Church bags

My 3-year-old is at the age now when she has things for Sunday school that need to be carried back and forth each week between church and home. She has a backpack that we use often, but we always switch it out with her Leapster and accessories, her Tag reader and books, and her Sunday school things. When we showed up to church with her Tag reader and books sans Bible and Sunday school supplies one Sunday, I knew it was time to get a bag that's solely for Sunday school. Of course her brother had to have one too. I picked up some plain canvas craft bags at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 (and half off!). Then I grabbed a handful of fabric scraps, backed them with Heat-n-Bond, cut out some letters and shapes (I used this tutorial for the flowers on Hannah's bag), and decorated a bag for each of them. Hannah's carries her Bible, her memory verses, and a snack or two. And Parker's holds a couple of diapers, wipes, snacks, and a toy. I already love that they are always packed and ready to grab. And the fact that the whole project was less than $8 for BOTH bags is a win for sure!

Rainbow Ice

We've been HOT in Texas this summer and have had to keep most of our activities indoors. One afternoon my 3-year-old and I made a tray of rainbow ice cubes, and they were a huge hit! I just filled up a small plastic tea pot with water for her to fill each cube, then we squeezed one small drop of food coloring into each one. We stuck to mainly primary colors. She used a toothpick to stir each cube.

Once these were frozen, the possibilities are absolutely endless. My daughter had so much fun mixing a couple of cubes into a Sprite to see what color it would turn. I always cool her oatmeal with 2 ice cubes after it's cooked, so I used a blue and a red one. As she stirred and her oatmeal turned purple, she was thrilled. You can also stick a toothpick in these as they're freezing to use as a handle. Then, when they're frozen, the kids can use the toothpick to hold it to paint on paper outside. They could also use the colored cubes as a sensory activity floating in water in the sink.

Hope you have as much fun with these as we did!

Fun for a rainy day

We have this set of mini Caterpillar construction equipment that both of my kids adore. We put it to good use a few days ago when it was raining outside. I filled a cookie sheet with 1-inch sides with dry rice, added the front loaders, steamrollers, dump trucks, etc. and my 3-year-old daughter went crazy. She played for over an hour dumping and digging. In fact, we left it on the table, and she's played with it every day since. Quick, easy, inexpensive, and hours of entertainment? Yes, please!

*By the way, I've gotten lots of comments recently about the amount of mess that things like this create. Yes, they absolutely can be a disaster. And I think some kids handle these types of things way more calmly than others. But we include clean-up as part of our process (my 3-year-old has a set of brooms, dust pans, etc.), and we go over the rules beforehand. We don't ever intentionally spill the rice/sand/beans, etc., and we always clean up our messes. If anything is ever thrown, dumped intentionally, or mistreated in any way, it is put away immediately, no questions asked. And, if there is resistance during clean-up, it goes in time-out, and we don't get it back out that day at all. But, just a little note, I make sure it's put in an area out of reach but not out of sight. I want the action to pack a punch. So, definitely use your judgment with your little ones. You may need to wait until they're older to tackle this. But I definitely wanted to dispell any assumption that I don't have a giant mess to clean up after these types of things. I've just accepted that as part of the fun. Proceed at your own risk! =)

Pretzel Sticks and Marshmallows

A bowl of assorted marshmallows (gingerbread men, french vanilla snowmen, mini marshmallows, and jumbo marshmallows - all leftover from Christmas baking) and pretzel sticks turned into an entire day's worth of activity.
We used these to build all sorts of things from animal corrals, fences, houses, a mailbox, etc. The activity ended only when Miss Priss asked this mama to make a kangaroo...out of pretzels and marshmallows. Oh boy. I failed miserably, and we took a break.
Thankfully Daddy is extremely creative and resourceful, and he pulled through for her that evening.
Ta-da! A kangaroo made of pretzel sticks and marshmallows. Unreal!Clearly she was thrilled.

If you're looking to escape the doldrums of winter indoors, this was a cheap, easy way to entertain for the day!

Rainy/Snowy Day Fun

The Texas weather has been CRAZY this winter leaving us guessing at times as to when we can leave the house again. We've had to pull out all the stops to keep these kids busy, and when something occupies this almost three-year-old's time for more than a few minutes, I like to share. One morning I grabbed some foam paintbrushes, a bottle of shaving cream, and filled up the bathtub. This little lady painted to her heart's content. You can mix a drop of food coloring into the shaving cream for another sensory element, but make sure to do so in a bowl and not in the tub. When the food coloring is completely mixed into the shaving cream, it should not stain your tub or grout.

Uses for pool noodles

Last week we had a major black mold disaster during our master bathroom DIY remodel which ended with our family in a hotel. I was so thankful for this helpful hint from a friend as it made our night MUCH easier. Our 2-year-old sleeps in a twin-sized bed with bed rails. She's too tall to sleep in a pack-n-play comfortably, and bed rails are way too cumbersome to be portable. So we stopped at the Dollar Tree to buy some pool noodles which we used along the edge of the bed between the fitted sheet and mattress. It worked perfectly, and she slept soundly.
I've been meaning to post this idea for awhile now. Then this morning when I was catching up on Craft Gossip, I saw another fun pool noodle use which caused me to do a little Google search. Turns out there are tons of ideas out there for this inexpensive piece of foam. Here are just a few I stumbled upon.
Out of the Crayon Box's idea for using a pool noodle to make a wreath form. She went from this:
to this:Obsessively Stitching's Flower Party Decor:

My Little Gems' Lacing with Water Noodles:

My Little Gems' Water Noodle Race Tracks:

Craftzine's Flower Garland:

Itty Bitty Crafting

I just saw this craft idea on Craft Gossip, and I can't wait to try it. My experience as far as crafting with kids goes is mainly with kindergarten-aged kids and up. I love crafting with my 2-year-old, but I feel like I rarely have good ideas that stimulate her. Also, I find that I spend 30 minutes putting together a project for her that she ends up spending 30 seconds completing. I think a more detailed version of this box would be so much fun for her. I'm thinking I'll decorate it like a flower box and let her create flowers on pipe cleaners to "plant" inside. She is going to love this! Hope it inspires you too.

Dying Pasta

It is HOT here in Texas, so I'm always looking for fun, creative, open-ended activities to while away our time in the air conditioning. Gluing seems to be a huge hit around here. I've been cutting paper scraps for her to glue. I also have used dried beans, lentils, and pasta. I ran across this idea for coloring pasta and thought I'd share.

What you'll need: pasta, food coloring, rubbing alcohol, and Ziploc bags.
Fill a Ziploc bag with pasta. Then add 1 tsp of rubbing alcohol and a half dozen (or so) drops of food coloring. Close the bag, and shake it until the color is well-distributed. This is a great step to have the kids help with.Let the pasta sit in the bags for 15-30 minutes for the pasta to absorb the color. Then spread the pasta onto a cookie sheet to dry overnight.
I was skeptical because it seemed like the color would rub off onto our hands, but it hasn't at all. The rubbing alcohol wets the pasta just enough for it to absorb the food coloring, then it evaporates leaving the pasta completely dried and colored. This is an easy, cheap, and fun activity! We've used these for sorting, gluing, and as a sensory activity in a tub with scoops and measuring cups.

Sorting

Here's a fun cheap/free activity for your little busybody to use up some of the hot afternoon indoor time this summer. Grab a handful of different-colored objects and a muffin tin, and let them sort by color. I used my button stash, and my 26-month-old sat for a solid HOUR sorting buttons! She's begged daily for a week to play with them again. With a newborn, I'm always looking for ways to keep her busy having fun while I'm tending to him. This was a HUGE hit. Other ideas for sorting: coins by type, spools of thread, crayons, milk jug caps, or even colored scrapbook paper cut into squares or punched with a hole punch. Happy sorting!

Great idea!

I love this idea. How fun, easy, and sentimental. I think it would make a great gift from kids. Check out her entire blog, too. LOTS of great "unplugged" ideas.

Plantable Paper

(Photo courtesy of Alpha Mom)

Alpha Mom has a really great tutorial for plantable paper. This would be a great idea to use as gift tags or name cards for table settings. But I think I'm going to make some to use as thank-you cards. What a fun project! My 2-year-old would love helping me with this one.

Bubble Snakes

Here's another cute idea I saw on CraftGossip.com. If you're not already following that site, I highly recommend you do. They have so many great ideas.

Pumpkin Head Fun

Here's a cute, free download appropriate for this week. Just print, color, cut, and glue. Enjoy!

Sandy Feet

I'm taking a break from my all-day cooking session to share this with you. While I was waiting for my pot to come to a boil, I was flipping through July's Parents Magazine and saw the cutest thing. This is a kit to carry with you to the beach to make a keepsake out of your child's footprints in the sand. What a great idea! Of course, you could save yourself a little bit of money and buy plaster of paris to do this on your own. But this comes with all the tools you'll need for mixing, and it's packaged in the sweetest bucket. This would make a great gift idea too. You can buy them here. Isn't it precious?

Sticker Prompts

My nephews helped me demonstrate this idea. Grab a handful of plain white paper (I keep a pile of printing mistakes by my printer and often use the back for doodling) and some fun stickers. Put the sticker somewhere on the paper, and have the kids draw a picture around, but including the sticker. It's fun to put the stickers in an unlikely place. For example, I put a sticker of a t-rex at an angle toward the middle of the page. My 5-year-old nephew decided the t-rex was climbing a mountain. Since there was at least half of a page underneath, he drew all sorts of underground life (worms, bugs, tunnels, etc.)

Want to take it further? Turn the paper over, and draw squiggly lines to create a puzzle. Cut along the lines, and voila! Don't be jealous of my amazing drawing skillz. =)

How to make homemade play dough

Step 1: Invite your favorite 3-year-old nephew over for a visit.

Step 2: Put your very helpful 1-year-old down for a nap.

Step 3: Gather the ingredients: 1.5 cups flour, 3/4 cup salt, 3 tsp cream of tartar, 1/2 Tbsp oil, 1.5 cups water

Step 4: Let your 3-year-old help dump the salt into the water and stir to dissolve.

Step 5: Add the food coloring of your choice to the salt and water mixture (we chose blue), and stir.

Step 6: Combine the dry ingredients in a pot, and stir. Slowly add the water/salt/food coloring, and stir.

Step 7: Over medium heat, cook the play dough stirring constantly until it comes together in a ball in the middle of the pot. Meanwhile, make your helper do the dishes to keep him safely away from the hot stove. =)

Step 8: Knead the play dough on the counter 20-30 times until it comes together in a smooth consistency.

Step 9: Get out plastic spoons, knives, forks, and cookie cutters, and have a blast creating. Smiling until your cheeks hurt is optional.Finishing up: After you make 3,862 trains and name them all at the request of your nephew, make a stick figure person explaining as you go as so, "Look - see the eyes? I'm giving him a huge smile...and a button nose." Then hold it together when your nephew looks at your creation and says, "I like your frog, Aunt Alicia."Seriously, if you haven't played with play dough in years, grab a kid and make some. So much fun!

Great Resource

A couple days ago I saw a link to this parenting website on a blog I read. I thought I'd share it with you!

For those who are unaware, I taught pre-K for four years before I entered the corporate world then, ultimately became a stay-at-home mom. During my teaching years everything was very structured and planned out, obviously. But sometimes I get caught in a rut and find myself doing the same thing every day with my daughter. This website allows you to enter your child(ren)'s age(s) and e-mails age-appropriate activities you can do together as often as you'd like. I signed up for Monday-Friday. It's free, and the activities are easy and require very little prep. They also talk about which senses and skills the activities promote. Today's activity for Miss Priss is bubble popping. They even included a little song to sing while popping the bubbles. This is right up my alley, and I hope you find it helpful too!

Love This

Hope you get to try this soon. =)

Day 19, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

19) Storybook Crafts, Part One

The Christmas Mouse, which I've had a lot of trouble finding (and I'm not quite sure this is the right one) is a sweet tale of the story behind the Silent Night - from a mouse's perspective. This craft is straight from my preschool years. My teacher read this story, and we made these little mice. The body is glued into half of a walnut shell. The body is made of two pom poms - one large, and one small. The eyes are seed beads, the ears are pinecone pieces, and the tail is leather. There is a pipe cleaner glued to the bottom to twist it onto the tree branch. Of course, you could make these ornaments, or you could make some yummy treats like these instead to tie into the book. So cute. Directions are here.

Day 11, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

11) Toddler Art
I'm borrowing inspiration today from other crafty folks on the Internet. Here is a great list of things to do with your toddler's scribbles this Christmas season. My favorite idea is here...so precious!