Oh, what do you do in the Summertime?

I have had a lot of fun the last week or so looking at some of the fun things my blogland friends have been doing with their kids this summer. I know I could check out books from the library for great ideas but sometimes it is nice to see something in action that kids really liked. So I thought I would share some of the things we have been doing, maybe there will be something you haven't thought of! This may actually become a semi-regular feature.



Painting canvases! This is one of our all time favorite kid activities. I know I have posted about this before but we really do love it. It was a great activity last week when it was too hot to be outside.
I buy these packages of canvas panels at Wal-mart. You get three of this big size for $3.88! They have smaller too but my kids think they have hit the jackpot when they get to use the big ones. Brittany is pretty good at coming up with her own compositions but Matthew needs a bit of help. He will usually pick a subject, then I draw it, he outlines it with the paint pen and then paints inside. Sort of like creating our own paint by numbers. We use regular acrylic craft paint. Lots of colors that way. When they are all done we paint the clear varnish over the top. It makes it nice an shiny and the colors are even brighter.
This was Matthew's from last week when we painted and watched Little House on the Prairie. I copied the planes from a coloring page I found when I googled airplanes. He added everything else.




This was Brittany's painting inspired by a hike we took on vacation. However, there wasn't a lovely lady in pink on the hike, she added her!

These are some finished masterpieces the kids have done. They are on display on my upstairs landing. I usually change out these canvases with new pieces. But I really like these two, and I have been out of this size canvas. I think it is great for my kids to have their creations appreciated like this, plus they just make me happy!