Last safari we covered how to make chalk paint, but what if your kids want to go old school with their driveway drawings? Thanks to Kate of Laughing Kids Learn, we have an easy to use recipe to make the original kind of chalk.
The ingredients required to make DIY chalk include the following:
Pottery Plaster or Plaster of Paris
Water
Tempura powdered paint (food colouring works too!)
Silicon mould
Spoon
Bowls
and children to get involved in the making process
To begin, add two tablespoons of water to a small bowl, followed by three tablespoons of plater power,and half a tablespoon of tempura paint. Mix those up real good and if the mixture is too dry be sure to add a few drops of water. You can teach your kids all about mixing colors too while doing this. When you add tempura paint, let them experiment with different color combinations. Ask them: Which colors go together to make a whole new color?
Important!
To make successful chalk, make sure that the mixture is thick enough that it isn’t watery and fall off your spoon.
Next, in order to make sure the colors appear throughout the piece of chalk, add various color blobs of the mixture to different parts of the mold. By doing this, each piece of chalk is unique and special. Be sure to work quickly though so the mixture doesn’t harden in the middle of creating it.
The Most Important Step
After the molds are close to being filled, add the last amount of plaster. Make sure that it’s runny. To do this, add water to the recipe you’ve just made. Adding plaster is essential because not only does it close any gaps in the chalk but it makes the chalk extra strong and durable for drawing.
Finally
Wait 12 hours for the mixture to harden and presto! Homemade chalk pieces for your little ones’ enjoyment!
With multi-colored chalk, it’s easy to draw colorful, cheerful pictures to brighten up their day and yours!
My name is Drew Markiewicz and I am a student of Centenary University’s Writing For A Digital World class. We were recently assigned to look over websites and make suggestions on how to improve them. As someone who lived out in Arrowhead Lake in the Poconos, I was drawn to your website. I hope to make some quality suggestions that will make your site even stronger. Thank you for presenting me with this opportunity. It is great experience for someone who is minoring in professional writing.
Thank you,
Drew Markiewicz
Summary I really enjoyed your beautiful overhead shots of Georges Pond. If I was someone who lived in the area, I would definitely be interested in visiting the lake. In addition, your site is easy to use and through the menu bar, visitors of the site can easily access the information they are looking for. You have a great interface, and with it, I believe that you can make an even greater site.
Widgets Google Maps: The number one thing I would suggest for this website is a Google Maps widget. If I was visiting Maine and wanted to find Georges Pond, using that would make my life so much easier. You can use it not only to help people locate Georges Pond, but it could also mark important landmarks around the pond, making traveling to them incredibly easy. Event Calendar Widget: I noticed there are quite a few events hosted on this site and it reminds me of the kind of small events hosted when I lived at a lakeside community in the Poconos. The Event Calendar would help the website manage and organize events at the lake as well as inform people about what they’re about. Compact Blog Widget: As far as blogging goes, I noticed you have a cute blog called “Just Pondering” and one on the restoration of Georges Pond too. I suggest for those you use a Compact Blog Archive. This minimizes your archives into easily clickable links so people can read them at will.
Composition Writing: Another thing I feel could be improved is the writing in some of the sections. In the About section, things are listed with semi-colons rather than commas for instance. I believe that looking over the spelling and grammar in sections will greatly benefit the site. Board of Directors: While the title of the occupations are listed on some of the Board of Directors, other names are left without a title. It makes me curious about adding the occupation to those other names. Blog: I really like the idea behind the blogs on this site. I’m just curious if they should be updated more. They do add a personal touch and I’m sure the people who love Georges Pond would love more content.
Overall I honestly believe you have a great website that represents a great cause. For a nature nut like me, I want to make sure your website looks the best in addition to having agreat cause. I believe if Georges Pond implements these changes, we can do just that. When I first clicked your site, I knew that this was the one I’d love to help make into a beautiful representation of nature at its finest. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you.
Most people have heard of chalk, a fun drawing utensil that makes unpleasant scraping sounds but have you have heard of “chalk paint?” Well courtesy of Living Well Mom, we have a brand new safari for you!
While you’re at home during quarantine, you may occasionally let your children play outside. Here is a fun recipe that will get them fresh air without having to leave the safety of their yard. You can also find all of the ingredients in your house so you don’t need to go to the store. In times like these, your safety is just as important. With this recipe you can make do with what you have and create a fun and captivating creation!
All you need to make DIY Chalk Paint is the the following:
•1/3 cup baking soda
•1/3 cup cornstarch
•3/4-1 cup water
•food coloring (for bright vivid colors, use food color gel.)
•paint brushes or squeeze bottles
Step 1
To begin, you should decide whether you’re going to use the chalk paint in squeeze bottles or use it for painting. If you plan on using squeeze bottles, you should use 1 cup of water; but if you’re just painting with paintbrushes, 3/4s are required. Either way, pour the cup of water into a measuring cup and then mix it with a 1/3 cup of cornstarch. Be sure to mix it up real good so there are no clumps!
Step 2
Add 1/3 cup of baking soda. Mix it again so there are no clumps!
Step 3
Pour solution into a squeeze bottle. If you’re painting with it, put it in a small open container to dunk your paintbrush in.
Step 4
Squeeze food coloring into the solution. Try mixing colors to create new ones.
And, that’s it! Making chalk paint is simple and easy but creates limitless possibilities for your kids. Make sure that your kids wear junk clothes because chalk paint can be messy!
As things start to get slightly better in the world, enjoy the fresh spring air with your little ones. With this recipe they can make your driveway their own personal art canvas! And unlike actual chalk, you don’t need to buy it at the store, or endure the cringey sound of chalk scraping against a surface. With brighter days ahead, let your children paint and color your driveway to their heart’s content.
Now that we’ve listed the top 10 fun activities to do indoors, let’s take an in-depth look at one of them. On today’s safari, we’re going to teach you how to make a DIY slime recipe. In these stressful times, child and even adults need an outlet for stress and there’s nothing that relieves stress like squeezing some squishy slime. Courtesy of Preschool Inspirations, here is a list of what you’ll need:
Materials:
2 Bottles of Elmer’s glue (5-6 oz each bottle)– Clear, Glitter Glue, or White Glue
Vinegar (in case it gets on clothes or hair — you’ll be so glad if that happens)
Gloves
The two essential items are Borax and two bottles of Elmer’s glue. Both of these items are available via Amazon so you don’t have to worry about risking things by going out to pick it up, but just in case your area IS safe, they are available at Walmart and supermarkets.
Step 1
The first thing you’ll want to do is get a big bowl. This big bowl is essential for squishing the slime (this will probably be the most fun part for your kids to watch). Then mix one cup of water with half a table spoon of Borax until it dissolves completely. Hang onto your mixture just in case it doesn’t turn out the way you want it. Once the water and Borax cools you are ready for the next step.
Step 2
Next, mix 5-6 ounces of Elmer’s glue with 1/2 cup of water. Watering down the glue is essential because it makes for a good resolution. Stir them together with a whisk for a few minutes until they mix completely. If your children get bored easily, let them mix it until it’s perfect. Once you have mixed them to perfection add some food coloring and glitter! Don’t just settle for plain slime, let it sparkle and brighten the room!
Step 3
Now for the fun part: mixing the Elmer’s glue and the borax together! Watch as the glue and the borax polymerize in a cool chemical reaction. Then take some gloves and squish the mixture together until it becomes a perfect texture. It will start out sticky and chunky but as you mush it further and further it will most likely become the perfect texture for your kids to play with.
Note: If the slime doesn’t come out to absolute perfection, try again with your leftover mixture. Fortunately, it’s easy to redo. Just follow these steps again.
Making slime recipes are a fun way to stay occupied during these challenging times. They are easy to make and can create some fond memories with your kids too.
Next week, stay tuned for an awesome chalk recipe to create on our next safari.
Now that we’re stuck inside for an extended period of period of time, perhaps another safari on indoor activities is necessary. After all, we highly recommend social distancing and that involves staying at home with your kids! Today, we’re going to count down from the top ten activities to do inside with them. After all, just because we can’t go outside doesn’t mean we can’t have fun! These activities range from physical activities to cooking to reading but every single one of them is guaranteed to be fun for you and your kids.
Reading. The number one activity to do with your kids is read with them! When school is out of session, keep your kids minds growing and learning by reading to them. Not only is reading educational but when you can’t go outside, reading can take you on an adventure. This writer highly recommends classic children’s adventure stories like Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia, both of which create some of the best fantasy worlds for a child to explore.
Dance Parties. There’s nothing that uplifts a child’s spirits more than putting on some fun music to party to. Rather than sit around, break out some upbeat music and encourage your kid to dance! Not only does it give them a work out but it can be a mood lifter too.
Cookie Cutting. If there’s one thing that kids love, it’s playing with easily mold-able dough. Whether it be cookie dough, or Play-doh, kids can express themselves by making very fun shapes and shaping it to their heart’s content. With cookie dough, you can buy all sorts of cookie cutters to shape it into fun shapes like stars. Then just put the cookie dough in the oven and your kids can eat their own creations.
Board Games. Board games are great ways to spend time with your kids. Not only do they take up a lot of time, (Monopoly and Life games can last for a good while) but they teach kids how to follow the rules and wait their turn.
TV shows. Normally, the Safari Adventure blog doesn’t encourage kids to sit around and watch TV for long periods of time, but in this time of crisis, it’s very recommendable to have some down time for kids between activities. Pick a fun classic show like Sesame Street or Blues Clues (classic Steve episodes are recommended by the author himself) and watch your kids learn in addition to have fun.
Coloring Books. Coloring Books are cheap, contain a lot of material and are also very fun for children. Whether they are coloring inside the lines or outside the lines, they are still using their imagination to pick the colors that suit their artistic vision. Encourage your kids to become artists with coloring books.
Snack time. Treat your kids to a tasty and healthy snack. Apple slices and orange slices are always recommended because they are not only nutritious, they are sweet. They’re also easy to eat and yummy too.
Pretend. Sometimes when you can’t go outside, pretending you are is the next best thing. Pretend you’re on a safari and searching for animals or perhaps, pretend you are the animals yourself. There’s nothing a kid loves more than using their imagination.
Pillow Time. There’s nothing more fun to a kid then playing with pillows. Pillows are soft and comfy, but also can create forts for kids to hide in. They’re also very helpful for nap time, which brings us to…
Nap time. Take a well earned rest after these fun, vigorous and imaginative activities. Not only do they give your kids a rest but they give you a rest as well!
Even while we take a break during these times, Clown Around still offers gift cards to be purchased on Facebook and Instagram. We hope to see you during our open plays once this crisis is over. Until then, we hope you’ll use these and other ways to still have fun at home!
Looking for indoor activities to do while you’re stuck inside with your kids? Look no farther than this safari. With recent school closures, you might be wondering what you can do with your kids, or if you have enough ideas to keep them busy all day long. Worry not because this safari suggests many indoor play activities, ranging from art activities, physical activities to fun games to play. (Maybe even some nap time if you tire them out!) In this safari, we’ll cover every one of them.
Art Activities
Stimulate your little one’s creative drive with these fun art activities. Simply giving them paper to draw and paint with crayons, colored pencils and finger paints are an easy and fun way to start. You can break these out before you use some heavy duty arts and crafts. To add an extra flair, you can use more creative supplies like pom poms, sparkly glitter, long and bendy pipe cleaners and Elmer’s glue to glue it all down. Arts and crafts kits available at Target are another way to have fun with art. They’re usually only one dollar and are boxes that contain “a wooden cutout with washable paint and a paintbrush” (Gann). They’re a fun and cheap way to expand on your child’s creative interests.
Physical Activities
If you have a play area indoors, physical activities are a great way for your little one to release all of their pent up energy. Running and jumping in a safe supervised environment is always recommended because it’s simple and fun. You can expand on this by adding organized activities like having dance parties, playing tag and doing jumping jacks. If you don’t have enough space for physical activities, fear not. Clown Around offers a clean, safe, indoor playground.
Games
Games are an age old tradition on a rainy day. There are tons of Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers games that you can play with your little one. Other fun ideas are stacking games like Jenga blocks and Magna-tiles. There’s nothing that thrills a kid more than stacking things up and watching them fall over (Gann). Workbooks with mazes and word searches can stimulate the thinking part of a child’s brain and so can puzzles too. A more fun (and more recent) card game to play is Uno. With easy to follow rules and a fast pace, it can keep your children captivated for a long time.
Play Places
When all else fails, taking your child to a clean and safe play place is recommendable. At Clown Around we clean the play area and party room with disinfectant after every open play and party. If you ever have questions about our policies or cleaning routine never hesitate to ask. Clown Around offers private parties that are safe, affordable and friendly to all your child’s health related needs. Not only that, but we also offer plenty of ideas for indoor games to keep your child entertained in these times of boredom. Stop by Clown Around and have fun without worrying about unclean, unsafe environment.
Tips from Tiger:
-Even if you can’t go outside, you can still have a safari with your kids by looking out the window with them and asking them what they see.
-Let your kids really go wild with their artistic creations. Giving them safety scissors and cutting up construction paper into fun shapes is always recommendable
– Playing with Play-doh captivates kids with all the fun shapes they can make.
Since we are heading into allergy season, our next safari will cover everything you need to know about your little one and their allergies. But first, the basics: Allergies are abnormal reactions from the immune system where something that’s normal harmless inflames it (Smallwood). This can range from common foods to plants to insects and chemicals. These are known as allergens and these reactions start as early as childhood. In this day and age, there is a lot of medicine like Zyrtec that can help keep children healthy, but as a parent, it’s still important to know the signs, symptoms and triggers caused by allergies.
Airborne Allergies
What are the most common allergens? There are a lot of airborne things that cause allergic reactions. Dust mites, pollen and mold are all things that float in the air that provoke sneezing and coughing. As spring happens, plants bloom and release pollen in order to fertilize other plants. Pollen comes in all kinds of varieties and the kind of pollen often determines the symptoms of allergies. It’s important to remember the pollen count when your children are playing outside, which is “usually higher in the morning and on warm, dry, breezy days, and lowest when it’s chilly and wet” (Smallwood).
While pollen is often found outdoors, mold and dust mites are airborne allergens that happen indoors. Dust mites are tiny insects that feed on millions of dead skin cells and are the basic allergen contained in dust. They often reside in carpets and upholstery. It’s important to keep buildings dusted in order to avoid large gatherings of these creatures. Mold on the other hand, is fungi often forms in cold damp places that are poorly ventilated. Bathrooms and damp basements are common breeding grounds for mold and while other allergens like pollen are seasonal, mold grows all year round (Smallwood).
Food Allergies
Food are the other major allergen, and it is extremely important to know which foods can cause your little one harm if they are allergic. Milk, peanut butter, eggs, fish, nuts, soy and wheat are all examples of allergy causing food. Some of these products are extremely difficult to avoid like milk and eggs, so it’s always important to check ingredient labels before purchasing. Also while milk and egg allergies are both common in children, they are possible to outgrow as your child gets older. Regardless, make sure you are well in tune with what your child eats. While some allergies are minor, others can have life threatening consequences.
Clown Around and Allergies
Clown Around is dedicated to being allergy free in every possible way. Not only are you allowed to bring in your own food, but after every party, all tables and chairs are wiped down. Parties are private so you don’t have to worry about your child coming in contact with unsafe food. At Clown Around, we strive to keep a clean, healthy and wholesome environment at all times.
Tips from Tiger:
-Remember to check the back label of all food for the ingredients listed. Eggs and milk are often hidden ingredients and things people don’t think of when they buy food.
-Allergies are extremely common and over 50 million people have them. This includes millions of children.
-Always check the pollen count before going outside to play.
For our next safari we will learn why taking your child to a play place is so beneficial to their health. As we know as adults, there are numerous benefits to taking on a healthy active life style and that applies to little ones too. Toddlers and preschoolers who are active have “stronger muscles and bones, leaner bodies, less risk of becoming overweight, a lower chance of getting type 2 diabetes, lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels and even a better outlook on life” (Gavin). It’s truly astounding how giving your child 60 to 120 minutes of exercise a day can help them both physically and mentally. But that’s not the only thing your child gains. Fun rigorous activities in a play place can help shape your child’s flexibility, endurance and strength. All of these are essential parts to your child becoming healthy and fit. During this safari we will cover all of them.
Endurance
When a child plays a game of tag, they often have to run for prolonged periods of time in order to stay away from the kid who’s “it.” As they run and dodge, they are increasing their endurance. Endurance is any aerobic activity that gets the heart beating faster and a person breathing harder. For children, this involves a lot of running around and when a child dashes through a play place, they are building their endurance and strengthening their cardiovascular system.
Strength
When a child uses their arms to cross a pair of monkey bars or climb on a rock wall or safety net, they are increasing their strength. Strength activities are anything that strengthens arms and legs and they don’t have to be lifting weights. Children can perform push ups, sit-ups and lift themselves up platforms on playgrounds and play places (Gavin).
Flexibility
When a child reaches up to the sky or down to touch their toes without bending their knees, they are increasing their flexibility. Flexibility is anything that involves stretching and extending arms and legs without hurting them. Stretching activities are always recommended before a child plays on a playground or a play places. Not only does it warm their limbs up for vigorous exercise, it also prevents them from cramping up or overextending themselves.
As we’ve seen, playing is one of the best ways to keep your little one fit and healthy. But sometimes, playing outside isn’t always the best option especially during winter. Play places like Clown Around allow for all kinds of aerobic, strength and flexible activity in a climate controlled play center for children. Even as the seasons change from winter to spring, Clown Around always allows a safe and healthy environment for children to exercise until their heart’s content.
Tips from Tiger:
-When performing stretching activities, always encourage your child to reach for 10 seconds. This strengthens their flexibility.
-For toddlers, the ideal playtime is 60 minutes long. For preschoolers, it’s 120 minutes. Make sure to allow time each day to help your child grow!
-Children should not be inactive for long periods of time. For toddlers, only one hour unless napping. For preschoolers, only two hours (Gavin).
On our next safari, we will look at gross and fine motor skills and how a play place can develop them for children. As we previously learned, play for children is essential because it helps them develop body movements. We will now look in depth about what these are and how a child learns from playing on equipment. Gross motor skills are any big movements a child makes and this can include “walking, running, jumping, climbing, and skipping” (Thompson). To perform these, a child requires large motions from their hands and arms along with a lot of energy. They develop these skills during the early years of childhood so it is vital that they are permitted to play on play equipment in order to learn them.
Fine motor skills on the other hand, are the small movements of a child’s body and they include “grasping small objects with the thumb and index finger, pushing buttons, turning the pages of a book, and using a pen or pencil to write” (Thompson). As a child grows their nervous system develops, allowing them to use their fingers in more complex ways. With concentration and practice, their brains and fingers will learn to work together in order to perform advanced tasks.
Play places often include a variety of ways to develop both forms of motor skills. There are often many ways to climb a play place and this can be largely beneficial to both a child’s gross and fine motor skills. When climbing a rock wall for instance, a child will learn “where their body parts are and what to do with them along with directions like up, down, left, and right” (Morin). When a child climbs, their large movements have to be in tune with their brain or else they will fall. With a unity of their brain, fingers and strength, a growing child will learn to scale a rock wall or a climbing net when taken to a play place.
Overhead equipment like monkey bars and climbing nets help children learn fine and gross motor skills in a similar way. When a child is hanging off of a bar, they learn to incorporate fine motor skills by wrapping their fingers around the bar. They also learn gross motor skills by swinging their bodies and reaching from bar to bar. As they move, they learn the order of movements from grabbing to thinking to gripping one hand after the other. This teaches them how to combine their bodies with an orderly thought process, allowing them to grow mentally as well as physically.
Play places are excellent locations to take your child because of all the ways they can learn fine and gross motor skills. From learning how to walk, crawl and run on them, to learning both strength and coordination as they climb jungle gyms, maneuver themselves through tunnels and chutes, and navigate swinging rings, your child will develop immensely from being at one (Thompson). As we learned a few safaris ago, children learn social skills from playing games on play grounds and play places with others, but they’re also growing physically too. Be sure to take your child on a safari to a play place and watch them learn and grow in many, many ways.
Tips from Tiger:
-Organize specific activities to improve your child’s fine and gross motor skills. Help your child become well rounded in both areas.
-When your child climbs a rock wall or monkey bars. Be there to catch them if they fall. These activities can be dangerous if unattended.
-Always encourage your child if they don’t succeed at first. Developing gross and fine motor skills is a learning experience and it’s ok to fail at first.
-Never let your child play on an empty stomach. Gross motor skills require a lot of energy.
On this next safari, we will look at the most popular trends for children’s birthday parties in 2020. With a new decade comes new favorites in addition to the old, tried and true classics. Some like Star Wars present a new twist on an age old franchise in order to be more inclusive. As we travel through this safari, we will look at them all.
A new trend for the 2020s is gender inclusive parties which make parties fun for everyone. On our last safari we learned that children separate themselves into two distinct groups, but with a gender inclusive party, not only can children learn to be inclusive and tolerant of each other but everyone will be having fun in no time. Trolls, LEGO and Superheros are all examples of party themes that include everyone and Star Wars is the latest addition (Hecksher).
While there have always been popular male heroes and villains like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, the new trilogy has introduces Rey as the first female main character. Even compared to Princess Leia, Rey’s story is front and center, and now makes Star Wars an ideal party theme for boys and girls. Other cute droid characters like BB-8 and R2D2 are characters who appeal to everyone and parties can often be based around them. For instance, BB-8’s round shape makes him a perfect idea for a cake or a pinata.
Another popular (and recent) party idea for both boys and girls are the fluffy and cuddly South American mammal, the Llama. Based on the adorable Llama, Llama series by Anne Dewdney, boys and girls have been falling in love with this petting zoo favorite and having a Llama themed party might make for a very special day. Party games from pinatas and pin the tail on the llama are guaranteed to bring enjoyment to everyone who attends (Hecksher).
Superheroes are another party idea has been captivating children everywhere. Superheroes have not only been a popular and trusted favorite for decades, but there are so many superheroes that at least one will catch your child’s eye. Whether it ranges from the good old fashioned heroics of Superman, to the dark and gritty Batman, or the powerful amazonian female role model Wonder Woman, there is truly a hero for everyone. Rather than make a party centered around just one super hero, why not have a superhero gathering and invite kids to dress up as their favorite super hero or heroine.
These are just a few fun party types for your child and their friends to enjoy. Picking the right party and setting it up perfectly can make a tremendous impact on your child for their very important day. In the 2020’s, parties can not only be fun but teach us how we can include everyone and make the experience a blast. Your child can not only enjoy themselves but so can everyone else as well!
Clown Around offers private parties and sleepovers and are welcome to accommodate all of these parties and more!
Tips From Tiger:
-Always pay attention to what your child enjoys when planning a party. Stay in tune with their favorite shows and characters.
-A popular subset of Lego parties is Ninjago parties. These Lego Ninjas are immensely popular with kids.
-If you wish to plan a gender inclusive party, avoid colors like pink and blue. Instead choose fun colors that don’t have associations with them (Hecksher).
-Luau parties are very popular with kids because of the recent Disney Moana movie.
Safari Adventure Blog 