Summer Family Fun

Some of the challenges that families face in the summer are not having a huge budget to spend on things to do, meeting the needs of a variety of ages, and beating boredom.

We recommend you PLAN!  :)

• Think ahead
• Post activities on a calendar
• Plan for structured and unstructured activities daily
• Include your children in the planning
• Schedule a break in the day for everyone to relax (e.g. read or nap)

Our parent educators have compiled a summer handout.   Click on the link, save, print, share and enjoy!

A Playdough for Everyone

There are various ways to make play dough with your children based on the age level and possible allergies of your child.  Here are some fun recipes to try at home with your children.  Some are tried and true while others are rather unique.  Remember to have fun; and for the child it is the process more than the finished product.  Feel free to drop us a line and let us know which recipes you would recommend!

Childreach Favourite:  Kool-Aid Play Dough
½ cup salt
2 ½ cups flour
2 packages kool-aid
3 tablespoons oil
2 cups boiling water

Directions:  Mix dry ingredients.  Add oil to water.   Add liquid to dry ingredients.  Stir and let cool then knead.  Store in plastic bags in the refrigerator to keep fresh longer. 

Hint:  if the playdough is too sticky, add a little flour; if the playdough is dry add a little oil in your hands and knead. 

Home Made Playdough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups of water
1 tablespoons mineral oil
food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until stiff.
Allow to cool, and then knead.

Peanut Butter Playdough
3 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
4 cups powdered milk
3 1/2 cups corn syrup

Mix ingredients by hand.
Can decorate with sprinkles, M&Ms etc.
It is edible.

Salt Playdough
1 cup water
1 cup salt
1/2 cup flour
Food coloring

Mix ingredients in pan.
Add food coloring. Stir on low heat.
When it thickens remove from heat.
Put some on waxed paper or floured surface and roll out.
Cut out objects.
Air dry objects few days.
Store un-used portion in air-tight container.
It is non-edible.

 Oatmeal Playdough
2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups powdered milk
2/3 cups honey
Optional -Rice Krispies, Coconut Sprinkles, chocolate chips, Red Hots, etc.

Mix ingredients until combined.
Wash hands.
Lay down wax paper.
Store in air-tight container.

Numnum Playdough
2 cups of honey
3 cups of peanut butter
3 packets powdered milk

Stir all ingredients together until smooth.
Add more powdered milk if desired.
Is sticky and edible.

Cloud Playdough
1 cup water,
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil,
6 cup flour

Add a few drops of food coloring to water.
Combine water, oil and flour in a large bowl. Knead well.
Add more water if necessary in small amounts until the dough is soft and stretchy.
Cloud playdough should be used on a washable surface as it is very greasy.

Coffee Playdough
4 cups unsifted all purpose flour,
1 cup salt,
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 1/2 c warm water

Dissolve the coffee in the warm water.
In another bowl, mix the flour and the salt.
Make a well and add 1 cup of the coffee water into it.
Mix with a fork or with your hands until smoother.
Add more coffee water as needed: dough should be smooth not sticky or crumbling.
Store in air tight container.
When you’re done making figures, bake in oven for 1 hour at 300 degrees or until hard.
A coat or two of shellac keeps it well preserved for longer lasting gifts.

Fruit Playdough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 tablespoons cream of tarter
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
3 oz package sugar-free fruit flavored gelatin

Mix dry ingredients in pan.
Add the water and oil.
Stir over medium heat until mixture forms a ball.
Pour onto a sheet of wax paper

Koolaid Playdough
2 cups rice flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 cup salt
3 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 packages unsweetened Koolaid (pick the color you like)
2 cups boiling water

Mix all together. Once cool take out of pan and knead well. Then place in Ziploc bag in the refrigerator.

Cornmeal Playdough – Gluten Free
1 ½ cups corn flour
1 cup corn meal
1 cup salt
½ cup corn starch
1 cup hot water plus 2 Tablespoons
1  tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients until smooth.  Add water as necessary to make more soft and smooth.  Store in Ziploc bag for up to a month.  This is textured dough and will be yellow.

Written by Dawn Baetens, Early Years Program Leader

Making a Back-to-School Scrapbook with your Child

Summer is coming to a close, and the anticipation of back to school is just around the corner.  For children and parents, this brings up feelings of both excitement and nervousness.  Creating a “Back-to-School Scrapbook” with your child can help both of you deal with these feelings and assist with preparing your child with this new transition.  Your scrapbook creation can be made into a summer-long project, with a large portion of it being child-directed.  The scrapbook will be a concrete tool that will provide a visual for your child about the upcoming exciting changes that they are about to experience.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Age of your child
• Interests of your child
• Attention span

Mini Field Trips:

• Go to the dollar store to pick out an album and scrapbooking supplies
• Visit to the school, classroom, and teacher
• Go shopping for a knapsack, snack box, clothes

Pages to Include:

• The school & teacher
• Shopping for supplies
• Wearing the new school attire
• Calendar to mark off the days until the start of school
• Picture schedules of what will happen every morning to get ready to go to school and what the routine will be at school (story, play, snack time etc.)
• Activities that the child may participate in at school
  • Art, water & sand play, playdough, music, dramatic play, books, building toys
  • Friends that the child imagines they will meet
  • What they imagine their first day might be like
  • A “Back to School” Yearly Tradition

Materials:

• Photo album, scrapbook
• Variety of scrapbooking papers, stickers, embellishments
• Some type of adhesive (glue, photomounts)
• Pictures – photographs or magazine

Useful Websites:

Common Sense Parenting – http://www.parenting.org
Canadian Parents – http://www.canadianparents.com/grade-schoolers
Scrapbooking Supplies Checklist – http://www.trustyguides.com/scrapbooking.html

The scrapbook that you and your child have created will be an amazing conversation starter during the weeks leading up to your child starting school.  Perhaps you and your child can look at it every evening before your child goes to bed, and different school activities can be talked about.  Or maybe it can be pulled out when your child voices concerns over certain new activities.  Enjoy the quality time spent with your child being creative together and preparing for the next milestone in their life.  Perhaps it could turn into a yearly summer project?

Written by Heidi Payne, ECE Resource Centre Librarian

Creative Play Tip of the Day

A supply of columned paper encourages children to draw the steps in how to make things.  These can be used as directions or recipes by other children.

Summer Boredom Busters Part IV

Creative

• Show children how to make tree bark rubbings with paper and crayons pressed sideways.
• Set recycled boxes aside for one week, then let children “build” box creations (car, train, house, instrument, etc.).
• Provide children with wide paint brushes, paint rollers or spray bottles,  and show them how they can “paint” the house or fence with a bucket of plain water.
• Give children sidewalk chalk and pavement limits to create beautiful murals.  Wait for the rain to wash them away, and start all over again.
• Let children put up stage sets outdoors, buy a couple of throw-away  cameras for a day of  “say cheese please”.  After photos are developed, let the children scrapbook them into an album or book.
• Collect old magazines, coloured flyers, scissors and glue for children to create collages.  This could be done outdoors as long as it is not too windy.
• Don’t wait for Christmas to build those gingerbread houses, buy some graham crackers for walls, shreddies for roof tiles, icing to hold it all together, and candies for decoration, and have your children build “summer cottages”.
• Have children join you in making playdough, and let them create a playdough zoo or bakery.
• Bake cookies with children.  They can make Peanut Butter Puppy cookies for the family pet by mixing 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 cup peanut butter with 1 cup milk.  Roll out dough to 1/4 ” .  Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, and bake until lightly brown (20 minutes) on a greased sheet at 375 F.

Rainy Day Suggestions

 

Rainy days are here again!  Two words.  Plan ahead.

 

Have a box full of special craft items or a few toys that are just for rainy days.

 

The TV can be a lifesaver on long rainy days, but use it sparingly.  If it is on all the time, children will watch it all the time and end up tired and cranky.  Save the TV for late afternoon or for when you are getting lunch ready.

 

Rearrange the furniture to create more space and different play space.

 

Save certain activities for rainy days such as a scavenger hunt, an unbirthday party, an outing to the museum or library.

 

Plan your day so that the children can have your full attention for certain periods of the day.  Children find it easier to let you do chores if you have been fully involved with them for at least part of the day.

 

Rotate toys so that toys that seem boring can be put away and “new” ones brought out.

 

Vary high and low-energy activities.

 

 

High-Energy Activities

·        Make an indoor obstacle course using cushions, blocks, blankets over chairs for tunnels, mark areas with tape, etc.

·        Have a “play bath”.  This is a bath where you just play with all those fun bath toys and lots of bubbles.

·        Play “puddle jumping”.  Use carpet squares for puddles, and jump from one to another.

·        Sing and dance to music.  Freeze positions when music stops.

·        Make musical instruments and form a band or have a parade.

·        Play musical cushions.  Each time the music stops, you remove a cushion until all children have to pile onto one cushion.

·        Have paper fights using crumpled newspaper.

·        Have a flashlight expedition where you explore the house with a flashlight and all house lights turned off.

·        Have an Olympics – children can crawl or hop instead of running races.

·        Spiderweb the room with yarn using doorknobs and furniture to attach yarn.

·        Rearrange your child’s bedroom with their assistance and ideas.

·        Play balloon tennis.

·        Hide the button (or whatever – children can take turns hiding and finding it).

·        Play hide and seek.

·        Exercise to a fitness video.

 

 

Quieter Games and Activities

·        CRAFTS

·        Have a camping expedition.  Throw a blanket over a table, some pillows and sleeping bags under it, and have a camp-out.

·        Play dress up using Halloween costumes or old clothes.

·        Have a tea party.

·        Play house in a different area.  Use tape to mark out rooms on the floor or set up the house in an unusual spot.

·        Sort the button jar or count pennies in the penny jar.

·        Have a puppet show.

·        Bake together (requires a lot of patience) or make a simple snack with your child; e.g. fruit salad, coloured toast, cream cheese on bagels.

·        Build a fort with cushions

·        Have an indoor picnic on the floor.

·        Read storybooks.

·        Clean the playroom – children usually find something they have not seen for a while that they will want to play.

·        Teach your child how to play a card game such as Go Fish.

·        Play board games.

·        Get out the playdough.