A summer activity and resource guide for parents
Soaring Into Summer with BP is excited to share another blog post! We hope you are finding ways to beat the heat! This week we have a new game, craft, and cooking activity to share. Do not forget to tag us in pictures of your finished products. Tag @behavioral_progression and add #SoaringIntoSummerWithBP to your posts!
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Games & Activities
Physical Activity
Help your kids get active inside and outside!! Below are some ideas:
If your little one is an avid video game player, incorporate physical activity into the game. As a character walks around in the video game, encourage your child copy the character by walking in place! The can speed up and slow down as the character does. Maybe you can even throw in some jumping. So simple!
Head outside and get some fresh air! Use some simple stretches and racing games to have fun with physical activity. Similar to an obstacle course idea shared in a previous post, you can work with your child on following directions, counting, and various other skills during these activities!
Arts & Crafts
Crayon Art
This is a super fun activity that allows your kiddos to use any variety of colors and create their own patterns!
Materials:
- Canvas
- Crayons
- Cheese grater
- Iron
- Parchment paper
Instructions:
1. Choose your crayons and desired color(s)
2. Grate your crayons using the cheese grater (with adult supervision and assistance)
3. Grab your canvas and arrange the shredded crayons onto the canvas. Be as creative as you want!
4. Place the parchment paper on top of your canvas
5. Use the iron with no steam to heat the crayons over the parchment paper until melted (with adult supervision and assistance)
6. Once the crayons are melted, remove the parchment paper and let cool
7. Hang your art up!
Helpful tip: Work on communication during this activity by keeping the iron and cheese grater out of the child reach. This will give the child an opportunity to work on asking for help, and also adds a layer of safety with those materials!
Cooking Activity
Bake a Cake!
This is a super simple cooking activity that has been done a hundred times but never gets old - baking a cake! The recipe below is for a simple white cake but feel free to mix it up and add chocolate chips, sprinkles, or fruit!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup milk
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth.
4. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back to the touch.
Helpful tip: Baking is a great activity for kids to work on measuring and counting ingredients!
Summer Activities
Check out some of our previous blog posts for various local events, activities, and services, including virtual options!
Safe and Sound Swimmers Program
Hillsborough, Polk, and Pasco Counties
Hosted by Behavioral Progression Inc.
Behavioral Progression, Inc. provides private swim lessons for individuals with and without special needs who may have not been successful with traditional learn-to-swim programs. We allow the child to learn at his/her own pace! This program incorporates Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques with learn-to-swim methods to promote water safety and lasting change in swimming skills. Our instructors make every effort to build a stress-free, fun learning environment, with individualization and positive reinforcement in order to encourage swimming success.
- Must be 2 years or older
- No prerequisite skills needed!