3 Cool Drinks the Kids Can Make

Plan things which gets the kids moving. If it's hot, plan for something which will keep the kids busy and get them to be creative indoors. Kids like experimenting and they especially like it when food, water and the associated mess are involved. As the temperatures rises, people like to cool off with a cold drink.

Chocolate Smoothie recipe by Soniya Goyal by Soniya Goyal

Forget the fact that summer and lemonade go hand in hand; here are 3 cool drinks kids can make on their own with some adult supervision:

1. Fruity Sodas

Take two cups of frozen cut fruit (single variety or mixed). Make sure these fruits go with each other. An adult needs to run it in the food processor. Top it up with double the water and add honey to taste. Stir the whole thing well. Get the kids to have a nice big jug or container to stir it all in to minimize spills.

2. Sweet Milkshakes

Get the kids to peel and ready the fruit in big chunks. Make sure the kids pick a single fruit or a combo of fruits which complement each other. For milkshakes avoid the citrus fruits. Run it in a processor with some milk. Then dilute as required. Want to add a handful of dried raising? Go on have fun!

3. Mash ups

These are fun to think up. Some fruits and some veggies. Toss in a cucumber and some pieces of honey dew. Run it in a processor to make a coarse puree. Add some water and a dash of some flavor. Sprinkle a pinch of spice powder. Chill it well and enjoy!

Make sure the kids are dressed for messes. The things they are doing should all happen at about their waist level so they can hold things and get a good look at what they are doing. Make sure there are wipes for spills. Give the the juice-makers a separate bowl with some sugar/honey to avoid messes of the main containers. Give them a tub full of ice and some glasses within easy reach. Be available to help with food processors and to separate flying fists(if any).

There's no fun in just giving kids a worksheet from JumpStart or Activity Village to keep them busy on a hot summer day. It's smart parenting to get them to do something interesting and then hang around to help and oversee. At the end, when you get that drink, relish the fact that the kids want to do something which does not involve a device, forget the cleaning and enjoy!

3 Craft Ideas for February

There's no reason these have to be tried in February. We are in February and these crafts are good enough to be tried immediately! So go ahead and have some fun.

By Piet Mondrian - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37642803

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Agamograph

Yakov Agam has given his name to this type of artwork. He has painted large buildings, but the same artwork has been tried out by kids. His 3d style designs are very eye-catching and come under the umbrella of kinetic art. Here's one mom trying this art with her kids as a math art idea.

2. Mondrian Art

The colors red, blue and yellow dominate his art. The abstractness has inspired a programming language called Piet. Here's one brave mother who got her kids to paint a window directly in a Mondrian Art Project.

3. Tape Resist Art

Tape parts of the page and get the kids to go creative with paints on the page. Then peel off the tape and enjoy the artwork. If you wish this can be cut up to do more. Check out this blog for more ideas.

Kids enjoy art and if they are colorful, the kids are hooked!

Dragon and Halloween

Dragons are one of the favorite characters to be carved out on pumpkins. Using light, these can look stunning. People like to display these at home. Most of such activities are better suited for older kids and adults. If you enjoyed Fall Activities for Kids, and the kids want to do such back-lit things, here's a simple one they can try.

Halloween by TRIUMPHSIX

Dav Pilkey has written a series of Dragon books. They are short and fun. Even adults enjoy them. Kids could draw the outline of Dragon from the books, and parents could help them cut it out. Here's a simple way to do this. 

1. Take a plain white paper bag. 

2. Get the kids to draw out Dragon

3. Put a piece of cardboard under it and help the child cut out the shape. 

4. Punch a few holes at the top of the bag to pretty up the bag. 

5. Place a tea light inside.

Darken the room and enjoy Dragon's silhouette this Halloween. You could make 2-3 of these and place them all around the room to have a Halloweeny atmosphere. 

Enjoy your Halloween!

Fall Dragon Activities for Kids

Fall signifies that cold weather is around the corner. Autumn which officially starts after the autumn equinox in Sep(23rd this year) is when nature prepares for the severeness of winter. Plants prepare in many ways - by ensuring seeds are dispersed, by saving energy, by making sure other saplings don't compete for resources and also making sure they have resources to start growing a new batch of leaves when the weather is good. People prepare too, especially in farming communities. When the kids are young they are the most enthusiastic. Stop saying 'no' to all that the kids suggest. Use your imagination and try out a few unusual things.

Balance by Reginald Pentinio

Here are some fall activities kids will definitely enjoy:

1. Dress up as a dragon

Get the dragon costumes out. Once dressed, ask the kids to jump through mounds of leaves. Make sure no one's annoyed. If there's grass under the leaves, suggest sliding on the leaves(warn the kids to be careful). Have you seen dogs enjoy leaves? Well, after the initial hesitation, kids will love this wild play. 

2. Make a corn dragon

This is a wonderful craft to strengthen young hands, learn textures from rough to fine and enjoy a healthy snack at the end of it. Gather a couple of ears of corn. Peel the green layer/husk off. You could get the kids to peel it off in single layers or many layers at one shot. Once peeled, use the husk to make funny craft. Play around. Pop of some corn to make designs on the cob. Attach it to the top of a stick and the kids have a fake spear. 

3. Create a Leaf Dragon 

Collect colorful leaves. Draw the outline of a big dragon. Know of dragon games? Use their dragon outlines to draw your own outlines. Stick or arrange the leaves using the indicative outline. Don't want to use paper? Arrange the leaves on the floor in the shape of  a dragon. Use sticks and stones to add features. 

4. Leafy dragons, anybody?!
Collect colorful leaves. Cut them out in the outline of simple dragons. Staple them one behind the other. Use these to decorate your windows, fences or even the trees in your garden.

5. Dragon collage
Collect a variety of natural materials like - chalk powder, dirt, sand, twigs, pebbles, clay, brick pieces or anything else you find. Use all these materials to make a 3d dragon. Build it. Use clay, brick pieces etc. to build the body of the dragon and then decorate it with the rest of the material. Use some fall leaves to make it a winged creature.

6. Pin the Dragon
Draw a nice big dragon. Blindfold the kids. Let them take turns to pin a tail on it. This can get loud and fun.

There are innumerable fall activities. For Halloween, you could use a pumpkin to make a bright orange dragon with autumn leaves pinned on it. The trick is to try out the easy ones. Once kids are comfortable with these, you can move on to more difficult crafts. Enjoy the color and prepare for the cold!

A Dragon Treasure Hunt for some Summer Fun

It's summer and kids love playing outdoors. A treasure hunt is something a bunch of kids would really enjoy even if its a mixed age group. What you need is plenty of imagination and patience. To make it a dragon themed one, get your dragon imagination out. Give your clues the dragon touch. Include dragon toys for collection to make it more exciting.

How to train your dragon 2 by Eva Rinaldi

This can be organized in a reasonably big yard. Keep in mind the youngest and the oldest child playing. Make sure they'll have a way to contribute. Maps are fun, so include a map of the yard and don't forget to mark a couple of unambiguous points to help kids use the map with ease.

Now, you can use ready made treasure hunt clues or make your own. Think of a starting point for the treasure hunt and a point where you hide the treasure. It should be weather proof. It's smart to keep the clue in a box even if it's hidden under some plants. Place them in hiding places which are easy to access.

Make sure the groups participating in the treasure hunt are more or less balanced in age to avoid some teams getting an unfair advantage. Clues must be simple and easy to understand. If clues stump teams, then the whole things comes to an abrupt halt. In case teams need a little help, be around to help them. To make it more fun, kids can paint their faces to be little dragons and then play.

Keep your camera ready to get some candid shots. It's great to look at images of times which have been enjoyed by the kids!