Kid Friendly Archives - Page 3 of 33

4th of July Shirts: Pledge of Allegiance Flag

June 27, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 4 Comments

July 4th is right around the corner! Every clothing store around is selling flag shirts for a little USA spirit, but why not make some of your own? I love to put my boys in customized shirts and figured this would be the perfect opportunity for a little patriotic display of The Pledge of Allegiance. We kept the flag in there too for good measure.

You may recognize the design from a flag canvas I made for my house last year. I loved it so much I figured why not spread the joy to shirts?!

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Design Space Software
Cricut Explore
White Heat Transfer
Red Heat Transfer
Navy Shirts
Weeding Tool
Clean Cloth
Iron

I took this image from last years post and uploaded it in to Cricut Design Space. Cleaned it up, made a copy of the image and hid the contour to separate the white and red areas alternately on the two images. I was planning to share the design and save you a lot of work, but the software will not let you share designs of things you upload.

It will be easiest to just choose a font you like and copy my layout by typing in text boxes. Trust me. Then group the text boxes so you can move them as two images the white letters and the red letters.

Size the flags according to the size of shirt. Now you are ready to cut. Be sure your shirts are pre-washed to remove any shrinkage.

Be sure to flip the letters horizontally before cutting so they won’t be backwards! Cricut Design software has a check box to remind you of this on the cut screen. Select the iron-on setting (I use a Cricut Explore so mine is on a dial on the machine) and you are good to go. Load the heat transfer vinyl shiny side down and cut. You will load the mat twice, once with the white and once with the red.

Weed your vinyl removing all excess from between the designs. Be sure all the i’s have their dots.

Preheat the iron on it’s hottest setting with the steam turned off. Place the groups of white letter and red letters on the shirt to make sure you get them in the right place.

Then remove the red letters and apply the white ones first. Place a clean cloth over it (I use a tea towel) and press firmly for 30 -40 seconds. Let it cool a bit and check for adherance. If it lifts up try 20 more seconds. If it is stuck remove the clear sheet and place the red letters in place to iron. Cover with cloth and iron as before.

For my boys shirts (size 4 and 6) the letters ended up tiny!! This was proof how accurately the Cricut Explore can cut. Look at them next to a quarter. Crazy!

I love how our 4th of July shirts turned out and can’t wait for them to sport them next week!

Celebrate Summer Party for only $20

June 25, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 1 Comment

Summer = hot = water fun. It’s a must really. When temperatures go up the swimsuits go on and water equals fun. My kiddos have birthdays in the colder months so they miss out on fun outdoor party options. We decided who needs a birthday to celebrate? It’s summer. Isn’t that reason enough?! So we gathered a few of our friends and threw a fun afternoon Celebrate Summer party. Did I mention it only cost $20? Oh ya, I guess it’s right there in the title.

Looks fun right?! The key is your friendly Dollar Tree store. No I am not being paid for this. I just think they have awesome summer options for a buck! I gathered a few of each of the following:

Water Guns 3 pack for $1
Slingshot with ball $1
KoolPops 20 pops for $1
Sponges 2 for $1
Cable Tie pack $1
Sidewalk Chalk 20 pieces for $1

Check out the nitty gritty details on my receipt. See, truly $20.

The water guns and slingshots are all ready for water play, but put together the sponges and cable ties and your kiddos are in for a splashy surprise. Sponge bombs are super easy for little ones to wrangle, but also soaking enough for the big kids.

To put the sponge bombs together:

Cut each sponge in three long strips. Hold together nine of the sponge strips and secure the middle together with a cable tie. Tighten the cable tie as far as it will go and snip off the end being sure not to leave a sharp end.

I purchased six sponge packs which made four sponge bombs. Put them by a big bucket of water and you are ready to rock.

We just let the kids play and soak each other for the most part, but after about an hour gave them suggestions like a slingshot contest to see who could fling the furthest. We also have a trampoline so they had fun throwing the sponge bombs at each other on that.

Kids love popsicles and at 20 for a $1 we let them have their fill. We held our party right before dinner time so we did not need to worry about additional snacks. We didn’t want to spoil their dinner.

Once the party was over we sent them each home with a five pack of sidewalk chalk to play with at home this summer.

Overall, it was great fun and cost less than a trip to the pool!

Rocket Straws Summer Kids Activity

June 18, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 2 Comments

With our last day of school past, we need to be armed with some fun activities to battle the boredom that is bound to surface. What I’m not fond of are activities that take longer to set up than to play. Simple and easy is just the ticket! These rocket ship straws take just a couple of minutes to get ready and are simple enough for the kids to put together on their own!

What you’ll need to make Rocket Straws:

Narrow Bendy Straw
Wide Bendy Straw
Scissors
Rocket Printable
Double sided sticky tape
Crayons (optional)

Start off with a free rocket printable like this these. Symmetrical ships are best because then they can be two sided. We chose the black and white rocket so we could color and personalize ourselves.

Cut out your rocket images. Each straw will use two rockets so it will be decorated on either side.

Place a strip of double sided sticky tape down the center of each rocket. Trim off the bendy part of the narrow straw so you are just left with the straight long part. Place the straw in the center of the tape on one rocket.

Place the other rocket on top of the straw to make it double-sided. Press the top of the rocket together with the tape to seal. Seal the little “legs” with two small triangles of tape. Trim the long section of the wider straw to 3 1/2 inches. Place the narrow straw in the wider straw and you are ready to go!

Count 3, 2, 1, blast off, blow quickly through the straw and watch your rocket fly!

What kiddo doesn’t love playing astronaut?!

Have a blast this summer!

15 Fun Family Reunion Games

June 12, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 10 Comments

Summer is here, tis the season for family reunions. Planning one can be difficult so let us ease your anxiety with a few fun and creative activity ideas. We love playing games and what better way to bond and get to know family. We’ve rounded up our fifteen favorite family reunion games including some for the family history buff, the spunky kids and the strategist. Take a look over our list and let us know what you think.

Get to Know Your Family Games

We’d Like to Welcome

A great icebreaker. Stand if you fit the description read aloud (ie. loves to cook, has been to Disneyland, can play the piano, etc)

Did You Know

People write down interesting facts about themselves and you guess who it is.

Family History Photo Swap

Have people bring pictures of family members, homes, etc and let people guess who/what they are.

Family Face Bingo

A twist on a classic that comes with a template to add in pictures of your family members.

Who am I?

Everyone gets a sticky with a name and people have to answer questions (Are I taller than you? Do I have kids?) to help them guess who it is.

Active/Outdoor Family Reunion Games

Frisbee Golf with Free Printable

A snap to put together with a few laundry baskets and frisbees.

Human Foosball

I’m pretty sure this would be a complete crack up.

Water Balloon Toss

The classic. I remember doing this since I was young.

Rainbow Tag

The basic gist…hide colored popsicle sticks with a face paint crayon. Players find the sticks and mark their faces with that color. First one to find all the colors wins.