It’s Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start to summer for many.  While it’s a great time to get together for family cook-outs and a swim in the pool, Memorial Day is really about so much more than that.

It’s a time to remember all the servicemen who have died.  This week I pulled out some of my husband’s old army men to help explain that sacrifice to the kids.

My husband has a HUGE collection of army men from when he was younger.  And while I wanted to explain that sometimes our military men and women don’t make it home to their families, I also didn’t want to get too involved it the details of war.  (I have a very sensitive 6 year-old.)

So, I skipped using the fallen soldiers he had in his collection, but I did choose to include the soldier carrying the stretcher for the wounded.  He was able to put soldiers on it and pull them around, but in his world, the soldiers always came back.  That’s the beauty of childhood.

He may not grasp the finality of a soldier dying; honestly, I don’t want him to just yet.  I want him to hang on to that childhood innocence a little longer.

But getting the soldiers out, and letting him recreate battles in his small world was a good introduction to what Memorial Day really is about.  

Looking for other patriotic ideas?

Check out our patriotic sensory play and American flag craft.

You may also like:

• Summer Crafts & Activities
• Awesome Camp Crafts
• Make Your Own Craft Stick Catapult 

The post Memorial Day Sand Play first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

This week I’m thankful for:

• A few days of cooler temperatures
• Energy to build a lower level to the flower bed
• A Great Memorial Day weekend sale on mulch (and boy, did those 8 bags go fast!)
• Clearance sale plants for less than half their normal prices
• Beautiful weather for a family cookout over the weekend
• Plenty of attention for 2 little ones from both sets of grandparents
• Finally finding a Little Mermaid swimsuit that fits my own little mermaid
• And strawberries galore

Now it’s your turn.

What are you thankful for this week?

As always, you can leave a comment or feel free to link up your own thankful posts!

This week I’m linked with Black Tag Diaries, The Fontenot Four, Divas with a Purpose, and Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Reading List

The post Strawberries and More — Thankful Thursday first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

My son loves to drive his miniature construction vehicles through dry rice.  It’s a nice alternative when playing in the sandbox isn’t possible.

With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, I thought I’d try making patriotic rainbow rice.  (I’ve seen several “recipes” for colored rice out there.  I did something very similar to the one found at Blog Me Mom.  The only difference is that I stirred the food coloring into the rice instead of shaking it.  Next time, I’m letting the kids shake it up before I pop it in the microwave for those 10 seconds!)

Once I had the rice colored, I set out the invitation to play…

I pulled out the outdoor play kitchen stuff from when we do mud pies, and they started spooning rice into various containers.

At first they tried keeping all the colors separated.  But eventually it was a spoonful of red, followed by a spoonful of blue…

And, of course, after a while, the construction vehicles made an appearance!

I have to say, just by adding color to the rice, it became a whole new level of excitement for both of my preschoolers!  Rainbow rice sensory play is something we will definitely be doing again!

The post Patriotic Sensory Play first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.