Summer fun, our way, means finding things to do at home and away. It's not hard to do things away, swimming, hiking, riding bikes, etc. But, with a little baby I don't enjoy being away from the house every day. I'm trying to keep a schedule for him, some what.
Summer break isn't [ever] long enough, so I've broken it down to our 10 weeks of summer. Before the mayhem began (aka, kids out of school) I made us a little schedule. The only way I can be sure to get things done, it seems, is to make lists. I have weekly themes centered around nursery rhymes. The nursery rhyme idea is to help with my incoming kindergartner's reading/language skills. We have a recipe and a craft each week. and some times a science experiment--if I'm up for it!
Week 1--Months and Dates
nursery rhymes: "The Days of the Months" and "A Week of Birthdays"
recipe: Cookie Art
craft: marathon letter
COOKIE ART
Sugar cookie dough (store bought is okay or use my recipe below)
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. water
food coloring
tiny cookie cutters
clean paint brushes
Chill cookie dough a few hours. Roll out on a baking sheet. Divide into sections, if applicable. Mix egg yolks and water well. Separate mixture into small bowls or cups. Tint each to desired shades (I kept it simple with red, yellow, green, and blue).
Let each child decorate a cookie section. Pressing cookie cutters down gives good shapes to fill in, or children can paint free style.
Bake as directed. Let cool. Eat your "art" out!
1/3 c. butter-flavored shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. In separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in to wet ingredients, mix well. Cover and refrigerate a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough to 1/8 inches thick. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake for 7-10 minutes 'til edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on rack.
Marathon Letter
My brother is on the Hill Cumorah Pageant work crew right now http://www.hillcumorah.org/Pageant/. The whole extended family is feverishly writing him letters to help him win a contest, whoever gets the most mail wins. We thought he might enjoy a 40 foot letter. I found a long roll of paper at a nearby parent/teacher store for $8.00. There is still a ton of paper left on it (I threw away the wrapper which had the total length on it). We rolled it up an sent it in a cardboard poster tube, along with some candy.
Week 2: Patriotism
nursery rhymes: "Yankee Doodle," "The Grand Old Duke of York," and "Humpty Dumpty"
recipe: Fruit Jewels
craft: Pinwheel Wreath
FRUIT JEWELS
2 3-oz pkg. jell-o, any flavor
1 1/3 c. water, divided
small pieces of fruit
mini-muffin tins
Place a small piece of fruit in each mini-muffin tin. Dump jell-o packages into two separate bowls. Boil water. Stir 2/3 c. water into each bowl. Stir until dissolved. Use small cup to pour jell-o into muffin tins. Refrigerate until set. Use butter knife to loosen fruit jewels from muffin tins. Enjoy!
Patriotic Pinwheel Wreath
http://www.playsational.com/4th-of-july-crafts-pinwheel-wreath/
We didn't get to make this--it's really more for the 5-year old. We were going to put stars on ours, too. However, 4th of July week was busy so we missed doing this one--the kids didn't even notice :).
Summer break isn't [ever] long enough, so I've broken it down to our 10 weeks of summer. Before the mayhem began (aka, kids out of school) I made us a little schedule. The only way I can be sure to get things done, it seems, is to make lists. I have weekly themes centered around nursery rhymes. The nursery rhyme idea is to help with my incoming kindergartner's reading/language skills. We have a recipe and a craft each week. and some times a science experiment--if I'm up for it!
Week 1--Months and Dates
nursery rhymes: "The Days of the Months" and "A Week of Birthdays"
recipe: Cookie Art
craft: marathon letter
COOKIE ART
Sugar cookie dough (store bought is okay or use my recipe below)
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. water
food coloring
tiny cookie cutters
clean paint brushes
Chill cookie dough a few hours. Roll out on a baking sheet. Divide into sections, if applicable. Mix egg yolks and water well. Separate mixture into small bowls or cups. Tint each to desired shades (I kept it simple with red, yellow, green, and blue).
Let each child decorate a cookie section. Pressing cookie cutters down gives good shapes to fill in, or children can paint free style.
Bake as directed. Let cool. Eat your "art" out!
Before the oven
The finished product.
Sugar Cookies
1/3 c. butter or margarine1/3 c. butter-flavored shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. In separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in to wet ingredients, mix well. Cover and refrigerate a few hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough to 1/8 inches thick. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake for 7-10 minutes 'til edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on rack.
Marathon Letter
My brother is on the Hill Cumorah Pageant work crew right now http://www.hillcumorah.org/Pageant/. The whole extended family is feverishly writing him letters to help him win a contest, whoever gets the most mail wins. We thought he might enjoy a 40 foot letter. I found a long roll of paper at a nearby parent/teacher store for $8.00. There is still a ton of paper left on it (I threw away the wrapper which had the total length on it). We rolled it up an sent it in a cardboard poster tube, along with some candy.
Week 2: Patriotism
nursery rhymes: "Yankee Doodle," "The Grand Old Duke of York," and "Humpty Dumpty"
recipe: Fruit Jewels
craft: Pinwheel Wreath
FRUIT JEWELS
2 3-oz pkg. jell-o, any flavor
1 1/3 c. water, divided
small pieces of fruit
mini-muffin tins
Place a small piece of fruit in each mini-muffin tin. Dump jell-o packages into two separate bowls. Boil water. Stir 2/3 c. water into each bowl. Stir until dissolved. Use small cup to pour jell-o into muffin tins. Refrigerate until set. Use butter knife to loosen fruit jewels from muffin tins. Enjoy!
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| You missed a spot. |
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| Mmm... |
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| Patriotic fruit jewels |
http://www.playsational.com/4th-of-july-crafts-pinwheel-wreath/
We didn't get to make this--it's really more for the 5-year old. We were going to put stars on ours, too. However, 4th of July week was busy so we missed doing this one--the kids didn't even notice :).
Comments
Love your witticism, too! "art" out. Ha ha!