Tag: ranger rick

Green Time: Play in the Snow

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We’ve been so eager for a snowfall so we could get to our second installment of outdoor play suggestions from Ranger Rick Jr. Last night we got our wish – only about three inches, but because I doubt we’ll have much more snow this winter, we took advantage of it!

The first thing we had to do was test out the sled we bought but haven’t had a chance to use. There’s a tiny hill just off our apartment, and Travis enjoyed a few mini runs down it.

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Whoops, but as you can tell, he was not a fan lying down to try out a snow angel next.

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Making a small snowman was a bigger hit…

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…as was building a snow fort. Based on the magazine’s image, we used a bucket to build the fort, which worked so well! Although we didn’t have enough snow to build our walls up high, this is definitely how we’ll fashion future forts.

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Meanwhile, I loved that these suggestions got us out into crisp morning sunshine to make first tracks in the snow – especially since it had all melted by afternoon!

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Yogurt Hearts

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This sweet idea from our February issue of Ranger Rick Jr. was just one way to eat hearts this Valentine’s Day. And of course you can make them any day you want to share some love!

I set up a plate with two heart-shaped cookie cutters, one large and one small, and a container of non-dairy yogurt – for the prettiest result, choose a red berry flavor like strawberry or raspberry.

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Travis was a great helper scooping the yogurt into the big heart, and I filled up the trickier small one.

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Put in the freezer for 2 hours, until firm. If you need to, run a little hot water around the cookie cutters to release your hearts.

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The middle of the heart stayed a little mushier, more like soft-serve ice cream, and we worked our way out to the more frozen edges.

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Yum!

 

Green Time: Evergreen Trees

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We’re still enjoying our first edition of Travis’s subscription to Ranger Rick Jr., which has already been the inspiration for scrapbooking, animal crafts, and more! There appears to be a recurring monthly feature called Green Time, encouraging play or activities outdoors. Me being me, my plan moving forward is to highlight these adventures on the blog!

January’s suggestion to get outside was to get to know an evergreen tree, an up-close-and-personal exploration of these verdant trees. Travis and I took advantage of mild temps (for January) and headed off to the park. When I told him we’d be getting to know a pine tree, Travis asked which one was going to be our friend!

Soon enough we’d spotted it, a majestic pine. We listened for sounds, although it was hard to distinguish much nature with cars nearby and plane traffic overhead. But we did get to use our sense of touch on the tree bark…

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Sense of smell on the needles…

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And simply got to know our friend. Travis was dusting him off here with an extra pine needle.

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Needles and pinecones were easy to spot. It wasn’t the right time of year, unfortunately, to see insects or bird’s nests.

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But we loved this burl on the trunk!

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Thanks for getting us outside, Ranger Rick!

Egg Carton Penguins

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We don’t buy eggs, but I do confess that egg cartons from my in-laws’ house make for fantastic up-cycled crafts. We got the idea to make these cute figures after a feature on penguins in our first issue of Ranger Rick Jr. We quickly decided we needed some adorable toy penguins around the house!

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Cut an egg carton into indiviaul compartments and paint with black tempera paint. Since the carton was originally pink Styrofoam, it took two coats of paint before we hid the color underneath.

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Next we made sure to gave them white bellies!

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I cut out orange hearts to be the feet and orange triangles to be the beaks from a sheet of orange felt, and Travis helped glue these on.

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Googly eyes were the finishing touch!

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Now we have adorable penguins to march around and bring our magazine story about the animals to life!

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Build a Scrapbook

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If kids love books, then kids adore books about themselves. This cute scrapbook idea came from Ranger Rick Jr., and was the perfect indoor activity for a cold winter afternoon!

First we needed to take pictures, which was by far the most exciting part of the whole project for Travis. An instant camera is so great to have on hand for moments like this; we love the Instax instant mini camera.

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Travis proudly helped load up the film, decide which items around the house needed to be captured on film, and of course pointing and shooting.

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Once we had about 20 photos, we sorted them into categories, such as family members, daily activities, and favorite things.

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How you arrange your scrapbook from here is up to you! We affixed pictures onto colorful construction paper (cut in half, an easier size for little hands to turn the pages). You could also decorate plain white paper with wrapping paper scraps, or marker and crayon designs.

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I helped with the layout and writing on each page, and Travis added stickers.

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To bind your scrapbook, punch out holes with a hole puncher and tie together with colored ribbon.

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The best part was curling up for a nighttime read of the book. Travis was so proud pointing to the pictures he’d taken! Definitely a treasure that we’ll leaf through again and again.

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What pages would you include in your child’s scrapbook? Please share in the comments!

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