Cloud Dough #179

 Okay, this container was clearly not big enough.

Cloud dough is so soft and it smells good, too. All you need is:

8 c flour
1 c baby oil

It looks really disgusting until you get it all mixed in.
I let the kids use cups, cookie cutters, and sand toys. They had a good time with this texture.

#204 Make Your Own Slime

 This slime was so easy to make!

All you need is 1 1/2 c liquid starch (not found at H-E-B) but I have plenty to share with my local friends.
1 1/2 c clear glue
food coloring
glass bowls
paper towels

I made the mistake of not measuring the clear glue. I assumed 2 bottles equaled 1 1/2 c based on the blog where I found this. I added the liquid starch and it was not all absorbed by the glue. It didn't matter too much, I just mixed and mixed and then poured the excess starch out.

 Just mix the glue and starch and stir.

 Separate the gooey blob into several bowls and add a few drops of food coloring.

 No, my toddler does not always run around the house in a diaper. I didn't want him to spill on his jammies.

 Next, let the kids mash and mush away.

 It was pretty cool how the slime took the shape of the bowls.

 I let the kids mix the colors.

This really was a fun experiment that kept the kids engaged for quite awhile. My oldest put hers in a baggie. We will see how it is in the morning.

Don't foget to check out the rest of my summer bucket list for over 200 fun things to do with kids.

#97 and #122 Liquid/Spray Sidewalk Chalk

 The kids LOVED this. They quickly sprayed all their bottles empty and begged me to make more. That being said, I'll make way more than the original recipe next time. They eventaully sprayed the fence and their wooden swing set.

1 c cornstarch PER BOTTLE
1 c water PER BOTTLE
1-2 drops food coloring PER BOTTLE
spray bottles (buy from Dollar Tree or H-E-B for .99)

There are 2 ways you can mix this up. You can pour one c water in each bottle and use a funnel to pour the cornstarch in, or you can mix it all up in a large measuring cup and pour it in.
Shake and spray!

For over 200 more ideas of fun stuff to do with your kids, check out my summer bucket list.

Make Your Own Puffy Paint

cardboard
food coloring
Dixie Cups or other small containers
1 T self-rising flour
1 T salt
1 T water
1 drop food coloring
Cotton Swabs

1. Place 1 T flour in each cup.

2. Add 1 T salt.

3. Add 1 T water.



4. Add 1 drop of food coloring.



5. Stir.

You may want to make a white one as well.

6. Design your masterpiece. Then microwave for about 30 seconds.

The final product. You can't tell from the picture, but the paint really did puff up.

#203 Coffee Filter Art

 I first saw this idea on the blog "Mommy With Selective Memory." Hers are beautiful! I knew this would be great for my kids...only the paint in my dabbers was too thick. I can't tell you how disappointed I was.

 I did the rainbow one myself and the kids were doing the other ones. I stopped them and got out the food coloring.

 I don't really recommend this because the kids had to hold the coloring down on the filter for it to go through. My kids are small so sometimes there would be a mess on the table.

But they did turn out pretty. I still like the effect on the original blog.

For over 200 more fun ideas to do with kids, click on "Summer Bucket List" at the top of the page, under my blog title.

#205 Glue Painting

 Every year when school supplies go on sale I stock up. I had 8 bottles in my organizer that had been used so I levelled them off and added food coloring to make our glue paint. Each bottle was about 2/3 full and I added 5 drops of food coloring. That may have been too much, you could try 3 or 4. Then I shook...and I shook...and I shook.

 It's a good thing I didn't have more glue because I would have gotten into blending colors and there's just not enough room in our house for excess.

 I really thought that doing this on black paper would make the colors pop. It did, but when it dried, most of it was absorbed by the black...so use don't use black.My kids really love America's Got Talent, that's what Lauren made top, right.

If you make designs on wax paper, they become window clings. Just let them dry and peel them off carefully. To make them stick to the window, rub a little water on the back. Spencer (2) is learning to identify the letters in his name so I did this one as an example.

#174 Bead Suncatchers

All you need is some beads and small pans. I picked up the beads at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon. My pans came from our Easy Bake oven so they fit nicely into our toaster oven. Cook at 425 until melted. I cooked the first batch too long and boy did it stink up the house. I checked the 2nd batch after 5 minutes and they were just melted enough. You don't want them to start browning on the edges.

For over 200 more ideas of fun things to do with kids, click here.

New Sandbox

Stephen took a break from his schoolwork and some video work he needed to do to build this awesome sandbox. We first saw the idea on Pinterest, but it is a Home Depot plan. Since we have 4 kids, Stephen altered the plans to make it bigger. The base is roughly 7 1/2' x 8'. He made it to fit this corner of the yard by the house.

The materials cost $125, we used 20 bags of sand, at $3.50 each, in addition to the 4 or 5 from the old sandbox. The kids L-O-V-E it. Just by chance, the left 3/4 is in the shade in the morning and the right 3/4 are shaded in the evening. We had 3 friends over to play Friday night and it was just the right size.

And did I mention the seats fold and transform into a cover? AKA stage.