Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Marshmallow Mania

Occasionally I get a random idea... like, "Hey! It would be fun to build with heart shaped marshmallows and toothpicks" and then I start thinking about what else we could do with marshmallows and the next thing you know we're having a Marshmallow Mania party after school.

Welcome to my brain, girls. 


So despite this idea stemming from using heart shaped marshmallows (hello, Valentines Day), they were nowhere to be found so I settled for pink and white mallows of various sizes instead.


First up on our list of activities was using various types of tongs to pick up single marshmallows and fill our cups.


We rotated through the tongs and talked about which ones were easiest to pick up which sized marshmallows.  Then I timed them on who could fill their cup the fastest using only the little ones and only picking up one marshmallow at a time. 


When I think about marshmallows I think about hot cocoa, so I printed off these little hot cocoa cups and then added hearts to the sleeves and Griffin placed a marshmallow on each of the hearts...






Mason had counting and some basic addition problems on his and he placed the corresponding numbers of marshmallows on the cup...



And Luke had harder math problems.




And then because I was having too much fun I made a few for the kids to color as well :)


If you want to print your own copies of the cups, you can grab the PDF HERE.

We headed out to the backyard where we did our own version of the egg and spoon races, but with marshmallows instead :)  Griffin wasn't into racing, but she jumped on the trampoline while trying to keep her marshmallow on her spoon.

Sidenote - ignore our messy/half dead backyard.  Keep in mind that it's technically still winter. hahaha
  


We came back inside and Mason and Griffin painted using marshmallows.  Mason wanted to add to a poster he's been working on.



They thought it was super fun to be using marshmallows instead of brushes.



Next up, I let them loose with the marshmallows and a TON of toothpicks.



  






About 30 minutes later and Luke had this :) hahaha 
He is soooooooooooo an engineer!




And we ended the night with a marshmallow toss that turned super competitive.


And here's a little video of all of our fun ;)


Next time you're at the grocery store, pick up a few bags of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks (under $4 total!) and let your kids loose!  Happy Wednesday, friends!!!

68 comments :

  1. Now why didn't I think of that?! Hours of entertainment and all with marshmallows!!

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  2. I absolutely adore how intentional you are about taking the time to plan these crafts and games for your children and incorporate ordinary things to create multiple simple, fun activities that they can all enjoy at their own level. That mansion that Luke created - holy marshmallows that was just awesome!
    You always give me lots of great ideas for keeping things fun and simple with my own.
    Julie

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    1. Thank you!!! I love seeing them engaged and having fun and enjoy making memories without big, elaborate plans :)

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  3. Such a fun idea, thanks for sharing!

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  4. So much fun with marshmallows

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  5. Cute!!! We are so doing this!! Great idea, mama!!

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  6. oh my gosh this is so fun! love your ideas!

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  7. Cute! I think we will be doing this!

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  8. Love this idea! G looks so precious jumping on the trampoline with her mallows! Two quick questions.... where is the kid table from? I love the chairs! And are you using iMovie to clip together those little home videos? They are adorable and such a great memory for your littles!!
    Thanks for the printable, I might use them with my first graders!
    Mandi

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    1. Hey! The table is from Pottery Barn Kids (if you google Momfessionals Kids Table a post with links should pop up) and yes, I'm using iMovie on my phone :)

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  9. This is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

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  10. You have GOT to be the most creative mom!!! So fun for your kids!!

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  11. That is so a great idea! I am a nanny and my kids are going to love this! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  12. I love this! I host a Valentine Brunch each year and this is a great idea for the kids to do.

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    1. YAY! Let me know know it goes! And how fun does a Valentines Brunch sound?!?!?!

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  13. Such great ideas! I've been looking for things for a Valentine's Day Party at work and I'm pretty sure that marshmallow towers are making the list.

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  14. What wonderful ideas you have!!!! I want to try this with my great nieces and nephew.

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  15. I am a Kindergarten teacher and these are great ideas for the classroom during Valentine's Day! Thank you! I love waking up every morning and reading your blog.

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    1. YAY! I'm so glad you're going to be able to use them in your classroom - have fun!!! And thank you so much for reading - I appreciate it!

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  16. We homeschool and I always try to plan something fun around a holiday since my kids are missing out on class parties, so this is PERFECT!

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    1. Awesome! Let me know how it goes! (and props to you for homeschooling!!! That's awesome!)

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  17. Thank you for sharing this! I am due with my second little here in a few weeks and these would be awesome activities for my first born!

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    1. Congrats, Sara!!! I miss the newborn smells and snuggles so much! Enjoy!!!

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  18. This is so cute! But even more amazing than that is that you had time to do all of that after you got home from work. When we get home from work we're lucky to get anything accomplished. Maybe a fun Saturday project for us! Thanks for sharing your amazing thought process :) I just love your blog!

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    1. Oh, girl. There are definitely days where I just want to put on a movie and plop them down in front of it, but I try to be really purposeful about the time that we spend together since it is limited. THANK YOU so much for reading!!!

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  19. Great post! I've noticed recently that Luke is working on multiplication, do you have any tips on getting kiddos to learn/memorize those? We are working on that and it seems to be a little tough for my little ones. Thanks!!

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    1. Luke is super intuitive when it comes to math - so he's actually been reasoning through his multiplication facts and figuring them out on his own. I will say that as a middle school teacher I can't stress enough the importance of knowing those facts frontwards and backwards :) We typically talk about multiplication in terms of groups (i.e. 4 groups of 5 and why that's the same as 5 groups of 4... let them get their hands on beans, legos, stickers, etc. and maybe see if that helps. And when all else fails I would turn to flashcards :) hahaha

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  20. Ok - adorable - and please make a blog post (for dummies like me) on how you make those videos?!?!?!?! I need to know!!!! :)

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  21. 2x3+1 = 7; I hope Luke eight (ate) one of those marshmallows later! ;)

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    1. He was still working when I took the pic :) I always have him complete and then I check his work.

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  22. Awesome creation Luke! Fun ideas

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  23. This is so creative and fun and amazing!!!! thank you for sharing!!!!!!

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  24. Love this! Such a fun idea. We are definitely going to do this. Thank you!

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  25. The video is the CUTEST! Love how you put that together!

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  26. This is why you're a teacher! How fun!!

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    1. Hahaha - Except there is NO WAY I could teach elementary school all day. God BLESS those teachers!

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  27. What a creative idea! That design Luke built is super impressive!

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  28. What a great & fun idea! Also, what a perfect song for the video! :)

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    1. I thought so too!! I searched marshmallow song with low expectations and was so pleasantly surprised!

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  29. What a great idea! My son would be entertained for hours...if my two year old daughter doesn't eat his creation! That would be disastrous!

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  30. I will be saving this idea for when the grandchildren come. Luke's creation is awesome. I also love how you incorporate activities so that all three children can participate. If you ever give up your day job, you would be a wonderful homeschooler!;)

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    1. If we weren't part of such an amazing school I would definitely consider it!

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  31. When my boys were little, we flew to visit my parents once a month. A ziploc of mini marshmallows and toothpicks was a quick, easy and quiet way to keep them busy on the flight. They would sit and build on their tray tables and then we could toss it when we landed.

    I teach prek and we use toothpicks and marshmallows to build letters and numbers too.

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    1. What an AWESOME airplane idea!! And I love the idea of using them to build letters and numbers! Thanks, Trish!

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  32. What a fun day!! Luke's creation is awesome!!

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  33. You are such a fun mama! It looks like you all had a really fun afternoon with lots of marshmallows! And gracious, Luke's masterpiece is amazing!

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  34. You amaze me and you were born to be a mama and a teacher! I love when you share your printables with us. Thank you!

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  35. Great idea! What magic powers do you have that prevented the marshmallows from immediately becoming an afternoon snack?

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  36. I'm a little late (catching up on all my blogs), but I just love this! I love seeing all the crafts you do with your kids. My daughter & I do a lot of crafts/learning activities. I get kinda anxious thinking about her starting school because I think I won't be able to anymore (we do them in the morning) & this gives me hope!

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  37. thank you for this idea, Andrea! I'm totally doing this with my kids today. We even invited over some friends!

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