let’s go! GRAND summer fun! (week eight) let’s play, explore, create & move!
- Our Grand Lives
- Jul 31
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 11
Thursday, July 31, 2025
WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE!
Does anyone else feel like this?
Before we retired, the arrival of August
always signaled the beginning of the end of summer!
It wasn’t long before school meetings and planning sessions
began creeping into our weekly schedules!
And, of course, there were classrooms to set up and new students to learn about!
In fact, we know that for some of our readers,
August’s arrival means a new school year has already begun!
To all of our teacher friends… we feel you!
We’re thinking of you and saying a prayer or two
as you gear up for another school year!
💜 🙏🏻 💜
These days, August has a totally different feel to it!
We find that there is still a lot of summer goodness left to savor.
With that said, though,
today we are wrapping up this year’s summer series,
During the past eight weeks,
we’ve shared ideas
that we hope have provided inspiration for GRANDS like us,
as well as others (parents, caregivers, educators) who spend time with Littles they love!
In each post, including today,
we’ve provided four simple and engaging activities,
to try with your Littles this summer!
In addition, we've highlighted several Instagram posts each week, too
SO
in actuality, we've shared four extra activities each week,
for a total of 64 activities featured this summer alone!
WOW!
With few materials needed and quick set-up,
our weekly topics have included a combination of the following topics:
Let’s Play!
Let’s Create!
Let’s Eat!
Let’s Build!
Let’s Read!
Let’s Explore!
Let’s Move!
and
Let’s Learn!
If interested, you can find all eight weeks of past posts
filled with GRAND SUMMER FUN on our site.
Simply find our Home Page here and scroll away!
And, now, for the final time…
Here’s to Week Eight of GRAND Summer Fun!
We’ve had such fun creating memories with our own Littles
this summer!
All four activities that we’re sharing this week
are tried and true
and definitely brought a smile to all our faces!
This week’s featured ideas include…
LET’S PLAY! Ice Cube Paintings!
LET’S EXPLORE! Golf Tee Fun!
LET’S CREATE! Rainbow Toast!!
LET’S MOVE! Playground Visits!
And, of course, you’ll find a sampling of Instagram FAVES
highlighted throughout the post!
LET’S GO!
Earlier this week, Laura and Little L had so much fun playing with… ICE!
Okay! This activity is kind of a no-brainer!
But really?
Who knew that a pan of ice and a set of watercolors
could provide so much fun for one Little?
It was the perfect activity for a steamy July afternoon.
Please know that this is an art experience…
there is no product or project!
Rather, Little L discovered what happened when colors mixed together
(in her own words, AMAZING!).
She was also so curious about how cold the ice was
and the effects of its melting!
We even "watered" the plants and practiced throwing a few ice cubes...
just because we could!
This super simple activity kept Little L interested for close to an hour!
In my own words, AMAZING!
Is there a rainy day in your forecast?
We’ve had a few in recent days and Laurie shared a few ideas
that worked for her and her Littles!
Enjoy an umbrella fort complete with stories and snacks!
Or take your Littles to a mall where there is room to run!
You’ll find the IG post here!
Our motto:
Keep busy to beat the gloomies!
Both Laurie and Laura love using golf tees with their Littles!
Find out more below!
Laurie received a package that was packed with some styrofoam
and decided to put it to good use!
I gathered some old golf tees which I had purchased - very cheaply - for another project. My Littles each got their own block and basket of tees and pushed them into the styrofoam. (For some reason it is a very satisfying feeling!!)
I added some play hammers and they enjoyed pounding them in as well. Then they pulled them all out and my oldest (Little D) proceeded to pull the styrofoam apart to “make a bowl of popcorn” until Grammy put an end to it when her little sister thought this was real and put some in her mouth. She got to finish and serve her dollies while Little P took a nap!
Fine motor AND imagination at work here!
Meanwhile, Laura brought a package of golf tees on a recent visit
with her Littles!
It’s a great addition to any GRAND Bag!
Here’s a link to the colorful ones Laura has.
Little L spent time each morning sorting the golf tees by colors!
These disposable muffin tins make great sorting cups!
Did You Know?
Sorting is such an important early math skill
AND
these golf tees work well for building patterns, too...
another key skill for young learners!
I didn’t have styrofoam, but I did bring an extra pool noodle with me!
(They are so cheap right now, so I had stocked up!)
I cut the noodle into smaller sections
and then cut one part again lengthwise.
This made a great “workbench” for Little L!
We played a little game once Little L had had her fill
of pounding her “nails” into the “wood”.
She rolled one die, chose a golf tee color
and then she pounded that many tees into the pool noodle.
Little L loves games!
No pool noodle or styrofoam?
NO WORRIES!
Younger Littles can push golf tees into playdough
and older ones can pound them into an empty shoe box!
Let’s make a Pom Pom Launcher!
We know how much Littles of all ages love to “launch” things!
Use pom poms or marshmallows to make it safe and fun!
Cut the top off a balloon and knot the bottom, then stretch it over a bottomless cup or cardboard tube. Fill the launcher with pom poms or marshmallows, pull back on the knot and let go!
You’ll find an IG reel of our pom pom launcher in action here!
Ready… Aim… Let’s Go!
Laura and her Littles spent a rainy morning together this week.
She pulled out this oldie but goodie activity…
and it’s delicious, too!
We made Rainbow Toast every year in my kindergarten class
and when Little L and I were looking at old photos this week,
I was reminded of this activity!
You’ll need milk, with a small amount divided into enough dishes
for the colors you want to “paint” with..
Then use liquid food coloring (not gel) and add a few drops to each dish.
We, of course, had to make rainbow colors!
Using a clean paint brush, paint a picture or design on bread.
(We used white bread for this project.)
When done, put the painted bread in the toaster.
Toast it briefly to avoid the bread from turning brown.
Add butter or cinnamon sugar as desired!
YUM!
We reposted this reel on Instagram earlier this week!
As an added bonus… your sliding glass door or window gets washed,
just like Laurie’s did!
Check out the post for all the details!
Laurie and her husband love to get their Littles
outside and moving as much as possible… especially during the summer!
My husband and I decided we would take our Littles to a new playground once a week this summer to encourage large motor skill development, increased confidence and even some risk-taking.. Through mid-July, we’ve made it to six different playgrounds so far. We have learned a lot about our little girls and plan to continue into the fall.
Looking for some added fun for older Littles?
Rate each playground when your visit wraps up!.
You’ll have a great scorecard for when you need something to do!
There’s still time...
Get outside this summer with your Littles!
Are you a Distant Grand
OR
maybe one who hasn’t seen your favorite Little in person lately?
Here’s a great way to connect (as seen in this IG post)!
If you have a toddler or young preschool grandchildren, they will love to play Hide and Go Seek on FaceTime with you! They go hide while you count. Then have their parent walk with the phone as you call out “are you behind the door? Are you in the closet?” As long as you do all the talking, they really believe you are the one looking for them!!
You gotta love toddlers!!!
The above photos are such great reminders for us
of the sweet memories we’ve made this summer with our own Littles!
We hope that one or more of our activities
- this week or in past weeks -
got you thinking, likewise,
about all the fun you and your Littles can have together, too!
We want to THANK YOU so very much
for reading, commenting, subscribing and/or emailing.
If you’d like to follow us on Instagram or Facebook,
During August, we’ll continue to post about once each week.
We also plan to take a bit of a breather,
spend time with loved ones
and spend some time preparing for the fall season at Our Grand Lives!
It will be here before we know it!
Yesterday we shared our latest Life Lately post!
If you’d like to read more, you’ll find it here!
Our Just JULY-ing post provided several snapshots into our lives this past month!
It was a good one!
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING SITE FOR FEATURING OUR POST!
Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot from Boondock Ramblings
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The ice cube painting looks so fun, and the tees in the pool noodle, too! Honestly, I think my Bigs would like the pom pom shooter! ha :) Thanks for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #66 linkup. Hope to see you next week at #67, too.
lovely ideas, I really like the balloon and toilet roll shooter. Will be doing this with my granddaughter when I see her next. Hope you're enjoying the holidays with the little ones. Thansk for joining in with #pocolo
This summer really does need to slow down! I noticed just the other day, a slight orange tinge on one of our trees in the garden! Autumn will be waking up soon. Another week of fun-packed activities. I love the rainbow toast and ice painting! Your littles are so lucky to have such fun-loving Grands. Wishing you lovely ladies a fab week ahead. :) 💕
So many fun activities and memories made!
There are so many fun activities here! It makes me wish my grands were little again! But, I have a feeling they'd still like the ice cube painting as well as the pompom shooters! This was so much fun reading and seeing! Thanks for sharing these with the grannies who now have to buy clothes and not toys!
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