dry so we were able to do this activity in one day. The boys thought it so cool that is was colored rice. We invited a friend to join us.

Dyed Rice

Dyed Rice

the boys at work

applying some rice

This was fun and I recommend. We have a lot of rice left over so we will do it again. Might also use the rice inside an “I-SPY ” bottle. It’s pretty that is for sure!
July 7, 2011
Field Trip: Bugs and Butterflies and more!

A few weeks ago we went on a Field Trip to the Butterfly Pavilion with my sister and nephew. It was so much fun and the kids loved every minute. They got to hold Rosie, the famous tarantula, plus they were able to observe many more bugs and spiders.

I think everybody’s favorite part is the actual Butterfly Pavilion which is a huge tropical forest filled room with butterflies flying EVERYWHERE. It was really cool.

I do have to admit that I was so scared that a butterfly or other flying insect would land on me, I was petrified. I could finally relax once I put my hoodie up, even though people looked at me like I was crazy. After all, it is extremely hot and humid, but I got to enjoy myself so it was worth it.

After the exhibits we hit up the interactive area which has many stations of fun and learning.

May 11, 2011
Field Trip: Airplane Museum!

In our city we have a museum after any young boys heart – the Airplane Museum, it is called Wings over the Rockies. It is located in a hangar that used to be used on a military base here in Denver. We didn’t tell the boys where we were going, but after a 20 minute drive, we turned the corner to see this:

The boys jaws dropped, their reactions were priceless!

After getting our tickets and browsing the gift shop we headed into the hangar. WOW! There are tons of different flying machines all around, on the ground and in the air!

So much to see, so many cool things!

The coolest thing for my boys was something that is not even real, lol.

A scale model of Luke Skywalkers X-Wing Fighter complete with R2D2!

It was a fun day, the boys ran around with so much excitement!

Of course we ended the field trip with Astronaut Ice Cream, yum (eww) and a Captains Hat for Oliver.

If you live in Denver, I recommend taking your kids, they will love it!

May 4, 2011
Fun in the Sun

The weather here in Colorado is crazy! One day it is 70 , the next it is snowing and freezing, then back to 70 the next day. Seriously!

Last week on one of the so-so days we had some fun outside. Wasn’t too cold, wasn’t too hot.

The boys did floor puzzles on the sidewalks, we colored the sidewalks with chalk. We ate lunch on a blanket in the grass, fun! To top it off… the boys went for the costume drawer, which is always a hit.

this is a Buzz Lightyear, IronMan Hybrid

LOVE this life!!

April 18, 2011
A Rainbow Layer Cake
My middle boy, my sweet, sweet Oliver had his 5th birthday party. When planning his party I came across a blog post on How to Make a Rainbow Layer Cake she was inspired by this post and this post both on Rainbow Cakes.

I was so happy because Oliver loves rainbows! I also wanted to make the cake for him. It isn’t perfect but I like it overall and it was made with love and a lot of frosting :O)

I followed her directions and bought 2 cake mixes and 4 containers of frosting, I used Pillsbury. I did not buy food coloring because I had some at home. I found out later that I did not have the primary colors, I had bought neon. I rolled with it.

I bought –
- Red Hots
- Skittles
- 4 pack of tube frosting, fine tip
- #5 candle and cupcake candles
- Pack of Sugar decorations, Happy Birthday and Alphabet
I baked the two cakes mixes according to the directions (egg whites only version). Separated the mix into 4 bowls. I then dyed each bowl. I used a brand new Wilton 9″ round cake pan ($4 at Kings Soopers). I oiled and floured the pan, then cooked each cake mix for about 14 minutes at 350. I then cooled each cake in the pan for about 5 minutes, then onto a cooling rack for about 20 minutes.

Layer the cake putting a thin layer of frosting between each. Then apply a crumb coat of frosting and refrigerate for at least an hour. Add final layer of frosting and decorate.
April 11, 2011