Tear Paper Craft: The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli {Read and Play}

"Mommy, can you read this book to me?" ... or from the toddler ... "Read a book?"

Day after day after day, book after book after book. 

I love my kids' enthusiasm for reading.

I just don't love doing it all the time. the same book after book, over and over again.

And now that it is summer, it is the perfect time to get some crafty, playtime ideas together. 

Our MOPS group is bringing back Kids Book Club from when I was creative and activities leader and I am super excited, I had to jump in! It needed to be something summer-esque like watermelon or ice cream.

Ooh. Making Ice Cream would have been perfect too. 

We are not making ice cream. I'll have to file that for later.

I went searching the library and came across a few watermelon books. Have you seen how many watermelon crafts there are on google? I didn't even try Pinterest. We love some tear-paper art here. Can't go wrong with having kids tear their own pieces of paper.

"You mean I'm allowed to be destructive?" As their little faces beam with every satisfactory riiiip of the construction paper. Hey, It's good fine motor practice for those little fingers too.

You need:

half a paper plate

about a quarter to a half a piece to a full piece of red construction paper

about a quarter to a half piece of green

liquid glue

q-tips to dab glue

black paint for seeds (little fingers make cute seeds)

         or black construction paper circles cut from a hole punch if you don't want to brave the paint. We just ended up using construction paper

Kids tear and glue to make a slice of watermelon. then glue the black seeds down (or paint the seeds) on the red. Super easy, super cute, and the kids love tearing the paper.

We read "The Watermelon Seed" by Greg Pizzoli to go along with the craft. It's all about swallowing a watermelon seed. It made me laugh a little given my current state. The kids didn't quite get why I  thought it was funny.

I'm super excited that the big guy has enjoyed reading this book multiple times over since this activity.

What are some watermelon crafts you have done with your littles?

Water Painting with Kelly J Designs: A Week to Beat the Heat

Last day of A Week to Beat the the Heat and I have had so much fun!

If you missed the previous days, check them out:
Mae&K Ways to stay cool
homemade snowcones with the wholesome mama!
fresh fruit popsicles with Create 3.5!
Ice and Water fun with HattieLu Handmade

Today we have Kelly J over at Kelly J Designs doing some painting with water!

We are beating the heat by painting with water!  This was a favorite summer activity of mine when I was a kid and now I'm sharing it with my boys.  You just need some cheap paint brushes, a bucket of water, and cement.  Paint your cement canvas over and over again as your water "paint" dries in the hot sun and disappears.  Or paint some toys, the house, or even each other for a nice cool down!

Water and Ice Activity with HattieLu Handmade: A Week to Beat the Heat

Day 4 of A Week to Beat the Heat is here! This week has gone by so fast, my goodness! With so many neat ideas to keep you cool during the remainder of these warm hot summer days, it'll make the rest of the summer go by so fast!

If you missed the previous days, check them out:
Mae&K Ways to stay cool
homemade snowcones with the wholesome mama!
fresh fruit popsicles with Create 3.5!

Today we have Hattie over at HattieLu Handmade for her water and ice activity!

"My Boys love the outdoors! If they could have their wish we'd be outside from sun up to sun down. To keep the boys moving and shaking, I came up with an awesome use for water and ice. Get ready to get messy while having a blast!"

So much fun! I cannot wait to give that a try with my kiddos. Well, at least baby girl. I know she loves to get super messy! :)

Check it out! Have fun and stay cool!

Fresh Fruit Popsicles from Create 5.5: A Week to Beat the Heat

Have you been following along this week? It has been great fun!

If you missed the previous days, check them out:
Mae&K Ways to stay cool
Wholesome Momma Snowcones with Natural Flavorings

Today we have Meriel from Create 3.5 with some fun fruit popsicles!

We made ice pops! Homemade flavors are the best, customized to include family favorites. Today we have sweet tea with candied lemon, for a "sophisticated" ice pop that kids can enjoy as well as parents! The perfect way to beat the heat - and have a little fun, too!

Those sound so good. I think I will be putting some in my freezer! 

Have fun and stay cool! 

Snow Cones with The Wholesome Mama: A Week to Beat the Heat

Welcome to day 2 of the series A Week To Beat the Heat! 

Did you have fun yesterday trying out some of those activities by Mae&K? If not check out her fun ideas here! or day three with Create 3.5 here

Today we have Courtney from The Wholesome Mama!

Want a sweet treat to beat the heat? Head on over to find out an easy way to feed those taste buds and take a little edge off the heat this summer!
Homemade Snow Cones

Yummy! I cannot wait to try some of these!

Have fun and stay cool!

A Week to Beat the Heat: Kicking off with a Round Up from Mae&K!

It's the middle of summer. It's been hot. Here in the desert it has been in the 100's. Actually we got into the 110's for a few days! What a perfect time to have a tour of activities you can do with your little ones to help stay cool during these hottest months of the year! Plus, our kids out here start school in a week, so what a fun way to finish off summer!

Introducing: A Week to Beat the Heat

Kicking off is the awesome Maegan over at Mae&K with 5 ways to stay cool over the summer without a pool!

Some awesome ideas! I love seeing water play without a water table (we don't have one) and I totally haven't thought of just using buckets and bowls!

Check it out! and stay cool!

check out day two, homemade snowcones with the wholesome mama!
day three, fresh fruit popsicles with Create 3.5!

Indoor Fun With Kids: Create your own Bowling Pins (Read and Play)

Monsoon season has started here in the desert. That means lots, and lots, and lots of rain... I love it. It's great. But for the kids, being cooped up in the house all day, all afternoon, day after day... Well... At least we are getting rain. That does not happen all that often. What indoor activities do you do on rainy days?

We have been making good use of our local library and little man loves it. One book we picked up is Mitchell Goes Bowling by Hallie Durand (affiliate). How perfect? I used to work at the local bowling alley for the summer when I was pregnant with him. He hasn't even been to a bowling alley yet!

Amazon affiliate link

I decided (based on some bottle saving a year ago) to make some bowling pins using PediaSure Nutrition Chocolate Drink, 8 oz bottles (affiliate).

Here is our process... There are so many out there, but this is what we did. :)

Once you have drunk the contents (this part took a while as these drinks were a treat), remove the wrapper and wash thoroughly inside and outside. Then dry. I washed them in the dishwasher and let them air dry.

Once they are dry, paint them how you want to paint them. I love these little paints! I used Folk Art Multi Surface Paint, 2-Ounce (affiliate) in licorice, that was what little man picked. Since I was enlisting the assistance from him for the painting, it made sense to him to pick. He wanted to help and loves to paint. Plus this is more for him than anything else. Sure, the lines aren't perfect. Hope you don't mind. ;)

Once the paint is dry, you can add sand or some type of filler to weigh them down. Otherwise they topple over super easily. We decided not to weight them.

Then, set them up and roll a ball to them to knock them down! So much fun! You can mark the spots with tape, or on a cardboard alley. we just played however we set them up.

extension: difficulty at different distances.
pick several different types of balls and make predictions. Which one will knock the pins down easier? Which one will be harder to make it to the pins? etc. Explore and have fun! :)