Dinosaur Party!

We are already through half our Summer vacation, and we didn't have a proper fun party.
So we decided that this time we should have a Dinosaur Party, and called our friends Kevin and Diane for a fun afternoon.
After a visit to the Dollar Store, we were able to get a couple of toys to use for decoration and the games.
The first game we did was to dig for some bones. I had the Kinetic Sand at home, so I hid the bones inside for them to dig.

During my research though the web, I came across The Great Cretaceous Walk, and they had the footprints and their respective dinosaurs. I wasn't able to print from the computer, so I hand drew and made copies.

I called it "Keep Track of the Tracks", and made this little sign in paper.
Then I had the kids hunting for the footprints, that I drew in chalk.

Another great idea I got from this site called Surviving a Teacher's Salary. She made dinosaur eggs using flour and coffee grinds (click on her site to get the full recipe).
I made little baby dinosaur in clay, then used the recipe to cover them and make the eggs.

Then the guys opened the eggs and discovered the babies.

I decided to use an old board for a past science project to make a "toss the ball game".

I wrapped it with the inside part of leftover wrapping paper.

Then I painted with all available paint I had at home.

The boys loved the game.

For the snacks I found these Dinosaur Shaped Chicken Nuggets. How perfect.
When it was time for the drinks, I froze some of the little dinosaurs we had in the bottom of the cup. The decoration I made using construction paper.

I made sugar cookies, and after they cooled, I used food coloring pens to make these pre historic drawings.

I made little carrot pancakes, and after cooled, I cut them up in the shape of dinosaur paws. A big dessert should be a volcano, so I made this placing layers of ice cream, cookies, whip cream and more ice cream to cover and shape the volcano. Then more whip cream for for snow, and chocolate syrup for lava.

Now that we are all very tired, and full of sugar, I feel the I accomplished my mission: bring another set of good memories for the kids.

Power of the Words.

I first saw Dr Emoto's Power of the Thoughts experiment on Facebook.
He had different water samples, and exposed each one of them to either positive or negative words. After that he photographed all of them in crystal forms. I was very surprised to see the results, that showed beautiful water crystals exposed to prayer, love and kind words. And those exposed to negative words or emotions, the crystals were not uniform or not formed at all. So the conclusion was that the water responded to words and emotional vibrations.
Watch the video here. Then I saw his second experiment, using rice and water.
The other video is here.
The rice exposed to love and positive words ended up fermenting in a pleasant way, the one exposed to negative words and also the ignored one became rotten looking.
So I decided it would be a good idea for the kids to do this experiment.
First I got three jars, and after washed and cleaned, we placed the same amount of rice inside (hands washed).

Then we covered the rice with filtered water, also trying our best not to contaminate the experiment.

The jars were loosely closed, and we wrote different signs on each:
"I love you."
"I don't like you."
"Ignore."
So for 30 days, everyday we praised the "I love you" jar, we yelled and said not very nice things to the "I don't like you" jar, and the "Ignore" jar we completely ignored. They were placed in the same area of the house, side by side, and handled in the same way."
I asked the kids every time they were frustrated and about to fight, to go tell the insults to the "I don't like you" jar instead of each other.
My point was to show them that if you say certain words, they do hurt and have a negative impact on the target.
And after 30 days we saw the results.
The "I love you" rice started to ferment, but all the grains remained white, intact and with a nice appearance.

The "I don't like you" rice started to disintegrate, and the water became brownish.

The "Ignore" jar also looked different, the grains started to get darker in color and the grains in the bottom disintegrating.

In the end our experiment wasn't as dramatic as Dr. Emoto's experiment, but we could say it confirmed the results . Not only for the fact that I do believe that depending on the words you say, they do carry a certain energy, and can be transferred the other individual. But it is another tool for the kids to understand that, you should choose your words to say, especially for your loved ones.
Hopefully they will remember this when they are teenagers.

Make cheap crafts, then eat it.

Having the kids at home for Summer is also a big way... to spend money. So in the days that we don't go to the movies, or to the mall, or any other way that requires using cash, I try to make activities that use what I already have at home.
Today I noticed the amount of eggs I have in the fridge, purchased from the wholesale. So why not do the Easter egg crafts in the Summer too?
I started during my breakfast, boiling about a dozen of eggs for 15 minutes. After cooled in water we dried and set them on the side.

Some of them I used food coloring spray.

Then we decorated the eggs, using food coloring pen, googly eyes, and leftover paper I used in other projects.

I still planned to eat the eggs, so instead of using glue, I used my old, good, sticky rice to glue the eyes and paper details.

Then for the pictures, I made a background and some props, and the kids colored and helped me finish.

After everything finished, we placed them in their scenes, took pictures, and played farm and aliens.

This craft took all day and we made a big mess. But that doesn't bother me, and for tomorrow I have enough egg salad for everyone.

Monster Melon Watermelon.

There is nothing better than getting in the pool in a hot Summer day.
So we were so lucky to get invited to have lunch at our friend Diane's house, and the kids could play in the pool.
I couldn't go empty handed, so the watermelon and the fruit in my fridge looked perfect for a fun dessert. With the help of my melon baller, a knife and some toothpicks, I made a Monster Melon.

Since more food is never a bad idea, I had some fresh corn, made turkey meatballs, and the kids had some hot dogs. I also had a banana bread, so I decorated with some strawberries.

We had a great time, the kids played in the pool, and we enjoyed the day together. And that is what Summer is for, isn't it?