I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Those simple little words, “Mom, can we do a project?” send me into a complete panic. (Which, with a kid like Big, means I panic a lot.) I’m not a project mom. As my neighbors know, I’ll play baseball or basketball by the hour (ok, by the half hour), but when it comes to science and hands-on fun, well, I’m not so much fun.
Sure, I’ve done baking soda volcanoes, painting with toy cars, and gingerbread houses, but even those haven’t been smooth sailing. Some might blame it on my inability to follow directions. I blame it on things like faulty frosting. For some reason my mind just doesn’t think that way.
You know who does think that way? The folks at Camp Galileo. The other day I was looking for inspiration and discovered the Camp Galileo blog has all kinds of easy, fun projects to do at home (in the Weekend Activities section). Think art. Science. Outdoors. Innovation. Collaboration. Productive mistake making (now that’s something I’ve mastered…minus the positive part). You know, all the stuff that Galileo camps are famous for.
I’m just getting started exploring, but here were a few of the cool ideas I’m going to try come summer:
Toy Mash Up
(Or, what I like to call, “Mama just cleaned up after you…again”)
This one includes all those lovely tchotchkes and “collectibles” you’ve had enough of (got those!), wine corks (got those!), and a glue gun (yes, even I have one of those!). I love this idea and I know my kids would too. Because what’s better than a bunch of little treasures? One big treasure made up of all of them.
To get the instructions, click here.
The only thing better than a good idea is a simple idea. And this is both! Honestly, I’m kind of excited for our first late-night BBQ this summer…friends, pretend you didn’t see this.
To get the instructions, click here.
Oh the frustration we’ve experienced in our house over the failed paper airplane. It didn’t go high enough/far enough/fast enough. Well, it looks like we may just need to try, try again.
To get the instructions, click here.
The only thing Big asks more than if we can do a project is if he can have a treat. Now we can do both at once. I love that this will be fun for all my kids. (Yep, Pink’s got a sweet tooth.)
To get the instructions, click here.
Spill the beans, what’s your go-to project? I need all the inspiration I can get!
Disclosure: This post is part of a series sponsored by Camp Galileo. All opinions are my own.
Photos courtesy of Camp Galileo.
i totally maintain a craft drawer… toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, egg cartons, paper plates, spare packaging pieces – like these plastic pieces that hold 2 spaghetti jars together at Costco… duct tape, regular tape, scrap pieces of construction paper, puff balls, pipe cleaners…. just a drawer of stuff. So I’ll have the kids create something every once in a while. I don’t have much guidance… but I suppose if you “Pinterest-ed” toilet paper roll craft – you’d get a million ideas!!!
Jodie, you’re my personal Pinterest. Seriously, I wish I could channel your mind for a day. Just a day.
+1 on the craft drawer, we actually have a shelf 🙂
In addition to craft, my 7 year old goes to town in the kitchen with
(a) Smoothies – he picks the ingredients and whips up sometimes surprisingly tasty stuff. I suspect I might have a chef in the making.
(b) cookie creation and decoration. I set him up with prepared dough.
(c) bubbles in the kitchen sink, I end up with a wet floor but a clean sink 🙂
(d) complex engineering structures built out of Tupperware, ziploc bags, plastic cutlery with some metal kitchenware such as baking sheets used to anchor the structure.
In the science department we have a blast. Everything from actual experiments (do bigger balls make it to the bottom of the stairs faster or smaller, heavier balls?), to pseudoscience (“but mom, it’s a scientific fact that girls cry more” after grabbing contested toy from little sister and leaving her bawling) is fair game.
Our latest thing is royalty. We build forts out of anything that’s not too heavy including dining chairs (they make fine watch towers you can actually stand on), make up languages, design family crests out of air hardening play dough, design drawbridges and catapults, trick our fort with LED lights…. our summer has already begun!
Wow, you ladies are putting me to shame. Amazing! Thanks for the wonderful ideas, Shuba. We’ve mastered pseudo-science, but need some work on the other stuff. Looks like I may have to do a follow-up post featuring your ideas!
You can always bring your kids to CuriOdyssey and we can do projects with them. No mess in your house and you get a break. Highly recommend you check us out, especially our special events. Designed to help kids discover their inner scientist and have fun doing it. Look for our new Forces exhibit in June.
Thanks, Patricia! We’ll definitely come by once school is out. CuriOdyssey is always on our list of fun activities.
Love these ideas Amy! Thank you! I’m prepping for Camp Christina Summer 2013. Lord help me! 🙂
Ha, best of luck! Goodness knows I need it too…