Fun Activity - Water Bombs!!!

My kids and I embarked upon a journey of great fun this afternoon. I came across a website that had a neat craft idea for some fun outdoor water toys. You can find the directions here. My girls and I descended upon the dollar store to gather supplies for our endeavor. I was amazed, all of the supplies were in one place, and cheap too! The supplies needed to make these consist of sponges, drawer liner, a couple of Sham-Wows (yes, these amazing absorbant cloths are now at the dollar store, LOL), and some zip ties. It was a relatively easy craft to do with my kids. They helped me cut the pieces and arrange them, and then I tightened and fastened the zip ties for them.

As we finished this little project, neighbor children had gotten word about what we were making (my children may or may not have occasionally poked their head out the door waving a finished water bomb to show their friends). By the time we finished making them, the neighborhood children had gathered in our front yard to play with our new toys. I got out a few buckets filled with water, and the fun began. You all are lucky, I barely got a picture of a few of these babies before the children started their water wars! They all kept saying how neat they were, and they were eventually transported to the neighbor's pool as the water play shifted to another yard. Yeah, I would say that this little project today was a winner :-)

Washable Finger Paint Recipe

We tried a new finger paint recipe today. What makes it even better is that it is washable! I got the recipe over at http://www.kinderinfo.com/finger-paint-recipe-washable/ . The kids are having loads of fun!

Washable Finger Paint

2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups water
1/4 cup dishwashing soap
Food coloring

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and water. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil, continue stirring until mixture is a smooth gel. Add dishwashing soap. Separate mixture into several small containers. Add desired food coloring to each container. Let cool, then paint!

As a side note, I used a small whisk to stir the mixture while it was cooking. This helps prevent clumping so you get a smooth consistency for your finger paint.

Oatmeal Playdough Recipe

Today, my kids and I tried a new playdough recipe. They are busy creating with their little hands as we speak! This oatmeal playdough recipe has a different texture than regular playdough, so it offers the children a different sensory and creative experience. I found the recipe at http://www.playdoughrecipe.com/oatmeal-playdough-recipe/ , and I made a few minor adjustments to it to ease some of the stickiness. It is rather sticky as the original recipe is written, so I added some cornmeal and some extra flour until the dough was the perfect consistency. The above posted website also has many other kinds of playdough recipes to try out, if you are interested.

Oatmeal Playdough

1 cup of flour

2 cups of oats

Food coloring

1 cup of water

Cornmeal

Extra flour

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Mix desired food coloring with the cup of water. Slowly add the water/food coloring mixture to the dry ingredients, mix together well. Knead the dough by hand to continue to mix (will be sticky), then add cornmeal and extra flour a little bit at a time. Continue to knead and add cornmeal and flour until dough is a good consistency for play.

P.S. The picture is a birthday cake, made with the oatmeal playdough, by my 5 year old.

Netflix

OK, so I finally broke down and joined Netflix. My reasoning for this is that my local video store was running out of "appropriate" movies for me to rent. I don't watch rated R movies anymore, and even many of the PG-13 movies nowadays are just out of line, in my book anyhow. And there really aren't a whole lot of PG movies to choose from at the local video store, unless I am looking for kids movies.

I am so glad we did decide to join. We have been members for around 2 months now, and I do really like it alot. We got the package for 2 dvds out at a time, which runs around $13.00 a month. At the video store, we were spending around $20 a month on rentals, so it is a small monthly savings for us. In addition to the 2 dvds a month, they also have some of their movies on instant play through the computer. We have utilized this feature quite a bit as well.

Netflix has alot of interesting documentaries, family movies, tv series, etc. to view that my local video store did not have. They also have exercise and fitness dvds available to rent. Don't get me wrong, I really do like my local video store and the employees, but when searching for things that we feel are appropriate to watch, the selection was getting pretty thin. Plus the fact that every dvd we have rented from Netflix has come in better condition than the ones we rented at the video store. We have had no issues with the dvds skipping or "getting stuck" in a spot the way we often did with the video store.

We do not have cable or satellite TV, but if we did, I would seriously consider cancelling and just going with Netflix. My reasons are that there are no commercials, and you get to pick exactly what you want to watch and when you want to watch it with the instant play feature.

And last, but not least, is the fact that you get to keep the dvds for as long as you want with no late fees. We are very pleased with their service so far, and I really hope we continue to be happy with it.

Saving Money On Movies

I like to watch movies from time to time. The theater is usually a no-go for us because it is so expensive to go nowadays, especially with a family of five. The snacks are outrageously priced too. Then there's the whole issue of the kids sitting still during the movie, without having to take twenty trips to the bathroom (OK, so maybe I am exaggerating a little there!). There are way more reasons for us to skip the theater than there are to actually go.

That brings us to movie rentals. Yes, they are much more affordable. And children who do not care to watch the movie are free to roam and play closeby instead. Many people are going with Netflix these days. That can be a bargain for sure, but if at all possible, I like to keep our business local and help the local economy and business guy out. Many movie rental stores have specials for additional savings, so it may be worth it to check it out. Our local store has "Movie Mondays", where I can go rent any movie in the store for $.99, including new releases. Plus the fact that this movie store has rentals that are allowed to be out for anywhere from 2-7 days, so I don't have to watch them right away if I don't have time to. Or if I don't want to go on Monday, they have another special, 5 movies for 5 dollars, but you can't get new releases on the deal. You can always call the local movie stores and ask about specials.

One more idea I would like to throw in there is the local library. Many times, renting movies from there is free. That is not an option for us because of the distance of our library from us. They have to be back the next day, and that just doesn't work for us because of the drive to get there. But I know of many families who happily rent movies from their local library.

For us, using the specials gives us significant savings. Just because you are on a budget doesn't mean you have to miss out on entertainment. There are ways to enjoy a movie for significantly less, and honestly it is just more convenient for us anyhow.