Ice, Ice, Baby!

Since S is learning about winter and animals in winter this in school, we had a resurgence of wintry play activities at home this week. And what is winter without a bit of ice? I'm not a fan of walking on it and even less so of driving on it, but indoors or outside, I love using ice for play, sensory exploration, art and science!

Ice has been a popular play material here in many seasons over the years. It is safe for play and exploration with all age groups and as such, we often repeat activities from year to year. I highly recommend this approach--you can always learn more and experience new things through repeated exposure and exploration. We kicked off the week with one of my favorite Table Time activities, watercolor painting on ice! I've done this one repeatedly with students and with both boys over the years and it is ALWAYS fun!

You'll need to freeze some blocks of ice in advance (I recommend plastic containers for this) and then simply add in a pallet of watercolor paints and a brush.

Look at this arctic blast from the past!

You can expand the experience with the addition of water or coarse/kosher salt. It is always incredible to observe colors mixing and moving through layers of ice and how they shift and evolve as it melts. S has never lost his fascination with creating black and brown! I, however, was amazed to see how the paint melted through the ice block this year and when I went to tend to cleaning it up, it was back to clear with a painty puddle left behind in the tray!

Y really got into the experience this year and favored using his pointer finger in the paint instead of a brush. He was so amazed at seeing water develop as the ice melted. "Water! Water!" he gleefully repeated again and again in amazement.


Well, if ever there were a time to prove that great minds think alike, this week would be a stellar example. Early in the week, a friend sent a link to this fun ice skating penguins activity from Messy Little Monster. By that evening, my freezer was stocked with tiny penguins trapped in blue ice cubes and I'm not sure whether the fact that my husband said nothing about this should make me feel self-assured or slightly alarmed.

Either way, the boys loved their ice skating penguins at our Table Time activity the next morning. Y is still completely amazed at how ice melts into water. I am so eager and excited to see his young, scientific mind emerge and develop! To set up your own ice skating penguins, you can fill an ice cube tray about 2/3 of the way with water (add food coloring if you wish) and add a small plastic penguin or other small animals/people to each section. You'll want to top off your tray with more water in sections that are still a bit shallow and leave your little critters upright and sticking out. My friend also suggested the idea to use paint in the ice cube tray as opposed to water and turn it into an art activity! I'd love to try this out in the future and cover the tabletop with foil as our skating rink/canvas.

Well, remember how I mentioned great minds think alike? The very same day we took our penguins ice skating in the morning, S got to excavate some more trapped penguins from within a giant brick of ice at school! His teachers set up this fabulous and creative excavation station using a large brick of ice and penguins, a hammer and some golf tees.

I'm not sure if that's some coarse/kosher salt I see in the background and perhaps in the small cup alongside of S--but experimenting with how different substances and settings affect ice is a great way to sprinkle on some science to your ice play!

In previous years of teaching, I've engaged my students in setting up their own ice experiment and exploration. I froze some animal counters in ice cube trays overnight and in the morning, they decided upon what we would use in and around the classroom to explore melting rates of ice into water with the addition of:

• coarse/kosher salt
• sugar
• sunlight from a window
• water

Ice is such a simple (and cheap) and unique material to explore and create with. Winter is a natural season to inspire ice play but don't forget the wonderful opportunities in warmer seasons to cool off on a hot day! We'll be freezing up some more icy fun here in the weeks to come so stay tuned and, as always...

Happy Playing!

Playing about Purim: Part 1

Purim is an inherently fun holiday to learn and play about! The excitement is building in our house as we sing songs, read books and play about Purim. Here's a peek at some of our favorite activities so far:




We've been busy making and hanging decorations, creating themed self-portraits, exploring math, science, building/engineering and more!

My little artist has had a lot of fun using the materials from his art center to create Purim themed decorations for our home. He's so proud to see them hanging up!

Royal Self Portraits
Dressing up in costume is a huge part of the Purim fun. The story itself has a theme of Kings, Queens and royalty, so we played on that theme a bit for this Invitation to Create a Royal Self Portrait. I provided a template I put together on my computer. In addition, I set out chalk pastels, a mirror and a crown he could wear, some construction paper crown cutouts, as well as plenty of shiny sequins and rhinestones for gluing on. Some of our Table Time activities fit into the "once and done" category, but this is one he went back to again and again throughout the day as he added and modified his royal self portrait.

Incorporating Shapes, Letters and Numbers...

The Purim story is full of hidden miracles and overall sneakiness. It's one of the reasons we wear costumes and eat a cookie with a hidden treat in the center. With creative planning, you can sneak core concepts like learning shapes, letters and numbers into just about any theme and make it a lot of fun!
Chinuch.org is a great online resource run for and by Jewish educators. There are loads of free lesson plans, materials, multi-media activities and printables available for all age and grade levels as well as for special education. I found this Purim Counting Book there and adapted it into a busy binder that can be used again and again. As my son uses the movable laminated parts (each page and part is prepared with Velcro and stored in a sheet protector), he learns about popular symbols of Purim while simultaneously developing early math skills like one-to-one-correspondence.

I sneak in some learning about letters, too. This week, we learned about the letter Kk with a King-themed letter craft that also helped us remember one of the core Purim story characters, King Achashverosh.
The month of March blew in with gusty winds and warm weather. It was the perfect time to review some shapes and our letter of the week with this kite craft. This puzzle-collage allows the artist to see how 4 triangles make the shape of a diamond.

We sang this fun song about kites as we learned about the letter Kk and welcomed the month of March. We also tied the incoming month to our Purim theme by making some fun paper plate lion and lamb masks as I taught my son that "March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb." There was a lot of roaring and baaaaaing after that!

"Roooooar!"

Paper plate lion and lamb masks to welcome March!

This theme is not without its STEM-based learning and play opportunities. Our warm weather made for a perfect day to take our play activities outside for some castle building with woodblocks and chalkboard blocks, plenty of chalk doodling and an ice castle treasure excavation activity adapted from this great blog post.

Ice Castle Treasure Excavation
We became archaeologists in this fun science exploration. The night before, I filled a castle shaped bucket with water and some Purim/treasure themed loose parts I had around the house (like plastic necklaces, bracelets and rings, plastic coins and magic wands and plastic goblets all collected from the party supply section of the Dollar Tree a few years ago). I did not have the patience to layer water and trinkets and wait for it to nearly freeze before adding more water and trinkets and waiting for it freeze. Since some toys floated and others sank to the bottom, it worked perfectly to just fill the bucket nearly to the top, add some food coloring and glitter, stick it in our deep freezer and call it good!

When it was time to begin our activity, my husband ran the bucket under hot water to loosen our castle. We set up in our water table outside, but you could do so indoors as well in a large basin or even the tub. I provided toy hammers and some paint brushes, a squeeze bottle of warm water and a dish of kosher salt since we explored ways to melt ice more quickly in a science experiment earlier this year. He decided to add the rest of his tool kit! And he really went to town with this. He loved squirting the water, pinching and sprinkling (and eventually dumping) the salt and trying his hand at hammering, brushing...even sawing! A few suggestions now that we are done--you may want to use safety goggles if your little ones are particularly vigorous archaeologists. We definitely had some flying ice chunks. And secondly, stick to dollar store treasures as you may experience some casualties in the process! We had a great time with this and he's already asked to do it again soon.

That's all for now! Happy Playing!

Mad Science Monday: Frosty the Snow Can

It's Mad Science Monday! Do you remember the fun of doodling and writing messages in a frosty window? When you were little did you ever wonder what caused frost and how it formed? Here's another adorable winter-themed experiment for your collection--and you probably have the very few items required to conduct it already in your kitchen. 

Frosty the Snow Can

You Will Need:

• an empty tin can
• ice cubes
• kosher salt/sea salt

Science teaches us so much about our environment and any time an experiment we do can also help the environment--even in a small way, I love to point that out. Recycling is one small way even little children can feel part of protecting their environment. If we had infinite space here, I'd probably have the world's largest collection of recycled containers, cardboard tubes, brown bags, empty bottles and cans. We merely don't have that space and so I aim to keep around the house only what I have an immediate use for. I do keep a small canvas crate full of recyclables and I always kept a recyclables bin in my classrooms as well. One of my (and my students') favorite activities to do were recycled process art days. I'd let them "empty the recycling bin," add in a few additional art and craft materials and have at it! So here's a great way to use that empty can--and if you want to give it one more go-around when you're through, it will make an adorable container for pens and pencils or markers.

Directions:

If you'd like before beginning, you or your little artists can draw a snowman or snowy scene on the outside of your tin can with permanent markers. You may wish to supervise younger artists with this and advise them to be extra careful since the ink will not wash off hands and clothes easily. To begin the experiment, put ice cubes in your can and then pour some salt in. The salt will speed up the experiment (much in the way that it speeds up ice melting outdoors--and you can explain that your junior scientists as well). After a few minutes you should see some frost forming on the outside of the can!

Your junior scientists will enjoy touching the frost on the outside of the can to see how cold and wet it is! Happy Mad Science Monday and, as always, happy playing!

Mad Science Monday: Ice, Ice, Baby!

I'm pretty sure over the last few years that I was the *only* teacher to look forward to Monday mornings all winter long. There's nothing like a great science experiment to keep you warm on the chilliest of winter days. And that is actually how my Mad Science Mondays were originally born! I grew up in upstate New York and nothing kept us indoors--but here in Virginia, two inches of snow are considered blizzard conditions. I'm still the teacher and the parent who gets outside NO MATTER WHAT if and when at all possible. Even if it takes 54 minutes to pile into snow gear and approximately 2.6 seconds before we must roll like giant overstuffed marshmallows back inside to de-layer and defrost. By January of my first year teaching full time here, my class needed something new to get us through the winter doldrums, and so Mad Science Mondays were born. To date, the greatest compliment I have received in my career--and maybe life--was that I reminded my boss of Mrs. Frizzle. We all have aspirations in life...
Science was explosive. It was messy. It was fun and educational and fascinating. My own son was still only 6 months old at the time he started being subjected to included in trying out my preschool science experiments and we still have fun with this now that he is my sole student. Here's a peek at one of my favorite science experiments and observations to do with ice. It's perfect for a winter theme and just as ideal to cool off with in the summer. It is not one of those instantaneously impressive experiments but it is a great way to encourage longer observation, critical thought and to introduce the ideas of making scientific predictions.
One of the aspects of science I most love is its ability to gently teach children (and adults) that being WRONG is OK! In science, we are encouraged to ask questions and have questions and to try and answer them when we can. We are encouraged to make "educated guesses" and to try again when we are incorrect--and maybe again and again after that. Many of the worlds greatest inventions and discoveries came from mistakes that worked. This experiment/observation is easy to set up and can be done with materials you likely already have at home.

The Arctic Melt
*The night before you plan to begin you will need to freeze a tray or two of water for ice cubes (if you do not already have a stock in your freezer). If you wish, you can plunk some plastic animals in your ice cube trays for an element of added whimsy as you wait and watch for the little trapped animals to be released!

You Will Need:
Ice cube trays
Water
Salt
Sugar
Access to a sunny window
Small plastic animals (optional)
4 Trays or baking pans to hold your experiment during the observation period

Explain to your junior scientist(s) that you want to see the fastest way to melt ice. You will try warm water, salt, sugar and sunlight. You can also encourage children to come up with their own suggestions for methods/materials. Take some time to also make a prediction about which method will be the fastest and which will take the most time to melt the ice. You may want to chart these responses. Designate your observation areas and set up your experiment.

table salt

Warm water

Sunlight

Sugar

Over the course of the day, take a few moments to return to your observation stations to observe any changes. This is a great experiment to set up in the morning and complete by afternoon. Then gather again to discuss and ponder the results. If you made a prediction chart, you may wish to also chart your results. This is a fabulous experiment to introduce scientific vocabulary words like "prediction," "observation," and "results." In this, you are expanding language development and mathematical skills of using charts and graphs! Who knew science was so well rounded? You might also encourage conversation about how ice/snow melt outside. When there is a lot of snow and ice on the roads, what do grown-ups put down to make it melt very quickly? (Rock salt!) And what causes snow to disappear after the winter? (Warm weather/sunlight!) This is bound to be an activity that goes beyond the classroom or learning space and encourages continued thought and discussion. That is always one of my main goals in teaching science to young children!

And, of course, to have fun!

Happy Experimenting, Observing, and Playing!

Winter Theme: Arts & Crafts

There are so many cute seasonal arts and crafts projects this time of year. You can certainly purchase winter-themed craft kits on the cheap at local craft supply stores, Dollar Tree and even big box stores. There's a lot you can do, however, without any kits at all right from the warmth and comfort of your own home. Here's a peek at some of our favorites from Winters past:

We especially loved this Invitation to Create a Snowman last year. Using white paint and a plastic cup for stamping as well as some construction paper accessories, google eyes and buttons to glue on, my son and I each built our very own snowman indoors. His was melting I think!

As much as I love an uncluttered house and am careful about selecting what I save, what I donate and what I toss throughout the year to keep it that way, I have a hard time parting with artwork my students and son have created. I may or may not need a little more time to part with the 5,624 paper plate turkeys I have from the last few years and I may or may not just serve Thanksgiving dinner on them next year and avoid the whole mess of dishes afterword. That said, selecting a few projects throughout the year to do on canvas creates a beautiful and finished look that children and parents alike can feel proud of for years to come. They make wonderful gifts and keepsakes. Last winter we did this masking tape resist snowflake painting on canvas, adding coarse kosher salt at the end for a gorgeous and realistic icy texture. We don't have enough wall space to accommodate endless amounts of artwork and we also don't necessarily want to look at snowflakes in July. Rather, we have some set areas where we hang artwork that gets rotated throughout the year. This is a fun way to reminisce as well as to welcome a new season or theme. I'm looking forward to swapping this one in again soon!

 And here are a couple less traditional "canvases" your artist can work from! Using pipettes, squeeze bottles or recycled condiment bottles full of colored water, you can create beautiful snow paintings outdoors in indoors. It's also a fabulous hands-on way to explore color mixing and snow melting!

Another version of coarse kosher salt on paint--my little guy painted this polar bear "ziplock bag style" when he was still a baby. Sprinkling kosher salt on top gives it the "frosty" look!

Ice prepared by freezing water in plastic containers overnight made the "canvas" on this watercolor painting. I did this last year both with my son and with my pre-k students. It provided a lengthy amount of fun and exploration as the colors mixed and settled into the ice. It's surely an activity we will pull out again here this year and it doesn't even need to be wintertime at all!

Lastly, fear not the mess of arts and crafts in the home! Never underestimate the power of a ziplock bag when it comes to very young painters or you just don't want to clean up hands, clothes and any number of other surfaces. Painting inside a bag still provides a great sensory experience for little hands and produces beautiful artwork to boot. Here my then little baby painted a snowflake. And speaking of snowflakes--my favorite fool-proof way to cut paper snowflakes and teach children to as well is with white coffee filters. The circular shape is a perfect one to begin with, they come in packs large enough to accommodate plenty of fine motor practice and they can be beautifully dyed by coloring with washable marker and spraying with or dipping in water. Once they are dry, they can be hung in the window for a colorful decoration to brighten the season.

Happy crafting!

Mad Science Monday: Snow in August Small World Scene

We are continuing on our Un-planning, Un-themed, Unadulterated End of Summer Fun with this favorite Unseasonably fun Science/Sensory activity I'm now calling "Snow in August."

Here's a photo of the first time we tried out this activity, on an actual snow day in January!

Before I go into setting up this playful Arctic scene, I'd like to give a shout out to the great source I received the idea from: 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids by Asia Citro, MEd, author as well of the wonderful blog FunAtHomeWithKids.com. This activity can be found in the small worlds section of the book, under the title "Penguin World." 

Small world play describes activities that often combine sensory materials with figurines, small dolls or other small toys to encourage imaginative play and storytelling. Older preschoolers can truly begin to delve into the abstract end of this and develop strong storytelling skills while even the younger ones can benefit from the earlier development of dramatic play skills not to mention the fine motor practice and sensory skills. Earlier on, small world play may require adult involvement to encourage role-playing and story telling and different ways to use the materials. More and more, adults can step back and little ones can delve into their creative play scenes. These activities can fill a fifteen minute time slot or captivate for hours! Although this one has the potential to be quite messy, they can also be composed of dry (and less messy) materials. For the messier ones, I do recommend use of a drop cloth beneath your work space for easy clean up. When it comes to miniatures and figurines you might add to a small world scene, you can go out and purchase sets of animals and dolls to use for a range of costs, but you can also find a lot of these items at thrift stores, dollar stores, party favors and the occasional box of cereal. In other words, it need not break the bank--better yet, use what you have and don't go crazy, less is often more in small world play. Remember--little ones only have two small hands to play with!

Snow in August Small World Scene

You will need:

• a large plastic bin, baking dish or container to work from
• water to prepare your ice (see below)
• blue food coloring or liquid watercolor
• cornstarch
• glass gems (optional, can be found in the floral department of craft or discount stores)
• plastic penguins, polar bears and other desired Arctic animals

Prepare ahead:

Prepare any or all of the following ice options:

• Using any plastic storage container, fill with water and add a few drops of blue food coloring or liquid water color. Freeze, preferably overnight for your iceberg (which my son calls an "iceburger").
• Fill and freeze an ice cube tray as well for additional blocks of ice for building an igloo!
• Partially fill and freeze water in the base of your plastic bin or baking dish for an ice sheet.
• You can also have a lot of fun adding crushed ice.

Time to PLAY:

• Using a shallow bin or baking pan, set up your iceberg and ice blocks as desired. Pour a generous amount of cornstarch over the ice.
• Add your figurines and Arctic animals and glass gems if using

As little ones play and explore, they will enjoy the soft texture of the cornstarch snow and the cold, slippery ice. The added science bonus that earned this post its Mad Science Monday slot is that as the ice melts, the water will combine with the cornstarch to create a non-Newtonian fluid commonly known in the world of early childhood as Ooblek. This mixture behaves like a solid under pressure but a liquid when left to its own devices and can inspire hours of exploration on its own. In that sense, you can leave the activity for a while if your junior scientist is done playing or you need to tend to something else and then return later to enjoy the Ooblek. Alternatively, if you'd like to reach the Ooblek stages a little bit sooner, you can do what we did this time and add a bit of water to the scene.

Think Outside the Box: How To Get Those Dishes Washed With(OUT) a Toddler Underfoot

How do you get dishes done or dinner on the table without your little ones underfoot? I've recently had some success trying something new. HINT: it's not Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, although has its time and place here, too!
Actually, it's sensory play! Sensory bins are fun for all ages. They are versatile, they can be used repeatedly and in many different ways and they tend to captivate attention for a decent amount of time--even from the youngest little explorers. They can be created at home without breaking the bank using many materials you likely already have and others that can be purchased inexpensively, even at discount/dollar stores. But let's face it, sensory play can get messy! I have a few tried and true tips for this. One is to use a drop mat underneath your work area, whether it's below a table or your bin is directly on the floor. You can use a sheet, a tablecloth (vinyl ones are especially useful if your sensory material is wet), a towel or a shower curtain. Clean up can be as simple as gathering up the mat, shaking contents still usable directly into the bin again for next time or shaking away remnants outside/in the trash. When the drop mat gets too dirty, you can throw it in the wash or, if it's disposable (like a paper tablecloth or plastic liner from a discount store), you can part with it altogether. Another tried and true tip is to take these activities outside. Sometimes, weather doesn't cooperate with this plan, and the heat here has been really unbearable for me. That has admittedly led to a significant decrease in sensory play around here--until I remembered yet another tried and true solution: sensory play in the KITCHEN!

The kitchen, you ask?! Yes, the kitchen! Our kitchen floor is cleaned and mopped more frequently than any other floor in our house, and it's still always needing a good washing again. We live in an apartment and our kitchen space is rather small--especially when you keep a kosher home (two sets of everything and separate prep/cooking areas). Our kitchen also houses our laundry room (well, closet), which, incidentally is also the most frequently used facility in this house that is always needing to be used again. I can almost always find a towel waiting to be washed to throw down on the floor beneath a bin of one of my son's favorite sensory materials. It can be as simple as a plastic bin with soapy water and some dishes for washing, scooping and pouring. The bonus? Your floor is likely to get a good washing in the process and your towels needed to be thrown in the laundry anyway--when playtime is done, dry, toss in the laundry and walk away! Amazingly no matter how many times we've brought this activity out, washing dishes is something my son never tires of. (Why can't I share in that sentiment?) We've had a lot of fun also washing vegetables to prep for a recipe--and then you get the added bonus of your little one having a hand in getting supper on the table, a factor sometimes helpful in making him more likely to try the aforementioned recipe.

Yesterday as part of our UNPLANNED End of Summer Fun, I revisited a favorite theme of ours, Camping IN. We pitched our play tent in the living room, got out our handmade felt fishing set and played the day away. When it was time for me to tackle that stack of dishes in the sink, we took the fun into the kitchen with some Waterbead Ice Cube Fishing.

I prepped the ice cube fishies in the morning--just water, food color (next time I will NOT use orange, it looked a little iffy when melting), and a couple of google eyes in each compartment of an ice cube tray--and popped it in the freezer for later. We had some waterbeads (from the Dollar Tree floral section) we had prepared a few weeks earlier. I prepped his work area with a towel to soak up splatters, added some water and a set of Dollar Tree tongs to our plastic bin (also Dollar Tree), and he had so much fun, he was still playing when the dishes were done. When the fishing was done, I strained out the waterbeads, collected the google eyes to put away for another project and replaced the waterbeads to the bin. I added a few drops of lavender essential oil for some calm evening play. My son still wanted to use the tongs with them--what great fine motor practice!




Sensory bins are such a versatile and developmentally important activity for children, but they need not break the bank. There are a lot of wonderful sensory tables out there for purchase and a lot of creative ways to fill them beyond the classic water or sand. Here are some more outside-of-the-box ways we incorporate sensory play here:

• a large and shallow plastic bin with a lid can be put directly on the floor for play--little ones often have fun climbing right in! They can also be placed on a child's table for standing play
• smaller plastic basins, bowls or disposable baking pans can make for great sensory bins as well--plus they are easily transportable
• I keep a few shoebox sized plastic bins with ready-to-go sensory materials to use indoors or out
• Even pencil box sized containers with lids can be used for travel sized sensory bin play--one of my favorites is one we keep filled with kinetic sand and seashells collected on a family vacation
• Overall storage of sensory materials can easily be done in plastic containers with lids or ziplock bags
• I keep a stash of recycled plastic containers, cardboard tubes, and discount store scoops, shovels, bowls, cups, plastic spoons, etc., for scooping, pouring and exploring
• Plastic animals, figurines, and other such toys and miniatures make for great small world additions to sensory play

And now for some in and out of the box filler ideas:

• water is a classic and always fun--you can add a bit of dish soap for washing and toss in a sponge or you can add some food color and jars/containers for pouring and color mixing exploration
• rice
• dry beans or lentils
• dry pasta
• waterbeads
• pom poms
• glass craft stones
• flour
• shaving cream
• play sand
• soil
• dry corn kernels
• straw
• dry oats
• items collected from nature (leaves, pine cones, acorns, twigs)

Happy playing, and may your fun stay inside the bin but outside of the box!

Mad Science Mondays: Balloon Race Cars

Happy Monday! Here is the first of my Mad Science Monday posts, which will include family/kid friendly science activities you can enjoy together using mostly household items you already have or can purchase inexpensively. I have had a longstanding passion for exploring science with children, which I initially wrote about here. I've tested out many of my classroom experiments with my own son even from the time he was very tiny. Now as he gets older, he is able to appreciate and explore more of it from a hands on level rather than just as an adorable audience member.

We've just begun a transportation theme at our Mommy & Me Camp (my son is really into trucks and planes and trains these days), so it seemed natural to incorporate a transportation themed science activity to kick off our theme. After some Pinterest perusing and research on the subject, I decided to test out balloon car racing (found here) after exploring a whole slew of great vehicle related science activities (found here).

I decided to take our science time outdoors this morning. It has been really hot here. While outdoor time and fresh air are incredibly important for children and adults alike, this adult is getting a little less excited by the monotony of sweaty playground trips, sticky walks and the usual pool/water activities. I've been brainstorming ways to get more creative about how we spend our outdoor time (which I will continue to expand on in future posts) and one of the simplest and most enjoyable solutions I have found is to take activities we do in our daily routine outdoors--from reading books to eating lunch to art projects (added bonus: easy cleanup, especially if you have a sprinkler or pool nearby!), and today--SCIENCE!

Balloon Race Cars

Here's what we used:

• 2 toy cars already in my sons collection
• a broken toddler crayon as a balloon stopper (the wide ones that claim to be unbreakable but still broke)
• 2 balloons
• masking tape

Here's what we did:

To prep the balloon race cars, I first blew up a balloon, shimmied in the crayon stopper, and wrapped a strip of tape around the inflated balloon onto the toy car. For some added fun and anticipation, I brought some sidewalk chalk outside to draw a race track and let my son add his artistic license as well. We set up the cars at the start of the track, I removed the stopper (one at a time, although older kids could each have their own race car and pull their own stoppers out), said "on your mark, get set, GO!" and off they went! I re-inflated each a couple of times to test out the scenario again, and we looked at the differences between a big balloon versus a smaller one. When we were done, my son had fun just zooming his toy cars on the sidewalk race track for a while. This was a great reminder that bringing "indoor" toys outdoors can add new life to a toy that might be overlooked after a while inside. 

Got balloons left? DO MORE: 

Here is a photo from an activity we did a couple of weeks ago during a dinosaur theme. We made frozen dinosaur eggs using toy plastic dinosaurs stuffed inside a balloon then filled with water and frozen. Once frozen (I put mine in overnight), cut and peel off the balloon. We brought them outside and the frozen eggs alone were a great sensory activity. We added some small hammers (and some mommy supervision and support) to crack the eggs open and later took a swim break at our development pool to see what would happen if we left the dino eggs out in the hot sun.