Big Energy-Little Learners...Can I do it all?

We did this as a Fathers Day project, but it fits in outside play perfectly.   I liked this for Fathers because it was an interactive activity for the kids to do with Jerry to celebrate him and the time they enjoy spending with him. I filled 1 gun with yellow paint and 2 guns with black paint.  The squirt guns we used were from the dollar store and had a decently big hole to pour the paint into.  Some squirt guns have itty bitty holes that make squirting paint into the gun very difficult. Taped off the canvas...and made the kids pose Then the guns were handed to the kids and dad.  Instructions were to shoot the canvas not each other. Very simple. Start squirting!   The squirting went on and on.  I refilled the guns a couple times so the activity could continue.     Jerry also took time with each Dragon to squirt with them.  With a Star Wars theme we were looking at having black as the primary color and yellow as the secondar

I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to do this activity ever since I saw a post about painting with squirt guns. Paint squirt gun fight!  And it was AMAZING!  I first bought an 8 pack of large boys white t-shirts.  I wanted the shirts to fit all of the kids and I wanted them to be able to save the shirts for the future. The 8 pack was perfect. I filled the water guns up with paint and a pinch of water.  Each gun had a different color so we could determine a 'winner'.  I squirted each 'player' with their color first.  So they knew their color and to demonstrate where to aim.  Talking about the aim was very important.  All of the kids involved were 4 and above.  Aim had to be in the tummy or the back.  No faces, bottoms, heads/hair, or legs. We didn't want paint in eyes, noses, or mouths. The other places would be more difficult to clean and giving two aiming places was simple.                                                        

Twist and Turn is a game for outside play This activity was suggested from education.com summer activity lesson plan. It is a two part activity, which is cool. Part 1: you draw with chalk .   This ended up being great for review. I asked the kids to draw a variety of shapes and symbols, they offered up some ideas too. Part 2: Gross motor skills practice Next I had them pick a number 1-10 I did this for number practice.  I also didn't know what shape to choose or what action to have them do. I had a small list of things but no order or shape to put with the action.  This was very spur of the moment.  I had them pick a number so I could count out the shapes then count down my list that matched the number they picked. It worked. I had them do random things.  Such as spin in circles, jumping jacks, touch the shape, skip, hop on one foot, sing the ABC's, and other simple activities.  Doll Dragon did make up a few of h