It’s Gonna Be a Long, Hot Summer . . .

By Guest Blogger Kelly G.

I love summer, I really do. But since we are in saving mode this year, (who isn’t?) I am facing nearly three solid months of entertaining my two young boys without spending a mint on new toys and excursions. I have been racking my brain to come up with ideas for keeping a toddler and a four-year-old happy and mentally stimulated. The ideas I am most hopeful about involve doing a few things differently with what I already have or can get for just a little bit of cash, and I thought I would share them here.

Think Outside the Swimming Pool
If you have a wading pool for your little ones, jazz it up with different accessories. Add a few Tub Tints tablets to change the color of the water. (Red or yellow tablets work best, since most pools are blue inside.) Add some plastic kitchen goodies like measuring cups, funnels, scoops, containers with lids, and pitchers. If your children are old enough for water guns or water balloons, add those too! (Remember that popped balloons are a huge choking hazard, so save these for the big kids.) Give the kids bubbles to blow in the water, and it doesn’t matter if they spill them. Or, forget the water and add a big bag of plastic balls to make your very own ball pit. (You can buy a bag of these at most big box stores for about $10. The balls float if you want to leave the water in the pool.)

Tub of Fun
Even if you don’t have a wading pool, you can do a lot with a plastic tub. I prefer a fairly shallow tub placed on a low, outdoor table for these activities. Try the old favorite of adding enough water to cornstarch to make a strange concoction that is firm when squeezed but oozes when no pressure is applied. Sprinkle the bottom of the tub with baking soda and let your kids add vinegar. Fill the tub with rice, small dried pasta shapes, or water and add the same kitchen items listed above for the pool. Fill it with soapy water and let cars, dolls, play dishes, or other toys take a nice bath. Let kids have a “snow” day by filling the tub with cotton balls or shaving cream. Or, let your kids help you research different bubble solution formulas and try out a few using funnels or leftover bubble wands for blowing. (There are tons of formulas online. Most call for dishwashing detergent—especially Dawn or Joy—glycerin or corn syrup, and water.)

Lego-Land
Legos are one of the most versatile building toys because they are plastic and almost indestructible. Let kids build in the wading pool or water table (with or without water), in the sandbox, up in their play set, on the concrete outside, in the grass or mulch, or anywhere else that you can build “in nature.” Add a few little plastic people and you have the potential for hours of fun and imagination. You can also do this with wooden building toys, but they will be more susceptible to damage from dirt and moisture.

Matchbox Mania
Taking little cars outside creates many new possibilities for adventure. Let them reside in the outdoor Lego Village (see above). If you have a slide, create a soft landing for the cars and let them practice rolling down the ramp. If you have a kid who is stunt-minded, let him line up cars side-by-side at the bottom of the slide to see how many his favorite racer can jump. It’s even more fun to put the wading pool at the bottom for spectacular splashdowns. Be sure to rig up a bucket and rope at the top of the slide for easy car-carrying. To make another great car ramp, try leaning a piece of plywood against some stairs and holding it in place at the bottom with bricks.

There’s Always Room for Jell-O
You can do a lot with Jell-O, even if your kids aren’t really “into” baking. Make Jell-O in a jellyroll pan lined with waxed paper and sprayed with cooking spray. When it’s very firm, cut it into cubes or use cookies cutters, and lift out the shapes with a spatula. Make blue Jell-O in an unused, well-washed goldfish bowl and add candy Swedish fish or gummy worms (sea serpents), or fish-shaped crackers if you are going to be serving it right away. Make rainbow Jell-O by adding one colorful layer at a time into a deep, clear container, waiting until it is firm, then adding the next layer just as it is starting to cool. Let kids use big spoons to dig out the fish or eat the rainbow.

Totally Tubular!
Toilet tissue and paper towel tubes are old favorites for craft projects. (My favorite is to add candy, confetti, and streamers inside, and cover with red, white, and blue tissue to make 4th of July “crackers.”) But, add a little Velcro to the outsides, and the tubes become great building materials. Stack them up to make log cabins. Stick two tubes together to make play binoculars. Cover a bulletin board with felt, stick the tubes to it, and roll marbles down this a very inexpensive marble slide with infinite arrangement possibilities. (Marbles are another huge choking hazard, so this is another one for big kids only.) Thread a string through a tube to suspend it horizontally, then tie both ends of the string to a play set or under some patio chairs, and you have created a great hammock for a small doll or action figure.

Sheets Are A Treat
Old bed sheets are an easy way to change the environment because you can clothespin them, staple them, or tie them to other things. Line the sides of a play set to create a secret fort. If you have a rotating clothesline in the yard, hang one sheet from each outside line to create a secret space in the middle. If you have a light-colored sheet that has seen better days, hang it on the side of a garage or fence and let kids paint all over it with fingers or brushes. Spray bottles filled with colored water are really fun to paint with, too. (You can also do the painting activity with a few sheets of butcher paper taped together; there’s something really freeing about having unlimited painting space.) Or, cut the sheet into kid-sized rectangles, cut out a hole near one end of each rectangle, and let your kid drape it over her head to make her very own super heroine cape. It’s even more fun to do this after a painted sheet is dried.

Clean out Your Closet
Don’t underestimate the playtime power of dressing up. If you have old clothing that is a little stained or shabby or very dated, you can easily cut sleeves shorter, cut little tank dresses out of shirts, staple elastic straps to the tops of big-people shoes to make them stay on, and fill a plastic baggie or box with the cheesy clip-on earrings, long strands of beads, and big, tacky sunglasses. Boys especially love old men’s work shirts, while girls often like wearing mom’s old skirts as dresses. Add old Halloween costumes to this collection and you have the makings of dress-up for years to come.

Kids’ Books
Preschool teachers have been building curriculum from children’s books for years. You can do the same thing if you take your cues from books your kids ask for over and over. Right now, my kids are reading Time to Say Please by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2005). In this book, the main character wants a cookie from a jar on a high shelf, and she has to say please to get it. So, one afternoon this summer I will bake some chocolate chip cookies (any excuse will do, right?), put them in a big glass jar on a high shelf, and we will practice saying please. My kids also love to act out The Napping House by Audrey Wood (Harcourt, 1984). All I have to do is pretend with them that we are all sleeping, then yell, “Wakeful flea!” and total mayhem ensues. If you decide to spin off activities from children’s books, take your cues from what your child is already interested in reading, and think about what would further stimulate that interest.

Character Toys
Sometimes you can recharge your kids’ interest in character toys by putting a new spin on them. For example, Santa brought our older son some Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks two years ago. He had been playing with them less and less, but I jump-started their appeal by downloading some of the music from the television show. Now he stages his own “Accidents Will Happen” scenes over and over as long as the music is on. Try a similar trick with other toys by downloading Transformers or other super hero music.

Managing All of this Stuff
Perhaps the most challenging part about trying all of these different activities is keeping things organized. I am planning to steal the preschool idea of theme boxes so that I can switch out things easily. Gather a few typing paper boxes or plastic bins and sort your play items into them. Put all of the old bed sheets in one box, store the rice and extra kitchen utensils in another, keep the outside Legos in another box, add the bubble-making stuff to still another box. Label the boxes and stack them in a closet or the garage, and you have them handy to switch out frequently. (You can also use Rachel’s Quiet Box idea!)

Introducing the Fun
How you introduce new themes is going to depend on your child. If you have a child who likes to organize and see how things are going to work, or if you have one who doesn’t like surprises, your best bet may be involving her in the selection and set-up of what comes next. If, like me, you have a child who freaks out when he anticipates change, the best strategy may be to set things up beforehand and let him “discover” them so that he doesn’t have time to worry about it before the change happens. For example, one morning my son will go outside and find a small group of Lego houses built in the sandbox, or a sheet hanging up and some paint nearby. Hopefully he will just dive right in. And hopefully, your kids will too, at least long enough to give you a few minutes to yourself this summer and some really good playtime with your kids, as well.

What other Smarty ideas do you have?

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 5:00 AM