Backyard Summer Camp: Numbers, Letters, Shapes, and Colors Week

Get ready for back-to-school with this Backyard Summer Camp theme week! Help your young ones review the basics in lots of fun ways. Of course, these ideas are just the beginning to a boredom-free week at home with the kids. Be sure to come up with your own creative ideas - and encourage the kids to come up with some, too.

If you're interested in the other Backyard Summer Camp theme weeks from this season, be sure to check out Wacky Sports Week, Under the Sea Week, Outer Space Week, In Our Neighborhood Week, Dinosaur Week, Messy Stuff Week, Games Week, Animals Week, Pirates Week, and Things That Go Week. Enjoy.

Numbers, Letters, Shapes, and Colors Week

Active Play

• Alphabet Hunt: Materials: camera, scrapbook supplies or digital photo book site (such as Shutterfly.com). Instructions: Go for a walk and take photos of things that begin with A-Z. Upload or print out your photos and make a photo book together. 
• Play Hop Scotch. Use sidewalk chalk outside or painter’s tape indoors.
• Rainbow Ice for the Water Table or Kiddie Pool. A little preparation is necessary for this one. Day 1: fill an ice cube tray or muffin tin with water and add drops of food coloring to each section. Day 2: pop the cubes out into a water table or kiddie pool of water and watch the kids go crazy!
• Jumping Letters. Draw a chalk grid with a letter in each square – use a Scattegories die to roll and call a letter; players run to that letter…or take turns spelling names by jumping to letters.
• Target Practice. Use sidewalk chalk to write age-appropriate words (i.e., Kindergarten sight words, or just letters or shapes for Pre-K); give kids a bucket of water balloons; call out a word or letter and have the children find it and hit it with a water balloon.

Quiet Play

• Sponge-shape stamping. Materials: new kitchen sponges, safety scissors, paint, paper. Help your kids cut the sponges into a variety of shapes, then let them stamp the sponges into paint and onto the paper for some unique artwork. For even more fun, try vegetable stamping!
• Play BINGO.
• Shape experiment: roll card stock into different shapes (cylinder, triangle, square); stand on one end and test to find out which tower can hold the most books (see All for the Boys blog)
• Mixology: fill two clear cups halfway with water and place an empty clear cup in between; place drops of one primary color (red, blue, or yellow) into the water of one cup and a different primary color into the other water cup.  Twist up two paper towels; place the end of one into the first color and the other end into the empty cup. Place the end of the second paper towel into the second color and the other end also into the empty cup. Check back every few minutes to see what happens.
• Check out some fun math problems on Bed Time Math. Each day features a new story with related math problems for all age groups.
• Make LEGO letters, numbers, and shapes; sort LEGO bricks by color.
• Use colored dominoes to make numbers, letters, shapes, and even a rainbow.
• Read stories about numbers, letters, shapes, and colors.
• Write a story together about numbers, letters, shapes, or colors…perhaps a story about what crayons do while we are sleeping. Let kids illustrate. 

A domino rainbow.

Making LEGO numbers.

Field Trips

• Playground Shapes. Make a list together of all the shapes your kids recognize; visit a playground and tally the number of times you spot each shape.
• Go to the library for books about numbers, letters, shapes, and colors (e.g., “LMNO Peas” or "1-2-3 Peas" by Keith Baker, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" or "Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3" by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, "Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting" by Emma Dodd, "Secret Agent Josephine's Colors" by Brenda Ponnay, "Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure" by Doreen Cronin, "SuperHero ABC" by Bob McLeod, "Alphabet Mystery" by Audrey & Bruce Wood, "One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five Fish" by Dr. Seuss, "Ship Shapes" by Stella Blackstone & Siobhan Bell, "The Greedy Triangle" by Marilyn Burns, and "Clay Quest Minis: Search for Shapes!" by Helen Bogosian.

Have fun with your numbers, letters, shapes, and colors this week. Post a Comment and let us know your favorite book about numbers, letters, shapes, or colors! As always, thanks for reading.

Backyard Summer Camp: Things That Go Week

If your kids are fans of cars, trucks, trains, and planes, then this Backyard Summer Camp theme week is for them. There are plenty ideas to get you started here, plus have fun allowing your kids to come up with their own.

By the way, in case you've missed them, be sure to check out Wacky Sports Week, Under the Sea Week, Outer Space Week, In Our Neighborhood Week, Dinosaur Week, Messy Stuff Week, Games Week, Animals Week, and Pirates Week, too. Enjoy.

Things That Go

Active Play

• Backyard Car Wash. Materials: shaving cream (foam, not gel), toy cars, containers, a hose. Instructions:  for each child, fill a container with shaving cream for the car wash; fill a second container with water to rinse the cars. When the fun is done, hose everything off and leave them out to dry.
• Chalk Roadway. With sidewalk chalk on the driveway (or painter’s tape indoors), this is perfect for racing toy cars around.
• Marble Race Track.  PARENTS ONLY: Cut a pool noodle in half lengthwise with a serrated knife for instant marble race tracks. Add an empty box to catch the marbles at the end. 
• Wash the car! Grab a bucket and some sponges or rags, and let the kids go crazy. Be sure to lock the doors first to prevent your helpful little ones from washing the inside. (Yes, it’s happened.) If your kids are too young to wash the car, turn this into a field trip and drive the car through a car wash together.

Washing the real car...

..."washing" the toy cars.

Quiet Play

• Make box cars. (large boxes, paint) Although when we tried this, it turned into painting a vehicle onto a small box. Oh well; it was still fun!
• Make paper airplanes and race them.
• Clothespin Airplanes. Materials: clothespins, popsicle sticks, paint, glue. Check out the link for easy instructions. 
• Make and race bottle-cap sailboats. Materials: cap from gallon of milk; glue dot; toothpick; triangle of felt, paper, or foam, container for water. Instructions: Attach a triangle of felt, paper, or foam to a toothpick. Place a glue dot inside the bottle cap and insert toothpick into the glue. Fill a container about half-way with water and launch your sail boat. Older kids may want to try a milk carton sail boat.
• Make a counting maze or analphabet maze – kids can drive a toy car through the maze, following the numbers or letters in order.
• Paint with vehicles. Pour washable tempera paints onto paper plates; have kids drive through the paint with toy vehicles, then run the vehicles over paper to compare the tracks they make.
• Use Play-Doh to make your favorite things that go; or flatten Play-Doh and drive different toy vehicles over the dough to make tracks.
• Color-Sorting Parking Lot: use painter’s tape in a rainbow of colors to create a parking lot on the floor (alternatively, line up pieces of construction paper); gather toy vehicles and “drive” them to their appropriate parking space by matching the vehicle color to the tape (or paper).
• Make LEGO vehicles
• Read stories about cars, trucks, planes, trains, boats, etc.
• Write a story together about the fastest car ever. Let kids illustrate.

Painting box cars
...or painting cars on boxes.

Bottle-cap Boat Races

Closer look at the bottle-cap boat.

Painting with vehicles.

Play-Doh roads for toy cars.

Field Trips

• Visit the airport and watch planes take off & land.
• Play and picnic at a park near train tracks to watch for trains that pass by. (Rochester Area: Kings Bend Park in Pittsford, NY and Perinton Park in Fairport, NY each have train tracks on the perimeter)
• Attend an airplane show in your area.
• Visit a train museum or model train display. (Rochester Area: Visit the NY Transportation Museum and take aride on the trolley on Sundays only, or visit the Edgerton Model Railroad on the last Saturday of each month)
• Go for a walk along a nearby canal or river to watch the things that go. (Rochester Area: walk along the Erie Canal to see boats and kayaks)
• Go to the library for books about cars, trucks, planes, trains, boats, etc. Some examples: Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey-Rinker, Cars Galore by Peter Stein, Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo & Alex Ayliffe, Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton & Tom Lichtenheld, The Wheels on the School Bus by Mary-Alice Moore, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry, Thomas & Friends series by Rev. W. Awdry, Terrific Trains by Tony Milton, I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince, Bob the Builder series, Road Work Ahead by Anastasia Suen, and books by Kate & Jim McMullan: I'm Dirty, I'm Fast, I'm Mighty, I Stink.

We hope you enjoy your Things That Go Week! Be sure to Post a Comment with your favorite ideas for this theme. As always, thanks for reading.


P.S. If you like this post, check out Kids Birthday Party Idea: Race Cars for even more ideas.

Hop To It & Make Some Easter Decorations

Yes, it's beautiful outside, but sometimes the kids need a break from running around the yard. And with the St. Patrick's Day decorations down, it's looking a little bare in our house. SOLUTION: time to make some Easter decorations. Why spend full price on holiday decorations when you can make some now, and then get the nicer stuff for 50% off later in the season (sometimes 75%!) to save for next year? Added bonus: making your own decorations is a preemptive strike against the "I'm bored" whining of children.

I'm a big fan of creating three afternoons of activities around every holiday:

1. Make the decorations (this may be done over the course of a few days, or until the kids are sick of the same tube of foam stickers)
2. Decorate the house with your new creations, plus anything else from your attic, garage, basement, closet, clown car, etc. Have the kids pick out the "perfect spot" for each (most) decoration.
3. After the holiday, take down the decorations and pack them up for next year*

Today we began Day One of the "Make The Decorations" step. We looked through our craft supply bin and found lots of goodies to use! Even if you don't have a craft supply bin, you probably have more supplies than you realize around the house to make some super-cute bunnies, baskets, and more. Check out these ideas for household items:

Random Craft Supplies #1 & 2: Paper Plates and Cereal Boxes

1. Cut a semi-circle from the center of the plates and give them to the kids to decorate, along with any assortment of crayons, markers, glitter glue pens, stickers, pom poms, feathers, you name it.
2. Draw a large egg on the inside of a cereal box and cut it out. Use it as a template to outline more eggs and cut those out. Let the kids have at them.
3. Use tape or glue to adhere the eggs to the back of the baskets. 
4. Hang up your Easter Baskets!

Random Craft Supply #3: Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Rolls

Add some paint, pom pom noses and tails, construction paper ears and bow ties, and draw on the eyes, whiskers, and mouth with a permanent marker...and you have yourself an Easter Bunny Family. Check out a photo and the complete instructions on Crafts by Amanda.

Random Craft Supply #4: Lollipops

Okay, this one may require a trip to the craft store for more supplies, but they are so cute! Turn the lollipop upside down and adhere a wooden or foam heart for feet; add white pom poms for the head, arms, and tail; and use a pipe cleaner for the ears on your Bunny Lollipop. Definitely too sweet to eat. You can find photos and complete instructions on The Mother Huddle.

Random Craft Supply #5: Yarn

Once upon a time, I thought I'd take up knitting. Unfortunately, knitting didn't accept my Friend Request so there is a bag of yarn in my closet just waiting to become...Easter Baskets! Yup, just some white craft glue, plastic wrap, and plastic bowls and we're ready to sing "A Tisket, A Tasket."

For this one, just turn the bowl upside down and cover with plastic wrap. Soak the yarn (cut into arm's length strands) in the glue and then apply one strand at a time over the plastic wrap until it's covered. Let it dry overnight, then remove the plastic wrap and you have yourself a funky Easter basket. The complete directions and photos are on Eighteen 25.

If you make any of these crafts, or if you have other ideas you'd like to share, please post them in the Comments section. Thank you, and have fun decorating!

*One more thing: after Easter, when you're getting ready for the Take-Down-Decorations Day, there are a few things to keep in mind so that you're organized for next year. These tips will eliminate the, "Oh crap! I know I bought ______ last year; where IS IT?!?!?" moments. Or hours.

• Stop by Michael's, Target, and any other favorite stores to check out their clearance inventory. Pay special attention to craft supplies as well as decorations. Last year I found Easter-themed foam sticker sets for 75% off at Michael's. We'll be using those this week!
• Pack up the bargain treasures along with the other decorations so you'll know where they are next year.
• Gather any magazine articles, print outs from web searches, recipes, et cetera, and pack those in with the decorations, too.
• LABEL THE BOX. Yes, it seems like this is a tip from Captain Obvious but even the most organized people can forget this step...and it makes you want to pull out your hair. Yes, I'm speaking from experience.

Once again, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy these ideas for Easter decorations!