Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

Summer vacation to me is like a cute monster. On one hand, it's scary. On the other hand, it's cute and I can't wait to see it up close. I'm now an experienced mother (crazy!), so I already know that the more you plan ahead, the more difficult this vacation will be. But if you don't plan ahead, well, good luck to you!
So some of the days I plan ahead and some I'm just being spontaneous. Those planned days are our Camp Mom days,  and the kids really love them ("Mommy, what are we doing today in Camp Mom?").

First Camp Mom day this year was nature day. Since it's really really hot here, I had no plans to go to "real" nature. Instead we brought nature to our backyard.
We opened the day with a nature scavenger hunt. They had to find things like a big flower, a small flower, twigs, something living (which we didn't touch), something that smells good, something pink and more.

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day


Then we picked flowers in different colors. The goal was to make paint out of flowers. We talked about how people painted before you could just go to a store and buy paint, and we tried to brainstorm methods of paint making. We also added dirt and leaves to our experiment.

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day


Then we crushed everything...

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

I searched online and found that mixing flowers with egg yolk should work. I thought about trying to cook the flowers, but that would make too much mess, and our house is messy enough as it is, so we didn't cook.
Instead we just mixed the flowers with the egg yolk and even though some didn't work well, some were great and we could actually paint with them!

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

Now to what I loved most - we made mud soup! We just mixed soil with water and whatever else we could find. The Girl loved dipping her hands inside, The Boy mainly gave us instructions from a safe distance and The Baby wouldn't even go near... And I thought we're going to have a nice family mud bath :)

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

We used the mud and some twigs we found to make a bird nest.

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day


And if we're going to have birds, they need to eat something. So we took an empty milk carton, cut openings, stuck in a stick (so that the birds can stand) and painted.

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

After it dried, we filled with birdseed and hung it outside.

Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

At the end of the day, they each got 5 minutes with mommy and daddy's camera (that's really special for them!) and took pictures of nature as they see it. I'll skip the pictures of the house, the cat and all the blurry pictures, and show you just one picture of each.

Him.
Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day

Her.
Camp Mom - Summer Activities for Kids. Nature Day


Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

4 comments:

  1. WOW - you are one creative mom! Lucky kids!

    I was raised in the era where TV was limited so I learned quickly to entertain myself and never seemed to have enough hours in a day.

    My kids were raised pre computer/game boy days and their summer instructions included things like opening the door and telling them I'd call them for supper. We lived in a small town and street hockey was the favorite past time in the neighborhood.

    The type of activities you do with your kids - well my kids did them at camp or a DVBS so it was an extra treat for them. I think my daughter (who is now 35) still uses the "popsicle bowl" she made at camp when she was about 12. It's her odds and ends collector on her bookcase.

    I have a lot of admiration for young moms in this era. There is a lot more focus on healthy eating and being fit. Hats off to all of you.

    Erica from http://startingafter50.com/

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    1. Thanks Erica!
      I also grew up with lots of outdoor activities and I find it hard to see my kids stare in front of screens all day long.
      I try to have a fun activity with them every day, but I admit I sometimes just want them to watch TV for a while, so I can drink my coffee and read a book...

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