2 weeks!

2 weeks left til summer vacation for my kids. Well, that's a lie. They're going to summer school so technically I have until July 1st before they're home every day (woooooo hooooo!), but I am starting to put together some 'plans' for summer to keep them busy anyway.

 I bought a book on clearance one time - 1,444 Fun Things to Do with Kids. There are so many great ideas in this book, it's just amazing! I'll share a few with you, but if you click that link you can get the book for under $5.

Monster Dough

Combine 1 cup of salt with 1 and 1/4 cups water and 2 teaspoons of cooking oil. Knead the mixture until smooth and then divide it into several small bowls. Color with food coloring and mix well. Too sticky? Add flour. Too dry? Add a few drops of water.

Magic Mud

1 cup cornstarch in a bowl and 1 cup of water -- add water gradually until the mixture is like bread dough. Then roll the mixture into a ball. Watch the ball carefully and it will magically dissolve to liquid!

Candle Maker

Collect all the old candles you have. Let the kids choose the shapes for new candles (using dishes, cartons, and other forms that can withstand contact with hot wax). Affix to the bottom of the form a string that can be used as a wick, and then carefully supervise the melting of the candles. Fish out the old wicks. Melt in a crayon to change the color of the wax. Cool slightly, and then pour into molds. After the wax cools a little more, straighten the string wick or insert in the center a thin candle as a wick. When firm, remove from the mold and enjoy on the dining table or elsewhere.

Reading Journal

I'm going to have my girls keep a reading journal this summer so they can write about the books they'e read. Jenelle has her own blog so I might let her get away with typing it up, but we'll see. :) Just get a notebook together and give them a time chart, a suggested reading list, and 50 stickers to use when they read the books. Have them write down the title, author, and a short review about the book. Would they recommend it to a friend? Would they like to read it again?

Chalktown

In your driveway or on the sidewalk, help your kiddos sketch out a large transportation system using white chalk. This is educational as well as fun! Draw highways, small roads, airports, etc. Using green chalk, add in the trees, fields, and other greenery. Make rivers and lakes with blue chalk. Red chalk: houses, skyscrapers. Use your imagination! Use toy cars, boats, and people to play in your chalktown. This can lead to days of fun, until the rain washes it away!

What's in the yard?

From your garden or yard, gather blossoms from flowers and leaves from trees. place them between wax paper and then under heavy books. After about 2 weeks they will have dried. Make a plant identification book! Use a tiny dab of glue to affix them to the page, and label the page with the name of the flower or tree. Super fun and educational!

Sail Boats

Make some little boats out of folded paper or big leaves. Use a water puddle after a rain to see if the boats will sink or swim.

Shadow Plays

Hang a sheet in a doorway and place a floodlight about 8 feet behind it. Let kids play between the sheet and the light, acting out nursery rhymes and scenes from familiar books. See if you can guess who the actors are portraying.

1,444 Fun Things to Do With Kids really is a great book. I recommend buying it (or checking it out) if possible. It has given me lots of ideas for fun, inexpensive, and sometimes educational, projects!

What do you like to do with your kids during summer break?