Tag: funforkids

Walking S’mores Dessert

Do you love s’mores? That yummy dessert that is made around a campfire with a fire toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate candy bar sandwiched between 2 pieces of graham crackers? Yea….that one! 🙂 But do you sometimes get hungry for s’mores when you aren’t by a campfire to toast a marshmallow? Well, here’s the next best thing – the Walking S’mores Dessert! You will need the following items: individual packets of Teddy Grahams bear shaped snacks, chocolate pudding, miniature marshmallows and whipped cream.

Note: To make this dessert the original way means you open the little packets of Teddy Grahams and put the other ingredients inside the packet and thus you can walk around while you eat them. Buuuut I can only imagine the mess that might make, so while we had 4 grandkids staying with us last week, we opened the Teddy Grahams and poured them into a bowl. 😉 So you can buy a box of Teddy Grahams instead of the individual packets.

Another side note: Have you ever noticed that the Teddy Grahams teddy bears are not all the same? Pretty cool, right? 😉

Back to our s’mores…next add a dollop or two of chocolate pudding on top of the Teddy Grahams.

Add a few miniature marshmallows…

Top with whipped cream…

Grab a spoon and dig in! 🙂 That’s how simple this Walking S’mores dessert is to make! Our grandkids gave it a thumbs up! 🙂

Quick Monarch Caterpillar Update

Greetings, butterfly lovers! I don’t have much time for blogging today (company is coming!) but I wanted to give you a quick update on the Monarch caterpillars I showed you. Remember these tiny guys?

I took that picture 5 days ago, but here is a picture I took just this morning. Do they look different to you?

Wow! They grow so fast that it’s hard to believe! 🙂 They are still quite little, but are you surprised at how much bigger they are? It’s so fun watching them grow! 🙂 Check back later for more Monarch caterpillar updates!

Monarch Butterflies Beginnings 2023

I’m so excited to tell you that we are now finding Monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars on our milkweed plants! 🙂 Each year for several years now, I try to help the endangered Monarch caterpillars survive until they turn into butterflies and then I release them back into the wild. It’s sooo interesting and fun! Monarch caterpillars will only eat the milkweed plant, so that is where you will find their eggs and caterpillars. They are just now starting to show up here in our part of Ohio. I currently have 14 teeny tiny caterpillars and they can be pretty sneaky and a bit hard to keep track of since they are so tiny! Here’s a close-up picture of one…notice how small it is in comparison to my thumb and finger.

Now let’s test out your powers of observation. Can you find 4 caterpillars in this picture?

There is one caterpillar on each piece of the milkweed leaves. In case you are having trouble seeing them, here’s a bigger picture.

I bet you found them all now! 🙂 Can you believe how small they are?? Wow! Remember that I said they can be sneaky little guys? Look at this guy I caught escaping from his “hotel”!

Luckily I saw him before he got any farther and I offered him a fresh piece of milkweed and he decided he liked that and crawled aboard. I put him safely back in his hotel. 😉

Stay tuned for more Monarch caterpillar updates coming soon! 🙂

Let’s Laugh!

I don’t know about you, but I could use a laugh today. Let’s check out some riddles, just for fun!

#1.) What do you call a missing parrot?

Answer: A polygon!

#2.) What do you call an elderly owl?

Answer: An old coot hoot!

#3.) What do you call an awkward bee?

Answer: A fumblebee!

#4.) What do you get if you cross a chicken and a fish?

Answer: Cluck-leberry Fin!

#5.) Why do turkeys eat fast?

Answer: Because they are gobblers!

#6.) What do you call a nutty chicken?

Answer: A cuckoo cluck!

#7.) What do you get if you cross a flowerpot and a duck?

Answer: A quack-pot!

#8.) Who won the giraffes race?

Answer: It was neck and neck!

#9.) Why did the horse turn in circles?

Answer: He was just horsing around!

#10.) What is a cow’s favorite book?

Answer: Winnie the Moo!

Haha! I hope these riddles put a grin on your face and made your day a little brighter! 🙂

My Version of Walking Tacos

Hello, there! Welcome to my blog! Glad you are here! 🙂

Today we’re going to look at a fun way to eat tacos! There are so many ways to eat tacos and so many great ingredients you can use! Have you ever had walking tacos? They are really very simple and a great way to add a new twist to tacos. The main idea is having all the taco ingredients on hand that your family loves and then opening a small bag of Fritos corn chips and putting the toppings right in the bag! Sound fun? Let me show you what we did:

Is your mouth watering now? Mine is! 🙂 For walking tacos you will need taco ingredients like hamburger, taco spices, black beans, whole kernel corn, sour cream, lettuce, grated cheese, taco sauce and whatever else you like on your tacos!

Begin by cooking the hamburger until all the pink is gone. Drain the fat off if there is an excess of it.

Add the taco spices and the amount of water the spice package calls for.

Stir together and simmer for a few minutes.

Add a can of black beans. You can add them straight from the can or drain and rinse them if you prefer. Add a can of whole kernel corn, drained.

Stir together and simmer for 10-15 minutes until everything is heated through. Add a little water as needed to keep the mixture from becoming too dry.

Gather all your other foods that you like to add to your tacos. We used sour cream, grated cheese, lettuce and taco sauce. You might also like chopped onions or garlic, salsa, green peppers or hot peppers, refried beans, olives, etc. Cut open a small bag of Fritos as shown in the picture. Or if you really want to be able to walk while you eat your taco, open the bag from the top.

Spoon some of the meat, bean and corn mixture on top of the corn chips.

Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!! Soooo yummy!

This would be a great meal to have if you are camping or having a potluck! 🙂

Can You Find the Pictures?

Here’s a fun project you can make to entertain younger children. Or kids that are just a bit older can help make it themselves and still enjoy playing with it. I’m not actually sure what to call it, but it’s an activity that looks like a child is using a paper flashlight to shine on and find pictures. The supplies are likely things you have on hand. You’ll need a gallon size plastic zipper bag (I used a freezer type bag), some markers (I used permanent markers), a piece of black construction paper, a piece of white cardstock and a pair of scissors.

Begin by cutting the black construction paper so it will fit inside the plastic zipper bag.

Using the piece of white cardstock paper, draw a flashlight. Be sure to extend the “light beam” out from the end of the flashlight as if the flashlight is turned on.

Add some color and cut out the flashlight. Do not color in the “light beam” area.

Using the markers, draw and color pictures on the outside of the plastic bag. Make sure that the color will stay on the bag when it dries. I’m not sure if all types of markers will work. (No, I’m not the world’s best artist, but the kids won’t mind.) 😉

You can draw pictures on both sides on the outside of the bag. Once you’ve finished your pictures, slide the black paper inside the bag.

Yes, you can still see the pictures somewhat, but when you slide the flashlight inside the bag in front of the black paper, the pictures will show up more brightly. It looks like your kiddo is shining a light on the pictures! 🙂

They can slide the flashlight all around inside the bag to find all the pictures. If you draw pictures on both sides of the bag, be sure to show the kids how to turn it over and slip the flashlight in on the second side.

I wrote the letters of the alphabet on the second side of my bag so the kids can try to find the letters in the correct order.

Simple to make and lots of fun for the kids to find all the pictures or letters! 🙂

Fun With Perspectives – What is This?

Almost 2 years ago now, I shared a post on looking at things from different perspectives. It was a fun post so let’s do this again! 🙂

Looking at things from different perspectives can be a little hard to explain to a child. But here is a way that might help them understand that things look differently depending on how you look at them. And it can be a lot of fun! It’s also a good reminder to us adults, that the way kids see things is different from the way adults see them. Sit down on the floor in your in kitchen and take a look around. Can you see what is on top of the countertop? Do the doors on your cupboards look bigger? What if you need a drink of water, but the faucet is waaaaay above your head? I think you understand what I’m talking about. 😉 So let’s have some fun with the perspective of being really close up to something when you can’t see the whole thing and compare it to the perspective of seeing the whole object. See if your kids (and you!) can guess what each close up picture is before you scroll on to the answer that reveals what you’re looking at. Here we go!

#1.) What is this?

Answer: If you said swiss cheese, you are right!

#2.) What is this?

Answer: It’s a playground ball!

#3.) What do you think this one is?

Answer: Surprise! It’s a toad!

#4.) Can you guess what this is?

Answer: It’s a dandelion! If you said, “flower”, that is right too.

#5.) Ok, what does this look like?

Answer: It’s a little turtle! So cute! 🙂

#6.) What is this? (I bet you will get this one right!)

Answer: A piece of Lego!

#7.) What is this a picture of? (If you need a hint, this one is outside.)

Answer: A tree!

#8.) What is this purple thing?

Answer: An ice cube tray!

#9.) Can you guess this one?

Answer: Yes, it’s a dog! (And his name is Rusty!)

#10.) This is the last one and so its a bit harder. What do you think this is?

Answer: It’s peanut butter and jelly!

Did you guess some of them right or did we fool you? You can use your camera on your cell phone for taking pictures to have handy to entertain the kids when you need a little something more! Just show the kids the zoomed in version of the picture and after they guess what it is, show them the original picture. I hope you enjoyed our little game today! 🙂

Another New (to me) Kind of Crayons

As you might know if you’ve been following my blog for a while, I like to keep an eye out for new kinds of Crayola crayons. Today I found another kind that I haven’t seen before and I had to get some. 😉 They are the Crayola Bold & Bright Construction Paper Crayons. (Love the box!)

Take a peek inside the box…

Here’s the lineup:

And a closer look at those amazing colors!

Here’s the description from the Crayola website: “Crayola Bold & Bright Construction Paper Crayons make coloring on colored craft paper a breeze! Kids will love finally seeing their works of art pop, no matter what backdrop they choose. This set of art tools features 24 vibrant, creamy crayons in both primary and secondary colors. Bold and bright tones give children a rainbow of hues to choose from. Unique formula produces extra bold results, these crayons appear on construction paper, paper bags, cardboard, and more! Pair with a pack of Crayola Construction Paper (sold separately) for a great bundled gift for kids. Safe and nontoxic, ideal for ages 3 and up.”

Just to compare the Construction Paper crayons to the Classic crayons, take a look at these. (Sorry, some of my Classic crayons are well loved and used!) Classic on the top row and Construction Paper on the bottom row…matching up the crayon colors with the same name.

Here is a comparison sample of those 6 crayon pairs on a piece of blue construction paper.

I’m not sure if the picture shows the difference very well or not, but the Construction Paper crayons have great color and a smooth feel when you use them. I’m a new fan of the Construction Paper crayons and look forward to spending some quality time with them! 😉

The New Lego Minifigures Have Arrived in Stores!

Back near the end of April, I shared with you that Lego would be releasing another series of minifigures called Disney 100. They can now be found in stores near us and I’m guessing in stores near you too!

I like to collect minifigures, so I’ve already gotten a few to add to my collection. I found these at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. In case you’ve never bought a minifigure pack before, they come in separate pieces and you build the character.

Just for fun, I’ll share the ones I’ve gotten so far:

The Queen…

Cruella de Vil and a Dalmatian puppy…

From the movie Coco…I haven’t seen this movie, but I’m guessing this is Ernesto de la Cruz?

Mickey Mouse…

And Robin Hood.

If you are a Lego fan, I hope you can find some of these close to you! They are also available from some stores by shopping online. Enjoy! 🙂