Memorial Day Merriment

For many people, Memorial Day marks the first day of summer, and is celebrated by gathering with friends and family for barbecues and swimming.

Kiddos love to help in the kitchen, and picnic food offers a great opportunity for them to get in on the fun.

First, the super sweet and unhealthy, but so fun and messy to make....patriotic marshmallows!!
(Recipe courtesy of The Wicked Noodle). These are so sweet my teeth hurt just looking at the picture!

Patterning is a favorite activity of young kids, and the ability to recognize and create patterns lays a foundation for learning algebra and geometry down the line, as well as the ability to make predictions.

Fruit kabobs offer a fun way to pattern with picnic food. Let the your child choose 3-4 fruits and then allow them to create a pattern as they skewer the fruit on to a kabob stick (of course, supervise your child, no one wants to lose an eye). For example, strawberry, blueberry, grape; strawberry, blueberry, grape, etc. Math and fruit - it's a win-win!

A fun activity that helps with fine motor coordination is letting your child use  a melon baller to scoop melon. A variety of melon balls tossed together is so festive looking, and a perfect picnic food, but so tedious to make. However, your child will love this!

Tossing in a little bit of literacy to the fun....

Have your child find the letters in "Memorial Day" in old magazines, flyers, etc. Have them cut them out the letters and glue them to a piece of paper. More challenging? Have them find pictures that start with the sounds of the letters in Memorial Day. For example, a picture of a man for the "M".

Have a safe and fun first day of summer!!