winipb2

[ Can you double this recipe,.[/quote]

Yes you can double the recipe. The more the merrier. Just do not want to get so much at one time that arms give out before the "Pull" is complete. LOL
Wini - House of BCC in Houston

lab fairy

Paint a bunch of rocks gold, put them into drawstring bags and call it treasure (I always made the bags different for this one). Have the kids split up (match skill sets if you need to) and challenge them into making maps to find their hidden treasure. The maps can be as simple or complicated as you decide to make the guidelines. Kids love to make color-coded ones. After they make their map, the maps are traded and then the challenge is to find the hidden treasures. (Old costume jewelry is really fun for this as well).

I used to do this where I hid the treasure and made maps for the kids to follow when they were younger. As they aged, I used a compass and orienteering to increase the challenge.

I still have requests from people for this activity.

marthe brault-hunt

Put two of the kids in charge of a meal each day. Prepare the shopping accordingly. Even 5 years old can participate.Mine did by wrapping wieners into Bisquick dough,tossing a green salad and cooking hot fudge that was poured over ice cream. GIVE LOTS OF PRAISE. My two oldest grand daughters came for supper last Friday and told me how they enjoyed cooking. They both have summer jobs and they both said that they miss their summer week with me. Happy souvenirs from their childhood were built.

Judith

Have you ever done shrink art? Kids of all ages ( from about 4 years old and up) just love it. So do their parents. You get special shrink art plastic from the craft store, colour a picture on it, hole punch with a large hold punch and put it in the oven for about two to three minutes at about 325*. The shape shrinks down to about 1/4 of the original size. The kids are absolutely fascinated to see it shrink. In Canada I pay around $9 to $10 for a package of ten sheets which is enough for twenty projects. If this sounds like something you would be interested in trying let me know and I can email you some of the patterns I have gathered over the years.

kwiltkrazy

Make cinnamon rolls. My nieces and nephews still talk about the cinnamon rolls they made at aunt Lucinda's. The youngest at the time was dear Adam,who graduated this year, he did the cutting of the rolls with dental floss.

We also did a lot of painting, water colors,and we used food dyes too, but wouldn't suggest this because it doesn't wash out of clothes well.

We dyed cloth with set-a-color dyes. They loved that, and made small quilts for their moms out of their cloth. I really had a blast.

dmackey

Here is an idea that my three nephews loved doing.

I ironed Heat and Bond onto the back of several different novelty fabrics for Halloween. They cut out the pumpkins, ghosts, scarecrows, etc. I helped when needed.

When they had enough cut out, the figures were arranged in a circle collage(to make a wreath design) on a 16" square of fabric and when they were satisfied, it is ironed down on the fabric.

I then basted the square of cotton fabric with the wreath on it, to a piece of fleece, big enough to cover a pillow. So, if the pillow was 16", square I had a piece of fleece 16" tall, and 36" wide (16 + 16 + 4 gives you front, back and overlap to cover pillow). You place the cotton square in the very center of the fleece, quilt it, then fold it wrong sides together into a 16" square,and you will have the 4 extra inches overlapping each other by 2". Now you sew across the top and bottom to close the pillow with a very scant seam. Turn right side out and stuff the pillow form in between the overlaps. The fleece stretches perfectly over the pillow. No need to finish the overlap edges because fleece doesn't fray.

Now they have made their own Halloween pillow to decorate their rooms. It can also be just a wall hanging and you wouldn't need to double the fleece, but just sew a few extra inches to the top that can be folded down to make a rod pocket, stick in a thin dowel and tie on some decorative cord to use for hanging.

My oldest nephew (10 yrs old), made one for Christmas for his mom from my stash, and the youngest, who is 6 yrs old, worked on one for a month of just dogs for a t-shirt. It was so cute! He was meticulous in cutting them out and arranging them in his wreath. I traced out I LOVE DOGS with a stencil and he cut them out to add to the shirt. The 8 year old cut out letters for his name and ironed them to the back of a jacket.

If you have a lot of novely scraps, this is a great way to let your kids/grandkids get creative. They can iron them onto anything. Just remember to put the heat and bond on first, then cut out designs. This would be great for the older kids to help the younger kids too.

Diane

dmackey

While riding in a car, here are some games I play with my nephews.

1. We look for houses that have American Flags and keep count.

2. Knowledge Bowl: As each child an age appropriate question to see what he/she knows.
Some questions asked: What are the names of the four seasons? Which season makes the trees blossom? How many stripes on the American Flag? What do they represent? Who was the first president? What color is fuscia? How many in a dozen? Name some fruits and nuts and ask if they grow in the ground, on a bush, a vine or a tree. Ask how clouds are made. What rhymes with XXX? What are pilgrims? What makes the face of the man in the moon? Where does water go when flushed? What do you call a group of cows? A group of lions? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? LOL!

3. Open conversations! What do you like best about your mom? your dad? your teacher? your school? your best friend? Favorite toy/gift?

4. I love this one. I heard Maria Shriver say in an interview that at dinner every evening, her mom would ask them what they had done that day FOR OTHERS. After hearing what her children had to say, she would ask if they had done enough or if there is something more they could have done. Using that theme, you can get the kiddos talking about what they can do to help other people, the environment, their neighborhood, their school, etc. Ask about world events and get their opinion.

5. Teach them some tongue twisters, "She sells sea shells down by the sea shore". etc.

6. Teach them a patriotic song. They don't care if you sing out of tune!

Diane

pal

dmackey - tell the truth - you're a school teacher, right?

GREAT IDEAS - all of them!

The grands and I will be making wreath pillows very soon!

Thanks, cimarron, for posing this question. You received
a lot of wonderful suggestions. This thread's a keeper.

mary quite contrary

I too thank you. I have granddaughters coming tomorrow for a week before they head back overseas home. I plan to try several of these.

They are missionaries so we won't see them again for several years. We plan to make the handprints on T-shirts for all of the grandparents. We will save the ones for the other grandparents for Christmas. I think I will have the 2 that can write their names add that under their handprints.

patsyo56721

I watch my grandaughters ages 10 & 13 during the summer. My 10 year old just made her 1st dress with my help. I gave them both a sewing machine for Christmas and they dearly love them. Each as made a quillow and a pillowcase dress or guess I should say top.