Old-fashioned fun

You can do a lot with boxes, cans and bugs

By Cindy Card, Journal correspondent | Monday, June 30, 2008

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Even in today’s high-tech world, sometimes all it takes is a toilet paper tube, some hollow walnut shells, a couple of empty cans and an assortment of bugs to create some old-fashioned summertime fun for the kids.

Head Start teacher Melanie Anderson teaches her students that a little imagination — and not a lot of money — can lead to hours of fun.

“We make toys out of toilet paper tubes, shoe boxes and cereal boxes,” she said. “I had a rain gutter that I cut in pieces, and the kids used them for ramps for their cars.”

She said that, with a little direction from mom or dad, kids can make old-fashioned go-carts. “Make the box car and let them go down a hill,” she said.

Kids can have fun making their own kites in the summer, too. She said racing walnut shells is fun and creative. Using half a walnut shell, she has her students decorate the top of the shell and put a marble underneath it.

“That will actually make the marble go down the ramp faster. We have made them into lady bugs in the past.” Here are a few other favorite summertime activities.

Homemade ice cream

“We make ice cream in coffee cans,” Anderson said. “Some recipes are as simple as milk, sugar and vanilla.” The project requires two coffee cans, one small and one large, ice and salt or rock salt.

Multiply this recipe by the number of servings desired:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon sugar

Put these ingredients inside the smaller can, and place it in the larger can. Pack the outside can with ice and salt, and roll on the ground until the ice cream is set, which can take about 15 minutes. Wearing gloves keeps the hands from freezing.

Bubble wands

Making bubble wands is another do-it-yourself project that kids can do at home,

although it is a lot less tasty. Anderson said you can make large bubbles by altering a plastic lid from an ice cream bucket.

“You can even use a hula hoop. Fill a small swimming pool with bubble mixture and dip the hoop in it. We have kids stand in the middle of the pool. I’ll raise the hula hoop slowly up, and they are inside the bubble,” she said.

Kids can also make their own bubble solution. Here are just two found on the Internet:

* 2 tablespoons dishwashing liquid soap mixed with 1 cup of water

* For larger batches, use 3/4 to 1 cup dish soap, one gallon of water and one to three tablespoons of glycerin, which gives the bubble solution iridescence. The solutions work best if made the night before.

Backyard camping

Backyard camping is still a big hit. Brandi Christoffer of Rapid City said that even though she and her husband take the kids camping, the kids love pitching a tent in the backyard.

“Some friends of ours left a gigantic tent with us, and my kids wanted to camp. At the time, we didn’t have a camper, so we set the tent up in the backyard. I think it’s just the idea of being outside when it’s dark at night that they enjoy,” she said. “Our two oldest children slept out, and my husband slept out with them. Depending on the age of the child, I would certainly say a parent should be with them.”

She said flashlights are fun and a must-have for scary, nighttime stories. “The big thing with my son was telling the ghost stories. They had to have flashlights if they wanted to tell the ghost stories.” Roasting marshmallows can complete the experience.

“Even if you can’t do a campfire, you can still start a grill and roast marshmallows over it and even make s’mores.”

Bug hunting

Keith Rhudy, also of Rapid City, said his children like to hunt insects and are especially drawn to lightning bugs that appear in his yard. The fireflies usually show up in the spring and stay around for three weeks, he said, but they have not shown up yet, which may be due to a colder spring. Rhudy said he is expecting them to show up any day now.

“Sometimes we have 15 kids in our yard watching the fireflies. They catch them in jars and release them after a day. The kids just love it. The fireflies here are not the 100 watt lightning bugs of the east coast. They are only 60 watters out here,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t think ours are quite as big. I remember when I was a kid visiting relatives in Vermont, they seemed to be bigger there. But of course, I was just a kid then.”

Neighborhood games

Hanging out in the neighborhood is still a favorite summer pastime. It’s easy to tell where the kids are by the cluster of bicycles strewn across a front lawn.

Janell Oberlander of Rapid City said her favorite part of summer activities for her children is the camaraderie they enjoy in the neighborhood.

“We have about eight kiddos that gather and play from yard to yard and create awesome games and adventures,” she said. She said she has a tree house in her yard that serves as a super-secret hideout where the girls can “bomb” the boys. “It’s fun.”

In warmer weather, she said the kids play in water sprinklers, toss water balloons, or position the pool at the bottom of the swing set slide.

“I’m pretty sure my kids never come inside with dry clothes during the hot weather. We are fortunate to have such an awesome set of neighbors. They really do have a great time together.”

Lemonade stand

Eleven-year-old Mackenzie Williamson and her 8-year-old sister Miranda wanted a way to make some extra money last summer, and with a little help from Mom, they set up a lemonade stand. The girls run the stand with friends from their neighborhood.

“Depending on which kids are around, they’ll do it once or twice a month,” their mother Tami Andersh said. “They sell Kool-Aid, lemonade and sometimes those Little Debbie snacks.” She said her daughters sell their drinks and snacks for a quarter each and come home when they’re sold out or aren’t doing much business. “But I never know how much they are eating.”

Her advice to her girls is safety first and business second. They wear sunscreen and set up an umbrella for shade.

“They have to stay back away from the street. People need to come up to them.” She tells the girls not to approach cars. “And someone usually has a cell phone with them.”

They only sold four glasses on a recent day. “There wasn’t much traffic. But there have been days where they have sold 15 or 20 glasses.”

The girls have to put money aside in a fund for overhead costs for future sales. They learn about business, while getting a little extra money to save or to spend on Webkinz.

“They learn that it’s just not to go out and make money. This way they learn there are other expenses that go into having a business. It’s not just free money.”

Sidewalk chalk

Sidewalks and color chalk can provide not only fun and games, but a lesson in art as well.

Victoria Ledford, curator of education for the Dahl Arts Center, said that while playing hopscotch and writing names on the sidewalk is fun, don’t overlook the educational possibilities in sidewalk chalk.

“If you are given some guidance, you can really do artistic things with it. It depends on how you treat the chalk. Once you get to scrubbing the chalk into the pavement and you realize that one color blends so pretty with the next, that’s when you start dreaming of landscapes and sunsets,” she said.

There is a professional sidewalk chalk artist in New York City who does amazing perspective chalk drawings on sidewalks, she said. “One looks like a big construction hole. That’s a prime example of possibilities.”

And it is a medium just about anybody can use. “I think if you can sit down and hold a piece of chalk, you can do it. It is non-toxic and inexpensive. You can use a higher pigment quality pastel and get really rich colors. The sidewalk chalks are low pigment content, but they’re real economical that way.”

She recommends experimenting with the chalk. Half the discovery is seeing what you can do with what you’ve got, she said. “Don’t hold back. Just experiment and play with the supplies.”

So whether it is following some of these suggestions or coming up your own, there is no excuse to hear “I’m bored” this summer.