One Simple Thing - Marbled Paper

Making marbled paper is a fun and educational activity that builds vocabulary and small motor skills!

To create the marbled effect, pour liquid laundry starch into a shallow baking sheet. The liquid should cover the sheet about 1/4 inch deep.
Next, mix a tablespoon of acrylic paint with two teaspoons of water, and stir well. Repeat for additional colors you would like to use. Drop as many colors as you like on the laundry starch surface. Next, use a chop stick or the wrong end of a pencil to create swirls and other paint designs. Cover the design with an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper and lift it up by the edges a few seconds later. Briefly dip the paper into a pan filled with cold water to wash off the starch. Let the paper dry on newspapers or on a thick old towel. Throughout the whole process, talk to your child about the colors and patterns she is creating. Discuss the names of the colors and point out the color names on the paint containers. After the paper dries you may have to carefully iron it, using the delicate setting, to smooth out any wrinkles. Voila - beautiful paper that you can turn in to stationary, birthday cards, and other fun projects!

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Candyland Party

This year Boo's birthday party theme was "Candyland." We had plenty of inspiration for this fun party from this site . Here are some pictures I took at Boo's party! The candy buffet was made up of favorite candies I had bought on sale whenever possible, beginning a few weeks before the party. Most of the containers are from the $Tree. A pad of construction paper was used to create this Candyland path. My oldest, Miss Independent, painted this "Gingerbread Tree" for a bean bag toss game. The party guests earned tickets based on how many of three bean bags they tossed through the openings. We used a piece of foam and painted it for our Princess Lolli lollipop game. The kids each pulled out a lollipop, the color at the end of the lollipop stick earned them one, two, or three tickets (at the end of the party tickets earned at various stations were exchanged for prizes). Party guests visited Princess Frostine, making ice cream creations at her stat...

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on low heat in a medium size saucepan. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of baking cocoa. Next, add 1 cup of milk and whisk until almost smooth. Add 6 oz of milk chocolate chips and stir until a smooth chocolate sauce forms. In a blender, combine chocolate sauce, 5-6 pieces of ice, and 1 cup of milk. Blend until the mixture has a frappuccino-consistency, about 20 seconds. Pour into two tall classes, add whipped cream, and enjoy!

One Simple Thing - Friday

Make a volcano! For a great science experiment that will teach vocabulary and critical thinking, take a plastic cup and fill it with about ½ cup of baking soda and add a couple of drops of red food coloring. Explain to your child that volcanoes sometimes erupt, spewing lava and rocks. You can look at some great videos of volcanoes here and information about them here . Once you have looked at the volcano videos and talked about lava, rocks, and perhaps even earthquakes associated with volcanoes, begin the experiment. Tell your child that she will make the volcano erupt by pouring about ¼ cup of vinegar on the baking soda (make sure to place the cup with baking soda inside a small bowl to catch the “lava”). Explain to her that this is not real lava, which would be very hot! Next, explain that combining the baking soda and vinegar is a chemical reaction. For a simple explanation of this click here . Be prepared to make the volcano erupt again and again! Have fun!

Chocolate Isn't a Vegetable?

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