Tips & Tricks to Rock the Spray Park with Kids

We have so many favorite activities on our Summer Bucket List! Cooling down at a spray park is definitely one of our most favorite things to do in the Summer!

Heading to a local spray park is such fun and simple activity!  As a mom with 4+ kids with me at all times, I like simple. My only challenge is keeping Liam out of the maintenance building! Apparently, he just wants to help the man who maintains the pH balance and water flow!

After some trial and error, I discovered several ways to make an afternoon at the spray park with multiple kids run smoothly!

1. Pack wisely. If you will be spending several hours at the spray park, you will need these essentials:

• Sunscreen
• Towels
• A full change of clothes for each child
• Reusable wet bags and a mesh laundry bag
• Drinks and snacks
• Napkins and wipes
• Picnic blanket
• Sunglasses/hats/flip-flops
• Chairs/Beach umbrella
• First Aid Kit (you'll need it at some point)
• Large tote to hold everything

2. Pick the perfect spot. If you can snag a spot in the shade, that's perfect. I finally learned to put a beach umbrella in the car, though, because those spots are usually taken! Pick a spot near the water area with a clear view.

3. If you have a baby or a toddler, take a stroller. It's no fun trying to set up your spot or pack up to leave with a little one running away from you the entire time! Plus, sometimes you just need a break!

4. Take more drinks than you think you'll need. Trust me on this one! Put those drinks in a cooler, add some ice packs, then toss in some snacks that need to stay cool.

5. Pack snacks that won't melt in the sun. I learned my lesson with this one! Thank goodness they could rinse off because what a mess!

6. Take along some inexpensive beach pails. And LABEL THEM! For some reason, the kids love using these to play in the water and other kids always grab them. No beach pails? Don't worry! An empty water bottle does the trick!

7. Reapply sunscreen every hour. Even better, purchase swimwear with UV protection. I absolutely love SwimZip!

{Liam's Rash Guard & Trunks}

8. Make sure each kid has a friend. Playdates at the spray park are the best!

9. Keep a few small outdoor toys in your car so you can pull them out if one of the kids get bored. I prefer a ball, bubbles, a few small cars and sidewalk chalk.  Somebody always gets bored!

10. When it's time to leave and the kids change out of their suits, zip the suits into a reusable wet bag. Gather up the towels and picnic blanket and toss everything into a mesh laundry bag. It can go straight into the laundry room when you get home! I like easy cleanup!

One of MY favorite things about going to the spray park is that the kids burn off all their energy! The drive home is usually silent and the kids often doze off. Parenting win!

I always like to hear new ideas, so what are your favorite tips and tricks to make a trip to the spray park run smoothly?

Let's Connect!

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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?

LET'S CONNECT!

TWITTER // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // BLOGLOVIN // GOOGLE+ // PINTEREST   

Linking up for Tuesday Talk.

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!

TWITTER // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // BLOGLOVIN // GOOGLE+ // PINTEREST   

Linking up for Tuesday Talk.

Splashing Around

One of our favorite summer activities is going to a nearby spray park.  It's free and the kids always have a great time! That's a win for me!

A few weeks ago, we gathered with our friends for an afternoon of fun at the spray park. It was the same group we went with last year.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch before the kids ran off to play.



After a few minutes of running around, they were finally ready to cool down on the splash pad!





This was Liam's first trip to the spray park.  Lexie slowly eased him into it!  She's a great big sister!



 

Dom happily took over so Lexie could play.  I love our friends' kids.  They are like family, and happily step up to help with the younger kids!







After that, the protective big brother took Liam!

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Of course, he thought Liam was getting cold, and had to wrap him up in a robe.



Lexie soon followed.



She told me, "I should have brought a Junie B. Jones book!"  She settled for coloring.



Lily, however, had other plans.  She always does!




The little girls kept busy.  They are so cute together!





Speaking of cute...



Violet, Amelia, and Liam are the sweetest!!! They had mixed emotions about being at the spray park!







Lily decided she was done with the spray park, and joined Tracy's family for some snacks.





The rest of us decided that was a good idea!  We all sat on one blanket and chatted while the kids played at the adjacent playground. By the time they were tired and came back to us, we were all dry. It was a great way to end the afternoon!



I can't wait to see this crew in action next year.  The babies are going to be on the move!!!

Yet again, we had a great afternoon with our friends at the spray park.  We can't wait to go back!



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