These are my 10 favorite activities for summer fun! My kids and I have checked each of these off our list. (Yes, even the food fight.) So, believe me when I say they are tried and true.
1. Food Fight Party – Adventurous moms will allow this party once and maybe only once, but it is fun. From experience, I suggest the following rules: Rule one: If you won’t eat it, don’t throw it! This prevents the neighborhood children from making disgusting concoctions of refrigerator leftovers and throwing them on my head. (Try to get old cottage cheese and gravy out of your hair; not easy!) Good ideas for ammo: Chocolate pudding, Hershey’s syrup, whipping cream spray, cake, ice cream, you get the idea. Rule Two: To play, you must be inside the circle. We used a garden hose to make the boundaries; that way, if you needed a break, you had a safe place to go. Just step outside the circle. Rule Three: No food can be thrown from outside the circle. Rule Four: Don’t throw food at the cameraman. And Rule Five: This is an outside game only!
2. Powdered Sugar Fishing – Take powdered sugar doughnuts and tie them to a string. Attach the string to a pole and dangle the doughnut over someone lying on their back. The “fish” try to bite the doughnut. We use powdered sugar because they are the messiest.
3. Blue Food Breakfast – Make everything blue using food coloring. Blue pancakes, blue scrambled eggs, and blue milk. This comes from Zoë’s favorite book, “No Blue Food.” I think the milk is the hardest to get past the color. It just doesn’t seem right.
4. Make a Candy Gram – Using candy bars and treats to make words on a poster board are really fun. The kids learn to be creative too. The RIESEN for this greeting is to wish you a CAREFREE summer. Don’t go NUTS while you are fighting the MOUNDS of people at the park. Don’t worry about getting CHUNKY as there will be GOOD and PLENTY of time to worry about that next winter! HUGS AND KISSES! Your SWEETHEART.
5. Shaving Cream Cars – A can of shaving cream and matchbox cars are a fun afternoon game. Cover an outdoor picnic table with a plastic cover and shaving cream. Drive the vehicles through the “snow.” It will be good practice for next November driving.
6. Jell-O Shots – Try making your favorite flavor combinations of Jell-O and juice. Just replace the cold water with fruit juice and put the Jell-O into little cups. My favorite is peach Jell-O with orange juice.
7. Gold Fish Trail – This is like Hansel and Gretel following bread crumbs into the forest, but I think the orange goldfish crackers show up better. Have one child start the trail and see if the rest can follow it. You might want to take the family dog along to pick up the crackers along the way.
8. Sweet Bubbles – Make homemade bubbles and use flyswatters over the outside air conditioning unit when it runs, and you will not believe the bubbles! Use two flyswatters as one is just not enough. Sweet Bubbles: 1 Tablespoon Corn Syrup, 2 Tablespoons dish soap, and one cup water; mix well.
9. Pick Apples and Make Apple Sauce – There is nothing like homemade apple sauce, and the kids will actually know that it doesn’t have to come from a jar. Peel, core, and slice six cups of apples (try different varieties). Place in a pan and add two cups of water, cook down to make the sauce; add more water if needed. Mash with a potato masher and add sugar to taste.
10. Make Celery Roses – If you cut a stalk of celery about two inches from the bottom, you will see the part usually thrown out is a perfect rose. Dip in paint and press on paper. Pretty!
And try these refreshing drinks! Creamy Lemonade is my new favorite. Have a great Summer!
Peace, Sandy
Creamy Lemonade
crushed ice
1-2 large lemons, thinly sliced
4 large lemons, juiced (approximately 1 cup)
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, or more, to taste
1/2 cup granulated sugar
water, approximately 2 cups
Fill a half-gallon (2-quart) pitcher halfway with crushed ice. Top with sliced lemons.
In a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk, and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
Pour the lemon juice mixture over the ice.
Fill the pitcher with water and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
Orange Creamsicle Milk
crushed ice
1 medium orange, sliced
Milk Mixture:
2 cups whole milk
4 Tablespoons vanilla syrup (the kind used in café drinks)
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Fill each glass halfway with crushed ice. (The more ice you use the more diluted the drink will be, so start with a small amount.)
Slice an orange and put about three slices in each glass.
Milk Mixture: In a large bowl or pitcher, stir together the milk, vanilla syrup, and orange extract. Pour half of the milk mixture into each glass and serve.
Strawberry Lime Smoothies
1 cup strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 to 4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
Process all ingredients in a covered blender until smooth.
Summer fun!
·
