Activities - The Idea Room

Potato race cars

I just recently spent several hours with some of my very favorite people at a family reunion. I feel like I must mention how lucky I am to belong to such an amazing family. We grew up going on trips to Lake Powell and St. George together every summer. And we just generally have a great time hanging out together.

And even now, as we have all gotten older and had families of our own, we still really enjoy getting together at our annual family reunion. My husband and kids also really enjoy these reunions. I ran my half marathon the morning of the reunion this year and my kids made me promise that we wouldn’t miss the reunion.

We always have a BBQ or some yummy lunch. We also always have a big water fight with the younger kids, while the older folks compete in friendly basketball, horse shoe, and sometimes a volleyball tournament. Most of the time we are able to have the reunion at a great location by a lake which we later get to play in together.

And we always have some other fun activities for the kids to participate in. This year my cousin Angie showed us all how to make a race car out of a potato and arranged for the kids to make some fun Potato Race Cars. Then they raced them down a Pinewood Derby race track.

They are really easy to make.

You will need the following for each Potato Race Car:

Potato
4 Pinewood Derby Car Wheels (can be purchased online or at a local Scouting store)
4 large nails
4 small washers that fit onto your nails
potato/cheese grater
decorations for your cars

You may need to shave your potato so that the wheels fit on nicely and roll without rubbing on the potato. You can also shave some from the bottom of the potato so that it will roll down the track easily.

Stick the nails though the washers and wheels and then stick them into the sides of the potato. Be sure to place them so that the car rides evenly.

Then bling out your car with your favorite accessories. This can be difficult to get it just right…haha! I love how serious she is about getting her car just right. Isn’t she adorable?!

Then when you have all the cars made…line them up and let them go!

We had some great cars. But wouldn’t you know it…one of the youngest competitors won the whole race. And this was his winning Potato Racer!

And this is the grand prize!

Such a fun activity that got all the kids old and young involved. It is similar to a Pinewood Derby activity I shared with you in an older post…Banana Pinewood Derby Cars.

Do you have any fun ideas that your family does to make your family reunions special? I would love to hear your ideas!

Hopscotch

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I don’t know about you, but at our house my kids sometimes need a little help coming up with something creative to do in the summer. If it were up to my kids, they would enjoy spending a good amount of their day in front of some sort of an electronic screen in the name of entertainment.

So I try to find fun and creative activities for my kids to do that encourages them to use their creativity and get up and off of the couch.

I recently teamed up with ScotchBlue brand, to participate in their ScotchBlue Ribbons Campaign in an effort to Reward Creativity. Today I want to share with you a couple of different ways that you can use ScotchBlue tape to entertain your kids this summer.

Hopscotch

Recently we used ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape to create a permanent Hopscotch Court on our driveway. When I was a little girl I LOVED to play Hopscotch. My friends and I couldn’t wait for recess so we could play hopscotch out on the blacktop. My dad even painted my sisters and I our very own yellow hopscotch court at our childhood home. So I set out to recreate a Hopscotch court that was the same as the one I grew up with that my kids could enjoy.

The kids and I have really enjoyed using it this summer. I plan on sharing a step-by-step tutorial here later, so be sure to check back.

While the first project will require an adult to help accomplish, the next project can be turned over completely to your kids and their creativity, depending on their age.

When my two oldest were just toddlers, and we spent long winter days inside, I used to make them a city of roads, for their matchbox cars, out of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape. This entertained them for hours as they drove their cars along the roads which had been mapped out on the carpet. As they got older, I let them create their own city roads. I would just give them a roll of tape and let them use their own creativity and imaginations and entertain themselves. And even though my kids are much older now, they still enjoy this simple but fun activity. Do you think this would be something that would entertain your kids this summer?

Want to take part in the ScotchBlue Ribbons Program? Here are a couple of ways you can do so…

Enter your email address for a chance to win one of hundreds of daily samples that ScotchBlue is giving away (over 300 per day!)
Install a ScotchBlue Ribbon bookmark button on your browser where you can nominate projects from around the web in just a few clicks. Consumers who nominate projects will be entered into a pool to win a cool sample pack and $150. Winners will be chosen based on the creativity of the projects that they select to submit, so it really rewards people who have an eye for unique projects that may or may not have specifically used ScotchBlue tape.

See what YOU can do. With ScotchBlue!

ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape

*This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape and The Idea Room.

However all opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

Visit ScotchBlue Ribbons on Facebook, where creativity is recognized and rewarded,

and to learn how you can win some fabulous prizes.

July 18, 2012 · Filed under: Activities Tagged with

PVC Sprinkler: Lowe’s outdoor challenge

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The last week here has been H.O.T…HOT!! With temps in the high 90’s and low 100’s we have been feeling the heat. So when Lowe’s challenged their Creative Network to create something to make the outdoors more fun and memorable, I knew this PVC sprinkler would be a perfect fit and would cool us off.

I have seen a few of these around, but the first one I saw was in the Family Fun magazine a couple of years ago. I have always wanted to make one.

I decided to come up with my own design and drew it out before we even got started. My husband and I made a few changes to the design when we actually put it together.

I was really happy with how it turned out. The kids LOVE it. We even had the neighborhood kids and some cousins over to play in it with us. The kids rode their scooters through it and we have plans to put it over the slip and slide. Doesn’t that sound like a ton of fun?!

PVC is really inexpensive and we were able to put this whole thing together for $25. That is a pretty great price for something that entertained the kids for a couple hours every day and cooled them off during the hottest part of the day.

I will be back to share with you the specific details for how we build this in case you would like to make something similar at your house.

What are some fun ways you are making memories outside this summer? We could always use some fun ideas around here!

Next month I will be back with another outside idea, courtesy of Lowes and I’ll be giving away another Lowes Gift Card! So be sure to keep checking back!