Summer Flower Walk and Other Fun Flower Activities

Summer Flower Walk and Other Fun Flower Activities

Here at Sparkles and Sprinkles, we have stepped away from the computer for quite a while… the sunshine and the garden were calling, and we just had to answer.  But we are hopping back into our blog for a bit to bring you some ideas that you can take right back outside:  a flower scavenger hunt, flower arranging for kids, painting a floral still life, and more.  Enjoy!

Summer Flower Walk

Where we live, it gets too hot in the afternoon to spend much time outside, but our daughters love early morning walks.  This weekend our 7-year-old asked if we could do the spring flower scavenger hunt that we had created for Mother’s Day.  This gave us a great opportunity to talk about how different flowers bloom at different times of year, and inspired us to make another flower scavenger hunt for the summer.  

flower walk french english scavenger hunt
summer flower walk french english anglais francais
zinnia flower scavenger hunt

Click on the images below to download your free summer flower scavenger hunt card!  One is in English and the other is bilingual in French and English.  When you print it, print in landscape.  Choose “print on both sides of paper” and click “flip on short edge” in order to make it into a card to invite someone on a flower walk.  Or simply print the first page if you only want a one-sided scavenger hunt page.  It can be printed on regular printer paper, but we recommend cardstock.

summer flower scavenger hunt

Summer Flower Walk in English

french summer flower scavenger hunt francias anglais

Summer Flower Walk (French and English)

Books to enjoy about flowers

When the afternoon heat makes staying inside in air conditioning the best idea, we have some suggestions for you on books we love with a flower theme.  Miss Rumphius and Katie and the Impressionists.  We are also enjoying a delightful new book by Sarah Mackenzie that is inspired by Miss Rumphius. It’s called A Little More Beautiful.  The images below are links to Amazon if you are interested in purchasing the books, or you can find them at your local library.

Making bouquets

Children seem to naturally love making bouquets, so we love to plant flowers that thrive when cut… roses, zinnias, cosmos, and verbena to name a few.  We also love adding sweet smelling accents to our bouquets – lavender, mint and rosemary – these plants tend to thrive and spread year after year without much care (that’s a big plus when growing a garden of children is really our primary job!).  To help your children make a bouquet, give them options for what can be cut in the garden, then cut the flowers they choose.  (Alternatively, if you don’t have a garden, picking up a bouquet from the store and allowing your children to cut the flowers and make smaller arrangements can also be fun!)  Then allow your child to pick a sturdy, small vase or jar.  Give your children time to arrange the flowers to their liking… a great opportunity for everyone to really take the time to stop and smell the flowers.   

wild flowers to arrange
flower arrangement for kids
wild flower arrangement

Art inspired by flowers

To give your children a chance to really look closely at flowers, painting a still life can be so much fun!  Bringing paper and painting supplies outside to paint in the garden can also be delightful!  Some of our favorite art supplies for painting flowers, and especially painting outside, are the Canson Mixed Media sketch book (great heavy weight paper and easily transportable small size) and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils (sketch and then brush with water) or washable watercolors for younger children.   

flower sketch
flower water color

Enjoy the beauty of summer!

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Dreamy Chocolate Ice Cream {vegan, low-carb, delicious!}

Dreamy Chocolate Ice Cream {vegan, low-carb, delicious!}

The ingredients might surprise you in this super creamy chocolate ice cream!  This ice cream looks and tastes like your favorite decadent chocolate ice cream, but it is actually vegan, low-carb, and packed full of protein.  If you think “vegan” and “ice cream” can’t be one in the same, don’t run away.  Give this recipe a try.  We think you will be glad you did!  With only 4 ingredients, it’s so easy to make.  Enjoy!

New to making ice cream at home?  We love our Cuisinart ice cream maker, but you can use any ice cream maker of your choice.  The Cuisinart ice cream maker comes in a fun variety of colors to suit your kitchen decor, and has optional additional freezer bowls so that you can make multiple batches of ice cream the same day.  Another great ice cream maker option, if you don’t want to add additional appliances to your kitchen is the ice cream maker attachement for your KitchenAid mixer.  Though we have not tried this one, we think it sounds like a great idea!

cuisinart ice cream maker

We use a blender to mix our ingredients.   If you are looking for a great, dishwasher safe blender, we recommend the Oster dishwasher safe blender.  We went for many years without a blender, just because I never liked cleaning the blade and jar by hand.  I’m so glad Oster has a blender that is dishwasher safe.  It makes clean up so easy!

Oster blender dishwasher safe

Note:  It is possible to whisk the ingredients together in a bowl if you do not have a blender (we used to to this), but a blender does the job so much faster.  If you do whisk your ingredients in a bowl, be sure to use a very drippy creamy peanut butter.  Also, mix all of the ingredients with only a small amount of milk at first, then add more milk as the peanut butter begins to incorporate into the milk.

Be sure to use a protein powder you like, as this will impact the taste of the ice cream.  The sweetness in this ice cream comes from the protein powder, so if your protein powder is not sweetened, you will need to sweeten it to your liking.  Keep in mind you can taste the “ice cream” before you put it in the ice cream maker and make any flavor adjustments before you start to freeze the ice cream.  The Orgain Protein Powder we use is sweetened with stevia.  It works well to use chocolate or vanilla flavor protein powder for this recipe.

orgain protein powder

This ice cream is easiest to serve right when it is done being churned.  If you would like it to be a little more firm, you can place it in the freezer for a short time before serving.  If you make the ice cream to serve for another time, or if you have leftovers, keep in mind this ice cream will have to sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes to soften.  We like to store our ice cream in a protein shaker or a Pyrex glass container.  This 28 oz. Contigo protein shaker fits the whole batch of ice cream.  We like the protein shaker because the plastic is thick and will not crack in the freezer (we do not recommend disposable plastic containers, as they tend to crack when frozen).  Storing ice cream in a Pyrex dish with a cover can also be a great idea – this way, you can microwave the bowl for a few seconds if you don’t want the wait time to let your ice cream soften.

Ready to make ice cream?

Gather your kitchen supplies:

  • Ice cream maker
  • Blender (optional, but very helpful)
  • 1 cup measuring cup
  • 1/4 cup measuring cup
  • liquid measuring cup (if not using the blender to measure the milk)
  • Large plate
  • Container for finished ice cream (if not serving right away)
  • Spoons 
  • bowls for serving
  • Spatula for scraping bowl if needed

 

 

ice cream making supplies

Gather your ingredients:

  • about 2.5 cups unsweetened almond milk, vanilla or plain (you can use  as little as 2 cups or as much as 3 cups, depending on the consistency you like for your ice cream)
  • 2 scoops (46 g) Orgain Chocolate or Vanilla protein powder (or your favorite sweetened protein powder)
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup creamy natural peanut butter (our favorite is Organic Cream Peanut Butter from BJ’s Wellsley Farms, but any very creamy, drippy, natural peanut butter will work)
vegan ice cream peanut butter, almond milk, protein powder, cocoa

Let’s Make Ice Cream!

Step 1

Pour 2.5 cups of unsweetened almond milk into your blender.

Step 2

Add 2 scoops (46 g) protein powder into the blender.

Step 3

Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder into the blender.

Step 4

Measure 1 cup creamy natural peanut butter, and add into the blender.

vegan chocolate ice cream blend

Step 5

Blend until smooth.

Step 6

Turn on your ice cream maker and pour in the mixture.  Let the mixture churn for about 20 minutes.

low-carb high protein ice cream vegan peanut butter

Step 7

Ice cream is ready when it looks creamy and firm.  You may need to stir the ice cream once in a while as it churns to keep it moving. 

Step 8

Remove the ice cream from the ice cream maker and place it on a large plate. 

chocolate peanut butter ice cream low-carb

Step 9

Scoop the ice cream into bowls to serve immediately, or scoop the ice cream into a storage container to serve later.

chocolate peanut butter low-carb ice cream recipe

And of course... you can always add sprinkles!

This ice cream has no refined sugar and is packed full of protein, so when the question is, “Mom, may we have more ice cream?” the answer can be “Yes!”

P.S.  Looking for low sugar sprinkles?  Find our suggestion from our cut-out cookie recipe.

 

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Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

DIY Fidget Toys! (with YouTube tutorials)

DIY Fidget Toys! (with YouTube tutorials)

Watch these quick YouTube videos to learn how to make a spinner top from a fruit cup, a paper spring, and a balloon stress ball.

Enjoy some fruit from a fruit cup, wash the cup, and turn it into a spinning top in seconds!  Watch the video to find out how.

Feeling more creative?  Color the inside of the fruit cup with permanent markers or paint a fun design with acrylic paint.  Have fun!

Simply cut two strips of paper, and watch the video to find out how to turn them into a fun paper spring.  You’ll also need a glue stick.

Want to add some variety?  Draw designs on the paper before making it into a spring!  So pretty!

Make your own stress ball in seconds!  Just grab a balloon, and some slime (or kinetic sand, playdough, or Model Magic), and watch this video to find out how.  You’ll also need a small water bottle with the bottom cut off, or a funnel.

Time to de-stress…

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Do you have a teen or tween interested in making YouTube videos?  Our oldest daughter took a wonderful class from Film School For Teens.  The online classes are created by a Christian family with expertise in film and Youtube.  If you have a child interested in film, you can check it out here:  FS4T

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.