Beach Themed Kids Activities - Camp Mom Week 10

 

Happy Tuesday, my friends! I can't believe it, but this is officially our final week of Camp Mom. When I came up with the idea I never expected to make it through the entire Summer, but we made it 10 weeks! 50 incredibly fun kids activities are now documented on my blog!

It was a LOT of work, but such a great experience. Lexie keeps telling me that I'm the coolest mom ever because I did so many fun things with them this Summer. She's on the verge of the tween years and being annoyed by me, so all that hard work and dedication to our Summer project was well worth it!

Our final week of Camp Mom was definitely our favorite. We decided to have a week full of beach themed activities to prepare us for our beach vacation in a few days.  Trust me when I say that the activities this week are the coolest!

 Here's a recap of our final week of Camp Mom kids activities: 

 

Jellyfish in a Jar - Camp Mom Day 46 

 

My mom posted this activity on my Facebook wall years ago but we never got the chance to try it. I knew it would be perfect for our beach theme!

Supplies:

• Empty Water Bottle with the label removed (I like Voss water bottles)
• Water
• Food Coloring
• Scissors and Thread
• Clear Bread Storage Bags (a fold top sandwich bag would work for a smaller version)

Directions:

1.  Fill the empty water bottle with water. 
2. Add a drop of blue food coloring and shake to disperse.
3. Grab the sandwich bag and make a jellyfish head by bunching the closed end together. (It should look like a ghost.) 
4. Tie a thread loosely around the "neck." The hole needs to remain slightly open right now so you can fill it with a little bit of water and air.
5. Make tentacles by trimming the end of the bag with the scissors. You can also trim the bottom a bit so it fits inside the water bottle.
6. Fill the head half full with water, blow in some air and close the hole tightly with the thread.
7. Drop your jellyfish into the water bottle, seal the lid tightly and watch it float around as you flip and turn the bottle.

The end result is really cool!

Puffy Paint Sand Castles - Camp Mom Day 47 

This craft is very similar to the puffy paint ice cream cones we made a few weeks ago. The kids love puffy paint so much that we had to do it again with a beach twist!

Supplies:

• Construction Paper
• White School Glue (4 oz)
• Shaving Cream
• Sand
• Paint Brushes
• Shells

 Directions:

1. Empty the glue into a bowl, squirt in an equal amount of shaving cream and blend together. 
2. Start pouring in sand by the handful until you get the desired consistency. We used a lot! 
3. Paint a sandcastle onto the construction paper. Make sure to use a thick layer of sandy puffy paint!
4. Decorate the sand castle with shells by pressing them gently into the puffy paint. 
5. Lay flat to dry.

Puffy paint is always a hit with my kids and they loved this beach-themed project!

Under the Sea Graham Crackers - Camp Mom Day 48 

 

I planned this activity back in the Spring and it must be a popular idea! Lily went to a birthday party recently and received a similar one as a favor. She ate it before her siblings could see it, so they still had fun making this snack!

Supplies:

• Graham Crackers
• Blue Frosting
• Baby Goldfish
• Nerds

Directions:

1. Spread a thick layer of blue frosting on a graham cracker.  
2. Sprinkle a handful of Nerds on the bottom.
3. Decorate with Baby Goldfish (or Swedish Fish).

This was an easy snack to make and all of my kids loved it!

Sand Slime - Camp Mom Day 49 

Our slime recipe is very quick and easy to make. We wanted to see what happened when we added sand to it!

Supplies:

• 1/2 tsp Borax 
• 1/2 cup Water
• 4 oz white glue
• Two bowls and a spoon to mix
• Sand

Directions:

1. Mix 1/2 tsp Borax (found in the laundry aisle) in 1/2 cup warm water. 
2. Empty bottle of glue into separate bowl. 
3. Pour Borax mixture into glue and begin to knead the slime.
4. Add the sand by the handful as you knead the slime in the borax solution. Repeat until you get the desired texture.

It turned out to be a neat hybrid of slime and dough. The kids thought it felt like textured Flubber!

DIY Aqua Sand - Camp Mom Day 50

This activity was voted the most favorite in Camp Mom history!  I actually agree with my kids. It was really neat to watch!

Supplies:

•  Sand (I bought colored sand from Dollar Tree)
• Large Container
• Scotch Guard Fabric Protector
• Cups
• Foil and large freezer bags
• Funnel

 

Directions:

1.  Put individual sheets of aluminum foil down on a large piece of cardboard. 
2. Dump each color of sand into large freezer bags.
3. In a very well-ventilated area, with your nose and mouth covered, spray the Scotch Guard into the freezer bag until the sand is saturated.  Zip the bag shut and shake to disperse.
4. Sprinkle the sand into a thin layer on one sheet of foil and allow to dry overnight. 
5. After it dries, dump the sand into small cups. 
6. Fill a large container with warm water.
7. Hold a funnel over the top of the container, and pour each color of sand through the funnel and into the container. 
8. Continue with each color and try to make designs along the way!

 

The best thing about DIY Aqua Sand is that you can use it over and over again! Simply drain the water out of the container and store the sand. When the aqua sand stops repelling water, refresh it with the Scotch Guard and allow to dry overnight again.

This activity was so much fun!

Camp Mom was a HUGE success! We're really sad to see it end. My kids had a blast with all of these kids activities and they made some great memories along the way!

Thank you SO much for following along with us! I hope you were able to try out some of these kids activities. What was your favorite kids activity from Camp Mom?

You might also enjoy the kids activities included in these posts:

Camp Mom Week One
Camp Mom Week Two
Camp Mom Week Three
Camp Mom Week Four 
Camp Mom Week Five 
Camp Mom Week Six 
Camp Mom Week Seven 
Camp Mom Week Eight
Camp Mom Week Nine 

Let's Be Friends!

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There's Something Fishy About Those Pinterest Pins - Camp Mom Week 7

Happy Tuesday! 

Can you believe it's already the last week of July? I actually saw first day of school pictures in my Facebook feed today. WHAT?!? That just seems way too early. We still have one month of Summer break left and we have so much planned! I know that time is going to pass by so quickly, though.

This past week was a blur. The end of last week wasn't the best and I had 4 big projects due in a 24 hour time period. My entire weekend was spent working, with the exception of going out to dinner with my husband for his birthday. And today? Let's not go there! I'm just now sitting down and it's almost 2 AM!

Although the kids enjoyed this week's Camp Mom activities, some of them were essentially a Pinterest fail. This was the first week I relied on Pinterest for more than one activity. Lexie really wanted to do a fish theme this week and she chose a few while browsing Pinterest. Well. Even the fails need to be shared, right? Even though they weren't quite what we expected, the activities were definitely fun!

For "Fish Week" we made a foil fish craft, created sensory bottle aquariums (Pinterest Fail), whipped up a Jello Aquarium recipe (Pinterest Fail) and made fish slime (Semi-Pinterest Fail). I'm learning that it's best to just alter some of our favorite activities instead of relying on Pinterest! For our "field trip" we planned to go to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, but it was way too hot outside. We changed our plans at the last minute and headed to the spray park instead!

Here's a recap of all the fish-themed Kids Activities we did this week:

Fish Slime - Camp Mom Day 31

SUPPLIES:

• 1 Bottle Blue Glitter Glue
• Borax
• Water
• Bowl and Spoon for Mixing
• Clear Bag
• Rubber Band
• Ribbon
• Plastic Fish

FISH SLIME RECIPE:

1. Mix 1 tsp Borax into 1 cup warm water.
2. Empty glitter glue into a bowl, add 1 tbsp warm water and mix.
3. Slowly add Borax mixture to the glue mixture while stirring.
4. Form slime into a ball and press a fish into the front.
5. Slide slime into clear bag, tie with a rubber band and embellish with a ribbon.

We made the slime according to the Pinterest recipe, but it turned out much too dark.  We tried it again using our slime recipe and it was a bit lighter, but still wasn't anything like the pictures on Pinterest. There's simply no way to see the fish if you put it IN the glitter slime, so we just pressed it into the front of the slime before sliding it into the bag!  Although it wasn't what I expected it to look like, it was still very cute and my girls loved it!

Foil Fish Craft - Camp Mom Day 32

SUPPLIES:

• Cardboard
• Aluminum Foil
• Sharpies

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Draw a fish shape onto a piece of cardboard and cut it out.
2. Cover the cardboard fish shape in a sheet of foil. 
3. Give the kids some sharpies and let them decorate their fish!

The foil fish craft is just a version of other foil crafts my kids have made before. It's really simple and doesn't require much preparation or assistance!

Sensory Bottle Aquariums - Camp Mom Day 33

SUPPLIES:

• Water Bottles with a large opening (I bought Voss water.)
• Plastic fish and sea creatures and shells
• Sand
• Water 
• Blue food coloring 

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Add about 1-2 inches of sand to the bottom of the bottle. 
2. Fill the bottle with warm water, add a drop of blue food coloring and shake.
3. Drop plastic fish and sea creatures into the bottle.
4. Seal the lid very tightly!

The sensory aquarium bottles didn't look anything like how they looked on Pinterest but the kids (especially Liam) loved shaking them and watching the sea creatures and sand swirl around. I think I'm going to have the kids make these again. We're going to skip the sand and just use blue hair gel so the sea creatures "float" better!

Jello Aquariums - Camp Mom Day 34

SUPPLIES:

• 2 small boxes blue Jello
• Swedish Fish
• Nerds
• Clear Cups 

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Cover the bottom of a clear cup with a thin layer of Nerds.
2. Prepare Jello as directed and allow to cool to room temperature. 
3. Fill the cups with Jello and refrigerate. 
4. After about an hour, carefully push the Swedish Fish into the Jello.
5. Allow to set for 4 more hours.

Okay. I'm going to be completely honest. Out of all the activities this one was the worst in Camp Mom history! Even though the Nerds looked pretty at first, the liquid made the Nerds start to melt and lose their color. The Jello was too dark and the Swedish Fish could barely be seen. I think the finished product looked just like swamp water. And remember those melted nerds? They made the Jello taste sour. No thank you!

Liam, however seemed to enjoy it. He had some after a meal of Spaghetti. By the time he was done he looked like a Zombie who devoured a Smurf.

My advice? Just make a cup of Jello and enjoy! Toss a few Swedish Fish on top if you're feeling inspired!  Just keeping it real...

Pinterest FAIL.

Spray Park - Camp Mom Day 35

 

Sometimes a last minute change in plans works out well. The spray park was a much cooler option than the zoo on a 95 degree day! Plus, it was even better with friends!

Here's to better luck next week!

Coming up next week:

• Banana Pops Recipe
• Sponge Bomb Battle
• "Field Trip"
• Sand Foam
• Window Garden Craft

You might also like the kids activities in these posts:

Camp Mom Week One
Camp Mom Week Two
Camp Mom Week Three
Camp Mom Week Four 
Camp Mom Week Five 
Camp Mom Week Six

Have you had a Pinterest Fail lately?

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Kids Activities: Camp Mom Week 6

When I started coming up with ideas for my Camp Mom Summer project, I honestly didn't think we would be able to complete more than one full week of kids activities.  Surprisingly, we managed to complete 6 weeks already and my kids are loving it!

There were so many fun kids activities this week and my kids declared it the best week of Camp Mom so far! The girls whipped up their own Kool-Aid lipgloss, we beat the heat with a play date at the spray park, Lexie created a vanilla mallowreos recipe (FYI-she named them!), we set up our own DIY backyard splash pad and the kids made adorable puffy paintings.  It really was a fun week!

We did have one fail, though!  We originally put a backyard foil river activity on our schedule and ended up replacing it after a fail of epic proportions.  Even heavy duty aluminum foil didn't hold up. After 3 incredibly frustrating tries, we gave up and opted for a DIY backyard splash pad, instead. That was MUCH more fun!

Here's a quick recap of the kids activities we did for Camp Mom Week 6 (Recipes and Instructions included): 

Kool-Aid Lipgloss {Camp Mom Day 26}

My girls are a bit obsessed with lipgloss. They definitely get it from me! Lexie has been asking to make her own lipgloss for months, so we bought a few supplies and we finally completed this easy project!

Supply List:

• Small cosmetic jars (found in the travel section)

• Large jar of Vaseline

• Packets of Kool-Aid

• Honey

• Bowls and spoons for mixing

Instructions:

1. Divide the amount of Vaseline you will need to fill your jars between 2-4 bowls.

2. Empty a Kool-Aid packet into each bowl.

3. Add a few drops of honey (for flavor) to each bowl. 

4. Mix thoroughly.

5. Carefully spoon the mixture into each jar.

 

This was a quick and easy project that the girls were able to complete on their own. The jars are reusable so they will be able to make another batch and refill their jars in a few weeks!

Spray Park {Camp Mom Day 27}

 

When the weather heats up, head to a local spray park! There's a great one about 25 minutes away from our house and it's free. We love to meet our friends at the spray park for play dates! 

We had a great time at the spray park, but I'm going to save all those pictures for another post!

DIY Backyard Splash Pad {Camp Mom Day 28}

 

This was a really simple idea that turned out to be a lot of fun! My kids were occupied for hours!

Supplies:

• Large Tarp

• Baby Pool

• Bubble Bath 

• Slide

• Sprinkler

• Water Table

• Sponge Bombs

• Boogie Boards

No instructions needed! Just put down a large tarp in your backyard, gather up your outdoor water toys (pool, sprinkler, water table, etc) and set them up on or around the tarp! Make sure you place the sprinkler in the middle because that's what turns the tarp into a giant slip and slide! We opted to place the tarp next to the slide, so we could put the baby pool full of bubbles and balls at the bottom of the slide. 

 

 It was a great way to spend a Summer day!

 

Vanilla Mallowreos {Camp Mom Day 29}

 

 

 

Lexie loves to bake and she's always concocting simple no-bake recipes on her own! When she goes grocery shopping with me she always picks up a few extras for her concoctions. She came up with an idea for a sandwich cookie using vanilla wafers and marshmallow fluff and it actually tasted really good!  She lovingly dubbed this recipe Vanilla Malloweos, because she said it tastes like a vanilla wafer version of golden Oreos!

Ingredients: 

• Vanilla Wafers

• Marshmallow Fluff 

• Rainbow Sprinkles

 

Directions:

1. Place a glob of marshmallow fluff on the bottom of a vanilla wafer. 

2. Place another vanilla wafer on top to make a sandwich.

3. Empty the sprinkles onto a plate and gently roll the outside of the vanilla wafer sandwich cookies in the sprinkles.

Enjoy! 

 

Mom Confession: I'm secretly hoping that Lexie takes over the cooking one day! 

 

Puffy Paint Ice Cream Cones {Camp Mom Day 30}

 

 

My kids are huge fans of puffy paint! It's such a simple recipe that leaves behind the softest texture after it dries. Painting with Puffy Paint is a fun sensory experience!

Supplies:

• Construction Paper

• Cones cut out of brown construction paper

• Large bottle of white school glue

• Can of white shaving cream

• Food Coloring

• Sprinkles 

• Bowls and Paintbrushes

 

Directions: 

1. Mix equal parts glue and shaving cream in the bowls. 

2. Add drops of food coloring to each bowl and mix.

3. Glue the brown construction paper cone onto the sheet of construction paper. 

4. Paint the ice cream on top of the cone.

5. Shake sprinkles all over the puffy paint.

6. Dry overnight.

 

 

 

A sure sign that kids love this activity? My too-cool tween actually joined in!

That, my friends, is how we rocked Camp Mom this week!


 Coming up next week:

• Golfish Bag Slime

• Jello Cup Aquariums

• Field Trip

• Aquarium Sensory Bottles

• Foil Fish Craft

You might also like the kids activities in these posts:

Camp Mom Week One
Camp Mom Week Two
Camp Mom Week Three
Camp Mom Week Four 
Camp Mom Week Five

What activities are you doing with your kids this Summer?

LET'S CONNECT!

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Linking up for Tuesday Talk.

Camp Mom: MORE Summer Activities for Kids

Can you believe that we're almost halfway through July already? What is going on?!? Summer needs to slow down NOW.

Camp Mom was a bit lackluster this past week thanks to me getting sick on the 4th of July. I ended up canceling most of our plans and we just stayed home. I did my best to keep up with all of our activities, but we did have to cancel the big outing that was on the schedule. I had a fever and a cold which was followed by Lexie, a kid who NEVER gets sick, getting a UTI. We were a memorable pair at Urgent Care on Saturday afternoon. She was in a lot of pain and I was practically delirious from a fever.  The good news? Lexie is feeling much better after starting antibiotics and my fever finally broke after 6 long days!

Despite the illness and Lexie and Lily's sadness over their cousin being in Florida all week instead of with us, we still managed to have some fun! Well...they did. I just focused on staying upright!

Here's what we did for Camp Mom Week Five:

Camp Mom Day 21: Cloud Dough

My kids love to make Cloud Dough! It's a simple recipe that we have been making since Dylan was a toddler! (MOM TIP: Buy an under the bed storage container. It makes a perfect sensory bin and you can put the lid on it when they are done playing!)

You can cut the recipe to make a smaller amount or double it to make more. I've found that 12 cups flour mixed with 1 1/2 cups baby oil works well for us!  You can put the sensory bin on the floor or on a table. Toss in some sand toys (or pretty much anything) and let them play!

They somehow always end up IN the sensory bin!

Each batch usually lasts us a few weeks. Some extra perks to playing with Cloud Dough? It smells amazing (lavender is our favorite baby oil scent) and it helps moisturize dry hands!

Camp Mom Day 22: Shaving Cream Slide

Instead of our outing, we opted for this at-home activity. Everybody was sending me pictures of the shaving cream slide, so I figured it was a good time to try it. The kids did have a lot of fun!

I didn't make it a rainbow slide because I figured the shaving cream would be gone in no time (I was right), but I did add a little baby pool to the bottom of the slide!

3 cans of shaving cream provided over an hour of entertainment!

Camp Mom Day 23: Water Relay

This is a simple game for a group of kids! Line them up tallest to shortest and hand them each a cup. Fill the first cup with water. They have to reach up and over their heads and pour the cup of water into the cup the person behind them is holding without looking. The goal is to have the majority of the water reach the last cup in line!

They played this game several times and it always ended in laughter!

Camp Mom Day 24: Sand Pail Pudding

The girls and I made this yummy dessert together!

Ingredients:

• 2 small packages of vanilla pudding
• 2 3/4 cups milk
• 1 large container of Cool Whip
• 8 oz of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 stick of butter, softened
• 1 box of vanilla wafers, crushed
• 6 Oreos, crushed

 Directions:

1. Crush the vanilla wafers and the Oreos and mix them together. Set aside. 
2. Mix the pudding and the milk. Set aside.
3. Mix 12 oz softened Cool Whip,  8 oz softened cream cheese and the 1/2 stick softened butter together.
4. Mix the pudding mixture and the Cool Whip mixture together.
5. Place a thin layer of "sand" (vanilla wafer and Oreo mix) on the bottom of a beach pail.  Add a think layer of the pudding/Cool Whip Mixture. Add a think layer of sand. Add a thin layer of the leftover Cool Whip. Add a think layer of sand. Repeat until everything is used. Top with a layer of "sand."
6. Use the sand shovel to serve.

My kids loved it and we had it again after dinner!

Camp Mom Day 25: Fingerprint Flowers Craft

This is a very easy craft that even young kids can do!

Items Needed:

• Washable Paint
• Green Marker
• Black Marker
• Paintbrush
• White Paper

Directions:

1. Have your child make black dots on the paper for the center of the flowers.
2. Dip a finger in the paint and have your child make fingerprints around the circumference of the black dots. 
3. Use the green marker to draw stems or let them paint the stems with a paintbrush and green paint.
4. Finger paint the blades of grass on the bottom of the picture.

Lily had so much fun making her fingerprint flower craft!

Lexie made her own version later with a few extra details. She informed me that painting with a brush is so much easier, but finger painting is therapeutic!

Camp Mom Week Five is a wrap! Somehow, despite the germs, we survived and still managed to have fun!

Coming up next week:

• Kool-Aid Lip Balm
• Trip to the Splash Pad
• Foil River
• Vanilla Wafer Sandwich Cookies
• Puffy Paint Craft

You might also like:

Camp Mom Week One
Camp Mom Week Two
Camp Mom Week Three
Camp Mom Week Four

How are you keeping busy this Summer?

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Linking up for Tuesday Talk.