W is for Watermelon

Apparently I’m dreaming about summer weather and backyard BBQs already. Hopefully we can find watermelon at the store to sweeten our Watermelon Day!

• Read “One Watermelon Seed” by Celia Barker Lottridge.

  

• Read “Peter Spit a Seed at Sue” by Jackie French Coller … another fun watermelon book to read. Great rhyming text and a funny story. Check out the preview on Amazon.

• Watermelon Life Cycle … Did you know there is a National Watermelon Promotion Board?! They have a great website with lots of information about watermelon!
  • Print this life cycle page here
  • Color the page and talk about each step.
  • Cut the cards apart, mix them up, and put them back in the correct order!
  • NOTE: this page also tells how to grow watermelon from the little black seeds in your next slice of watermelon!

 

• Edible Watermelon Seed Counting … love this counting activity inspired by Toddler Approved.
1. Make several watermelon slices. I cut out a few red circles, then glued them onto the white paper and cut around those a little bigger. Then glued those to a green paper and cut a little larger around to make the rind.
2. Cut each circle in half to make watermelon slices.
3. Write a number on each slice.
4. To Play:
• Turn all of the watermelon slices upside down.
• Choose one, identify the number and add that many chocolate chip seeds to the watermelon slice.
• NOTE: You could also leave the slices blank, then roll a dice and add that many chocolate chip seeds to a slice. Roll again & repeat!

• Make Watermelon Pops … these sound delicious! Check out a full menu of watermelon recipes at www.watermelon.org. Wow.
  1. Add watermelon (without the rind) to a large ziploc bag.
  2. Mush and mash it with your hands.
  3. Pour or scoop the watermelon mash into a popsicle mold.
  4. OPTIONAL: add small chunks of fruit (peaches, grapes, kiwi)
  5. Freeze and enjoy!

Vegetable Seed Packets

Okay, these are seriously cute. I can’t believe how amazingly creative some people are! These free, printable seed packets are available at Keeping Life Creative.

   

I wanted to post this now so that all of you with vegetable gardens producing this summer can start saving and drying your seeds. We usually don’t make it to V week until the beginning of March … which is PERFECT to start thinking about your garden and wah-lah! You’ll already have several seeds to plant!

1. Go here to download these seed packets (she has more than just carrots, peas and tomatoes)
2. Unzip and print on cardstock or regular paper.
3. Fold and glue the flaps together. Leaving the top flap open.
4. Add googly to your veggies (probably my favorite part!)
5. Once your seeds are dry, slip them inside the packets and save until next spring!

I also love this idea to make additional packets from Mama Jenn…

1. Trace the packet pattern onto scrapbook paper
2. Add a blank, white rectangle to the front.
3. Have the kids draw a picture and label other seeds you will be saving!

TIP: Check out this website to find great information on saving different types of seeds.

Have a Blueberry Day!

Blueberry season officially opened for us this week! I love taking the kids u-picking. It’s such a fun way to spend the morning and we usually end up with something in their buckets (whatever didn’t make it into their mouths)
If you live in an area where blueberries grow, check www.pickyourown.org to find a u-pick farm nearby. If not, there are still lots of fun activities to do with blueberries!

I decided to make it a whole Blueberry Day today.

  

• I pulled out Jamberryby Bruce Degen and Blueberries for Salby Robert McCloskey. I love both of these books and we have read them over and over with the kids.
• Go Blueberry Picking! … My daughter was definitely a Little Sal today. She ended up with 4 berries in her bucket after picking for half an hour. She would pick, pick, pick, then eat, eat, eat. TIPS:
  1. let each of the kids have their own bucket to fill
  2. go early in the morning. It gets too hot later to enjoy picking with kids.
  3. bring a water bottle
  4. NOTE! If you can’t go blueberry picking, grab a package of blue pom-poms, hide them around the house, give the kids a bucket and let them go “blueberry picking” in the house!

   

• Narration and Art … I’m definitely going to do this with more books. It was so fun to hear the kids retell the story and see their illustration.
  1. Read Blueberries for Sal (my kids know this one well. We’ve read it many, many times).
  2. Then ask the kids to tell you the story.
  3. Type the story they tell you & try to get it word for word.
  4. Print out their story and let them illustrate it. I’m going to keep these in a binder with the other stories we will do.
  5. I also love this idea from Delightful Learning to use pom-poms and blue paint to make blueberries on their page. (images from Delightful Learning)

Blueberry Counting Pail

1. Need 10 large blue pom-poms & a little tin pail (try Target’s dollar spot!)
2. Print out the word strip and number cards (cut them out). Apply a small piece of magnet to the back of each number card.
3. Attach the word strip to the outside of the tin pail. 

TO PLAY:

1. choose a number card and place it in the blank square.
2. count that many blueberry pom-poms and place them in the tin pail.
3. dump them out, choose a new number card & repeat!
4. If you’d like a simple paper version, go here to print out the pail worksheet, number cards and blueberry counters!

Snack Idea:

• fresh blueberries
• blueberry parfaits 
• blueberry crumble … click the links for yummy recipes

Free Slurpees at 7-Eleven!

Ready for a nice, cool, sweet treat?!

Monday is 7-11 (July 11) so that means FREE SLURPEE DAY at all 7-Eleven stores. They usually have special cups just for the free slurpees (they’re the perfect size).

So go! Enjoy! You can find the closest 7-11 store HERE.

Healthy Strawberry Fruit Parfaits

 

We just went strawberry picking this morning and decided to make a yummy strawberry snack. I forget how DELICIOUS these are! I try to teach my kids how to make yummy & healthy snacks. The funny thing is, if I had put these in a regular bowl, they might have complained, but since they were in fun ice cream cups, they gobbled them up
Parfaits are also great because the kids can help. My 3-year-old added the strawberries and sprinkled on the granola.

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Strawberry Parfaits

Yogurt, any flavor (we used vanilla)

Strawberries (any fruit would work, we also like blueberries)

Granola

Whipped cream (a little for the top)

1. Layer the yogurt, strawberries and granola until the cup is full.
2. Top with a little whipped cream

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TIP!  I don’t buy Cool Whip anymore. Have you ever looked at the ingredients label? I just whip regular whipping cream, plus a little sugar and vanilla in the mixer for about 5 minutes. Sooooo yummy.

Traveling Journal

I loved this idea I saw over at eighteen25 so much that I stopped what I was doing at 11 o’clock last night and made one.   I saw it just in time too because we are headed out on our first camping trip this weekend! It took a whole 20 minutes to put this together and I had all of the supplies. My plan is to keep it in the car to take on any of our trips, vacations or little outings this summer and have each person write a little and draw a picture about what they enjoyed or remember the most.

I used a plain composition notebook, some scrapbook paper, the traveling journal printable here and some clear packing tape.

1. Just trace the front and back of the composition book on your scrapbook paper. Cut it out and use double-sided tape, sticky glue dots or I just used roll-up tape on the back.
2. Print out the traveling journal label, cut it out and tape to the front of the book.
3. I also added our name at the bottom, just to personalize it a bit.
4. Then I decided to use clear packing tape (you could use contact paper) to laminate the whole thing … just to keep it a little more travel-friendly and hopefully it will last longer!

I had the kids start a journal page about our first hike of the summer from last Saturday. I love to see what they remembered and enjoyed! Just remember to put the date, where you were and their name somewhere on the page.

  

And to make it a little more convenient, I put it into a gallon-sized ziploc bag with a box of colored pencils, a pencil sharpener and a pen. Hope you’re having a great summer!

Rainbow Jell-O Treat!

I love fun, cool treats in the summer time. This one takes a little time, but it tastes so good and looks great … especially with a big dollop of whipped cream on top! My kids love to help pour, mix and measure while we make this.

Rainbow Jell-O Treat

• 1 3oz. box of Jell-O (for each flavor) … strawberry, orange, lemon, lime, blueberry & grape
• 2 cups vanilla yogurt

1. Dissolve grape Jell-O (or any flavor first) in 1 cup boiling water (microwave for 2-3 minutes). Mix well.
2. Divide equally in 2 small bowls.
3. In one bowl, add 1/3 cup yogurt. Mix well with a wire whisk.
4. Pour into a clear, glass 9x13 dish & chill.
5. Add 3 Tbls. water to the other bowl, stir, and let sit outside of the fridge while the other layer gets firm.
6. When firm, add the clear layer & chill.
7. Repeat with all other flavors.

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I’m trying to decide how to do this for a 4th of July dessert …

I would do a few layers of red and white and a layer of blueberry on top. But how would you do the white layers. Does Jell-O come in a plain flavor?! Or maybe I’ll just do strawberry and blueberry layers with a big scoop of whipped cream on top for the white. Hmmmm. I’ll have to go check out the Jell-O aisle next time I’m at the store. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Easiest Ice Cream Sandwiches

We usually make a yummy treat on Friday nights. Today, I had my 3-year-old help me make these Yummy Ice Cream Sandwiches. I’m all about simple, so with a cake mix for the cookies, these were fast and delicious!

I used our Oreo Cookie recipe for the cookies, then cookies and cream ice cream for the filling.

Oreo Cookie Recipe:

2 boxes Devils Food cake mix

1 1/2 cups shortening

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into balls (or use a cookie scoop). Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Don’t flatten! Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. *I always take these out before they look done. When they cool,  they are soft and perfect, otherwise they’re hard and crunchy.

Let the cookies cool completely.

Add a scoop of ice cream to one cookie and sandwich with another. I used a butter knife to quickly smooth out the edges of the ice cream. Keep frozen until ready to eat!

 

Summer Camp Books + FUN!

I absolutely love doing activities with my kids that go along with a children’s book. So I’m excited about the new summer series at Oopsey Daisy. Each Friday, Alison has a guest posting great ideas, activities and snacks to go along with one of their favorite children’s books. I’m so impressed with the ideas posted already … with some of my favorite books too!

I will also be posting these in the letter week they fit under to use during our regular preschool year!

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Monster Play Date

I loved the eyeball playdoh, monster cupcakes, monster pizzas, monster footprints … and how the kids wear crowns just like Max in the book!

from Alison @ Oopsie Daisy

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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Homemade chocolate chip cookies (of course) with a  glass of milk, sweeping the floor, drawing pictures and hanging them on the fridge … just like the mouse!

from Linda @ Craftaholics Anonymous

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Adorable Pirate Play Date

Rice Krispy sand castles, backyard treasure hunt, little treasure boxes filled with treats and my boys would love the swords made from paint sticks!

from Michelle @ A Little Tipsy

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Watch for more book ideas each Friday!