Frozen Fun Inspired Art & Sensory Camp

"Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle but put me in summer and I'll be....

a happy snowman!"

-Olaf

My kids fell in love with this movie the first time they watched it and I can't deny that I did too. I don't know if I'll ever tire of hearing Idina Mendez sing Let It Go (I'm a huge fan since seeing Wicked on Broadway) and my daughter's version just makes my heart melt. 

Emerson asked me if I would do a camp day themed to her new favorite movie and I couldn't say no.....

Olaf Bean Bag Toss

1 & 4) Do You Want to Build a Snowman? We did two different versions using toilet paper and marshmallows. 

2) Snowball Fizz Melt using baking soda mixed with water left to harden overnight. The kids used vinegar dyed with various shades of blue to spray on the snowball. They loved watching the snowballs fizz down to beautifully colored gems. 

3) Snow Slime using glue, Borax and silver glitter. The mushy/moldable/drippy texture feels amazing and the kids LOVED it!

Knox gelatin left clear and colored with shades of blue and glitter to explore using characters from the movie and a large mirror to reflect the shimmer and their imaginative play.

1) Elsa's Castle Bowling using recycled boxes spray painted white and a big ball.

2) The favorite activity of the day: Gelatin castle molds made from sand castle buckets and Knox gelatin. The kids were given droppers and blue colored water to inject color into the castles. They loved the marble effect it had and were also able to exercise their fine motor skills. 

3) We made our living room cozy with big blankets and pillows and served the kids lemonade and pizza--the perfect recipe for watching their favorite movie.

4) Homemade glittered playdoh with shapes and tools for exploring.

1 & 4) We froze beads and clear gems into various shaped ice structures we made using recyclable bottles and loaf pans. We gave the children salt we colored with powdered tempera and warm water as we discussed how ice melts. 

2 & 3) Snowball Fizz Melt

(Hunter paid homage to one of his favorite characters Marshmallow.)

Digging gems out of the glittered Snow Slime.

The afternoon proved to be lots of fun and I think my kids may love the movie even more!

Just like Olaf, Emerson and her bestie love warm hugs!

 (The dress she begged me to buy her for camp and then claimed it was too itchy to wear....

until she heard Elsa singing Let It Go.)

"The sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play."

-Anna

Art & Sensory Summer Camp - Reading & Rainbows

"Play energizes and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities."

-Stuart Brown, MD, Contemporary American Psychiatrist

Our first day of camp this summer was themed around reading and rainbows. Because we know that children (and adults) learn best when they engage all the senses, we developed activities where the children had the opportunity to fully use all five of their senses in order to explore and learn about ways we use color in the world. 

Activities included; rainbow spaghetti exploration,

rainbow watercoloring with spray bottles, 

and rainbow manipulatives so we could discuss similarities and differences, problem solving (when building structures), and decision making. 

This particular table was good for cooperation and collaboration which the older kids loved teaching the younger ones about!

We also had a rainbow science station. The kids loved experimenting with mixing various colored dye, glitter and flour. We supplied a lot of different tools for investigation, many of which also exercised fine motor skills. 

The messier the activity, the more fun the kids had! I loved listening to observations the children made while exploring and how they taught each other what they had learned.

We took time to read lots and lots of books and sang some new songs (thank you Chelsea!).

One of the favorite activities of the day was the rainbow obstacle course. The object of the game was to climb through the maze without touching any of the streamers.

We finished off the day with rainbow painting using our feet first...

...and then the kids ventured on to painting with their hands, elbows and knees. 

Watching the kids reiterated what I love most about sensory play--the delight children show when they are learning to love learning! 

Looking forward to sharing more photos soon! 

In the meantime, you can check out other camp days by clicking on the following:

Art & Sensory Summer Camp - PJ Party & Yucky Fun

Art & Sensory Summer Camp - Part 1

Art & Sensory Summer Camp - Candyland

"I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things...

I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind."

-Leo F. Buscaglia

Art & Sensory Mini Summer Camp - Camping Out!

"Deep meaning lies often in childish play."

-Johann Friedrich von Schiller, German Poet

The past two weeks of camp were, by far, the best yet. I think it was a combination of some of the kids being more familiar with each other and just the chemistry of the entire group together.

My little guy added some stress work excitement when he decided to drop his morning nap which typically lasted the entire camp day. The added layer was made worth it when I saw how great the older kids were with him--they were patient, gentle and willing to share. And when I saw how much fun he had, I was happy he got to join.

The favorite theme this week had to be Camping Out. Here are just a few of the photos from the day's activities:

We created a bird's nest using our small pool, a brown tarp, grocery bags cut into strips and our Easter eggs. My two assistants, Hunter and Emerson, helped me crinkle the strips to make them look more nest-like.

Our outdoor cooking consisted of cuts of grass, bits of fern, sticks and soapy water that we called Grass Slime.

The kids painted with marshmallows on skewers and used colors associated with a fire; red, orange and yellow.

The favorite activity of the day was the homemade pond. All of the kids, regardless of age, played hard collecting the bugs, frogs, glass beads and pebbles with their hands and nets and inspecting it all with their magnifying glasses. 

I wrapped our big birch tree in bubble wrap and although I tried to encourage the kids to paint with their hands, the paint brushes won out. 

My little guy couldn't get enough of the bubble wrap texture and slimy paint on the tree. 

The kids enjoyed reading books together in the tent and roasting marshmallows during story time.  After eating our snacks we went on a nature walk to gather materials to add to our painted tree mural. 

(Hunter noted that certain leaves smelled different.)

(Emerson got excited that the leaves matched her outfit. 

Her Southern grandparents are smiling right now.)

We ended the day by playing fireside games and cooling off with shaving cream and colored ice paint in the shape of nighttime stars.

It was an awesome end to the summer camp series and we're looking forward to doing it again next year. 

The best part about doing camp? Moments like these....

 The worst? Clean up. 

Actually, I take that back. When your clean-up crew looks this good, it makes anything easy....

More photos to come soon from the rest of the weeks' fun....

"Just play.  Have fun.  Enjoy the game."

-Michael Jordan