Field Day Adventures

The "field day" I imagined: a handful of track and field events organized for the students at my daughters' elementary school. What I saw was quite different. Yes, there was an element of competition, but it was mainly an opportunity for pairs of students to wander to the 20 fun stations that the teachers had set up for them. Kids were engaged in tug-of-wars, tossing games, relays, face painting, tai kwon do and all manner of active games out on the open field behind the school.

Some snapshots:

My petite daughter had fun tugging!

Sack race - classic!

Ever tried toe fishing?

Hopefully they changed the water as the day went on.

Running + water = another relay variation.

Linked to Try New Adventures Thursday.

Finding Mulberries in May

The hands that picked - mine, my son's and two of my daughters.

Picking berries is an activity that my son talks about all year long.  Normally we've gone berry hunting in June.   But spring came early this year, and we've been out picking mulberries before school gets out for the summer.

Though these days are very busy, I don't regret taking time to harvest nature's bounty and continue what's become a cherished summer memory with my kiddos.  Though we're leaving Nebraska at the end of the summer, in our next locale I am told we may find Saskatoon berries.  I look forward to trying them.

Have you ever picked mulberries?  What's your favorite berry to pick?  

Easy Felt Magnets (for Travel Bingo and More)

Materials Needed:

• Magnetic tape (I found 1-inch wide 10-foot rolls at Wal-mart)
• Adhesive-backed felt sheets (available at Jo-Ann Craft Stores and Wal-mart)
• Metal stove top burner covers (found at Dollar General or Wal-mart)
• Spray paint, optional
• Bingo boards inserts
• Scissors
• Clear Contact Paper 

My 4 year old's exploration of symmetry

To make the magnets and magnetic boards:

1. Carefully peel backing off from felt and the magnetic tape.  Press magnetic tape and felt together, making sure they stay straight and smooth.  Trim strips and cut shapes (squares and triangles) after magnetic tape has been attached.
2. To go with the magnets, our MOPS group made magnetic activity boards using metal stove top burner covers (which I painted first).  Choose a paper insert (travel bingo or farmers market vegetables) to cut out and laminate with contact paper.  Place on the inside of the burner cover.

A portable game for when kids are on the go...

...or for arranging on the fridge at home

 This idea is linked to It's Playtime!

Why We Aren't Planting a Garden This Year

Our lone tomato plant, which sprouted of its own accord

Since acquiring a backyard five years ago, planting a little square foot garden with my kids has been a favorite spring and summer pastime.  We've still got plenty of seeds and a square raised garden frame that has served us well.  But I am resisting the urge to plant this spring for two very good reasons:

1) We added another child to our family. And she is a delight.  Even more fun than growing a garden.

 2) We are anticipating a big move this summer.  My husband has been busy job hunting and scrambling to finish his dissertation. The desired result: that this hectic season of graduate school will finally come to a close.

His research interviews are completed, but there is still a ways to go before he finishes and graduates (by the end of the summer?).  Thankfully he's an excellent writer and types much faster than I do.  And on the job front, he's just accepted an offer for a faculty position outside the U.S.  I'll share a few more specifics in the weeks ahead!

Earth Week Green Smoothies

Naturally colored smoothies are a healthy way to celebrate our planet this April.  It takes some tweaking to create the earth motif; perhaps you could have an Earth Day contest to see whose earth looks the most recognizable.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Coconut milk
• Fresh baby spinach leaves, preferably organic
• Blueberries
• Bananas and/or pineapple
• Fresh lemon or lime juice, optional

How to make it:

1. Blend two separate batches of smoothie mixture, one with milk, bananas, and spinach to stay green; to the second batch add blueberries until a bluish green color is achieved.  
2. Pour the darker blue-green smoothie into drinking glasses or cups.  Drop the lighter green smoothie mix into the blue-green smoothie and with a straw or other untensil, shape the lighter green drops into continents.

Discover more healthy recipes at Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Earthworm Encounters: A New Sensory Activity (+ a Favorite Song)

The lowly earthworm is such an important creature.  A songwriter called Mr. Nicky captures some of the many reasons why in his delightful song, "Earthworm."  Some facts that he highlights are that earthworms:

1) help gardens grow,
2) are nocturnal, and
3) are covered in slime.

The slime never bothered me too much as a child, since I managed to collect earthworms for my worm farm and impale them on hooks for fishing bait.  And my children love to find live earthworms in our backyard too.  But for a slime-free approach, I made some segmented worms out of plastic drinking straws.

Materials:

• plastic drinking straws
• sharp scissors (to be used by an adult)
• fake dirt* (black rice and stale Grape Nuts cereal in our case) or sand
• medium to large container
• ruler or tape measure, optional

Methods:

1. Carefully cut segments in the straws, being careful not to slice all the way through.
2. Fill a container with fake dirt or use a sand box.  Hide the worms under the dirt or sand.
3. Ask the kids to find the plastic earthworms.
4. Optional: Use a ruler or tape measure to measure each earthworm found.

First we measured one worm.

Then we put two worms together and measured again.

* For fake dirt, you could also use birdseed, coffee grounds, or wood shavings.

Additional Resources:

You can find more facts about earthworms at the Worm Facts Page.
 This post is linked to It's Playtime, where more fun ideas abound!

Rainbow Games, Part 2: Using Paper and Felt

Instead of the Hunger Games, my kids and I have been exploring more cheerful themes, like rainbows.  My previous post featured games that get kids moving on a bigger scale.  These next activities involve more focused movements, like coloring and aiming smaller objects like coins or cotton balls.


Rainbow Board Games

1.  Color Toss Game

This could be a great waiting room activity when you have a wiggly toddler or preschooler along.  Or just play it at home because it's fun.



To Make It:

Cut a rainbow from 6 colors of felt.  Attach curves to a felt backing with thread or tacky glue. I decided to only attach the purple and leave the other 4 colors as puzzle pieces.

To Play:

Toss cotton balls and/or coins, aiming to get one to land on each color.

Variations: 

                   a) Use paint or paper scraps to create the rainbow on scrap cardboard
                       instead of using felt.

                   b) For a math challenge, assign point values to each color band.
                       Or add up the value of the coins that land on the rainbow.

2.  Rainbow Shuffleboard

To Make It:

Print out and color the rainbow page (scroll down below to find it).  Overlay the rainbow with a long sheet of waxed paper, about 2 to 3 feet long. 


To Play:

Slide coins or glass stones across the waxed paper toward the color bands on the rainbow.  Count up who gets the most objects to land on the rainbow.

Printable Rainbow Coloring Page

This post is linked to Show and Tell
and It's Playtime.

Rainbow Games, Part 1: Using Chalk and Bins

Rainbows are a symbol of hope.  They illustrate the colors and wonder of creation and remind us of the promise given at the end of the story of Noah's ark.   I find the rainbow theme to be an inspiring springboard for learning and play.

Rainbow Games and Activities

1. The Rainbow Twist Game


Draw a giant rainbow on pavement with colored chalk.  With or without a Twister game spinner, call out right or left, hand or foot, and a color.

Variations:

• Sometimes we make this a bilingual game by saying the names of the colors in Spanish or another target language.  For example, "left hand azul!"
• You can turn this into a tossing game by using rolled up socks.  Aim to toss the sock ball onto each color band.

2. The Rainbow Clean Up Game


If it is time to clean up a fairly large mess of toys, papers, etc., enlist children to sort the objects based on their color and then put them away.

Tip: Provide a matching container for each color, or label containers before the clean up begins.  You may want to assign a particular color (or colors) to each child.

This post is linked to Show and Tell
and It's Playtime.

Sausage, Egg, Spinach, and Rice Casserole (Dairy Free)

Hot breakfasts are lovely, though I rarely eat them, except on mornings when I attend MOPS.  I decided to be daring again and adapt a previous dairy free casserole recipe---this time for a larger group.  Why do I experiment like this so often when the stakes are high?  Ideally I would test the new recipe at home first, but duty called, and I was short on time (as usual).

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground sausage, crumbled
2 cups cooked rice
8 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp flax milk or rice milk
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup (packed) chopped fresh spinach
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika

How to Make It:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown sausage in a medium saute pan. Turn off heat and add green onions and spinach.  Remove sausage mixture from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, salt, paprika and flax milk (or rice milk). Add beaten eggs and whisk to blend. Stir in browned sausage mixture and rice.
3. Into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, pour egg, sausage and rice mixture.
4. Bake at 350 F degrees for 50 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle.

All of the ingredients were what I had on hand, and hence I did not use squash.  The sausage and spinach mingled well, as I suspected.  Success was not certain until I tasted the dish myself and gauged the reactions of the other women at the meeting.  My aim was that no one would notice the missing cheese and milk.   And even though a casserole without dairy is almost inconceivable, desperation triumphed.  I photographed what was left.

There is now another casserole recipe to enjoy on my MSPI diet.

This recipe can be found at Pennywise Platter Thursday at the Nourishing Gourmet.

Cane Sugar Marshmallows (No Corn Syrup!)

Homemade Marshmallow Squares with Green Sprinkles

Hear, hear!  My family can enjoy marshmallows again!  I had not bought them for over a year for the simple reason that store-bought marshmallows are full of corn syrup.  I can't wait to try these homemade marshmallows in smores.

Marshmallow in the pan before cutting

You can find the recipe here.

After success with this sugar-based recipe, I plan to try another amazing recipe shared by Raquel.  Her marshmallow recipe calls for maple syrup in place of granulated sugar.

I'm sharing this at Anti-Procrastination Tuesday and Try New Adventures Thursday.