Kid-Friendly Friday!

Good morning, everyone! It's finally Friday! Today's project is a Newspaper Sit-Upon for camping. I remember making these back in the day at Girl Scouts, for those times that we had to actually sit outside! (I think in all the years, we only went outdoor camping once. The rest of the times were in cabins, which I was definitely not complaining about!) Anyway, here it is:


Materials:
Newspaper (6 full-size sheets for each)

Duct Tape (preferably one of the fun patterns or colors. I don't know why no one thought of this before!)
Scissors (not really necessary, but just in case.)


Step One:
Working with a single open sheet, fold paper in half three times. It should be about 3"x28".

Step Two:
Make five more strips the same way.

Step Three:
Weave strips tightly in the middle, as shown. Make sure that #1 goes under-over-under so that it can be folded in.
(You don't need to add numbers, but it might make it easier for kids to see which ones to work with next.)

 

Step Four:
Fold end #1 up and over toward #9. Continue folding the rest of the odd numbers toward the middle. Use a small piece of tape to keep the ends down and pretty flat.

Step Five:
Turn it over and do the same thing with the remaining even number strips. This is what it will look like.

 Step Six:
Your sit-upon is technically done. However, since it is just newspaper, it's not waterproof, and if you're going to be outside, it probably should be. Here's where the tape comes in. Cover your sit-upon with long strips of tape to seal it tight.

This size is great for little kids' bottoms, but probably not so much for an adult. Use 8 strips of paper to make an adult-size mat. Make sure your newspaper has enough full-sized sheet. The first one I picked up only had 5! Sunday papers probably work best.

S'more of the Day: Birthday Cake S'mores

What You Need:

Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Leftover Birthday Cake
Vanilla Frosting

What You Do:
Slice leftover cake into 2x1in pieces. Place cake on half a graham cracker and top with vanilla frosting. Toast your marshmallow and place on top of the filling. Sandwich together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week so far and has some great plans for the weekend. We're going to be doing some furniture shopping, so we can *hopefully* have a couch! So far, we've been sitting on big floor cushions, which have been fine for us, but I'm not sure everyone else will appreciate them...

We'd also like to say Happy Anniversary to our brother and sister-in-law! August is a pretty busy month for anniversaries in our family, just like May is a busy birthday month. Everyone's anniversaries are this month.

Anyway, we have another Kid-Friendly project to share today: Olympic Ring Prints.This is a really easy one, for both parents and kids, especially the cleanup!

Materials:
Paint- red, yellow, green, blue and black
Cardboard paper towel roll (and some paper towels for cleanup)
Scissors
White paper
Something to put paints into
Paintbrush- optional

Step One:
Cut roll into 5 small pieces (or 3 and use each end for a color) to use as your circle.

Step Two:
Squirt the paint onto holder. Use the edge of the cardboard as your stamp. Stamp away!

First three colors

I made three different "prints." On the first one, I went for it and covered the page. On the second, I made five of each color, which you can see the different colors much better on. And on the last one, I made the Olympic rings in the middle (I hope I don't get in trouble for copyright infringement), and then went to town around it. The nice thing about this project is that kids can get a little messy, but it cleans up really easily when you just gather up everything and throw it away! As for those little hands, well, nothing works like soap and water!!
 

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for some great themed cupcakes!

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! It's time for another Christmas movie inspired project for Christmas in July. I know there are a TON of kids' Christmas projects, but this is one of the cutest ones I've seen. Today's movie is Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I love this original cartoon version of this movie. We will be making Grinch ornaments. I think every house has a little (or big) Grinch come holiday time... which is fine, and means every house should have one of these! And we're doing some recycling while we're at it.

Materials:
Burnt out light bulb
Green paint
Red paint
White paint
Paint brush
Markers
String
Scissors

(I used Elmer's Painters Markers for mine, but any acrylic paint will work. Also, Deco-Art has really cool snow-texture paint, which would be great for the trim of his hat. That was left behind in the move, sadly...)


Step One:
Paint your lightbulb green. Let dry.

Step Two:
Paint the connecting part red. This will be the Grinch's hat. Let dry.

Step Three:
Add the brim of the hat with white paint, Also paint the very top of the bulb white.

Step Four:
Here comes the hardest part, drawing in his face. I am not an artist, but I tried my best to copy this picture onto the bulb. I think it came out pretty good. Make sure you hold the bulb upside down, otherwise his hat will become his shirt! Use your paint to add details, like his eyes.

Step Five:
Since we don't have a Christmas tree to hang him up yet, I didn't add a hanger But you can just tie string around the hat brim to hang your Grinch up!

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for a Christmas movie-inspired Cupcake Saturday!

Kid-Friendly Friday

Happy Friday, all! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Today's kid-friendly project will keep the backseat busy on any road trip. It's another recycling project for those of you who have old cookie sheets hanging around.

Materials:
Cookie Sheet
Paper
Markers
Magnets (round and strips)
Glue/Tape
Scissors
Laminating plastic (optional)
Paper clip

Step One:
Think of what games you would want to play. Either find them online or create your own. I did a little bit of both. I printed off boards for Checkers, Scrabble, Connect Four, Tic-Tac-Toe, Chutes & Ladders, and a blank Bingo board. The Bingo board was left blank so the kids can put their own things in, like street signs.

Step Two:
The next step would be to laminate the sheets for sturdiness. This isn't absolutely necessary, but it will make the games last longer. It also allows you to write on them with dry-earse markers. My laminating job wasn't great, but it will get the job done.

Step Three:
Cut out circles to put on top of the magnets, so they can be differentiated. Red and black work for Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, and Connect Four. You can add other colors for the other games.

Step Four:
I made spinners for Chutes and Ladders. To do this, I drew a circle on a scrap of cardstock and split it into different, equal sections. Then, all you need to do it put a pencil in the middle with a paperclip and spin. You also don't have to worry about losing the dice.

The magnets can go into a plastic bag for storage, and a file folder attached to the back will keep the game boards safe from crumpling.

I like these magnetic cookie sheet games because it really doesn't take up much room in the back seat, and to help curb the "summer slide," you can make them into learning games as well!


Thanks for stopping by!

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Today's kid-friendly Friday project is really simple. And it's not just for kids! These paper lanterns would look great as a centerpiece at a wedding, or lined up on a mantle, or really anywhere. And boy, are they simple to make. You probably already have what you need lying around the house.

Materials:

Paper (any thickness will work)
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Glue or tape
Paper trimmer, optional

Step One:
Cut your paper to desired size. (I cut a 12x12 down to 12x8.) Hot dog fold your paper in half. You should have a long rectangle.

Step Two:
Draw a line about 3/4 of an inch on the open edge. Make sure it is a really light line, because it may show on the outside of the finished lantern.

 

Step Three:

Cutting from the folded side to the pencil line, make fringe, about 1/2 inch apart.

 

Step Four:
Take the two short sides and fold them towards each other. Glue or tape the ends together on the top and bottom. Also glue or tape in the middle by the fold to make your lantern sturdier.

Step Five:
One way to get rid of the pencil line is to use a complimentary paper and make a band to go around it. The sizes of the papers for the lanterns below are: green- 12x8, short white- 4x11, medium white-4.5x11. I've also made these with large 19x12 construction paper, so really any size works. The one thing to remember is to not cut past the pencil line.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Party Trivia:
- In 1923, the Hollyood sign as officially dedicated. At first, it read Hollywoodland, but when it was renovated in 1949, they removed the 'land' part. (Who would guess it would be so darn hard to find?? If only other cities around didn't put up random letters...)
- In 1977, New York City suffered a 24-hour blackout that led to major looting and fires
- Today is "Embrace Your Geekiness Day"!!

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Welcome to another weekend! Since this week's theme is let's go on a picnic, I've decided that we need to make some friends for ours. These egg carton critters are much better picnic guests than real ants. They won't take your food!

Materials:
Egg carton
Scissors
Black paint
Paint brush
Pipe cleaners
Pokey tool
White out pen or white marker
Markers
Googly eyes (optional)
Glue (optional)

Step One:
Cut out a three cup section from the egg carton. Paint the carton black.

 

Step Two:

While the paint is drying, take 2 pipe cleaners. Cut them into quarters. We will use two pieces for the antennae and 6 for the legs. Once the paint is dry, use the pokey tool (totally the name of it... or a safety pin would work too) to make two holes on the top of the head, and three more on each side of the body.

Step Three:

Stick a pipe cleaner piece into each hole. On the inside of the carton, twist the cleaner to keep it in place.

Step Four:
Draw on the mouth and stick on the eyes. That's it!

 In case your little one doesn't want to make an ant, I have a monarch butterfly. He was made the same way, just switch the spots where the eyes are and the antennae are, and don't add legs. I used hands for the butterfly wings and decorated them to look like a monarch's wings. Finally, I glued them to the bottom of the carton.

 Here are our egg carton critters enjoying a sunny day outside!

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for our picnic cupcakes!

Today's Party Trivia:
- The dollar was chosen as the currency of the US in 1785
- The first use of the rabies vaccine was in 1885. The same person who developed the pasteurization process for dairy products discovered the vaccine. It was used on a boy who was bit by a rabid dog.
- The Hartford Circus Fire happened in 1944 during a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show. 168 people were killed and the circus was banned in parts of Connecticut.

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Here it is, another weekend! I'm really excited to share today's Kid-Friendly project. Since our theme was beach this week, we are going to make some sculpting sand. It's like moon sand, but much cheaper and really easy to make. You just need some kitchen items and sand.

Materials:

Bowls
Sand
Cornstarch
Water





We found this really cool sparkle sand at Michaels. Since we don't have any kids to use it, I didn't want to make too much, so these packets were perfect, and pretty! They also sell larger bottles and bags of single colors.

Step One:
Mix cornstarch and sand in a 2:1 ratio sand to cornstarch (ie, 2 cups of sand to 1 cup of cornstarch).

 Step Two:
Add water. You'll need about 1/2 cup for the above amounts, but add a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

 Here are two diffrent consistencies. The pink one didn't have quite as much water and looked more like sand. It was moldable like beach sand. The green one had more water and was actually pretty cool. It didn't look like sand, but more like oobleck. It looked wet, but didn't feel wet. And it was clean. Either way, I think kids would love it! I wish I had found this last year for my sand station at school.

 If it dries out, add a little water to bring it back to life.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for Cupcake Saturday!

Today's Party Trivia:
- The first European settler reached Prince Edward Island in 1534.
- In 1889, several little townships in Illinois were annexed by Chicago. At the time, this formed the largest US city in area, and the second-largest in population.
- The US Interstate Highway system was officially created in 1956.

Kid-Friendly Friday!

It's Friday again! Another weekend is upon us and we need something to keep little hands busy. So let's get them outside. Today's we are going to make paintable sidewalk chalk. This was really cool to use. Yes, that is a 26 year old saying it. I bet kids would love it! And it's really quick and easy to whip up in the kitchen.

Materials:
Cornstarch
Water
Liquid food coloring
Bowls
Spoons
Paintbrushes or spraybottles
Plastic stencils (optional)

Step One:
Mix equal parts cornstarch and cold water. I made four colors and therefore used four bowls. You could make one big batch and then split it up later to add the color.

 Step Two:
Add food coloring until you reach your desired color. Make sure to mix thoroughly because it tends to separate.

 Step Three:
Go outside and have some fun! I didn't have any spray bottles, so I just used a paint brush. Here are some of my pictures. (I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination. That is a red dog with blue legs on the grass. Sad, I know...) If you want to, you can use plastic stencils and sponge paintbrushes. If you do use spray bottles, run it under warm water to unclog the nozzle every so often.

This  is what it looks like when it's dry. And the great thing is that it rinses right off with water. The colors here are really light because I needed to do it out on the patio. I think it would've been suspicious if an adult was out on the sidewalk painting.



 Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for Cupcake Saturday!

Today's Party Trivia:
- In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced to change his view that the Earth was not the center of the universe.
- The GI bill was signed into law in 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Today is National Chocolate Eclair Day!

Kid-Friendly Friday: Father's Day Card

Happy Friday! It's time for another Kid-Friendly project. Since Father's Day is coming up, what better way to show dad how much you love him than with a great big hug?! I know my dad likes great big-bear hug-lift you off the floor-hugs.Today's project will be one that dad remembers for a while.

I Love You This Much! Card
Materials:
Cardstock (2 colors, 8 1/2x11in should be more than enough)
Pencil
Scissors
Markers
Glue

Step One: Tracing and Cutting
Trace two handprints- one right and one left- onto one sheet of cardstock. Some parental or older sibling help will be needed to trace writing hand. Cut around the hand. Make sure none of those fingers go missing! From the other sheet of paper, cut a strip 1in by length of paper.

Step Two: Writing
On one handprint, write the name you call your dad. (Or really whatever you want. I figured I would write dad on the front so it reads like a message. But it's totally up to you!) On the other, write your note to dad. You may want to flip the hands over before writing so the pencil lines aren't showing. Write, "I Love You This Much!" along the length of the strip. Accordion fold the strip.

Step Three: Gluing

Glue one handprint, writing side up, to the back of the first section of the strip. Glue the second handprint, also writing side up, to the back of the last section of the strip. You may need to add another fold at the end if it's not quite right.

Step Four: Decorating
Add some pizzazz to your card. Think of some of dad's favorite things and draw them on. Or use embellishments to jazz it up. When you're done, fold the card up, wrap it in love, and give it to dad!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for another Cupcake Saturday. 

Today's Party Trivia:

- On a stormy night in 1752, Ben Franklin took a kite for a flight. As they say, the rest is electrifying!! (Super cheesy, I know!!)
- The 49th parallel is established as the border between the US and Canada in 1846. Today, some of Canada's largest cities, including Toronto and Montreal, are south of this border.
- The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was founded today in 1934.