FunThingsToDoWithUrKidz

Having fun today with chalk and flowers Practicing colors, counting, and even shapes

After making our flower perfume yesterday we had lots of flowers left over. flower perfume ( http://funthingstodowithurkidz.blogspot.com/2015/07/easy-to-make-flower-perfume.html) So we decided to add more water and freeze them. This is how they turned out ^ Beautiful colors  We added ours to some water in our water table and just let the kids have fun with them. They smelled amazing and as they melted all the flower petals came loose witch was a added sensory bonus.

Need~ Fresh flowers  Boiling water bowl a spray bottle to put the perfume in when done First let you'r kid pick or even cut all the petals  off of the flowers they have. Then place them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, not to much but enough to fill what spray bottle you will be using.  Let it sit till it is cooled.  Then slowly pour into the spray bottle and enjoy! Note~ Easy to do for any birthday party!~

So outside playing I decided to not bring up any activities and see what my kids would do on their own. This is what they came up with~ Fake flowers, soil, and water in our water table.  They loved mixing, digging and pouring and ended up very messy themselves. There was so many different textures to play with between the dirt in the water and the fabric flowers. After awhile I added clean water few times to get everything and everyone clean.  Once that was done they went back to digging in the dirt and came up with making a dirt garden. I loved seeing what they think of all on their own and can not wait to see what they come up with next!

Fun sensory play idea My kids wanted to play outside this morning "sooo bad"(in their words), while I wanted to finish packing for our move.....long story short... they won :) So to make sure they had tons of fun I set up this water table idea. First I filled up the water balloons and place them in the table. By now my kids really REALLY just wanted to play, but I knew in about 2 minutes all water balloons would be gone and my kids would be asking me for more. So to make it more fun and a little harder to grab the balloons(thus making them last longer) I added shaving cream.  By now they had a friend over and play time started. It was cute and funny seeing them roll around the balloons in the shaving cream trying to pick them up. To help clean up after all this shaving cream we filled buckets with water and everyone had a small bucket to pour on themselves to get clean...or smi till bath time. :)

need~ 1 cup of flour 1/2 of salt 1 cup of water 2 tbs. oil coffee beans (ground works better) In a pot mix the flour and salt together, then slowly added in the water and oil. Keep mixing over med. till a dough forms. Once it is formed, take out and let cool. Knead the dough to make  sure it cools all the way threw before giving to kids. 

Inspired by the saying "the dog days of summer", this water play is just that. Water and toy dogs! Easy and quick to set up and clean up. Dog days is referring to the hottest days of the season. Normally between July and early September. This is also the time when  Sirius, the “dog star,” can be seen. Who knew water play can turn into learning about the stars.  keep looking at the sky, you never know what you will find~

"Be quick to listen and slow to speak" One thing my kids have trouble with. So we made this controller together using a old chalk bored eraser, tin foil, foam, glue, marker, and wooden letters.  Really nothing beats old fashion talking it out but personally I found with my son he can get so upset sometimes that talking about the issue is far from what he wants or is going to do. I found this to be a good visual reminder to him. The idea of the self controller~ The pause button means to stop all together what they are doing The power button is to remind them they have control over what they do/say The guide button is to remind them help is always close by if needed.(for ex. maybe they need help learning how to relax in a upsetting setting, or they don't know how to deal with what they are feeling or just need to talk) The stop button is to remind them stopping means stopping and not only for the moment.  (personally my kids sometimes think if they wa...

Self awareness is all about knowing one's self. This is what we are working on to help my kids learn about themselves and ways to describe themselves. When done it will be framed and placed in their rooms. We wrote I am me but another idea is writing I am and then placing their name instead of me.  This is a craft you should take few days with and every time your kid thinks of a word just add it.  It is also a good way to get a kid thinking positive about themselves. Some times everyone needs to hear how special they are~ :)

Today we decided to  work with what ever we had in our kitchen. That just happened to be powdered sugar and brown sugar. So I threw both in a bin, added some spoons and things for playing and handed it over to my little ones. My kids made quick work of using the spoons to make mountains by packing the sugar.  I asked my kids how it felt and even joined in. My daughter describe it as Kentic sand feeling and once the two are mixed it is like Kentic sand. Clean up is a little much so make sure this is done on a hard floor or outside.

Just another way to play with the sense of smell and touch. This lemon scented rice was easy to make and smelled amazing. What you need~ white rice little bit of water yellow food coloring added extras (measuring cups, fresh lemon juice, etc.)  In a bowl mix the rice, food coloring and little bit of water together. Once coated add some lemon juice and mix. Let dry then play! note~ we made few batches, adding different amounts of yellow food coloring each time. While my kids played we talked about the different shades of yellow, the smell of the rice, and even how the fresh lemon juice tasted. After this try making your own homemade lemonade!

This is by far my favorite thing to color and use for sensory play with my kids.  To color epsom salt just add little bit of water and food coloring. (we used gel food coloring)  Let dry and its ready for play. (I found if it sits in the sun it drys way faster..way way faster) It is brightly colored and has a very cool feeling.  We made this bin with barbie babies but really you can make it for any theme. This one would be good if you have a growing family. It is a easy way to take about new babies with little ones. :) 

Something that can be done with them old baby bottles that are no longer usable.  We filled our with paint and water to create some neat pictures.  Drip, squeeze and more! note~ might have to cut the nipple more to make it easier for the paint to come out.  

Just having fun painting with a pool noodle we cut up in pieces.  Really fun for sensory play~

Before bed we try to get in some time just stretching or doing yoga. It is a great way to relax and get ready to sleep. This time our theme was animals. As my kids stretched and moved I asked them to be a certain animal. They made their own poses for each animal(even some sea life), here is what we came up with~ Starfish  Frog Tiger Elephant not a animal just a tree :) Last a monkey pose from a baby doll