"On the Go" Nature Collage

O, E, and I had a great time taking nature walk to make an "on the go" nature collage last week. We took a glue stick and a rectangle cut from a cereal box outside with us. We glued various items to the rectangle as we found them.

This was a simple and fun activity that I'm sure we'll do again soon. Thanks to my friend, Rebecca, for this fun idea!!!

Volcano Fun

A few weeks ago, O told me that she loved volcanoes. I asked if she remembered making a sand volcano last summer, and she didn't. So, we made another one!

First, she filled a water bottle 3/4 full with lake water. Then we built a sand volcano up around it. She put blue food coloring in the water (blue is her favorite color).

Then she put 2 tablespoons of baking soda in the bottle.

I poured in the vinegar, and we watched our volcano explode!

We made it explode several times before O started experimenting with putting sand in the bottle, etc. This was such a fun activity!

Blink Card Game

Many months ago a reader of this blog commented that she thought O would enjoy the game Blink. Ever since then I've noticed the game in WM or Target when I walked down the game aisle, but I couldn't bring myself to spend 5 or 6 dollars on it (I'm thrify by nature). I was thrilled, however, to buy a brand new game from the 2nd hand store for 1 dollar! I bought this game when we were on our way to the beach, and we had a great time playing it all week. It says it's for ages 7 and up, but O (at 4 years old) was able to play easily with help from me. Here's a description from Amazon...

It's faster than you think
Two players race to be the first to play all of their cards
Players quickly try to match the shape, count, or color on the cards
The first player out of cards wins
Fast and portable, Blink is instant fun for everyone


This game reminds me very much of a card game that I loved to play with my mom as a child...Spit. Not a very nice name, but SO much fun :) So, I have to say that even though I wasn't willing to spend 5 dollars on the game, I do think it is worth 5 dollars. However, it's even nicer to just pay 1!

Spelling Words with Necklaces

O recently got these necklaces from a pinata at a birthday party and has had a lot of fun making letters out of them. She was using 2 or 3 necklaces to make each letter, so we challenged her to make a 3 letter word which meant she had to make each letter from just one necklace. She enjoyed this task, and we helped her figure out how to do it :)

Kids in the Kitchen...Apples and Onions

O, E, and I are reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and we are really enjoying it! (I enjoy reading the Little House on the Prairie books just as much if not more than O) Almanzo's favorite dish is Apples and Onions. Since O and I had never heard of such a combination, we decided to give it a try!

First, O peeled the onion. I chopped the onion and sauteed it in butter until it was translucent.

O washed the apples with Veggie Wash.

Then we cut the apples together.

I sauteed the apples and onions until the apples were soft and added salt to taste. I was surprised by how good this was! O was pretending to be Eliza Jane (Almanzo's oldest sister) and declared that apples and onions were Eliza Jane's favorite dish, too!


And here's a look at O's supper tray...apples and onions, sweet potato chunks, avocado, salmon, and rotisserie chicken. I love serving O's meals in trays like this one.

Working Together

We have been seeing a lot more of this over the last month or so, and I love it! E is so excited to play with O, and she especially loves playing with O in her pretend kitchen. I love having 2 girls!

Shadow Tag

We've recently returned home from 2 weeks of vacation at the beach. We had a wonderful time and made lots of great memories. One of our favorite things was playing shadow tag on the beach. When we play shadow tag, the person who is "it" has to step on the head of the shadow of the other person. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to play tag!

We also took several "shadow shots." This is one of my favorites!


Here is a family shadow shot. I love how O is making the sign for "I love you."

Excavating Objects from the Ice

Freezing small objects in bowls of water and then excavating them is one of our favorite summertime activities (this is the 3rd year that we've done this)!

O and her cousin had a great time using spoons, salt, water, etc. to remove the objects from the ice. O eventually took her block of ice to the carport and threw it down as hard as she could. She had to throw it a couple of times, but it eventually shattered and sent pieces of ice and objects flying. She was very excited! The girls gathered the pieces of ice and put them back in the freezer...they plan to make ice sculptures with them one day :)

Picking Peaches

While we were playing "Princess Teacher" (I was the teacher who was wearing a beautiful tiara), O, E, and I went on a field trip to pick peaches (in our backyard). We filled our colander with lots of yummy peaches. They aren't all ripe, but we wanted to get them before the birds do! Luckily, O loves peaches and eats 3 or 4 a day!

Playing "Pretty Up"

O LOVES to play "pretty up" with my mom's jewelry. While my mom was putting the baby down for a nap, O and I took turns decorating each other with necklaces, earings, and hair combs. O is always so proud when she looks "fancy." I'm sure that playing with her grandmama and grandmother's jewelry will be one of her special childhood memories :)

Moveable Alphabet Activity

Lisa from Reading with Hannah sent us 2 boxes full of wonderful activities, books, and a crayon roll. We have had so much fun with everything and are amazed by her generosity. This is one of the activities that O really enjoyed.

Each of the cards has a picture of an object on it. O labeled the object and then spelled out the word with the included construction paper letters. Then she opened the cards to check her work. I love that the cards opened for her to check her work (although she said "I don't need to check them because I know they are all right." She's a very confident girl!)

Handpainted Bracelet

O recently painted a wooden bracelet for my mom for her birthday. She was so proud and enjoyed this activity very much. When she gave the bracelet to my mom, she explained that it had 3 layers of paint and one layer of glitter. She was very deliberate in choosing her colors and thought each step of the process through thoroughly :) She has really enjoyed painting handmade gifts over the past few months...she's painted 2 birdhouses, this bracelet, a fish, a snake, and a picture frame!

A Fun Math Activity

This is another activity that Lisa sent us. O put the numbers (made out of contruction paper) in order from 0 to 9. Then she counted out the correct number of paws (foam) for each number. She's getting really good at this type of work, and she loves doing it!

Tree Trunk Crayon Rubbings

A few weeks ago when we were studying our backyard habitat, O and I made crayon rubbings of several tree trunks. I held a piece of paper on the tree trunk, and O used a flat crayon (mini muffin tin crayons made from leftover crayon bits) to rub across the paper to make the rubbing. We also made rubbings of her face and hair...they didn't turn out very well, but it was fun!

Shaving Cream and Food Coloring Fun

Mixing shaving cream and food coloring is one of O's all time favorite activities. She loves to swirl the colors together to see what happens. We pressed a sheet of white cardstock onto the shaving cream and then wiped it off to make a pretty picture. Then O proceeded to cover herself in shaving cream. She had so much fun and made SUCH a mess! Luckily, we were doing this messy activity out on the screened porch! I brought out pitcher after pitcher of water and poured it over her before I let her come in the house :)

Straws Everywhere!

When we went on vacation a few weeks ago, we didn't take many toys. However, I did pack a bag of straws! O, E, and my niece had a fantastic time playing with the straws! O fixed my hair using the straws as decorations. They made straw soup. E crawled around grabbing and chewing on the straws,and the big girls sprinkled the straws on E. We connected the straws to make "the longest straw in America," and on and on and on... The straws provided the girls with tons of open ended, creative fun! Go grab a bag and save them for a rainy day!