Week 1s Five:

1. Whip Cream Fun
Listed below are a few of the favorite ways that children can have fun with whip cream. So put on the swimsuits, grab the towels and get outside near the water hose for easy clean up!

Safety note: For all whip cream/water play.  Be aware that the play area will become slippery; I suggest playing on grass or any other, easily cleaned, non-slip surface.  

For young children (18 months-) put a few drops of food coloring and a mound of whip cream on a cookie sheet or child size plastic table and let your child draw shapes, letters or just scribble. You can also add little plastic toys for even more entertainment.

Whip cream eating race.Line up paper plates on a table for each child in the race and put about a half cup of whip cream in each plate. Now you have each child sit in front of their plate and you say on your mark get set Go.


        
And they are off....

        
          Even if you are not first, the competition is SWEET!

Pie each other:
Do this using whip cream and a paper plate.

         


       


Chase and cream each other.




Water-play cleanup.
Have a blast cleaning up with the water hose or splash pool.

Personal note: Years ago one of my children saw, on television, someone being pied in the face.  He asked, “Why haven’t we ever done that”?  The next occasion to arise was preschool graduation; so, when we returned home I surprised him with a graduation pie in the face!  He looked surprised, and a bit startled, before he remembered the request and smiled!  A tradition was born.



2. Cat and mouse 
(This is a simple game, the boys love it and we play it often):  One child (or adult) is the cat and hides; the rest of the players are mice, which sneak up on the cat's hiding place and scratch.  This is the signal for the cat to chase the mice and try to catch one.  Then, choose another player to be the cat and repeat until all the players have been the cat.
This game was found @ The Idea Box.com

3.  Let the kids personalize their own aprons for all the creative summer projects ahead.
These are easy for children to do and so special to wear after their done.
Materials:
·        Fabric markers*
·        Child size apron for each child
·        Poster board or newspaper to cover/protect work area
*Note: I used Scribbles Permanent Fabric Markers – The brand is of course optional but you want to certain that you purchase permanent, non-toxic fabric markers that don’t require you to iron or dry the aprons before or after use. The markers often come in a package of six and cost around $14 – $17 but if  you use your Michael’s or Hobby Lobby coupons you can save a substantial amount

Michael’s and Hobby Lobby often have online-printable, and in-store coupons.

Instructions:
1.  Cover work area with poster board or news paper
2.  Lay apron on the work surface right side up
3.  Allow children to be creative and draw until their designs are complete
4.  Allow the apron to dry overnight before wearing

4. Make Citrus Sipper

5. Customize your own summer reading plan and or make a paper reading chain.

Summer reading for us, as I am sure it is with most families, is a priority; so, I put together a plan, that is working for us and is a fun way to encourage and maintain regular reading habits.

I have described our plan as an example.  This plan uses information found at some of the sites listed below.  You may want to explore these links to get ideas for customizing a plan for your family.

Our reading plan:

Materials:
·        A folder
·        A reading chart for each child (see http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/reading_charts.htm I used the “Popular Book Character Book Logs” link but there are many other choices.)
·        Fun stickers (we used colored stars)
    ·       Index cards (small) – to write rewards on

     Instructions:
1.  Think of several possible rewards for your children and write them on separate index cards (i.e. trip to their favorite yogurt shop, popcorn and a movie in the middle of the day, a special date with a parent or friend…)
2.  Use the folder to hold all of the materials: reading charts, index cards, stickers…
3.  Every time your child reads a certain amount, place a sticker on his chart (for those children who are not yet reading on their own I place a sticker on their chart after I read to them or after each pre-reading exercise, i.e. learning the alphabet and related sounds) *
4.  After a certain number of stars have been achieved (I use 20) the child gets to choose a reward from one of the index cards.

*Note:  As an example, our seven year old receives two stars for every 15 minutes of reading; the five year old receives one star for reading a small (Bob) book or two stars for reading a scholastics reader #1.
Links:

Certificates and bookmarks

Earn a free book

Book Lists

Make your own book chain (we are very excited about using this to decorate at our “End of the Summer Bash”)

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)