Other Peoples' Ideas are the BEST

I have a secret (or probably not so secret) addiction to pinterest.  I love finding other peoples' ingenious ideas and using them for my own.  I do reserve the right, however, to pin stuff that I never intend to really try.  ;)  For today's post, I want to do a review of children's activities that I have actually tried.  With reviews, of course!

1. Barbie bathtub boat made from plastic bottles.  Okay, this one I haven't actually done-yet.  But it was WAY to cool to not have on this list.  I want one now because I never had one when I was a kid.
2. Water blob.  This is basically a water bed mattress for the kids to jump on outside.  We even used it as a slip'n'slide.  On one "slip" my daughter tore a HUGE hole in the top about 2 feet in diameter.  The thing was still usable.  The kids could still jump on it and everything and the water stayed inside.  It's one of the most fun activities we've ever done and it cost about $5 total.  So. Worth. It.
3. Candy jewelry.  We made bubble gum necklaces for my daughters' Valentine's Day class party.  I premade the holes the night before (using a sterile nail or thumb tack) and it wouldn't have worked if I hadn't done that.  A child wouldn't have been able to thread the needle through the gumball on her own. They're quite tough, gumballs.  Also, if you're going to do it, the little gum balls are very difficult to work with, so get the big ones.  Jelly bean look a lot easier to work with.  The necklaces were SO CUTE when they were done though, the teacher said she'd never seen the students have so much fun in the craft before.
4. Pool noodle marble races.  My kids actually came up with this one on their own and spent 2 HOURS happily racing marbles down the track.  After a while, they discovered they could aim with the noodles and began shooting them at targets...I have boys.
5. Using yarn to make an obstacle course.  This one took WAY too long to set up, and the kids only enjoyed it because I put M&M's at the end.  Basically they were bored to tears.
6. Glow in the dark F.U.N. with glow sticks, black lights, and highlighters.  We've done glow in the dark volcanoes, baths, balloons.  The list is really endless.  You can take the cartridge out of a highlighter pen and soak it in whatever liquid you're going to use-anything from bath water to vinegar, and then use a black light to see the glow.  I've even seen people mix it with pop and dry ice for a fun Halloween drink.  (Make sure it's non-toxic-I wonder if it makes the taste gross?)  Put glow sticks inside balloons, etc. for nightlights and evening entertainment.  This blog has lots of really fun ideas.

The ideas on that website are ENDLESS!  ENDLESS!!!  I may have to do a post on all the cleaning stuff I have learned.  But that's another day...
-Michelle