Familylicious - Part 2

By debra92691 · Comments (0)

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

We needed some dirt to fill a hole in the backyard and we want to make some raised bed planters etc. If you have looked at craigslist at all you will see a bunch of posts for free dirt. So I called I asked if it would be good for what we needed they said yes and so the “dirt” was delivered while I was working at Mikey’s school. What I saw when I got home was far from any dirt you would see in a garden. At least not any garden where things grow. This looked more like cement. I called and asked for it to be removed. Guess what our free dirt cost $400 to remove! Yep, our free dirt turned out to be very expensive. So $400 later we still have some planters that need dirt in them and a drive way that looks horrible. At least the “dirt” is gone. It is a lesson to us though nothing is free not even dirt.

On a side note the kids loved our temporary pile of rocks. They had so much fun playing with it. Mikey threw a tantrum when he found out they were coming to take it away.

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Categories : Misc.

By debra92691 · Comments (1)

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

I have come to realize that I need to give Liam some fun sensory play too. I have something going just about every day for Kaia and Mikey while poor Liam sits on the side lines watching their play. Yesterday I made some playdough for my older two. I gave a little to Liam and watched him squish it between his fingers and coo with delight. It inevitably went towards his mouth where I pulled it away. It made me realize though that there was something my 7 month old needed that I had not yet given him…some fun sensory play. I had completely intended to do sensory play with him. I had seen all kinds of adorable baby sensory activities on Pinterest. I had vowed to do them all yet my poor Liam had never had a sensory tub just for him, until now.

It has been pretty hot so I decided water was the way to go (just to be clear you should never let a baby play with water unsupervised). So I filled a shallow container with water and let him splash around in it. While Liam would have been content to play with water (it is the perfect sensory material) I felt like adding a little something more. Liam loves chew toys. His favorite right now are his teething bracelets. So I added my teething bracelets. They are beautiful, colorful, and deliciously chewy and fun for his little gums. Plus we now had a theme- CIRCLES! Liam happily played with this tub for a little over 20 minutes until I got distracted by my other two he grabbed the tub and dumped it over. He laughed hysterically thinking this was the best thing ever. What a wonderful way to end our play session. And now my floors have one very clean spot. Next time I think I will put down a towel.

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Categories : Baby Play

By debra92691 · Comments (0)

Monday, April 29th, 2013

I went to a craft store by my house and saw they were selling scented bubbles. I immediately put it on my list of things to make and then sadly forgot about it…until now. The kids have had the tummy flu and are still battling it which means we have been home and looking for things to do. I knew I wanted to do something easy that would keep them busy and enjoying some time outside. Cue the amazing and oh so pretty scented bubbles.

First check out my post on Bubble Recipes I have five fantastic recipes there. All of them can be adapted to add scent. Making your own bubble wands out of pipe cleaners is just extra credit.

So here it is super simple. I added a few drops between 5-10 of essential oil or extract add more or less depending on the strength of the scent you want. That’s it. I added food coloring to just to make them look a little different liquid watercolors would have worked as well.

Looking to make it even more simple. Buy your bubbles and just add some essential oil or extract to your store bought bubbles.

Another easy way to add scent if you don’t want to go the essential oil/ extract route is to buy scented dish soap when making your bubbles.

I am going to try making bubbles with kool-aid as well to see how that goes. I figure making a simple syrup with the kool-aid will keep it from separating. I will see and update this post later.

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Categories : bubbles, Outside Play, Sensory Play

By debra92691 · Comments (4)

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

Only use Gatorade or G2 bottles for the sensory bottles they are a heavier plastic so they hold up better and keep a unison look so everything looks good. They come in different sizes you can find smaller ones for small hands if you need to.

Make sure to ALWAYS seal your bottles securely! I cannot emphasize this enough. Unless you want your bottle opened and the contents poured out. SEAL IT… with glue. Duct tape can be peeled off by a determined kiddo. Glue is much harder for them to open up.

I have been wanting to make a Layered Density Discovery Bottle ever since I first saw one from Steve Spangler. I am so glad I finally made one. I actually had everything I needed right at home and you may too.
We did not measure we simply poured each liquid on top of the next.

Here is the order in which we poured.

First pour in…
1. Honey
2. Corn Syrup
3. Dawn Dish Soap
4. Colored (or not) Water
5. Vegetable Oil
6. We poured in rubbing alcohol it combined with the vegetable oil and even though it has been several days it has not separated.
7. Lamp oil

Next time I make this bottle I am going to leave out the rubbing alcohol.

For a list of ALL my amazing DISCOVERY BOTTLE IDEAS click the link or the image below

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Categories : Discovery Bottles, Science Bottles

By debra92691 · Comments (4)

Friday, April 26th, 2013

For this project you will need the following:
Ice cube tray
oil
water
Food coloring or liquid water colors
Jar

Last year I did a project with the kids called color explosion using food coloring oil and water. I thought it would be fun to revisit it changing it just a little bit. The outcome was fantastic!
I actually froze some lamp oil as well for our project. It did not turn out as well as I had hoped so I would advise against it. It adds unnecessary complications and does not add very much to the project.

This project was a lot of fun it was very cool to see how the ice melted down and to watch the droplets of color at the bottom of the jar.

Mikey loved perdicting which color would melt next

We talked about why the ice water would melt and fall down and about the density of water and oil. We also talked about the density of the lamp oil which unlike the water melted up instead of down.

The beautiful colors were mesmerizing it was really a very pretty project as well as being educational

This was a lot of fun and we will definitely be doing this project again. It was fun, easy, and pretty cheap. Plus we already everything we needed at home.