Ice is a Great Way to Cool Off in Summer Heat

This is a fine way to entertain and cool off during summer heat - a great 2-fer-1 deal!

Ingredients: plastic tub, water, food coloring, freezer

Fill a plastic tub at least 2/3 full with water. Add swirls of food coloring. Freeze. Ours froze with weird lines, but I found out the lines corresponded with the rungs on the freezer shelves.

First we played with the ice in the tub.

Then we dumped out the ice and played.

Next we added water to the ice to see what happened (different color for a different day).

Finally we smashed the ice to smithereens.

Can't beat this cheap activity!

PS There was minimal staining on hands from food coloring. It didn't even last the entire activity.

$1 Store Rollers

What to do when it's hot outside?

Buy $1 store rollers. (50 cents each, folks.)
Fill plastic containers with water.
Give each kid a container and roller.

Roll away!

The grands had a great time painting the cement barrier in our yard. The rollers make excellent roads for cars and designs on driveways and sidewalks.

Only downside? For toy car roads...they dry very fast.

Upside? The children are busy, have fun, get wet, cool off, and don't ruin anything. Even replacing the rollers is pretty cheap.

Paint, babies, paint.