Welcome to Water Wednesday!!
Today is an activity we have done a few times and my son adores - free the toys from the ice blocks!! All you need are some of your child's plastic toys, plastic containers, and water.
Since my son loves Superheroes, I took a few of the heroes and placed them in plastic containers. You could use animals, dinosaurs, bugs - anything that is all plastic - no fabric or hair ! Then you fill the containers with water until the toys are covered. Then, place the containers in the freezer - we froze them overnight.
The next day, I popped them out of the containers and placed them in our empty water table. You could place them on a deck, the ground, a plastic pool, wherever you want the mess to be contained. Then I filled a larger bucket with water for him to fill his squirt gun and containers with. We used our Max Liquidator Water Sprayers to spray water at the frozen blocks of ice.
You could use measuring cups, buckets, measuring spoons - whatever your kids can fill with water. After a while my little guy switched to a plastic watering can and bucket to free his guys quicker. You can also freeze two containers of plastic toys like we did and have a race to see who can free their toys first. My little Batman even made up a story to tell me as he was freeing them. It involved Mr. Freeze and Batman of course!!! After a while of getting the toys and himself wet they were free!
It is a fun activity for a hot day and best of all, it doesn't cost anything!!
Welcome to the first Recipe Monday!!!
My boys and husband would eat pasta everyday if they could, where I am not a big fan of pasta - especially any with red sauce. This recipe is one all of us will eat and love. And even better it gets my boys to eat broccoli!!!! It is called Bowtie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli.
Ingredients Needed:
Bowtie Pasta
Chicken
Broccoli (fresh or frozen)
Olive Oil
Seasoning (we use Weber Roasted Garlic & Herb)
First, you need to cut your chicken into chunks or cubes. I usually use boneless breasts or strips but have when I am in a hurry also used the packages of grilled precooked chicken and cut those into pieces and just heated them. Then, take some olive oil and coat the bottom of a skillet and heat over medium heat. Add your chicken to the hot skillet. While the chicken is browning I sprinkle some of the Weber Roasted Garlic and Herb seasoning over it. When cooked through and browned remove from pan. Place the chicken in a bowl.
While the chicken is cooking you can boil your water and cook your pasta according to the directions on the box. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it.
For the broccoli, I usually buy the steam in the bag kind and it cooks in the microwave in about 5 minutes. You can also buy and cook fresh broccoli if you would like but I think the frozen tastes just as good and is much quicker.
Once the pasta and the broccoli are both done, add them to the bowl with the chicken. Stir them together. Then I take and sprinkle some of the Weber Roasted Garlic and Herb seasoning over the mixture and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix together again. If the pasta looks too dry add some more olive oil by the teaspoon. You don't want too much olive oil - just enough for the seasoning to stick too.
That's it - just serve and enjoy!! I usually will serve it with a tossed salad and garlic bread. Yummy, quick, and easy!!
Welcome to the first Crafty Friday!!!
Today's craft is an easy one you can do with the kids for Father's Day. It is a Father's Day Picture Frame.
Supplies Needed:
Wood Frame (I got mine in the $1 section at Michael's)
Wood Letters
Paint
Foam Sponge Brushes
Glue Gun or Wood Glue
Picture for the frame
First we painted our wood frame in blue (for Batman since my little one is obsessed with Batman) using a foam sponge brush. I use these all the time because they are cheap and I can just throw them out and not have to wash them. The wood frame soaks up the paint so we had to do 3 coats. Allow to dry in between coats. We also painted the back and the stick included for making the frame stand.
You could also choose to put scrapbook paper on the frame using mod podge or spray adhesive.
In between coats we painted the wood letters in a white paint. (and played Hi Ho Cheerio) We chose to spell out the word "DAD". You could spell out Family or Father or leave off the wood letters altogether. Whatever your kids choose. The letters only took two coats.
Next I glued the letters onto the frame using my hot glue gun. PLEASE do not allow the children to do this step as glue guns are hot and dangerous. You could also use wood glue to adhere the letters onto the frame.
At this point your kids could add stickers, gems, glitter, feathers, whatever do-dads you have in your craft box. My little guy just wanted it plain because as he said "Daddy isn't fancy schmancy." He is too funny!!!
Finally we printed a picture of him from the computer. I just printed it onto plain copy paper because once inside the frame it looked just as good as photo paper.
And there you have a personalized Father's Day gift!
