Lunch Box Notes

I love to add little notes to my boys' lunches.  Sometimes they are on a napkin.  Occasionally I'll find printables of jokes that I'll throw in there.  But perhaps my favorite is the banana.

I found this idea online a few years ago.  All you need is a banana and a toothpick.  In the morning while I pack the boys' lunches I scratch a note into the side of a banana with the toothpick.  You don't even have to break the skin--just hard enough to make a slight indentation.  By lunchtime the note has turned nice and dark for the boys to easily read.  

It's such a fun way to send a little love to my boys during the day.  Do you have any fun ways to send love to your kids while they are gone all day?

On-the-go Coloring Case

Ready for a super simple, super successful, on-the-go activity to make for your kids?

I'll be forever in debt to my sister Elise for pointing this one out to me from Simply Frugal Mom.

My kids love this!

Target has these perfect little first aid kits located with the travel items in the health and beauty section of the store.  I picked up two of these, one for each child, and emptied the contents into a Ziploc bag to keep in my car.

Then I filled the case with crayons . . .

And taped a pack of post-it notes to the inside lid.

Ta-da!  The perfect on the go activity to keep in your purse for emergencies or great to bring along when traveling.  I can't tell you how much my kids have loved these.  A special little coloring case just for them.  And what kid doesn't like to peel off post-it notes?  I know mine do!  That's half of what makes this so much fun--peeling off the post-it notes.

And when the post-it notes run out just add a new pad.  Perfect!

100 Days of School Project

Is the 100th day of school coming up at your child's school?  

What a fun day to celebrate!  How come they didn't do this when I was in school?

Last year my daughter worked on a project to bring to school on the 100th day. 

After brain storming with me for ideas she decided that she wanted to make a paper gumball machine and put 100 gumballs inside.

We printed off a template of a gumball machine here.

We used the template to create our own gumball machine.  Then we gathered colorful scraps of paper and a single hole punch and got to punching out all those gumballs.

It was a lot of work for a five year old to make 100 punches and count out all those tiny circles, but she persevered.

And there you have it.  100 gumballs to celebrate 100 days of school.

What kinds of projects have your children done to celebrate the 100th day of school?

Cardboard Box Washing Machine

OR . . .

Place your cape in the tub . . .

Close the lid . . .

Set the dials . . .

Wait . . .

Admire your super clean cape . . .

The other day I was browsing through Pinterest and my son noticed this cardboard washing machine I had pinned.  He thought that looked pretty cool and asked if we could make it.   Occasionally over the next few weeks he brought it up again and again until I finally realized he was serious about wanting to make this washing machine.  So we headed down to the basement and found a box.  We worked on our machine over the next two weeks, a little here, a little there. Cutting cardboard and paper, taping, cutting out dials, coloring and gluing.  It was fun.  A special project for just the two of us.  And then we were done. . . .  And the washing machine sat. . . . Apparently little boys don't really like to pretend to sit and do laundry all day.  We did have fun working together but the next time we have a box to spare we'll use it for something like a race car or a rocket ship.  I think we'll get a lot more use out of something like that.

What kinds of things have you created out of a box with your kids?

Reviewing 2012

It's been another great year at Serving Pink Lemonade.  Jeanine and I continue to love sharing our ideas and are grateful for all our readers who stop on by, leave comments, and pin ideas that inspire them.  Without all of you to share our ideas with this blog wouldn't be nearly as much fun for us, so thanks!

Below are our favorite posts from 2012.
Click on the picture to take you to the full post.

Princess Finger Puppets



Fruit Sushi

Healthy Snacks

Conference Bags

Celebrating Dr. Seuss

 Teacher Gifts

Exploring Magnetism with Kids

Spy Party



Family Night Chart

Oatmeal Canister Drum

Homemade Moon Sand



Travel Activities



Healthy Fudgsicles



Plate Display

Playroom Art

 Super Hero Party

Winter Hand Warmers

Simple Nativity

Thanks for reading!