Tin foil River

Make a river in the backyard out of tinfoil

Andrew’s sister-in-law Kristin (who has four kids under the age of 8!) recently sent me a couple of pages from a parenting magazine that had some great ideas for summer activities for the rug rats. One of these ideas was a foil river. We, having foil in our drawer, decided to give it a try.

First, we found a spot in our back yard with a slight slope so the water would run downhill. We unwound a good amount of foil, being careful not to let it tear, and carefully folded up the edges. Then, we turned on the hose at the top, and let the water flow down the foil.

As far as activities go, this was fun and easy, and I enjoyed watching Milo and Oliver figure out how to make the river go faster (moving the sides up and closer together); make a foil tunnel; and race their little boats and flowers down the moving water. The only downside is, it only works if the water is running, and there was no easy way to collect it at the bottom to reuse it for watering the plants. So I felt pretty guilty wasting water and turned off the hose after 15 minutes. It was a fantastic 15 minutes, though! Thanks for the idea, Kristin!

Read the rest of the story: http://www.crumbbums.com/?p=2842

Of course, in Alberta everything is bigger, so here is the Alberta version for Slip and Slide. (May not be suitable for younger children!)

When they grow up, boys play with the same toys, just slightly bigger versions.