Kool-Aid Ice boats

Fun way to stay cool this summer and have fun playing. Make some fun kool-aid ice boats and play for hours, in the pool or make your own stream.

All you need is some kool-aid packets, ice trays or even small bowls to make bigger boats. Then place sticks or straws in them to freeze and add the sails once the water is frozen.

The to make your stream just get some aluminum foil and add water. We added some rocks to ours. (You can build it however you want)

The kids had fun using their water squirt toys, filling the stream and melting the ice. Fun way to play and stay cool in the hot summer weather.

Ice is fun to play with and there is so many different fun ways to play with it. Be sure to check out some of the other fun ways we have played.

Erupting kool-aid ice

Alphabet ice learning

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Cherish the moments with loved ones

My mom was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure stage 4 June 2012 and it has been a year of up and downs for her. She had a pacemaker placed in July and she just never felt the same.

She was admitted in the hospital March 22nd 2013 and just kept getting worse test after test and trying new medications. We lost my mom and best friend to a long 2 months of fighting for her life on May 11th 2013. 

Deep down I know she was ready to go be with the Lord, cause her life just wasn't the same once they placed the pacemaker in and she couldn't do and eat things she wanted to. When I stayed at the hospital with her April 19th 2013, her and I talked and she told me she was ready to go home, not to her house but to be with God. That was then I knew she had lost her fight to keep living. That was very hard for me to take in, but at that time she had been through a lot that month. I told her, "Mom if you are ready then I will get through it." 

It has been very hard for me to deal with and explaining this to my 4 yr old son Jake who was very close to her. My daughter 2 years old Cate didn't really understand just knew Meme was sick. But we are all getting stronger each day. We write messages to Meme and send them attached to balloon. Read books on how to deal with it and talk about all the fun times we were blessed to have with her. Even thought I wish it was more!!

Getting ready to let the messages up to heaven. We had people write thoughts at the viewing and attached them to balloons.

Balloons up, up, and away.

Below are just some of our favorite memories together, cause we were very blessed to have a lot.

If we weren't together then the kids were skyping or on the phone with Meme, love technology.

In the last 4 years since my son was born we had many, many, many trips back and forth from Fl(where meme lived) to Va(were we live).

So my message to you is to cherish all the moments you have with your loved ones and ALWAYS take pictures so you can look back on these moments and NEVER forget them.

So this is why I have been away from blogging the last several weeks and will try to get back in the swing of things within the next month or so. Thanks to everyone for your support.

Jell-O bubble fun

Bubbles are fun!!! My kids love playing with bubbles. We have made firework bubbles, colored bubbles in the bath, and even made scented bubbles.

This is super easy to make, all  you need is a bowl, dawn dish soap, water and jell-o. Mix them together to make your jell-o bubbles. Then get a straw and blow bubbles.

Today we had fun with Jell-O bubbles. We blew in the the bubbles to see who could make the biggest bubble mountain. Jake and Cate had a blast and laughed so much.

I just love all the face expressions when making the bubble mountains.

Be sure to stop by our Outside Fun board on Pinterest for more fun things to do this summer.

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Balloon science comparing gas, liquid and solids

We were making ice the other day for once of our science projects and Jake asked how the water turns to a solid. So I was explaining to him that water freeze when it is below 32 degrees, like when  it was winter outside and we placed our Fruit ice project outside and it froze.

So that got me thinking that it would be a great time to compare liquid, gas and solids. I saw this great experiment at Fit Kids Cludhouse using balloons. Fun and easy for a preschooler to understand the difference.

We took 3 balloons and filled them up with Gas, liquid and solids. Then we compared the 3 balloons. To fill the balloon with gas see our Bottle blowing balloon experiment. Then add water to 2 balloons. 1 water balloon place in the freeze overnight, that is how you get the solid.

Then compare the 3 balloons. What Jake said about each:

Gas....light weight, floats a little when you try to throw it, hard to break on the grown unless you stomp on it.

Liquid...heavier then the gas balloon, but lighter then the solid, when you throw it up it pops and water is everywhere, easy to squeeze

Solid...hard when you try to squeeze, when you throw it breaks to pieces, the heaviest of the 3 balloons.

The kids had the best time breaking the water and ice balloons.

We love science play and learning be sure to check out our Science Board

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Erupting Kool-Aid ice science and art

The kids love to explore and create. I froze 2 blocks of ice for them to play and experiment with since we have had some night days outside.

This is a simple and fun experiment project for kids of multiple ages. I filled 2 square containers up with water and placed int he freeze overnight.

Then just collected different materials for Jake and Cate to explore with. You can use whatever you want. Listed below are what we used.

Materials:

Ice block

Salt

Baking soda

Kool-aid packets

Spray bottles with vinegar

Baby oil

(all the materials can be bought at the Dollar Tree and are very inexpensive)

First the kids poured kool-aid and baking soda on the ice to see if it would bubble and fizz. It did. Then they mixed colors and explored. Poured salt in the block and Jake thought that was neat cause it held the color more on the ice.

After they explored a little I gave them paint brushes and they painted their ice and explored some more. I love how simple this project is and the kids sat still for over a hour doing this.

Great way to have fun on a hot day, along with enjoying science and art play.

We love to do all kinds of fun hands on play with Kool-Aid.

Below are some of our favorite hands on science play, be sure to check them out.

Rainbow science

Fizzing goop

Fizzing sidewalk paint

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Cupcake play dough counting and number recognition

Play dough is one of our favorite things to do and the kids have been asking to play with it for the last couple of day so we took it out. I added a little fun twist to it for some learning time.

Jake and Cate love to pretend play like they are cooking, so I took out the cupcake liners and cupcake pans they made pretend cupcakes.

 We added candles to the cupcakes to sing Happy Birthday. After they put the candles in their cupcakes I had them count them and match the correct number to the candles.

Since Jake knows his numbers I did a little math with him.

After we did number recognition and some simple math, the kids wanted me to light the candles to sing and they blew them out.

Was too cute!!

Playing and counting fun

This was a fun and simple way to bring learning to play. The kids loved this.

Below are some of our favorite learning games with numbers.

Apple Tree number learning

Rainbow colors and number leanring

Jelly Bean counting and color learning 

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Handmade picture flowers in a pot

Every holiday we are always making fun keepsakes for meme, grandma and other special family members. Two years ago we made these special flower pots and placed baby pictures of the kids in them .

The are very easy to make. For the flower part we used cupcake holders and for the stem we used popsicle sticks. Then to hold the special picture flowers in the flower pot we used styrofoam. This craft is fun and easy for all ages. You can get all the supplies from the Dollar Store and have enough supplies to make several.

If you like to make handmade gifts for that special someone in your family or life be sure to check out the links below.

Handprint crafts

Word picture frame

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Ocean and lighthouse sensory play

The kids love imaginary play. We have had some hot days and are so ready for the beach. So I set up a fun sensory bin for them. They had a blast playing with it.

I used sand and jello for the ocean water. I love how real the water looks and Jake loved the feel of it.

To put this together was very simple. All you need is some ocean creatures, sand, and jello. I made the jello the night before and had Jake help and then it was ready the next day for them to play with.

This sensory play is great for the imagination, learning about different sea animals, and great hands on play as well.

Jake even dug in the sand and made little sand castles. After he was done playing we talked about the different animals that lived in the ocean.

Below are some other fun sensory bins we have done.

Farm sensory play

Insect dig

Dinosaur excavation

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