Get Well Soon Kitchen Science Basket

My 7 year old nephew had his tonsils and adenoids out. He is having a rough go and it is pretty sad to see him that way! Carter has been having a lot of fun with the kitchen science experiments we are doing so we decided it would be fun to put together a basket for my nephew. They will be great inside projects while he is recovering the next couple weeks! We added a few extra items non-science but the majority of it is for science experiments! Here is what we got all from the dollar store!

Tote
Foam Letters
Dry Erase Board (since he cannot talk) this will be fun for writing down conclusions too!
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Food Coloring
Corn Starch
Salt
Flour
Glow Sticks
Little Snakes and other animals
Tattoos
Book

We printed out the experiments we have enjoyed the most from sciencebob.com and stevespanglerscience.com/ Put them in plastic sleeves and completed the basket. I will probably put a toy or something in, just in case he is not over excited about the science stuff! I  think they will be good things to keep him busy other than video games! :)

Slime sensory Bag

Oh la la! We got busy with another sensory item today. We chose the slime sensory bag. Carter was really hoping to make it a box but Callen would try to put the stuffin his mouth and I didn't want the mess today! :)
Items needed:
Ziplock
Tape
Hair gel or aloe
Few flat toys (we used snakes from the dollar store)

Simply put the gel and toys into ziplock, seal so there is little air and tape it to a table!
We put a piece of paper under it so he could see the colors better. Fun to squish, make the snakes move and feels good!
Callen enjoyed it, but not as much as he likes the sensory boxes!

Inside Race Car Track

It has been over 100 degrees for the last few days so we have been keeping inside. I set up a small tape racetrack to see how the boys would do with it. My 2 year old was only entertained for about 5 minutes. My 9 year old would not even entertain the idea :( Maybe if I made it bigger. I wanted to start small in case this happened! I think it would be great for a 3 or 4 year old. Oh Well!

Spy Entrance!

Carter decided to make a spy entrance to the treehouse. He used a few long ropes and wants more. He simply wrapped them around trunks at different heights and there you go! He can do it...I can't. LOL maybe that was the point! You can go over, under, jumping, squatting any way you want just don't let the lasers hit you or arrows start shooting out (that is what he came up with)

I am pleased that the inspiration I have gotten from pinterest has also inspired Carter into using his imagination and creating things!

Chalkboard Tree house Sign!

I have been seeing all the things to do with chalkboard paint. I am excited to try some out! First, it of course is about the kids so Carter made a sign to put up on the tree house at Nana's. Great Project for a 9 year old!
We found a scrap piece of wood, he painted the edges, sprayed Chalkboard paint in the middle and back, added rope and fasteners and up it went! He loved it. Now him and his cousins can rename the fort every time they are there! For now...since no one else is here it is Carter's Castle!! :) Main tip is 2 coats! Other than that, fun and easy and good result!

Gnome Sticks!

Poppop was talking about hiding gnomes and letting the boys find them in the lot, we did not want ceramic as a 2, 3, 7 and 9 year old would be messing with them. I did some checking and found these gnome sticks on shaktidove.blogspot.com via pinterest. We did them a little different and did not whittle. We just found sticks and broke them. A few we smoothed the edges and painted! They are currently in Nana's front garden awaiting to be hidden and drying. Carter even made a smurf one and a Spanish one with a sombrero on. I didn't get the final pictures of his as he refused to leave them! :) I think we will try to get everyone who visits to do one so that way we end up with a ton! They will be hard to find in the mountains but will keep the boys busy as the painting did too! Love them! Hard to see the ones with the knob noses but those are my favs! I will try to take better pictures of the noses!

Homemade Bird Feeders

We are still up in the mountains so we decided to do a homemade bird feeder. Carter was a little disappointed that we were not actually making one out of wood but I promised him he could make something tomorrow using a drill, hammer and wood. He was ok with this. We found this on pinterest and now I cannot find it to post the link but it was easy and I think it was a hit!

BIRD FEEDER
Items Needed:
Empty Toilet Paper Roll

Birdseed
Peanut Butter

Take the toilet paper roll, have the kids spread Peanut Butter all over it and then roll in birdseed, sprinkle and fill the gaps! Then simply hang it on a branch! No rope needed!

Such Concentration!

Callen had a lot of fun sprinkling the birdseed on the peanut butter. He was very interested in how it felt. We checked on it and the blue jays are eating it! Every time I try to take a picture of the Jay though he leaves when he hears me approaching! Great Project for a 2 year old! Carter did the peanut butter and Callen did the seed. Great Team!! :

Finished Feeder!

Water painting for toddlers!

Ever painted with a 2 year old? Highly stressful. We were painting rocks today thinking of making monster rocks or angry bird rocks when my 2 year old got mad and through his brush full of black paint. We had a towel down but I was still letting him know we don't throw and that now he has to watch us. He then decided to throw the paints, which we all connected of course. Ugh.
Now both boys are crying and unhappy. I am feeling overwhelmed and frazzled when I remembered a pinterest toddler activity of painting with water. I skipped over it before because I never thought he would enjoy it but I figured it would be worth a try.
I gave callen the dog bowl full of ware and a sponge brush. He painted the deck and was extremely pleased with himself. This made it able for me to pick up, get Carter a different set o paints and get him started. Callen enjoyed it for an hour! Wow! He even went back to it on his own this evening! Another great idea! So, don't doubt the activities you find from at home moms, home schooled moms etc...they know what works!!! :) it saved me, my boys and my sanity!

Mod-Podge Wood Plaque

My 9 year old did not used to be into crafts and independent play. He has really done awesome this summer getting into them. I took a nap with my 2 year old today. (nice!) During which Carter decided to get creative! He has been waiting to try some mod podge. We did the home made version this morning of half elmers and half warm water. I have never used mod podge but this home made version seems to work. It is not glossy but looks good.
We have a tote that holds our Craft supplies in it. Carter got into it, chose a wood plaque, and red and black paint and got to work. He painted the plaque. He got paint all over the table and he printed a picture of his favorite wrestler and mod podged it to the plaque. It looks great. I am very proud and did not even yell about the paint on the table! Simply reminded him to put paper down next time! :) I love that his mind is expanding and he is enjoying it as art was not one of his favorite special classes. I am going to have to get some more wood plaques and put some scrap book paper on them for me!!!

Volcano's

Carter did volcano's at school last year and has been wanting to do one. We did the fun part but did not paper mache an actual volcano. :) Maybe later this summer! We go through so much vinegar and baking soda as Carter loves the chemical reaction and changing it.

We simply added orange food coloring to get the lava look.
We used:
water bottle
orange food coloring
baking soda
dish soap
vinegar
warm water























Fill the bottle about half way with hot water, add the baking soda, dish soap and food coloring. When you are outside or in the tub, where ever you are doing it just pour the vinegar in! Carter loves to do this. You can even do it a couple times with the same mix and still get an awesome effect!! We got it about a 4 inches high. Going to figure out how to get it higher! :)

EXPLOSION BAGS

Time for some more science fun! My 9 year old loves playing with vinegar and baking soda to see the different results he has. We found the explosion bags on homeschooljournal, along with a few more projects we will try. Great site for older boys!

EXPLOSION BAGS
ITEMS NEEDED
ZIPLOC BAG
PAPER TOWEL
WATER
BAKING SODA
VINEGAR

Follow these directions from homeschool journal:

Tear a paper towel into a square that measures about 5 inches by 5 inches. Put 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda in the center of the square, then fold the sides of the square in toward the middle, and then the opposite sides in toward the middle, with the baking soda inside. This is your "time-release packet." Pour into your plastic bag, 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of warm water.

Now here's the tricky part. You need to drop the time-release packet into the vinegar and zip the bag closed before the fizzing gets out of control. You can zip the bag halfway closed, then stuff the packet in and zip the bag closed the rest of the way in a hurry, or you can put the time-release packet into the mouth of the bag and hold it up out of the vinegar by pinching the sides of the bag. Zip the bag closed and then let the packet drop into the vinegar. One way or another, get the packet in the vinegar and zip the bag closed.

ADD THE VINEGAR OUTSIDE!! MY HUBBY DID IT IN THE KITCHEN THINKING HE HAD A FEW SECONDS TO GET OUTSIDE AND HE WAS ABOUT 4 STEPS FROM THE FRONT DOOR. THE BOYS GOT A KICK OUT OF THAT!!!!:))

They had a lot of fun with this! Nice and noisy and if you add food coloring to the vinegar first it gets some great color foam! My husband is like a big kid when it comes to this stuff so after they tried this they tried to explode a water bottle with it, and medicine bottle. Neither worked. The water bottle did get a ton of pressure but it had enough air to leak some out and not explode it. They had fun trying though! Tomorrow we will get the volcano action going!

Father's Day Giant Candy Card and Glow Bath!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!  We found this great idea with no "real" website attached but it has been floating around pinterest.com for the last few weeks! It is super cute! Carter had fun finding the Candy. We had to go to 3 different stores for it all! Mike liked it and they have been munching on candy since!

The glow bath was a ton of fun also. We just took glow bracelets and tossed them in. Turned out the lights and it made for a cool bath! It was pretty neat...maybe I will do it to... Just watch the little ones as my 2 year old kept trying to eat them! Hope everyone had a fun filled day with their dads!

Giant ice cube fun!

We had been waiting for a warm day for this one! It is AWESOME! We found it on pinterest with this link http://www.crumbbums.com/?p=2476 It was a surprise for the boys, I made them and surprised them with little treasures in them!

I used foil pans from the dollar store and food coloring and made 3 levels of ice each with little plastic animals also from the dollar store including fish, shark, gators, and even little compasses which Carter was excited about and immediately launched into pirate land and finding treasure! Such imagination! I love seeing their faces light up with excitement! The kids and even the dog had a great time with these! They tried to figure out the best way to get the treasure out and tried a hammer (kids one) warm water, salt, rocks, an decided the best was dropping it over an over so chunks broke off and let out some aggression! I immediately refilled them with other treasures from the house an they are in the freezer for the next time! Quick, easy activity that kept the kids cooled off in the summer an busy having fun with each other for over an hour! Recommend!

CALLEN CHECKING IT OUT AT FIRST

EVEN THE DOG HELPED!

Fizzy Friday Fun!

Time for some Fizzy Fun! 20 Days! Carter really likes the exciting projects like explosions, fizzy, totally boy activities. I have been waiting for a rainy day to do this one we found pinterest.com about fizzy bubbles.

FIZZY FUN
ITEMS NEEDED
TUPPERWARE
BAKING SODA
FOOD COLOR
VINEGAR
EYE DROPPER OR MEDICINE SYRINGE

Fill bottom of Tupperware with baking soda. Mix vinegar and food coloring in separate container. Have kids fill droppers and drip the solution into the Tupperware. Bubbles, fizziness and fun! I love Callen's tongue sticking out in serious concentration. It was a good motor skill lesson for him as well learning how to hold the dropper and push it so the colors came out. I got shot a couple of times! Great fun! Only takes 10 minutes to set up! Both boys were sad when they ran out of their mixes! Really easy project with instant results for fizzy noisy fun! Carter and I talked about the reaction and he remembered using the same ingredients in school while making his volcano...that will be soon I am sure. I think I will hit the mentos trick for him also soon!

Colored rice sensory box

Again, I never thought my 2 year old would enjoy a simple little tote of things, he still loves his construction box and plays with it for at least an hour a day. He will ask for it and play independently with it which is huge in my house! This box was for both boys as Carter got the fun of coloring the rice different colors and finding what he wanted to put in it for his brother. He is proud of it.
To color the rice just food color an let dry. Carter put some weebles, a helicopter, a spoon and a few recycled k-cups to scoop and fill.


Callen was a little confused about the feel and texture of the rice but got into it! Carter buried things and told home to find them. Another hit with Sensory Boxes! Going to do an ocean one but that is for outside! :) 18 days down! I have to admit it is harder than I thought! We do plenty of things but there are days when I don't feel like doing any! The good thing is it keeps me motivated to get an activity done and good for the boys. We have been working on some other projects as well and will have some good posts coming up!!

Secret day 18

Day 18 we worked on fathers day presents and birthday presents for Auntie! They are secrets for now! :)

The Stache and bouncy balls

We LOVE moustaches! We simply printed up stache pictures and glued them to a stick. The kids loved it when I sang and talked to them with it on! Carter liked to chase his brother of course and we all laughed at each other! Carter woke me up this morning with the little one on and talking funny. They were quick easy and a riot!!! IT IS A MUST DO! How can anyone not appreciate the STACHE.










We also made bouncy balls. There is a pinterest post on this, however, I went with the easier version when we happened to come across a Rose Art Super Ball kit on sale at walmart for $3.00 when we picked up some glue sticks for future project.
Both boys love to play with bouncy balls. Now they get to make them! Highly recommend the kit!
Super Easy. Has ball mold and colors. Each ball only took 2 minutes to do, and 20 minutes to rest. We made 4 balls and still have more left over. They bounce well and make my boys smile. That is what it is about. Good day with lots of smiles and laughter. Hope your day brought joy as well!

Construction Box

I always see sensory boxes for kids on www.pinterest.com so I decided to try one and see what my 2 year old thought. We chose the construction one with small rocks. I did not search high and low for construction trucks just added any trucks I found in the first crate I came too! :)
CONSTRUCTION BOX
ITEMS NEEDED:
BOX OR TOTE
SMALL PEBBLES OR ROCKS (I opted for small rocks as he is less likely to eat them)
TRUCKS BULLDOZERS, CARS ETC
SIGNS
SPOON OR SOMETHING THEY CAN DIG WITH

Callen loves it! He bury's the trucks, puts rocks in them, digs with the spoon and is pretty neat with it. He puts the lid on it and puts it in it's home and brings it out when he wants to play with it. Super cute and I had no idea this idea would work! Will do another. I liked the ocean one too.... Another success thanks to all the creative peeps on pinterest!

15 Days! Bath Paint Fun!

 We love bath time activities! This one had a duel effect as it cleaned the boys and they had fun! Great Pinterest Idea!




HOMEMADE BATH PAINT
ITEMS NEEDED!
BABY SOAP (LIQUID)
CORN STARCH
FOOD COLORS

THAT'S IT! PUT SOME CORN STARCH IN ADD THE FOOD COLORING AND FEW SQUIRTS OF SOAP AND STIR, ADD SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER UNTIL CONSISTENT WITH PAINT! 

Callen loved to color himself more than the walls! This is great

as it is soap! :) He had such a great time when it came to my 9 

year old's turn to shower  he insisted that I make him some as 

well! He would not let me take pictures but he had more fun

coloring the walls! Comes off easy! Lots of fun with this activity!

MELTED CRAYON ART

I know everyone has seen the melted crayon art circling around pinterest. We decided to give it a try with some tweaks. First, we used a cardboard box for round one as Canvas is expensive and want to wait until we had it down before using it! Second, we taped the letter C in Carter's for his room.

All you see on pinterest is the beautiful perfect ones. I am posting this as I am sure many moms have tried it and not got those results! I am glad we did a trial run and it did not turn out! We will retry because we really liked it though!

THINGS NEEDED:
GLUE GUN
CRAYONS
CANVAS (WE USED CARDBOARD FOR TRIAL RUN)
HAIR DRYER

Glue the crayons to the top of your board. Let dry! Then take blow dryer and melt the crayons!

TIPS:

•  NOT TOO MUCH GLUE AS IT MELTS THE CRAYONS
• DO NOT MOVE CRAYONS AROUND ON GLUE AS IT BREAKS THE HOLD
• BLOW FROM THE TOP FOR STRAIGHT DOWN CRAYON ART (CARTER LIKED TO BLOW STRAIGHT ON AND THE COLORS MIXED TOO MUCH)
• PUT LIKE COLORS BY EACH OTHER MAKING A BLOCK OF BLUE, A BLOCK OF RED ETC...THIS WILL MAKE THE COLORS POP OUT MORE!
• BE PREPARED TO HOLD THE HAIR DRYER, CARTER'S ARM GOT TIRED AND WE HAD TO KEEP SWITCHING 
• PUT NEWSPAPER UNDER SO YOU WILL NOT BE SCRUBBING THE COUNTER LATER

HAVE FUN! REMEMBER IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT! THE POINT OF IT IS TO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR KIDS AND TEACH THEM CREATIVITY AND EXPLORE!!

Day 13 Tornados and Magnets

Today I decided to do some science fun with the boys. Tornado's and Magnet fun.

TORNADO IN A JAR
THINGS NEEDED:
JAR
WATER
DISHWASHER SOAP

Really simple! Fill the jar leaving about an inch on top, add one TINY drip of soap and SHAKE IT UP.
Hard to get a photo of this one it is too fast. Carter enjoyed trying it, we had to keep dumping it and re-doing as once you get a good tornado out of it, it is too foamy to do again. We had races to see whose lasted the longest and the best one. Kept them busy for ohhh 15 minutes! LOL!

PIPE CLEANER MAGNET PLAY
THINGS NEEDED:
PLASTIC JAR
PIPE CLEANERS
MAGNET

The boys are still playing with this one a day later! Cut up the pipe cleaners and place in empty PLASTIC jar. Seal and take magnets and place on sides moving them around! The boys had fun playing tag, trying to steal the cleaners away from them and seeing who could get the most! They woke up this morning and grabbed it and messed around with it while watching cartoons! :) FUN!