Archive for the ‘summer’ Category
Homeschool Planner + Link Up for Fun in the Summer Sun
Posted in charlotte mason, education, homeschooling, montessori, summer, unschooling, waldorf on August 8, 2011| 2 Comments »
Backyard Camping + Kid-Friendly Summer Activities Blog Hop
Posted in Family Fun, food, memories, recipe, summer on August 1, 2011| 4 Comments »
Each Monday until September 7th
Mama to 4 Blessings along with Harvest Moon By Hand,
Adventures of Mommydom, Sweet Diva, and Sweet Phenomena
will be hosting Fun in the Summer Fun link up events.
Here’s the line up:
Family Fun Backyard Fun Badge
In the July 2011 issue of Family Fun, the Backyard Fun Badge was presented. For ten months, there will be a monthly challenge for families to do. There are three options from which to choose. By doing the activity, you earn a badge (either use the one in the magazine or download from the computer).
Then go online and tell them what you did and enter their sweepstakes for a chance to win prizes.
One of the ideas that caught my eye for July was option #2 – Host a Campout. Although they suggested sleeping out under the stars, we don’t have a tent so we opt to spread out a blanket and pillows and enjoy spending part of the day outside.
One of the recipes I remember trying when I was in Girl Scouts and one that is easy to use with children is called Dough Boys. To make them, here’s a basic recipe:
Ingredients:
hot dog
biscuit mix
water
Directions:
Make biscuit dough mix according to the directions on the box or a recipe. Take a hot dog and wrap the biscuit dough around the hot dog (completely or just a center wrap).
Be careful not to put too much dough on or your hot dog will not cook. Toast your “dough boy” over hot coals until it is cooked through and golden brown on the outside. Serve with catsup or mustard.
When I directed a camp program for children, one of the meals that we taught the children to make was All in One Wrapped in Foil Dinner.
Ingredients:
ground beef
oil
sliced raw potatoes, carrots, and onion
seasoned salt
catsup
foil
Directions:
Fold aluminum so that there is a double layer. Put ground beef (about the size of a small hamburger) on foil, in the center. Drizzle a small about of oil on it (about 1/2 tsp).
Place carrots and potatoes (to your liking) and then onions. Fold over foil edges to make a flat packet. Be careful to fold over any edge so the package doesn’t leak. Use tongs and place right on the coals.
When you hear it “sizzle,” flip it. Flip it often and cook for 7-10 minutes. Open carefully (the foil will be hot!) and poke a potato with a fork. When it pierces it easily, supper is ready. Serve with seasoned salt and catsup.
A couple of years ago, Sophia, Olivia, and I went camping with my sister and her two sons. One of the things we made were Brown Bears. All of us liked this easy dessert.
Ingredients:
refrigerator biscuits
spray margarine
cinnamon and sugar
wooden dowel for roasting stick
Directions:
Stretch biscuit dough and wrap around a wooden dowel and roast over coals until brown. Remove biscuit from dowel, spray with margarine and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. Fun to make and tasty too.
For another dessert, there’s a special treat that reminds me of when I was growing up and took a kids cooking class. It’s a chocolate-banana melt dessert that was featured in the June/July 2011 issue of Family Fun.
To make the dessert, cut a lengthwise slit in a peeled banana and place it on a sheet of alumninum foil. Stuff in as many chocolate chips and mini marshmallows as you can fit.
Wrap the foil around the banana and place it on a grill for about five minutes. The melt, once cooled, is best eaten with a spoon (and lots of napkins).
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For the August Badges of Fun, the theme was “Hit the Road.” Out of the three activities, we chose to do “Pack Easy-to-Eat Snacks.”
One of the recipes on the Family Fun website is for homemade granola bars.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups crisp rice cereal
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried fruit bits
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350º F. Coat a 9- by 13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Melt the butter or margarine in a large pot over low heat. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the sugar, honey, flour, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Transfer the mixture to the baking pan. Using a sheet or waxed paper and the palms of your hands, press the granola firmly into the pan, packing it to a flat and even thickness.
Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the granola to cool 1 hour in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16 to 24 rectangular bars.
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Now it’s your turn to share some of your kid-friendly summer activities!
How to stay cool in the summer heat – Fun in the Summer Sun
Posted in game, homeschooling, learning, physical education, play, summer, unschooling on July 25, 2011| 4 Comments »
Each Monday until September 7th
Mama to 4 Blessings along with Harvest Moon By Hand,
Adventures of Mommydom, Sweet Diva, and Sweet Phenomena
will be hosting Fun in the Summer Fun link up events.
Here’s the line up:
With the temperatures rising this past week to a rather tropical level (dewpoints were in the upper 70s and low 80s and temperatures in the 90s making some days feel like it was 110-116 degrees), it’s a perfect week to look at ideas for cooling down.
Make a Pinaqua
This idea is from the Family Fun June/July 2011 issue. This is a candy-free version of a pinata that is filled with water. To make it, fill a medium plastic trash bag with 1-2 gallons of water and knot the top.
Tie a rope or piece of twine beneat the knot. Toss the tree end of the rope over a tree branch and either tie it securly or have an adult stand by to raise and lower the pinaqua.
After being blindfolded and spun around three times, each player takes three whacks at the pinaqua with a broom. The winner is the one who manages to break the bag and unleash the wave.
Go Swimming
The girls enjoyed going swimming with a family friend on Wednesday. She took them to their favorite beach where they swam and played in the water for about an hour and a half. Afterwards, they enjoyed a little snack on the beach before coming back home.
Stay Indoors
On the hottest days when it literally felt like an oven outside, we chose to stay cool by staying indoors. The girls read and/or listened to books on CD, embroidered, played board games, practiced the piano and harp, did puzzles, and sewed doll clothes.
We also homeschool around the year (with a slightly more relaxed scheduled during the summer months), so they also worked on math, history, science/nature study, and government this week.
Now it’s your turn! What are some ways that your family stays cool during the summer?
Purple – The Summer of Color (Week 7)
Posted in art, quilt making, sewing, summer, waldorf, window star on July 23, 2011| 13 Comments »
Here it is Week 7 of The Summer of Color challenge. This week’s color is one of my favorite ones: purple (another favorite color of mine is green).
When I was growing up, my bedroom was all purple – the walls, the carpet, and even the decorative stenciling at the top of the walls near the ceiling. Anything I made for the room – a quilt, a picture, a pillow – had something purple in it.
Needless to say, I was excited to work with purple this week, and made some window stars. Two of the stars are created from patterns that I have used regularly.
The third pattern (the star on the bottom in the picture above) is one that I designed a couple weeks ago. I’ve been playing around with the pattern in different colors (solo and color combinations).
A bit about the window stars: the translucent paper is cut into small pieces for each of the points. I hand-fold each of the points multiple times and then glue the points together. Once all of the points are attached, the pattern of the star is revealed.
Some of the stars are easy. For example, the star on the upper right has only five folds per point (with ten points, that’s 50 folds to make the star).
Other stars are a bit more complicated. The star on the upper left in the picture above has 10 folds per point. It has 8 points, so that’s 80 folds to make the star.
The most complicated star I make has 26 folds per point and 8 points. That’s 208 folds to make one window star.
The other project I’ve been working on for The Summer of Color challenge is a quilt. As I’ve mentioned before, each week I make two quilt squares that feature the color of the week. Each square has seven strips of fabric of varying widths to represent a 7-day week.
All the fabric I’m using is from what I have on hand. I am committed to not purchasing any new supplies or materials to make the quilt. I think of all the quilts that my grandma and mom made using fabric that was available. They made do with what they had rather than always purchasing new supplies.
Thought this would be a good time to challenge myself to make do with what I have rather than acquiring new fabric (however much I would enjoy going to a fabric store and picking beautiful material that is all color- and pattern-coordinated).
Summer Fun – UWIB Blog Hop
Posted in butterflies, flowers, gardening, learning, nature, new skills, origami, sewing, summer, waldorf, window star on July 23, 2011| 6 Comments »
This month the Unique Women in Business team is doing a Blog Hop focused on Summer Fun. With temperatures in the 90s (some close to 100 degrees) and dew points in the 70s it feels like it’s quite tropical here in Minnesota.
For me, having fun during the summer means having some flexibility to do things I enjoy doing since the homeschooling schedule is a bit more relaxed compared to the September-May time period.
During June and July, I’ve been able to make new window star patterns. Here’s a design that I created recently:
The window star that is pictured above reminds me of sunsets and sunrises in colors I typically see in the summer. There have been some spectacular ones that have colored the entire sky in shades of these colors. I am always in awe of the incredible natural beauty that surrounds me.
Today, I was teaching a friend of my daughters how to sew since she wants to learn how to make her own clothes. The first project I had her do was a little bag with an attached tie.
There were no measurements for this pattern – it was simply an idea presented in a book. So I showed her how to estimate and create the dimensions for each of the pieces. By the time she was done sewing her first bag, she had learned some fundamental sewing skills…and felt very happy with what she made.
After seeing the bag (and trying out the pattern I’ve wanted to do for some time now), I made a couple of bags after she left and changed the proportions slightly.
After lunch, we released the butterflies in the backyard. The black tiger swallowtails flew off immediately. One flew right to the purple flowers in the butterfly garden in the backyard where it visited lots of flowers while its wings beat quickly.
Homemade Fruit-Filled Drinks & Popsicles + Kid-Friendly Recipe Blog Party
Posted in food, recipe, summer on July 18, 2011| 2 Comments »
Each Monday until September 7th
Mama to 4 Blessings along with Harvest Moon By Hand,
Adventures of Mommydom, Sweet Diva, and Sweet Phenomena
will be hosting Fun in the Summer Fun link up events.
Here’s the line up:
Red – The Summer of Color (Week 6)
Posted in art, birds, etsy, nature, origami, quilt making, sewing, summer, wildlife, window star on July 16, 2011| 17 Comments »
I can’t believe this is already Week 6 of The Summer of Color challenge. This week’s color is red; and I did a couple of things with this color.
First, I made two red window stars. They are made from translucent paper that lets the light shine through so the pattern of the star is revealed.
The 8-pointed star with the sharp points is folded 9 times per point. With eight points, it is folded 72 times before it is glued together.
The other star I made is folded 19 times per point. With 8 points, it is folded 152 times before being glued together.
I also made two quilt squares this week. There are twelve squares now…the quilt is coming along.
As I mentioned last week, I’m using only fabric that I have on hand for the quilt. I’m not purchasing anything new. It’s definitely one of the most resouceful, “make do” quilts I’ve made. Only four more weeks left – or eight quilt squares – before I’m able to start arranging them and laying out the quilt top.
Although the red isn’t as vivid on this little bird as it is on adult robins, it fits the challenge of incorporating something winged into your work (in this case, a quick photo).
I was walking to the garden on Friday afternoon, and a ball of feathers moved on the ground. A baby robin had fallen from its nest.
It was quiet for a while, but very curious and eager to be fed.
Embroidery & Beading with Kids + Kid Craft Blog Hop
Posted in art, art education, education, embroidery, homeschooling, horses, learning, math, summer, unschooling, waldorf on July 11, 2011| 4 Comments »
Each Monday until September 7th
Mama to 4 Blessings along with Harvest Moon By Hand,
Adventures of Mommydom, Sweet Diva, and Sweet Phenomena
will be hosting Fun in the Summer Fun link up events.
Here’s the line up:
This week Sophia and Olivia did two different crafts that they enjoyed: embroidery and beading.
Sophia embroidered a pillowcase with a horse and foal design. The supplies were all ones that we had on hand: a pillowcase, embroidery floss, and an iron-on pattern. I never have used iron-on patterns, though they were something that I wanted to try after seeing the selection at Joann’s.
Sophia worked during the week on the design and was very happy with how it turned out. She’s 10 years old, and has being doing embroidery now for several years.
Olivia enjoys doing arts and crafts – anything that lets her creatively express herself. She picked out a loom that can be used for both beading and cotton-floss weaving.
She chose to make a bracelet with red, white, and blue beads. I set up the loom for her; and then Olivia beaded the bracelet. She followed a graph-paper chart that I did based on a picture of a bracelet pattern she liked that came with the loom.
It took a lot of concentration and patience, but she completed the bracelet within a half a day. She’s happy with it, and wants to do more beading…but not right away. “My hand needs a break. It’s tired,” she said.
Brown – The Summer of Color (Week 5)
Posted in art, holiday, origami, quilt making, sewing, summer, waldorf, window star on July 11, 2011| 10 Comments »
I’ve been enjoying the past four weeks of The Summer of Color challenge. Week 5 is no different. This week’s color is brown, and I made three origami window stars as well as completed two more squares for my Summer of Color quilt.
The sun was particularly bright on Sunday afternoon. With a 68% humidity level and temperature in the upper 80s, it felt quite tropical outside. And, to think, about two months ago there was snow on the ground. With the sun so bright, it almost makes the window star points glow.
Making a "Presidential" Meal – Smart Summer Challenge
Posted in cooking, food, history, recipe, summer on July 8, 2011| 1 Comment »
During the summer, we’re participating in the Smart Summer Challenge and the second week focuses on government. Doing a week-long government study has been a wonderful preview of what we will be doing in a couple of months when we begin our multi-year, multi-disciplinary study of each of the states in the U.S.A.
On Thursday and Friday, we talked about coins, coin collecting, and some of the presidents represented on the coins. One of the presidents featured is Thomas Jefferson.
One of the things we learned is that several of kids’ favorite foods were introduced by Jefferson. Some historians believe that Jefferson introduced french fries and macaroni and cheese to the American colonies. It is written that Jefferson had “potatoes served in the French manner” served at a White House dinner in 1802.
Thomas Jefferson first served macaroni and cheese at the President’s House also in 1802. A recipe for macaroni and cheese is included in Mary Randolph’s popular 1824 cookbook, The Virginia Housewife.
Of course, the dish that Jefferson ate is nothing like the boxed version so common today. Rather, Jefferson’s cooks used pasta and parmesan cheese imported from Italy. They cooked the macaroni until it was soft, and then coated it with butter and added cheese. The mixture was then placed in a casserole dish, dotted with more butter and cheese, and baked until it was slightly brown with some crustiness on top.
I made a version like this last week for a friend and her children who were visiting. The kids – who have had the boxed macaroni and cheese over the baked version more often – weren’t huge fans of this “old fashioned” type of macaroni and cheese. Oh well.
In addition to french fries and macaroni and cheese, Jefferson helped encourage people to eat tomatoes. Many people in the colonies thought tomatoes were poisonous, so they wouldn’t eat them. Jefferson proved that tomatoes were not poisonous, so they became popular.
To remember this, we had pizza for dinner (which had a tomato-base sauce).
Historians are certain that Jefferson wrote the very first recipe for ice cream in the American colonies. In celebration of this, we tried a new recipe for Cookies & Cream Floats.
To make them, you put a couple of scoops of Cookies & Cream ice cream into a cup. Slowly add some cream soda until it’s at a consistency that you prefer (e.g., thicker malts need less soda; thinner malts need more soda).