Tie Dye T's.
I picked a night when Gabe's best friend was sleeping over to pull out this activity. I figured they needed something other than video game's and Yu-Gi-Oh to do. They both thought this sounded like a fun idea and were very eager to create their own shirts. This wasn't a great activity for Lucas, his attention span ranges from 5-10 minutes for activities. I occupied Lucas with finger painting and having the neighbor boy come over to play outside. The first few shirts we dyed came out okay but the kids lost interest with how long they had to wait. So I cut the time dramatically down and the colors came out as if they were a bleached out version...not nice. Leo bought more colors and I have the shirts put off to the side so we can re-do the tie dye. I have an idea to plan a second (time consuming) activity while we are waiting for the shirts to process. I am crossing my fingers that we will get a cool effect from tie dying over the tie dye. I am also interested in finding other ways for the boys to decorate their shirts but when I was at the craft store they only had girly stuff.
Take a look -
 |
| The color bowls |
 |
| The boys shirts |
 |
| The other shirts - after the boys got bored. |
The Soap Crayons.
I thought this would be a fun idea. We have bought them in the past and they have proved to entertain the kids with less water being splashed out of the tub. So when I read that I could make them at home I thought "Why not?" I should have known this was not going to work out right. The first thing that went wrong was when my ShopAtHome order substituted my nameless brand of soap flakes for Tide's powder soap. Still, I thought let's try this and see what happens. The process is simple. One cup of soap flakes, one tablespoon hot water (we needed 3-4tablespoons), and food coloring. Mix until it thickens then create your shapes. I had pulled out two cookie cutters and told Gabe to use his imagination. We had 5 different Tupperware containers for each color; yellow, light blue, dark blue, green and purple. Lucas loved when we were mixing. He didn't create anything although he did ask me to use the purple soap to create Diesel 10. Gabe and I made some regular shaped crayons, one finger shaped crayon, a cookie cutter star and teddy bear, a rainbow and some Yu-Gi-Oh creatures. The clean up process was simple...the backyard hose to wash out the soap. One small issue was when I had to tell Lucas that we couldn't play with the crayons right away because they needed 2 days to harden. When the night finally came to play with the soap crayons in the bath the kids were so excited! Quickly the excitement died away when the crayons didn't really work in the tub. The dye did not write but it did color the water. The soap proved to be a little itchy on Lucas' delicate skin. I might try the project again after I research different recipes or if I find the perfect soap option.
Take a look -
 |
| Ramirez boys being crafty |
 |
| Lucas mixing the purple soap |
 |
| Start mixing |
 |
| The work space |
 |
| Finished! |
What's next!
Gabe's Lemonade Stand.
Today @ 1pm! We make the Lemonade from scratch. Gabe has to make signs to post and promote. At 50cents per cup he learns the value of his time, the product and his salesmanship. He needs to handle the money making change as needed. At the end of the sale he gets to count his money and of course spend it!!! This is a summer time project that is truly giving him lemons and asking him to make lemonade.
Self Contained EcoSystem
I am researching the supplies we need to create our self contained ecosystem. I need to find; a few drops of dechlorinator, aquatic plants, snails, fish, crickets, pill bugs, earthworms, aquarium gravel, soil and gather some basic household stuff. Here is a link to what we want to do. http://cranberrycorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-fun-ecosystem-edition.html Gabe loves science and I think this could become a great family project. It will be interesting to see how long this mini self contained ecosystem can last.
Yesterday, Gabe finished his first Summer Reading book "The Infinity Ring" so our next step will be a book report. I also have plans to put his imagination to work this August by creating a math game from his YuGiOh cards. More great projects/activities/crafts to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment