Backyard Fun Part 2

I can't believe summer is quickly winding down. Here are some of the fun things we did in July.

Kool-aid Dyed Hair

This was a “girls only” activity because Bubs’ hair is too short. So he was a helper and liked playing with the gloves. After looking at a few recipes and strategies online, I came up with this technique.

Supplies (per person/color):

3 packets of Kool-aid (the kind without the added sugar)

1 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons conditioner

Old towel(s)

Saran wrap

Hair clips

Gloves

Hair dryer

Steps:

Isolate the hair that you plan to color. The girls wanted to just dye the bottom tips of their hair, so no isolation was needed.

Put on gloves

Mix the Kool-aid packets into the water

Add the conditioner

Make a garbage bag dress (which the girls thought was funny).

If dipping, sit back in a chair allowing the ends of your hair to rest in the mixture for 5 minutes.

If saturating, begin applying the mixture to the entire strand of hair starting at the roots and moving toward the ends.

Wrap colored area of hair in saran wrap.

Using a hair dryer (blow dryer) heat the saran wrap for 5 minutes.

Leave saran wrap on until cool.

Remove saran wrap and allow hair to air dry.

When the hair is dry, rinse in cool water.

Condition but do not use shampoo as it will take out the color.

The next day, you may wash your hair as normal, but expect to see some color wash out in the shower and possibly on your towels.

Boo's color turned out very vibrant because she has light-colored hair. Bah wanted purple, so I used two packages of grape, a fruit punch, and a raspberry. It started out brown, and I was nervous that I messed it up. In the end, only the blue really took so she was happy enough.

It has been a little over two weeks since we did this activity, and the colors in Boo's hair is just barely visible. It is intended to last 2-4 weeks. The best part about this of this for the girls is that if it is still not rinsed out by the time school resumes, their back-to-school hair cuts will trim anything that is left.

Bah dipping her hair outside

Boo waiting patiently

Bah before and after (hers was more striped)

Boo's pink before and after

Moon Sand

I had not done this activity since the girls were little, but knew that the kids liked kinetic sand and would enjoy this.

Baby Boo and Bah playing with moon sand in 2013

The girls both had activities this afternoon, so I decided to make a batch for Bubs to play with. Despite being called “sand” it is just a mixture of flour and oil. I used baby oil because it was what we had on hand but vegetable oil would work too. We used four cups of flour and and a half cups of oil. You really just want a texture that is sticky when molded but otherwise soft. It is not as gritty as regular sand and holds its shape better. Plus, if you use baby powder, you can store it to use for a month.

Cutting my castle

Peanut Butter Playdough

Bah was asking and asking for a new craft during these hot days, but we needed something that wouldn't take too long and that we had on hand. So peanut butter playdough it was! This is an edible (and quite tasty) playdough that molds similarly to traditional playdough.

Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

Mix all ingredients together until creamy, and enjoy building and eating.

The dough stores in an airtight container for up to a week.

Adding the honey

Mixing it up

Handprints

Even Bubs had fun

Homemade Bag Ice Cream

This is a more indoor activity, too. You could mix it or eat it outside, but we were having a day away from the heat and made it inside. The girls enjoy cooking so making their own ice cream was a blast. We could have borrowed my parents’ ice cream maker, but I thought the making process would be more fun for the kids and I was right. To begin, we found our recipe and gathered our supplies.

Supplies:

Gallon zip-lock bag

Sandwich or pint sized zip-lock bag

3 cups crushed ice

½ cup Ice cream or rock salt

Ingredients:

1 cup half and half

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Put all ingredients into the pint-sized zip-lock back and close securely. If it is not securely closed, your ice cream will turn out salty.

Put the ice and salt in the gallon bag.

Place the closed pint sized back in the gallon bag.

Close the gallon bag.

Using a towel or mittens, shake and squeeze the bags until the ice cream begins to harden (about 10-15 minutes).

Enjoy!

We squeezed our ice cream into cups and added sprinkles on top. It was creamy and delicious. The kids said it was the best ice cream they had ever had!