Summer To Do Checklist Board DIY

Now that school is ending for the year and summer is coming fast, kids are all talking about what they are doing this summer. Some are going to go to Disney World or Sea World. Some are going to Grandma and Grandpa's across the country. Some are going to spend the summer at a day camp or babysitter because Mom and Dad have to work. Some are going to spend the summer with their Mom at home. The last one is Lily's option. She gets to spend the summer with me which she does every summer. Last summer we spent most of it in Eastern Shore, Maryland near the shore which was a blast to go swimming when we wanted. This summer will be alot different! This summer we are planning a bunch of day trips to different places so each week will be something different to look forward to for Lily. 

The project that I picked out for today is one that the parents create but the kids get to help create the list. With our checklist, Lily listed all the fun things she wants to do and then we are picking some of the activities to do. Depending on how money is over the summer kinda determines how many and which activities we get to do.  So there are ones that are not as expensive and ones that will be costing a pretty penny. You can add free things like going for a hike or going for a picnic. (Of course I thought of this after I did the checklist!) his will show the kids that they have fun things to do this summer. As you check ones off the ones the kids complete, they will get the sense of accomplishment that they are having fun this summer. 

Summer To Do List

Materials:

Cardboard as big as you want (I used the bottom to a large gift box I had laying around)

Ribbon (I used a couple of scrap ribbons)

Hot Glue Gun

Markers or Sharpies

Directions:

1. Cut the cardboard to your desired size

2. Cut the ribbon an inch longer to fold over each side

3. Glue the ribbon along the edges

4. Glue a piece of ribbon so you can hang the board

5. Write down your activities for the summer

6. Hang your board on the wall and have some fun!

Kids Upcycled Crayon Cookies

As I was cleaning through Lily's 100s of books on Saturday, I found a book I bought at a used book sale months ago called Kids Create! Art & Craft Experiences for 3 to 9 year olds. There is a ton of simple, easy crafts geared towards holidays, seasons and different materials to keep kids creating all year round. So my Monday goal is going to be to take a different craft each week from the book, Lily and I will create and critique to directions and design. Also, we will suggest some changes or other options to the designs.

This weekend we started with an easy craft, Upcycled Crayon Cookies, that was served two purposes in our lives. One, it took all the little pieces of crayons and put them to good use. Two, it gave Lily something to do for nearly 3 hours! I am going to give you the directions and leave my critique and suggestions until the end of the post.

Supplies:

Broken Crayon and Crayon pieces

Cupcake Cup Liners

Muffin Pan

Oven

Directions:

1. Gather the broken crayons and have your child peel the paper off the crayons. (This is what took Lily hours to do!) ADULT: preheat oven to 400 degrees when your child is nearly done with their pile.

2. Line the muffin pan with the cupcake cup liners.

3. Place the crayon pieces in the cupcake liners. I put about 5-6 pieces in each liner. 1/2" or smaller is better for melting the crayons evenly.

4. Place the muffin pan in the oven and bake for 3-4 mins. You do NOT want to melt them completely because the colors will mix to black/brown. You want them just nearly melted and still a bit soft because the pan will help to finish the melting process.

5. Let the crayon cookies sit for 6 hours to set and harden.

6. Give to the kids for a brand new crayon to color you a picture!

The Critique: The process was fun for Lily to see her crayons become something new. She got frustrated with the Crayola Crayons because they use a glue to hold the wrapper on the crayon which was difficult for her tiny fingers to peel them off. I used pieces that were 1/4"-1" or larger. That was a big mistake because the smaller pieces melted quickly and the large pieces didn't want to melt. So when the cookies came out, it looked like most of them were black so I was worried. Once I took them out of the liner and flipped them over, I found all the colors were on the other side! So pretty and swirled around colors. My other direction change was that the timing was 5 minutes for baking but after 3 minutes my oven was smoking from the melting of wax. So I suggest only 3-4 minutes for baking. 

Overall the craft was fun and something that can be used again and again in the future! 

Kid's Chore Flower with Removable Petals

Chore Flower

This cute flower came home to me from Lily's class on Friday as a Mother's Day gift but I thought this would be a cute idea for preschooler/grade school kids to use as a chore chart! The flower was made from a paper plate, paper, crayons and a stapler. For Mother's Day, each petal was a chore or something cute like sing mommy a song and give mommy a kiss. I want to have Lily make these each week as a way to get her to do her chores every week. We have removed 2 of the petals and she was so excited each time and keeps asking to do more! What a great motivation for kids and a way to keep them creative!

removable petals

 Now in class, the chores were printed off the computer and glued onto the petals but I think as a way to save paper, I will be just writing the chores on each petal. My second suggestion/edit to the flower is that instead of using a stapler to attach the petals, I will be using tape as a safety issue. Lily is my daughter which means she gets hurt just sitting still so exposing her to staples is the introduction to cuts on her fingers and her no longer liking the chore flower.

The back of the plate

Supplies:

Paper Plate

Paper to make petals

Tape to attach the petals

Crayons

Directions:

1. Cut out the flower petals and write the chores on the petals.

2. Have your child color the plate center and petals.

3. Tape the petals onto the plate.

4. Hang somewhere accessible for your child.

Enjoy the responsibility your are giving your child!

Paper Ring Jewelry

If you have a little girl in your life then you know how they love to wear jewelry! The bigger and bolder the better for my daughter. As an artsy mom, I wanted to Lily to wear jewelry she made herself. This boosts her confidence by creating something beautiful and gives her new bling to wear and show off. So today we made paper ring jewelry.

Materials:
Paper
Scissors (for adults only!)
Crayons, Markers or anything to decorate the paper strips
Tape





 Here are my instructions with pictures:

For Paper I just used colored copy paper which is 11" long.

1. Cut the paper into 1-2" strips. I cut about 12 strips.

2. Have the kids decorate the strips anyway they want.

3. Take 1 strip, form a ring and tape the end to secure

4. Insert one strip into the ring, form a ring and tape to secure

5. Continue to tape the rings, interlocking together until you reach your desired size. Then to connect the last ring insert a strip into both end rings and tape to form the necklace.

6. We had enough strips to create a necklace and a bracelet for my lil one to bling out!