The funnest memories don't ever seem to involve vacuum lines in the carpet or perfectly pressed white shorts, right? With my band of men, I think they're definitely just the opposite. Those moments when we're all disregarding anyone watching or what could get hurt or if our idea seems a bit crazy, are the ones that I really believe the boys will look back on and really cherish. (Or, if nothing else, at least remember that Mom is pretty cool after all) ;)
So, it goes without really saying then that I'm not one of those Moms that can't handle mud and mess (I might just go truly nuts if I was!). If your life isn't really up for that, then the water fun idea I'm sharing today as part of The Joys of Boys' Summer Survival Series for Moms of Boys might not be for you... But if you're still reading at this point, then I'm guessing you already know this could be a BIG hit...
We hit Dollar Tree for a few cheap supplies to help make the whole slip n' slide experience get more messy... we got a bunch of shaving cream and dish soap, though there are surely lots of other options there too :) I know jello or pudding could've been great, I just wasn't willing to invest that much time in this activity (making batches of each could've taken forever and gotten expensive too). I knew I wanted to use paint and actually had these big bottles already. I got them at Michaels when they were 50% off. Regular price I think they are $3-4 each.
Possibly the boys favorite part was the set up for each- they loved spraying the shaving cream, paint and soap. This whole thing could've gotten much more intense and turned into the most awesome war ever had I not have had to take pictures and my oldest not needing to stay dry and clean to work with Dad! There will certainly be a next time before our summer is over...
We got the Slip n' Slide good and wet first, then turned the water back off and added the cream.
The shaving cream was I think the favorite ingredient- they loved it! Part of what will make this so fun for your own kiddos is that they get to do things they don't often get to. We tell them no when it comes to these supplies most of the time, let alone doing it themselves with the bottles and cans. The liberation of this whole activity is really what makes it awesome!
When I have it to do over again, I think I'd do the paint after the shaving cream and then the soap last- would've just made better sense for the whole clean-up side of things! But, we did put the soap on next and then kept the water running to create bubbles.
Next we squirted paint all over the slide... or rather, Taron (our oldest) and I did and the other boys got each other all colored up on the side. It's worth adding... another thing that makes these ideas awesome is that all ages are excited to get involved! Do you have teens and littles both? This is something that they can all dig right in to... and pretty much any Mom loves to see her kids playing together happily :)
Taron just said that we needed more of everything... I think I'll try to get some tempera powder to be able to mix paint more cheaply and have more of it to really amp things up.
Before I knew it, the messy boys had jumped into our blow up pool to rinse off. Obviously, the better solution might have been to spray them off with the hose, but whatever! I just pulled the plug on the drain once they were inside. It worked great as an outdoor bath sort of thing and kept the messiness out of the house at that :)
No matter what, don't let the mess get you worked up! Make the slip n' slide messy on purpose! :) And check out the other Summer Survival ideas below too- soak it up while you still can!
