The theme for the 4th year of Oma and Opa Camp (Dutch for Grandma and Grandpa) was “GOD’S COLORFUL WORLD“. All the crafts were about color. The Bible stories included a “color” theme as well. First, I used the story of Noah and the rainbow promise that God made. The second story was Joseph and his coat of many colors. We spent a day at a local water park called Wild Mountain. Of course at the end I made a photo-book for each child. This book is a reminder of all the fun experiences we had together. If interested, you can look at this link. http://www.artscow.com/gallery/book/oma-and-opa-camp-2012-tjm38flshni4
You can register through this link and receive free photos and 6 free book credits. http://www.artscow.com/?Ref=500841
The grandchildren are getting older (so are we) and I needed to capture the 3 boys’ attention and not just appeal to girls. The crafts I chose worked well and both girls and boys loved doing them! I taught them the colors of the rainbow and the order that they appear. Each child got a prism so they could bend the light and see the colors. ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) is a good way to remember the order. I ordered the prisms through www.sciencecompany.com at $5.95 each. They had a great time looking through them even if it was a little expensive.
Crafts, Activities and Food
1. Color Wheel:Â
This was an activity where they learned to mix the 3 primary colors to make the secondary ones. I found this idea on Pinterest and downloaded the files from www.mama-jennblogs.com I located eye-droppers in the pharmacy dept. of a chain store and ordered liquid water colors from www.discountschoolsupply.com The liquid water colors will last for other projects as well. They are much more intense and fun to use than the regular watercolor tins. Just remember to rinse the eye- droppers in between with clean water. The chart tells you exactly what color and how many dots to mix to get the new color.
2. Kaleidoscopes:
I had made these before out of pvc pipe, but I couldn’t find all the parts that I needed so I searched online and found everything in one package at www.discountschoolsupply.com I couldn’t have done it cheaper by buying the individual pieces. Everything was there in a kit with complete directions and they sold for $12.95 dozen/pack. You can’t go wrong with that! The only thing I added was some stickers for decorating the outside. They had so much fun making them, they wanted to make two.
3. Suncatchers:
I used metal cookie cutters and placed them on a cake pan or cookie sheet. The boys liked the bug, cars, planes and geometric shapes. The girls liked the hearts and flowers. Place the plastic beads (I used translucent pony beads) side by side and touching. Make a design or just do it randomly. See the “suncatcher” post on this site for complete directions.
4. Color Spinners:
This color craft taught them about how to make tints by adding white and shades by adding black. Complete directions are on “Color Spinners” post. After completing the coloring, they twisted them to make them spin. They could see the new colors made. I taught this lesson at school, but don’t know where it came from or I would give it the credit due.
5. Rainbow Cupcakes:
After learning about the colors in light and the order that they appear in the rainbow, we made rainbow cupcakes. Using primary icing food colors (found at Michael’s in the cake decorating aisle), I divided the white cake batter into seven bowls. With only the primary colors, they had to decide how to make each color. The kids mixed the colors and placed them in order. They put a spoonful of each color in a cupcake liner. After baking and cooling, I put a topping of Redi-Whip on each cupcake. They thought they were incredible! So fun to see all the colors in one bite!
Yellow and Blue make Green
6. Marshmallow shooters:
These were so easy to make and we used them for target practice, long distance and seeing who could shoot the highest. I will use these again with pompoms at Christmas time. Again, I found this idea on Pinterest. Check my “marshmallow shooter” post for easy directions. I used colored marshmallows! That way I made it fit with the theme! HA!
Marshmallow in mid-air!
How high can you shoot?
7. Spray Painted Shirts:
While the kids enjoyed this, I would change this if I did it again. It would be better with a light-colored shirt using spray paint about 3 shades darker. I followed the directions on my Pinterest board, but let the flour and water mixture stayed on until the next day as we were so busy. That was the mistake as we should have painted them one hour later. I had to wash the shirts to remove the paste. Also, the paint soaked under the paste so there wasn’t a clear definition of the design. Oh well! I learned that I always need to try it first! Lesson learned. At least the kids had fun doing it and didn’t mind the outcome.
The girls added glitter spray paint to their design. As you can see, the design didn’t turn out very visible. With a little change, the shirts turn into a more fashionable design. See “t-shirt” post for directions.
8. Jolly Rancher Suckers:
Place Jolly Rancher candies (2 or 3) on parchment paper and melt in 200 degree oven for 5 minutes. Just before they are all melted, add a sucker stick and twist to get it into the candy. Finish melting, remove and cool!
9. Omelets in a Bag:
This was at their request so we made them again. Be sure to use a freezer quart bag! Directions are on Oma and Opa Camp 2010 post.
10. Color Scavenger Hunt:
I got color samples from a paint department and punched a hole at the top and laced with yarn. This way, they could flip through the samples easily. I sent them off with a camera to find things in nature that matched the colors. They went all over the yard and took pictures of the matches they found. Once the match was found, they crossed off the color and hunted for more. I called time after 20 minutes. They kept busy the entire time.
11. Ice Cream Cone Melt:
Using sugar cones, I gave them chocolate, peanut butter,and butterscotch chips, mini-marshmallows, and butter-brickle bits. They added them to the cones (about half full) and placed them on their sides and wrapped them in foil. We put them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. We let them cool to touch and added ice cream on top!
12. Turkey/Chicken Cheesy Pockets:
I like to use recipes where the kids can take part. My daughter-in-law gave me this one and they all ate it! Not bad for some picky eaters! They had to roll out the dough, place the mixture in the center and then fold it over and seal it. They tasted delicious! I thought they could be used as an appetizer as well. Check the post on “Cheesy Pockets” for the recipe.
13. Songs:
When in the car, the time goes faster while playing upbeat fun Christian songs. They sing them out and it is such fun to hear their voices altogether. Their favorites this year were from two VBS CD’s that I bought. “A-M-A-Z-I-N-G“, “Remarkable”, “You, You, You”, and “Our God”. Check the post on Best Children’s Christian Music for the links and you can listen to them and see the motions on Youtube, too.
14. Bible Story Time:
Noah – Genesis 6
In this story, I highlighted how hard it must have been for Noah to follow God when there was evil all around him. Also, how hard it must have been to build the ark, follow God’s exact instructions and trust God not really knowing all that God was going to do. After the flood when Noah and his family set out on the dry earth, God sent a rainbow as a promise that he would not send such a flood again. It was an everlasting promise between God and every living thing on the earth.
For us, it can be hard to follow God when others make fun or try to get us to do things we know God doesn’t want us to do, too. Just like Noah, we need to listen to God and His word. God knows what is best for us.
Joseph – Genesis 37-47
The story of Joseph is a long one. I used a Children’s Storybook version with pictures. I also told this in three parts. I love this story and there are so many lessons to be learned. I emphasized how sometimes Joseph showed-off with his coat and his dreams. The brothers got mad, became very jealous and made some bad choices. Even though Joseph went through very tough times, God worked good out of a bad situation.
After praying and thanking God for the day, we sang our blessing on the kids and off to bed they would go!
Oma and Opa Camp was successful with all the fun, songs, activities, and field trips! Wow!! Oma and Opa needed a rest!
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