August Summer Camp - Wet and Wild

This is my favorite camp because it is a lot of messy fun!

Water Play - I fill up the kiddie pool and gather up all the spice and Parmesan containers I've been saving all year (at the end of camp I send these home with the kiddos).  I also put out items from the play kitchen in the preschool.

Squirt Bottles and Gliders - The squirt bottles are so much fun and it's so hot outside, rarely does anyone complain when they get squirted.  I found these gliders at the dollar store.  They were a big hit this year.

Baked Sun Catchers - The kiddos put pony beads in metal cookies cutters, I'll bake them this afternoon and they'll be beautiful sun catchers! 
Here is a peek at the baked ones.  They turned out fabulous!  I baked them at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.  Once cooled, I could pop them out of the cookie cutters.  These would make great Christmas ornaments!

 I adjusted this idea from this source:  Here!

Silky Play Dough - Just cornstarch and conditioner. 

Really soft and fun to play with.  When it got a bit crumbly, we just wet our hands in the pool and worked the dough a bit and it held together again.  We added some food coloring to our second batch.

Orbeez - These things are crazy fun.  Without water the shrink up super small.  With water they become bouncy, squishy balls of fun. 

Later the kiddos dumped the orbeez into the kiddie pool.  They then spent quite a while fishing them all back out again.

In addition to orbeez, we also did grow lizards and sponge capsules (both from the dollar store).

Science - Baking Soda Experiment - We decided we'd see what would happen if we add baking soda to 4 different kitchen ingredients (vinegar, lemon juice, salsa, and milk).  We made some quick predictions, then set to work mixing...

We were surprised that the salsa fizzed!

Dish Washing - Such a fun thing to do!


Ice Painting - The kiddos painted the ice cubes with water colors.

Shaving Cream -  Always a pleasure to play in.  The kiddos enjoyed driving the cars and burying the toys. 



Potions and Tea -  Stirring, mixing, pouring, pretending....  I easily go through 2 packs of food coloring, but it's all part of the fun.   I love to hear the kiddos imaginations soar as they create potions and teas and other concoctions.

Pudding Pops - Yesterday the kiddos "made" pudding pops and we tucked them in the freezer for today!  Yum!

Washing - I brought out a soapy bucket of warm water and some wash clothes.  The kiddos found things to wash... 

 

Wind Spirals - Whirly-digs - The kiddos colored water bottles with sharpies.  Then I cut off the bottom and spiral cut the bottles.  They stick nicely on a tree because they still have the top on.  I saw this idea at this source:  Here!

Making A River - The kiddos were super excited to create another river today.  They promptly dumped the water buckets down the driveway and hurriedly followed the river...

The river flowed down past two neighbor's houses before it finally stopped.  So great!  Perhaps tomorrow we should try floating boats in it.

Today we added our pool noodle boats to the river - lots more fun!

 
Colorful Bubble Foam - I put about 1/4 cup of warm water, a big squirt of dish soap and a several drops of food coloring in my KitchenAid on high for a few minutes and got this wonderful stuff.

Bubble Pipes - 3 straws taped together with a piece of a cleaning cloth from the dollar store taped on the end and taa-daa!  Wonderful bubble snakes...

Bubbles in our Potions - 

The bubbles quickly moved to the pool...

Science - Will it Dissolve? - I put 6 kitchen ingredients in bowls for us to test.  (cinnamon, salt, cornstarch, bouillon, oatmeal, and baking soda)  We made predictions, then added water.

Pool Noodle Boats - The kiddos added sails to their boats, then set them loose in the pool.

 

Sink the Boat - Using nacho trays, we added rocks one by one to see how many we could add before our "boat" sank.  Our highest was 16.  It was also fun to throw the rocks in the pool for a splash.