Pumpkin Hunt

On our first Halloween camping trip (was that 4 years ago now?), my BFF had a fun activity for the kids the first night of our trip.

She found a bunch of these ------------------------------>
little pumpkin cups.  I've seen them at numerous stores.  I've also seen them as cauldrons as well.  They're like miniature trick-or-treat containers.  She filled each one with a little fun goodie, like bubbles and stickers and small toys and trinkets.  Nothing expensive.  The goodies were age appropriate for the kids in our group.

While the kids were on one campsite playing with the dads, the moms hid the little pumpkins around another campsite.  The kids loved finding the pumpkins and then showing their friends and siblings what all they got.

Just like an Easter Egg Hunt, the kids went on a Pumpkin Hunt.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Sometimes we need a project, or a way to spend time together on a camping trip.  We have a camping trip coming up and Husband has to go to a meeting for a while.  I thought that the kids and I could go on a scavenger hunt together and find different things in nature.

A Google search found lists that were too easy or not long enough or not printable.  Here is the list I came up with, click HERE for a printable version.

Keeping kids entertained on long car rides

A while back, I shared some of my ideas on bins and some car ride activities.  As I'm deep in preparation for Gatlinburg, one of the things I'm working on is making sure my kids keep entertained for both directions for the kids' longest car ride yet.

Today's brilliant ideas?

I printed maps from the internet and inserted them into their composition notebooks, aptly named Gatlinburg Journal (I'm creative, huh?).  I printed a map for each state that we'll drive through.  When the kids ask where we are, I can tell them to look at their maps.  They can follow where we're at.  They can learn some city names.  I'm pretty sure Oldest kid will love this.

I had gotten a bunch of stickers from the dollar store a while.  And by a bunch, I mean 2000.  Yay, $2!  I separated out the stickers into 4 envelopes.  Two kids, each will get an envelope on the trip down to Gatlinburg and another envelope with different stickers on the way home.  Similar stickers, but different for each leg of the trip.

I'm going to keep things on reserve for the trip home, to keep things fresh and keep them entertained.  I hope.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Firefly Jars

Oldest kid went to a slumber party over the weekend and came home with a firefly jar.  Of course, Youngest Kid saw and wanted to make her own.  Can't really blame her, can you?  We'll be camping with the slumber party family soon and all the kids will be bringing their new firefly jars.

What you need

• Quart mason jar
• Lid and band to keep the lid on
• Decorations - stickers, duck tape, ribbon, use your imagination

What to do

• Take a nail and hammer some holes into the lid, perhaps the first initial of the kid if you're making multiple firefly jars
• Let your kid get creative while decorating, keeping sure that there is enough space that they can see into the jar to watch the fireflies

When catching fireflies

• Food (aka: sticks and leaves) can be added to the jar to make the habitat a little nicer for the fireflies
• Be sure to release the fireflies before the night is over

Are we there yet? Car activities for kids

Kids get bored in the car.  Technology keeps them occupied for only so long.  The other day I shared about Car Travel Bins but was all secretive about what goes in them.  Well, except for using cups to keep colored pencils in, I shared about that.

All this build-up.  You'd think this was something far more exciting than kids' car activities.  Lemme open the super-duper secret vault for you (I can feel it, you're on pins and needles, I know it).

Composition Notebooks.  They're like $.89 each (big spender, eh?).  They're open-ended, the kids can do whatever it is that they want in them.  Draw pictures.  Write a story.  Play tic-tac-toe.  Play hangman.  I try to get cheap-o stickers (check out the dollar stores, I got 1000 stickers for $1) and stick them in the notebooks.  Then, the kids can get creative with the stickers as story inspiration or making designs or who knows what they come up with.

Tangoes.  They're magnetic puzzles.  You get a handful of pieces in varying shapes and sizes.  You get a booklet of pictures using the shapes and you have to try to figure out how to make the picture with the pieces.  The answers are included, not that I've had to look at the answers or anything (nuh-uh, nope, not at all).  We've got the Animals set, Objects set, and People set.  When my kids get tired of figuring out the puzzles, they make their own fun shapes.  My oldest even put faces on the pieces in one set and spent 45 minutes making them interact with each other.  After I saw what she did, I thought about saying, "Hey, don't do that," but she was content and I'm not the one playing with these puzzles, so it wasn't an issue for me.

Mystery bottles.  Originally an idea from Pinterest (you can follow me, I'm not super active at this time),

we've also had campground hosts do them as an activity at their campsite for the kids.  Take an empty water

bottle (easy after a camping weekend), clean it and make sure it's completely dry.  Find a bunch of small objects, between 10-20, depending on how big your bottle is.  Use a funnel and start filling the water bottle with uncooked rice, adding the small objects intermittently.  You don't want to fill the bottle all the way to the top so that there is movement inside the bottle as the kids try to find the objects.  As you're searching for small objects, get creative or use things that aren't used much anymore - silly bands, coins, hair ties, paper clips, beads, a bell, game pieces from a game missing too many pieces, paper clip, small toys.  I try to keep a list of what is in the bottles to help with knowing what to find.  When you're done filling the bottle, add some glue to the lid as you put it on to minimize rice explosions in the car.  My kids want to make more, even though we've got 4 already.

Activity Books.  There are all kinds.  I've got these pictured Lego activity books tucked away for our upcoming trip to Gatlinburg.  I've got Mad Libs, tucked away, too (can't lie, I'm looking forward to those).  Youngest spent countless hours working through her My Remarkably Sparkly Sticker and Doodling Purse, there are other versions, too.  We've also got some fashion design activity book that I can't search for because of sleeping children.  Before our trip to Alum Creek which involved a trip to the American Girl store, I picked up some AG activity books on sale specifically for the car ride.  Basically, if your kid has an interest, there's an activity book for it.  I might get my act together and print some worksheets for Oldest to practice her math skills on the way to Gatlinburg.

Camping Snacks. My kids know that they get "camping snacks" for the car ride to and from a campground.  In the cookie aisle, there are plastic cups of Nabisco treats.  I don't normally buy Chips Ahoy or Teddy Grahams or Oreos or Nutter Butters, so these are treats in every sense.  The plastic cups are self-contained, they're easy, they have a lid (of course, plenty have been dropped/spilled/given to the eagerly awaiting dog).  When these are on sale for $1, I stock up.

The kids will help pack what goes into their bins, they may add a few things that I didn't include here, they may not put in all that I've said.  This is just the ideas I use to help start and end our trip on the right foot and in the right mood.

By the way, we have a Facebook page now and you can follow by clicking here.

Car Travel Bins

Long car rides.  They can be torturous for kids.

"I'm bored."

"Are we there yet?"

"How much longer?"

"I can't find my _____!"

"She has my _____!"

It's enough to make any easy-going parent snap when you're in the car for hours on end.  And for the not-so-easy-going (you know who you are), well... good luck to you.

Technology has certainly changed since I was a kid.  BUT, my kids can only play on a device for so long.  They'll want something else to do.

On the way home, the bins are a bit messy

That's where these bins come in handy.  I've tried bags in the past.  The stuff in the bags ends up in a heap, burying the bags.  Stuff is falling onto the dog.  No one can find anything.  It's a big mess.

The beauty of the bins is that they're open, the kids can see everything in them and grab it easily.  What they put back goes right into their own bin.  The responsibility of keeping the bins neat rests solely on the bin owner.

What goes in the bins?  I'll write another post about that later - heh, heh.

Ok, I'll tell you one thing.  I'd like to point out that you can see a pink cup in the picture.  Colored pencils go in a cup, one cup for each kid.  Why colored pencils?  They don't melt in a hot vehicle like crayons.  They don't accidentally mark the vehicle when dropped and they don't dry out.  I really like the twisty kind of colored pencils by Crayola because they're easily sharpenable (yea! I made up a word!) with just a small twist.  Buy one package of these things, split them between the kids, and everybody is happy.  When the kids were younger, the Crayola Wonder markers were my go-to.

The bins are stacked nicely at home, easy to get ready for the next trip.  Though, honestly, they're still sitting and waiting for some items to be put away before I can put the bins where they belong.  Yeah, my process of unpacking from a trip sometimes involves laziness.