Back to the Great Outdoors

Now that the temperatures have become reasonable again and your kids are sitting in classrooms all day, it’time to revisit some outside activities. Your children will appreciate time outdoors after a day at school and you’ll be glad they’re burning up some energy without the fear of heat stroke! Here are a few ideas I’ve found from my favorite blogs I think you’ll enjoy.

Although our oak trees may be a little lean on acorns this year because of the heat, this awesome nature- inspired mobile from Crafts by Amanda can be made with any found objects. I like projects like this one because you can send the youngsters out on a scavenger hunt before you even get down to the nuts and bolts of the project. So if you can’t find acorns for your mobile – get creative with other types of pods and seeds and share your creation with us.

Acorn Mobile from Crafts By Amanda

Childhood 101 features great ideas at Playopedia and this post of Outdoor Play Ideas is a great compilation of ideas from across the blogosphere. One of our favorites is Hosting a Fairy in Your Garden contributed by kitchen counter chronicles. Even though you may not be up for planting this time of year, you can still tuck an inviting fairy house into your garden someplace special for a little friend.

Fairy House from kitchen counter chronicles

If you are local to the Kansas City area, a couple of fun things this weekend include the second week of the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. This write-up from Kristina Light at the KC Moms Blog gives too many great hints to summarize here so just follow the link.

Explore at Kansas City's Ethnic Enrichment Festival

Also this weekend, soak up some cultural and performing arts plus great food at Kansas City’s Ethnic Enrichment Festival. There won’t be any ooglys but there will be lots of music, food and things for kids to do. I’ll be helping friends at the Brazilian food booth on Saturday so stop by and say hi. I hope to see you there!