Sunday, July 29, 2012

ABC's of Summer-letters I, J, K, L, M, N,skip O, P, & Q!

We had an absolute blast playing with cousins at the cabin for 2 days. We were having so much fun that I did not even get a picture.

This counts for all the letters listed because we went to Lava Hot Springs to Que and Lu's Steele Away. We got to hang out with most of our cousins (we missed Taylor, Kade and Caleb.) Jaxon, Kelsey, Maddy, Connor, Mikaela, Aubrie, Hannah, Emma, Josie, Cooper, Meg, Roxy, Camilla, Que, Halli, Ella, Cougar, Phoenix, and Everest. We also hung out with lots of Aunts and Uncles (we missed Darvell, Tandi, Pam, Mike and Mark.) Gayla, Matt, Carrie, Todd, Tiffany, Jacob, and Kristi. We really missed Grandma and Grandpa and look forward to them joining us next year. (They are serving a mission at Martin's Cove.)

We played on the slide, on the four-wheelers, on the ranger, in the dirt, and in the paddle boats at the pond.

We made some homemade ice cream a few days before we went to the cabin and again I forgot to get pictures!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Craft Camp - Apples!

Apples, Apples, Apples Everywhere!
We got to paint at craft camp again today. (The kids really do love painting!)

All set and ready for the kids to start painting. The blocks are made from a 2 x 4 and I just had my husband cut them into 6 inch lenghths.

This is the cute apple block that we made.
I did not have a pattern for the leaf, the stem, and the hands so I just made up my own. I used craft foam and just hot glued them right to the block after it had dried.

As usual, when painting it is very important to wear your apron!

After everyone finished painting, we played "Apple Picking" Each player (2-3) chooses a color pom-pom (yellow, green or red) and then the youngest player rolls the die and places that many pom-poms on the mat. The next player rolls and places that many of his color on the mat. When the mat is full, each player takes their color pom-poms off the mat and counts them. The player with the most pom-poms, wins.
They really had fun playing this game!

How Do Apples Grow?
We read "How do apples grow?" by Betsy Maestro. This was a very informational book and I had to skip over a few parts because it was way too mature for some of the kids. Good book though. Fun information about apples.

We had apples for snack. They loved it! Some wanted it cut and cored and others were happy just eating the apple whole.

At the very end of our time we put an apple puzzle together. In order to choose a puzzle piece, each child had to tell me something new that they had learned about apples. It was interesting to hear their comments.
She is so pleased with her work. (She had a little help)

Friday, July 20, 2012

ABC's of Summer-letter H!

We went to Hyrum Dam to play in the H2O.

We rented a few tubes for a couple hours and the kids love it.

They also let us borrow a few life jackets. I think the water was a little cold at first, but then got warmer. It took Gracie a little longer to get used to it than it did the others.


Maddy was such a great helper in the water.


She absolutely loved her new life jacket. Thanks Hilary!

Two of the tubes we rented were like little rafts. They had a net that went across the bottom so Gracie just sat in it while Maddy pulled her all over.



Alex loved just walking and swimming in the water with his life jacket. He didn't play with the tubes as much as the others did.

We invited our neighbors to go with us and I think they all had fun.



Kelsey was a great helper on the beach. It was perfect to just set up the shade canopy and there was just enough shade for a few camp chairs and the stroller. Perfect!

We played in the sand with our Hands.


Hilary brought her raft and rowed it around for awhile with a few of the kids in it.

Alex and Daisy played pretty well together.


Even Samuel got in on some of the fun.



We prepared a little video for the grandmas. She really doesn't give pretend kisses. She gives raspberries instead.


Trying to dry off in the tube before I let them get into the van.




Gracie was sitting on the edge of the tube with Benjamin and when he stood up she fell in, upside down! Silly girl!!



Samuel with his Hats


Gracie and her new Hat



Alex loves this type of Hat because it is just like the kind that Grandpa Beddes wears.



Benjamin was just a little grumpy because he was not ready to leave the water.


We got to hang out with our cousins, Kelsey and Maddy Hunt.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Craft Camp - Alien Space Ship!

This week we were painting again so all the kids came in and put on their aprons so that they could get started. They each got to choose their paint color for the space ship and for the alien.

After we painted we played with the magnet pages (A is for Astronaut, M is for Moon, and S is for Spaceship.) I got the pages here: http://www.makinglearningfun.com/ and we used brown and white rocks (moon rocks) to fill in the circles on the pages.

We read "Me and My Place in Space" by Joan Sweeney.

Product Details

We put the planets on the orbits. (I made the background out of grey felt and then I painted (with puff paints) 3 green ovals for the orbits. I cut the planets out of different colors of felt and put velcro on the back.
After we put all the planets on, we threw "comets" at it like a target. Points went like this: Planet = 20, Orbit = 10, and Outer Space = 5.

For the comets, I got some little plastic balls from the Dollar Tree and I put strips of velcro on them so that they would stick when they hit the felt. The kids loved this game!


Then we rolled a dice to "Build a Rocket"


Here is the finished product. An Alien with a spaceship!

They all turned out so different.


Benjamin drew a happy face on one side and...

a grumpy, mean face on the other side.
If you want to make your own, here are the instructions:

ALIEN SPACESHIP
Materials Needed:
2- two inch terra cotta saucers
1- wooden doll peg
3- corks
6- rhinestones
paint
paintbrush
hot glue

Photo: Craft Camp next week (July 19th.)  We will be learning about space, astronauts, and aliens. :)  Leave a message here to sign up your child or for more info.

Directions:
Glue the two pots together (like shown above) with hot glue, allow to cool.
Paint color of your choosing (may need 2 coats).
Paint doll peg (Alien) the color of your choosing.
Paint corks black.
Allow for all painted items to dry.
Glue the 3 corks to the bottom.
Glue the alien to the top.
Decorate with rhinestones.


Other sites with space themed activities: