Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival (TTSS) is a weekly carnival to help mamas survive the long summer days. The goal is to share kid-friendly tips so we can end up on the other side of this summer with what little sanity we had when we started.
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Ice Blocks:Because of our gloomy summer weather, this activity didn't keep the boys entertained for too long. But it had a short prep time and cost nothing.
Jack was watching Curious George on PBS this morning and asked if we could try this idea. "Wait...I thought I had to think of all the ideas to entertain you this summer! You mean, you might actually have ideas to contribute? SCORE!"
This morning we started with a bunch of different plastic containers.
We filled them with water and put them in the freezer.
After a trips to the playground, library, party store, Mexican restaurant for lunch, grocery store and the all important nap, we had ICE!
After waiting a minute, the ice melted enough around the edges that they could be slipped out and used as blocks.
Once they got over the cold of the ice in their hands, they had fun building towers and whole cities...and licking their blocks. They did request hot chocolate (in June!?!?!?) when they were ready to go inside. They went outside several times before bedtime to see how their creations were faring.We'll definitely be doing this again on a hot day (if we ever get a hot day!) and it would also be a great activity for a playdate.
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Then, most importantly, visit the other blogs that have linked and leave comments, hopefully encouraging them to give us more good ideas next week.
What a cute idea!!! That is perfect for a hot day in CA!!!
ReplyDeleteWe live in a country with such a hot weather and I never thought of this!! You are really, really a great mom!! Your kids are really, really lucky!!
ReplyDeleteTotally cute idea! I love that you had enough room in your freezer for all of those containers!
ReplyDeleteare you open to ideas deary?? Aydens preK teacher told me to take a cookie sheet and spray it with tons of shaving cream and let the kids take matchbox cars and wahlah.. itll smell pretty and they'll have a blast, doncha think? I haven't tried it yet, but I probably will soon. =)
ReplyDeleteOh, now this looks like tons of fun!!!! We;re soooo going to try this!
ReplyDeleteThose are the coolest little towers ever. Great idea Mom...you are so fun. I love this one. Gonna have to steal it. as soon as I make room in the freezer. Sheesh. I need help in that area.
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't participate this week! I have a few ideas but needed pictures, which I didn't have. We could always use my chopstick post!
ReplyDeleteLove that! Maybe the parachuting men can land on top on the ice towers! :)
ReplyDeleteMy kids love playing with water and this would go great with that! Love the pictures!!!
Cool idea! I can see even my older boys enjoying something like that...and the weather is getting ready to heat up in our corner of the world this week. 90's here we come!
ReplyDeleteha posted mine but forgot to link up-sounds about right
ReplyDeleteWe do this. We also put food coloring in the ice, to make it a colorful tower.
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea!
ReplyDeleteJust shared the Patriotic Heart Flag project that my girls did. Hope I am not too late!
I want to play at Carey's house!!! So much fun. You should check out my blog buddy, Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom post today, all about this kind of fun stuff. Thank you!!
ReplyDeletehttp://chickennuggetsofwisdom.blogspot.com/2009/06/lollis-summer-survival-list.html
Very cute Carey...I think all kids would love this activity, heck, on a hot day I'd dive in to play too! LOL
ReplyDeleteThat looks like loads of fun. My boys would love that on a hot day. Another idea I read about recently is freezing a water safe toy and letting the kids chisel it out.
ReplyDeleteCarey I'm late but yu are up over at my blog..my 'puter went down for a minute had to ocme to the Library to post
ReplyDeleteI'll be bck up soon sorry for any inconvience!
Last summer I did something similar, but hid toys and sea shells in the cubes. As it melted, , it was really fun to try to get it out. I've also dyed the water and a few time put it in with the bathwater for something different to play with at bath time. Great reminder to make again this summer.
ReplyDeletefabulous idea! I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome summer activity! I've never seen it before!
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