Too Busy for TV

Fourth of July art

2010-07-02T13:59:00.002-04:00

Are you enjoying your summer so far? Can you believe it's already July?! Yeah, me neither. But we are enjoying GORGEOUS weather, and are particularly appreciating it after having a lot of rain last month. The good news was that I didn't have to water the garden, right? :)

I love Independence Day. I love the picnics, the barbecues, the parades, the carnivals, the fireworks, the desserts, the colors... everything "Americana" to me. I wanted to stop in our seasonally neglected blog to briefly share an easy activity we did to celebrate! There's a couple of different ways to go about this project, so I'll share what I had planned out, and maybe one of them will appeal to you... or all of them!

Remember the red and blue paint I mixed up for Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish project a few months ago?

Check to see that the lid secure and give it a little shake if you haven't used it for a while (like we hadn't). It tends to separate a bit as it settles. Also, grab a paintbrush or two!

Option #1:

You will need:

Paper or cardstock
Star stickers

Option #2:

You will need:

Paper or cardstock
Masking tape

Option #3:

You will need:

Paper or cardstock
Star cookie cutter
Plastic (or even better, disposable) plate or tray

Give your child a sheet of star stickers (is it just me, or does everyone have these lying around somewhere?) and let them go to town on a big sheet of paper. We used cardstock because I have a mountain of it, and I like that it holds up during painting projects a little better.

Meanwhile, use the masking tape to make star shapes on another sheet of paper. One of these I did freehand, and I used the star cookie cutter as a guide for the next one. Both ways were pretty easy!

Use your red and blue paints (which inevitably become various shades of purple on some parts of the paper), and paint away! You can remove the star stickers when it dries, but we chose to leave ours on.

This was a great outside activity for this Step 2 easel I found at a garage sale a few weeks ago for... one dollar! Woohoo!

Let dry and remove the masking tape and/or star stickers... it's up to you! My two-and-a-half year old had a fabulous time with this, and I loved watching her and taking pictures! I also love when I can give her a project that she can do somewhat independently, because that allows me a few minutes to clean up dishes, start some laundry... or just enjoy a few minutes of quiet! :) I don't remember for sure, but I would guess she spent at least thirty minutes, just concentrating on her artwork. She ended up having no interest in the last option (using the star cookie cutter as a stamp), so we skipped that one. Maybe we'll do that another day!

Signing off for the summer!

2010-06-17T14:35:00.002-04:00

I really haven't intended to neglect blogging, but it's just sort of happened with all the other summer activities that are in full swing! We've been enjoying spending a lot of time outside just about every day, swinging, sliding, playing in the kiddie pool, riding bikes and driving Cozy Coupes, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing in the sand and water table (we got a real one!), going on walks, planting a garden, visiting with family, making plans for a couple long weekend trips, going crazy with having a garage sale (and then getting rained out...), and all the things that this time of year brings. Quite honestly, I'd much rather be doing all those (mostly) fun activities with my family than be sitting at the computer! :)

I'm hoping to pop in once in a while over the summer, so hopefully you will check back for those at a later time. I've had an idea in my head for months for a MESSY project that will involve the $1 Step 2 easel I just bought for my daughter at a sale last weekend... one dollar! :)

I'm planning to be back on a more regular basis in the fall, especially as I'd like to start a bit of pre-preschool with my girl. :) We'll see!!!

Have a fabulous, fun, FAMILY summer, everyone! And make sure to close the laptop or switch off the television, and get outside!

Weekly Read Wednesday: Harry's Box

2010-06-02T10:01:00.004-04:00

What's that? It's Wednesday already? I guess that's what happens when you have an extra weekend day... the rest of the week just sort of sneaks by you. Today is already starting out weird. My daughter is still asleep at 10:00 a.m. (?!?), and I turned the coffee maker on without adding any water. It's going to be that kind of day, isn't it?

Well, now that I've established that it is, in fact, Wednesday, let me share an adorable find from the library: Harry's Box by Angela McAllister.

The book begins when Harry and his mother return home from the store, and she gives him the empty box to play with. Kids and boxes, right?

Harry, like all children, has quite the imagination! He puts the box in the kitchen and it becomes a shop selling all kinds of treats and goodies.

His dog is his playmate throughout the book, and Harry finds a role for him to play in each new imaginary set-up.

My favorite part of the book is seeing how imaginative Harry's creations are in his mind...

...and then seeing a picture of what was really taking place. I love it!

The book ends as Harry and his dog dream up all the box creations they can come up with next. I love the pictures in this book and the emphasis on using your imagination! It's such a cute, simple story, and I'm glad we picked it up at the library this week!

Imaginary play

2010-05-28T08:31:00.003-04:00

Last week, I got out an old Little Tikes train set for my daughter to play with. It used to belong to my husband when he was little, and we came across it in my in-laws' attic recently. Now, certainly we have PLENTY of toys around these parts, but there's just something fun about bringing out something NEW (or new to her!) to play with for a while. This gives me a great chance to do some rotating of toys and put away things that she hasn't touched for a while. I can store the items in a Rubbermaid box that I think she'll likely come back to at some point, and box up the things she's grown out of to send to the attic (until we decide what the heck we're doing -- or IF we're doing -- about #2 :).

After a little washing, the train set was good as new and ready for another child... only 25 or so years after the last one. :) She played with it ALL afternoon, taking a break only for lunch and naptime. Woohoo!

Don't you just love to watch and listen to your children playing independently? Their imaginations are just hysterical! These two fellas in the train car were put there by my girl, facing each other, because "they're just talkin'." LOVE IT! :)

What are your child's favorite play activities? What funny things have you overheard your little ones saying as they make-believe?

Weekly Read Wednesday: Every Year On Your Birthday

2010-05-26T07:56:00.001-04:00

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis holds special meaning for me. It's on a high shelf in my daughter's room, only pulled down once in a while. So when I saw Every Year On Your Birthday by the same author in a bookstore a few months ago, I knew I had to read it.

For those who are not aware, I'm an adoptive mother. My daughter was not adopted internationally, as the author's daughter was, but there are still so many of the same themes in her books of the thoughts and feelings you might have as an adoptive family.

In Every Year On Your Birthday, the author remembers each of her daughter's first five birthdays, and recalls the special events that happened on each of those days.

In between, she mixes in "flashbacks" almost of where her daughter came from, what her heritage is, and the hopes she has for her daughter's first family.

As in Crazy Cakes, the last page could easily make me cry. Mom and daughter think about her first family. As a mommy through adoption, I so want my daughter to know that it's okay and good and normal to wonder about her heritage, and that it's a "safe" topic in this house. I don't ever want her to feel like she can't ask a question she has, and while hers is an open adoption, there will still be questions someday as she makes sense of everything in her own mind. I hope that reading books such as these, and just making the topic available to her, will help set the tone for future conversations, and let her know that we as her parents love her exactly the way she is, no matter what.

DIY Bible storybook

2010-05-24T08:42:00.002-04:00

My husband had to be out of the house one evening last week, and at the end of a long day, I was a little tired and running out of ideas to entertain our daughter for the hour or so before bedtime. About three seconds after Daddy left, she was asking me to paint. And, I should mention -- she'd already had her bath, so MESSY painting was not an option. :) I tried to coax her into doing some coloring, even with stickers, but nope! It had to be painting! Here's what we came up with on the fly:

You will need:

Any printed coloring pages (there's a million resources online, but we used this collection of printables about the Creation story)
Watercolors
A stapler or some yarn and a hole punch (later on)

I gave her one picture at a time, in order, and let her paint away.

What was really neat about choosing a meaningful topic (i.e., a Biblical account of creation, in this instance) was that we could discuss what each page was about. We talked about all the things that God made, and she (being the parrot of a two-year-old that she is) repeated everything. I love these little opportunities to sow seeds of truth into her mind!

I realize this picture has nothing to do with her craft, but I couldn't help adding this cuteness in! This is her little security blanket that she's long been attached to, and she kept it right next to her the whole time. So sweet... and I'm pretty sure I might cry one day to look back on the little details like this.

When your child's pictures are dry, staple them all together to make a "book." You could also punch holes in the side and thread yarn through. I considered cutting out the picture and text to glue them all onto colorful pieces of construction paper, but realistically, I know this isn't the most durable of "books," so we went for the option of conserving our resources. :) If your child creates something that you really want to save, it might not be a bad idea to have the pages laminated, or seal them onto some cardstock with clear contact paper.

The last step... read the story with your child! :)

Sorry!

2010-05-19T16:27:00.002-04:00

Okay, obviously there's no "weekly read" posted today... sorry about that! Just a few "extras" on this list this week (and coming up) that are keeping me busy! If my daughter is "too busy for TV," then Mommy has been/needs to be "too busy for the computer." :)

I'm hoping to get back into posting again next week, so thanks for checking back soon! :)

Planting seeds

2010-05-14T08:11:00.001-04:00

Planting... and hopefully growing! My daughter was recently given this little Sesame Street-themed planting activity. It came with everything needed for some afternoon fun!

You will need:

A planting kit (ours came from Lowe's and included seeds, pots, soil pellets, and little garden tools), or you can certainly just use your own seeds and pots!
Water
A bowl for mixing up the dirt
A tray or something else to catch water that drips through the pots

I assembled everything needed on the counter (but this would be a WONDERFUL outdoor activity!) and then called my daughter to come help do some planting. Begin by putting your soil pellets (or potting soil is just fine) in a bowl.

Add water. The directions on our kit called for two cups, and it was definitely wet enough.

Mix. Guess who LOVED this part??

Arrange your small pots on the tray.

Fill each pot halfway with soil.

This part of the activity was a hit as well!

Drop seeds in. We had bell pepper seeds. They are so tiny... I'm really hoping they grow because I love bell peppers!

It's a little messy (which is why this would be a great outdoor activity!), but not nearly as bad as you might imagine.

Finish filling the pots with the remainder of the soil to cover the seeds.

Find a sunny location to let them grow, and don't forget to water them. And since we did this activity several days ago, I can now speak from experience by telling you... watch out for wind! Unfortunately, I didn't think so much about this when I put the pots out on our sunny (and unshielded from the elements) patio table. I realized they'd blown over about two days later... boo. I'm really hoping I recovered at least some of the seeds to put into a more sturdy container!

Weekly Read Wednesday: While Mama had a Quick Little Chat

2010-05-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

While browsing through library books recently, my eyes landed on While Mama had a Quick Little Chat by Amy Reichert. I thought it sounded interesting just from the title, so I added it to our collection that day.

The story begins with Rose, a little girl whose mama is having a "quick" chat on the phone and asks her to get ready for bed.

Sounds like a simple enough task, but strange things begin happening right away! Four muscly men knock on the door and start bringing party supplies into the house. Rose tries to tell them they aren't having a party, but the men persist.

She tries to call for her mom, but Mama is too busy! Isn't this so true from a child's perspective?

Party guests arrive...

...and then hors d'oeuvres. In all of this time, Mama hasn't noticed a THING.

The one portion of the story that I didn't love (and skipped over) was that a magician appeared at the party and asked Rose to be his assistant. The picture and text may be just a bit scary for younger children (the magician supposedly saws Rose in two and puts her back together again), but older children would certainly understand it's just a story that's been made up for fun.

Mama is FINALLY done on the phone...

...so Rose has to quickly shoo everyone out the door!

At the end of the story, Mama is pleasantly surprised that Rose got everything done that she'd asked of her before she finished her "quick little chat," and finds her asleep in her bed.

We really enjoyed this story! I read it to my daughter many times, and would pick it up at the library again sometime!

Coffee filter butterflies

2010-05-06T08:32:00.000-04:00

Here's a super quick craft, using a household supply almost everyone has on hand!

You will need:

Disposable coffee filters
Paints (my daughter wanted to use Do-a-Dots, but watercolors would work fabulously here!)
Pipe cleaners in any color (twisty ties that come in boxes of garbage bags would work here as well!)
Newspaper... not pictured, but I quickly discovered this was a necessity! :)

Spread out a coffee filter.

Line some newspaper underneath and let your little one paint away!

The dot paints dried VERY quickly, and we were able to make a "butterfly" using our pipe cleaners in no time at all. Just scrunch the filter up in the middle, wrap a pipe cleaner around it (you don't even need a whole one), and twist at the top for the "antennae."

Happy springtime!

Weekly Read Wednesday: Little Critter series

2010-05-05T08:36:00.001-04:00

I love the Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer. What home library is complete without a stack of these cute stories? Since most of the Little Critter books are likely very familiar, I decided to highlight just a few pages out of some of the books.

{From Just Shopping with Mom}
Oh boy, can I relate to the mom in this story!

When the kids are trying to be helpful... well, you can see what happens!

I'm pretty sure I've had that look on my face more than a few times in a store.

{From I Was So Mad}
Little Critter tries to participate in what he thinks are totally appropriate activities, and shockingly, he gets told "No!" a lot!

When he gets fed up enough, he declares that he's running away. Do I EVER remember having the same "threat" in mind as a child! :)

Here's something I notice as a parent reading the story -- I love how the mom just waves! Of course, she knows he isn't really going to go anywhere. :)

{From Just Go To Bed}
This is another story that has taken on new meaning as a parent than it had when my own mom read this to me as a child.

I can really understand his parents' frustration by the end of the story and feel like telling my own daughter "Just go to bed!" some days!

Do you enjoy reading the Little Critter books? Which one is your favorite to share with your child?

Mother's Day project: watercolor flowers

2010-05-04T08:18:00.001-04:00

Oh, Mother's Day. Why do you always sneak up on me so quickly?

I've been in the habit for the past two years (as long as I've been a mother) of having my daughter participate -- in whatever ways she's been able -- in creating a gift for the special moms in our family. There are four that we honor each year: her two grandmas, her great-grandma, and her biological mom. (Check out my mommy blog for more if that last one threw you for a loop! :)

I love having something for each of these special moms, and I especially love that my daughter has a part in whatever we do for them. It's nothing "amazing," but it's from her, and that makes it amazing.

This is the project we completed (times four) this year. Plan ahead with this one! We worked on it a little at a time over the course of about a week.

PHASE ONE -- You will need:

Watercolors
Paper

Let your little one paint, paint, paint to their heart's content!

This was my girl's first experience with watercolors, and she L-O-V-E-D it.

My wish-I-had-thought-of-that-sooner tip? Use a clean medicine dropper to add just a tiny amount of water to each paint tin. This eliminates the need for a cup of water (if you don't mind the color mixing, which at two, is inevitable anyway) -- and the equally inevitable spillage.

Allow the masterpieces to dry. :)

When dry, cut flower shapes out of the painted papers. I used a cookie cutter, because as I've said, I'm not an artist in any way, shape, or form. If you have even a SHRED more artistic ability than I, you could very likely manage without tracing. :)

PHASE TWO -- You will need:

Paint samples
Scrap cardboard (poster board, cardstock, construction paper... it would all work. You're just looking for something a bit thicker than regular paper.)
Glue

Cut up some paint samples.

And have your flowers cut out and ready.

I used a scrap of cardboard I had to draw these little flower pot shapes. Yes, I actually drew these myself! Be proud! :)

Lay out some of the paint sample squares/shapes for your child to choose from...

...and have them glue the squares onto the "flower pot" to create a "mosaic" of sorts. Allow to dry. You might want to put a heavy book on top of these as well, if you're bothered by the paint samples curling up.

PHASE THREE (I told you it was a long project!) -- You will need:

Colorful paper
Green pipe cleaners
Glue
Scissors
Your pre-assembled flowers and flower pots

Cut the pipe cleaners to whatever length you want the flower stems to be and glue onto the colorful paper.

Glue flowers on the stems. Silly me... I thought this was the bottom of the flower, but my daughter decided that it was the top. Heh.

Add as many flowers as you like...

...and then glue the flower pot to the bottom of the stems.

Here's her finished projects! A "quick craft" it's not, but they're cute and something totally different from what we've done before. I mean, really... how many handprint molds can one person have? :)

I tried to snap a few pictures of her holding each one of these for each of the recipients. And, I might have mentioned... she's two. I really wish Tylenol hadn't recalled all their products last week, because I was sorely needing some medication after that experience.

Sorting

2010-05-03T08:05:00.000-04:00

My daughter received a few Melissa and Doug play food sets for her second birthday and for Christmas. One gift she received was the Pizza Party set. If you've seen this play set (or a similar one), you know it comes with bunches and bunches of these little pizza "toppings," which stick with Velcro onto the wooden pizza slices. Very cute, durable, and easy for a young child to use. We've also discovered that they make an excellent sorting game!

You can start your child out by putting one topping of each kind in its own compartment, and have them add to it.

But what we've found works better for us is just letting her do this activity 100% self-directed! Isn't it interesting when you catch your child doing something you've never "taught" them? So neat to see the things they come up with and figure out on their own!

Weekly Read Wednesday: Imogene's Antlers

2010-04-28T08:34:00.000-04:00

A favorite blogger of mine mentioned Imogene's Antlers by David Small a few weeks ago. As it's one of our favorite reads as well, I had this in my mind as a book that should be highlighted one of these Wednesdays!

Imogene wakes up one day to find herself in an interesting predicament.

She's somehow grown antlers overnight and now has to figure out how to adjust to this new situation.

Understandably, her family's quite surprised!

Professionals are called in to investigate, but no one has any solutions to this unusual dilemma.

This is my favorite picture in the book! The maid and the cook find ways for Imogene's antlers to fit in and be useful.

When her family decides a hat is needed for the antlers to hide underneath...

...her mother faints at the result. I love Imogene's mom. She faints three times in the book!

I also love how Imogene is so relaxed about life, and not even giant antlers bother her in the least!

She wakes up the next morning and find herself back to normal.

Almost. :)

Rainy day scene

2010-04-27T07:55:00.000-04:00

After a stretch of beautiful, warm, sunny weather, we've had several rainy days in a row. I guess that's bound to happen in the spring, and it makes us more grateful for those sunny days when they come!

You will need:

A piece of construction paper (light blue, light purple, gray... whatever color you want your sky to be)
Cotton balls
A lightning bolt or two (yellow construction paper)
A few rain drops (blue construction paper)
A couple aluminum foil puddles
Glue

Have your child pull apart the cotton balls.

Glue.

Add cotton to make clouds. I asked my daughter if she wanted to make one or two clouds, and she chose two.

She chose which cloud to attach the lightning bolt to.

She also chose where her rain drops would go... notice that the direction of some of them are a bit crooked. :)

Aluminum foil makes great puddles at the bottom of your weather scene.

Here's her finished product! This was a fun project that went right along with our day, and we also got to talk about how we don't have to be scared when it storms because Jesus protects us. :)

Young reader's clubs

2010-04-26T07:54:00.001-04:00

Shortly after the first of the year, I signed my daughter up for a young reader's club through a local organization. Four times a year, three age-appropriate books are mailed to our home. At only $20 for the entire year, this program (which I discovered through our local library) is quite a bargain!

Our first batch of books came last week. I was excited, and even more excited that we didn't have any of these books already!

Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri has very few words, but the pictures are beautiful. It was a Caldecott Honor book in 1985.

The missing duckling is hiding in each picture, so it's fun for your child to see if they can find it.

Clifford, The Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell is a classic! I know we have other Clifford books, but I don't believe we had the original in the series.

What's not to love about a giant puppy? It's two-year-old approved. :)

Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins is a book I hadn't heard of. Rosie (a hen) walks throughout the barnyard, narrowly slipping away from the sly fox who follows her throughout the story.

It's a very simplistic story with detailed pictures. The cause-and-effect theme builds right into a toddler's sense of humor and imagination!

Search out reading clubs for your little ones in your area, and please let us know if you find anything you love!

DIY water table

2010-04-22T09:02:00.001-04:00

I'm dying for a sand and water table for my girl to use this summer. Unfortunately for her, I'm as cheap as the day is long, and I REFUSE to pay full price for one! So while I watch for some amazing sale or a steal on Craigslist, we did a little improvising. :)

There's something about kids and water that just go together, isn't there?

You will need:

A large-ish tub/tote/bin (how's that for specific?) of some kind. I purchased this plastic (pliable) yellow tote from Walmart for $2 last week, and it has yet to actually serve the purpose for which I bought it... because this is just too fun. :)
A mishmash of kitchen utensils or objects. See here are: two tupperware containers, a ladle, a strainer, a sifter, a coffee scoop/measuring spoon, and a syringe leftover from what was probably a Penicillin prescription at one time.

The directions (as if you need them!!):

Fill tote with water and warm in the sun for one naptime length. :)
Add one or more small child(ren).
Stand back and watch the fun!
Have your camera on hand for cute (and hilarious) moments. :)

I made sure to do all the preparations while my two-year-old was napping. I like to give the water a chance to warm up a bit before having her splash away, but if it's a super hot day, maybe that's not needed! As I was finishing getting all of this set up on our deck, I noticed that this tote is apparently... three galons? Way to spell check, manufacturers of Walmart.

One tote of water and "toys" + one excited toddler + iced coffee and magazines for mom = an HOUR (or more!) of enjoyment! She LOVED this activity. LOVED it! We will absolutely do this again on the next 80+ degree day. Clean-up takes no time at all, and that's a good thing, considering we had an unexpected call from an out-of-town family member who was passing through and wanted to drop in to say hello... as we sat half drenched in sweat and water... ahem.

Weekly Read Wednesday: Each Peach Pear Plum

2010-04-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg just looks "springy" to me. Doesn't it look like a happy book?

It's very simple text...

...and adorable pictures.

Each page has details to spot.

The book continues through various familiar fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters.

You'll see each character on their own page (Bo Peep, in this instance),

but you'll also be able to "spy" the upcoming characters in some way. This is Jack and Jill falling down the hill (of course).

At the end of the story, you'll "spy" everyone hiding...

...and then all out together!

Very cute, very simple. We like this book!

Spring butterflies

2010-04-20T08:44:00.002-04:00

A couple days ago, my girl wanted to do a project. Specifically, she wanted to glue. I didn't have anything in particular planned for that afternoon, but she was persistent... so this is what we came up with in just a matter of minutes!

You will need:

Paper or cardstock with butterflies traced on them (if you're even a slightly better artist that me -- and it's VERY likely you are! -- you can draw them freehand... I printed one online and traced it)
Tissue paper, any color (I had some still handy from our cherry blossom trees)
Glue
Scissors

I cut hot pink and teal tissue paper into manageable squares, but it doesn't have to be neat. If they're able, you could even suggest that your child tear their tissue paper rather than having it pre-cut.

Start gluing and attach the tissue paper however!

She first thought this would look nice laying flat...

...but then decided it would be much better if it were crumpled up a bit. :)

A lesson in symmetry? Try it with older kids!

Here was her page when she was finished. Yes, I know there's tissue paper glued completely outside the butterflies. I tried to explain... but not very hard. :) She wanted it THAT WAY, and you know what? Who cares?! :)

The bonus of this activity was that she did it almost entirely by herself, which fellow moms of toddlers can appreciate! I mopped the kitchen while she worked.

It was glorious.

When they were dry, I cut them out and taped them up in her play room. I had big plans to have her make a few more of these over the course of a week or so, and then hang them with ribbons from the light fixture in her play room... but then I decided she wouldn't really get to see them up close, so I changed my mind. My choice was confirmed when she came down from her nap on the day that I taped these up and gasped with delight when she saw them! I love how doing these simple little projects with her (and allowing her to do them by herself, to the best of her ability) builds so much confidence and pride in her work!

Scarves

2010-04-19T08:39:00.001-04:00

Do you have any scarves lying around your house? Pull 'em out and let your little ones imagine with them! My toddler likes to use them as blankets for her "babies," a fancy addition to dress up play, or just twirl them around while dancing. Lots of entertainment for ZERO dollars! :)

Bringing inside activities outside!

2010-04-16T09:06:00.000-04:00

This week, the weather has just been gorgeous. It's been warm and sunny nearly every day. We've played outside, had picnic lunches in the yard, gone on walks, and just spent as much time outside as possible. When I wanted to get some work done in the yard this week, I wanted an activity that would keep my two-year-old entertained and occupied for a decent amount of time, so I didn't have to worry about her running off. She's getting better about staying in the "safety zones," but at two, she's not great at understanding that yet.

Enter: the sensory tub. I was introduced to this idea a couple months ago, and we've used it nearly every week since. Spread out a large blanket or beach towel, plop the sensory tub (or whatever inside activity you're bringing outside) in the middle, and let them have a ball! The best part... when you're finished, just gather up your blanket or towel and dump the spilled beans back into the tub! Clean-up takes no time at all. :)

This activity kept her busy for at least twenty minutes, and she would have continued had it not been lunchtime. And I got almost an entire flower bed weeded while she played! Love that!

What are your favorite inside-turned-outside activities? I'd love to hear some new ideas! :)

Cherry blossom trees

2010-04-15T09:12:00.000-04:00

I really can't express how happy I am for spring to be here again. I'm sure my excitement level is the same from year to year, but really... I was so ready this time around. And, I have to say, one of my very favorite things about spring...

...is seeing this in my backyard. It's a cherry blossom tree that we planted last summer. It didn't bloom at all that first year and looked rather sad. In fact, I was beginning to think we may need to exchange it for something else... until just a couple weeks ago when I noticed tiny pink buds on it for the first time ever! I literally screamed in my excitement! Those buds have continued to bloom, and now there are these gorgeous, delicate, pale pink flowers all over the tree. Don't the blossoms look like they're made of tissue paper? They're so dainty that they look like they'd wither away if you so much as breathe on them! It's almost ridiculous how much happiness this silly tree is bringing me this spring, but it's just about my favorite thing right now. :)

I wanted to bring a little springtime inside to hang on my refrigerator, and let my toddler make her own "tree" just like Mommy's. This is what we came up with:

You will need:

Brown paper/construction paper/cardstock
Another sheet of paper/cardstock in a different color (any color you choose is fine)
Pink tissue paper
Glue
Scissors
Pencil

Begin by tracing your child's hand and most of the length of their arm on the brown paper. If you're out of brown construction paper (as I was), try using tan or brown cardstock. If you don't have any of that on hand, grab a brown paper bag!

Cut the hand/arm out for your child and have them glue the back.

She was really "into" gluing today. Maybe we haven't done anything with glue in a few days!

Attach to the other sheet of paper you have waiting.

Get out your pink tissue paper. I cut/ripped ours into manageable squares for my daughter. Crumple up a square...

...and use glue to attach it to your "tree."

Continue adding cherry blossoms until they decide they're finished. :)

Here is her completed tree! She thought it had enough flowers on it.

But that didn't stop her from asking for another piece of paper to glue MORE flowers onto! :) This project was definitely a success for us!

Weekly Read Wednesday: Color Dance

2010-04-14T08:18:00.000-04:00

We've been working on learning colors for a while. My two-year-old is interested (very interested sometimes) in what color various objects are, but it's not totally clicking for her yet. I'm not concerned about it though, because everything I've read seems to indicate that learning colors is just like every other milestone -- children learn this at their own pace.

Regardless of whether or not she's ready to actually retain the information, we are currently loving Color Dance by Ann Jonas.

The book starts with the primary colors.

Red, yellow, and blue.

It introduces secondary colors by mixing each of the primary colors together in turns.

The book goes on to explain that each primary color, when mixed with itself, can only produces various hues of that same color.

However, two colors can make a variety of shades, depending on how much of each color there is.

I love this page! So colorful. :)

I also love how all the words are printed in bright colors.

The author continues by explaining what colors such as white, gray, and black do when added to the mix.

Such a cute, simple book, whether or not you're in the midst of learning colors at your house! :)

Muffin Tin Monday: Rainbow

2010-04-12T14:29:00.003-04:00

It's been a couple weeks since we've had a "muffin tin Monday" around here, but I wanted to join in for the rainbow theme. How fun! I actually had come up with a few other ideas prior to today, but we played outside for most of the morning, and lunchtime needed to be quick. :)

On my girl's plate today:

strawberries
baby carrot w/ dip
banana (okay, so the peel is really the "yellow" part!)
green salad mix
blueberries
pretzels w/ grape jelly for dipping

I had planned to make grape jelly "roll up" type sandwiches, but she wanted to pretzels... so this was how it ended up! :)

Check out Muffin Tin Mom for more fun ideas!

Sponge painting

2010-04-09T09:14:00.000-04:00

Super easy, and super quick! This is another one of those "fall back" ideas that can fill up five minutes... or an hour! :)

You will need:

Sponges, of course! If you have fun shapes, use them! If not, any old sponge will do... or cut up a sponge you are done with and make your own shapes!
Paper
Washable paint
Paper plate

I like to use paper plates for paint trays because the clean up is so easy! Dab the sponge in your paint and then onto the paper.

Not a whole lot of explanation needed on this one! :)

We did primary colors in various shapes.

We also did a bit of color mixing at the end.

My daughter decided on her own to "count" her shapes and tell me about each of them. Besides counting, we talked about their shapes and their colors.

Another bonus... it dries fairly quickly!

Do-a-Dot Art!

2010-04-08T08:54:00.001-04:00

Okay, this probably falls under the category of "Things Everyone Else in the Entire Universe Has Been Doing for Years," but I've just recently discovered Do-a-Dot paints, and I am in LOVE! I know I mentioned them once before, but since my girl just received hers over the weekend in her Easter basket, we are just now trying them out.

What I LOVE about these paints is that... they are so clean. I can actually let my two-year-old paint WITHOUT fearing that I'll end up spending her whole naptime cleaning up the aftermath. The whole "dot art" thing is so fun, but from a mom's perspective, I am seriously loving how low-maintenance these things are!

You will need:

Do-a-Dot paints {Note: You can buy these online - see link above - but I purchased our set from Michael's and used one of their regular 40% off coupons. It was a bit cheaper doing it this way... about $10.}
Any dot art printable or coloring page {Note: There are a hundred million places online to print dot art for FREE... don't feel like you have to buy the special coloring books unless you want to. One of my favorite blogs actually has a ton of educational printables that go with Do-a-Dot paints.}
Construction paper or cardstock
Scissors and glue... which I forgot to put in the picture :)

We started with green for the leaves of our tulip.

At two, she doesn't necessarily stay in the "dots," but who cares? She's having fun! :)

She chose purple for the flower.

When it dries, cut out your shape and glue to the construction paper. Lovely spring artwork!

This activity gets two thumbs up... from mom and toddler! :)

Weekly Read Wednesday: "Dumpy La Rue"

2010-04-07T10:40:00.001-04:00

Dumpy La Rue by Elizabeth Winthrop might have a familiar look. It's illustrated by Betsy Lewin, the illustrator behind the Click, Clack, Moo books (which are some of my favorites!).

Dumpy La Rue is a little pig who wants nothing more than to dance. He doesn't care about rolling in the mud or eating food like the rest of the pigs... he wants to spin and twirl around the barnyard!

He doesn't care who comes to watch him. He has a song in his heart and isn't bothered by being "different." He isn't discouraged when his family doesn't understand him... he just keeps doing what he was meant to do!

Pretty soon, the rest of the farm animals follow suit, and realize what fun it is to dance!

I love the illustrations in this book because they're so similar to the Click, Clack, Moo books, but I also love the message of this story! Perseverance, individuality, and self-confidence are all themes of this book!

Cookie cutter designs

2010-04-05T09:02:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and enjoyed nice weather for it! My daughter got WAY too much... it's good to be the only grandchild on both sides of the family. :)

We took advantage of the warm weather to do this activity, but if you don't mind sweeping up the excess, it could easily be a rainy day craft.

You will need:

Paper (we used a large piece of cardstock)
Glue
A disposable plate
Cookie cutters in any shape (we used spring shapes... bunnies, ducks, flowers, etc.)
A packet of Kool-Aid or any other colorful drink mix... or if you have colored sugar leftover from the holidays, this would be a great way to use some of it up!

It was a little breezy on this day, so I plopped some cans down on the corners of the paper to keep it from blowing away.

Squeeze glue out onto your plate. I like using foam plates because they're sturdy, but clean up is still super quick.

Have your child choose one cookie cutter at a time and dip it in the glue.

Stamp onto paper.

We chose to do all the glue first, but if you do this, you'll need to work quickly. It might be better to do a few shapes at a time so your glue doesn't dry out.

Sprinkle Kool-Aid or other colored powder onto your glue. Shake around, if necessary, to coat. Dump the excess. {Please note: Kool-Aid DOES stain hands! A couple good hand-washings and her regular evening bath fixed that issue, though.}

Let dry. Like I said, be careful that your glue doesn't dry before you get to the sprinkling part. We ended up with some funny looking half-shapes! :)

Happy Easter weekend!

2010-04-03T08:09:00.002-04:00

Happy day-before-Easter! We've mailed our cards, displayed some art projects, gobbled up our rolls, and dyed our eggs. We have big plans to attend our town's annual Easter egg hunt today, if we don't get rained out. The Easter baking is in full swing. I had a local shop embroider my daughter's name on her new Easter basket. And I'm still trying to pin down which dress she'll wear tomorrow. I bought three.

And -- just in case the warning was needed -- please, when dying Easter eggs, don't let this happen to you.

But if it does... remember, bleach is your friend.

Happy Easter! And happy countertop cleaning! {Oh... just me?}

Resurrection rolls

2010-04-02T08:49:00.001-04:00

I've heard about resurrection rolls for years, but never made them myself. My mother-in-law used to make these with her kids when they were little, and it was always one of those neat traditions I figured I'd do with my children someday. I decided that, even though my daughter is still too young to "get it," we'd go ahead and make these treats this year just for the fun of it. :)

You will need:

Marshmallows - all the recipes I've seen call for the large ones, but all we had were minis. We adapted the recipe by just using 3-4 mini marshmallows rather than one big one, and it worked just fine. (The marshmallow[s] represents Jesus' body.)
Melted butter (represents the oil they used to anoint His body)
"Spices" - we used a mixture of white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon (represents the spices they used on His body)
Packaged crescent rolls (represents the linen that was used to wrap Jesus' body)
Cookie sheet and oven (represents the tomb)

Dip your marshmallows into the melted butter.

Then roll them around in the "spices." This was my daughter's favorite part. She could have done this all day.

Place your marshmallow(s) on a crescent dough triangle and roll up. Place on cookie sheet.

We made a little assembly line. I was amazed at how quiet this activity was. My girl loves to help me "cook," and she loves making delicious treats for us to "eat" in her little play kitchen. She'll beg me to stir whatever I'm preparing whenever she can. But I guess I didn't realize just how much she would LOVE to "cook" on her own! She was so focused on this... it was just so sweet to watch. :)

Pop them in the oven and bake according to the package.

They come out golden brown and oozing all that sugary goodness that's inside. :)

When they're cool, let your child open one up and try to find the marshmallow. It's gone, just like Jesus' body is gone from the tomb!

She remembered that there had been marshmallows inside, and she knew they weren't there anymore. I know she isn't yet at an age that she can understand the Easter story, but what a privilege to be able to teach my child these things... even from before she can remember!

Easter egg science: loud and quiet

2010-04-01T08:44:00.001-04:00

Science for two-year-olds? Well, sort of! :)

You will need:

Plastic Easter eggs
Various objects to hide inside
A container to hold them in

The objects you choose don't necessarily matter, but you're looking for things that will product a variety of sounds. As you see from the labels in the picture, we did:

Quarters
Pom-poms (which my daughter calls "puffies")
Dried beans
Play food (a strawberry)
Buttons
Yarn
Jelly beans
Bouncy ball
Kleenex

Some other ideas might include:

Marshmallows
M&M's or other small candies
Small rocks
Cotton balls
Q-tips
Leaves or blades of grass
Paper
Paper clips
A small votive candle or tea light (not in glass)
Raisins or other dried fruit
Sequins
Magnets

If you're working with a young child (as I am), it's of course always important to remember that small items are choking hazards. DO NOT leave your child unattended with this activity for any length of time.

Close all the eggs up and allow your child to inspect them.

Shake each one and discuss if it is "loud" or "quiet." Older children can use more descriptive words, such as "more quiet than," "louder than," "softer than," etc. They can also pick out eggs that have similar sounds to compare and contrast them.

Again, depending on the age of your child, see if they can guess what's inside!

At two, we didn't so much "guess" as much as we just opened them to check them all out! :)

She loved this activity! It's one that can take as much or as little time as they want it to take, and when they're done, they're done. :) If they don't get to all the eggs, who cares?

And how fun would this activity be if it were done with all foods?! What loud and quiet SNACKS can you put together? Baby carrots, bunny crackers, and lettuce leaves would all make a fun springy snack and produce different sounds. :)

Weekly Read Wednesday: Easter

2010-03-31T09:18:00.000-04:00

I love Gail Gibbons books. When I saw her book simply titled Easter, I decided to check it out!

I appreciate how Gibbons' books often have a theme of Christianity in them. The majority of this book focuses on the true meaning of Easter, which, as a Christian mom, I want to emphasis to my daughter even at a young age. The one issue I saw with this book right off the bat, however, was the phrasing on the page pictured to the left: "Many years ago, baby Jesus was born. Some people believed He was the Son of God." Maybe I'm a stickler, but I'd probably choose to read it "He was the Son of God." I know not every shares the same beliefs as I do, but for our purposes, this quick "editing" makes a difference. :)

The story continues with Jesus celebrating Passover.

The last supper is also pictured.

Next, of course, comes Jesus' trial and crucifixion. And this is where I'm needing advice from moms with older kids... how much is appropriate to tell very young children about Jesus' death? I'm certainly not implying that the pictures in a children's book should be graphic at all, but I'm wondering at what point you start to approach this topic more in detail with your kids. I'd love any advice from moms who've been there, done that! :)

Again, this is as detailed as the pictures get... so no worries about fearful illustrations here.

The whole reason we can celebrate Easter -- the resurrection!

The book continues the Easter story with pointing out that Jesus spent time with his disciples after his resurrection. This is an example of why I generally like Gail Gibbons books -- the attention to detail.

The author moves forward to today and incorporating the Biblical account into being the reason we celebrate Easter today.

She also mentions some fun and more light-hearted Easter traditions, such as Easter egg hunts and the annual "egg roll" in the lawn of the White House.

Apparently, tradition says there was a mother who hid colorful eggs for her children to find, and when they did, they saw a rabbit hopping away from the scene. The story stuck, and this was the beginnings of the Easter bunny. Who knew!

While I wouldn't say this book 100% hits the mark for the "true meaning of Easter" message that I want to help my daughter learn, it's overall a good book, with lots of detail and beautiful pictures.

Egg painting

2010-03-30T08:29:00.002-04:00

We've probably all done marble painting, right? Here's a similar project with a holiday twist!

You will need:

Piece of paper with a holiday shape traced on it (we did an Easter egg, but you could do any shape you wanted to do)
Masking tape
Paints (we used craft paints, but tempera or any other child-friendly paint would be even better!)
Plastic Easter eggs, with or without weights inside
A pan with sides or a box lid

Tape your paper to the bottom of your pan, tray, or box lid.

Give your goofball child extra tape for pretending it's stamps on her hands. :)

Have your child help you squirt paint all over the paper.

Add plastic eggs. I put various objects inside (small toys, coins, wrapped mints, etc.) to weight some of the eggs down a bit, but it's not necessary. If your child is a little older, this could be a fun science experiment disguised as a craft (seeing which objects roll faster/better). :) Keep in mind, though, that the eggs may pop open, so don't put anything inside that you aren't okay with having painted.

Roll 'em around!

It was at this point that I thought how neat it would have been to do a second paper with hard-boiled eggs for a different look for the usual decorated Easter eggs -- two projects in one! Too bad I didn't have our eggs hard-boiled yet!

And yes, one of our eggs did pop open. No big deal!

Allow the paint to dry completely, then cut out your shape. What a lovely speckled Easter egg!

While I plopped the painted eggs in the sink to rinse them off, I was glad to have extras on hand so my toddler could enjoy playing with them right away! :)

Easter eggs in grass

2010-03-29T09:16:00.001-04:00

The Easter Bunny is on his way! Here's a quick and easy craft we did to celebrate.

You will need:

Piece of paper
Cut out bunny (or draw your own)
Jelly beans
"American" moss (I had this leftover from a floral arrangement I'd done a long time ago, but I'm thinking Spanish moss or any other greenery would be just fine! You could even use that plastic green grass that you can find this time of year to put in Easter baskets.)
Glue

Have your child start by gluing the cut-out bunny on the paper. I'm sure there are much cuter and more creative ways to add a bunny to this scene, but we were going for quick on this one! After all, this craft is all about the jelly beans! :)

Lay out some of the American moss/Spanish moss/plastic grass strips.

Add glue to the bottom of the picture.

See that peach blur at the top of the picture? That's my daughter's hand "stamping" the grass down on the glue. :)

Next comes the really fun part! Have your child make dots of glue wherever they want on the picture (or you can put the glue on for them).

Add jelly beans for the "Easter eggs" that the Easter bunny is hiding!

At first, she wanted to put the jelly beans on the bare parts of the paper, and that's fine. But when I showed her how the "eggs" could be hiding in the grass... that was a HUGE hit! She would look at me and giggle each time she "hid" another one. :)

I made sure to save this activity for after lunchtime, because I figured that for every one jelly bean she put on her picture, she'd eat at least three or four. :) However, luck was on my side and she didn't even realize they were candy! This project was a winner all around!

Paint sample Easter cards

2010-03-27T09:02:00.000-04:00

I was recently picking up some paint samples in the hopes of finding something inspiring for either my kitchen, living room, or bedroom. (I'm tired of the paint in all three.) When I saw these extra large paint cards, I grabbed a few in springtime colors and tucked them away for a future project. I wasn't sure yet what to do with them, but I figured something would come to me! Here's what we finally did with them this week.

You will need:

Large paint samples in any color(s) you like
Easter egg cookie cutter
Scissors (I also used a couple pairs of craft scissors that aren't pictured)
Hole punch (optional)
Glue
Decorative items, such as buttons, tissue paper, fabric scraps, small fake flowers, etc.
Plain note cards and envelopes

Start by tracing an egg shape on the paint samples using the cookie cutter as a guide. Sorry about the blurry picture!

Cut out Easter egg shapes in however many colors you picked up.

Don't throw away the scraps, either! I used the hole punch and craft scissors on these scraps to make more decorative additions for our eggs.

Give your child an assortment of objects to decorate with, and let them go to town on it!

She added some dots and a crimpy line to this one.

A couple of buttons finished this egg.

When your eggs are dry enough to handle, add glue to the back.

Secure on plain note cards. {Tip: I put our cards under a thick book for a few hours to keep the paint samples from curling up.}

Write a quick "Happy Easter" note inside and mail away to your loved ones for a fun surprise!

I love how these all turned out so different from each other! I think we might even pick up a few more paint samples to make more of these festive cards this week!

Bunny ears

2010-03-26T09:01:00.001-04:00

My daughter is still wearing her Dr. Seuss "Cat in the Hat" hat around the house. So when I saw these bunny ears on one of my favorite crafty mom sites, I knew we had to try them! Here's our version. :)

You will need:

Two bunny ears cut out of cardstock (here's a great template)
Additional cardstock, long enough to wrap around your child's head (I ended up cutting this piece in half length-wise to make it longer)
Cotton balls
Glue
Scotch tape (if they won't want to wait for glue to dry before trying it on!)

Have your child cover one bunny ear at a time in glue.

While they are working on that, pull some cotton balls apart for them.

Attach cotton to ears. We didn't need nearly the amount of cotton balls pictured.

While the ears are drying, fit the long piece of cardstock to your child's head. I was going to glue this step, as I had done with the "Cat in the Hat" hat, but she was not wanting to be patient for glue to dry. :) Scotch tape came in handy.

I finished the edge of the cardstock with some wavy scissors, but that's certainly not necessary. My little one was practicing her hopping for the rest of the morning wearing these!

Seasonal lacing cards

2010-03-25T10:47:00.000-04:00

I had some a couple sewing repairs that had to be done recently, so I thought, why not let my daughter do some "sewing" of her own?

You will need:

Colored cardstock cut down to a manageable size (colored index cards would work fine here as well)
Hole punch (if you have one that will punch the interior of a paper, all the better!)
Yarn

Punch holes in the shape of the letters you want to make. I had to slightly fold the cardstock to punch holes in the middle, so keep that in mind as you're selecting your letters. It doesn't look like it now, but this is going to be a letter "S." {Tip: Trace the order you want your child to sew in, or order the holes with small numbers.}

Give your child a piece of yarn and one of the cards and let them go to town!

I had fully planned on having to help my two-year-old with the order of holes, but wanted to give her a chance to "sew" as she pleased at first. What I did NOT fully plan on was having her freak out that the yarn was supposed to stay in the card. I also did NOT fully plan on her insisting that I finish do this project FOR her. Ah, two-year-olds!

Here was her (uh, my) finished product. I'd planned to use more yarn to string the letters up somewhere that she could see them, but I thought it was better to just hide them away.

This project was a complete and total FLOP for us. It would be much more suited for an older child. :)

Weekly Read Wednesday: "When the Leaf Blew In"

2010-03-24T11:32:00.004-04:00

When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger was a Scholastic find a few years ago. I have the book on tape in my "listening center" I used in my classroom... but I'm waiting a little longer before pulling that out. :)

It starts with a leaf blowing into the barn, making the cow sneeze.

The rest of the book is a series of events in which one thing leads to another.

All the animals on the farm get involved.

The end of the book comes full circle when the leave blows back in, at which point, my class of first-graders would normally smile and groan that the whole course of events would happen all over again! It's a fun story with brightly colored pictures. It would be a really neat springboard for simple storytelling, with young students creating their own version of the continuation of the story!

Egg carton painting

2010-03-19T09:43:00.001-04:00

Easter is around the corner, and what would Easter be without eggs? Here's a quick and easy way to use something we probably all have on hand -- an egg carton!

You will need:

Egg carton
Piece of paper
Paint in "spring" colors (we used pink, purple, yellow, and light blue)

Cut a few egg holders off of the carton. (Is there a technical name for this part?)

Use the cut-up egg carton as a "stamp" for the paint on your paper.

I had this activity pictured totally different from how it turned out. I intended for my daughter to use either the bottom of the carton to make "dots," or the top of the carton to make square-like shapes or lines.

As you can see, she had other plans. :) It's great being a toddler!

Here's her finished product! It's not what I thought it would end up looking like, but it was fun just the same... and a happy accident was all the neat color-mixing she did!

March Madness

2010-03-18T08:31:00.001-04:00

Okay. First, let me recognize the irony of suggesting an activity that will inevitably result in TV-watching... on a blog titled "Too Busy for TV." As I've said before though, we aren't anti-TV. :) I just feel like I'm doing my job as a mom a little better when the TV is less involved!

My husband loves basketball. Loves, loves, loves it. I, on the other hand, hate it. I think it tends to be a long, boring game. It's just not my thing. It also probably doesn't help that I'm likely the LEAST competitive person ever born on this planet. I've always said that the outcome of a game doesn't affect my life one way or the other.

So there we have it. One parent really, really loves the sport; one could most certainly live without it.

Our daughter, however, tends to display more of her father's attitude toward basketball. I don't honestly know why, but she loves it. She gets excited to go to games, see it on TV, or pick out pictures of basketballs (or footballs, or soccer balls...) in random places.

With March Madness starting up (today... oh, joy), there will be plenty of basketball to be viewed in this house, much to my dismay. My husband and his family all fill out brackets in the hopes that they will score the most points, and be awarded... lunch? I think this is the grand prize. (See? Even the prize is boring.)

Our girl joined in the competition last year, at the ripe old age of ONE. She's made her picks again this year, and this is how.

Write all the teams on an index card.
Place two competing teams in front of your child at once.
Have your child pick one by pointing, grabbing, tickling, poking, or kissing their selection. (Yes, we stooped to all of these options. We don't have much of a life.)
Continue matching up their team selections until they've completed their bracket.
Have a good laugh at the results. Our girl has a 16-seeded team going to the finals. But who did she pick for the national champion?

You heard it here first.

She's available for team selection assistance.

Weekly Read Wednesday: "Jeremy Bean's St. Patrick's Day"

2010-03-17T09:50:00.002-04:00

This week's read is appropriate for the day! I picked up Jeremy Bean's St. Patrick's Day by Alice Schertle at our local library last week.

Jeremy, the main character, is a little scared of Mr. Dudley, the elementary principal who tries to wish him a happy day-before-St.-Patrick's-Day. He doesn't quite know how to respond.

In his classroom, the students share what they'll bring for the St. Patrick's Day party the following day, and of course, what green items they'll be wearing.

Jeremy decides to wear his green sweater, and in anticipation of the exciting day, even wears it to bed. When he gets hot in the middle of the night, he sheds the sweater...

...and subsequently forgets it the following morning.

His classmates make fun of him for forgetting such a simple thing, despite his attempts to pass a green leaf off as part of his ensemble.

When he sees that even the principal is decked out in green for the day, he runs to hide.

Unfortunately, the only place available is the janitor's closet. When Mr. Dudley finds him and asks him to join him in his office, Jeremy is terrified! Could he really be in trouble for forgetting his green sweater?

Mr. Dudley turns out to be very kind to Jeremy, reassuring him that everyone makes mistakes sometimes and feels like hiding. He comes up with a solution to Jeremy's problem.

Since he has some green to spare, Mr. Dudley lets Jeremy borrow something for the party.

In return for his kindness, Jeremy invites the principal to the class party.

Jeremy Bean's St. Patrick's Day is a really sweet book that contains positive lessons about showing kindness to others... and that sometimes, people aren't what they seem. :)

Green smoothies

2010-03-16T14:34:00.002-04:00

Last summer, I got into making green smoothies for my finicky daughter, as a means of sneaking a few vegetables in her. When I first heard about this idea, I thought it sounded DISGUSTING. And, it honestly does sound that way! But if you can overcome how it sounds, they really are very good! There's truly no hint of "veggie" taste, since the fruit flavors are much stronger. (I'm guessing this is why V8 V-Fusion is so popular.)

What makes this "recipe" easy is that there really is no exact recipe. I've learned a few basics, though... so learn from my mistakes without wasting your own produce. :)

Step one: Throw a handful of greens in your blender. I've used spinach, collard greens, broccoli, and cabbage. Do not -- I repeat, DO NOT -- use celery. No amount of sweetness will hide that flavor, and you'll end up wasting the entire contents of your produce drawer on it.

Step two: Splash a little bit of milk and/or add a spoonful of yogurt (plain, vanilla, fruit-flavored... doesn't matter) in with the greens and blend. Add however much milk/yogurt to allow the greens to blend smoothly. The amount of liquid you add will also depend on the consistency you want your smoothie to be (thick or watery).

It will look like this. Not appetizing, I know. It doesn't smell great either, but don't give up at this point!

Step three: Start adding your fruit. I almost always toss in a banana. It makes it sweet without being too sweet. It also makes it creamier.

I had some sliced strawberries that I pulled out of the freezer, so I threw those in as well.

It may look like a lot, but this will make a good size smoothie for both you and your child. Or at least it does for us! :)

I threw in a few cherries. I had them on hand because they'd been on sale that week.

Another mistake of mine to learn from -- remember to pit fresh cherries before adding them to the blender. Otherwise, you'll end up fishing cherry pits out of your smoothie for ten hours.

Step four: Pour into a cup and enjoy! :)

A few more helpful hints:

I often dilute my daughter's smoothies a bit more at this point with a little more milk. This just makes it easier for her to drink from a straw. If your child is old enough, you can serve this with a spoon.
Add additional veggies for more nutrients! Besides greens, you can add sweet potatoes, carrots, bell peppers (I always add these in small amounts), asparagus... really most any vegetable you have on hand. (Stay away from the celery, though!)
Play around with the combination of fruits for different flavors! I personally love bananas and cherries, but blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, mango, papaya, peaches, and more are all great! Keep in mind that the darker the fruit, the darker your "green" smoothie will be.
Fresh or frozen... doesn't matter! I like to keep an assortment of frozen fruits on hand, but if a particular fruit is in season, we use fresh.
If you make too much, just pop the rest of it in the fridge for a later time. They will keep for a day or so without a problem.
Smoothies are refreshing, but they are also FILLING! Think about how much food you're really putting in there, so plan ahead if you're making this for a pre-meal snacktime. :)

I'm so looking forward to consistently warm weather, but we might just enjoy a green smoothie tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day! :)

St. Patrick's Day mobile

2010-03-15T14:52:00.002-04:00

This idea was adapted from one I found online recently. Since we're not so good yet at coloring in the lines around here, I modified it a bit to make it more age-appropriate for a younger two year old. This would also be really neat to replace the paint with tissue paper, streamers, or even stickers in the colors of the rainbow!

You will need:

Rainbow shape (I drew lines with crayons in the appropriate colors). I used cardstock, but you could easily cut a paper plate in half, if you have those on hand.
Paints (or as I said, tissue paper, streamers, stickers, markers, crayons... whatever you want your child to use!)
One green shamrock cut out of construction paper
One "pot of gold" cut out of construction paper
Hole punch
Yarn

You can really see what I mean about the second batch of finger paint being a better consistency than the first. It all works fine, but I'm already looking forward to using the red and blue paints for some summer fun outside! Stay tuned... the warmer months will be here soon... right?

Since we just did full-blown, sloppy finger painting, we used thumbs only on this project. :)

Have your child dip their thumb into each paint color, and then "dot" the paint on the rainbow. This is where I was wishing I hadn't tucked away the Do-a-Dot paints for her Easter basket... would those ever have been handy today! :)

You may need to guide your child on where to put their colors, as I did.

But, as you can see, she did some of it totally on her own as well. :)

While you're waiting for the paint (or glue, or markers...) to dry, punch holes in the shamrock and pot of gold.

When the rainbow is dry enough to be handled, use the yarn to tie the pot of gold and shamrock pieces onto the bottom. You'll need to punch a couple holes in the rainbow as well. We tied another piece of yarn on the top of the rainbow to give it something to hang from.

If your child really likes this piece of artwork, switch out the shamrock and pot of gold for white puffy clouds after St. Patrick's Day has passed. Then you can enjoy it all spring! :)

Finger paint rainbow

2010-03-13T21:42:00.001-05:00

While St. Patrick's Day is often associated with the color green, rainbows are also intertwined in this holiday. This activity came from thinking of what I could do with my two-year-old that involved rainbows, using materials I already had on hand. I decided to finger paint again! This craft is a two-step process (or three-step, if you need to make your paints), so plan ahead.

First, I mixed up the remaining colors of the rainbow that I hadn't already made. Since I only needed a small amount, I used one recipe (not doubled this time!), and used my cruddy old muffin tin for mixing colors.

I still have a box of glass nursers that the hospital sent us home with when our daughter was born. *sniff* These little three-ounce jars were the perfect size for just a small amount of paint. It kind of looks like baby food, doesn't it? Peas, carrots, squash... blueberries?

I also wanted to note that I used a clear dish soap this time (Palmolive Pure and Clear). I also cut down substantially on the amount. I used only about two tablespoons. (Didn't measure; just estimated.) By comparison, I liked this batch a lot better than the first. It was a thicker consistency and not bubbly at all. It doesn't pour as nicely into the jars (I had to use a small spoon to scoop it into each jar, and then back out when we were ready to paint), but it's a much better consistency for finger painting. And, it seems to be just as washable as the first batch. :)

You will need:

Finger paints in all colors of the rainbow
Six sheets of light-colored paper (I used cream cardstock because that's what I had)
One sheet of light blue paper (cardstock, again)
Newspaper and masking tape are also helpful :)
Glue and scissors will be needed in the last step of the craft

Paint away! I laid out newspaper and taped it to the table with masking tape. Then, I put a small piece of tape on each piece of cardstock (one at a time) to attach it to the newspaper, just to prevent it from sliding around. I let my daughter choose the color she wanted each time, and just swapped out papers when she was done with each. I also carried her to the sink in between each color to rinse off her hands, but you could just keep a roll of paper towels handy. :)

Lay them out to dry. Aren't you jealous of my fancy-schmancy drying station?

When the paint is thoroughly dry, cut out arches, biggest (red) to smallest (purple).

Glue each arch in order. More good "learning colors" practice. :)

Attach each to the blue paper or cardstock to create your rainbow.

I LOVE how this turned out, and my daughter loves it, too! While this was a quazi-St. Patrick's Day craft for us, we also used this to teach her what a rainbow stands for (on a two-year-old level, of course). God loves and cares for her! She repeats, "God is love." :)

Heart Shamrock

2010-03-12T09:24:00.001-05:00

I've seen a couple cute ideas for using hearts to make shamrocks. How simple is that? Here's our take on it! We'll use this for a birthday card for a family member whose birthday is next week... and whose favorite color just happens to be green. :)

You will need:

Four green hearts cut out of construction paper
One green stem cut out of construction paper
One piece of construction paper to glue it onto
Glue
Glitter glue (optional)

Start by having your child glue the stem...

...and attach it to the paper. We folded our paper in half since we're using it for a card.

Next, have them glue the hearts...

...and attach to the top of the stem.

It was at this point that my girl said "butterfly!" :)

Continue gluing the hearts until you have a shamrock.

Otherwise called a "flower" in this house!

Next comes the part she was REALLY excited about! I found this glitter glue in the craft store this weekend and decided to add it to our art supply collection.

I confess... I did write "happy birthday." No, my two-year-old cannot write yet. :)

I gave her one glitter glue stick at a time to see what she'd do with it. I was slightly afraid.

It actually didn't turn out that bad! She didn't squeeze out half of each tube, as I'd expected her to do, and got none on her clothes. We both walked away from the table fairly clean. I say that's a success.

Here's our finished product! I'll write something to the effect of "I'm lucky to have you!" on the inside and let her "sign" her name by coloring.

Shamrock tree

2010-03-11T09:21:00.001-05:00

St. Patrick's Day is next week! I'm not a huge lover of St. Patrick's Day necessarily, but there are so many adorable activities out there that go with this holiday! When I found this one, I knew it was going on my list of "to do's."

You will need:

Tree trunk cut out of brown construction paper. If your child is old enough to draw one, have at it! There is a template available, but I didn't feel like cutting out all those branches, so I just cut this one out freehand.
Shamrock "leaves" cut out in varying shades of green. I had grass green, lime green, and sort of a minty green color.
Glue stick
Piece of paper for the background

Have your child glue the tree trunk onto the paper...

...and next the shamrocks.

Continue glue shamrocks in whatever order they feel like!

My girl was particular about wanting to finish one color completely before starting a different one. Whatever!

Here is our finished product. I thought it turned out pretty cute! I'm happily displaying it on the fridge. It's fun to have seasonal artwork up around the house... it makes things look festive! :)

"Impress Your Kids" giveaway!

2010-03-10T15:10:00.003-05:00

Check out one of my favorite sites, Impress Your Kids, for a giveaway of Alphabet Crafts, a new e-book written by the author of No Time For Flashcards (another favorite read of mine!). See her post for details on entering... good luck! :)

Weekly Read Wednesday: "Where Is Everybody?"

2010-03-10T13:19:00.001-05:00

I thought I would start posting one book "review" of sorts each week. I'll be sharing some of the books my daughter and I have been reading together frequently, as well as more good finds that others might enjoy! Please do feel free to join in each Wednesday and post your own favorites! :)

Where Is Everybody: An Animal Alphabet by Eve Merriam is one of our current favorite reads. It's an alphabet book, but there are a couple twists...

What I particularly love about this book is that you can hunt for all kinds of things on each page that begin with that letter. For instance, on the "E" page, you will see an elephant, escalator, "enormous brown bag," eagle, exit, earmuffs, and more! It's great for children who are just starting to pick out same letter sounds.

Each page features an animal, and not just the standard ones, either. I'm not sure I'd ever heard of an ibex!

The illustrations are adorable! And if you look REALLY carefully, you can spot a mole (or his belongings) hiding throughout the story. It's just one of those extra "somethings" that make a book special!

Simple text, detailed pictures, search-and-find themes... Where Is Everybody is a winner!

Muffin Tin Monday: Yellow

2010-03-08T14:06:00.002-05:00

It's Muffin Tin Monday! This week's theme was yellow. We went to the grocery store this morning, and my two-year-old was excited when I told her I had a "special lunch" for her at home! (This was great, too, because she would have rather done ANYTHING else but go home!)

Today's lunch consisted of:

grilled cheese (okay, that's a bit of a stretch... but the inside was yellow!)
pear yogurt (with a little yellow food coloring)
mango
macaroni and cheese
corn
dried pineapple and mango

The "trial" food today was the fresh mango. She used to like it when she was a baby, but not since then. She tried a couple pieces, but spit them back out. I think I'm going to try mango in a smoothie when the weather warms up a bit to see if it's a texture thing or if she sincerely just doesn't like the flavor of it.

She LOVED her yogurt and dried fruit! Those were definitely her favorites. :)

Next week's theme is green, which might be a challenge based on what foods she frequently refuses. :) I'm going to have to start thinking about that one!

Pudding painting

2010-03-06T10:18:00.001-05:00

I mentioned that up until this week, we'd used edible finger paints. I thought I'd post a picture of what we used to do!

This is the cute, chubby little hand of my daughter when she was eight months old. And this was also her first "painting" experience! We did pudding paintings for some special people in our family, and it worked wonderfully. Mix up a batch of instant vanilla pudding and add food coloring... then, just use as you would finger paints! The pudding is a little "wetter" than paint, but it dries just fine. It also seems to take a little longer to dry fully, but WILL dry! :)

We've done this project a few times, and I can say that it does seem to hold up better on cardstock rather than regular paper. Last year (when she was one year old), we did pink and purple pudding paintings, and I cut hearts out of them to send as her "valentines" to our friends and family. Cute, simple, and something that even a baby can do! :)

Dr. Seuss: One Fish, Two Fish

2010-03-05T09:39:00.001-05:00

So, as I was saying, I decided to pull out finger paints for my daughter. And since it's Dr. Seuss' birthday week, we continued on the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish theme.

Get your paints ready, and remember that if you've just made them yourself, they will still be quite warm. I prepared ours an hour or two in advance and let them cool in the fridge in the meantime. If you have store bought on hand, by all means, use it!

You will need:

Red and blue finger paints
Two fish traced on paper
Newspaper
Masking tape

I taped newspaper to the table, and then taped the corners of one fish paper onto the newspaper. Spoon paint directly onto paper and let them have at it!

As I mentioned in the previous post, this was a diaper-only zone. She still managed to smear my clothes a bit in the clean-up, but I was just in sweats anyway. And now I can say for sure that these paints ARE washable! :)

Allow to dry fully, then cut fish out. I still do all the cutting around here, but if your child is using scissors, they may want to do that step.

My daughter was excited to see her fish the next morning! She pretended they were swimming, counted them, guessed their colors (we're still working on this... colors haven't "clicked" for her yet), and told me what a fishy says. I hung them on the laundry room door at her level to display them. I love seeing her so proud of her work!

Homemade finger paint

2010-03-04T09:58:00.001-05:00

My husband was out for the evening last night and didn't get home until after our daughter's bedtime. These evenings don't happen often, but when they do, it's nice to have something a little "extra special" to help pass the time! What is it about those extra three hours alone with your child (or children) that can drive a mom batty?

So. I decided we would finger paint. We haven't done finger painting in a long, long time (like maybe a year), and we've NEVER done finger painting with real finger paint. I was always nervous she'd eat it accidentally, so we stuck to edible "paints." But I decided I was going to be brave and try the real stuff!

And then I realized that we don't actually own any finger paints. I had tempera paint, craft paint, and a bunch of old paint cans in the garage (ha! yeah right!)... but no finger paint. I truly had no desire to go out in the cold again today, so I did some quick searching to find a finger paint recipe. There was no shortage of recipes out there, but most were fairly similar. I also refined my search to include washable finger paints... because I don't have stock in Shout spray.

You will need:

2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups water
1/4 cup dishwashing soap
food coloring
glass jar with lid (for storage)

Boil the first three ingredients in a saucepan on the stove, whisking continuously. I actually doubled the recipe because it didn't seem like much, but in retrospect, probably didn't need to do that. A single recipe, or even half of it, would have been sufficient. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.

As I stood at the stove, whisking away, I wondered how long this process might take. About that time, I noticed that the mixture was starting to gel a bit at the bottom, and it was also around this time that I thought maybe I ought to grab the camera. In the time it took me to walk two rooms away and back, the mixture had fully gelled. It really does happen that quickly. When you start feeling some resistance at the bottom of the pan, watch it closely because it will gel almost instantaneously. (Which is, of course, what you're looking for.)

See how it looks kind of gloppy (as you'd expect finger paint to look) and coats the whisk? That's when you're ready to move on to the next step.

While I did double the other ingredients, I only used about 1/3 cup of the dish soap, and it was (in my opinion) too much. Because a few of the recipes I found specified Dawn, that's what I used. However, the only Dawn I had was blue, so it tinted my mixture a bit. But since I knew I was adding food coloring, I didn't worry too much about it. If you're looking to make white paint, you might want to stick with a clear dish soap, or omit it all together. Remember though that the dish soap is what supposedly makes it "washable" paint.

The soap also makes the mixture a bit sudsy, but the bubbles don't take over. Again, I think I'd cut back on the amount of soap and start with only a couple of tablespoons, then work my way up from there.

Have a jar or two ready. I put a funnel in mine to make for neater pouring.

Pour the mixture into the jars.

It's still warm, and because it's in two different containers, I can make two different colors of paint.

Add food coloring in the color of your choice. This was definitely enough!

Kind of looks like strawberry jam, doesn't it? But it definitely wouldn't taste that good!

Repeat with as many colors as you'd like. Make sure to seal the lids tightly. :)

The homemade version is a little runnier than store bought, but it's definitely WAY cheaper and super simple to make! And honestly, how pretty does the paint look in these jars? So much cuter than the yellow tubs! I even thought this would be a really fun and simple gift for a kid, or an inexpensive birthday party favor if you had smaller jars. I don't know though... is that the kind of thing that other parents would hate you for? We aren't to the "friend birthday parties" age yet, so there might be some etiquette guidelines there I'm missing.

Coincidentally... it IS washable. We tested that out, too, but not on purpose. I guess it goes to show that even when you have the foresight to remove every SPECK of clothing from your child's body, sometimes you just can't control what lands on your own clothes.

Dr. Seuss: Fishing game

2010-03-03T13:54:00.002-05:00

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is one of the most recognizable Dr. Seuss books. One thing that I love about Dr. Seuss books is that there are so many activities that can accompany them! This is a game I've used for years. I like that the game can be adjusted according to the child's age and skill level.

You will need:

A dowel rod (whatever length is manageable for your child)
string (yarn or even kitchen twine will work here, too!)
magnet
hot glue gun
fish cut-outs
paper clips or stick-on magnets

Using your hot glue gun, attach one end of the string to a medium-to-large magnet. You want it to be large enough to attach to your fish somewhat easily. As you can see, when I made this, I squeezed out a big puddle of glue, but you want the string to hold well. It doesn't have to be pretty. :)

Attach the other end of the string to the dowel rod using more hot glue. I wrap the excess string around the dowel a few times to keep the length of the string manageable, and to give the end of the string that is glued a little more support.

Scatter your fish cut-outs on the floor. Each fish should have either a magnet attached, or you can attach a paper clip to it instead and that will work just fine. My fish were cut years ago from an Ellison machine and then laminated, but you can draw fish on construction paper to cut out or choose some cute ones to print.

In the past, I've used this game for matching capital and lowercase letters ("Fish for the letter 'b,' "Find the match for 'N'"), phonics sounds ("What letters make the 'ch' sound?"), spelling ("Find the letters that spell 'watch'"), and rhyming ("Can you find a rhyme for the word 'take?'"). However, it would be easy to use this game for math facts, state capitals, or anything else your child is currently learning. Since my daughter is still quite young, we'll just be using this game for hand-eye coordination. :)

Hello and welcome!

2010-03-02T09:32:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to post to say that I've noticed a few new "followers" (is that kind of a silly term to anyone else?) and commenters that I haven't "met" before --- just wanted to say hi and welcome! Please feel free to introduce yourself! I'm curious how you found me. :)

Thanks for stopping by! I'll have more activities posted soon... but for now, the sun is shining, the coffee is calling, and it's Kindermusik day. :)

Muffin Tin Monday

2010-03-01T14:53:00.004-05:00

We participated in Muffin Tin Monday for the first time today! Since there was no "theme" today, I just did what we had on hand and what my daughter was asking for (i.e., banana bread). I wish I'd thought ahead though, because how cute would it have been to have a Dr. Seuss themed meal?! Green eggs (scrambled eggs with a little food coloring), ham, and Goldfish crackers ("One Fish, Two Fish") are all I came up with so far. Maybe later in the month! :)

The whole reason for muffin tin meals (to me, anyway) is pretty much the same reason why you use cookie cutters to make fun shapes in your child's sandwich or pancakes, or why you make "ants on a log" instead of just plopping some celery and raisins on their plate next to a spoonful of peanut butter. It's just going that little extra mile to do something fun and special for your child... and, of course, the hope is that they might also eat something they wouldn't have eaten otherwise. :)

Lunch today consisted of (top, clockwise):

grapes
carrot and red pepper sticks
ranch dressing for dipping
chicken noodle soup (of the Dora variety :)
cheese
banana bread

The only item in her meal today that she doesn't commonly eat is the red pepper sticks. I often give her a baby carrot or two at lunch with some "dip" (Ranch) and have done this for months... and she's started to actually eat the carrot! Because the carrots I have right now are massive and hardly qualify for "baby carrots," and also to keep with the theme of everything being little and cute, I cut one enormous baby carrot up into matchsticks. I decided to throw a little red pepper in there, too.

The veggies were the only thing left on her plate. *sigh* BUT, she did eat a few of them! This mom-of-a-picky-eater counts that as a success. :)

I stumbled across these adorable silicone muffin cups in the Target dollar section this weekend. If you're wanting to participate in Muffin Tin Monday, but are like me in that you only have one, fairly cruddy looking muffin tin, check your local Target! They had packs of six for $1, so I grabbed one. I really wanted the butterfly-shaped ones (they were oh-so-cute!), but the only remaining package had been opened, and the contents strewn about in the bin. I could have pieced them all back together, but a couple cups had little tears in them... so we went for just the plain round cups. Coincidentally, my girl LOVED the round muffin cups and kept telling me they were circles. A fun meal and a shapes lesson all in one!

Dr. Seuss: "Cat in the Hat" hat

2010-03-01T11:06:00.003-05:00

Happy March! Finally! I always feel like March is the light at the end of the tunnel every year. By the end of the month, hopefully the snow will be gone and the days will start warming up enough for us to go outside again. You know... in like a lion, out like a lamb, and all that stuff?

March is also traditionally a good month for celebrating Dr. Seuss, as his birthday is tomorrow! I have a handful of Dr. Seuss projects in my files, but I think I'm going to limit what we do this year and save some of the more involved crafts for next year. But we'll definitely hit a few this month, and we'll be reading some of our favorite Dr. Seuss books, I'm sure. :)

For the "Cat in the Hat" hat craft...

You will need:

One white hat cut out (cardstock is preferable)
One long band in either white or red (cardstock is preferable)
4-5 red construction paper stripes
Glue

I opted to cut my daughter's red stripes, but if your little one is already practicing cutting skills, you may want to use a Sharpie to simply draw lines on the construction paper. It's great cutting paper practice because it's just straight lines... nothing complicated. :)

Have your child glue the backs of the stripes...

...and attach to the hat.

What's really funny is to see how crooked their lines are!

Trim the edges of the paper stripes for your child.

Then use their head as a measurement for how wide to make the band part of the hat.

Attach with glue... or use a stapler if your little one is not going to be patient enough to wait for the glue to dry. We went with glue (or "blue," as she calls it :) and I did have to fix it a couple of times.

This is a quick and easy way to celebrate Dr. Seuss month that all ages can participate in!

Painted snowman

2010-02-28T17:18:00.005-05:00

I'm busy preparing crafts for March (and excited to share some cute ideas!), but last week, my daughter wanted to do a "project." I wanted to do one more winter-themed activity with her before closing out the month of February, so this is what we came up with. It's a variation on something I've done with my classes before.

You will need:

Large piece of construction paper or cardstock (heavier weight is best) with three circles drawn
One top hat shape cut out
One carrot nose shape cut out
A few pieces of raffia (or if you have twigs from your yard, that would be cute!)
A couple of cotton balls (I had two, but wished I'd grabbed three)
A small handful of raisins (some for the eyes and buttons... plus a few for snacking :)
Five or six sequins (for mouth... you can use raisins, buttons, or anything else on hand)
Glue
White washable paint

I drew the circles in pencil so the marks wouldn't show up as much after being painted. I also overlapped mine a bit to make it look a little more realistic.

Again, nothing fancy for tracing! I used a can of veggies for the head, a large can of tomatoes for the middle, and a round ice cream container for the bottom. (Speaking of which... the Edy's Tagalongs ice cream is TO DIE FOR!)

Squirt a little paint directly onto the paper, and have your child use the cotton balls to dab the paint around.

Glue the hat on the top. Our snowman's hat is levitating.

Glue the carrot nose on its face.

Raisins for eyes...

...and buttons.

Sequins (or more raisins, buttons, or whatever else you've come up with) for the mouth are next.

And sprigs of raffia work well for the arms if you don't have any real twigs.

Here was our finished product! Now does this mean winter is over? PLEASE?

Spread the Love: artistic edition!

2010-02-27T10:59:00.003-05:00

I'm spreading the love one more time in the month of February! It's the artistic edition... because I'm really not very artistically talented, so I need the ideas more than anyone around.

Color Color Color - I think this just may be my favorite art-oriented blog so far. Frozen paintsicles? Lace prints? Spool snowflakes? Yes, to all of the above! :)
Deep Space Sparkle Art Lessons for Kids - Long name, but great ideas! I love that they are listed by grade. While these are mostly over the head of my toddler right now, I'm definitely bookmarking ideas for the future. Have you ever seen a cuter Dr. Seuss project?
Teach Kids Art - Again, intended for a bit older kids... but we just may try a scaled-down version of her watercolor fish with pointillism. (Sounds so fancy!)

Make-ahead thank you notes

2010-02-26T09:32:00.000-05:00

When writing thank you notes for things my daughter has received, I like to include her in the process. Now obviously, she's two -- so she isn't going to be doing any writing. But her contribution is usually some crayon scribbles, stickers, or a hand tracing.

Now, again -- she's two. This means that the balance of power has shifted a little bit, and if she doesn't want to do something... SHE DOESN'T! :) I'm sure no one else's child is like that, though... but since mine is, here's what I've started doing.

When my girl is in a coloring mood, I give her a couple blank note cards to scribble away on! That way, when I need to write a thank you note, and she's having a meltdown over the mere suggestion of coloring, I have two or three cards in my stash with her "signature" already on them. Why didn't I think of this earlier?!

This system works WITH her toddler independence, while allowing me to still send timely thank yous to those who deserve them. It's sort of a way to "strike while the iron's hot," if you will. If she wants to be coloring, she might as well color on a blank card. I just keep the colored cards (with their envelopes) in my desk where I keep other note card supplies, stamps, etc. When the day comes (and that's a "when," not an "if!") that she's refusing to cooperate, I'll pull one of these out, write a brief note, and stick it in the mail. No more "forging" your child's scribbles in a pinch!

Not that I've ever done that or anything.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2010-02-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned, we've been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar frequently as of late. We borrowed it from the library (I'm a little ashamed to admit we don't actually OWN this one!), and it's one my daughter requests almost daily. So when she got up a little early from her nap yesterday, I had this project waiting on her. :)

You will need:

One piece of construction paper (any color... looking back on it, blue would have been kind of nice)
One yellow circle shape cut out
One green leaf shape cut out (I drew "veins" with a black Sharpie to make it look a little more leaf-like)
One small circle shape cut out (I chose green, though the real one is red)
Several oval shapes cut out in various colors (okay, so the real caterpillar in the book looks a bit different, but we went for color!)
A few small black rectangles (for legs)
One wiggly eye (optional, not pictured)
Glue
Hole punch (coming up later)

I don't have anything fancy to cut shapes with in this house, so I use household items to trace things and then cut them out myself. I used the bottom of a glass for the yellow sun, a round spice container for the caterpillar's head, and a flavor extract bottle for the caterpillar's body pieces. Hmm... cumin and orange extract. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that combination.

For the leaf, I just drew a basic leaf shape and cut it out. Nothing fancy. :) I also just cut little matchsticks out of black construction paper for the legs... no tracing involved.

Help your child glue the pieces on the paper in the order he/she sees fit. Because I still have a pretty young toddler, I gave her a choice of two colors at a time, let her pick, and glue that one on. We continued until we ran out of room, and had ovals leftover.

If you are also working with a younger child, you may want to consider the following options to make your project go a little easier:

Draw a line with a pen or a Sharpie, and instruct your child to glue the caterpillar parts on the line
Squeeze out a line of glue on the paper, and instruct your child to attach the caterpillar parts to the glue
Give your child only one piece at a time and ask questions such as "Do you want purple to go next to blue or red?" as you point to the available spots. (This is what we did, and it worked just fine.)

Next comes the fun part! As the story reads, "the caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better." Help your child punch holes in the leaf as if the caterpillar were "eating" it. My daughter got such a kick out of this!

Our finished product! We added a wiggly eye because my daughter asked for one. I was just going to help her draw one. :)

Projects to go!

2010-02-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

About once a month, we pack up and head out to visit my daughter's great-grandparents for the day. It makes for a long day without a decent nap, a long car ride, and a long afternoon of saying "No! Stop! Don't touch that! Put that back! Don't break that! No touch!" (That would be me saying those things... in case you didn't recognize my voice.)

A small house that has collected not-so-small items for more than fifty years, but hasn't regularly seen a baby on the premises for over a decade does not a playground for an inquisitive toddler make.

So this weekend, as I was packing a bag for the day's trip, I had a brilliant idea. Why not pack a to-go kit of crafty stuff for my daughter to work on a "project" rather than pull out every knick-knack in her great-grandmother's living room (which is a LOT...)?

I threw some crayons, stickers, wiggly eyes, foam shape stickers, fuzzy balls, and a glue stick in a Tupperware container. I brought along a couple sheets of paper, a coloring book, and a brown lunch sack.

I briefly entertained the thought of actually putting a "real" project together for her to complete, but it was late. I was tired... and strangely achy. I think I'm old enough now to feel the weather in my bones.

We'll make it up as we go, I thought.

As it ended up, we DID pull this handy kit out (mere nanoseconds before I pulled my hair out), but got no further than gluing the eyes on a paper bag (with the high ambitions of turning it into a puppet creature of some kind) when it was time to pack up and head out the door for dinner.

She asked to work on her "project" again this morning, though, so we did pull it back out. It bought me enough time to scarf down a bagel and unload the dishwasher without being interrupted. I call that a victory.

Share the Love: more great reads!

2010-02-22T14:41:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness, I have so many great links to share... I'm not sure which is my favorite!

I've come across so many FABULOUS blogs recently that are written by moms of young children, moms of older children, homeschooling moms, Christian moms... so much insight, and so many wonderful ideas! Lots of times while reading through their posts, I think to myself "Why didn't I think of that?! It's so simple and yet so perfect for ____!" And there have been plenty of times I've thought "Wow, I never would have thought of that in a MILLION years!" :)

Now that my two-year-old is telling me on a (nearly) daily basis "Want to do a project!" I've had to step things up a bit around here. And when she says she wants to do a project, she doesn't mean just sit around and color. She wants to CREATE something! :) I have more ideas available to me than I know what to do with, but I'm having some difficulty trying to organize them. I'm hoping to figure out a solution to that dilemma soon... I don't want any fun activity to fall through the cracks!

My newest favorite finds include:

Confessions of a Homeschooler - Okay, maybe this site is well-known to everyone in the Western Hemisphere except me, but I just found it! I am in LOVE. Not only is Erica coming from a Christian perspective, not only does she homeschool three of her kids, not only is she talented in graphic design... but she also provides all her resources FOR FREE!! That's an exciting thing in my book! :)
Muffin Tin Mom - Another great Christian mom blog! This is one of those "why didn't I think of that?" things... what kiddo wouldn't enjoy eating from a muffin tin? How about muffin tin sorting? Or using muffin tins to hold a yummy snack that accompanies a book?
The Crafty Crow - This is a fantastic site for keeping up on all the best ideas out there from a variety of bloggers. Featured crafts range from simple to fancy, young child to adult, quick to more involved. I especially like that you can pull up crafts by the right age range for your kids. And I've found a few things I'm pretty darn excited about myself. I'm so making this heart garland. And, as luck would have it, I happened to pick up some paint samples today before I even saw this fun idea!
Craft Projects - Speaking of crafty blogs, check this one out! The posts are less frequent than at Craft Crow, but there are some darling ideas! I'm thinking of some family members that will definitely be receiving these at some point in the future. :)
Celebrate Every Day - Sounds like a winner just from the name, huh? :) This is another wonderful Christian/homeschooling resource for all of us who fit those categories! I'm tucking away the animal matching idea that accompanies Brown Bear.

Now... back to trying to organize!

Clean collages

2010-02-18T15:30:00.003-05:00

Collages are fun, but gosh, they're messy, aren't they? When I happened upon an idea for a glueless collage, I was intrigued.

You will need:

Clear contact paper
Masking or painter's tape (something less sticky than scotch tape)
An assortment of scraps of things such as: construction paper, ribbon, fabric, feathers, old buttons, tissue paper, streamers, pretty cards you are done with, etc.

Cut a piece of contact paper, and then tape it, sticky side OUT, somewhere in your house that is accessible to your child. I chose to tape ours on the sliding glass door, since I wouldn't run the risk of peeling paint when the tape came off. This is the trickiest part, but I would suggest peeling only a couple inches down, then tape the top. Peel a couple inches from either a side or the bottom, and then tape. Continue until all sides are taped, and then pull the rest of the contact paper backing off. This will help keep the tape and the contact paper from getting all stuck into a ball, and then having to throw the whole thing out and start over again. It also helps if you can do this task before your small child tries to... help you.

Present your child with the various scraps...

...and allow them to stick whatever they want, wherever they want.

What is really awesome about this project is that it can take as long or as short as you want it to take. The amount of materials you provide, the size of the contact paper you cut, and of course, the interest of your child (most important!) all determine how long this craft can take. I LOVE that I could start my two-year-old on this project and just let her have a ball with it while I tended to some other things. I finished some organization projects I'd started this morning, worked on the laundry, started preparing lunch...

...but apparently I should have drawn the line at going to the bathroom by myself. This is what greeted me on the floor outside the bathroom. That was how I knew we were done.

This was her finished project.

I took the tape off and attached the sticky side of the contact paper to the door. I figure we'll leave it up for a couple of days. It's fun to let them display their work, especially at their own level!

Next time, I might try having pre-cut shapes for our collage. Wouldn't snowflakes look cute on my door this time of year? How about shamrocks for March? Ducks, bunnies, and Easter eggs for spring? Red, white, and blue glitter (if you dare, which I probably won't) for July "fireworks?"

Books we love

2010-02-17T15:43:00.003-05:00

I love, love, love children's literature. I took an entire course devoted to it in college, and many others where children's lit was hugely a part of the material. As a teacher-turned-stay-at-home-mom, I now love reading to my daughter many of the books I used to love reading to my elementary school classes.

Read-alouds are just a favorite part of the education process, aren't they? I even had a high school English teacher who would read to all of her classes, because she said you were never too old to be read to. I liked that philosophy. :)

So... here are a few of our current favorite reads:

The New Potty by Gina and Mercer Mayer
I loved the Little Critter books as a child! They're simple, short, and there's a variety of topics available. Can you guess why we chose this one? (Now, will someone please explain to me why she wants to READ the book every twenty minutes, but has suddenly decided to run screaming from her own potty?)

Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
Are there any books that have more child-friendly pictures out there? The illustrations in Lois Ehlert books are so unique. I love them! My daughter asks me to read "betch-a-bul soooup" to her regularly. I have high hopes for using this book in conjunction with planting a small garden this year. High hopes.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
It's a classic. We've loved all the Eric Carle books we've read, but this is the one that's currently sitting next to the rocking chair in her room.

Hercules the Harbor Tug by Michael O'Hearn
This book is a little long for a two-year-old's attention span, but she does love the first few pages of the story. :) Honestly, I think she just loves looking at the illustrations in this book. They are kind of neat, particularly if you have a boat-lover in your home.

Archibald's Opposites by Phil Vischer
Yes, VeggieTales. :) I don't tend to promote a lot of "character"-themed items, but this is a cute book. We have approximately 319 books on opposites in this house, but this is the one I most prefer.

What are the books you and your child love? It's always fun to find a new story to read... for parent and child!

Olympic rings

2010-02-16T13:51:00.002-05:00

I'm not huge into the Olympics, but they do only come around every two or four years (depending on if you're talking about the winter or summer Olympics, of course). My two-year-old is a little too young to really understand anything about what the Olympics are or show even a remote interest in it, so I'm going to have to save some of the really super cute ideas I've been seeing for another year. But, we had a few free minutes this morning, so instead of turning to my DVR, I turned to the craft drawers instead. :) It took about ten minutes to prep, and then maybe another five minutes or so to complete. Definitely a quick craft!

You will need:

Five construction paper ring cut-outs, one each of blue, yellow, black, green, and red (although this would be really cute to do with colored pipe cleaners with older kids!)
Piece of paper
Glue

Since I'm not a fantastic circle-cutter, I used a large can of tomatoes for the outside of the ring, and a small can of tomato paste for the inside. Use what you have on hand!

Allow your child to glue each ring, and then stick it on the paper. They will need some help in getting the rings in the correct order, but don't worry about trying to get them on perfectly straight. That's part of what makes it cute! Coincidentally, this turns out to be a great trick for tracing the letter "O," if you're working on that sort of thing. :)

The finished product... just in case you need a little help remembering which color goes where. I had to double check online. :)

Music time

2010-02-15T13:38:00.004-05:00

I am not musically inclined. At all. So music, rhythm, and instruments tend to be more on the challenging side of parenting for me.

It's not that I don't see the value in music; I'm just plain not good at it. As the saying goes, the only thing I can play is the radio.

However, I was blessed with a child who DOES love music and who seems to be pretty good at it! I think most (all?) toddlers tend to enjoy music in some form or another, but please excuse my biased nature when I say I think I have a musically-gifted child on my hands. :) I have no idea where that will take her in the future, but I do feel it is my job to lay aside my own inclinations in order to foster hers.

One thing we have done is to enroll her in Kindermusik classes. It's a little too expensive to utilize every time a new semester comes around, but when possible, it's a fantastic winter activity especially. Once a week, it gives us a chance to get out of the house, play in a new environment, socialize, and run off some energy.

But if you aren't ready to enroll your child in a Kindermusik class, what components of it can you adapt for home play? Of course, being in a class has the added benefits of interacting in a group, learning to share, and practicing transition times among other things. But there's definitely some things we can do just fine at home (and do!).

Practice using musical instruments:
This does not have to be anything fancy. If you have a play musical instrument kit, that's a great start! If not, homemade musical instruments are often times the best kind. Fill small containers (old Tupperware, baby food jars, and plastic Easter eggs all work great!) with dried rice, beans, or macaroni. You might even try putting a different item in each one to let your child hear different sounds. (Plastic beads, cotton balls, and pennies are also handy items to create different sounds.) Put beans or other items inside a toilet paper tube and cover the ends with scraps of fabric, aluminum foil, or paper. Even just an empty paper towel or wrapping paper tubes inherently make great instruments!

Read books that have a pattern or rhythm as part of the story:
So much of music is following a pattern or a rhythm. In fact, research shows that early music experiences help lay a foundation for future learning, such as literacy and math. There are thousands upon thousands of great books out there that merry so well with patterns and rhythm. Some of our favorites include:

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (or any of the books in this series) by Laura Numeroff
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear (or other books in series) by Bill Martin, Jr.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom also by Bill Martin, Jr.
The Very Quiet Cricket (or other books in series) by Eric Carle
The Foot Book (and of course any others!) by Dr. Seuss

These are only a very small start to what is available out there!

Expose your child to different genres of music:
This might be a no-brainer! :) We listen to kids' music, but we also listen to regular music. We turn on a favorite CD of mine, a TV show soundtrack, or kids' music disguised as adult music. We also listen to the home CD from our current class (pictured above). Any of these are great for a different option from turning on the TV, and besides -- the energy it takes to dance around the living room is a great pre-nap work-out! :)

Explore various direction or motions to music:
The Kindermusik CDs are great for this, but as I've said, you can use any music you have on hand for this! Have your child follow along with the music by going fast and slow, up and down, straight and curvy, little movements and big, clapping and snapping, marching and tiptoeing, etc. You're only limited by your imagination!

Magnetic picture clips

2010-02-12T09:13:00.004-05:00

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll preface this post by saying I actually didn't do this craft with my daughter. It was the activity from our moms group at church this week, but I still thought it was really cute and creative! I'll eventually use this method, possibly in a different theme, with my daughter. I've seen some other really cute similar ideas online as well!

You will need:

Foam cut-outs (pre-cut, or cut out yourself), preferably with a sticky back (if not, glue works just fine!)
Ribbon (optional)
Permanent fine-tip markers (optional)
Glue stick (a hot glue gun may hold better, though)
Clothespin
Peel-n-stick magnets

Assemble the shapes in whatever design you like. Add ribbon and/or decorate with markers. Please ignore that this one is a bit crooked. I was being chatty at the time and wasn't paying attention. :)

Attach with glue stick or hot glue gun to a clothespin. (Obviously, take caution when using a hot glue gun... it's not as kid-friendly as a glue stick!)

Attach a magnet or two to the back of the clothespin. The peel-n-stick magnets that come in a roll work great, but regular, cheap magnets are fine, too. I had a college professor who said she always saved whatever cheap, freebie magnets she had (you know, like you get in the mail, pick up at fairs, etc.), and would cut them up to use for projects like this. It works perfectly, and what a great way to reuse something you'd ordinarily trash!

The finished products! They are ready slap on your fridge and hold your current favorite pictures, while still looking festive! This would be a fun addition to any holiday pictures we all send to grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. :)

Fun in the snow

2010-02-11T13:29:00.001-05:00

This time of year is not the best for outdoor play. When the weather warms up, we look forward to going on walks in our neighborhood, visiting the park, picnic lunches in the backyard, watering the flowers, and just spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Unfortunately, it's February. Which means none of those are great activities at the moment where we live.

I am not a snow-lover. In fact, I would probably classify myself as a snow-hater! It's beautiful to look at from inside my nice, warm house, dressed in comfortable clothes, and sipping a hot cup of coffee, but that's about all I can appreciate about it. Besides December 25th, I really don't see a need for snow at all. :)

However... I have a two-year-old, and two-year-olds LOVE snow (or at least mine does!). So, when we get a decent snow storm through our area, I do try to take her out to experience it at least once. We bundle in layers, I grab the camera, and we're out the door.

Although just BEING in the snow is enough for my daughter, I wanted to bring something outside for her to play with today.

I chose these. A bucket and rake that are generally intended for sand play in the summertime at the beach. But, we don't live near the beach, and it's definitely not summertime! Why not bring out toys that are ordinarily in storage this time of year to play with in a different way?

Some other ideas you may want to try for snow play:

Cookie cutters
Different sized cups or containers
A small plastic Tupperware container (with lid), or small plastic baby food containers
A squirt bottle with warm water in it (to dissolve some of the snow and learn about melting... and then freezing again)
Rubber ball (big enough that it won't get lost in a few inches of snow)
Play cars or trucks (to make tire tracks)
Blocks or other hard toys with raised pictures/letters (use like a stamp in the snow)
Food coloring... just maybe not yellow :)

I figure if I have to be standing outside in the cold, we might as well have some fun with it!

Or, if you're like me and absolutely DETEST being cold, try this to improvise. Grab a large bucket, scoop some snow into it, and put it in the bathtub for your child to explore there. No frigid wind, no mess to clean up... easy peasy. And it works marvelously for one-year-olds who REFUSE to be put down in that cold stuff. :)

Recent inspiration

2010-02-10T15:32:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Rachel for the great idea of "spreading the love" during the month of February by highlighting fun blogs!

I've come across some AWESOME finds lately! Here are my current favorite reads:

Impress Your Kids - LOVE this blog and what it stands for! It is Biblically-based and has so many quick and easy tips for child-rearing, crafty projects, and instilling God's word in your child's heart! Love it!
Make and Takes - Oh my goodness, I am loving the creativity that flows from this site! I have stored away so many adorable ideas for future use!
Skip to my Lou - Possibly the cutest site I have ever seen. While some of her ideas are a little advanced for our age group, I will definitely keep this one in mind as my daughter grows!
Because Babies Grow Up - Well, they do, don't they?! What a neat compilation of ideas that are based on baby's development needs... as they grow!
No Time for Flashcards - I came across this site forever ago, but was just reintroduced to it recently, and I love it! I'd like to think I'm creative... until I see all of these amazing ideas! :)

If you have other favorites, let's hear them! :)

Thank you cards

2010-02-09T15:19:00.003-05:00

A habit I hope to instill in my daughter is that of writing thank you notes. When someone does something unexpected, goes out of their way to be kind to you, or gives you a gift, it's important to say thank you. However, writing thank you notes seems to be a lost art. It doesn't have to be fancy, and it doesn't have to take much time. But it's important to express gratitude for things you receive, and thank you notes are a nice way of showing appreciation.

At two, my daughter isn't ready for writing notes yet. She does, though, love to help with projects! I cut out these letters from different scraps of construction paper this morning, and then let her help me glue them on a paper. We will finish this card later today with some stickers and crayon scribbles, along with a brief note written by Mommy. :)

I know the recipients of this card will love it!

Valentine's Fish

2010-02-06T14:46:00.003-05:00

What can you do on days when the view from your back window looks like this?

Break out a craft, of course!

My two-year-old was very excited when I announced that we were going to do a "project." She had no clue what a project was, but she knew it sounded fun! With Valentine's Day coming up, I had decided I wanted to have her make something cute and holiday-ish for some relatives. Thankfully, I had already prepared this ahead of time, and that makes the actual craft time SO much easier when you are working with a young child!

You will need:
One large construction paper heart (fish body)
One medium construction paper heart (fish tail)
Three smaller construction paper hearts (fish fins)
One itty-bitty construction paper heart (fish lips)
One wiggly eye (optional -- you can have your child draw an eye if you don't have these)
Glue

The colors don't really matter, but I did keep the lips hearts either pink or red. I used pink, red, purple, and lilac for the rest of the fish.

Glue the medium-sized heart onto the top of the large heart.

This is the fish's tail.

Glue the three small hearts on the large heart to look like "fins."

This was my girl's first experience with glue. She liked it. A lot. As in, she would swat my hands away if I came near the glue to try and help her.

Everything cleans up, though. No big deal!

Glue the itty-bitty heart onto the large heart for "lips." You'll want the bottom points of these hearts to come together, so the lips stick out. Also glue on a wiggly eye, or have your child draw one instead.

This is what it looks like when it's finished!

We made a few more. I love how they are all different!

I can't decide which one to keep for myself.

Maybe this guy. He's just too cute. :)

Too Busy for TV

2010-02-05T13:52:00.001-05:00

8:00 a.m. - Curious George
8:30 a.m. - Curious George on DVR
10:00 a.m. - Dora the Explorer
10:30 a.m. - Sesame Street
11:30 a.m. - Word World

Whose morning looks like this? Surely, not MINE!

Okay. Well... sometimes. Once in a while, we might spend a morning primarily in front of PBS Kids or Sprout OnDemand. And you know what? I feel GUILTY on those days. I feel like I am not doing my job as a mom. Unless I am deathly ill, was up all night with a sick child, or have some other sincere reason to park it in front of the glowing rock in my living room, it's really of no benefit to watch that much television in a day, let alone a morning!

Generally speaking, we watch about one kids' program a morning. It's usually Sesame Street, although sometimes it's Curious George. Some mornings we don't watch at all, and yes, some mornings it's on for longer than it needs to be. I rarely, if at all, turn the TV on for myself during the day, with the exception of catching up on something like American Idol while folding laundry during naptime.

I don't think TV is bad. I think it's extremely easy to allow it to become a bad habit, though. I have to be honest and say that I was pretty darn proud up until a few months ago that my daughter watched, at maximum, one TV show a week -- maybe two. Although she enjoyed it when it was on, it wasn't something she "loved" necessarily, and could be just as happy playing or reading books. And now, being a young two, she is asking for it. Daily. Multiple times a day. Multiple shows. She knows where the DVDs are kept and how to get them out. She'll bring me a Maisy or The Wiggles DVD and ask me to play it for her.

Ugh. I hate that we're starting this already.

Sometimes I can easily redirect her, but with that ever-growing independent toddler attitude, she wants what she wants WHEN she wants it! And that is more frequently leading to TV time battles.

My girl LOVES to read books. She loves to color and do stickers. She can play forever with her play kitchen, waffle blocks, and dollies. She's learning to put together puzzles. I just introduced Play Dough to her for the first time a couple weeks ago, and that's been a hit ever since. So how I do foster the love of reading, playing, and learning, rather than default to the TV all the time?

We're going to be too busy for TV. We're going to find other things to do throughout the week. We'll take advantage of outside programs when we can, but we'll be creative at home, too. It's going to take some work, and it's going to take some preparation in advance... but I think the result will be fantastic for both of us!

I am not anti-TV by any means. We will still enjoy Sesame Street and some others at times. Maybe not every day... maybe once a day... but hopefully not much more than that. :) I know I've seen her learn things through watching certain programs. She's learning shapes, letters, numbers, and vocabulary from Sesame Street. She's learning math and science concepts from Curious George. Remember -- TV isn't bad... it's the habit that it can become that can be bad.

So... will YOU be too busy for TV? :)