Kids Fun
- Written by
- Tayla Shortland
Dive into summer
Grab your sunscreen and togs because we’re diving into summer headfirst with these entertaining activities and DIY crafts to kick start your summer holiday. From a traffic stopping refreshment that is not only easy to make but more importantly oh so tasty! Then, we bring the beach to you with DIY kinetic sand that provides hours of entertainment and creativity as kids fun.
Traffic-light slushies
Take a dip then lap up this refreshing fruity treat that’s a hit for the whole family and goes swimmingly on a hot summers day. Packed full of goodness from everyone’s favourite summer melons. Making it healthy, hydrating, oh, and utterly delicious! Add this to your summer kids fun to do list.
What you’ll need:
- Watermelon
- Rock melon
- Prince melon or honeydew melon
- 3 medium freezer safe containers
- 6 glasses
- Paper straws (optional)
- Mint to garnish (optional)
How to:
- Cut the watermelon, rock melon and prince melon (or honeydew melon), into approximately two cups per melon.
- Remove the seeds and skin.
- In a blender, process the watermelon until smooth.
- Pour into a shallow plastic container.
- Rinse out blender and repeat the process with the rock melon, then the prince melon (or honeydew melon).
- Place all three containers in the freezer overnight, or until frozen.
- Once frozen, remove the containers from the freezer and let them thaw a little.
- Using a fork, mash each of the melon containers into a slushy-like consistency.
- To serve, spoon prince melon among six glasses. Repeat the process with rock melon (or honeydew melon) and then watermelon.
- Garnish with a mint or your favourite slushy topping, add in your paper straw and slurp up the goodness.
Tip: If you turn a watermelon upside down, you should find a yellow spot, which is also known as the field or ground spot. A large, yellow spot indicates that it spent more time ripening on the vine and should be sweeter.
A day at the beach
If you love building sandcastles at the beach, then try creating your own beach at home! This is a great boredom buster, rain, hail, or shine. Kinetic sand is a funky crossover between slime and playdough, with a grainy texture that doesn’t stick to hands – making it incredibly fun for all ages.
What you’ll need:
- 1 cup fine play sand
- ½ cup corn starch (be sure to have extra on hand just in case)
- 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid
- ¾ cup water
- 1 cup clear washable PVA glue
- ½ cup liquid starch
- Fine glitter (optional)
- Food colouring (optional if play sand is not coloured)
How to:
- Mix 1 cup of clear washable PVA glue with ½ cup of water, then slowly add in the ½ cup of liquid starch.
- Stir until the slime starts to thicken and turn viscous.
- In a separate bowl add 1 cup of sand, plus ¼ cup of corn starch and the fine glitter (optional).
- To the sand and corn starch, add 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid, ¼ cup of water and your choice of food colouring (optional).
- Mix in until it forms a thick, sandy paste.
- Add in the remaining ¼ cup of corn starch and mix together. The mixture will form a crumbly texture.
- Combine a tablespoon of slime into a bowl and ¼ cup of sand mixture.
- You don’t need much slime as a little goes a long way.
- Using your hands, gently mix the sand mixture and slime until you have incorporated the entire sand mixture.
- Now it’s time to play! Shape, slice, mould or stretch it for unlimited fun
Top Tips: One cup of slime will be more than enough to make several cups of mouldable sand, make multiple batches to create different colours. Store in an air tight container when the playing has finished, simply add extra slime to the sand to rehydrate it if need be.