Summer Sun, Summer Showers

Summer started out with lots of sun so we were able to soak it up at the park.

This morning we were greeted with dark clouds and the rumble of thunder in the distance.  We made a fun sun in hopes of coaxing the real one out.  To start, Eva painted a paper plate with yellow and orange paints.

While the paint was drying, I glued strips of yellow and orange paper to wooden clothespins to be the rays of the sun.  One side has yellow, the other has orange.  I made 8 but you could probably fit more around the plate.

We finished the sun with a pair of sunglasses.  Anyone who knows Eva, knows she is rarely without a pair of her stylin' shades.  Then we clipped the rays to the plate.   Because they are two-sided, we were able to make a basic yellow-orange pattern but since they are also clothespins, they can be removed and rearranged to make new patterns too.  

When our sun was done we went outside to see if the real one had come back out.  No such luck but it was warm enough to play in the rain.

I'll leave you with a montage of my self-proclaimed "stylin' chick" modeling her assortment of sunglasses.

Hello Summer!

Summer has finally arrived, although with the heat we've been having, it feels like it's been here for a while!  We never ended up going on our picnic this past week so we will be squeezing one in this week among all the other fun summer activities that we have planned.

Crafts
Sweet Smellin' Strawberry- we'll be making a yummy smelling strawberry based on this tutorial from the itmom

Lemonade finger painting- Eva will get to be messy when she makes a big glass of lemonade using scented finger paint

Stylin' Shades- anyone who knows Eva, knows that she loves sunglasses so we'll build on that love and craft a fun pair of sunglasses

Large Motor
Sprinkler Fun- nothing beats the heat like a run through the sprinkler

Ring Toss- Grammy gave Eva a cute ring toss game that we will try out this week

Swimming- we'll break out the wading pool for some splashing fun

Small Motor
Strawberry Cutting- Eva will work on her knife skills while helping prep strawberries for jam

Lemon Squeezing- how much juice will we be able to squeeze out of our lemons?

Cooking
Popsicles- nothing says summer like homemade popsicles

Lemonade- another summertime favorite

Strawberry Freezer Jam- this will be a first for us but I'm sure it will taste great!

Field Trip
Strawberry Picking- we'll head to a local strawberry patch to pick some yummy berries for our jam

Academic Activities
Popsicle Letter Match- using these as a springboard, we'll make a letter matching game

S is for Summer- we'll be hunting for summer things that start with s

Songs
I couldn't think of any songs about summer but I found this link with a bunch (look under Seasons)

Books