Camp Mommy: Cloud Gazing

This week's Camp Mommy schedule was a bit tenuous given all the rain we had been getting and the flooding. I was positive we would have to do another indoor craft or imaginative play and put our outdoor Camp Mommy event on hold. I had everything prepared, waiting for the right time if it arose before my days off were done. This time came on my second last day off, when the rain finally stopped and the mosquitoes hadn't had the chance to multiply and devour our skin. The sun came out, but there was enough cloud coverage, with the perfect big, white fluffy storm clouds that we could lay back and enjoy.

I got our outdoor blanket and our supplies for laying down and gazing at the clouds. First we read a book about clouds called "Shapes in the Sky" by Josepha Sherman. It was a pretty easy read for my almost 4 year old, and it only went into a few different types of clouds. After that, we played with some chalk and drew our own clouds. We spoke about what clouds were made of (little tiny water particles) and then explained how it rained/snowed (the water particles get too heavy to float and end up falling to earth). After our chalk play, we laid on our blanket and watched the clouds float by while looking through our laminated cloud viewer. I just made this by making a collage of cloud pictures, leaving the center blank so I could cut it out. Then I laminated the full piece, cutting out the center square again as to not impede our viewing. Bug likes looking through things, so this added a little bit of fun to our learning activity. 

After that, we went inside to enjoy a little cloud science and then cloud dessert. We made our own cloud with water, shaving cream and blue food colouring. We filled a clear cup with water about 3/4's full, and put shaving cream on top. Once that was complete, Bug dripped food colouring onto the shaving cream, then watched the blue liquid fall "out" of our cloud. He really enjoyed this. To finish off our Camp Mommy day, we had a Cloud Parfait for dessert. I made this earlier in the day, as it has Jello in it and needed to set. Rather than going through the steps to make this, just look at this video. All you need is blue Jello, 2 cups of ice cubes and whipped cream. We invited one of Bug's friends to join in our dessert treat!

Bear didn't participate in the outside or science part of the activity...but he sure enjoyed the eating of our cloud dessert. Bug talked about our cloud dessert for the rest of the day and into the next. He gets pretty excited for Camp Mommy. He asks for it, and it truly melts my heart that he enjoys our time together just as much as I do!

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