This sorbet needs just two ingredients and it’s perfect on a hot day. For a little variation, you can add fresh grated ginger to the mix, too.
Ingredients:
Veronika has loved playing with ice this summer, so tonight we brought the fun inside. If she thought ice melted fast on the patio, just wait until she saw how fast it would melt in the warm bath tub!
To make everything more fun (plus more obvious visually), I froze water in the compartments of an ice cube tray with a little food coloring added to each. Dark colors like reds and blues will work better here than soft yellow.
Once Veronika was in the tub, I popped out the ice cubes one at a time. Be prepared for fast action, because that ice isn’t going to last long!
She loved watching the food coloring swirl out into the tub as the ice melted almost instantly. She also enjoyed taking the cubes from my hand, a momentary shocking sensation of cold.
When we had about half the ice cube tray left, I dumped them all in at once for a grand finale. This game was – obviously! – quick, but made for a joyful end to a hot day.
Veronika has played with various kitchen utensils to keep busy in the past, but today we added a few twists to this classic toddler activity.
The first change was that we moved the whole game outside. I laid a towel on the patio and filled a large kitchen bowl with water, then added measuring cups, a whisk, a pastry brush, measuring spoons, and a few sieves.
The sieves were great for pouring water into and instantly watching the water trickle back out!
The other big novelty here was adding a funnel. I showed Veronika how we could place a funnel over an empty sparkling water bottle and fill it, then watch the water trickle down. She concentrated so hard on reaching way up with a measuring cup to fill the funnel.
Then she loved dumping the water bottle out!
She also enjoyed brushing water onto a strainer with a pastry brush.
Whisks were fun to swish in the bowl.
And of course there was the obvious appeal of pouring water right onto her skin, since the morning was already hot. Knowing this would be tempting, I’d dressed her in a bathing suit, so you might want to do the same!
At the end when we had a big puddle of water on the patio, it was time for a splashy puddle dance.
If your kids need to get out some quick energy, look no further than your garage for inspiration. Old sports equipment, old toys, or anything else that will promote gross motor skills is perfect for this activity.
To wit, we pulled out Travis’s old scooter, an old play tunnel, leftover pool noodles, bouncy balls, a cornhole backboard, and a Frisbee. I arranged them in such a way that the items could be moved through as an obstacle course, then challenged Travis to the following:
Ride the scooter up to the tunnel.
Whack the ball through the tunnel with the pool noodle, then follow it to the other side.
Once through, toss the Frisbee at the cornhole backboard.
The reward was bubbles! Travis loved popping them with the pool noodles.
Little sister wanted to work her way through the course, too!
We were glad we got out in the morning sunshine for this one.
