Category

Kid’s activities

Button Soup Counting Activity

IMG_8388

*This post contains affiliate links for convenience*

We have a lot of buttons in our house, a lot of buttons. They are great for fun & colorful crafts. My daughter loves to craft with them & she loves to play with them too. She likes to separate them into color piles & use them in games of make believe. One of her favorite things to do is to make pretend soup. This gave me an idea. We could turn our game of pretend into a fun counting activity.

We made a recipe which incorporated counting, measuring, separating colors & following directions.

Here is a printable version of our Button Soup Recipe.

Soup

We set up a large empty bowl & another filled with water. I told her to measure & add 4 cups of water to her empty bowl. She carefully measured out her scoops & added them to her bowl.

IMG_8351

We read off the numbers & colors of each ingredient. She dug through her pile of buttons & counted and pulled out each color.

IMG_8355

IMG_8364

IMG_8360

She mixed up her soup enthusiastically & in the end added the whole bag of buttons after finishing the recipe.

IMG_8384

IMG_8378 - Copy

This was a fun activity. You can change the recipe to add different ingredients & more measurements for a lesson in measurements as well.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Button Soup Counting, Colors, Measuring & Play For Toddlers with a free printable

Paper Plate Play Dough Nature Island

This is a wonderful activity for toddlers and preschoolers. Gather items from nature and form these beautiful nature items with play dough and paper plates.Paper Plate Play Dough Nature Island - This kid's craft & activity combines art, fine motor skills, sensory & nature.Great for toddlers and preschoolers

My daughter and I do arts and crafts project just about every day. Many times, I take inspiration for our projects by things that happen over the course of our day. Sometimes, I just get a random idea and many times my daughter calls the shots.  I had an idea last night to make nature fossils out of play dough, assorted leaves, flowers and small pebbles. We made homemade play dough. We added some cinnamon to change the color and add a lovely smell. We rolled out the dough & cut a circle out of the dough to imprint onto.

Continue Reading…

Toddler Car Wash

Carwash

It has been a busy few weeks. We are getting ready to put our house on the market. There is so much to do & seems like not enough time to do it in. This week we started to get our house packed & tried to fix up some areas that need work. Today’s project was going to be for me to tackle our landscaping. I had a lot of weeding & pruning to do. I thought Mai could help me do some gardening. She did, but got bored with it quicker than I needed to complete my project.

IMG_3954

She wanted me to push her to the park in her push car. She pushed it over to me & said “C’mon Mama, Let’s go!” Before I had a chance to protest & tell her that we would go in a little bit, I noticed how filthy her car was. I remembered a brilliant idea from my friend over at P Is For Preschooler. I asked my little girl if she wanted to have a car wash to clean up all her dirty cars. She shouting yes & ran immediately for the hose.

We filled up her kiddie pool with water & bubble bath. She was very excited to see all of the bubbles. I brought out all her bikes & push cars. I thought this would be a great opportunity to clean up all of her trucks & other outside toys that have gotten pretty dirty, so I brought those over too. I gave her a sponge & let her go.

“Don’t worry Miss Mama, I will clean your cars really nice for you. I am a really good car washer.”

She scrubbed all of her little cars & trucks first & then put them in the sun to let them dry.

IMG_3931 IMG_3936

IMG_3941

Next she moved on to her bigger car. “Ewwwww, this car is disgusting.” She sponged it down.

IMG_3949

Then rinsed it off with the hose.

IMG_3951

She did such a great job that she had two more customers waiting to be washed.

IMG_3953

This kept her busy for a long time & I was able to get my gardening finished.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

 

Toddler Car Wash

Water & Ice Science For Toddlers

Water Transfer Experiment

 

When choosing science experiments to do with my toddler, I find that the simpler the experiment the better. She loves water play, so the experiments with water are our favorites. I found the great ideas for these fun & easy experiments from two of my favorite science sites for kids www.sciencekids.co.nz & stevespanglerscience.com. Make sure that all of these are done with parental supervision.

Water Transfer Experiment

All you will need for this experiment is 2 glasses, water, a couple of drops of food coloring & a couple of sections of paper towel.

Place 2 glasses next to each other. Fill one of the glasses with water. Add a few drops of food coloring to it.

IMG_3562

Twist 2 sections of paper towel as shown.

IMG_3563

Put each end of the paper towel into both of the glasses.

IMG_3564

You can watch the color creep across the paper towel as it absorbs the colored water. This will take a little bit of time. We kept checking on our glasses every few minutes.

IMG_3566 IMG_3569

My daughter was so excited once the blue water started dripping into the other glass. “Look mama! It’s dripping. Look Look!” Like I said, it is the simplest things…

IMG_3576

 

After some time, the water will move from one glass into the other.

Water Transfer Experiment

In between checking on our water transfer, we tried a couple of other quick experiments.

Sticky Ice Experiment

Cut a few strands of yarn or string & put them aside. Put ice cubes into a clear container of water. Lay the yarn across an ice cube or two & sprinkle the ice & the yarn with Kosher salt. Let it sit for a moment. The science behind it is that the salt will melt the ice & then as it sits in the cold water will refreeze around the string.

IMG_3573

Lift the yarn & watch as the cube sticks to the string.

 IMG_3571

Sticky Ice Experiment

This last one was more for me than my daughter, as she was completely disinterested in this one, while I found this fascinating. Fill a glass all the way to the top with water. Place a piece of cardboard over the top of the glass. Place the palm of your hand over the cardboard and press putting pressure around the edges & in the center. You can feel a slight suction while you press. Flip the glass upside down & carefully remove your hand. The water & the cardboard should stay in place. Do this over a sink in case just in case.

Upside Down Water Experiment

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Paper Plate Bullseye Toss

Paper Plate Bullseye Toss

 

When you have a small child, you sometimes have to come up with creative ways to entertain them. Luckily, sometimes the most fun can be had with the simplest ideas.

We formed a couple of bullseyes out of paper plates using magic markers.

IMG_3181

We had some old mis-matched socks that we used for our toss.

IMG_3185

I put a handful of cotton batting in each sock & tied them into a knot.

IMG_3187

We put the two plates in our hallway. I used a small bit of tape rolled under each plate to keep them from moving. I gave Mai the socks & let her throw.

IMG_3188IMG_3189

“Mama, I am throwing your stinky socks.” She had a ton of fun playing this with mommy.

IMG_3204 IMG_3205

 

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

20 Awesome Backyard Ideas For The Kids

20 Awesome Backyard Ideas For The Kids

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have been really enjoying the beautiful weather that we have had the past few days. The summer is coming fast. It is time to pull out our shorts & swimsuits and spend less time cooped up in the house. There will be trips to the beach, the park & the zoo, but there are so many great activities that you can do right in your own backyard. Here are some awesome ideas for a fun, creative & educational summer.

Coffee Cups & Crayons – Sun Melted Crayon Art 

Sun-Melted-Crayon-Art-for-Kids-Inspired-by-101-Kids-Activities

Learn Play Imagine – Water Play With Balls

Water Play with Balls for Summer Fun (10)

Nurture Store – Color & Nature Learning Match Game

a225fbffd434c18212cb4b1fc0286adf

The Pinterested Parent – Mining For Gemstones

Mining For Gemstones

Fireflies & Mudpies – Squirt Gun Painting

Squirt-Gun-Painting

Housing A Forest – Rainbow Bubble Snakes

Rainbow-Bubble-Snakes-outdoor-fun

And Next Comes L – Alphabet Learning With Chalk Rocks

alphabet-learning-with-chalk-rocks-4

P Is For PreSchooler – Backyard Car Wash 

2971629_orig

Play Dough To Plato – Exploding Pop Rockets

Pop-Rockets.-Awesome-science-experiment-for-kids.jpg-597x1024

Fun At Home With Kids – Painting With Your Feet

IMG_6502 (2) (1)

Preschool Inspirations – Easy Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano Eruptions

Easy-Volcano-Eruption-for-Kids-Preschool-Inspirations-3

I Heart Naptime – Soap Boat Races

Untitled-004

Just Laine – Water Balloon Baseball

IMG_7930.1

Learn Play Imagine – Toddler Color Hop

Toddler Color Hop - Gross Motor Color Recogntion Game (1)

Happy Hooligans – Water Water

247314_10150210173702390_683592389_7032442_21178_n1

The Pinterested Parent – Nature Painting

img_2706

Reading Confetti – Frozen Popsicle Chalk

popsicle chalk 1

Developing The Whole Child – Pool Noodle Obstacle Course

img_0175

The Pinterested Parent – Soda Bottle Boats

Soda Bottle Boats - sink them or float them

Discover Explore Learn – Balloon Rockets

97c1fbe052b83a025e042f0ecc65daf3

 

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Despicable Me Shadow Puppets

Despicable Me Shadow Puppets

 

We have a sky light in our living room that brings in a lot of lovely natural light into our home. Yesterday afternoon it cast a shadow on our wall that had my daughter squealing with excitement.

“Look, it’s Gru. It’s Gru”

IMG_1318

My husband & I both laughed. It did look like Gru from Despicable Me. Despicable is one of my daughter’s all time favorite movies. She was very disappointed when the sun moved & she lost her shadow.  I wanted to keep her shadow fun going, so we made some shadow puppets.

I drew out a picture of Gru on a black foam sheet with a piece of chalk & then cut it out. (Printables to cut out the puppet shapes are attached below.)

IMG_1320

Glue a craft stick to the foam sheet cut-out and let dry.

IMG_1321

Gru Printable

I did the same with Agnes & a minion,

IMG_1354 IMG_1355

Minion & Agnes Printable

Head to a dark room with a flashlight & shine it on the wall. You may have to play with the flashlight a bit to get it to cast the right light. We were able to just lay the flashlight on the floor.

IMG_1336

IMG_1337IMG_1338 IMG_1339

Mai was having so much fun that she cast her own shadow puppet.

IMG_1348

Our shadow puppet theater was a big hit. I could barely get Mai off to bed.

IMG_1350

IMG_1347

IMG_1352

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

 

Teaching Patterns

TeachingPatterns.jpg

 

I hate going to work during the week & leaving our daughter. It breaks my heart not to be with her all day. Twice a week Mai goes to daycare. Daddy is home with her at least one day during the week because of his rotating schedule & on all other days my mother-in-law watches my favorite girl. It is wonderful that she is able to be in the hands of such capable and attentive people while I am at work. She learns a little from each of them. At times, she will come out with things that surprise me & I wonder “Where did she learn that?” Then I remember that she is surrounded by such wonderful teachers & influencers.

The other day I had on a pair of colorful striped socks. My daughter came over to me & pointed out all of the colors & told me that my socks had a pattern. I was so surprised & excited by her observation. Someone has been teaching her well. Wanting to see how well her understanding of patterns was, we did a couple of activities.

I printed out an assortment of different shapes & clip art from the computer. I cut them out into squares & laid them out on the floor in different patterns. I placed more cut outs in a pile, being sure that there was a shape that would be next in each sequence thrown into the pile.

I handed my daughter the pile & reviewed each line of patterns with her. I asked her to place the next square in each sequence. She did not let me down as she went down the line & successfully placed the next shape on each.

IMG_9646

IMG_9647

She made a few rows of patterns that she made on her own & then flipped them all over & said “Now let’s play the match game.” That is the thing about toddlers. Their attention spans are short. On to the next lesson…

There are many other things that you can use to teach patterns to your children.

1. Practice using verbal patterns. “owl, horse, dog, owl, horse dog… What’s next?”

2. You can use assorted shapes & textures in your craft bins such as pom poms, beads & craft sticks.

3. Use magnets & alphabet blocks to show number or letter patterns.

4. Use paints, crayons or markers to show color patterns.

5. Legos or building blocks are a fun way to build 3 dimensional patterns.

6. Show them patterns on clothing or quilts.

7. Make snack time a great opportunity to teach patterns with fruit snacks, cereal or different shaped crackers.

She is learning so much & is becoming quite the little smarty. I know that we cannot take the credit for all of this. Mai is very lucky to be surrounded by so many people willing to feed her growing and curious mind.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

It’s A Play Dough World

PlayDoughPark.jpg

 

I am currently living in a Play-Doh world. My living room is filled with containers & baggies filled with dough. Most containers are filled with multi-colored globs of dough that have been blended and smashed together. There are cutting tools, stamps & dough presses covering our tables & floors. It is easy to say that my daughter is obsessed with Play-Doh. Her birthday this year was even Play-Doh themed.

There is a kid’s television show that we will watch together called ‘Art & Music’. It is a lovely show that shows different mediums of art put to music. On every episode there is a segment called Clay World. They create amazing scenes & people right before your eyes. This is my daughter’s favorite part of the show. She oohs & aahs over their creations & tries to recreate them. I speak about inspiration often & it seems that even the youngest of artists get inspired.

Last night she asked me if we could make a Play-Doh village together. How could I say no to that?

 

We started with a pond laid out on a piece of poster board.

IMG_9286

Mai helped me form rocks to place around the pond.

IMG_9289

We rolled out a strip of mismatched green & sliced out grass blades.

IMG_9290

I worked the grass around the pond and rocks.

IMG_9291

I formed a walkway.

IMG_9294

Mai wanted to make ducks for the pond. She formed one with a cookie cutter. She got upset once she realized that it could not stand up in the pond.

IMG_9297

I showed her how to make a little duck that could float in the pond. She was a quick learn & made several little ducks to put in the pond.

IMG_9302

 

IMG_9304

We added a walkway to our pond & then pressed green dough around to form more grass.

IMG_9299

 

IMG_9301

Mai helped me press & work some brown dough around the side to form dirt.

IMG_9313

We added an additional path to the side & a stream.

IMG_9315

Mai made us a banana boat to put in our stream. That’s me in the orange. Mai is driving the boat of course & daddy & her cousin Sebby are in tow. I love that little girl’s imagination. Before she went to bed last night, she asked to add a zoo to our park. “Tomorrow baby girl.”  I really am living in a Play-doh world.

IMG_9318

 

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

IMG_9316