Superhero Board Game

After breakfast today, Jack said he wanted to do art. Okay, I started to get the paper and crayons out and he said he wanted to make a game. I asked him what sort of game. He fist pumped the air and shouted a super hero game! (If you haven't noticed, we are really into super heroes here.) So, this is what I came up with. 

This is the gameboard. I used a piece of cardboard that was destined for the curb and a piece of white poster board. (Thanks, Aunt Shell for leaving us some leftovers.) I just went outside and used a spray adhesive to glue the white poster board to the cardboard.

Close-up Details of the Gameboard and pieces that go with it.

The picture at the end, is the purple Blob trying to overtake the city we live in. ;)

I found free printable mazes on-line and just resized them in powerpoint. I found some free images of Thor and Captain America and put them inside the maze. One of the task cards, tells Jack to help "free" the superheroes out of the maze. Since there are about a zillion and one free mazes online, I can always go and print new ones for the game. After watching Jack try to work on this maze, it will be really good for developing a better grip and pencil control.

We are using our superhero peg people to be our game pieces. :) See a previous blog if you want to see them again.

I wrote out the intro, object of the game, and rules on the back of the gameboard.

The into says, "Time to hero up! The city of Duluth is in trouble. The Blob is trying to overtake the city. Squadies, we need your help. Put on your cape or mask and get ready to go!"

Found some cool pictures of Ironman online and sized them on powerpoint. I wrote out these tasks on the back of them. If we land on a "hero up!" space on the gameboard, we choose one of the task cards to complete. We had fun completing the task together. I could only thing of eight this morning. I am sure I could whip up a few more later, after more coffee. I could have typed them, but to be faster for an eager 3 year old, I just scribbled them out.

(I know, sneaky Mommy, to add the toy cleaner-upper card.) We did this one and it was so funny. we were running around picking up stuff as fast as we could. Henry liked flying around the house with me too. :)

There are about a million free coloring pages online. I just picked a couple and again re-sized in powerpoint. 

This is mole man. I printed out a picture and stapled him to a paper towel rod. We used a soft indoor ball to "bowl" with down the hall.

Henry was rolling the ball too. :) Jack's favorite shirt has been this Halloween one. LOL

 Henry was playing with Superman, while we played on the floor. :) 

All done for now! I put the coloring pages, mazes, crayons, balls, dice, board, peg people, etc in a big bag for later. He wants to play when Daddy gets home. 

Honestly, I wasn't sure if this would really be a big hit, but it totally was. Very worth the effort to make. Took about 1 hour from start to finish to make. We played it for about 45-60 minutes and I ended the game as the little brother was ready to move on to something else. 

Materials:
Use what you've got.
I used, cardboard and poster board
markers
dice
computer images for superheros etc.
cardstock for printing task cards, pictures, mazes

The thing about this is you could easily do this for whatever your kiddo is into. Princesses, knights, pirates, etc. Google image is a quick way to get some ideas for your board.

TV-free Funtivities today

 After what seems like forever, we are all finally well. Since we have been sick for like 2 months, there has been way too much TV. It has caused a few attitudes that need adjusting. But, when everyone is sick it is couch potato city!!! We needed to get of the couch today, so we started off by  having a tantrum when the TV was switched off at 7:30 AM. Then, we read the Berenstein Bears, Too Much TV, and made a list of To-Dos.

To Do:

1) Art

Jack's "Snowy Day" with his snowman and GIANT snowflakes. 

I love this! Jack says it is me and him playing chase together. (The big circles are us going around and around.)

2) Laundry 

Blah! But, somebody has to do it. (And nobody has for awhile.)

3) Science Activity

Saw this one on Pinterest. We talked on a basic level about acids and bases and chemical reactions, gases, and all that Mr. Wizard stuff. I said, BASIC. We also checked out color mixing. He loved it! (This only lasted about 20 mins.) Here's where I got the  idea from Kids Activity Blog. 

Played with some puzzles, pirates, and little brother toys. ;)

LUNCH TIME!!!!

4) Playground

5) Walmart Run

Had to find a lamp for Jack's room. He is now officially afraid of the dark and only wants to sleep with his big overhead light on. Ummm, while it does help with the whole dark "thing" it doesn't really help him fall asleep. Got a small lamp to help that. We'll see tonight. 

6) Nap time

Not Jack's favorite, but it has to be. 

7) Now, a chance to watch Bubble Guppies. :) and it is 4:20. Not too bad. :) 

Not so Naughty Cake

My assistant in the kitchen and mix master-Jack, loves helping pour, stir, and mix up yummy stuff in the kitchen. My Mom Mom has made him his own little chef's hat and apron to help him with his culinary pursuits. Isn't he cute?

There he is on Christmas morning, checking out his new kitchen get-up. :) Since we are all trying to slim down and watch what we are eating, we decided to try a lighter version of cake for Valentine's Day. We tried the version seen on, My Three Sons blog. We used another recipe for frosting. It is the same recipe that a lot of you might have had in all those yummy 4th of July Angel Food cake and berries trifle desserts. It worked out great!

Here's how we did it.

1 box of whatever cake mix (we used strawberry for Valentine's Day)

12 oz of Sprite Zero

Mix it until you get most of lumps out. Since you will be hand mixing, you won't be able to get it completely smooth like normal cakes do.

Bake it. You will need to watch it. The recipe says 350 degrees 30 mins or check at 25 mins. Our cake was split into two 8" round pans and the toothpick came out clean at just 18 minutes. 

Frosting: 

1 box of pudding (the small one, about 3 oz)

1 cup of milk

1 container of cool whip 

mix pudding and milk together until smooth and then fold in cool whip. Ice your cake. :)

Here's how ours turned out. 

This face says it all! Yummmmmm

Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jack and I got busy last night making his valentines for his classmates. Here's how they turned out.

We used the printables that were free from Sugar Tot Designs. Jack chose Star Wars fruit snacks to give to his classmates. Only 9 grams of sugar. :) We just taped them to the fruit snacks and done! Pushed the really easy button for these puppies.

For his teachers, I made these printables using clipart found on Microsoft PowerPoint. Again, I pushed the easy button. I hope his teachers like the non-chocolate route. (I would have!!!)

I just used clear tape to attach the Burt's Bees lip balm to the card we made. Done! 

For Daddy's present, we made these. Doug loves Mountain Dew and we don't usually have it in the  house, so this is a little treat for him. He also needed some new work gloves, so it was easy to come up with this little saying. 

Have a Super Valentine's Day!

For this Valentine's Day, my little superheroes are getting some super treats! 

I found some great little treats at the Dollar Tree.

*Spiderman plastic fork and spoon, Superhero Squad 25 piece puzzle, Spiderman Hand Sanitizer (to be used with supervision of course!), and Spiderman 3-pack of ring pops

I found all of those Dollar Store treats and the red tote bag at the Dollar Tree last week. They had a TON of superhero stuff!

 To round out the gift bags, I found a couple of cutie shirts.

I found the yellow big boy shirt at Target. It was $8.00. The blue Captain America onesie I found at Walmart this morning for $4.00. Henry and I shopped in Walmart and found a Captain America Belly Washer juice bottle. For Henry, he gets puffs and yogurt melts. What else can you get a baby?

I hope my super guys love their Valentine's Day gift bags.

They do sell these cutie DC Super Friends at Walmart. (But, I just can't spend $7.00 on them! They are just little people. However, they are cute!)

Fisher Price Little People

 They sell cute Superhero board books on Amazon too. Check this out for another fun idea!

   Amazon

I did come across these REALLY cute little printables on Sugar Tot Designs. They are 'super' cute and I am going to print them out for the kiddos in Jack's class. Go check them out!

Glass Nightlight

 Glass Nightlights made from Craft Glass Blocks

These glass craft blocks have been flying around pinterest. I had looked at Joann's and Michael's and had never seen them, so I kinda just forgot about them. Until....I was in Hobby Lobby the other day and they were on an end cap for 50% off!

Score. I bought two of the medium sized blocks for $4.99 each on sale. They were also selling the nightlight light bulbs to go with them for $2.99. Some people use Christmas tree lights too. I followed the general guidelines from artsy fartsy mama. I followed her advice and did not try to even modge podge anything to the glass. I did use the spray adhesive instead. That worked out really well. I let Jack pick out everything for the project and he did NOT want his name on it. Haha!

Materials Used: 

Glass Craft block
Christmas lights or corded night light
Adhesive Spray
Translucent scrapbook paper
Translucent Stickers
(Vinyl lettering) I didn't end up buying any because Jack was adamant that his name was left off. Who knows????
(Ribbon to go around it if you are making for a little girl. I didn't do that for my boys.)

As a demonstration: Jack liked this paper because his favorite stuffed animal, Tiger has a pillow I made from fabric that looks like this, but as you can see, not a whole lot of light passes through. 

This is translucent scrapbook paper and it is perfect. Jack chose green for himself and blue for his baby brother. They were $0.49 each.

Use spray adhesive according to direction and glue on paper. Try to smooth out air bubbles.

Jack is carefully deciding which monster he would like on his nightlight.

Decisions, decisions...

To get the light bulb through, cut this into fourths and then slide the bulb through. 

Jack's nightlight! 

Henry's nightlight. (It's a blue background, but just a little hard to tell in this light.)

I have extra paper and stickers, so I may go back and add a back to them tomorrow. :)