Box Hockey!

Have your kids reached that part of summer vacation where everything is "boring" and "there's nothing to do?" We saw this homemade game at a graduation party this summer and I snapped a photo so I could figure out how to construct one for our house.

One quick trip to Lowe's and about $25 later, we had a solution that worked with standard wood sizes for minimal cutting.

Let's build a Box Hockey Court!

Supplies:

1 sheet of plywood (we used 1/2 inch)
4 2x4 boards
Wood screws
Drill
Jig Saw
2 wooden broom handles
1 hockey puck

 

Instructions:

The long sides of the game will use the 2x4 boards as-is, the short sides will be 4 ft long so you will need to cut one board in half, and the remaining center board will need to measure 44 1/2 inches.

Mark your goal notches on the short boards - 2 notches in the center board (equidistant from the center), and one centered notch for each end "goal".  The notches should measure about 2x4 inches.

Cut out notches using your jig saw.

Construct your simple frame using the 2x4's and wood screws, making sure to locate the notches at the bottom. 

Attach the bottom of the frame to the plywood with wood screws.

....Flip it and Play it!

How to Play Box Hockey

1. Place hockey puck on top of the center board. Each player's goal will be to their right, and they will attempt to score on their opponent to the left.

2. Players begin by tapping their sticks down on their sides, then tap them together in the center, 1, 2, 3!

3.  After the third tap, players try to be the first one to knock the puck off the center board and toward their opponent's goal.

4. Scramble to shoot the puck through your opponent's goal to score.

Water Balloon Sports!

Fill up some water balloons and let the kids use them in place of a ball for baseball, golf, lacrosse, hockey...it's fun!

Want some more fun summer ideas?  Here are a week's worth of ideas:

 Forever Sand Castles

 

Keepsake Necklace: 

 

Sand Faces:

Block Printing:

 Tiny Bow and Arrow:

Go Fishing!

Glow in the Dark Flag Football:

Next week I'll share some more ideas to keep you and your kids entertained this summer!

Chin People

Remember Chin People?

Stick eyes on your chin and photograph yourself upside down and you get a particularly strange little person!

Add a video camera and you can have hours of fun!

Presenting The Blob Men in concert, by Hope Studios Kids:

Tiny Tree Houses

I ripped a page from Family Fun Magazine over a year ago showing mini tree houses built in tree branches. I stashed it away for another day and just found it again last week.

I pulled out my supplies and my kids spent about 3 hours happily designing and constructing mini versions of their dream tree houses. I kept checking on them and couldn't believe the amount of time they dedicated to this project! 3 hours of no complaining about boredom, heat, snacks. It was heaven.

Tiny Tree House Project

Supplies:

Interesting branches (we started out on a walk in the woods)
Popsicle sticks
Random bits of wood (they sell bags of assorted wood pieces at Michael's Crafts)
Tongue depressors
Larger log or scrap wood for a base*
Drill
Wood glue
Hot glue
Small toys and figures

**We had some discs of wood cut from a fallen tree laying around the garage, but you could use a split log or any kind of scrap wood for a base.

Pull out that drill, girl! Use a drill bit around the same diameter as your branches to drill some holes.



This is a fake picture of an 8 year old "drilling". I let him hit the trigger for about a millisecond before jumping in screaming "Wait, wait, wait!"

Slide the branches into your base and wood glue them for strength. We're building trees, Sister! Show your muscles a little, you're tough!



We used hot glue to build our tree houses because it dries fast and clear and we could move right along without waiting for glue to dry. Waiting for glue to dry has sabotaged many fun projects...it's as fun as ... watching glue dry. Just be sure to supervise little guys - my 8 year old has a blister in the shape of a red hot chili pepper from errant hot glue that just jumped onto his leg during construction (that's his story and he's sticking to it).

Now, this is the most difficult part...step away Mama. Lay out their supplies then don't make a peep.



Let them think of their own ideas and just go with it. You will be amazed at what they come up with! Like feather beds:



X Games Forts:



Platforms and ladders:





Proud boys:


You can "girl them up" by adjusting some of the supplies. My boys ages 8-12 (almost 13) were all thoroughly entertained.

More Science!

We are leaving for vacation, so I put the kids to work! Here is another science project from my Boys.

Gather up some supplies:

A plate
Milk
Food coloring
Cotton swab
dish soap


Presenting the Hope Studios Players:



Find out why this reaction occurs HERE.

Fun Science Projects

Though I try to make the kids keep up with reading and math over the summer, sometimes it's fun to turn a fun project into a learning experience. It all started with Diet Coke and Mentos:

Then we branched out to see what other combinations of ordinary ingredients would cause a chemical reaction. Here are a few others to try with your now-empty Diet Coke bottle!

Elephant Toothpaste:

*An empty 20 oz soda bottle (or any tall skinny clear container)

*Hydrogen peroxide

*Active yeast

*Warm water

*Liquid dish soap

*Food coloring

Mix ~4 oz of hydrogen peroxide with ~2oz of liquid dish soap and a few drops of food coloring.

Add this mixture to the soda bottle and place it in the sink.

In a separate container, mix one packet of active yeast with warm water, still and let sit for ~ 5 minutes.

When you are ready, pour the yeast mixture into the soda bottle (a funnel might be helpful) and watch the reaction!

Then we started thinking about reactions we already knew of and tried to figure out how to change it. So, we came up with this:

*1 cup vinegar

*a few squirts of dish soap

*food coloring

*1/2 cup baking soda

Combine the vinegar, soap, and food coloring to your bottle.

Using a dry funnel, add the baking soda.

Now, hold onto that bottle because there is one more project we have for it. Stay tuned!

Summer Activity Prep

I am in the process of preparing my Summer Activity Stash this week. Thursday is my boys' last day of school (Whoo, hooo!) and I hate it when I have to run out to the store to execute a project when the "I'm Bored's" hit.

I like to collect all my project ideas and shop for everything at once and keep the supplies handy in a tote to grab whenever I need them. I'll be sharing projects as I go along this summer, but if you want to gather the same supplies so you are ready I'll pass on the shopping list I've compiled so far:

Diet Coke
Mentos
Sand
Plaster of Paris (2 bags)
shells
stones
feathers
string
yarn
flour
cornstarch
glitter
balloons
old CD's
dish soap lids
super glue
sun print paper (Oriental Trading Co.)
plastic garbage bags
contact paper
squirt bottles
acrylic paint
tempera paint
straws
card stock paper
long, thin wooden dowels
disposable cups and spoons
toilet paper rolls
bottle caps
empty water and soda bottles (I usually say "pop"!)
elastic beading cord
permanent markers
glycerin
food coloring
glue
cream of tartar
shallow cardboard boxes and misc. cardboard
small wood scraps

Happy almost summer break!

Building Forever Sand Castles

I plan for summer vacation all year by clipping fun projects from my Family Fun magazine and storing them for later, let's call it Family Fun Summer.

Making sand castles and playing with Play Doh has always appealed to my kids and when I saw this recipe for sand dough, I knew it would be a blast! If you've ever made cooked play dough, it is the same recipe using sand in place of flour.

Ingredients:

2 cups sand
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups hot water

(For my sanity, I prefer to pre-measure ingredients before beginning any cooking projects with my two younger kiddos.)



Mix dry ingredients in a saucepan, then add water. (Actually sitting on top of the counter to do so is totally optional.)



Stir until combined. (Fight with your brother because he got to stir for one millisecond longer than you.)

Place the pan over medium heat and stir until it begins to form a ball in the center of the pan. It will be difficult to stir and hold together well. (Scream at your mom to "Let ME do it!" when she tries to assist with the hard stirring in a hot pan part, because she doesn't have time for an emergency room run that day.)



Let it cool for a few minutes, (Ask repeatedly if it's cool yet. Ideally, you should ask this every 30 seconds.) Now it's time to build your sand castle!



The dough has a nice texture and dries to look just like sand! (Show daddy when he gets home, show the neighbor that stops by, yell the news to the mailman as he makes a delivery.)



**Tips: Let your pan soak to loosen the sandy clay from the sides and bottom. Do NOT rinse this down the drain! The sand will settle in the low areas of your pipes and could cause problems later. After soaking, use a spoon to scrap all the bits loose then dump it in the yard or flower bed.

Place a plastic tablecloth or place mats down for the kids to play on. This clay is abrasive and could scratch your table.

Give the kids a scrap piece of wood or cardboard to build the castles onto. They will cry if you attempt to move their beautiful castles to eat dinner and they fall apart.

Tomorrow will be YOUR chance to share a tutorial with ME! Come on back and I will try to round up a prize for your great ideas...see you then!

.

Keepsake Necklace - Tutorial

I have stalked admired blogger, Whimsy Love, for about 2 years now. She comes up with some really fantastic projects to do with her kids. Really. Fantastic. In fact, she is keeping a Summer Diary of all the fun activities she and her girls are doing during summer break. Once you get over your inferiority complex you will find yourself very inspired!

A project she shared last year has stuck in my head...it has stuck in my head for 10 whole months. Bug Catcher Necklaces! Now that my boys are home for summer break, it was the perfect project to kick off some more kid-friendly tutorials. A necklace to house your favorite bug or a special keepsake. (We all know how kids love to collect special treasures.) Let's do this thang!

Keepsake Necklace Tutorial

Supplies:

Prize capsule
Assorted beads
Beading cord
Thumb tack



Poke or drill a small hole in the center of the cap. Tie a bead in the center of your cord then feed both ends through the hole like this:



Fill the cord with beads. Be creative! Be colorful! Get crazy and put the soccer ball bead beside a sparkly pink one! Yeah.



Once you've filled your cord with beads, tie the loose ends so you can slide it over your head like a necklace.

Poke holes in the top of the capsule with a thumb tack so your little bug can breathe.



Now go on a little nature hunt for mosses, sticks, leaves, grasses you can use to build your buggy habitat. Oh, look for some bugs while you're at it! See our little centipede? He's cute and crawly, the perfect combination.



Wear your new buggy friend around town. You can be all..."Yeah, it's a bug. I know. Cool."



Let that little guy out after awhile, you don't want him to die!

Not into bugs? That's okay, this necklace is the perfect spot for lots of other special things...favorite rocks, special shells, or little toys:



Have a tutorial for me? A kid's project, a recipe, a magic method for getting grass stains out of baseball pants? Link up tomorrow for fun and prizes - Here's a button to get you started:



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Summer Schedule

I realized when I read Kimba today that I haven't kept my word about keeping you up on my summer kids activity schedule. Okay, really quickly here is our plan of attack for this week:

You already know the reading and workbook pages are finished each morning first then we move on to our "special" activities.

Art: City scape collage and Abstract Tree silhouettes

Science: Tasting without smelling (offer things with similar texture, like apples and potatoes to taste without seeing or smelling)

Gym: Bike ride/picnic at the park, Parachute games with the neighbor kids.

Have fun!