Ice Cream Math

I am so excited to have Katie from G ift of Curiosity guest posting on Housing A Forest today. Did you print the set of Insect Do-A-Dot Printables that she shared with us last time? They are still a favorite around here. This time she is sharing a fun Ice Cream Math game, that I know your little one will love. I absolutely adore her blog, so make sure to stop by Gift of Curiosity and say Hello!

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I’m Katie from Gift of Curiosity, and I’m so excited to be back at Housing a Forest to share a fun ice cream math activity I created for my kids – and that you can download for free!

Ice cream and summer are two things that just seem to go together in my mind. As the weather has warmed up, our family has been been making lots of dairy-free banana ice cream to enjoy. Yum! To capitalize on my kids’ love of (banana) ice cream, I created this simple ice cream scoop counting math activity to work on number recognition and counting skills.

Ice cream math activity version 1

The first version of the game requires kids to count the number of dots on each cone and place that number of scoops on top. I made this version because XGirl doesn’t yet recognize her numbers, but she is perfectly capable of counting.

$Ice cream math 1$

Although this version includes cones with 1 to 10 dots, I started XGirl off with just the first three cones to help her get a feel for the activity and to keep it fun and appropriate for her skill level.

$Ice cream math 2$

She loved creating her own ice cream cones, and after finishing her three, she asked for more. I hadn’t actually prepared additional cones or scoops for her, but I promised to prepare some more for her at a later time. 🙂

$Ice cream math 3$

Ice cream math activity version 2

The second version of the ice cream scoop counting math activity includes cones with numbers on them.

$Ice cream math 4$

The free printable includes cones with numbers 1 through 20, but on this day I gave QBoy only numbers 1 to 5.

$Ice cream math 5$

He, too, quickly finished his cones and asked for more. 🙂

$Ice cream math 6$

Having both of my kids ask for more cones with higher numbers means that this activity must have been a big success!

To download your copy of the Ice Cream Scoop Counting Game, click here.

And if you enjoy these printables, I invite you to check out the other printables I have created by visiting my printables page.

Gift of Curiosity | Facebook

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Thanks for sharing Katie! Ice cream is a favorite here, and using it to create a fun Math Game is such a great idea! Don’t forget to stop on by Gift of Curiosity and tell her you saw her post on Housing A Forest. We all love comments and I know Katie would love to hear from you:)

Here are a few of my favorite posts from Gift of Curiosity:

Summer Learning and Playing

I love seeing all your creative ideas linked up to the Kid’s Weekly Co-op each week. We are enjoying a summer packed full of fun and I’m sneaking in a little learning too. Last week’s kids Co-op had a number of fun activities perfect for Summer Learning and Playing that I can’t wait to try with my kids. Our “full” summer just got a little more packed:) Love it!

Recycled Working Telescope ~ make your own telescope with things found around your home.
Sail Boat Craft to Float Down a Homemade River ~ create both a boat and a river!
Weather Making Science ~ create you own simple tornado that you kids will love.
Make “quill pens” out of straws ~ Take your kids back in time and make your own pens!
PVC Pipes + Connectors + Water = Physics ~ Tinkering is the best way to learn.
A Bucket and A Rope ~ Simple open ended play at its best.
Hula Hoop and Rope Activity ~ Easy to set up and your kids will have a blast!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab a Housing A Forest button.

Come back every Thursday to see if your creative ideas were featured and link up any new ideas! (I will be using one image and a link back to your blog.)

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Helicopter Seed Dragonfly Craft

I am so excited to have Kimberly from Learn Create love guest posting on Housing A Forest today. I adore her blog and I know you will too! As you know we love creating with nature, and I immediately fell in love with Kimberly’s simple Helicopter Seed Dragonfly Craft. Read on to find out how she created them.

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Helicopter seed dragonflies are a classic craft with minimal material requirements. If you have a maple tree nearby, you should be able to find these seeds in abundance. They are bright green in the spring and summer, and turn brown a few days after they detach from the tree.

We always enjoyed throwing handfuls of them into the air and watching them spiral back to the ground. We also made lots of dragonflies with the seeds and twigs.

I did this craft with my daughter a few days ago and she really enjoyed it! She remembered the printable dragonfly craft we made a while back and was excited to do this one. We only made one since a storm was coming in (we do our crafts outside), but it turned out really cute! Instead of doing a plain stick with the seeds glued to it, we took it a step further and made our dragonfly more colorful.

Materials Needed (for each dragonfly) – 2 complete helicopter seeds, 1 twig, colorful string, paint, glue, and a paintbrush, fishing line (optional). Tiny googly eyes would be cute, too!

What to Do:

Paint your helicopter seeds. We used the end of the paintbrush to add little dots to our seeds. Set aside to dry.
While your helicopter seeds are drying, wrap your string around twig and secure the end by tucking it under a piece of the string that’s already wrapped. You can skip this step and paint the twig – that would be cute, too!
Once the seeds are dry, glue them on top of the twig.
If you have tiny googly eyes, glue them on now.
If you want to hang your dragonfly, tie a piece of fishing line (or other clear string) to it and hang it up. We will do that when we make more.
That’s it! This craft is so simple and fun – your little one will love it!

LearnCreateLove | Facebook Page | Pinterest

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Thanks so much for sharing Kimberly. I adore these little Dragonflies, and I know my kids will too. What a great way to explore and create with nature. We all love comments, so why not pop over and visit LearnCreateLove and tell her how much you enjoyed her post on Housing A Forest.

Here are a few of my favorite posts from Learn Create Love to get you started:

10 Cool Summer Activities

It’s time for the Weekly Kids Co-op link party again! I am hoping the sun is shining where you are, because I am about to share 10 Cool Summer Activities your kids will love linked up from last weeks kids co-op. They are all based around water play and are prefect for beating the heat and having fun.

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If you were featured this week, feel free to grab a Housing A Forest button.

Come back every Thursday to see if your creative ideas were featured and link up any new ideas! (I will be using one image and a link back to your blog.)

Glowing Ice Painting

Frozen Painting ~ Glowing Ice Painting

My kids love painting, however instead of using paper, we decided to try something different…Frozen Painting. I have to say, painting on ice was a huge hit. Seriously, my kids would have painted all night if I would have let them. We waited until it was dark and created a fun and unique Glowing Ice Painting! Read on to see how we did it.

Materials Needed:

Flashlight
Clear Plastic Bin
Paint Brushes
Block of Ice ~ freeze your own or buy one
Tray to catch the melting, painty water
Liquid Watercolors or watered down Tempera Paint
Rock Salt

Place your tray on the table and place the flashlight in the center of the tray shining up. Now place the clear plastic container over the light. You will need a flashlight with a flat end so it stands on its own. Place the ice block on top of the upturned tub and you are all set to create a beautiful glowing frozen painting.

I handed the kids the salt, paint, brushes and invited them to paint on the block of ice. It did not take them long to jump right in. They loved watching the colors drip down the edges of the glowing ice block. However, sprinkling salt and watching it melt the ice was their favorite part. As the salt melts the ice, it pools the colors and creates mini colorful craters.

Notice the little pool of colorful water at the base of the block. Thats the one draw back to creating a frozen painting indoors. Make sure you use a tray under your upturned container to collect it all.

My kids gave this glowing sculpture a 10 out of a 10. They loved the process and can’t wait to try it again! I think that creating art in the dark will be something that we will be revisiting soon!

I would love to hear if you have created art in the dark with your kids and what they thought of it! My kids LOVE creating a simple frozen painting.

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It’s time for another Paint and Play challenge with Crystal from Growing A Jeweled Rose. The focus for our series is all about the process, having fun and getting kids excited to create art! This week we challenged each other to keep cool by Painting with Ice. What a great summer activity and a fun way to beat the heat.

Growing A Jeweled Rose created amazing Summer SCENTsory Ice Paints! How fun is that! Messy sensory play that is perfect for keeping cool this summer. Make sure to stop on by and check it out.