Fun things you've tried lately?

[torontokids]

We've done a series of fun things lately, thought I would share and I would love to hear other ideas.

1) Balloon painting- dip balloons in paint and press on paper. We made "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Although the kids loved it, not a single one looks like a caterpillar heh heh (aside from mine!)

2) Good Ol' chalk paint- mix corn starch and water and food colouring. We have made this many times, never gets old.

3) Home made silly putty- this was a bit of a flop- mix corn starch and dish soap until you get a clay consitancy. The kids lost interest quickly and I didn't think it was much like silly putty...but it led to #4

4) 2 kids, 2 bowls, water and a box of corn starch. They mixed and made "hot dogs" forever.

5) Body painting- big hit! mix plain yogurt with food colouring in different colours, kids in bathing suits and go to town.

6) Water painting- classics never die. The kids will paint the fence with water forever.

7) planted a veggie garden. We started some seeds inside but I mostly bought the plants.

[torontokids]

Anyone have a good recipe for homemade "Kinetic Sand?" I tried one using veg oil, flour and sand. I didn't find it was very good. Looking at some others but the reviews are mixed. Most say nothing is like the original. Never tried the original but I am tempted.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Those all sound really fun!! We haven't done anything like that recently but have done most of them at some point or another. Cornstarch "magic" is always so cool!

I have the name brand kinetic sand and than some pink stuff from "Showcase"...the kinetic sand is definitely the best out of the 2 but the no name brand isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was going to make my own but ended up just buying it as I couldn't find nice clean cheap sand! haha. The kids really really like it and I love how easy it is to clean up. The no name brand gets a little "sticky" if played with too much though and is a bit harder to clean up but still nothing major.

I have a recipe for homemade gak that works really well. I will see if I can find it on my pinterest board, if not I know I have it written downstairs.

[5 Little Monkeys]

http://lilluna.com/homemade-gak-recipe/

This is the recipe I use. it's really fun and easy. Clean up is surprisingly quick too!

[kindertime]

Although it was too cold to play with this today, the kids have really been loving the water box I put together this spring. It is an under-the-bed Rubbermaid tote filled with dollar store items like kitchen scrubbers, turkey basters, cups, toothbrushes, funnels, etc. I fill it every day for playing on the patio. I also put in dish soap for bubbles. Next week I will be adding small ketchup and mustard containers, also from the dollar store. They will be great for squirting onto the wall. The bin is getting pretty full. :)