Melted Crayons

Today's summer activity was to take broken pieces of crayons and melt them into new colors. Here is the blog from pinterest where I found the idea: http://www.oneperfectdayblog.net/2012/06/05/molded-crayon-party-favors/. Recently we were given a box of 48 crayons, and they were super cheap. These crayons broke the second you picked them up, so they were perfect for this activity. Crayola crayons are by far the best crayons to color with, but their papers do not come off easily so stick to the cheap crayons for this one! Heidi, Noah, and I unwrapped the crayons, broke them into smaller pieces, and placed them in different spots of the muffin tin. I used my mini muffin tin so we can have lots of new crayons. The kids thought it was "totally cool" when they saw how the colors were melting together in the oven. After removing them from the oven I thought it was going to take a long time for them to cool and harden, but it really happened pretty quickly. After the crayons cooled we packed them up and went out to dinner. The kids had a great time coloring with their new crayons at the restaurant. If I were to do this again I would look for tins that are a shape other than circles. They were a little tough to color with since they were round. All in all... another fun summer activity!

Star Cookies

In honor of 4th of July we made Star Cookies with white icing and red and blue sprinkles. It was a huge mess (not because of the kids, because of me...), but so much fun for the kids. Now before you think I'm supermom know that it was store bought cookie dough. We rolled out the cookie dough and used a star cookie cutter. I like letting the kids do each task even though it doubles the amount of time it takes to make them, but I like letting the kids learn how to do things for themselves. They each got a chance to roll the cookie dough and took turns with the cookie cutters. While they were baking we made some simple royal icing. When the cookies were cooled enough I put the icing on and the kids sprinkled the cookies. They are the most beautiful cookies I've ever seen! Now I have to spend the next hour cleaning the kitchen, but it was well worth it!

Lava Lamps

We are back to doing summer activities today (took a few days off last week due to my Lasik surgery). Today we made homemade Lava Lamps. The kids thought this was pretty cool. We found this craft from pinterest (of course), but here is the link to the original blog: http://www.jugglingwithkids.com/2011/09/lava-lamps.html. I let the kids pour the oil, food coloring, and water into their water bottles then I broke the Alka Seltzer into small pieces for them to dump into their new lamps. Then we watched as the bubbles started moving up and down. My only suggestion is to use a darker food coloring. Heidi picked pink and it didn't show up as well as the blue in Noah's. After making Lava Lamps we practiced writing the letter L.

Tuesday

Tuesday's summer activity was to make homemade strawberry lemonade (yes, another recipe from pinterest): http://laylita.com/recipes/2012/06/08/strawberry-lemonade/ It was a fun and easy recipe to follow. I cut all the fruits and the kids put them in the magic bullet (thanks again mom!). Heidi wanted to blend the fruits this time, she's getting more brave and less scared of the loud noise. The kids enjoy helping me in the kitchen, so it was fun to do. In the end, Heidi loved the lemonade, Noah did not.

More Summer

And we're back! Heidi had Princess Prep School last week so summer activities were on hold for a week. She had a blast at camp and is now home reciting scriptures about serving others... love it! Anyway... this week we are back to doing our summer activities. Monday's activity was to make homemade finger paints and paint pictures. It was really a very easy recipe and things I had on hand. Here's a link to where I found the recipe: http://d30opm7hsgivgh.cloudfront.net/upload/83641390_g4h4MdyA_c.jpg. The kids watched as I mixed the mixture on the stove, then we put a small amount in ice cube trays, added the food coloring (which was fun mixing colors for the kids to see how to mix colors to make new colors), and finally the fun of finger painting began.



And of course, if you're outside with finger paints it eventually turns into outside water play.

Since Hannah is usually asleep during our summer activities, I took a picture of her cute little nose crinkle. Enjoy!

More Ice Cream

Friday's Summer Activity was to make ice cream with our friends. We invited our playgroup over to do the "Make Your Own Ice Cream" and we had about 15 kids in our house, it was pretty much complete madness, but yet we had a blast. I forgot to take pictures because there was so much going on, so you'll just have to imagine my house with 15 kids in it. When the kids came over we let them play, eat lunch, then make ice cream, and finally the kids went to run around in the sprinklers outside while a few of us moms cleaned the kitchen from all the ice cream. My favorite part of making the ice cream is when people said, "this really does taste like ice cream." Yep... I promised ice cream and that's what they got. There are only 3 ingredients for the ice cream, which surprised everyone, and it tasted just like ice cream. All the moms brought toppings to go along with the ice cream, so my kids had ice cream with chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, mini m&m's, marshmallows, bananas, and sprinkles. Hence the need for running around in the backyard after eating all that! Thanks to everyone who came and made a fun afternoon for everyone.

Mail Time

Wednesday and Thursday's Summer Activities were to make a package for someone and then mail it to them. Wednesday the kids ran around the house and found things to put in the package which included two boxes of flower seeds, pictures they colored, princess tattoos, and who knows what else they might have put in there while I wasn't looking. After the package was filled they decorated the outside with stickers. They had a blast thinking of all the things they could send to the person who would receive their package. On Thursday we took the package to the mail center and mailed it to the recipient. This summer activity will be repeated later in the summer so more people can receive packages from the Menchaca Munchkins. Look out Uncle Robby, the kids are very excited about all the things they can send you this summer!