By Stephanie Clamer

With schools being closed and a safer at home order in effect, are you and your children looking for something fun to do? Here are 5 ideas for fun:

Indoor/outdoor treasure hunt

• • Design a treasure hunt by creating a list of items to be found on the hunt. It could be easy items such as a birds nest or a pinecone.
  • Then go hunting for the treasure!

Plant a garden

Now is a great time to plan and plant your own garden.

• • To learn how to create your perfect garden and see what plants can be grown during each season check out the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide at: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/VH/VH02100.pdf
  • For gardening questions, contact BJ Jarvis by phone at: (352) 527-5714 or by e-mail at: bjjarvis@ufl.edu

Easy to make ice cream in a bag

Make a tasty snack in 15 minutes, without a fancy ice cream maker!

• • Materials needed:
    • 1 gallon Ziploc bag
    • 1 quart Ziploc bag
    • 1 cup milk
    • 1/3 cup salt
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    • ice
  • Directions:
    1. Pour milk, vanilla, and sugar into small, quart sized bag and seal the bag.
    2. Fill large, gallon sized bag 3/4 full of ice, add salt to ice.
    3. Place smaller bag with milk mix inside large bag and seal.
    4. Be sure to close both bags tightly!
    5. Shake the large bag good and hard for 5 minutes.
    6. Remove small bag from large bag, rinse under cold water to remove salt water.
    7. Remove ice cream from small bag and enjoy!

Make homemade fruit pops

Using a Popsicle mold you can take your favorite fruits and make fruit pops! You can use the recipe below, but any type of fresh or frozen fruit works.

• • Materials needed:
    • Popsicle mold
    • 1 large banana, cut into small pieces
    • 4 large fresh strawberries sliced or cut into small pieces (you can use an egg slicer to slice them easily)
    • 1/2 to 1 cup apple juice no sugar added, or other favorite fruit juice
  • Directions:
    1. Add fruit to Popsicle mold, alternating different kinds of fruit until the molds are filled almost to the top.
    2. Slowly fill the mold with apple juice, stopping 1/8 inch before the top, place a popsicle stick in the molds, freeze for 6 hours or overnight.
    3. Remove pops from mold and enjoy!

Make slime

This is a stressful time for both children and adults. Schedules are off and everyone is trying to adjust to a new normal. Slime is great for calming anxiety, stress, and easing frustrations (until it ends up on the carpet).

• • Materials needed:
    • Measuring spoons
    • Medium bowl for mixing
    • Spoon for mixing
    • Airtight container for storage
    • 2 (4 ounce) bottles of washable glue, such as Elmer’s
    • 1 to 2 drops liquid food coloring (optional)
    • 1/4 cup glitter (optional)
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 2 to 3 tablespoons saline solution (i.e., contact lens solution)
  • Directions:
    1. Pour glue into mixing bowl, add food coloring and glitter and mix.
    2. Add baking soda to glue mix and stir until smooth.
    3. Add 2 tablespoons of saline solution and stir slowly. The mixture will begin to harden and become stringy.
    4. Continue mixing slowly until a ball of slime forms
    5. Pick up slime and work between hands until smooth. If the slime is really slimy add another 1/2 tablespoon of saline solution.
    6. Once at desired consistency, play with the slime or store it for future use.

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