Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Summer Activities for Kids: Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!

Yum

As I was remembering this fun summer activity idea, I decided it would be much more fun to do if we invited friends over to join us! So we sent out the invitation, got our supplies ready, and had a little Ice Cream Making Party!

By the way, we are SO CLOSE to final adoption day for Bonus Boy that I almost waited to post this so that I could show you his precious face. Soon and very soon he will officially be a Coppinger and then all stickers come off!

This “make ice cream in a bag” idea is one of those we always WANT to do, but never seem to get around to ACTUALLY doing. Somehow inviting friends to do it with us made it much more doable, you know? Afterward, the kids played and the moms visited. Bliss! And also, there was ice cream to eat, so double win!

Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Summer Activities for Kids: Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 droppers full of liquid stevia, or 3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup, or 3-4 Tablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup rock salt or coarse sea salt
  • Ice
  • quart and gallon sized freezer bags
Instructions
  1. Measure cream, sweetener, and vanilla into a quart-sized freezer bag and seal.
  2. Fill a gallon-sized freezer bag half-full of ice.
  3. Add ½ cup rock salt to the ice.
  4. Place the sealed quart-sized bag filled with ice cream ingredients into the bag of ice and salt. Seal.
  5. Toss the bag back and forth, shaking and tossing for 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens to ice cream.
  6. Remove the quart-sized bag and rinse the salt off.
  7. Open the bag, scoop out the ice cream, and enjoy!

We moms found that the ice cream shakers needed a little bit of help to get the mixture shaken vigorously enough to turn into ice cream! Also: be sure to do this activity outside!! The bags tend to get drippy. :)

Here are some of our other Simple Ice Cream Recipes.

Use any of these with the above Freezer Bag Toss idea!

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

77 Screen-Free Summer Activities for Kids

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s post includes: 77 Screen-Free Summer Activities for Kids

Huge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

List of Screen-Free Activities for Summer Fun

You might remember seeing this list a couple summers ago. It is huge and wonderful, and therefore well worth posting again! Get ready to be inspired as you see all of these great screen-free activity ideas!

Ready to get lots of ideas of ways to spend time with your kids and their friends while staying away from screens? Here we go!

Read, Read Read!

We’ve already talked about all the good books to read! (Did you see this list?) First and foremost, cooling off under the fan with a good book is a perfect screen free option this summer. Look over our list of great book suggestions. Join our Summer Reading Party. Read, read, read!

Have a Board Games Tournament

Huge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

Select any of the following, making adjustments depending on your kids’ ages. If your kids are old enough, enjoying any of these games in tournament form could be a blast! Even if your kids are “too old” for little kid games, sometimes it’s fun to pull them out and have a “Throw Back Game Day!”

  1. UNO
  2. Skip Bo
  3. Rummikub
  4. Chutes and Ladders
  5. Farkle
  6. Checkers
  7. Monopoly
  8. Scrabble
  9. Bananagrams
  10. Rummikub
  11. Headbanz

Have Fun With Bubbles

  1. Have Bubble Races – Hold your bubble on your wand and see who can go the farthest.
  2. Set up a Bubble Obstacle Course – Create an obstacle course and try to get through it without your bubble popping.
  3. Hold a Bubble Contest – Compete for who has the biggest bubble, smallest bubble, one that flies the highest, one that lasts the longest…
  4. Make Big Bubbles – Use lids from different sized cottage cheese, yogurt, or sour cream containers to cut into fun bubble rings. Dip the the rings into the tubs of homemade bubbles, made as directed below. This makes great big bubbles!
  5. Check out these Bubble Guns for an extra level of fun!

Need a Homemade Bubble Recipe?

5.0 from 1 reviews
Homemade Bubbles
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 12 cups water
  • 1 cup dish soap
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 2 Tablespoons baking powder
Instructions
  1. Mix ingredients in a bucket or tub, stirring gently.
  2. Allow mixture to sit for one hour before having bubble fun!

Use Sidewalk Chalk in a Fun New Way

  1. Use Water – Dip your sidewalk chalk in water and see how that changes the color and consistency of the art.
  2. Have Sidewalk Chalk Contests – Compete for who can draw the silliest, biggest, smallest, brightest, largest, most accurate, etc.
  3. Use Sidewalk Chalk to Decorate Rocks – It is like dyeing Easter eggs, only with chalk and rocks!
  4. Spread the Love – Write a message of love, encouragement or fun on a neighbor’s sidewalk. Leave a Welcome Home message on a vacationing family’s driveway.

Enjoy Outdoor and Backyard Games

  1. Ladder Ball
  2. Bocce Ball
  3. Kubb
  4. Lawn darts
  5. Soccer
  6. Water Balloons
  7. Hopscotch
  8. Jacks
  9. Four Square
  10. Obstacle course / Outdoor Olympics
  11. Hold jump rope contests, hula-hoop contests, or roller skating contests
  12. Leaf, bug and flower collections or tree identification game
  13. Cloud identification and imagination game

Set up Some Water GamesHuge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

  1. Jump on the trampoline with sprinkler underneath
  2. Use a fun sprinkler to add fun to the play
  3. Slip and Slide
  4. Fill a kiddie pool with ice cubes and water

Set up Sand Box Fun

  1. Use the sand to draw pictures
  2. Bury small toys in the sand box and let the kids hunt for them
  3. Add water to build castles and other creations
  4. New sand toys and shovels are always fun
  5. This dump truck won’t rust if left out in the rain
  6. Durable watering can, shovel and rake

Go on New Adventures

  1. Park Hop – Go from one park to another in your town and surrounding areas, take a friend, have a picnic
  2. Have a Progressive Dinner – Start with salad at one house, hors d’oeuvres at a second, main course at another and end up with dessert at a final house
  3. Go Geocaching – With a smart phone and some hiking shoes, you can make this happen. Don’t have a smart phone? Try a handheld GPS.  You will have to scout your locations in advance and bring a list.
  4. Go on a Treasure Hunt or Scavenger Hunt – Create a series of clues and a treasure at the end.
  5. Go a New Way – Have a destination to which you like to bike or walk? Try taking a different route.
  6. Look Online – Use the internet to find new, fun, free things to do in your area
  7. Camp out in the backyard – If you can’t do over night, then pitch the tent in the yard for an instant playhouse/fort/hideaway

Set up Creative Indoor Play

  1. Sensory Bins with Rice, Beans, or Salt – Let kids play in containers of rice, beans or salt. They can draw letters, shapes and pictures.
  2. Play with and draw in Shaving Cream
  3. Make Homemade Playdough (Mix 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch and 1.5 cups warm water. Stir all together and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour into something to cool. Once it is cool, knead it and you can play away. If you want to add color, put food coloring in the water before boiling the mixture.
  4. Paint with Water Colors – Cover the dining room table with large sheets of paper and let the kids paint away
  5. Make a Selfie – Take a large sheet of paper and trace the child’s whole body. Let them decorate and draw the shape to resemble themselves.
  6. Hold a Talent Show – Do Mom and Dad have talent? What about the kids? Show it off! Don’t forget the video camera!
  7. Get out Simple Art Supplies – Use pine cones, pipe cleaners and googly eyes to create a miniature family
  8. Have a Lego Contest
  9. Hold a Coloring Contest

Cook TogetherHuge List of Screen Free Activities

  1. Make Popsicles
  2. Hold a Chili Cook-Off
  3. Make a Picnic
  4. Hold a Cooking Contest (i.e. Who makes the best cookies?)
  5. Take advantage of this time to Teach Your Kids to Cook

Fun Kid Friendly Recipes

  1. Download a FREE Kid-Friendly Snacks page here.
  2. Homemade Tootsie Rolls
  3. Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  4. Crustless Pizza Pie
  5. Easy Guacamole
  6. Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
  7. Chewy Granola Bars
  8. Pudding Pops
  9. Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
  10. Cool Pineapple Cream Dessert
  11. 5-Minute Frozen Yogurt Cups
  12. Easy Blue Raspberry Salad

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Summer Activities with Kids: Plan and Host a Party

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Plan and Host a Party!

No need to wait for a birthday or other special occasion for an excuse to host a party! Why not host a party just for the fun of it?

But I’m NOT a Party Planner!!

Not a party planning kind of person? ME NEITHER!!!! For me, planning “parties” with my kids has been more about planning fun get-togethers with their friends. When you see the list of ideas we came up with below, I think you’ll get excited about wanting to plan a “party” too!

Today we’re talking about ways to host a party while keeping it super simple! Remember, this is about finding fun ways to spend time with your kids and love others this summer. You can work with your kids to plan a party, but if you do it right, it won’t cost much or be very difficult either!

Here’s an example of something our family did a few years ago:

When Malachi was younger, he LOVED everything Lego! So just for fun, one summer we worked together and hosted a Lego Party with his friends. (It is important to note that his birthday is in December and we hosted this party in July. Because it was just for fun! No gifts, no pressure – just good ol’ Lego fun!)

We spent some time on Pinterest together, looking for fun ideas others had already thought of. We spent just a few dollars to put together some small treats and activities…

We “went all out” and made a Lego-shaped pinata and guess what we filled it with? Well, Legos, of course! (In a ziplock, oy!) Once the pinata had busted open, the boys dumped them out on the living room floor and had fun building together. Cost for this fun party game? Um, practically nothing. We already had the Legos. We covered the box with construction paper. It was so simple!

Just for kicks, if you’d like to learn more about How we Hosted a Lego Party on the Cheap, here are the details!

Another time, our boys decided together to host a Nerf Gun Party. They planned the whole thing themselves, which ultimately meant that they called and invited their friends, then everyone came over and shot nerf bullets at each other. And because my boys were into making cakes back in those sweet days, after the gun war, they fed everyone cake. Ah, the love language of boys. :)

What about Teens?

I really wish I had pictures, but none of us can find them on our phones! Last summer though, Elias decided to have a very belated birthday party – even though he’d turned 16 earlier in January. He invited a bunch of friends and helped me plan what to do and what food to serve.

We got a fire going in our Fire Pit (we have this one – such a fantastic investment, by the way!). The kids made their own brats and smores, they played lawn games, they kicked a soccer ball around. It was a blast and WHY CAN’T I FIND PICTURES??? Ah, I guess the memories will live forever in our hearts.

Inexpensive Summer Party Ideas

What do your kids and their friends love to do? Just like Malachi loved Legos and planned and hosted a Lego Party, select what your kids love and go with it! No need to be fancy. No need to spend money. Just pick a theme, invite your friends, and have some fun!

Here are a few ideas to get you and your kids started on brainstorming for fun party plans!

  1. Water Games and Watermelon Party
  2. Sack Lunch on the Lawn Party (everyone can bring their own packed lunch!)
  3. Sidewalk Chalk Contest
  4. Badminton and Brownies Party
  5. Princess or Super Hero Dress Up Party
  6. Lego Party
  7. Popcorn and a Movie Party
  8. Smores Making Party
  9. Crafts and Snacks Party
  10. Cooking or Baking Party
  11. Cookie or Cupcake Decorating Party
  12. Swimming Party
  13. Book Swap Party
  14. Trampoline and Treats Party
  15. Popsicles and Play Party
  16. Board Game Bonanza
  17. Bike Trail Party (ride bikes together, ending in a special location for a treat!)
  18. Card Game Tournament
  19. Ice Cream Sundae Bar Party
  20. Lawn Games and Snacks Party

If you and your kids start brainstorming, there’s no end to the ideas you’ll come up with! See how easy? See how fun? See how inexpensive?

Need some fun Lawn Game Ideas?

  1. Ultimate Disc Game
  2. Kubb
  3. Lawn Bowling
  4. Yard Dice
  5. Ladder Ball 
  6. Molkky 
  7. Washer Toss
  8. Ring Toss
  9. Frisbee Golf (Disc Golf) Set
  10. Floating Pong

Need some fun Board Game and Card Game Ideas?

  • 5-Second Rule
  • Spot It!
  • The Game of Things
  • Rummikub
  • Settlers of Catan (With extentions, which you’ll need if you have more than 4 players.)
  • Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights (This is an expansion of Settlers of Catan. This is our favorite add on to regular Setters.)
  • Seafarers of Catan (Also an expansion of Settlers.)
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Carcossonne
  • Bohnanza (This one is unique. Great for older kids and adults. We love this one!)
  • Life
  • Risk
  • Manhattan
  • Guestures
  • Taboo
  • Blink (Malachi and I play this quick card game a lot while the older brothers are at basketball practice.)
  • Headbandz
  • Acquire
  • Sequence
  • Clue
  • Apples to Apple Junior (This is probably our favorite group game. We don’t recommend the regular version of this game because the cards are less familiar to the kids.)
  • Scattergories
  • Pictionary
  • Cranium
  • Boggle (This game totally counts as school work, but no one knows they’re learning.)
  • Monopoly
  • Sorry
  • Quelf (I’ve actually decided that I very much dislike this one. The kids like it though.)
  • Racko
  • Balderdash
  • Yahtzee
  • Farkle
  • Pass the Pigs
  • Huskerdu (great for younger kids – still fun for adults)
  • Mastermind
  • Skipbo

Need some fun Party Food Ideas?

Ready to Plan and Host a Party with your kids this summer?

What food, game, and theme ideas do you have?

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Stay tuned for more fun Summer Kid Activity ideas!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Summer Activities with the Kids: Create Blessings for Father’s Day!

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Create Blessings for Father’s Day!

You may remember that we shared this list of Father’s Day gift ideas a couple of years ago. I’m going to re-share some of those great ideas, plus add some new ones too!

Create Blessings for Father’s Day

You and your kids are likely already thinking about how to bless the dads and grandpas in your lives. But what if you went a bit beyond these special men and talked about ways you can offer something special to those who may be overlooked?

  • Widowers
  • Men in nursing homes
  • Someone who has suffered a difficult year because of illness, loss, unemployment, etc.

OR, how about doing something special for someone who has gone above and beyond for your kids?

  • Coaches
  • Teachers
  • Caretakers
  • Ministers
  • Church Elders

Pray with your kids about this!

Allow God to bring people to mind or to open your eyes to men who would love to be the recipient of your Father’s Day blessing this year. What a wonderful way to serve alongside your children – to teach them to see others and to think beyond themselves!

And while I’m writing this, I have in mind that moms and kids will do this together – but here’s what might be even better!! What if kids and dads spend time on this special “project” as a way to celebrate Father’s Day? Dads serving with their kids is a beautiful thing! Or perhaps you can all do this as an entire family.

Pray, and let the Spirit lead you toward what Father’s Day can look like for you and your family as you look to be a blessing to others.

Cookies for Father’s Day

One of the simplest ways to bless special men in your lives this Father’s Day is to hand them a card and a plate of cookies. Want some great recipe ideas? I can probably come up with one or two. ;)

Wait, you ask. Are these really THE BEST Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies? Yes, I’m afraid it’s true. We’ve tried all the others. These are the best. ;)

Now it’s time to think beyond cookies!

(Mostly) Free Ideas for gifting Dad, Grandpa, or others

Ready to get those kids serving and caring for the men in their lives? But hoping to spend little to no money? How about these ideas!

  1. Write a letter (25 things I like about you, or top 10 favorite memories).
  2. Create a hand-drawn picture of the two of you doing something together.
  3. Put together a photo album of pictures of you and Dad (or the special friend).
  4. Print your favorite picture of the two of you and put it in a frame.
  5. Vacuum and wash his car or truck.
  6. Present coupons to help him organize and clean the garage, his workshop or his office.
  7. Present coupons for cleaning out his car, washing his car, or doing his share of the mowing.
  8. Offer coupons for a batch of his favorite cookies or his favorite meal.

Gifts for Men That Cost $25 or Less

If you have it in your budget, here are some great gift ideas that dad, grandpa, or others might love!

tent

For Camping

  1. Single Hammock
  2. Color-Coded Roasting Sticks
  3. Two Person Tent
  4. Biolite Portable Light  If you need to do things in the dark, the USB will also operate this light. NO batteries, no electricity required.

For Baseball

  1. MLB Team Logo Baseball You choose the team!
  2. Equipment Backpack
  3. Coffee Mug

For Football

  1. Light-Up Football So you can play in the dark!
  2. Parking Sign You choose the team.
  3. 3D Puzzle (like Legos) NFL team characters   You choose the character.

3 for Golf

  1. Golf Scope
  2. Tees
  3. Golf Ball Pick Up Tool

For Fishing and hunting

  1. Portable Fish Scale with Measuring Tape
  2. Cross Body Tackle Bag

For all Sports Fans

  1. Chair with its own shade

Great Tools

  1. 3-in-1 Laser Level, tape measure and bubble level with ruler
  2. Leatherman Multi-Tool
  3. Telescoping Magnet – Great for picking up spilled nails, screws and such!
  4. Nice Work Gloves
  5. Headlamp
  6. Survival Kit

T-shirts

  1. For Dads with a Sense of Humor
  2. For Dads with Gas and a Sense of Humor
  3. Me and Mini-Me Set

Coffee Mugs

  1. For a Star Wars Fan
  2. Awesome Dad
  3. New Dad

Fun Outdoor Games for Dad (and the Entire Family!)

molkky

  1. Kubb
  2. Lawn Bowling
  3. Yard Dice
  4. Ladder Ball 
  5. Molkky
  6. Washer Toss
  7. Ring Toss
  8. Frisbee Golf (Disc Golf) Set
  9. Floating Pong

Make a Meal!

What if you and the kids invite special men in your lives (and/or those who may often eat alone) over to your home for a meal? Get those kids into the kitchen with you! Let them help plan what food to serve, prepare the food, and clean up afterward. There is so much joy in working together to serve others!

Here are some great main dish ideas you might choose from:

Serve these with a salad, a veggie, a fruit, and a special dessert! The men in your life will love it!

What other ideas do you have to work with your kids to create a blessing for someone this Father’s Day?

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Stay tuned for more fun Summer Kid Activity ideas!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Summer Activities With the Kids: Go Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking!

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Go Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking!

I have the BEST memories of heading to orchards, farms, and friend’s houses in the summertime with my kids so that we could pick berries, apples, or peaches.

We live in small-town Nebraska, so we are blessed to have many neighbors and friends who have berry patches, gardens, and orchards. (Yes, we have a garden in our yard too. But we don’t have the space for planting in huge bulk like many of our country neighbors.)

For years and years when our kids were little, we’d take advantage of every invitation to “come pick!” that we were able to enjoy.

Allow me to take a walk down memory lane…

We had a friend with a huge strawberry patch, where we would all load our buckets! We got to do this for FREE. What a blessing! (They’ve since sold their farm and moved out of state. Happy for them, sad for us!)

We also have friends with a gorgeous apple orchard! In the late summer, we’d head out and get as many apples as we could, all for a tiny price per grocery bag. It seemed too good to be true!

One year, my friend Anne and I borrowed the orchard owner’s cider press. After picking apples at the orchard, we spent the afternoon with all of our kids experiencing the work and joy of making homemade apple cider!

Oh my babies!

One year, we headed to Michigan for a wedding, at the perfect time for fruit picking! As we drove, we noticed sign after sign advertising “You Pick!” farms. Matt and I decided to stop at several locations on the way and enjoy time as a family picking fruit and enjoying the experience. We all still talk about that trip as one of our favorite traveling memories!

Blueberries don’t grow well in Nebraska, so picking them during that trip to Michigan was a very special treat! (Also, as we ate berry after berry while we continued to travel, somehow I ended up sitting on some and staining/ruining my pants. Hahaha! The boys still remember that too! “Mom, remember how you sat in blueberries and ruined your pants?!” Good times.)

Mmmmm, peaches! While peaches do grow well in Nebraska, we still stopped at a Peach Farm during our Michigan trip to enjoy a wagon ride to pick peaches. Of course, we took advantage of their offer to “eat whatever you like!”

Why Go Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking

Truly, the fun and joy that come with picking fruit on a farm with your family is priceless.

Yes, there are bugs. Yes, it is hard work. Yes, it may be hot. So prepare yourselves, give the kids a pep talk, take water bottles, go before the hottest part of the day, and know that while you’d love the experience to be perfect, someone may still have a melt-down.

Through the years and beyond all the less-than-fun parts, our family found these fruit picking experiences to be wonderful because:

  • The kids got to learn more about where our food comes from.
  • The kids got to learn about the hard work it takes to put food on the table.
  • We got to take home loads of delicious, nutritious fruit to eat in a variety of fun ways. (Details below!)
  • It saved all kinds of money as we either had to pay very small prices per pound of fruit, or we were encouraged to take all we wanted for free!

Beyond Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking

Once the fruit is picked, then what? Well, the fun just keeps on keeping on!

Yes, the fun comes in the form or hard work. :)

After working hard to pick the fruit, of course, we eat as much fresh fruit as we can hold. NOTHING is more delicious than sweet fruit that comes directly off the tree or bush!

But next comes the fun and work of preserving what we can’t eat fresh. The hard work pays off for months as we enjoy homemade applesauce, frozen berries in smoothies, and peach cobblers in the middle of winter. We all work together to wash, cut, and process the fruit.

Here are some ways we preserve our fruit to enjoy all winter long:

What to make with Berries, Apples, and Peaches

You’re sure to come up with wonderful ways to use your freshly picked or beautifully preserved berries, apples, and peaches! Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy the “fruit” of our labor. (Laura is punny.)

Ready to go pick fruit?

Now that our “first batch of kids” is older, if they are able to join us, we can really pick a lot of fruit since they are able to work like adults. And here we are again, starting the process with new babes God has put in our lives. We are excited to take our Bonus Boy on fruit-picking adventures as we know he’ll love it!!

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Stay tuned for more fun Summer Kid Activity ideas!

 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Summer Activities with the Kids: Make Donuts!

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Make Donuts. Who can say no to that?

Here’s what’s great about making donuts with your kids (besides the fact that everyone gets to eat donuts!):

This activity gives you a chance to help your kids learn more about reading a recipe, measuring ingredients, rolling, cutting, and kitchen safety. Our favorite recipes are listed below!

Looking for more help as you pull your kids into the kitchen with you?

And if you really want to go all in and teach your kids to cook this summer, I encourage you to invest in Katie Kimball’s Kids Cook Real Food eCourse. I used this course with Malachi and plan to use it with Bonus Boy too. It is FANTASTIC!!! Get the details here.

Make Donuts ~ Read a Book

Summer is an awesome time to spend more time reading fun books with your kids!

Have you read Homer Price? It’s a great read-aloud for your family! There’s a great chapter in the book about Homer making donuts with his uncle’s donut machine – SUCH a fun chapter! The donuts got out of control!! After you read that chapter, you’ll have no choice but to get into the kitchen and make donuts with your kids!

Here are a couple pictures of my four oldest boys enjoying the donuts we made after reading Homer Price many years ago. Aw, they were so little! (And Malachi was apparently playing dress-up too!)

chocolatedonuts3sm.JPGchocolatedonuts5sm.JPG

He’s 14 now. But he still loves donuts.

Ready for some Donut Recipes? Here’s a classic favorite of ours!

Summer Activity with the Kids: Make Donuts

Whole Grain Cake Donuts
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 15-20
Ingredients
  • 3 ¼ cup whole grain flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ⅔ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ⅔ cup milk
  • ¼ cup melted butter
  • Oil for frying (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)
Instructions
  1. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Stir in eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter.
  3. On a floured surface, roll dough to ½ inch thickness.
  4. Cut with donut cutter, biscuit cutter, or cookie cutters.
  5. Heat oil in skillet or electric skillet (enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet about ¼ inch).
  6. Place donuts into the hot oil to fry for 2-3 minutes on each side.
  7. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate.
  8. Sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, or powdered sugar over the hot donuts.

 

Want to make your donuts even healthier? How about adding a veggie – without anyone noticing? Whole Grain Pumpkin Donuts for the win! Truly, when you add pumpkin puree to donuts it not only adds nourishment but adds moisture and delicious flavor too! Find the recipe here:

Whole Grain Pumpkin Donuts

Need a little frosting for your donuts?

Here’s a high-sugar chocolate recipe. I will provide this recipe for you, but I will not be held responsible for giving your kids a sugar high. ;)

Simple Fudge Frosting

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup cocoa
¼ cup butter
¼ cup water
½ t. vanilla

Stir powdered sugar and cocoa together in a bowl. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add water and bring to a boil. Pour boiling water and butter into powdered sugar and cocoa. Add vanilla. Beat with hand mixer until frosting is combined.

How about a donut glaze that is much lower in sugar!

Orange Honey Glaze

2 teaspoons orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons honey

Whisk ingredients together on the stove until smooth. Drizzle over warm donuts!

Get out the Cookie Cutters!

Regular circle donuts and donut holes are fine. But we can make donuts even more fun when we use cookie cutters to make them into fun shapes! Any cookie cutters will do. Make stars during the Fourth of July. Make animal shapes after a visit to the zoo. Make hearts and deliver them to someone you love. Oh the fun you can have!

You might also consider baking your donuts in a cool silicone donut making mold.

Share with Others

Did you see the sentence above about using a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make heart-shaped donuts to share with someone you love?

One of the best ways to spend time with your kids this summer is to SERVE others with them. Perhaps one way you can serve together is to make donuts and deliver them to someone who could use the blessing of friendship and fellowship!

Ready to have some summer fun with your kids? Head into the kitchen and make donuts! Take pictures and let us know how it goes!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Huge List of Screen Free Activities for Summer Fun

by 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This is the point in the summer that my kids are too hot to play, too hot to work, too hot to move, and too hot to care. Therefore, reaching for a device to play a game or zoning out to Netflix feels like the best option.

Knowing this is true for kids of all ages {Laura raises her hand while trying to cool down with a Coffee Milkshake} I asked my friend Kim to use her brilliance and creativity to come up with a list of ideas we can suggest to our kids, all of which do not involve a screen.

Huge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

Sounds good? Here we go!

List of Screen Free Activities for Summer Fun

1. Read, of course…

We’ve already talked about all the good books to read! (Did you see this list?) First and foremost, cooling off under the fan with a good book is a perfect screen free option this summer. Look over our list of great book suggestions. Join our Summer Reading Party. Read, read, read!

2. Have a Board Games Tournament

Huge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

Select any of the following, making adjustments depending on your kids’ ages. If your kids are old enough, enjoying any of these games in tournament form could be a blast! Even if your kids are “too old” for little kid games, sometimes it’s fun to pull them out and have a “Throw Back Game Day!”

  • UNO
  • Skip Bo
  • Rummikub
  • Chutes and Ladders
  • Farkle
  • Checkers
  • Monopoly
  • Scrabble
  • Bananagrams
  • Rummikub
  • Headbanz

3. Have Fun With Bubbles

  • Have Bubble Races – Hold your bubble on your wand and see who can go the farthest.
  • Set up a Bubble Obstacle Course – Create an obstacle course and try to get through it without your bubble popping.
  • Hold a Bubble Contest – Compete for who has the biggest bubble, smallest bubble, one that flies the highest, one that lasts the longest…
  • Make Big Bubbles – Use lids from different sized cottage cheese, yogurt, or sour cream containers to cut into fun bubble rings. Dip the the rings into the tubs of homemade bubbles, made as directed below. This makes great big bubbles!
  • Check out these Bubble Guns for an extra level of fun!

Need a Homemade Bubble Recipe?

Homemade Bubbles
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 12 cups water
  • 1 cup dish soap
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 2 Tablespoons baking powder
Instructions
  1. Mix ingredients in a bucket or tub, stirring gently.
  2. Allow mixture to sit for one hour before having bubble fun!

4. Use Sidewalk Chalk in a Fun New Way

  • Use Water – Dip your sidewalk chalk in water and see how that changes the color and consistency of the art.
  • Have Sidewalk Chalk Contests – Compete for who can draw the silliest, biggest, smallest, brightest, largest, most accurate, etc.
  • Use Sidewalk Chalk to Decorate Rocks – It is like dyeing Easter eggs, only with chalk and rocks!
  • Spread the Love – Write a message of love, encouragement or fun on a neighbor’s sidewalk. Leave a Welcome Home message on a vacationing family’s driveway. (Note from Laura: This is my favorite of all the ideas Kim came up with!!)

5. Enjoy Outdoor and Backyard Games

  • Ladder Ball
  • Bocce Ball
  • Kubb
  • Lawn darts
  • Soccer
  • Water Balloons
  • Hopscotch
  • Jacks
  • Four Square
  • Obstacle course / Outdoor Olympics
  • Hold jump rope contests, hulahoop contests, or roller skating contests
  • Leaf, bug and flower collections or tree identification game
  • Cloud identification and imagination game

6. Set up Some Water GamesHuge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

  • Jump on the trampoline with sprinkler underneath
  • Use a fun sprinkler to add fun to the play
  • Slip and Slide
  • Fill a kiddie pool with ice cubes and water

7. Set up Sand Box Fun

  • Use the sand to draw pictures
  • Bury small toys in the sand box and let the kids hunt for them
  • Add water to build castles and other creations
  • New sand toys and shovels are always fun
  • This dump truck won’t rust if left out in the rain
  • Durable watering can, shovel and rake

8. Go on New Adventures

  • Park Hop – Go from one park to another in your town and surrounding areas, take a friend, have a picnic
  • Have a Progressive Dinner – Start with salad at one house, hors d’oeuvres at a second, main course at another and end up with dessert at a final house
  • Go Geocaching – With a smart phone and some hiking shoes, you can make this happen. Don’t have a smart phone? Try a handheld GPS.  You will have to scout your locations in advance and bring a list.
  • Go on a Treasure Hunt or Scavenger Hunt – Create a series of clues and a treasure at the end.
  • Go a New Way – Have a destination to which you like to bike or walk? Try taking a different route.
  • Look Online – Use the internet to find new, fun, free things to do in your area
  • Camp out in the backyard – If you can’t do over night, then pitch the tent in the yard for an instant playhouse/fort/hideaway

9. Set up Creative Indoor Play

  • Sensory Bins with Rice, Beans, or Salt – Let kids play in containers of rice, beans or salt. They can draw letters, shapes and pictures.
  • Play with and draw in Shaving Cream
  • Make Homemade Playdough (Mix 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch and 1.5 cups warm water. Stir all together and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour into something to cool. Once it is cool, knead it and you can play away. If you want to add color, put food coloring in the water before boiling the mixture.
  • Paint with Water Colors – Cover the dining room table with large sheets of paper and let the kids paint away
  • Make a Selfie – Take a large sheet of paper and trace the child’s whole body. Let them decorate and draw the shape to resemble themselves.
  • Hold a Talent Show – Do Mom and Dad have talent? What about the kids? Show it off! Don’t forget the video camera!
  • Get out Simple Art Supplies – Use pine cones, pipe cleaners and googly eyes to create a miniature family
  • Have a Lego Contest
  • Hold a Coloring Contest

10. Cooking TogetherHuge List of Screen Free Activities

  • Make Popsicles
  • Hold a Chili Cook-Off
  • Make a Picnic
  • Hold a Cooking Contest (i.e. Who makes the best cookies?)
  • Take advantage of this time to Teach Your Kids to Cook

Fun Kid Friendly Recipes

What are some of your favorite Screen Free Activities to suggest to your kids? Leave a comment to share!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Free Download: Fun, Fabulous, and (mostly) Free Preschool Projects

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Do you have young kids at your house? Want some fun ideas for summer activities? If you haven’t downloaded our FREE eBook, grab it now! It’s loaded with ideas of fun, educational activities for all seasons of the year.

101 Preschool Projects Free Download

Grab this FREE 101 Pre-School Projects book here!

I’m excited to share that signing up for these freebies will connect you to our new Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone. It’s free, of course. You can unsubscribe at any time, your info will never be shared or sold, and being on this list means that you’ll be the first to know of the other fun (yes, FUN!) educational tools we’re putting together!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!