WhatsHappeningManatee.com Do-It-Yourself Summer Camp

The following has been compiled by Samantha Kennedy, M.S., Family &
Consumer Sciences Agent, Manatee County Extension Service.
All of these fun activities were taken from the book 365 TV-Free Activities You Can
Do with Your Child by Steve & Ruth Bennett.

Activity #1: Bas-Relief Pancakes
Supplies Needed: Pancake Ingredients
Who says pancakes have to be boring? With this activity you can provide
entertainment and good nutrition, too.

Remember that cooking is a grownup activity; keep children away from hot
surfaces. Pick a pancake recipe and pour a small amount of batter in the pan in the
shape of letters, simple animals, a face, a car, or anything else you can “draw”
before the batter begins to thicken. Once the edges of the “drawing” have firmed up,
cover the drawing with a large spoonful of batter on top, enough to make a pancake.
Flip it when the pancake begins to get firm, and you’ll see whatever you drew on top
in relief with a white outline. Alternately, you can make the whole pancake in the
shape of the object.

Of course, whatever you draw will be in reverse—very important with letters like “E”
and “R.” Use the pancakes to spell your child’s name; for groups, describe the
object you’re making—whoever gets it right gets to eat that pancake.

Breakfast may never be the same!

Activity #2: Carrot Top
Supplies Needed: Carrot tops, saucers, water

When you make a salad, do you throw out the stubby end of the carrot—the part
with the greens? If so, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to show your child
how plants grow.

Save those stubs and have your child place them in saucers that contain just a little
water. Keep the saucers near a window, keep the water level consistent, and mark
the height of the greens on the first day. Before long, your child will note a
measurable increase in height—and be well on the way to a profitable career in
carrot green production.

By beginning a new carrot top each day, your child will be able to see the results in
an even more dramatic way: seven plants will yield seven different heights at the
end of the week.

Note: You will need to use carrots that have not had the greens removed initially;
this generally means you must buy them fresh, by the bunch, and not in bags.

Activity #3: Celery Leaves
Supplies Needed: Leafy stalk of celery, two cups, blue & red food coloring

Here’s a little experiment that’s guaranteed to delight your kids while teaching them
how fluids move through a plant’s vascular system.

Find a robust, leafy stalk of celery. Give the stalk two “legs” by cutting a four-inch
slit starting at the base of the stalk. Next, fill a small glass with water. Have your
child add several drops of blue food coloring. Fill another glass and add several
drops of red food coloring. Place one of the stalk’s “legs” in the blue water, and the
other in the red water. Let the whole apparatus sit overnight.

The next morning, your kids will be amazed to find that half the leaves are streaked
with blue, while the rest show red! Explain that the food coloring traveled up little
tubes in the celery stalk, and that the tubes are used to carry water up from the roots
for the plant when it’s in the ground.

Afterwards, you can cut the stalk crosswise for your child to help him or her see
exactly how the color got to the leaves. Seeing is believing!

Activity #4: Cookies You Can Read
Supplies Needed: Molasses, sugar, shortening, milk, flour, baking soda, spices

ABC cookies are great fun. You can use your very own recipe, or try the following;
in any case, your child can have fun participating in the cookie making—measuring,
stirring, rolling, and so on—and the all-important eating step, too.

First, the heating and mixing (adult jobs). Heat 1/2 cup molasses to boiling, then
add 1/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons shortening, and 1 tablespoon milk. In a separate
bowl, mix 2 cups flour with 1/2 teaspoon of each of the flowing: baking soda, salt,
nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the molasses
mixture and blend well. Roll the dough on a flour-coated surface until it’s 1/4 inch
thick.

Now help your child make alphabet letters from strips of dough, perhaps associating
an animal or favorite object with each one. (You can do this even without a set of
alphabet cookie cutters by using a butter knife to cut out shapes your child traces on
the dough.) Kids learning to read can make the letters spell out words. Place the
cookies on a buttered cookie sheet and bake them for five to seven minutes at 350
degrees. Allow to cool; serve with milk and eat your p’s and q’s.

Activity #5: Draw A Meal
Supplies Needed: Large sheet of paper, masking tape, crayons
Here’s a way to entertain your child while you fix dinner.

Cover the table with a large sheet of paper, then use masking tape to keep the
corners in place. Provide your child with a good supply of colored crayons. Have
your child draw a place mat where everyone sits, followed by a plate, a napkin,
flatware, and a cup.

Now, as you make the meal, explain what you’re making. Your child can then draw
that particular dish and “serve” it up on everyone’s plate. Tell your child to dole out
appropriate portions for each member of the family. Continue this for each course
you’re going to serve up. Don’t take it personally if your child’s drawings bear no
resemblance to food—that’s no reflection on your cooking prowess.

Another hint: Don’t be too surprised to find blue tomatoes, red green beans, or other
inventively colored cuisine on the “plate.: It’s all part of the fun.

By the way, it should be interesting to see who your child believes eats the most.
Now who might that be…?

Activity # 6: Easy Trail Mix
Supplies Needed: Raisins/dried fruit, nuts, carob chips or chocolate chips, granola,
sandwich bags or plastic containers
Before you and your child head out for an adventure, why not whip up a batch of
trail mix—you never know when you’re going to need an extra burst of energy.

Pay a visit to your local natural food store, or the natural food section of your
supermarket. Purchase raisins and other dried fruit (apples and apricots are great),
nuts, carob (or chocolate) chips, and granola.

Provide sandwich bags or plastic containers, and have your child sprinkle some
granola into each bag or container to give the trail mix some bulk. Then let your
child experiment by adding various proportions of other ingredients. (You’ll probably
want to limit the supply of carob or chocolate chips.)

For some reason, trail mix you “cook” on your own—or with a little help from a
nearby grownup—is much more appetizing than the store-bought variety. Play it for
all it’s worth. Food is more nutritious when you eat it.

Ready to hit the road?

Activity #7: Eat Right
Supplies Needed: Posterboard/cardboard, pictures of food
Getting kids to eat right is an age-old problem. Now it’s more important than ever—
many pediatricians tell us that early childhood diet can have a dramatic effect on
health later in life.

To teach your kids about nutrition, make a game of it. Begin by constructing a food
chart that shows the five food groups—“Bread, Rice, Pasta, & Cereals,”
“Vegetables,” ”Fruits,” “Milk & Dairy,” and “Meat, Fish, Poultry, Nuts, and Dry Beans”
—and “Fats, Oils & Sweets.” Cut out pictures of various members of the groups and
affix them to a large sheet of posterboard. Explain that to be healthy, we need foods
from all of the groups.

Another way of teaching the groups is to take a large sheet of cardboard or
posterboard and draw a chart as above. Cut up pictures of different foods and tape
them to index cards. Make a stack, and have your child place the cards in their
proper food group.

Once your kids know the basic food groups, steel yourself and have them
categorize everything on the dinner table. How’s your diet?

Activity #8: Egg Quiz (Or, What Goes Around, Comes Around)
Supplies Needed: Uncooked egg, hard-boiled egg

Here’s a little trick you can pass along to your child that he or she can use to
surprise friends.

It requires two eggs, one hard-boiled and the other uncooked. Have your child bet
his or her friend a cookie (or the proverbial “zillion dollars”) that, even if the friend
repositions the two eggs while your child’s back is turned, he or she will be able to
select the hard-boiled egg—and crack it open confidently, without fear of messing
the place up.

The trick? Hard-boiled eggs spin merrily when you give them a turn; raw ones stop
after a turn and a half or so. (Demonstrate the rotation differences before your child
performs the trick—otherwise there may be an unfortunate miscalculation and an
unpaid debt of one zillion dollars.)

Activity #9: Food Face
Supplies Needed: Magazines, circulars, paper, markers
You probably don’t notice half the food advertisements in the magazines you read.
Well, pay attention, and start clipping pictures and photographs of fruit, vegetables,
eggs, and other food items. (For a jump start, pick up an issue of a magazine with
plenty of recipes like Family Circle or Woman’s Day. Better yet, use the
supermarket circulars that clog your mailbox.)

When you have a good collection of pictures, let your kids use them to create a
face—a banana for a mouth, tomatoes for eyes, grapes for hair, and so on. Use a
glue tick or tape to affix the pictures to paper. Note: to draw the outlines for the
faces, you or your children can trace plates, pots and pans, and other common
objects.

You can use themes other than food too, like cars and machines. Use a road for the
mouth, headlights for eyes, wheels for ears, and so on. Once you start thinking of
ads as sources for this game, you’ll notice yourself developing an automatic
“clipping reflex.”

Activity #10: Grocery Cart Rembrandt
Supplies Needed: Paper, pencil or crayons
The next time you need to put together a shopping list, try to leave yourself a little
extra time. By avoiding slapping the list together at the last minute, you’ll be able to
get your kid into the act in a creative way—and make the trip itself a lot more
entertaining.

Instead of jotting down the items yourself, give your child a big piece of paper and
something to scribble with. Now tell your child each item you’ll need from the store,
and help him or her write—or draw—the item.

Drawing is especially fun, and will provide you with a little fun as you work from
your rather unconventional list at the store.

Don’t be concerned about those quizzical looks from your fellow shoppers. You’ve
got a grocery list with a difference!

Activity #11: Hollow Eggs
Supplies Needed: Eggs, bowl, watercolors, felt-tip markers, macaroni, barley

Once upon a time, the name Faberge meant a little more than cologne; it was the
name of the man who perfected the decoration of hollow eggs with precious
trappings like diamonds and gold. Even though your child’s list of materials may be
a little more modest, he or she can still create masterpieces that will last a good
long while by hollowing out an egg.

The first step is for you to do: Using a pin, carefully make one hole in each end of
an uncooked egg. The bottom hole should be biggest. Now comes the part where
your child can help—have him or her blow through the top hole, emptying the
contents of the egg into the bowl. (Don’t eat the raw egg, though.) The hollowed egg
shells will be strongest if you allow them to dry for a day before decorating them
with watercolors or felt-tip markers. You can even attach precious baubles (well,
macaroni or uncooked barley) in place with non-toxic glue, and color them for
added effects that would have garnered a nod from Faberge himself.

Activity #12: Improbable Cuisine

Supplies Needed: Your time only.

Our son and his friends often delight in suggesting some rather strange foodstuffs.
You and your child can too, just to pass the time away (or while waiting for a meal to
finish cooking). Here, with apologies to vegetarians, are some favorites from our
household:

French fried snake toes on whole wheat bricks
Glazed mouse antlers on rye socks

Peanut butter and lizard wings on phone books

Fish feet with banana chairs

Cold hippo feathers

Hot chicken fins on fence posts

Bird tusk pie with mouse flippers on top

Camel wing stew

And the list goes on. How many improbable entrees can your child come up with
between now and dinner? What about a frog ear and Swiss on dark flannel?

Activity #13: In the Bag
Supplies Needed: Paper bag, household items

Most of us negotiate the world by means of sight and sound—so much so that we
often ignore the rich textures about us. This game will help your kids stay tuned to
the rich world of touch, and have plenty of fun in the process.

Place a number of common objects into a paper bag. You might select favorite toys
and/or stuffed animals; household objects such as sponges or kitchen utensils; food
items such as celery stalks, carrots, cucumbers, and so on. Then have your
children feel inside the bag without looking and try to identify the objects. Give
clues, if needed, and hear the selection of items in the bag to your child’s
experience and ability.

You can increase the challenge by having your kids identify similar objects by
touch. For example, show them several toy cars (or: dolls, blocks, keys…) that are
roughly the same size and shape, and then drop them into the bag. Ask the children
to identify the different items by touch alone. Perhaps they’ll prove that the hand can
indeed be quicker than the eye!

Activity #14: Juice Bar Delight
Supplies Needed: Juices, paper cups, spoons, refrigerator

In the summertime, your kids may be used to slurping down lots of frozen “pop”
bars. The only problem is, these treats have minimal value (most are essentially
colored sugar water). Plus, they’re expensive. Why not make a project out of
making your own juice bars with your kids?

All you need are a few paper cups, some reclaimed, washed plastic spoons, and a
bottle or two of your favorite fruit juices. Pour juice into the cup, set the spoon in (it
will freeze at an angle, but that adds to the character), and place the cup in the
freezer. Approximately two hours later, run the cup under warm water and you’ll
have a delicious homemade frozen treat.

Your kids will eventually find themselves experimenting with various juice
combinations, some of which will be quite tasty. We can vouch for apple/cranberry
juice bars; other, more adventurous flavors proved too intense to sample. You’d
flinch, too, at a gourmet tomato juice/pickle drainings/peach nectar bar.

Activity #15: Kitchen Finery
Supplies Needed: String, yarn, pasta, corn kernels, or peanuts
Optional Supplies: Food coloring, thread

Ready for a surprise? Your pantry is chock-full of good stuff for making jewelry.
Here are a few suggestions.

Pasta can be strung on a piece of yarn or string to make bracelets, necklaces,
headbands, and other finery. To make a pin, glue the pasta onto a piece of
cardboard, then tape a paper clip onto the back—and use the paper clip to attach
the cardboard to your kids’ clothes. (Keep paper clips out of very young hands.) To
enhance your kid’s pasta craft sessions, pick out interesting macaroni shapes the
next time you’re at the grocery store; look for stars, tubes, pinwheels, etc. You can
also make the pasta more fun to work with by dyeing it with food coloring before
assembling it on the string. Other food items, like peanut shells, can also be used to
make jewelry.

The finery can be worn by your kids, of course, but it can also serve to make a
fashion statement with the stuffed-animal set. Finally, don’t forget that jewelry can
become art—your kids can make collages of their work rather than wearing it. Let
friends and relatives admire the creation!

Activity #16: Kitchen Trace
Supplies Needed: Paper, pens, pencils, or markers, kitchen containers and utensils

Your kitchen is a wonderful source of objects that can be traced and transformed
into fanciful works of art. On scrap paper, use crayons, pens, or markers to trace
the following kinds of objects, then add features.

Overturned colanders and woks can be used to sketch funny faces—the handles
also make great ears. Pans are good for the same purpose—the handles can be
long necks for clown-like creatures. Plates make good outlines for balloons and
wheels. So do cups, saucers, and the lids from plastic containers.

Square containers can be used for the outlines of houses and buildings, while
whisks, large forks, and spoons can be traced for trees. An aluminum foil container
makes a good train, car, or bus outline. Don’t forget cookie cutters—they’re not just
for cookies.

Go through your kitchen drawer with an eye to materials well suited for tracing. You’
re bound to find all sorts of gizmos with interesting shapes. And when your child
shows his or her precocious artwork to Grandma or Grandpa, who’s to know that the
flamingo on one leg is really a French garlic press in disguise?

Activity #17: Macaroni Cards
Supplies Needed: Paper, macaroni, glue, tempera paint

Why should your kid bother with those stuffy preprinted greeting cards? When
holidays, birthdays, or other special events roll around, have your child put together
a deluxe macaroni card.

These are cards that use dry, uncooked macaroni noodles (or any other variety that
suits your child’s fancy) as decorative elements. You glue them into place with non-
toxic glue, let them dry (a couple hours will usually suffice), and then decorate the
cards and the noodles with tempera paint. They make quite a statement! (Only one
warning is in order: If you plan on mailing the cards to a friend or loved one, be
sure to use adequate cushioning; it’s no fun if the noodles crack. Popping the card
into a standard envelope will only invite the wrath of the Postal Service’s automatic
sorting machines.)

The cards are perfect for birthdays, Mother’s, father’s, or Grandparent’s Days,
Hanukkah, Christmas, or just about any other occasion—including no reason at all.

Activity #18: Milk Jug Catch
Supplies Needed: Two or more milk jugs (gallon size), small bags or bean bags,
cutting implements (for adult use only)

If you’re looking for a new sport, just turn to your refrigerator. If it contains two
plastic milk jugs (the one-gallon size), you’re in luck.

For this activity, you’ll need two empty jugs. The first part is for grown-ups only: cut
the jugs in half horizontally. Be careful—slicing them is tricky. Make sure there are
no rough edges left. When you’re finished, you’ll use the top portions as “mitts.”
(Save the bottom part for household containers; they’re great for holding small toys,
blocks, Legos, etc.)

The object is simply to toss a ball to your partner, who will catch it with the milk jug
and toss it back to you without touching it with the hands. You do the same. With
young children, a large, soft ball (low bounce) or bean bag will be appropriate.
Older kids with more coordination and strength may prefer a tennis ball or
racquetball. You can adjust the difficulty by increasing the distance between the
players or getting more people to play the game.

See—milk really does build strong bodies, and in more ways than one.

Activity #19: My Own Place Mat
Supplies Needed: Stiff cardboard, double-stick tape or non-toxic glue, crayons or
markers, clear contact paper, safety scissors, magazine pictures
Is your child tired of staring at the same old place mat each meal? If so, try this
activity.

First, cut out a piece of stiff cardboard to the desired size of the placemat. If the
cardboard is not the color you want, affix a sheet of white paper over it with double-
stick tape or a few dabs of non-toxic glue. Now have your child decorate the paper
with crayons or markers, or pictures cut out from magazines. Dried leaves or
flowers can also make for neat decorations—just make sure they’re completely dry.

When the artwork is completed, cover it with clear contact paper (a grownup job).
The top and bottom edge of the contact paper should wrap around the cardboard an
inch or so to make a good seal. Trim the corners as necessary before folding so
that you can get a good seal on all the corners, too. For kids prone to spills, you
might also want to cover the bottom for complete protection.

The only thing left to do now is sit down and have a meal.

Activity #20: Play Dough
Supplies Needed: Flour, sugar, oil, alum, container, cookie cutters, kitchen
implements, food coloring
Here’s a classic hit with kids (and parents) of all ages. It’s easier to mold than clay—
and easier to clean up after, too.

The cooking part is for grownups only. Combine 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1
tablespoon powdered alum. (You can find alum in the spice aisle.) Add 1
tablespoon oil and 1 cup boiling water. Stir the mixture until cool, then knead in food
coloring. (Your child will love to help out.) Once the play dough is ready, give your
kids cookie cutters, rolling pins, a garlic press, spatulas, or anything else that can
be used for shaping and cutting. Pass out play dishes, pans, flatware, and so on, in
case your children feel like throwing a play dough party.

The stuff can last for months. Always keep the dough in airtight containers when it is
not in use—otherwise it dries out. (Fortunately, you can rejuvenate even the most
crusty play dough by resealing it in a container after sprinkling it with water. After a
day or so, take it out and knead it. It will be as good as new.)