The Explorers: Watermelon Smoothies (Summertime - Fun Time)

Cooking together is a great way of practicing taking turns and waiting turns, following directions, and a sequence, acquiring new vocabulary and learning how to compromise (e.g., "You can pour the juice in and I add the sugar."). It also may encourage picky eaters to try something new.

Today. we made "Watermelon Smoothies."

Here is the recipe:
3 cups of chopped watermelon

10 strawberries, cut

Juice of half a lemon

½ cup peach juice

1  tablespoon of sugar

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until mixed well.

After finishing the smoothies, we tried them. Most of us really liked them and we all thought the smoothie tasted like summer.

The Explorers: Cloud Sand (Summertime - Fun Time!)

Sensory/Science Project “Cloud Sand” : We made cloud sand today. Tip: Prepare a visual recipe so it's easy for the children to follow the steps independently.

Supplies:

-8 cups of flour
-1 cup of baby oil

Directions:
Measure ingredients with the help of a measuring cup. Pour in large container or bin. Mix the flour and baby oil together with a spoon and then your hands until the dough holds together when squeezed.  It could take 3-5 minutes of mixing.

“Sand Play”: We went outside and explored and experimented with the self-made cloud sand, e.g., using our hands to form the sand into different shapes, filling containers with shovels, letting the sand run through a big paper tube, etc. We had two bins going, one was filled with the cloud sand, one with craft sand. Since the craft sand is dry and the cloud sand more moist, both felt and behaved very differently.