X Week- Xs and Os Art Project

I've had this general project in mind for a while but it finally took shape during X week.

I placed some stickers on watercolor paper,

then got some liquid watercolors ready. This project could be done with any type of paint, but I like the look of watercolors. I also got some salt out because Trip loves to pour it and salt on watercolors gives the paint a cool look. I was planning to use a coarser salt, but Trip wanted the popcorn salt.

After carefully inspecting the paint,

Trip got to work.

Once he had some paint on the paper, he got to pour some salt on it.

We let our project dry for a while.

Once I carefully peeled off the letters, we were left with a nice painting, done all by Trip.

This project could be done with any letter and could also be fun with any shape of sticker.

X Week- An eXcellent Snack

Our special snack for X week was a simple one of cheese, apple, pretzels, red pepper, dried mango, and mini chocolate chips. Fortunately, Xs are very easy to cut, so I free-handed most of them. 

X Week- Xs in Ice Cubes

This was a super easy activity that ended up being lots of fun. I filled ice cube trays half-full of water, put a foam X in each, and put them in the freezer. Once the ice was set, I added more water to cover the letters and froze them for a few more hours.

Trip was very excited to pour the ice into the bath tub.

Next time, I would probably make lager pieces of ice as these melted very quickly in the warm water, but Trip had fun anyway. He discovered that the Xs stuck to the wall and loved sticking them up, then pouring water over them and washing them away.

X Week- Excavating Xs

Excavating letters could be a great activity for any member of the alphabet and would work for numbers as well. I started by making a batch of cloud dough since it molds nicely. The Imagination Tree has a couple of good recipes, of which I ended up making a hybrid that holds together pretty well when molded:

Glittery Cloud Dough
6 cups flour
1/2 cup baby oil
1/2 cup canola oil
as much glitter as you like

You can use just one type of oil, but I found that the mix is nice. The last time I made it, I only used baby oil and the smell of it was a little too much for me. The mix of the two oils gave it a nice balance, with neither one taking over.

I gathered a variety of Xs and some measuring cups to use as molds.

I filled each mold about half-full of pressed-down cloud dough, then inserted an X and filled it the rest of the way up.

I then inverted the molds onto a cookie sheet.

Once the tray was full of hidden Xs, Trip got to work excavating them.

He started out using his hands, but also enjoyed using a butter knife.

Once all of the Xs were found, he had fun playing with the dough.

We had to get the vacuum out once we were done to take care of a couple small spills, but it was well worth it for all the fun Trip had. Maybe next time we'll do this activity on the kitchen floor or outside.

X Week

Last week, Trip and I had some simple fun with the letter X. Letters like X that appear in so few words are great for weeks like we're having right now. I've had quite a few days of work, Daddy has been out of town, and we've had several other commitments too.

Many of these are activities that could be adapted to any letter and are especially great for less-used letters. I can come up with tons of activities for P, S, and T, but X, Y, and Z are a little more difficult so having some generic activities is helpful. Click on the links to see more about each project.

Trip loved excavating Xs out of cloud dough.

He had a blast watching Xs melt out of ice cubes in the bath tub.

We had an easy snack of Xs.

And finally, we did a little X art project with stickers and watercolors.

Check back next week to find out about our Q week. If you are a new follower, please comment so that I can follow you back!




I'm linking up with:

N Week- Numbers Sensory Tub

I put together a super simple numbers sensory tub for N week with things that we already had:

some number cards,

foam numbers,

and number magnets,

all on a base of spiral pasta and our rainbow rigatoni from months ago.

Trip was especially fond of the foam numbers since he hadn't played with them before.

N Week- Edible Necklaces

Growing up, my mom would occasionally let us make edible necklaces using long strings of candy and cereal. My sister and I loved it. With those fond memories in mind, I thought Trip might enjoy making a necklace too.

With only one grocery store in our tiny town, my candy assortment was quite limited. I bought a package of Twizzlers (the "Pull 'n' Peel" kind), which was okay. It wasn't the delicious strawberry laces we had growing up in Europe, but it worked. I peeled off a couple of stands and stuck the ends together to make a longer sting. We then started stinging Cheerios. Many of the Cheerios didn't have large enough holes to fit on the candy, so another larger cereal (like maybe Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks) may be a better bet in the future (although they would definitely add to the sweet factor whereas the Cheerios tone down the candy). In any case, we made a cute necklace.

Trip tried stringing some cereal and liked the necklace that I made for him. He was genuinely excited to wear it.

And then quite happy to eat it as well!

Have you ever made edible necklaces? If so, what materials have you used?

N Week- Nest Lunch and a Nutella Treat

When I plan our letter of the week activities, I do a Google Images search for lunches or snacks that fit with our theme. When I came across this incredibly cute nest lunch, I knew I had a winner.

The chicks in the original were made with meatballs, but I didn't feel like making any, so I used  pieces of hot dog instead. The eyes are vanilla chips with dark chocolate painted on the middle with a toothpick.

After lunch, we had some fun in the kitchen. Just in time for N week, I saw this recipe for Nutella "ice cream." All it takes are bananas and Nutella, a whirl in the food processor, and some time in the freezer. Trip was thrilled to get to push the button and watch the mixture come together.

While I poured the deliciousness into the popsicle molds, Trip enjoyed licking the Nutella off of the measuring cup.

Our popsicles didn't set up enough in the fridge freezer, so I ended up just scooping our treat out into bowls. We might have had better results in the deep freeze. It tasted great, in any case, so it was no big deal and Trip was happy to eat "ice cream" instead of a popsicle. Next time, I would probably increase the banana a little or decrease the Nutella. That might help it set up a little better.

N Week- A Nest of Numbers

I put together a fun little nest for Trip to play with during N week. To make the filling, I cut up some raffia and twine, then tore up some corrugated cardboard.

I added some plastic eggs

with some numbers hidden inside.

A bird puppet finished off the nest.

Once Trip saw this, he said he wanted a chicken too.

He loved shaking the eggs

and making the numbers fall out.

He also liked playing with the two birds,

 who gave lots of kisses

and hugs.

N Week

Our N week included some fun food and several sensory activities.

We started off the week with a nest of numbers.

Trip loved his nest lunch

and had lots of fun making a Nutella treat.

He thought making edible necklaces was pretty great too.

We got out our new numbers sensory tub several times throughout the week.

Check back next week to find out about our letter X activities!

Thank you for your comments! If you are a new follower, please let me know so that I can follow you back!



I'm linking up with: