12 Fun Activities to do with Lemons
When I thought of these activities, it was 2020, and we were living in Uganda, where lemons (and oranges) are green. So lots of these pictures are going to look a little confusing, but I promise you, they are, in fact, Lemons.
I originally made a whole activity pack titled 'what to do with all those 2020 lemons'. Hopelessly optimistic that 2021 would usher in an era of calm and prosperity for us all. Stiiiiiiiill waiting . . . . . . . .
Make Lemonade!
Obvs.
Take 1 lemon, squeeze it into a cup over a tea strainer to catch all the pips.
Add some mint leaves (optional)
add a dash of honey
top up the cup with water
stir it all up
Yum.
Make A Bicycle Cleaner
This also works as a general household cleaner . . .
Mix up:
1/2 cup vinegar
4 tablespoons baking powder
8 cups of warm water
2 lemons. (Although we used 4 since our lemons were really small)
Stir it all up, let it cool and then put it in a spray bottle.
Clean the kitchen, the tiles, the tables, the bathroom . . . . .and of course the bicycle
Make Lemon Curd
Delicious on cakes and bread, or by the spoonful.
Take 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a tablespoon of grated lemon zest, 1 cup of sugar, 3 large eggs, and half a cup of unsalted butter cut into cubes.
Put them all in a bowl made of glass or enamel (not metal) and place that over a saucepan of boiling water. Or use a non- metal saucepan.
Keep the heat low. Keep stirring with a wooden or rubber (not metal) spoon.
When it looks like it’s about to boil, then give it a few seconds then take it off the heat. It will thicken as it cools.
When it’s cold then spread it on some bread and cakes. Or transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to a week.
Rafiki recommends trying to eat it all in one sitting.
Lemon Stamp
Make some fun posters to decorate your walls.
Cut some lemons in half, wipe them dry with kitchen paper.
Dip them in paint, and then stamp them onto the paper.
Bake a Lemon Cake
Mix together:
1/2 cup of cold butter
Quarter a cup of honey
1 cup of flour
Press the mixture into a small greased tin lined with baking paper
and bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees, until it is starting to turn
brown.
As that is cooking, whisk together 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons
of flour, 2 eggs, the zest and the juice of a lemon.
Let it rest for 10 minutes, then whisk it again and pour it on top of
the biscuit base.
Bake for another 20 minutes at 180, until the lemon is starting to
set and go brown.
When it is cooled then decorate it with icing sugar and sprinkles.
Eat them all immediately to stop parents from finishing them off
when you’ve gone to bed.
Make a Lemon Display
Slice up some lemons, and stick them to the inside of a see through container.
Then get a smaller container which can fit inside the lemon one, and fill that one with pretty flowers, and water. (Or ferns and weeds if you’re Rafiki)
Lemon & Courgette Bread
Did Rafiki realise he was eating vegetables when he was eating this bread? No he didn’t!
Line a loaf tin with baking paper, and preheat the oven to 180.
Whisk together 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt.
In a different bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of honey, and 1 egg. Then add 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt, juice from 1 lemon, 1tsp of vanilla extract. Mix it all up.
Add in 1 finely grated courgette.
Add in the flour mixture slowly.
Then Rafiki says, add alittle bit more of other stuff that’s still on the table.
Pour it in the loaf tin, and cook for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
When it has cooled, take it out of the tin, and mix together a glaze made from 1/2 cup of icing sugar, 2 tbsp lemon, and 1 tbsp plain yoghurt.
Lemon Boats
Cut a lemon in half length ways.
Get a couple of toothpicks, and tape triangles of paper to them to make sails.
Stick the toothpicks in the lemons and set sail on a bath/ paddling pool.
Blow on the sails to see who can get their boat to the other side first.
Sink or Swim
Take 2 glasses of water.
Put 2 tablespoons of salt in one of the glasses.
Put a lemon in each glass.
The one in the salt solution floats, since the salt has made the water more dense.
Rafiki wants to advise everyone that it’s also fun to drop the lemons from height and make splashes (in plastic cups).
Lemon Plant Pots
Cut a lemon into half, and scoop out the insides.
Cut a couple of holes in the bottom, and fill them with soil and seeds to help your plants grow.
Once the seedlings are growing, you can put the whole thing into a bigger plant pot, or into the plant beds, since the peel will naturally turn to compost, and give the little plant some added food.
Invisible Ink using Lemons
Squeeze out the juice from a lemon, and use it as paint, painting it onto some paper with a paintbrush.
It’ll look invisible at this point, but don’t worry.
When it has dried, apply heat with a hair dryer (on the lowest setting, and not for long enough to burn the paper and always with grown up supervision).
ta daaaaaaaaaaaaa. Your masterpiece will be revealed.
If you've enjoyed these activities, then you should check these out, on sale now:
Fun for the whole family with this personalised activity pack, with stickers and a certificate.
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