Make/Move: Shaving Cream "Spelling"

I used to do this with my 5th graders the day before a Spelling Test. It's easy, cheap, really fun, and did a great job cleaning off the tops of grimy school desks! :)

Begin by lathering some shaving cream (foam is better than gel) all over a surface (we used a light, portable serving tray). Start slow, by letting your kiddo use paintbrushes, or their fingers, to create drawings and designs in the fun, squishy medium. Then, be creative! Preschoolers can work on numbers or letters. Elementary kids can play a game of hangman with sight words. Tweens can refresh their memory on how to multiply and divide fractions...actually, I could use a quick refresher on those as well!

What ideas come to your mind??

Manage: Accountability Scheduling

When Landon was a baby, his schedule was somewhat sacred. We stuck to it to the point that friends probably whispered behind our backs...and though it worked well for us at the time, looking back, I can't say that I blame them. As he's gotten older though, and as we've all settled into "summer mode," our day-to-day happenings have become a bit too flexible. I decided that a happy medium would do us all some good, especially with fall and preschool approaching, but knew that I needed an accountability partner to keep me on track (I've mentioned before that I tend to have time-management issues...). After looking high and low, I realized that a certain little man (who, at the moment was dressed in pirate gear and playing with legos), was probably my best, and let's face it, only bet for the role. I looked him up and down for a moment or two, wondering how to make this partnership work. I pondered deeply what might entice a three-year-old towards responsibility, and came up with this....his own giant "watch," as he calls it, something that he an manipulate, bright colors, and pictures of himself. Add in a huge heap of "you're-such-a-big-boy-to-help-your-Mama-know-what-to-do-next-today," and we sealed the deal.
So, my current accountability partner is a preschooler.
And, even crazier...it's working!!

Our (Semi-Flexible) Schedule:

9:00ish- Breakfast, Morning Show

10:00ish- Chores

10:30ish- Play

12:30ish- Lunch

1:30ish- Quiet Time

2:30ish- Nap

4:00ish- Special Time with Mama :)

5:00ish- Daddy's home!

6:00ish- Dinner Time

7:30ish- Bath Time

8:30ish- Bedtime

How to Make the Clock:

*Supplies highlighted*

1. I used a paper plate to trace a circle onto a cheap, thin, flexible cutting board.

2. I used colored Sharpie Markers to draw numbers on the clock.

3. I added tiny pictures of the things Landon does at different points in the day (I just cut, pasted, and printed these off in a Word Document).

4. I used a tiny piece of extra cutting board material to make the spinner (see above), and colored it in with a black Sharpie. I then poked a hole in the spinner and the center of the clock, and attached it with a standard brad. 

5. To keep the pictures in good shape, I covered the whole surface with a couple layers of Modge Podge (you could also just paint it with Elmers glue). 

Question for you...Do you stick to a schedule or routine? 

If so, how do you do it?

Introductions

I've been thinking that it's about time I introduce myself.

So, hello! Welcome to FunMomOnline.

And, thank you so, so much for visiting!!

Enjoying motherhood...together,

(Click my name for more about me.)

Your turn! I'd love to get to know you too! 

Move: Slip-n-Slide Party

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!

We invited our very dear Small Group friends over for a somewhat impromptu slip-n-slide party. We have the perfect hill for it...just steep enough to be fun, but not a chore for little legs to get back up. I was planning on everyone just bringing their largest tarp, but one of the men suggested that we use 25'x10' plastic sheeting (from Home Depot), and stakes to keep it in the ground. It was AWESOME, and worked so, so well. The kids (and quite a few of the grown-ups...) had a great time. We kept it wet, and used No Tear Baby Shampoo to make it slippery...I think that every mom there agreed that it definitely counted as a bath! We ended the night with banana splits on the porch, and a very happy (and tired) crew of kiddos. Definitely doing it again next year!

Mid-Week Laugh: Doctor NOSE Best

Submitted by FunMom Gen at: http://www.girlsandsunflowers.blogspot.com/

"Awhile back, my middle child, CM, needed a slight chiropractic adjustment. So, off we went to the appointment. Thankfully, we are personal friends with our doctor, but it was too much when CM looked up from the exam table and said, 

'WOW! You should clean your nose! 

You gotta lotta boogas!!'

The doc laughed, CM laughed, and then, after cringing, I laughed right along with them!"

Make/Move: Sidewalk City

Get down and dirty with your kiddo and create 

a Sidewalk City! 

Our city includes (just in case you can't tell...) a church, a fire station, an airport (to go see Grammy and Papa), a few houses, a park, a gas station, and, of course, a McDonald's. Just the necessities...

This activity will keep your little one busy for quite a while! It's fun to create the city together, but it can spark hours of entertainment afterwards as well (especially if you pull out cars, figurines, plastic people, etc.). I've also found that this activity is fun for a very wide range of ages. I drew a Sidewalk City with my 5 and 8-old-year nephews a month or so ago, and it was REALLY impressive and over-the-top creative! That city had a dinosaur museum, a giant waterslide, and helicopter pad. See what your kids include in their city...it'll probably make you both smile! :)

To make homemade sidewalk chalk click here.

Munch: Watermelon Cake

A month or so ago, the cover of a ladies magazine (not sure which one...) showcased a beautiful watermelon cake. I checked it out in each check out line that I stood in...'okay, it's on it's side...they must have flattened the bottom, looks like it's a two-layer...'But, I never read the article or the recipe. 

Then, I forgot about it. Until Merideth at http://www.lifeat7000feet.com/ made watermelon cookies with her kids. I was reminded of the beautiful cake, and inspired to make it with my own kiddo, but knew that it was no longer being featured in any check out line. However, I tend to not follow recipes or rules very well anyway (especially when they involve creative effort), so we just set out to make it based on what I could remember. 

We started with a Red Velvet cake mix. Landon added chocolate sprinkles to the batter (to look like seeds), and we then baked it in two 9-inch pans. When they had cooled, we iced and stacked (red icing), then cut in half, and iced and stacked again (again with red icing). Next, I cut off a little bit of the rounded side to make a flat bottom for it to rest on, and turned it to look like a slice of watermelon. Finally we added green icing to the sides.

It certainly didn't turn out as pretty as the one in the picture (there are definite benefits to following recipes...and rules), but we had FUN

 making it, 

decorating it, 

and squeezing leftover icing into our mouths!
Yum!
Any great kid-friendly summer recipes? Please share!

Make/Move: Sunny Day Shadow Show

This was not nearly as difficult as it looks. But every bit as FUN! 

1. Start by finding a nice sunny spot.

2. Make shadow puppets. We did this by:

* Buying people-shaped popsicle sticks from Michaels (we added accessories). I bought these months ago, and was looking for a reason to pull them out! LOVE them!

* Hot gluing punch-out shapes (from construction paper packaging) to popsicle sticks.

* Making our own original shapes out of cardstock, and then gluing them to popsicle sticks.

3. Create your Shadow Show Stage.

 *A comfy place to sit makes it more fun for everyone...

especially Mama.

* I stretched a window shade around the table to make our screen.

4. And now on with the show!

* We played together, but also took turns telling stories. Talk about imagination!! Sheesh. He puts me to shame!

PS. Landon loved his "puppet shadows" so much he asked if we could "please, please play for just a few more minutes before bedtime." To do this we simply turned a light on behind us, got comfy on his bed, and used his headboard as our stage. Rather than reading him a book, I told him a spur-of-the-moment story about a pirate who couldn't find his treasure (cookies with rainbow sprinkles), and a dog that saved the day with his keen sense of smell. Sweet dreams guaranteed, right?! :)

Munch: Movie Night Mix-it-Up

Daddy was out of town this week, so Landon and I had a couple of movie nights. In our house, summer usually means later bedtimes anyway. In honor of his absolute LOVE of popcorn, I thought that I'd post a few fun recipes that I've come across to add some pizazz to this traditional treat. 

Jello Popcorn Balls 

(pictured above)

Cinnamon Candy Popcorn Recipe

Chocolate Popcorn

Kettle Corn

Bite-size Honey Popcorn Balls

Caramel Corn

And now for the Feature Presentation...I'm curious. 

What are your favorite kid movies, and why?

Move: Sprinkler Fun

This is a great sprinkler!! 

I bought it at Walmart (Little Tykes Sprinkler Ball), and though it was $17.99 originally, it was marked down quite a bit. I'm thinking I only paid around 10 bucks for it.

It's a chore to blow up (it's big...88" around!), but so worth the work! There are four spray heads (one on top, three around), so everyone can have fun at the same time! Great for siblings or playdates! You also have the option of keeping the ball stationary, by adding some water to the inside of it, or allowing it to move with your little ones. They can kick it all around the yard...and burn off a A LOT of energy! :)

We're going to leave ours blown up for the rest of the season, so that it's easy to pull out and play, but come the end of August we'll simply let the air out and store it in a nice, tiny, little corner of the shed. Ahhh...I wish that I could say that of our baby pool.

If you haven't bought one yet, this is a great sprinkler!

click here to find buying information.

What's the best summer fun toy you've bought this year?