Treasure Hunt Game

I am cleaning out closets today!! Didn't I just do that?  Seems like a never ending task at this house.  I had a friend ask me what some fun things were she coulld do with her Granddaughter she's going to visit... and in the top of the closet I was cleaning out was THIS!!!  So let me tell you about a FUN game the little boys love to play. 

We call it the Treasure Hunt Game.   Get a large plastic container and fill it with all kinds of lentils.   I used what I had on hand,  actually it was in my food storage stash.  I used rice, green peas, black beans, corn, pinto beans- (all dried of course)  mix them all up in the container and add....

all kinds of things to dig for.... start looking around the house for FUN "stuff" to put in the mixture.  Erasers, large paper clips, buttons, sm. plastic animals, sm. toys, a glow in the dark star, ring, binder clips, thimbel, bobbin, seashells ect. When I say ANYTHING you can find I mean it.  I had some magnets with family pictures on them.. they went in their too! Magnet  letters, numbers are great.  Then I have a drawstring bag that they put their treasures in as they find them.   It's a GREAT idea to pour everything into a VERY LARGE bowl when they start digging--- you'll have less on the floor!

Water Sponge Balls

I made these water sponge balls for our play day yesterday- and said I would post how to do them, so here we go:

You will need some sponges, the ones I had were a couple of different lengths.  I think the longer ones work better, but they turned out okay with both sizes- so take your sponge and cut it in half like this

 then cut each half into thirds and you will have six pieces of sponge- it's more fun if you use different colors. I used 9-10 pieces of sponge strips per ball
  

after you have all your sponges cut, grab a handful together and squeeze them tight in the middle --

take a pice of dental floss and wrap it around them as tight as you can and tie it in a knot- clip the excess floss

 fluff them up by twisting them around...I made a couple of them with less sponges for the little guys to be able to hold onto better.  You can make them as big as you want.  Then soak them in water and throw them--- you'll have a water fight on your hands. 

Mozzarella Balls

These little babies are so darn good. A lot healthier

than the fried versions you get at dinner places too!

First you need:

Milk or Yogurt

String Cheese

Italian bread crumbs

Pizza dipping sauce (opt.) 

Cut up String Cheese Like this..

Dip into your milk or yogurt

Then into the bread crumbs

Put on a foil lined baking sheet and bake

@350 until cheese starts to melt

Put on plate with pizza sauce and enjoy!!

Homemade Slurpees

Homemade Slurpee's are so easy to make and a lot less expensive than 711. Did I mention less sugar too? Talk about awesomeness!

First you need:

-A blender

-Kool-Aid packet

- 2c. Club Soda

- 1/2c. Sugar

- 2 1/2c. Ice

First add 1 cup of club soda, Kool-aid packet and sugar. Blend until the sugar is dissolved.

(Note if you have a fancy blender like my mother in law here you can do everything all at once)

Once the Sugar is dissolved add the ice and blend until it starts to get stuck and won't mix up. Then add the final cup of club soda. Mix until it looks like the picture above. (About 1 min)

After it is all mixed up pour into glasses and put them in the freezer for 30 min.

Then take them out and let your kids decorate the glass with fun straws and Enjoy!

(Note the Slurpee didn't change colors... this is grape flavor and the flavor above is mango!)

A day of GAMES and SUCKERS

It was play day Thursday, and boy did we have FUN!!!!   This is what we transformed the pasture into....

You can't see it very good, but at the end there is one swimming noodle standing straight up in the air with 4 flags tied onto it...

to make the swimming noodles arch we pounded stakes( I cut a piece of pvc pipe into 12 inch stakes) into the ground and then take a swimming noodle and put one end over each stake to form an arch--

then add a couple of soccer balls- and you have a race, to get to the end and grab your flag from the pole!!!  The little boys had so much fun with this, I think we are going to have to figure out some other games to play with this set up. It was a beautiful HOT summer day, so .......

 of course there is nothing better than to cool off with water & squirt guns!!! It's their favorite thing to do in the summer...

 These suckers were easy to make & taste so yummy..... first get a package of Jolly Ranchers and unwrap the color combinations you want to use...

lay them onto a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, we did some with 3 colors and some with 2 colors.  Then place them in the oven @ 250 degrees for about 6 minutes.....

 watch them close and as soon as they start to melt pull them out of the oven place a sucker stick into the middle of each one and then really quickly & carefully pinch the melted part onto the sucker stick... be very careful because they will be hot.  Let them cool a few minutes, and enjoy them or.......

wrap them in plastic bags for a treat later.  If you like Jolly Ranchers, you will LOVE these.. I know the little boys did.  And so did their Grandma!!  :)

Mini Pizzas

                                 I had play day Thursday with my little Grandsons and their Moms.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  We got our list ready of all the PLAYDAYS we want to have this summer, if you haven't downloaded the Summer list printable Jamie posted a couple of days ago-- get it & start planning your FUN things to do too. We made mini pizzas for lunch.. this is our favorite way to make them.  You need dough--  I just used Rhodes rolls- ham, cheese, pepperoni, and pizza sauce.  We also used mushrooms & olives.  You can use any of the toppings you like...... here's how to make them:  

Let your rolls thaw and raise a little bit, so they are nice and fluffy....

then we pressed them & pulled them until they looked like a small pizza crust..

place them on a greased electric frying pan heated to 300 degrees, I flatten them with a small spatula, and flip them so they cook on both sides- they cook up pretty fast...

then spoon a little bit of pizza sauce on each one and top them with your favorite toppings- you can either place them under the broiler for a few minutes or put them in the microwave for a minute or two to melt the cheese.  The little boys loved them, and I think Grandma did too!!!  In fact she even put butter & honey on one & had dessert too! :) 



DIY Bath Paint

I came across a bunch of different types of bath paint and I thought my little boys would love this. It's so easy and they love using playing with it in the tub.
All you will need is:
1 Cup of body wash
4 1/2 TBSP of Cornstarch
1 drop of food coloring

 Just mix everything a container of your choice. Just use one drop of the food coloring to prevent from staining your tub. I found that this works really good and won't stain. We made two different colors so we used two different containers.

 This is so easy and your kids will have so much fun at bath time.

Gel Bag

I found this really neat way for kids to learn. Both of my boys are hands on learners. So when I saw this I knew that I had to try it. I found this on playathomemom3.blogspot.com
It's very easy to make, entertaining and educational.

All you will need is:
Gallon Ziploc Bag
Hair Gel (bought at dollar store)
Glitter (bought at dollar store)
Food Coloring
Open the Ziploc bag and put the hair gel, glitter and about 10-20 drops of food coloring. You might have to add more food coloring depending on the color you want. I tried to match the gel to color of the glitter.
Next, zip the bag and mix everything around. Kids will have fun playing with this. My boys LOVE it!!!!