Week Two: Dinosaur Camp!!

I am going to try really hard and reference where I got all my ideas, because I want to give credit where credit is due.  If I miss something, we'll just have to chalk it up to human error and my brain being dead today!:)  And these activities are not in the correct order at all.  Not even sure what order I did them in to be honest. :)

I made Dinosaur fossils from a basic salt dough (she did the microwave version, I doubled the recipe and baked it since I did it the day before and had plenty of time...).  Then we rolled it out and squashed dinosaurs and tracks and plants into it...

One of our activities was matching the dinosaurs to their tracks and shapes on the baked dough.  They had a great time and it was a great activity to entertain all in the age span (2 to 7.5 this week).

As one of our snacks, I saw this cute idea to make dinosaur biscuits and I thought that was a great idea, but changed it a bit for me.  I made snickerdoodles (I'll post my mom's recipe sometime) and instead of squashing them with a fork like I normally do, I made this potato stamp and let the kids stamp a T-Rex footprint onto their cookie!!  They loved it!:)

I typically have an independent activity for them to do while we're either waiting for the rest of our friends to arrive or in between activities while I set up, etc.  I really love 3dinosaurs.com and think that they create some wonderful activities for kids, especially pre-k.  So this is the gang doing some dinosaur puzzles that I had found there...

 Another activity was painting some dinosaurs that I had made from plaster.  I did them the day before also because I wasn't sure about setting time...and I wasn't sure I could handle extra helpers...:) 

While half of the kids painted, the other half made dinosaurs and fossils with play dough, then we switched...

 We also did a dinosaur maze and then we drew around that dinosaur what we thought their home would have looked like around them...:)

 Our other snack for the day were Dino Chips!  (Tortilla shells cut into dinosaur shapes with a dino sandwich cutter and then baked for a few minutes.)  I let the kids put cheese on top if they wanted.

We also watched the Dinosaur Train song about dinosaurs A to Z, this video explaining what fossils are and how they form, and a fun Dinosaur Song video as well.

We all had so much fun at Dinosaur Camp this week and can't wait for more adventures next week as we learn more about our bodies and how we can keep them healthy!!:)

Pancake Pileup

Over President's Day weekend my husband actually got a day off, which we weren't really expecting...  We wanted to make it a special day without really getting out, so we came up with this brilliant-ish idea to make a bunch of mini pancakes for breakfast that the kids could make into different shapes and figures, then eat.  These are the masterpieces that resulted!:)  We used a pizza cutter to turn the circles into squares, etc. as needed...

Read-A-Thon!

Remember back in elementary school when the greatest day in the world was when your class earned a read-a-thon?  We got to wear pajamas and bring our pillows and snacks and just read for like 45 minutes!  Felt like all dayback then...

Now fast forward to present day where it is hard to keep media and electronics from running our household.  We often do a Movie Night with the kids on Friday nights, but tonight I decided we'd do a Read-A-Thon!  We had so much fun!

 We went to the local library and stocked up on a nice variety of books.  After dinner, we gathered pillows and blankets and met in the front room to read!  We read and read and read.  Taking turns picking, Daddy reading some, Mommy reading some...  

Then we broke the party up for a minute and I made some snacks while Daddy got the munchkins in pajamas.  We reconvened in the front room with popcorn, crackers, pretzels, and fruit snack...:)  More and more reading.  Snuggles and cuddles included.  These kids are like sponges, soaking in so much and learning more and more every day!  Love this stage with my boys!

Family Game Night!

At our house we have a tradition of doing a Movie Night almost every Friday night.  Probably two or three times a month.  But this last weekend I felt the kids needed to do something other than take in more media, so we did a game night and it was a huge success!  My kids are 5, 3, & 1, and not a lot of our board games are tailored to that age range, so we got creative.:)

We played pictionary & charades, went on horseback rides courtesy of Daddy, built a giant puzzle together, made castles out of blocks, played Red Light Green Light, made a maze for our cars out of blocks, watched Daddy fly the helicopter he got for Christmas, built some Lego masterpieces, and just enjoyed playing and laughing together.  I even resisted cleaning up while they were distracted and got on the floor and played with them every minute!  What great memories we are creating- for me at least, and hopefully for them as well.:)

Pudding Painting

It's an oldie but goodie.  Fingerpainting with pudding was always a favorite activity at our house growing up and my kids would agree.  Cons: it's a little messy.  Pros: it's fun, inexpensive, & requires very little prep time.

*Paint: Make a box of {chocolate works best in my opinion} instant pudding- the sugar free variety works just fine as well (I let it set about twice as long as it recommends)
*Canvas: We have used everything from wax, construction, or cardstock paper
*Brush: Put a big scoop in a bowl and let them use their fingers as the brush.  I started my oldest (that is super sensitive to new textures) with a watercolor paintbrush- but eventually he dug in with his fingers as well.

 

*Aprons are helpful in keeping the mess to a minimum.  Also, if you are concerned about your table, I have spread wax paper or butcher paper across the whole thing to protect it, but my table isn't really worth protecting.  And the baby just goes straight in the tub afterwards.:)

*I put the masterpieces on a high countertop to dry at least overnight (depending on how much paint they have saturated the page with)

 

*Happy Painting!

Glow Stick Photo Shoot

This year on the 4th of July, we had just moved to Texas and didn't really know the area really well.  We tried going to see fireworks, but by the time they actually started the baby was so far past his happy place that we packed up and headed home in desperation.  But never fear- Super Mommy was here! 

I had bought glow sticks for our firework watching and when we brought them home I thought it might be fun to have a little dance party and pretend they were sparklers.  Then it dawned on me that this mights just make a great motion-photo.  I have a nice camera but not a whole lot of expertise in this area, but this is what we did:

I just propped the camera on my knee so it would be super still while I sat down and turned off the flash.  I pushed the shutter button and the shutter speed automatically slowed WAY down in order to capture enough light.  I had the boys (and Daddy who simply could not stay out of the fun!) dance around the room.  Then when the photo came through on the view screen, they ran over and were entranced by the explosion of color.  Like ghosts had made pictures for them!

It was so much fun and they forgot all about the missed fireworks.  Did I mention cheap?  A couple packs of glowsticks from the dollar store, your camera, and a room with no light.  We probably won't wait until the next set of missed fireworks before we pull this trick out of our bag again!

Reward Charts

At our house we are pretty much always working towards some goal or another.  It helps to have something that motivates us.  Charts/visuals are great ways to help the little ones tie the progress and the reward to the task at hand.  I have found, however, that when I enjoy the reward that we are working towards, it helps me to get excited about helping motivate the kids. 

 

For example- there is a donut store down the street that I have been wanting to try.  We have been working on cutting down accidents at night with my oldest and my middle son staying in his own bed all night instead of climbing into my bed.  Tie that all together and throw in this chart I made with some simple graphics and you have a great way to help reach our goals!

 After we moved, life was a little more circus-like than normal.  Everything was up in the air for long enough that our daily routine no longer existed.  In order to help me and the boys get back on track- and to get a little more help around the house- we started a daily progress chart.  Before they could have computer time (which happened while baby brother was taking his morning nap), they needed to have breakfast, brush their teeth, get dressed, make their beds, and help me with two chores.  They love their computer time and I love a few minutes of quiet when all three are occupied...:)

 

Since Big Brother had earned a toy at the store for accomplishing a goal (don't ask me what it was, I just remember it took a while to earn it...) Porter was feeling left out and Daddy caved and let him get a Captain America toy- but with a catch.  This is when we started tackling Porter staying in his own bed.  He had to go ten nights before we would take it out of the box.  Very motivating and it provided hours of occupied play time.  Win-win!:)