KId Kamp-PONDS-Week #2

I know I have been seriously behind in blogging.  I can't believe this week has gone by so fast.  I am still working on a reflection of last week's Kid Kamp.  I want to get that out, but I think that might be a reflection for 2 weeks at this point.

Well, we did ponds this week.  I got these great printables from Home School Creations.  Wonderful stuff.  I got many of my theme ideas from there.  My daughter and I, while my sons were napping, started doing Part I to the ponds pack.  She finished the whole thing in no time.  I 3-hole punched the pack and put it in a 3-hole punched manila folder.  I used brass fasteners to secure it.  She loved it.  She colored it and decorated it and had a blast.

Inside were many math and literacy activities.  She loves to do workbooks so this was good fun for her.  Sorry no pix.

On Monday afternoon, the 2 kids and I went to the library and got a bunch of books on ponds.  My husband did all of that reading to them before they went to bed at night. They really had fun going and picking out books.  And the librarian was great.  We told her what we were looking for and she brought us to a whole section on ponds.

On Tuesday, we built our ecosystem.  This is so unbelievably cool.  I think I am more impressed with it than my kids are.  We got the idea from Cranberry Corner.  She also suggests a link to Scribbit with more detailed instructions.  We used both.

What you need
* 3 clear 2-liter emptied & cleaned soda bottles (you need 3 for each system you create)
* clear packing tape
* fish gravel
* water
* dechlorinator
* rubber band
* small piece of netting or pantyhose (I used a ped from the shoe store)
* soil
* small fish, snails, and other small animals (we used shrimp & a loach, but he passed)
* aquatic plants like anachris
* crickets, potato bugs and earthworms
* sticks, dried leaves
* seeds or small plant

We cut the bottles so we will have three levels (basement=pond life, coupler and top level=earth level). 

* Basement level--cut off top (not too much--you want a deep basement)

* Coupler--top and bottom cut off (this will fit between the other 2 levels to allow air to circulate between them)

* Earth level--cut off just the bottom...but keep it!  This needs to be re-attached.

In order: earth level, coupler and basement

BASEMENT

• Add in gravel to basement level
• Add the plant
• Pour in water along with the dechlorinator 
• Add in your pond creatures (we got small gold fish, shrimp, and 2 snails)

EARTH LEVEL

• Place the netting around the mouth of the bottle and secure it with the rubber band
• Holding the bottle upside down, so that the mouth is now on the bottom, add in gravel for drainage
• Add in the soil
• We added in some chive seeds because that was what we had on hand.  But you can add in a plant or other seeds.
• My kids found small sticks and dead leaves to add in

Then the bug hunt began.

We moved my planters around and found a couple of earthworms to add.  I had to do some serious searching to find potato bugs.  Had to dig up my slate slabs for them.  I figured trying to catch crickets would be impossible, so I bought them at the pet store.

• The bugs were added 
• Place the original bottom of the bottle (now the top) in place and tape it on

COUPLER

• Place the earth level inside the coupler and seal with tape
• Place this whole unit on top of the basement level
• Secure with tape BUT make sure you fold the tape over so you can easily remove it if need be

I have had to re-tape that section a million times.  We have had several casualties since the ecosystem began.

Our shrimp and one of the snails.  Sadly, this shrimpy did not make it through the night.  

So far on our journey, I have made a few trips to the pet store to replenish our lost friends.  To date, we have lost one shrimp, one goldfish and one loach, which is a small eel-like creature.  I was very sad to lose the loach as the pet store associate informed me that they truly enjoy eating poop.  I thought he would be a great addition to our ecosystem.  He will be missed.

As of this moment, surviving, we have 2 goldfish, 2 snails, 2 shrimp and an algae eater in the pond level.  As for the earth level, I can't see in there for the condensation is so thick, which is what we want.  I still have no chive sprouts.

All are harmoniously living together, which is the point of an ecosystem.  I will keep you updated on it.  TTFN.

KID KAMP~DINOS Cont.

Well, I counted today, Sunday, as a part of Dinos week.  We didn't get to everything I planned so I dragged it out a bit.  Still never made the paper plate T-Rex, eh, if we get to it, we get to it.

To put the finishing touches on Dinos week we did the DIY fossils.  Those turned out really great.  We also made fossil cookies.

For the DIY fossils I followed this recipe.  It was pretty much perfect.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup dirt
• 1/2 cup sand (play sand works the best)
• 1 cup water
• 12 tiny plastic dinosaurs
• Plastic wrap-lined cookie tray

I did change it a little.  I divided everything in half so that each of my kids had a share.  But, I added double the amount of play sand--1/2 C each of the flour, sand, dirt and water.  I also lined my cookie sheet with tin foil.  My kids had so much fun doing this.

They mixed all the dry ingredients first.  Then I added water and they loved squishing it until it became dough-like.  My 3 yr old was really good at it.  

Next, the kiddies and I wrapped up the mini dinos in the dough. We rolled them in a little extra play sand, then set them out on the cookie sheet to dry. It rained the day we made them, so I had to keep them in the garage overnight.  The next day, I set them out early in the AM in the sun.  After dinner, we broke them up.  

I wound up making double the amount because they thought it was so cool.  

When they were dry, the kids donned their safety glasses and "hard hats" once again.  Armed with their hammers, they went to work. 

Love this pic of my son.  He looks like a geologist inspecting an all important rock.

I was really happy with the way the fossils turned out.  I say this is a definite 2 thumbs up.  My kids loved the ice fossils, but I think they really liked this one better.  

Another fun thing we did yesterday was make fossil cookies.  Idea from here. I totally did not follow her recipe at all.  And, yes, I will admit, hers look a whole lot better than mine.  

Hers

Mine

All I did was follow Betty--love her; Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix in the bag.  I followed the cut out recipe, but I did add more flour.  I should have added even more. We also made a lava fossil cookie--just add some Nutella and raspberry extract. I used a mini ice cream scooper to portion out the dough.  Each kid got some, balled it up and placed them on the cookie sheet. We pressed tiny dinosaurs, centipedes and other bugs into the dough.  Baked them for about 13 min @ 375 and poof, fossil cookies.  


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KOOL-AID ICE PAINTING

Getting back to the Kool-Aid painting...we finally did that, well, we finally made them.  Tomorrow we may get to paint with them.  


We needed more tiny dinos for the fossil cookies, so we headed over to The Dollar Tree yesterday.  Whilst there, got a ton more than I actually needed, I scored a Popsicle mold.  Here they are.

Never mind the mess on the island there.  Just haven't had the time to be too tidy.  I am working on that though.  

First, they smelled awesome.  But, taste-wise, I added no sugar.  Kids were rather disappointed and shocked that they tasted so bad.  Pink (pink-lemonade), blue (blue/rasp-lemonade), red (cherry) and orange (orange) were our palette.  I made the colors pretty intense.  I only measured out the amount of water I would need to fill 2 Popscicle sections per packet.  It was about a 1/4 C of water.  Each kiddie had a measuring cup with the water.  I added in the packet.  They stirred and they poured into the molds.  They are set in the freezer and they are frozen.  We just now have to paint with them.  


I hope all that makes sense.  I am pooped.  Between double classes at Gymboree, running through the "Leaky Lizard" (a lizard shaped sprinkler) in the backyard, and the beach after hours, I am done.  I have no idea how I have made it this long.  


Ok, I am out...TTFN. Tomorrow starts POND week.  

Kid Kamp~DINOS~Week 1

*DINOS*
We had some fun this week.  It was short and I didn't get to do all the things that I wanted.  I still had to work on Monday.  My son had swim lessons all week. Plus, the dentist.  A play date for my daughter. And, it got really hot around here.  But, we still have one more day before the week is over.

What we did...

Made dinos out of paper plates.  Got the idea from here. I just found a site to make paper plate T-Rex's, which my daughter so desperately wanted to make.  I think we will have to do that one tomorrow.  My son decided to turn his dino into a rainbow.


All you need for this is...
1. paper plates
2. markers/paint/crayons
3. brass fasteners
4. hole puncher

Mine is to the left.  My daughter's to the right.  My son's "rainbow" is up on top :0)

Oh, I also filled the $1 Sterilite shoe boxes from Walmart with new crayons, markers, color pencils, kid scissors, and a glue stick for each of my kiddies.  I also made name labels for them on Avery.com.


Our next adventure was to break open some ice fossils.  Got that idea from here. I stuffed toy dinos into balloons and added food coloring and water. Froze them.

Then the excavation began.  The kiddies donned their hard hats.  Got those from Oriental Trading--left overs from my son's birthday party.  I bought safety glasses for them and I am so happy I did.  I got a 3 pack from Home Depot for around $7.00.  I got some hammers and they went to town.

Ice went flying everywhere.  So the safety glasses are a necessity.  

I think tomorrow I am going to try my hand at making some DIY fossils.  Idea from here. All you need is 

1 cup flour

1 cup dirt

1/2 cup sand (play sand works the best)

1 cup water

12 tiny plastic dinosaurs

Plastic wrap-lined cookie tray

Mix everything together adding more flour/dirt/sand as needed.  Coat the dinos into the mixture.  Ball them up and set them in the sun to dry.  Sounds easy enough, right?  I will let you know how that one goes.  

Since it was so hot today, I wanted to do another fun ice activity.  Having ice freeze in balloons took too long, so, we decided to ice paint.  Idea from here. She froze water colors.  I froze food coloring and water because that was what I had.  I was also thinking about freezing unsweetened Kool-Aid.  I think I will do that tomorrow too.  

I let the kiddies fill their ice cube trays.  Surprisingly my son did a good job.  I was quite rightly impressed.  Got the star trays from Walmart and The Dollar Tree. I couldn't find my red food coloring, so we could only work in blues, greens and yellows.  

After the cubes were frozen, we took them out in the back yard and painted. 

Of course, my kids decided to eat the ice cubes, which was fine.  I am glad I used food coloring instead of paint.  

Oh, and if you attempt this, make sure you put them in clothes you don't mind getting stained.  

We also just let some ice paints sit and melt.  With the heat they melted in no time and it looked pretty cool too.  

********************************************************************

I have to add in, while I was in Home Depot buying the safety glasses, I also bought some sheet metal.  I got 3 sheets--$9.54 (I believe) each.  The edges were sharp, but I taped them with some decorative duck tape (The Dollar Tree). I adhered them to one of my kitchen walls with 3M tabs.  So far they are sticking well.  Now I have 3 magnetic boards in my kitchen.  My husband is quite happy--all the magnets are off the fridge.

I know, pictures not great, but you get the idea.  The one on top is actually on the bottom of my kitchen wall.  The kids can easily access that one.  My 15-month old is having a blast with it.  The 2nd pic, is of two, one above the other.  I have the kids' calendar there.  I am going to set up a weather station too.

The thing that makes these so great besides being magnetic, they will also double as dry erase boards!

My blog for this week is done.  I will add more on how my DIY fossils went.  TTFN!

"KOOL" Classmate Gifts--2012

I finally got my daughter's classmate gifts done.  Each of her classmates is getting Kool-Aid packets with a list of 10 different things that they can do with Kool-Aid besides drink it.  This was very inexpensive.  The only items that I spent any money on were the Kool-Aid packets. Everything else I already had at home.

All you need...

1. Plastic baggies
2. Kool-Aid packets (I did 3 per each child)
3. Stapler
4. Paper
5. Labels
6. Computer/printer
7. Scissors--I used the decorative edged scissors

I printed up some blister pack toppers.  I did those in Publisher.  As soon as I figure out how to upload the template I will.  

The top section is inverted so when folded it will be right side up

Next, I stuffed 3 packets into the plastic sandwich bag.  Folded the bag in half so the Kool-Aid packets were to one side.  Sealed it and then stapled the topper to it.  I then added name labels. I made those at Avery.com.

FRONT

BACK

My 10 Kool Things to do with Kool-Aid Besides Drink It are...

1. Kool Play-doh—Mix 1C flour, 1/2 C salt & Kool-Aid powder in bowl. Add 1C boiling water & 3T oil. Stir until mixture forms a ball. Gently knead a couple of times then set aside to cool. Keep in a re-sealable plastic bag or in small container.

2. Kool Eggs—mix Kool-Aid packet & 2/3 C water. Set hardboiled eggs in mixture until desired intensity

3. Kool Frosting—mix any flavor Kool-Aid into your favorite frosting

4. Kool Scratch & Sniff Paint—mix Kool-Aid with water (more H2O=lighter color; less H2O=more intense color) OR mix with same color tempra paints

5. Kool Scented Sensory Rice/Pasta/Sand—completely dissolve Kool-Aid in a small amount of hot water. Mix 1T rubbing alcohol, 1-2Ts of dissolved Kool-Aid w/ 1C white, uncooked rice/pasta/sand.  Lay out on wax paper/tin foil covered cookie sheets until completely dry. Store in baggie

6. Kool Cookies/Cupcakes—add Kool-Aid to favorite cookie/cupcake recipe for a flavor boost

7. Kool Spritz Tie-Dye—combine 1/2 C water, 1/2 C vinegar/rubbing alcohol & 2 pkgs Kool-Aid.  Pour into spray bottle.  Hang up T-shirt, “spritz”, dry & set in dryer on hot before washing. 

8. Kool Popcorn—boil 2C sugar, 1C corn syrup, 2/3 C butter for 3 min.  Spread 6 quarts popped popcorn on cookie sheet. Combo Kool-Aid w/ 1t baking soda.  Add to sugar mix.  Then pour over popcorn & mix.  Place in 225 oven for 30 min stirring every 10.  When cool break apart. 

9. Kool Scented Sidewalk Paint—1C water, 1C cornstarch.  Mix. Pour in cups.  Mix in various flavors of Kool-Aid and paint

10. Kool Ice Cube Art—mix Kool-Aid with water to desired color intensity.  Pour in ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, set out on white sheet, shirt, canvas, anything and allow to melt in the sun.   When dry, you have “art” Or freeze w/ popsicle sticks and use as “paint brushes”.

*BONUS—for the parents, use lemonade Kool-Aid to clean out your dishwasher.  Pour 1 packet into the detergent dispenser and run the empty dishwasher.  

2012 Teacher Gifts--Hand Print Jugs w/ Summer Goodies

Fortunately this year my daughter and son have the same teachers.  I only had to come up with two gifts as opposed to four.  What I came up with turned out better than what I thought.  I got the idea from Rachel Berry {The Blog}.  I changed it just a bit.

I got these really inexpensive gallon jugs from Walmart.  I like to have things personalized, so I painted my kids' hands and then they placed their prints all over the jugs.

They always love to get their hands painted.  After the paint dried, I did a Mod Podge coat.  I also used a Sharpie to write the kids' names and the year on the bottom.  I Mod Podged over that too.  

I then stuffed them with...

1. A magazine--found a coupon for it in the store
2. A beach towel--Walmart
3. Chap stick--on clearance at Stop and Shop
4. Tic Tacs--impulse buy
5. Gift cards to Wawa--love their coffee way more than Dunkin' Donuts
6. Variety of candy--M&M's, Starbursts, etc...

I also added in 2 packets of Kool-Aid with 2 drink recipes.  For my daughter's class, we are giving her classmates 3 packets of Kool-Aid with a list of 10 things to do with Kool-Aid besides drink it.  More on that to come.  Anyway, I mentioned it because of the connection to the teachers' gifts.  

I added in packets of cherry and lemonade Kool-Aid and I typed up recipe cards for "Howellabama Cherry Lemonade" (alcoholic) and "Super Kool Cherry Lemonade" (non-alcoholic). If you are wondering, "Howellabama" is simply a silly name for the area we live in. 

RECIPES...

Howellabama Cherry Lemonade

*1 Cherry Kool-Aid packet
*1 Lemonade Kool-Aid packet
*3 quarts water
*1 C sugar
*1 can Sprite
*1-2 C vodka (combination of cherry and lemon vodkas is best)
*1/4-1/2 C sour mix
~Option—a combined 1/2 gallon of cherry & lemon sherbert or Italian ices

Mix Kool-Aid packets, water and sugar until dissolved. If using the sherbert/ices, add these along with a lot of ice into the container you will be using to serve the punch. Pour in the Kool-Aid, vodkas and sour mix. Stir. Top off with the Sprite. Can add lemon slices and cherries to pitcher. Serve.

Super 'Kool' Cherry Lemonade (non-alcoholic)

*1 Cherry Kool-Aid packet
*1 Lemonade Kool-Aid packet
*3 quarts water
*1 C sugar
*1 can Sprite
*1 C orange juice
*1 lemon sliced
*1 jar maraschino cherries
*1/2 gallon of cherry & lemon sherbert or Italian ices

Mix Kool-Aid packets, water and sugar until dissolved. Add sherbert/Italian ices along with ice into the container you will be using to serve the punch. Pour in the Kool-Aid and orange juice. Stir. Top off with the Sprite. Add lemon slices and cherries with juice to pitcher. Serve. Adjust sugar to sweetness desired.

I stuffed all of the above into the jugs and tied on some ribbon. 

The magazine was too tall to attach the lid, so I did have to do some finagling with rubber bands and ribbon to get the lid to stay on.  

Once all was said and done, I created little cards on Avery.com and did the curl-the-ribbon-with-scissors thing and ta da dat ta da....

They came out really cute...I wrote on the cards the teachers' names and 

"Thank you for being my teacher this year.  Here are some gifts to enjoy poolside or on the beach. I hope these gifts help to keep you "kool" this summer."

My daughter's classmate gifts are next in line...

"Colorful" Classmate Gifts for Pre-Schoolers

Here are my son's gifts for his classmates.  I got this really cute template from Chica and Jo.  Chica and Jo originally intended it to be an invitation.  I changed it up a little bit and made it into an end of year gift.  It opens right in Word so it is super easy to manipulate. I put some crayons that I got from Walmart in the boxes.

I took the pix with my phone, so they are a little blurry.  I typed the children's names on the front.  Plus, this little phrase..."Wishing you a very colorful summer."

I also added some activity pads.  Got those from The Dollar Tree.  Love The Dollar Tree.

To the back, I added some fun things to do with crayons besides simply coloring with them.

I wanted to add more, but only three would fit.  I chose...

1. Rainbow Crayons--Put oven on to 225 and "bake" for 10-15 min

2. Sun Catchers--from Notes from a Mom in Chapel Hill

3. Push-Pop Crayons--from Infarrantly Creative--she melted her crayons in the microwave--genius.  I gave instructions for the old-fashioned double boiler way.

My son only has 10 students in his class including him.  These classmate gifts only cost me $4.50.  I had the cardstock, so I didn't count that.  The activity books were 3/$1--I needed 9.  The crayons were $0.49 for a pack of 24--only needed 3 boxes. I am going to tie them up with some ribbon and poof!  My son's class is done.  Now on to my daughter's class gifts and teacher gifts.  

Kid Kamp Konfessions~The Intro

Here it is, I am going to start blogging all about my adventures trying to "home-camp" my kids this summer. Yes, "home-camp" them.   I am a teacher, which I think is the best job in the world if you are a mom.  You get to have the best of both worlds; working mom by school year, stay-at-home-mom by summer.  I have one girl (5) and two boys (3yrs and 15 months).  After one too many TV laden weekends this recent year, I realized that, as the summer was approaching, I needed to have some sort of structure.  There are only so many "Yo-Gabba-Gabbas" and "Fireman Sams" one can watch.

About two months ago, I started researching, creating and gathering all sorts of materials to give my kids a home-camp adventure.  I ended up with a 3-ring binder packed to the gills.  Plus, another 2-ring with back-up plans and another 1-incher with reflections, lists, "things to blog about" and "to-do's". I am using these handy dandy printables to jot down notes.

My Binder--I told you it was big

My 2 "smaller" binders

I started with weekly themes and then built the plans around them.  Here are nine weeks of themes...for now.

1. Ponds
2. Dinos
3. America
4. Princesses & Knights
5. Bats & Batman
6. Pirates 
7. Bugs
8. Under the Sea
9. Grocery Store/Homemaking

My kids are going to be at out-of-the home camps, swim lessons and VBS sporadically, I have some additional themes in my "back pocket" just to pull out if need be.  Yes, I overdid.  Here are the "back-pocket" themes.

1. Wizard of Oz
2. Ballerinas
3. Mermaids/Fairies
4. Civil Service/Transportation
5. Birds

For each theme I have...

• Educational packs/lapbooks
• Themed sensory tubs
• Language Arts
• Books
• Arts & Crafts
• Science
• Math
• Cooking
• Viewing/Media Literacy
• PE
• Field trips

My kids are young still and I want to keep it as structured as possible in the AM and then after lunch let them do their own thing, which hopefully includes napping for my 3 year old.  Oh, did I mention that I am also going to potty train him as well this summer?  Fingers crossed for that working out smoothly. 

On the docket...

• Starting each day off with calendar, weather and the Pledge
• Mondays--going to the library to get our themed books for the week
• Going to the store to get materials for projects if need be
• Reading a story and doing a craft or lesson that aligns with the book
• Breaking down ed packs/lapbooks (this will take at least a week to do)
• Core lessons/activities
• Cooking (making snacks)
• Viewing a video/movie that aligns
• A PE activity--the Olympics are coming, so I think we will be competing in Olympic sports too
• Field trip Fridays

Of course, I have it all arranged and organized, but I don't expect to get it all done. Even though the details are meticulous, the deployment is lax.  Like I said, we are pretty packed between camps and vacation and swim lessons.  I also got a couple of weeks of teaching summer school myself.  All of this planning is so we don't become a bunch of couch potatoes when we do have free time this summer.    

As we go on our home-camp crusade, I will blog about my findings and my failings. Post pix of all the neat things we do.  And the not so neat things we do.  Hopefully the experiments will work.  If they don't, eh, we tried.  

I intend to start this as soon as school gets out, which for me is Monday, June 18.  My first venture will be on Tuesday, 6-19, hopefully.  My son has swim lessons and we have a dentist appointment.  Hmmm, maybe I will start on Wed.  Well, if interested in trials and calamities and achievements and successes, check back around then and from time to time to see how our home-camp is going.  You might discover something new.  I know I will.