We Need a Beach Day!

 

We know summer is quite some time away--we haven't even seen spring yet, but this winter has been a long, cold one.  As we watch the snow outside blowing sideways past our window, we thought that maybe we could escape with an indoor beach day.


So gather your children and some friends and set up your living room as the beach.  Pull out the towels, a chair and an umbrella.  Find some shovels and buckets and sunglasses.  You can make a  pretend beach using brown kraft paper and blue paper for the water.


Let your kids dress up in their bathing suits, sun hats and flip flops as they play in their pretend beach.

Why not find some beach themed books?  Here are a few of my favorites.

Sally Goes to the Beach by Stephen Huneck

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin




Beach Babies by Puck
 



Don't forget the music!  Some slow and easy....like reggae.

Pack a picnic to have at the beach and maybe include this fun treat!

 A couple of fun crafts to do with the kids would be to make this beach scene and this fish collage.


 


We hope you enjoy your fantasy escape.  We would love to see how yours turned out.  Why not send us a picture of your special island.  Have a great day!

Sonja & Joy

Summer Picnics with your Children

Hi there!

Long time no see! We've been busy launching our Etsy shop and while we've been doing that, summer has been sneaking up on us.

To me, summer means picnics.  Enjoying the fresh air, the scenery and communing with nature.

It got me to thinking about how to make a picnic educational, but still fun!

How about having your child help you organize a picnic? You could decide together on what foods would be best to take (things that aren't too messy or could spoil quickly), and decide what needs to be kept cold or hot.

Then, let them help pack a picnic basket.  What do you need?  Cutlery, cups, bowls, plates, napkins, etc.  If you decided on sandwiches, let you child help to make and wrap those at home.

Once you're all packed up, decide on where to go for a picnic.  Do they want shade or sun?  Would you have a picnic in a parking lot?  Why not? 

When you arrive at your picnic location, surprise them by pulling out some plastic ants!  Talk about why ants like to come to our picnics. You could use those plastic ants to measure things you have at your picnic, for example, an apple, a sandwich or even the blanket. Then you could sing "The Ants Go Marching" and have those ants leave your picnic.

When you get home and have unpacked what's left of your picnic,why not snuggle up and read a couple books about picnics?  I would suggest Ants at the Picnic: Counting by Tens by Michael Dahl.

As well as Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy, and The Bears' Water Picnic by John Yeoman (you may recognize the illustrator as the same who illustrated for Roald Dahl!).

Have an awesome picnic!

Sonja & Joy