Summer Bucket List: Visit a Bounce House

Our summer bucket list has provided some serious amounts of fun. One of the first things that we tackled was trying out a new bounce house place that had recently opened up. The warehouse held about eight bounce houses and inflatable slides. The kiddo had fun trying them all out!

The best part? Parents and adults bounce for free! My sister and I were bouncing right along with Logan. He was beyond thrilled that we were able to play too! 

Frog Sensory Bin

The bullfrogs are out and about, making themselves known with their loud noises. We spied some at a pond the other day, and when we got home, Logan requested to play with his frog toys. I picked up the frogs at the Dollar Tree a few months back, and since our turtle sensory bin was such a hit, I figured I would kind of recreate the bin with frogs. 

I set out floral stones and the frogs. From a couple of colored on pieces of foam, I cut out lily pads. If I made the lily pads large enough, the frogs were able to sit on top of them and float on the water.

This is incredibly cool to a three year old. Soon, we had more scissors and foam out and were soon up to our ears in lily pads. He carefully placed them in, and then declared, "Now the frogs just want to swim."

I really enjoy creating simple small world/ sensory bins for my super imaginative pretend play loving kiddo. Since it was warm out, but not hot enough for bathing suits, the water gave him an opportunity to cool off without getting too wet. Have you created a small world or a sensory bin lately? Hop down to the comments, I would love to hear from you! 

There's No Trouble in a Bubble

Some days seem extra long. Some days seem extra short. Some days seem extra sunny. On those days, I like to break out the bubble machine that I scored for eleven bucks at Target.

 The bubble solution goes in, and the little one gets some hopping, popping, and running out of his system before our bath, book, bed routine.  The machine produces hundreds of bubbles. See that tail in the corner? Our puppy likes to chase the bubbles too!

And frankly, human or animal, chasing after bubbles never gets old.

Ocean Sensory Bin

We are lucky enough to have a year pass to a local aquarium which is very close to our house. We love deciding to stop by at the spur of the moment. Logan really loves sea life, so one day after a trip, I decided to extend the fun by creating an ocean sensory bin.

I gathered a couple of supplies that I had on hand, some squirt-y fish, turtles, and gems.

I bought a large package of pasta at the dollar store, and I cooked it and added blue food coloring to it. I put oil in the pasta to keep it from sticking, so I put the kiddo in some play clothes. Next time, I might forgo the oil and just add a bit of water. Logan took it upon himself to take on the important role of taste tester prior to  playing. 

Once it had his seal of approval, he set up the rest of the bin himself. It was his idea to add the water to the bin. His most favorite part was swishing his hand around while the pasta brushed past it. He also enjoyed finding the fish throughout the "kelp forest." (Thank you, Octonauts)!

Completely a side note, but I remember when this sensory bin seemed so large in comparison to the child playing with it. It is starting to seem too small. We might be in the market for something a bit larger soon!

Colorful bubbles

Bubble play is on of our go to types of outdoor play. It never fails to put a smile on my kiddo's face. The other day, I decided to add some dish soap and a bit of water and set out an outdoor invitation for my little guy. I wasn't able to snap a picture of the set up before Logan started to play, since he was quite excited to begin. 

He grabbed the whisk right away and started creating more fluffy, white bubbles.  

Once he tired of that, he grabbed the spray bottles. I used food coloring and water, but you can also use liquid watercolors. 

We had run out of red, since we use it often to make his favorite color, pink, so we made do with blue and green. He still thought it was great. 

Unfortunately, these pictures do not do it justice. The colors were more bold than they appear. 

This activity was a spur of the moment one, but you can never go wrong with bubbles. 

Summer Bucket List 2012

Since Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, I wanted to share our summer bucket list with you. Each season we make a list of fun activities that we want to try and accomplish. Little Wonders' Days is hosting a summer bucket list party, and I had to join the fun for a second year! Here's our summer bucket list:
(italics have been completed)!

1. Visit the aquarium
2. Play Angry Birds water balloon style
3. Make a homemade lava lamp
4. Go berry picking
5. Watch fireworks
6. Tie dye
7. Go to a bounce house place
8. Visit a children's museum
9. Go on a breakfast picnic
10. Visit a farmer's market
11. Go to an art museum
12. Visit a rose garden
13. Make a mud pie kitchen area
14. Create an outside music area
15. Make fizzing sidewalk chalk
16. Go to the beach
17. Play with sparklers
18. Make a giant outdoor water bed
19. Try new fruit (inspired by Creative Family Fun)
20. Paint rocks
21. Make sponge bombs
22. Run through the sprinkler
23. Make a kid wash
24. Play with ice (a couple of ways, stay tuned)
25. Go to the zoo
26. Make giant bubbles
27. Make big art
28. Have a sensory play date
29. Lemonade stand (as per my kiddos request)
30. Bring Teddy to the beach (a pet friendly one)
31. Do an outdoor scavenger hunt
32. Play at a bunch of new playgrounds
33. Go on a night walk glowing style
34. Roast marshmallows
35. See an outdoor movie
36. Go to an outdoor concert
37. Go to a carnival
38. Make our own ice cream
39. Swim in a pool
40. Snap paintinghttp://youllthankmeoneday.blogspot.com/2012/07/oh-snap.html
41. Make sun prints
42. Make ice boats
43. Have a movie party night
44. Pop painting
45. Ivory soap experiment
46. Play escape the volcano on a rainy day
47. Make a solar oven 
48. Play hopscotch
49. Learn to ride a bike
50. Pick vegetables from our garden
51. Visit a sunflower field
52. Make edible sand
53. Paint using our feet
54. Go to a barbecue
55. Make frozen bananas
56. Shaving cream slip and slide
57. Try on lots of different sun glasses and take pictures!

I am sure that we will add on to our list through out the summer. We are excited to get started! To see even more ideas, visit our list from last year!