Graduation Week Activities

Since I will be travelling for the Summer, I will post all the weeks daily activities at beginning of the week on Mondays.

Artsy Monday: Graduation Cards


For most schools this will be the Graduation week .

Check out some cool electronic cards as well as printable Graduation cards to color from Crayola.

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Cooking Tuesday : Grad Caps

I found this fun recipe to make :Chocolate Grad Caps at Familyfun.com. It is very easy to make , the kids will be very happy to help.


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Miniature peanut butter cups
Frosting or peanut butter
Chocolate-covered graham crackers,or Hersheys chocolate bar pieces.
Fruit leather

1. Place a miniature peanut butter cup, bottom up, on a plate. Top with a small dollop of frosting or peanut butter, then press on a chocolate-covered graham cracker.

2. For a tassel, tightly roll up a small square of fruit leather. Cut fringe on one end and attach the other end to the center of the graham cracker with another dab of frosting or peanut butter.

Watch a video of how to make these at Familyfun.com

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Virtual Wednesday: Gumi Bear Song

Check this very popular Gumi Bear song for kids. My kids love it and want to listen to it over and over again.

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Scientific Thursday: How to suck an egg into a bottle

How to suck an egg into a bottle : This is a very cool experiment to learn about pressure. I found a great video of the experiment at Videojug.com. We tried it at home , and it does work. The kids were very excited.

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Fun Friday:
Intel Museum: Make a Musical Greeting Card

Intel Museum in Santa Clara has a free class for kids to build a remote control roMake a Musical Greeting card. It is this Saturday 6/13/2009 . To register for the class call (408) 765- 0503 . Their address is 2200 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, CA.

Michaels Stores: Make a T-shirt for Fathers Day.
June 14, 2009 - June 14, 2009, 1:00pm - 3:00pm Use your hand to make a special T-shirt for dad to wear. Just purchase the T-shirt of your choice for $2.50 and decorate it for FREE using Michaels paint supplies! Powered by Tulip. Click here for you location and then check This Stores Events.

Fun Friday Free Instore Activities

Happy Fun Friday!

Today find out about some fun activities coming up this Saturday.

Homedepot Hardware Store :

Make a Hardware Sorter, Sat June 6, 2009

The Home Depot's Kids Workshops offer useful projects including the creation of toolboxes, fire trucks and mail organizers, as well as more educational projects, such as a window birdhouse, bughouse or Declaration of Independence frame kit.The workshops teach children do-it-yourself skills and tool safety, while at the same time helping to instill a sense of accomplishment. Additionally, this fun time allows for quality one-on-one time between adults and children.In addition to the newly constructed project kit, each child receives a kid-sized orange apron, similar to The Home Depot associates' aprons, and an achievement pin.

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Michaels Stores : Make Thumb Doodles Cards, Sat June 6,2009 10am to 1pm

To find out about the details and your neighborhood store click here. The view your stores events. This is a fun , FREE event for kids ages 5-12. Powered by Klutz® Books

Activities for this week:

Artsy Monday: Learn to draw cartoons.

Cooking Tuesday: Elephant Ears

Virtual Wednesday: Awesome animal videos.

Scientific Thursday: Attack of the straws.

Fun Friday: Activities this weekend.

Scientific Thursday :The Attack of the Straw

The Attack of the Straw

Here's an easy way to learn about inertia and momentum

You will need:

A raw potato
Straws

What to do:
Put a potato on the table or kitchen counter and hold it firmly with one hand.

With a fast, strong push, stab the potato with the straw.

Observe what happens? Did the straw bend or go into the potato? The straw should go into the potato. If it didn't, try again with another straw--maybe a little faster or harder.
An object remains at rest (the potato, in this case) or keeps moving (the straw, in this case) unless it is acted upon by some external force.

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Crazy 8 is a Gymboree Corporation. It has a summer sale going on. Denim pants,summer tanks and shorts are $6.99 each.You can also earn $20 Crazy Cash. If you subscribe to them you can get $10 off $30 online purchases. Shipping is flat $5. They also have various retail locations.

Virtual Wednesday Videos, Swing Set Recall

Take a virtual tour under the ocean today. Watch these amazing,fun ,and very interesting videos of Dolphins,Sharks,Turtles, and a Mama Bear teaching her cubs to fish.

Amazing Dolphin Antics

White Sharks and turtles

Mama Bear teaching cubs t0 hunt for fish

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Toys R US and Babies R Us Toy recall

The following item(s) have been recalled for failure to meet safety requirements

• Step 2 Corp., Play Up Gym Set: Swing Hooks

These were sold from January 2009 through April 2009

Triangular hangers that attach the swing ropes to the upper rail may break, causing users to fall. Affected hangers have black plastic bushings. Hangers with white plastic bushings are not affected.Please inspect the top swing hangers. If the rope attachment pieces have BLACK plastic bushings, Immediately stop using the swings until you receive and install the free replacement hooks.

Cooking Tuesday: Elephant Ears

Elephant Ears

What you need:

1. Frozen Puff pastry sheets (found in the freezer section in any grocery store )

2. Pizza sauce

3. Shredded cheese (preferably Mozarella)

Lets Get Started:

Thaw the Frozen Pastry Sheets per package directions.

Take 1 square strip of the pastry sheet and spread the pizza sauce on it.

Sprinkle the cheese sparingly on top .

Roll the left side of the pastry sheet till the middle of the square.

Similarly roll the right side of the pastry sheet to the middle of the square.

Now fold one half over the other half as if you are closing a book.

You should be able to see about 6 layers of the puff pastry.

Now cut the roll into about 3/4" pieces.

Place the pieces cut side up on a greased baking tray.

Perheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Bake the elephant ears for 5-6 minutes on one side and then turn them over again and bake for another 5-6 minutes on the other side .

Let them cool ... now you are ready to enjoy some tasty Elephant Ears.

Themes for Summer, Vacation deal.

Announcing New for Summer

Daily themes

( June 1, 2009 to August 30 , 2009)

Artsy Mondays :Little budding artists and crafters can unleash their creativity.

Cooking Tuesdays:Get your cooking hats on and cook up a storm with easy fun recipes.

Virtual Wednesdays :Fun Virtual resources for the computer wizards.

Scientific Thursdays : Simple and easy scientific experiments for all the Little Einsteins.

Fun Fridays : For all the fun loving kids --anything and everything fun goes.

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Uncle Fred's website is a good place to visit for any budding artist.You will find easy step by step visual instructions to draw fun cartoons. The cartoons are very easy to draw even for little kids . There are about 12 cartoons of bunnies, chicks,puppies,cats, penguins and more that you can learn to draw . Try the Bunny cartoon , any kid that can write a B can draw this one.It does not overwhelm the kids with choice or complexity. So pick up a pencil and paper and draw some cartoons .
And don't forget to visit again to see what the kids can cook up tomorrow.
Remember to leave comments to let me know if your kids enjoyed this activity.

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If you are planning a vacation this summer , Southwest Airlines has a ongoing Friends fly free sale . It is basically a buy one get one free sale.
Friends Fly FREE! Plus Stay, Dine, Play, and Drive FREE in Orlando, FLY . Every second person flies FREE when you book a flight + hotel package to Orlando!Book 5/22 - 6/21/09 Travel 6/1 - 10/30/09

Reading Programs, Live Metamorphosis

This is a comprehensive list from my postings of several Reading Programs for children this summer.
Start of with a Summer Reading Pledge that kids can sign before the start of this summer .

1.Barnes & Noble 's Summer Reading Program: Kids read any eight books of their own choosing and then complete a summer reading journal , bring it in to get a free book.

2.Borders Summer Reading Challenge: Again kids read any 8 books of their choice to receive 50% off selected books.

3.Scholastic Reading Program: Kids ages 8 and above can join the Virtual Reading Camp and younger kids can join a Family Playground.

If any of you have come across any more interesting Reading Programs , feel free to share .

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A few people had mentioned to me after I had posted the deal for the Live Butterfly Garden that they could not get the Free Super Saver Shipping as the total does not go above $25.

Here is my solution:

Amazon has the Live Butterfly Garden for $13.45 and the Insect Lore Ladybug Land for $14.35 for a grand total of $27.80 which will qualify you for the Super Saver Shipping. The kids will be happy to see the metamorphosis of a Butterfly and a Lady bug, compare and notice the differences.