National Egg Day

June 3 is an excellent day to practice egg puns and recognize National Egg Day.

One of the most perfect foods, eggs are packed with protein, amino acids and have no carbohydrates or sugar. Use #NationalEggDay on social media to show how you like your eggs!  And make some......

ICE EGGS

You will need:

• Balloons (round work best)
  
• Small toys/colored rocks
• Water (tap)
• Freezer
• Optional
• spoons
• magnifying glasses
• food coloring

How to make:

• Find small objects to freeze inside the balloon
• Using both hands open the top of each balloon by working your fingers down the narrow neck of the balloon
• Drop one small object inside the balloon
• Fill the balloon with water
• Optional
• Use food coloring to color the water inside the balloon
• Tie the balloon
• Place in the freezer overnight
• The next day
• remove the balloon (you may need scissors)

Play:

• Ice Egg bowling
• roll them around the ground
• smooth them with your hands
• Hold them up to the sky to see the objects inside
• Crack the eggs open using the spoon to find the treasure inside
• Use the magnifying glasses to study the patterns and objects inside

Friendship Color Mixing

June 8th is National Best Friend Day!

Red, yellow, and blue are great alone, but when you mix them you create something beautiful.  This is how lasting friendships are formed.  Two individuals coming together to create something beautiful FRIENDSHIP

Have children pick a friend to work with for this fun paint project

You Will Need:

• Red, Yellow and Blue Tempera Paint
  
• Plastic plates
• Flannel sheets or any material that absorbs
• A small amount of water
• A large piece of paper

How To:

• Pair children with a friend
• Dilute the paint with a small amount of water
• Each pair of kids needs a plate of yellow paint, red paint, and blue Paint
• Have the children place one hand in one of the primary colors and make a handprint on the paper
• Have them answer these questions
• What does the paint feel like on your hands?
• What do you think will happen if you hold hands and mix the colors?
• Now have the children place one hand in the primary colors and then touch hands
• Have them make a handprint on the paper
• What color did it make?
• How many different colors can you make?
• Hints:
• Yellow + Blue = Green
• Red + Blue = Purple

Sink or Swim?

Teaching science is easy with this fun activity!

You will need:
Bucket or container for water

Small objects
Sheet of paper
Pencil/Pen

• Make four columns on the sheet of paper. 
• Mark one column as name of object, one as sink, one as swim (float) and the other as results
• Have children grab different objects and write the object's name on the sheet of paper
• Fill the bucket with water
• Before putting the objects in the container of water ask each child if the object will sink or swim
• Mark appropriate column (sink or swim)
• Drop one object in the bucket
• Did it sink or float?
• Note the findings on your paper
• Repeat until all objects have been observed.

How many did you get right?

In Flanders Fields

Memorial Day is a national holiday that is celebrated on the last Monday in May. Sometimes, it is called Decoration Day because following the Civil War, people went to cemeteries to place flowers on or to "decorate" the graves of loved ones who died in the war.

After World War I, it also became known as Poppy Day after Canadian Army Col. John McRae wrote a poem titled "In Flanders Fields." The poem expresses his grief over the thousands of soldiers who died on the Flanders battlefields in Europe.

You can make your own poppies for decorations this Memorial Day with instructions I found at howstuffworks.com. 

Supplies you will need: 

Red crepe or tissue paper
Black or dark blue crepe or tissue paper
Green chenille stems, one for each poppy
Scissors
Margarine container lid, about 4 inches in diameter
Smaller lid, about 2 inches in diameter
Pen or pencil

Fold crepe or tissue paper three times for each flower you want to make

Place the large lid on the red stack of paper and trace around it with a pen or pencil

Repeat with black or blue paper and a smaller lid

Cut the circles out.

Using three circles of each color for each flower, stack the circles together and place the smaller circles in the middle of the larger ones.

Carefully, poke a hole through the center of the stack from the bottom with a chenille stem. Bring the stem up through the hole, leaving about 4-inches of stem above the flower.

Bend the top stem down and poke it through the paper about 1/2-inch from the first hole. Carefully, pull the stem down and twist the end around the long end of the stem to secure it.

Pull the crepe paper petals slightly away from each other to form the poppy.

Place your poppies inside a vase and use as a meaningful decoration for Memorial Day picnics and get-togethers.

Summertime Reading Adventures

The research is clear that children who don't read during the summer can lose up to three months of reading progress and that loss has a cumulative, long-term effect! 
Children who read throughout the summer gain skills, can start the new school year with a better understanding of language and the world around them, and discover the joy of reading!
Children learn through a variety of activities, and almost everything we do presents an opportunity to read!

We have added another FREE activity guide compliments of Reading Is Fundamental to our website.


You can download it here for FREE!

Be sure to check out all our FREE summer literacy activities on our website.

National Vanilla Pudding Day

Make your own Vanilla Pudding! 

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 Cups Milk

• 1 Cup Sugar

• 1/3 Cup Cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

• 5 Egg Yolks, Beaten

• 2 teaspoons Vanilla

Instructions:

• Heat 4 Cups of Milk in a saucepan over medium heat, until steaming.

• Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl, whisk in the egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup of

milk

• Whisk half of the hot milk into the egg mixture until smooth, then gradually whisk the egg milk mixture into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture starts to boil. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until it has thickened to a puddinglike consistency, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

• Cool slightly, stirring a few times to prevent a skin from forming. Place a piece of plastic wrap

directly on top of the pudding and refrigerate until completely cooled and thickened, about 4

hours.

• Add food coloring to make your pudding your favorite color! Also, add fruit toppings to the

pudding to add extra flavor!

It's National Pick Strawberries day!

It’s a wonderful day to enjoy some strawberries and enjoy thinking about spring!

• Head to the grocery store to find and buy strawberries. As you’re looking at the berry containers, talk about how you can tell a ripe strawberry from a green one. The name of a green strawberry is a good hint!
• Can you divide the strawberries evenly between every member of your family? Lay out a plate for each family member and divide the strawberries between the plates to find out!
• Remember to add and subtract with strawberries. If you eat 2 strawberries, how many do you have now? You give Suzy 1 strawberry. How many does Suzy have now?

It's National Chocolate Chip Day

Here are some cute ideas to celebrate. And of course, bake some chocolate chip cookies!

• Use chocolate chips to make groups of 5 and 10 and then count how many chocolate chips you have!
• Make chocolate paint
• Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish and microwave approximately 40 seconds
• Microwave until chocolate is melted (you should stir it after 15 seconds)
• Once the dish is cool enough to handle, place it on the table
• Give kids paint brushes and white paper
• Enjoy!

• MAKE EDIBLE CHOCOLATE SLIME:
• Ingredients
• 1 can of Sweetened & Condensed Milk
• 3 Tablespoons of Chocolate Syrup
• Cornstarch (called corn flour in the UK) 
• Chocolate Chips (extra mix-in)
• Instructions

Combine the milk, ¼ cup of cornstarch and chocolate syrup in a pot and cook over medium-low heat. Stir frequently. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened.
Turn onto a surface dusted with cornstarch and let cool a few minutes.
Knead the chocolate slime a few minutes in the cornstarch. You can make the slime thicker with more cornstarch or leave it thinner and stickier. This slime is going to stay VERY sticky.
Mix in chocolate chips to add texture and variety if desired!
Keeps in the refrigerator in a sealed container for a few days.

National Frog Jumping Day!

Five Frisky Frogs

Five little frisky frogs hopping on the shore.
(Hold up five fingers. hop.)
One hopped into the pond- SPLASH!
(Call “splash” loudly throw hands out and up.)
So then there were just four.
Four little frisky frogs climbing up a tree.
(Hold up four fingers. Climb.)
One fell into the grass - BOOM!
(Fall and call “boom” loudly.)
So then there were just three.
Three little frisky frogs bathing in the dew.
(Hold up 3 fingers. Wash face and body.)
One caught a sneezy cold - AHHCHOO!
(Cover nose and sneeze loudly.)
So then there were just two.
Two little frisky frogs sleeping in the sun.
(Hold up two fingers and sleep.)
One slept the day away - SNORE!
(Snore loudly.)
So then there was just one.
One little frisky frog sitting on a stone.
(Hold up 1 finger, lean chin on hand and look sad.)
Let’s call his four friends back - YOO - HOO!
(Cup hands around mouth.)
So he won’t be alone.
(Hold up five fingers and smile)