let's go! GRAND summer fun, week two! let's explore, eat, move & create!

Our Grand Lives
2 days ago
8 min read

Thursday, June 12, 2025

It’s been a week filled with summer goodness in our worlds!

A family wedding, days spent with sweet Littles, retirement and grad parties,

yummy fresh fruit, a summer cocktail or two and BBQs!

Life is GRAND!

Speaking of GRAND, here at Our Grand Lives we’ve got

more summer goodness to share with you all today!

However, before we begin,

we’d like to thank our friends at Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot

for making us their “Featured Blogger” recently!

Special thanks to these bloggers for highlighting our blog on each of their sites!

Marsha in the Middle

Scratch Made Food for Hungry People

Boondock Ramblings

Women Living Well After 50

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

❤ We love our blogging community! ❤

We are thrilled to know that many readers are enjoying our

summer series of posts…

We kicked off this series with Week One last Thursday,

and our hope is that the ideas we share

will provide some inspiration for GRANDS like us,

as well as others (parents, caregivers) who spend time with Littles they love!

In each post, we provide 3-4 simple and engaging activities,

to try with your Littles this summer!

With few materials needed and quick set-up,

our weekly topics might include a combination of the following:

Here’s to Week Two of GRAND Summer Fun!

This week’s featured ideas included…

LET’S EXPLORE! Toddler Time Activities!

LET’S EAT! - Muffin Tin Meals!

LET’S MOVE! Beach Ball Games!

LET’S CREATE! - Rainy Day Art!

LET’S GO!

Last week, Laura’s Littles were in town for a visit

so she pulled out a few of her tried and true activities…

ones that big sis, Little L, had played with as a toddler!

Our thirteen-month Little P sure had fun… exploring!

POM POM WHISK!

You only need two items to pull together this activity for your Little - a wire whisk from your kitchen and some big pom poms OR cotton balls!

I stuffed colorful pom poms into the whisk and then our curious Little P pulled them out and then put them back in! We also played a tickle game with the soft-sided whisk and hide and seek with the pom poms! So many possibilities!

NOODLE UP!

Below you’ll find two variations of this activity! Both are great options for keeping a toddler active in the high chair!

When our Little L was about fifteen months old, I tried this version! I placed straws upright in balls of playdough and then had several large dry noodles available for our Little to thread onto the straw! She was SO proud of herself!

Fast forward to last weekend with Little P (now 13 months) and I pulled out the same noodles. She wasn’t quite ready for threading them on to straws, but I did have an Oball grasping ball that we had been playing with and Little P could successfully put the dry noodles through the holes… over and over again!

STICK TO IT!

Here’s one more activity that I first made for Little L two years ago and now her sister, Little P is challenged and entertained with it, as well!

I used a recycled bread crumb container and covered it with gift wrap. Then I used an exacto knife to cut slits in the top of the plastic lid. I had popsicle sticks that I’d brought home from my kindergarten classroom when I retired. You can certainly collect ones you recycle, check out the dollar store or here’s an inexpensive set of 200 - they always come in handy!

Right now, Little P has fun dumping the sticks and then picking them up and putting them in the container without the lid.

Before we know it,

she’ll be dropping them in the slits in the lid…

just like her big sister did!

Laurie first saw this idea on Instagram

and after getting frustrated with her one picky eater,

she decided to try it with her two granddaughters!

In fact, a few weeks back we shared this idea as A GRAND Tip!

BUT

it was so good and so easy that we decided that the idea

deserved its own turn in the spotlight!

I used a 6-cup muffin tin for each Little when making their lunches one day! I actually found disposable/foil ones that had covers for easy storage. I filled each cup with a smaller portion of food .that was in bite size pieces - fruit, veggies, pretzels or chips, cheese cubes, protein, bread/crackers all work well! I told my Littles that this was a new Lunchable I found called Lunch Munch! They loved it!

The smaller portions made it easier for them to manage, the foods didn’t “touch each other”, and, if they didn’t eat one of the foods, I put the top on the tin, put it in the fridge, and offered it for snack/dinner later on. It was also easy to make up the container the night before or early in the morning when I took care of them, making lunch time go so smoothly! Older Littles would love to help fill their own tins, too!.

Now my Littles ask for Grammy’s Lunchables on a regular basis!

When Laura’s Littles were in town last weekend,

we had moments filled with extra energy that needed to be released!

Imagine that!

A few beach balls came to our rescue - inside and out!

I had been at Target earlier in the week and bought a 14” beach ball (for $1)

and an extra large one (for $3).

It took a bit to blow up the huge one (we didn’t plan ahead)

but, boy oh boy, did our Littles have fun!

THE BENEFITS OF A BEACH BALL?

It’s inexpensive, lightweight and soft when inflated!

Beach balls are generally considered “safe” for Littles, too,

but ALWAYS keep an eye on your young ones!

INSIDE GAMES!

First, we played with the beach balls inside on a rainy afternoon. We primarily played with the 14” beach ball indoors, although LIttle P (our toddler) loved holding and throwing a smaller 8” beach ball I’d found at the dollar store some time ago!

Three of our favorite games were Catch, Keep Away and Hot Potato! Do you remember playing these?

Catch! Little L (our 3-year-old granddaughter) was a pro throwing and catching the beach ball. We threw the ball, we rolled the ball and we kicked the ball… We played this game over and over again throughout the weekend!

Keep Away! It’s fun to throw the ball back and forth between two people, while trying to keep it away from a third person who is in the middle. You can also roll the beach ball between multiple people in a circle while someone else is in the middle, trying to capture the ball! In fact, half the fun was getting "hit" by the beach ball.... oh, the giggles!

Hot Potato! Again, this game is for multiple players who sit in a circle. As music plays, people pass the beach ball around the circle. When the music stops, the player holding the ball is out. NOTE: When we play this game with young Littles, they are only “out” for one round and then re-enter the game OR they switch places with another player in the circle! Win, win!

One other fun game we played was Basketball. I brought an empty laundry basket into our playing space and we took turns trying to make basket! after basket!

OUTDOOR GAMES!

The next day, we moved the beach ball fun outside into the yard! It was a sunny day (YAY!) but the only thing we had to watch out for was the wind! We had to go chasing the balls a few times, which brought it's own comic relief to it all!

Outdoor games that are fun to play with beach balls are Volleyball and Kickball! I also cut a pool noodle in half and Little L had fun playing Hockey as she pushed the beach ball across the yard… or perhaps she’s playing Golf? What do you think?

Score! Fore?

I'm looking forward to bringing the beach balls and pool noodles to the lake

for the 4th of July holiday in a few weeks.

Should be fun with all the Littles!

We’ve had a lot of rainy summer weather here in Minnesota recently

so Laurie came up with this fun idea!

When you find yourself stuck inside on a rainy day, take advantage of the gloomy weather!. Using WASHABLE markers, draw a picture on white copy paper. Dash outside and lay your picture on the driveway or sidewalk.