Summer Fun for Kids in the Great Outdoors

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

13 Jul 2009 02:15 PM

I may be the only one in our entire county who is not praying for rain right now. Farmers need the precipitation badly and others are bemoaning the drought-like conditions as well, but I couldn't be happier for the streak of cloudless days we've been experiencing. If you have kids, then you have to admit it's much easier keeping them busy during the summer in the great outdoors than holed up inside.

This summer we've tried to spend as much time outside as possible. We've been strawberry picking, biking, swimming, and hiking... and we have the souvenirs to prove it. Our nature hikes feature more picking than walking (not surprising when you're hiking with a preschooler), so it's no surprise that we end up leaving the forest with way more than we arrived with.

The surprise part comes when we get back home and craft our natural treasures into legitimate items--nice enough to gift to grandma and grandpa.

Who knew the great outdoors could double as an art supply store?

TREE BARK GIRAFFE

Materials:

Tree bark broken into small pieces

Cardboard

Yellow/brown paint

Grass

Dirt or sand

Scissors

Craft glue

Directions:

Have your child draw a giraffe on the cardboard.

Use scissors to cut out giraffe.

Have child paint giraffe with paint.

Allow paint to dry thoroughly.

Glue pieces of bark to giraffe.

Glue on grass for the mane and dirt or sand for the hooves.

FLOWER PLACEMATS

Materials:

Pressed flowers (simply place picked flowers in the pages of a large book for a few days)

Contact paper

Large sheets of construction paper

Directions:

Cut contact paper to the desired size for your placemats. (You'll need two pieces for one mat.)

Cut the construction paper 1-inch smaller than the construction paper on all sides.

Peel off the contact paper to expose the sticky side on one of the sheets.

Place flowers onto the sticky side of the contact paper.

Place construction paper onto the center of the mat, then peel the second piece of contact paper and place over the construction paper.

Press and trim edges.

Related Articles:

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Affordable Ways to Keep Kids Busy This Summer

Super Summer Fun for Kids

Edible Sand Castle and Other Summer Fun for Kids

Serious Summer Fun

Fun and Affordable Family Activities

Ways to Have Fun on a Budget

Family Fun for Less

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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