The ramblings and adventures of a SAHM: Messy Summer Fun Week 1 2012

It's the return of Messy Summer Fun!!! .... I run a 5 week program during the summer which includes fine motor, gross motor and lots of sensory activities... all of which are MESSY!!! This year I have 23 kids ranging from 9 months to 7 years.... here's what we did this week:

Jello Sensory Bin...I made two kinds of jello (with some expired jello)... added in some ice cubes to keep it from melting instantaneously..... some beads, ice cube trays and some dishes to play with...

The kids loved the sticky icky mess!!!

For our messy craft we made "Elephant Toothpaste"... I got the recipe from here .... In a liter bottle mix a drop of dish soap, a drop of food coloring and 1/2 cup Hydrogen Peroxide (I used the normal 3% and it worked great!)... in a separate cup mix 2 Tablespoons of warm water and 1 Teaspoon of Yeast... then pour the yeast mixture into the bottle....

The toothpaste slowly climbing out of the bottles...

Out of the bottle... a big foamy mess...

This was also a hit... especially as the kids could touch it...

For our frozen ice sculpture, I themed it with little plastic fish from the dollar store and some pretty beads (and food coloring)... froze it in layers in a big tub... and let the kids try and melt them in the kiddie pools...

The older kids figured out the process right away....

Braeden liked playing with the bucket...

A close up of a half frozen sculpture...

Our gross motor activity was a race/obstacle course/free for all with sponge transfer, shaving cream balloons, lots of water, and the sprinkler...

Sponge Transfer...

To make the shaving cream balloons, I used the foam shaving cream in a can (gel is not going to work)... put the balloon up to the nozzle... and they fill really easy....