Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

In the Kitchen: Easy Smoothies

By

I’ve been playing around with smoothie combinations lately. I’ve found some good ones, but I keep coming back to one in particular, blackberry and peach. The ingredients are simple, but the results are yummy!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Blackberry-Peach Smoothie

1/3 c. low-fat vanilla yogurt
2/3 c. milk (skim, 1%, 2%, whatever you have on hand)
4-5 frozen peach slices
5-7 frozen blackberries

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. Pour and enjoy!

*Note: The frozen fruit is essential to the texture of the smoothie. If you would like to use fresh fruit, you will need to freeze it ahead of time.

Oh yes, it’s that easy! Hope you enjoy!

Sea Creatures

By

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details.
If you’re anything like me, it can sometimes be difficult to think up fun craft projects for your kids. Luckily, lots of wonderfully creative people have done the work for us. Lizzie and I ran across Cut and Paste Sea Creatures at our local library and we’ve all been having fun with it.
The instructions are clear and easy to follow. For my girls, I pre-cut all the shapes we needed. Lizzie was able to piece them together according to the pictures while I helped AJ. An older child would need very little, if any, parental help. The projects are simple and it’s very likely you’ll already have all the materials you need to complete the projects.
Here are the results of our fun!
(Please ignore the messy kitchen!)
The next time you’re at the library, check out the craft book section. You’ll definitely find some fun activities to do!

Summer Bucket List 2011

By

When dreaming up our summer bucket list, I had a couple of criteria. Everything on the list should be inexpensive or even free. Also, I wanted my girls to be able to participate with everything. I kept the list at twenty, so it would seem doable. I wanted to share it with you and maybe give you some ideas. Plus, sharing holds me accountable. I WANT to do everything on this list this summer. So here goes:

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Summer Bucket List:

1. Host a cook-out
2. Camp out in our backyard
3. Take a trip to the zoo
4. Make a sunflower playhouse (I already have plans for this, which I’ll share with you soon!)
5. Go stargazing
6. Go hiking
7. Take a trip to the farmer’s market
8. Go rock hunting
9. Visit a state park
10. Play in the sprinklers
11. Go on a nature scavenger hunt
12. Make ice cream
13. Go on a picnic
14. Make homemade lemonade
15. Host an ice cream social party
16. Make salsa from my garden
17. See a fireworks show
18. Go to our county fair
19. Visit a small town festival
20. Swim in a lake

What would be on your summer bucket list?

Looking for more great summer bucket list ideas. Check out these lists:

200 Fun Ideas for Your Summer Bucket List

100 Ideas for Your Summer Bucket List

Making Clouds

By

After reading (and reading and reading) Little Cloud by Eric Carle, we were inspired to make our own clouds in the style of the book’s illustrations.

This was such a simple craft project that my little ladies loved doing!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies:
White paint
Cotton balls
Construction paper
Saucer, plastic lid, or anything with a flat surface to spread out the paint

*Note: Since my girls are young, I drew the cloud shapes with a marker before beginning the craft. If you are doing this with older kids, you won’t need to do this.

The process is easy. Dump some paint on the saucer. Grab a cotton ball or two, dip in the paint and start painting your cloud.

After the initial set-up and a quick demonstration, I let the girls experiment with making their own clouds. We had some dabbing and some smearing and we also had a lot of fun.

Here are the finished products:

Hope you have fun making your own clouds!

You may also like one of these fun kid’s crafts

Cardboard Roll Stamping

Mary Mary Quite Contrary Mural

Straw Printing and Paper Lanterns

An Introduction, of Sorts…

By

As I was lying in bed last night thinking about what I should post today, I realized that you were probably dying to know more about me. If not, lie to me and say you were, make a girl feel better.
 (That’s me)
I’m Terri, married, 30-something, stay-at-home mom to two girls. Lizzie, my little princess, is 4 and AJ, my little spunk, is 2. This stay-at-home-mom gig is a little bit new to me. I’ve only been at it since April of this year. Before that, I worked full time. Boy, was life different! Some women are wonderful as working moms. I wasn’t. But, things happened, circumstances changed and now I’m home – and loving it.
(My models, Lizzie & AJ)
I still feel like a kid at heart. I love arts & crafts time, picture books and a good cartoon. I want to nurture my girls, teach them, let them discover the world all while guiding them with my sometimes capable, but not always, hands. 
I hope you’ll stick around and get to know me, my girls and all the fun we plan on having.