OMFG Kale Chips

OMFG Kale Chips

I was very wary to try these-however people on PAFO (Google it) keep raving about it, and I was hopeful that even if I did not like them, the kids would tolerate them.

These are AWESOME. not kidding AWESOME. I hate kale-hate it all the time-except in this form. The kids ate the entire bowl, ok I ate some, and we just bought two more bunches of kale!

Ingredients

·         1 bunch of kale

·         EVOO

·         Salt

Directions

1.       Wash Kale

2.       Dry Kale

3.       Take off thick stems

4.       Break in to pieces

5.       Put on non-stick cookie sheet and toss with oil and salt

6.       Bake in oven-tossing every 10min at 325-use the convection setting if you have one

7.       Once they are crispy-make sure they crisp up-take them out and eat them

Just a hint though-if it is really humid outside they tend to get soggy fast

Spider Week

Spider Week

Spider Webs and Spiders

These fun webs were made out of plastic plates with ridges cut around the sides and the middle cut out. We took EYELASH, yes EYELASH yarn (it's EYELASH) and strung it around the web-I was out of normal black yarn and Ty did not want to use string. The spiders-and other animals we made-are made out of Shrinky Dinks. If you don't know what a Shrinky Dink is-look it up, because part of your childhood was deprived. The 3-D effect was made by bending them right when they came out of the toaster oven. (I have fingers of iron-but you should probably use something to help you bend them).

Glue Spider Webs

You may want to look up how these should look-because that.will.never.happen. However, even though they don't look like the neat ones on the internet, they are fun and a good sensory experience. Elmer's clue on paper-was too hard for the kids to squeeze, so they guided my hands. After they dried we decided to dress them up with a little chalk-it made them look "spooky"

Sticky Spider Web Toss

What a wonderful game we found on Pinterest! It is a sticky spider web made out of masking tape (all the sticky sides point one way), strung in a door way. We made "bugs" out of masking tape and the boys threw them until they stuck. It took a few tries, and the bugs stuck better where the web was closer together, and it was TONS OF FUN

After they stuck all the bugs in the web Ty pulled down the web and made "spider" catchers out of tape balls.

Trucks in the Garden

Trucks in the Garden

So I garden, A LOT. I have 18 beds approximately 10x5. I grow a ton of food and preserve most of what we don't eat right away, and the rest of it we give away. But more of that to come.

In the spring we spend many hours in the garden and although the kids do help plant and pull weeds, I try to find other activities for them to do so they do not get bored.

While the deer fence keeps them in the garden, it also makes it so I have to bring everything out to with us, water, toys, gardening stuff, and with a toddler that is not the easiest task. So, i load Gav and everything else into a wheel barrow and drive them out.

After we settled in the garden I pull out their toys. Today it was trucks-diggers, a big dump truck, as well as the small shovels and rakes for them to use.

Ty looked for potato bugs to give rides and Gav dug in the dirt before helping me cover up the potatoes.

Really, if it is not a cloth toy, bring it out to the garden. You can always wash them down after and it makes outside time a little more fun!

Corn Meal and Straws

Corn Meal and Straws

This was something we did during ocean week. I had a pan of corn meal out with shells and little shovels and buckets, but the kids got bored with it. So I decided, hey, why not make a mess, and gave them each a straw.

They both took turns blowing the corn meal off the baking sheet and seeing how it flew in the air. Both thought it was hilarious. After most of the cornmeal was on the floor they then blew it around the house some, but a quick vacuum took care of the mess!

Exploding Paint

Exploding Paint

Before we get into this activity- I need to explain my child's clothing style-he does not like to wear clothes. We require underwear, but nothing else. So you will mostly see him in costumes or with his shirt off-usually he runs around in a cape, and today he is wearing snow pants.....

Anyway, this is an activity we did a few weeks ago when Ty had a friend over. In each of the white containers is food color and vinegar. On the baking sheets I put baking soda...see where we are going here?

Both boys used eyedroppers to drop the "paint" onto the baking soda sheet. Not only did they get to see the paint "explode" which was really just fizzing, but they also mixed colors and worked on their small motor skills when they used the eyedroppers.

How many corners? How many sides?

How many corners? How many sides?

This activity took about 2min to prepare and actually entertained both kids for awhile. I cut out different shapes from construction paper-which we will use later in the week. I had Ty put clothes pins on the corners, and then the sides. We then write down how many corners and sides each shape had.

Do you know what he discovered? There were the same number of corners and sides on all the shapes! (you probably knew that already, but he is 4-it was a MAJOR discovery)

Gav spent most of the time pulling clothes pins apart and then I clipped some on his clothing and he pulled them off.

Both of the boys built some hand muscles and they had some fun!