Parent Savers
Fun Summer Activities for Kids

[00:00:00]
Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.

[Theme Music]

ERIN ESTEVES: Summer is upon us and though we crave the long days and the sunshine during last winter the reality of the heat and the long hours to fill would bore kids on break are enough to drive us a little crazy. Parent Savers has compiled a shortlist of fun activities to keep the kids entertained and us parents sane.

[Theme Music/Intro]

ERIN ESTEVES: Welcome to Parent Savers broadcasting from the birth education center of San Diego. Parents Savers is your weekly online on-the-go support group for parents from the newborn year through kindergarten. I’m your host Erin Esteves A.K.A OG Mamasita.

SUNNY GAULT: Woohoo! Erin is our new host. Yehey Erin!

ERIN ESTEVES: Woohoo! Thanks again to all of our loyal listeners who join us week in and week out and thanks also to those who are listening for the first time. As you may or may not know, you can join our Parent Savers club and receive access to special bonus content after each new show plus special giveaways and discounts from time to time and if you haven’t already please make sure to download the free Parent Savers app available in the Android and iTunes market place and for Windows phone. So you can automatically have access to all of the great parenting advice and conversation we have on Parent Savers every week. Let’s start this week’s conversation by meeting everyone who’s in the room. Hello!

SUNNY GAULT: Hello I’ll get started. My name is Sunny. I am the owner of New Mommy Media which produces Parent Savers, Preggie Pals, The Boob Group and Twin Talks and I’m so excited Erin is here she’s our new host. You guys know Erin because she’s been producing with us for a while and Johner was our former host and Johner is really busy doing a lot of fun activities with his kids this summer and so we were giving Johner a break and Erin is our new host. I’m so excited to have you here and in just a second you’re going to meet our new producer. But let me tell you a little bit about myself so I have four children currently under the age of four but my oldest is going to be turning four in a week so I can’t use that saying once…

ERIN ESTEVES: Four under four.

SUNNY GAULT: I’m not going to be able to do that.

ERIN ESTEVES: It’s over.

SUNNY GAULT: I know.

ERIN ESTEVES: Unless you have another one…

SUNNY GAULT: No. It wouldn’t be four and there will be like five-under whatever right but we’re not going down that path. So anyways yeah two boys and two girls, so almost 4 years old, a 2-year-old and then I have identical twin girls who are 8 months old already.

ERIN ESTEVES: So cute.

SUNNY GAULT: And so I wanted to introduce you guys to Colina. She is our new producer on the show but you guys are familiar with Colina. She’s been on Parent Savers. She’s been on The Boob Group and so yeah Colina introduce yourself.

COLINA COROTHERS: Thank you! I’m super excited to be here. I can’t tell you how great this is going to be, how much fun we’re going to have together and little bit background about myself I have one child Adam who is now 14 months now that we’ve get pass a year it’s hard to keep track of the months.

SUNNY GAULT: I know you can’t do the months.

COLINA COROTHERS: But I feel like I still should.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes I know I know.

COLINA COROTHERS: 14 months let him alive very fun and we’re just excited to start.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah well thank you and welcome aboard and as Sunny said I am Erin Esteves A.K.A. OG Mamasita and that’s stands for officially geriatric mamasita that’s right because I had my son at the age of 40.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh my gosh.

ERIN ESTEVES: Was I 40? I got pregnant at 40 had him at 41. So there you go. He is now close to 3 just one kid Leo Cash. Yeah super exited. I’m just thrilled about this episode in particular.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Because I get to use my own expertise…

SUNNY GAULT: Nice.

ERIN ESTEVES: As a former elementary school teacher.

SUNNY GAULT: Very cool.

ERIN ESTEVES: And summer camp counsellor.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh boy. It’s all going to come out.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes I had a ton of fun researching this.

[Theme Music]

ERIN ESTEVES: So we’re going to go ahead and start the show with an app review. Sunny, lead the way.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay so this is kind of fun because this is a developer that came back to us. We did another app review, Parent Savers did a while back. You guys may remember the Ducky Deck Family Photo app review. We approved it. We loved it. So be sure to check that out so they come up with a couple of new apps since we did our last review so this is kind of a two-in-one app review. And I’m going to talk about them individually. They’re very similar in nature and are a lot of fun but the first one I want to talk about is called With Teeth. All of their apps are really cool because there’s an underlying theme. There’s something you’re trying to teach your kids. It’s not just about passing time but there’s something you’re trying to pass on to them. It has this really cool intro. I don’t know if you guys can kind of hear that music. You hit play, this mouth pops out and then a tooth comes down. And it basically is telling you hey you need to select whatever teeth you want on this mouth.

You can select how many teeth you want, how big you want them to be and then you just hit this little button to decide then on this little you know different types of fruits and food pop up there’s vegetables there are some cookies but for the most part it’s really kind of food you really want your kids to eat with your fingers slide the food over into the mouth. The mouth eats it and then after a while you’ll see this toothbrush pops up on the side of the screen and then that’s your queue with your finger take the toothbrush and start brushing the teeth. And that’s pretty much the whole game.

ERIN ESTEVES: I think it’s adorable.

COLINA COROTHERS: It’s really cute.

ERIN ESTEVES: I particularly like the fact that the teeth get all grudy. They get all grinny and gross. . . Because at first initially I was like oh no what’s the point? But then yeah you realize oh this is an exact excellent opportunity to show your children that teeth get dirty…

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: This is what’s happening.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: And this is how you clean them especially once you get the teeth all clean it gives you the nice little glinty light…

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

ERIN ESTEVES: You know the happy music. So I definitely like this and I would certainly let Cash play with it.

SUNNY GAULT: What do you think Colina?

COLINA COROTHERS: I agree. I’m not always the fan of apps but this one kind of does have the underlying themes self-care and especially younger kids trying to get them brush their teeth we’re kind of in that realm now that we have teeth it’s tough.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

COLINA COROTHERS: So this turns it into something that oh brushing your teeth is fun. Yeah. We did it on oh we did it on the phone…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

COLINA COROTHERS: Let’s do it to ourselves.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes. Yeah.

COLINA COROTHERS: It kind of is a good lead into making this not a really [inaudible] chore to have to do and torture you know…

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

COLINA COROTHERS: And just like she said the getting dirty I really like that because oh you eat food, your mouth gets dirty you have to clean it.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

COLINA COROTHERS: So…

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

COLINA COROTHERS: Kind of ingrain that into their head I think.

SUNNY GAULT: So this app is called With Teeth and again it’s from Duckie Deck and I agree. My kids seem to really like this. My 4 year old brushes his teeth pretty well but I think this is something my 2 year old I don’t know if that’s too young for this app but this is something I definitely need to ingrain to my 2-year-olds brain because he’s the one that doesn’t want to brush his teeth. So the next app that I want to tell you guys about it is called Hungry Clipper and it is a
brand new app that is just been released by Duckie Deck and this goes back to hygiene as well specifically your nails. I don’t know if this was a big deal with you guys in trimming your kid’s nails. I have four kids to trim nails on and it is quite… It is quite the ordeal in we have to do this and in the beginning, especially they don’t like to sit still. So this is an app were a hand pops up and it’s not usually like a normal hand, it’s usually like a monster hand or a hairy hand or something like that and you gently move that hand up and there was this little I don’t know what would you call it like a little…

ERIN ESTEVES: Little clipper monster.

SUNNY GAULT: Clipper monster there you go that basically bites off the nails and you see the nails fall and the more you do it the more you have to do to the hand before it will let you basically bite the nails off. So you may have to clean the hand. You may have to take the ring off or do something like that. But again the whole idea is we need to take care of our hands to make them nice and pretty and similar to the With Teeth app, once the hand is nice and pretty it sparkles and you know just teaches their kids you know your kids you need to wash your hands, you need to keep them clean and all that good stuff. So thoughts on this app.

ERIN ESTEVES: Cute. Slightly gross.

SUNNY GAULT: The eating of the nails part.

ERIN ESTEVES: The eating of the nails part.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: But really cute and I do like the facts that you do need to clean your hand…

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

ERIN ESTEVES: In order to start and you know my son bites his nails.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes. So does mine.

ERIN ESTEVES: Not as not as a habit but he tends to keep his own nails short you know. When he was really tiny we would clip his nails in the car seat when he would fall asleep so like kept a little baby clipper in the car and that’s where I would clip his nails because it’s the only way to keep him still. But now he kind of enjoys the attention. So I’m lucky in that way but I like the app. I think it’s cute.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

COLINA COROTHERS: So my only concern with this one is if my child does not already bite their nails I don’t know that I want to encourage that. Eating nails kind of gross.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes. Actually, he doesn’t eat them he kind of let them fall off of the

[inaudible]

COLINA COROTHERS: So…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

COLINA COROTHERS: That’s good.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah so you know that aspect I’m a little more on the fence on this one than the teeth brushing one definitely but I mean it’s still cute it’s fun it’s really creative. It’s got all different hands and you know so that part is good about it. I’m still I’m little on the fence because of the monster eating the nails.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

COLINA COROTHERS: I don’t know if I want them to mimic that.

SUNNY GAULT: That was my initial concern too but I will tell you that with my 4-year-old, I downloaded both of these apps and I just wanted them to kind of like introduce him to it\ because I never let him play with apps on my phone. I haven’t gone into that with him because I know it he would just you know he would just do it all the time and really that’s exactly what happened. Every day after he got home from preschool I mean that to me is proof that kids really do want to play with this kind of stuff…

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: The music is fun. It’s interesting. The big question is as a parent, what do you want to teach your kid? Do you think that you know a monster eating nails is going to lead to your kid eating nails you know and making that connection?

ERIN ESTEVES: And is that really such a terrible thing?

SUNNY GAULT: I mean and he could be doing a lot more worst thing right…

ERIN ESTEVES: Right. It’s true.

SUNNY GAULT: Than biting their nail.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: And if they don’t learn it from the app they probably going to learn it at somewhere else but that’s definitely a parenting decision that you have to make but I know… Again so there are two apps here one is With Teeth, one is Hungry Clipper. Both are made by Duckie Deck. They are 99 cents available on iPhone and iPad and us Parent Savers we are giving these thumbs up?

ERIN ESTEVES: Thumbs up!

COLINA COROTHERS: Thumbs up.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

[Theme Music]

ERIN ESTEVES: Considering the rising mercury and in the sweltering day ahead, we’ve broken down our list into a couple of categories base on location meaning indoor or outdoor and supplies meaning stuff that you have to go out and get beforehand versus stuff you will just have lying around your house mostly. So we’re going to start off with indoors with supplies. Now the first one I have is to make a sewing canvas using Berl app, so this teaches a lot of hand coordination motor skills and you can use big yarn you can use crocheting needles that sort of thing and the kids could just sit there and sew. That’s if they happen to have the patients to sit and sew.

SUNNY GAULT: When you say sew because I’m thinking like some sort of needle thing is that what you’re talking about…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah. So…

SUNNY GAULT: Or is that like a kid friendly version of that?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah so what you can do is you can get at craft stores or…

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: Or even at home good stores. You can get like dowels that have holes in them.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: Things like that and then you can use yarn.

SUNNY GAULT: Alright.

ERIN ESTEVES: In this big giant piece of burlap. You make it you stretch it on the canvass like you would a painting…

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: Or even just on a hula-hoop so you may secure like you would for a needle point and then the kids could just go ahead and play with that and it’s really good if it’s hot outside and you want the kids to stay indoors for any particular reason and if you need them quiet.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. I would think to there are some good hand eye coordination…

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: With sewing.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah and just a big giant version.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and it’s a lot of fun because you can get really creative with the colors and the yarns and . . .

SUNNY GAULT: Can you do patterns or anything like that?

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: It’s pretty much an open palette.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: Really. And then I have two things edible play dough and edible paint.

SUNNY GAULT: So you mean not all play dough is edible? I didn’t know that.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: All these years I’ve had it I don’t know.

ERIN ESTEVES: There’s no such thing as vitamin P. Okay. So these are really great and again these are things that you may need a little extra shopping for in case you don’t happen to have them. But we have the recipe for these and will be available on the site afterwards. So you can make edible playdough basically out of cookie crumbs and either peanut butter or honey that kind of thing so that kids can play with it and mould it and build you know play dough man they can eat it and it’s perfectly fine unlike the other play dough.

SUNNY GAULT: So wait so I’m thinking sticky peanut butter just like any peanut butter you get in the store…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: And some like if I were just to put that on my hands it would get really messy. How do you get it so that [inaudible] texture…

ERIN ESTEVES: Well because if you use like a crush cookie…

SUNNY GAULT: And you mix that it becomes…

ERIN ESTEVES: And you mix it so it’s like a powder.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: And actually this recipe calls for cookie butter.

SUNNY GAULT: Never heard that.

ERIN ESTEVES: I’ve never heard of it.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yes. I have seen that before, but I don’t think that it is popular here though.

ERIN ESTEVES: The idea is to give kids the opportunity to eat what they play with so this is a good sensory activity and also it’s one of those things that if you don’t mind them getting messy it’s a lot of fun. So you can you know throw plastic clothe on the table, set them up with smirks that kind of thing and give them the play dough. If you wanted to go even further with this you can do what you can make an edible paint. And the way you make edible
paint and there are flying quotation marks bunny ears around this is you get a bunch of pudding vanilla pudding and you can either do the store-bought kind, you can get the ones that already come in little containers. And then just put a few drops of food coloring in there. And the kids could use this to finger paint on slabs of graham cracker or on paper that sort of thing they can also use it as body paint to paint themselves and each other. It is a lot of fun.

SUNNY GAULT: Wow I like that.

ERIN ESTEVES: Isn’t that fun?

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. In theory, I think it sounds really fun you know…

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: But my only concern is like when we talk about stuff that they play with like I already have an issue with my kids putting way too much stuff in their mouth that they’re not supposed to so that would be my only concern if I blur the line too much between food and play it might confusing them more.

ERIN ESTEVES: I think a lot of it has to do with the environment.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: So if you create a context in which this is okay. So for example setting up at the kitchen table you know putting it in that environment as oppose to some people suggested doing this in the bath.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Because easy to clean.

SUNNY GAULT: That’s kinda what I was thinking.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah

SUNNY GAULT: It’s going to be sticky because there’s sugar and pudding.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right so I really think it has to do with the context. Okay and the last one indoors with supplies are stained sharpie shirts. Now this goes hand in hand it’s along the same lines as tie-dye except it’s not as messy and you really don’t need you know tons of prep for it so I did not know this but sharpie actually does a line of fabric marker. So there maybe other brands out there I’m sure it’s just a matter of finding them. This one that I found happens to be sharpie. So what you do is you get a bunch of white t-shirts and you let the kids draw on them and again you can do things like rip sheets out of their coloring book so you can use those to trace an image on the shirt. You can even make pillowcases so they have their individualized pillow cases with their favorite character or they could draw a picture of their teddy bear on their pillowcase so that they have another version of their wooby. And then it’s something that they get to keep and if it survives this parents can keep them for that cloth we plan on making in our old age of all of our children’s cute clothes.

SUNNY GAULT: I think it all has to do with age too like when we say kids can do this what age are we are really talking about especially for the sharpies because last time my kid got a hold of a sharpie it went all over my wall. So okay so know [inaudible] play with their sharpie but again I think you know like you guys pointed out I think context does a lot of this. And saying okay this is how we properly use sharpies. I think that’s part of the problem is
he didn’t know how you really use this. What is the purpose of this thing just sitting in there as pencil holder thing.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Right?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and I see I think I’m applying all of the experience I have as an elementary school teacher and a camp counselor. Because before you sit down to these activities you’re going to talk to the kid about the activity. You’re going to explain the activity and then you’re going to sit them in a situation and walk them through the activity. So it’s not just something you throw at them…

SUNNY GAULT: And you say do it.

ERIN ESTEVES: And then walk away.

SUNNY GAULT: Mommy needs a break. Do it.

ERIN ESTEVES: I’ve got Facebook to check. Now I have the know supplies indoors okay so it’s hot whatever reason you’re stuck on the house and you’ve got kids that are bored and you need to figure out stuff to do ASAP, tape, everybody’s got tape lying around their house somewhere some kind of tape. So go ahead and use the tape to draw out a straight grid. You can make a track and have the kids run their play horses play you know their cars all of that stuff through the track and that’s something that is pretty age flexible.

SUNNY GAULT: Sure.

ERIN ESTEVES: And once you’ve set it up you can just let them go. So I really like that idea.

SUNNY GAULT: Do you now can you buy colored tape when we say colored tape there are several types.

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh yeah you can buy colored…

SUNNY GAULT: I’m thinking like painters like [inaudible].

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah we always have that somewhere in the house.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: There is a plethora…

SUNNY GAULT: Of colored tape color?

ERIN ESTEVES: Of colored tapes out there yeah. Also you have to keep in mind what you’re taping.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: And what kind of tape you’re using.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: You know the painter’s tape is good because it doesn’t stick…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: And it doesn’t have a lot of tack to it.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: Using the glitter duct tape on your hardwood floors [inaudible] such a good idea.

COLINA COROTHERS: No.

SUNNY GAULT: You don’t want to do that.

ERIN ESTEVES: No. Paint on wet glue with food coloring.

SUNNY GAULT: This is a little scary. When I hear paint and glue…

ERIN ESTEVES: I know.

SUNNY GAULT: I’m so scared.

ERIN ESTEVES: I know. So this one this one is actually pretty cool. I really like this one. We all have lids to plastic containers that we get at the supermarket or stores whatever and inevitably somebody has two or three of those stuff somewhere on their junk drawer. Pull them out pull out a bottle of glue and then food coloring if you happen to have it or even ink from pens. You can get really creative if you got a bored kid trust me. So the idea is you pour the glue into the lid.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: And then you put droplets of color throughout that and you give the kid a toothpick a pencil something of that sort and then they just kind of twirl marble the colors through the paint and then you can leave it to dry and you can actually make a whole in it later and hang it.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh.

ERIN ESTEVES: So it’s really cool because they have a tangible somewhat semi-permanent item afterwards that they can take with them.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: They can stash on their room.

SUNNY GAULT: Nice.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah it’s a lot of fun.

SUNNY GAULT: How long does it I know it probably depends on how much glue you use but how long does it take to dry?

ERIN ESTEVES: Usually just leave it overnight.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: You say okay we’ll come back until tomorrow…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Or you know that kind of thing.

SUNNY GAULT: So it’s all about the design that you create…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: The swirlies. Oh that’s kind of cool.

ERIN ESTEVES: The swirlies and you know the size you can go really big you can go really small.

SUNNY GAULT: You can probably make it into a certain shape if you wanted to…

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Like a heart or something like that.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: I like it.

COLINA COROTHERS: Super creative like that tail.

ERIN ESTEVES: It’s a lot of fun. This is a little more difficult but it’s a baby hammock. So if you happen to be a baby were we all have those really long wraps or if you have like on fabric at your house what you can do is you can actually if you can imagine a table and you take the fabric and you wrap it around the table and then tie the know on top of the table so that the rest of the fabric is hanging down beneath the table. Perfect baby hammock.

SUNNY GAULT: So for like when we say baby, how old are we talking about?

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh I’m talking about toddler somebody who can go get in there…

SUNNY GAULT: Got it.

ERIN ESTEVES: Climb up on their own.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: You know just kind of hang out and…

SUNNY GAULT: That is kind of cool.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: And then I’m thinking I really got to clean my table before…. When I left this morning my table was not in tip top shape. So definitely note to parents make sure you clean because kids like to put a lot of stuff under the table too…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: Right?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: So just…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and it’s really good because it gives the kid a little quite space of their own and they get to be away from everybody and…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: You know it’s yeah they can just hang out.

SUNNY GAULT: And my kids hang out under the table anyway so I don’t know about yours.

ERIN ESTEVES: Exactly.

SUNNY GAULT: I don’t know what it is under the table it’s like a…

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah. It’s almost like a fort. Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: Fort. They love just going under the table.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: I’m like what are you doing?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah it’s that private space.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah interesting. I like that. That’s cool.

ERIN ESTEVES: When we come back we’ll going to be talking about more tips on how to keep your kids entertained in the summer heat outdoors with and without supplies.

[Theme Music]

ERIN ESTEVES: Welcome back today we’re talking about summer activities for kids outdoors. So we’re just going to try and run through this really quickly but they’re so cool. I had so much fun with this and we have all of the links on our website afterwards because there oh my gosh this stuff is just too cool. First of all with supplies, ice chalk. Have any of you guys have heard of ice chalk?

SUNNY GAULT: I’m imagining it’s some sort of chalk but frozen?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

COLINA COROTHERS: It sounds refreshing.

ERIN ESTEVES: It is so cool. You can do there’s a wide array of ways that you can do this but my favourite particularly for the toddler age is using Popsicle sticks - Popsicle makers.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: So we have a recipe and it basically consists of corn starch and food coloring and you make these different colors in the Popsicles and you freeze them and you give them to the kids so they’re not going to get frostbite on their little fingers and they can draw as if it were a regular chalk but it’s a great sensory game because it melts It’s cool it’s refreshing and you can do an assortment of colors.

SUNNY GAULT: So primarily are we talking about doing this on concrete...

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes. Outdoors. Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: So you don’t want this on your…

SUNNY GAULT: Floors.

ERIN ESTEVES: Living floor. Yes this is definitely an outdoor sidewalk kind of thing.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: Driveway.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: So then there’s the DIY sandbox. I don’t know about you guys but I leave in an apartment and we don’t have a sandbox.

SUNNY GAULT: We tried we had a sandbox and sand went everywhere…

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: And I was just like I can’t clean this every day so it’s been on hold until my kids are older.

ERIN ESTEVES: That sounds smart.

COLINA COROTHERS: My husband is always concern about cats…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

COLINA COROTHERS: In the neighborhood [inaudible].

SUNNY GAULT: It probably might. It might be.

ERIN ESTEVES: Well my son we went over to a friend’s house and he we don’t have cats in our home so he had never seen the litter box before…

COLINA COROTHERS: Oh no.

ERIN ESTEVES: And he wandered away and he came back with the litter scoop with kitty litter and poop in it.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh no.

ERIN ESTEVES: look mama! It’s not a game honey. It’s not a toy.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: So I get that.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: But this the link that I have in particular it using a storage box so you just take a storage box that you get on any store, you fill it with sand and it has a lid. That way you can store it under something. You can put it away. It’s not going to take over your life or your backyard. You only pull it out in those instances where you have bored kids.

COLINA COROTHERS: I like that.

SUNNY GAULT: Nice.

COLINA COROTHERS: And it keeps clean.

ERIN ESTEVES: Ish.

SUNNY GAULT: Ish. Clean-ish.

COLINA COROTHERS: Well the sand stays clean.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah well then if you can cover it then like leaves and stuff won’t get in…

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: In the outdoor whatever.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and you don’t even necessarily need to leave it outdoors…

SUNNY GAULT: Well…

ERIN ESTEVES: You can stash it in the garage…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: In the laundry room, that kind of thing. I mean if it was really hot you can probably set up an area for them to play indoors with the sandbox but that is up to your own discretion. And then one of my favorites is a newspaper kite. Now I don’t know about you guys but I love kites and I can never find good cheap kites.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: So I found this really cool tutorial on how to make a newspaper kite and it is a lot of fun. It’s a neat project with the kids and I have it with supplies because really who has like 50 feet of twine. Right?

SUNNY GAULT: Unless it’s right after Christmas I don’t.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: I know so that’s why I put it there with the supplies. Other than the twine you pretty much have everything you need for it at home. Okay no supplies out to side. Now you have the tape. We talk about this earlier…

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: So you can do you can create different games like hopscotch or there’re some the link that I put there has some really cool board games like you can kind of invent and tailor to your kids. So you can make sure that the driveway you know it has the line that you do not pass and you know all of these things so that you can keep the kids jumping and moving but in a defined…

SUNNY GAULT: In a defined area.

ERIN ESTEVES: Space.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: And then we have the sponges and the bull’s eye game. So using the tape or the chalk you can make bull’s eyes like that sound so weird just saying it like that.

SUNNY GAULT: Bull’s eyes.

ERIN ESTEVES: Bull’s eyes.

SUNNY GAULT: I don’t think you usually do the plural form of that I think that’s the problem.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Well how about multiple bull eye? So you can setup targets…

SUNNY GAULT: Yes there you go.

ERIN ESTEVES: Different targets different degrees of difficulty for the kids and you can either use dry sponges or if you’re outside get them wet.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah I’m thinking water balloons.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah water balloons…

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah. Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Sponges you know that kind of thing and so you can even do you can start competitions and you can have really great fun consequences like if you do the sponges the person with the least amount of points at the end gets tag by everybody with a wet sponge.

SUNNY GAULT: So basically you’re using the chalk to again create these little boundaries…

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Or these little areas right and then you’re talking about using the sponges as like of whatever.

ERIN ESTEVES: Almost like snow balls.

SUNNY GAULT: Like snow balls like in the summer. Got it!

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: Got it.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah so it’s snow balls in the summer.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: And then this one I really, really like again we’re using chalk but you draw you have people lay down and then you draw around them so that they have their figure in chalk on the ground and then you grab clothes, old clothes or dirty clothes and you play dress up chalk dolls.

SUNNY GAULT: That is really cool. I like that.

COLINA COROTHERS: That’s very neat.

SUNNY GAULT: I like that.

ERIN ESTEVES: Isn’t that cute.

SUNNY GAULT: I would like to see what my kids did with like mine.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: You know like…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Someone draw an outline of me and then dress mommy.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

COLINA COROTHERS: Oh that’s so fun.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh that’s an Instagram moment right there.

COLINA COROTHERS: Yeah it is.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah exactly.

SUNNY GAULT: I like that. Good!

ERIN ESTEVES: So you know it’s really hard to talk about this without imagery…

SUNNY GAULT: With visuals yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Which is why I made certain to include all of the links for every single item mentioned today.

SUNNY GAULT: Cool.

ERIN ESTEVES: So people can go to our website and they can find that in the additional resources.

SUNNY GAULT: Awesome.

ERIN ESTEVES: Thank so much to all of our listeners for joining us today. If you would like further information on any of these activities, visit the episode page on our website. This conversation continues for members of our Parent Savers club. After the show we’ll talk more about keeping children entertained in the summer. For more information about the Parent Savers club visit our website www.newmommymedia.com .

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SUNNY GAULT: Hey everyone this is Sunny. I am one of the producers here on Parent Savers and we have a funny parenting oops story to share with you. This is of one of my favorite segments here on Parent Savers and it’s were all of us parents get to vent about the crazy things that happen to us and the funny stories that you know are funny later but it’s not funny when it’s actually happening to you. So this story comes from one of our listeners Collette and Collette says I decided to take my boys on a bike ride using the bike trailer. It was my younger son’s first time in there, 15 months old and after about 10 minutes of riding he started screaming and wouldn’t stop thinking he just hates being strap down I pulled over a couple of times, gave him some snacks and I even took him out to run around for a while but have to strap in back in in order to get home because what else could I do. More screaming, when I finally got home I realized that the strap had been digging in into his neck and he has this huge scrape mark along his neck. It looks horrible and many people ask me what happen with worried looks on their faces. I’ve since found some soft coverings for the straps though I have yet to venture out with the trailer again. I don’t blame you Collette you’re probably like mentally scarred after that incident. If you guys have a funny parenting oops you want to share with us please do we love
hearing from you guys. You guys can call our voicemail which is 619-866-4775. You can also reach out to us via Facebook just post something on our Facebook page or send us an email through the website.

[Theme Music]

ERIN ESTEVES: That wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to Parents Savers.

Don’t forget to check out our sister shows:
Preggie Pals for expecting parents
The Boob Group for moms who breastfeed and
Twin Talks for parents of multiple kids.
This is Parent Savers empowering new parents.

[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. Though information in which areas are related to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, Medical or advisor care and should not be used for
diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.

SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our line up of shows for new and expecting parents. If you have an idea for a new series or if you’re a business or organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com .

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