Play Create Explore

Shredded Paper Sensory Bin

2012-02-15T13:29:00.000-06:00

I've been waiting and waiting for my husband to shred enough junk mail to use for a sensory bin and when there was, the sensory bin was a hit--with L and the cat!

Strawberry shortcake is ice skating :)

Snow caves

The cat was intrigued right away

aaaaand he just couldn't resist getting in on the fun

Oh it was absolutely adorable

mean kitty looked on from her throne on top of the fridge

Yay shredded paper!

The Children's Art Group: Making Valentine's

2012-02-14T15:23:00.000-06:00

The Children's Art Group

Making Valentines

After constantly wishing there was an alternative to the expensive art classes and camps, I decided to start a local Children's Art Group, now with 30 members! We have some awesome little artists, enthusiastic parents, and we are having a BLAST focusing on process art and projects.

It was a must to have a homemade valentine's cards playdate with the art group. Easy peasy...everyone brought their own scissors and glue and lots of other crafty supplies for the group. It was lots of fun!

Toothpicks and Marshmallows

2012-02-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

Toothpicks + Marshmallows = FUN!

L's marshmallow man

Indoor Mini Ice Skating Rink and Popsicle Stick Ice Skaters

2012-02-11T12:01:00.001-06:00

It was FINALLY cold enough for our ice rink to freeze! I've had a storage bin lid filled with water sitting outside for a week waiting for it to freeze so we could play with our indoor skating rink!

We made our iceskaters by cutting out a few faces from magazines and gluing them on popsicle sticks. I then poured water into small paper cups. I put tin foil over the top and cut a small slit to fit the popsicle sticks through. This held them steady and upright so they would freeze that way. When they were frozen and we were ready to use them I just cut the paper away.

Our skating rink was ready!

I added a bit of fake snow around the edges and some blocks of ice just for fun.

Taylor Swift did some wicked spins!

And of course our cat Ford is always too curious for his own good. He decided to jump right on the ice trying to chase an ice skater. The picture is blurry but you can imagine why haha! It was pretty darn funny watching him slipping and sliding!

After an hour or so it turned into this....

but I'll save that for another post :)

Salt Sensory Bin

2012-02-10T08:29:00.000-06:00

Sometimes i'm amazed at how some of the more simple sensory bins I create for L, are the ones that hold his interest the longest. Like this...just a simple bin of salt and some utensils. He absolutely loved it...even wanted it out the next day!

A Cozy Reading Area

2012-02-08T07:56:00.002-06:00

I rearranged some furniture and set up a cozy reading area I set up for L when he was sleeping. We had just went to the library that day for the first time in a few weeks and I wanted to suprise him with a cozy reading area for us to read all his new books he was so excited about. YES, this area is a bit PINK for a boy, but since i'm surrounded by boys my husband lets me get anything and everything in the girliest colors and fabrics as I want soooo...this is what I had to work with haha!

L loves picnics so I put all his books in our picnic basket and set out some "reading snacks" beside it.

I also strung up some star lights.

At night it glows softly and is just such a cozy and magical little space to read :)

HE LOVES IT!

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List of Recycled Material for Arts and Crafts

2012-02-06T10:43:00.000-06:00

I've created a

List of Recycled Materials to Save for Arts and Crafts

Click the link on the left side of the blog OR

Click HERE to view the page!

Print the list and give to your friends

so they can save stuff for you too!

Indoor Miniature Playscapes: Tiny Village

2012-02-05T23:26:00.002-06:00

L was gone for the weekend at his Nonny's

so I wanted to suprise him by updating his miniature playscape area.

It was THIS

And now it's this :)

He loves it! Unfortunately so does the cat, so this more elaborate setup probably wont last as long. :(

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Do you love crocheted and knitted kids hats as much as I do?

2012-02-03T16:02:00.002-06:00

I LOVE crocheted and knitted hats on kids! I think they are flippin adorable and i'm a bit obsessed! I thought i'd share some pictures of our hats and where I got them!

The above owl hat was a gift from a fellow blogger friend Andrea from Jada Roo Can Do. She got it on Etsy, though i'm not sure which store.

I purchased this adorable hungry caterpillar outfit for B from

Treasured Little Creations on Etsy. Isn't he precious!!

Beard hat CRACKS ME UP! I bought this from By Laura Design on Etsy

L LOVES Angry Birds so for Christmas my talented friend Pam of Pam's Custom Creations, crocheted him this amazing Red Angry Bird hat which he love love loves!

I of course couldn't leave B out so Pam made B a green pig from the Angry Birds game.

This super sweet bear hat i'm pretty sure I purchased from Knitting Paradise on Etsy.

B with his Nonny :)

B wore this hat for Christmas which was also from Knitting Paradise.

and no, this hat is neither crocheted or knitted

but I also just love animal hats and B is just so cute in this one!

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Valentines Day Sensory Bin

2012-02-03T14:32:00.002-06:00

This is our Valentines Day Sensory Bin.

It's pretty simple. The only things I actually made were some felt hearts in different colors that can be found and matched with eachother. I'm so glad I had those heartshaped measuring spoons! They say things on the handles like "a teaspoon of love."

I also LOVE these Valentines Sensory Bins

From Playing House

From Coming Home

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Finders Keepers Treasures

2012-02-02T07:01:00.002-06:00

L and I spent a morning making these Finders Keepers Treasures (that's what we're calling them). We plan to keep them in the car and through the course of our errand runnings, park playdates, hiking trips, and travels we will disperse them around our town, hoping to bring smiles to the lucky finders of our treasures. :)

We used rocks, shells, sticks, googly eyes, paint, and modge podged stickers

and even wrote messages on the back of some

we can't wait to hide them and bring a smile the lucky finders!

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Rainbow I Spy Sensory Bin

2012-01-30T14:24:00.003-06:00

I made this Rainbow ISPY Sensory bin for L and he loved it! I used colored rice and noodles, and LOTS of brightly colored toys and trinkets. We really did play I spy and with every scoop he found treasure after treasure. This was literally hours of fun that day.

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Winter Beach Bash Playdate/Party

2012-01-27T23:04:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine created a playgroup on meetup.com called Play2Learn. The playdates in this group focus on play based learning. I hosted a playdate for the group called
The Winter Beach Bash
in which the focus was to incorporate "beachy" and summery elements into the party...the irony and fun of it of course being that we are in the middle of winter. Some of the kids even changed into their beach attire at the party which just added to the fun!

I didn't go over the top with this party. It wasn't in my budget nor was it necessary. I went with a few key elements and made those things the focus of the party and the kids and parents had a great time!

Ocean Sensory Table

I used the aquarium gravel, fake plants and coral, shells, and ocean animal toys to create this ocean sensory water table.

Beach Sensory Bin

I used Cloud Dough as the "sand" in this beach sensory bin, as well as shells, starfish, driftwood, and a plastic crab. I opted for cloud dough instead of sand because I couldn't find sand bags this time of year but it's just so darn fun to play with anyway! It's super soft and moldable, so the kids were able to make little sand castles too.
See another beautiful beach sensory bin using cloud dough and glitter!

We taped a plastic dropcloth to the floor for easier cleanup.
small plastic containers and little shovels and spoons were in a basket next to the bin

Sea Shell Painting

A basket of white shells, watercolors and paintbrushes to share.
The kids really loved this and some really beautiful shells were made!

Sea Shell Exploration

just a big basket of lots of different kinds of shells to be explored

FOOD

Everyone brought their OWN lunch and drinks and one extra thing to share with the group.

Decorations

The decor was kept pretty simple.

-brightly colored cheap table cloths

-little party palm trees and cardboard beach balls

-hawaiian lays for all the kids

-music

-limbo stick (which sadly we didn't get to)

and I also asked members to bring any beach balls, or pool toys.

The boys really liked kicking the beach balls.

And there you have it...a SIMPLE WINTER BEACH PARTY.
I absolutely LOVE hosting just because theme parties!
Even though it was simple and I didn't spend hundreds of dollars, the kids had a blast
AND THAT OF COURSE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
:)

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What We've Been Up To

2012-01-26T16:00:00.000-06:00

A picture post about the non posty stuff. You know...life.

First time with Cheese Wizz

I wore a ballcap and this is how Baby Son looked at me all day haha

fell asleep like this. He is VERY obsessed with his feet right now

My little GQ

A trip to what we call "Castle Park." Seriously one of THE coolest parks.

The kids can play inside that castle!

The one teeny tiny snowfall we had so far this winter.

Early morning brotherly love <3

Scared of the vaccume! lol

The reason I hate when my husband goes shopping by himself. He calls this our "pantry snack." It's the snack we snack on when we are in the pantry looking for a snack.

A little lunch creativity

A priceless picture

A winter walk in the woods

5 months old!

The glittery dolphin tattoo that L came home with after a weekend at his Nonny's house. A dolphin tattoo, really mom?! haha

A family trip to the safari zoo. L is with my brother Mike....and a kangaroo.

my mom didn't like the zebras so I kept rolling the window down on her when they came to the car hahaha! It was so funny!...for me.

9 lbs to go till goal weight!! I've almost lost the entire 80 lbs I gained during pregnancy!!

new slippers

And introducting....our new cat, Ford. He is soooo lovable and really funny!

He loves to lay on my shoulder

and of course we still have CaddyCat, our cantankerous cat.

And because I haven't posted about our Christmas yet (so late on that one),

here's a few pics

And that concludes our recent life!

I need to do these more often so I don't have to post so many pics!

Celebrating National Popcorn Day

2012-01-25T14:32:00.000-06:00

I like to see what the weird and obscure holidays of the month are so L and I can celebrate something on otherwise mundane days. National Popcorn Day was on January 19th and to celebrate, L and I made popcorn the "old fashioned way" (on the stove) AND had a popcorn fight!

L had never seen popcorn made like this and he absolutely LOVED getting to see it pop!

When we had finished popping the whole bag, we had a HUGE bucket full of popcorn and we were ready for our popcorn fight to begin!

Yes, it was probably the biggest mess we've made in the name of fun, but I have wood floors so I knew sweeping it up wouldn't be that big of a deal and it was so worth it!
It was the most fun we've had in a long time!

Happy National Popcorn Day!

Secret Messages in Sea Shells

2012-01-25T11:45:00.004-06:00

I made these secret sea shell messages today to

for L and I to spread around at a few trails and parks in our area.

I used wooden tags as well as folded paper to write a messages on one side and the website address to PCE on the other side. I hot glued two sea shells together with the message inside.

Hope these secret message shells brighten someones day!

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How to Start a Local Children's Art Group

2012-01-24T15:48:00.003-06:00

I've received many emails from women all around the world about the Children's Art Group I started in my area....women who are wanting to do the same, which I think is wonderful! I decided to make a page here on PCE dedicated to the most frequently asked questions. I hope this helps and inspires any future art group organizers! It really is a lot of fun! Go for it!

How to Start a Local Children's Art Group

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Snow Playdough

2012-01-23T20:29:00.001-06:00

We made snow playdough! Which is actually just homemade playdough minus food coloring, with a LOT of glitter and optional peppermint oil or extract. Some people even put white paint into the mix. We didn't, but it was still a milky white and L definately got the point.

The picture above is obviously MY snowman, but I LOVE L's snowman (below)! I wasn't going to tell you guys....BUT I can't resist. See that white button at the bottom? According to L that is the snowmans...you know. haha! Gotta love kids!

Then it became a beach/birthday cake

We also used the teeny tiny Christmas buttons to make prints

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Weird Object Painting

2012-01-21T09:26:00.001-06:00

I found these at Goodwill in a bag together for $1. Right away I knew L could paint with them, but I really still don't know what they are or what they would go to. I'm sure it's some sort of vacuume or cleaning machine. Buuut it doesn't really matter, because now they are ART supplies!

he figured out he could put his finger in the middle and roll it

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Contact Paper Sticky Table

2012-01-18T17:41:00.001-06:00

We've done contact paper collages BEFORE, but i've been seeing sticky tables using contact paper around the creative blogosphere so I thought i'd bring out the contact paper again for large scale collaging.

Contact paper taped to the table sticky side up and lots of collaging materials:

confetti, beans, magazine cut outs, stickers, cotton balls, fake snow, ribbon and yarn, glitter, bows, etc.

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Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-17T22:05:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I know how overdue this is but I'm finally getting around to the holiday posts!

I had Thanksgiving with my family and invited my friend and her family to my moms house as well. So, it was my first Thanksgiving to put together a KIDS TABLE which I was so excited for!

I also wanted a few GAMES for the kids to play and stay occupied for awhile so the adults could finish the cookin.

Turkey Hunt Game

I found a turkey on Google images, resized it, printed a bunch of them out and colored them, cut them out and glued them onto popsicle sticks for a turkey hunt game. This could be an indoor or outdoor game but because it was so nice on Thanksgiving I held the hunt outdoors. I hid the turkeys before everyone got there. They had a blast looking for the turkeys in my mom's backyard.

Turkey Handprint Craft

The kids made these really cute handprint turkeys with feathers I cut out from paint color samples, googly eyes, and a beak and waddle. They traced their hands and then added everything else themselves with glue. I love how they turned out!

Fall Sensory Bin

I brought our Fall Sensory Bin for them to play with as well. Sensory bins are always a hit!

and then dinner was ready! My mom had such a beautiful setup!

Each kids table included a I'm Thankful For...color sheet as well as a cup of crayons. Oh! I made those turkey cups too! I just hot glued googly eyes, and a beak and waddle onto brown cups and used the same paint color samples from Lowe's for the feathers. This kept them busy while parents filled their plates!

and my pretzel/rolo bites which i'm proud to say

I was making years BEFORE Pinterest was even invented! haha! They are always such a hit!

and there you have it! Almost 3 months later....my Thanksgiving post! It really was a wonderful Thanksgiving! I wonder how long it'll be till I get around to my Christmas post?!

Toy Painting

2012-01-17T12:24:00.001-06:00

Toys + Washable Paint = FUN!

Fun With a Roll of Toilet Paper

2012-01-15T13:12:00.001-06:00

1 roll of toilet paper = an afternoon of fun!

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Cloud Dough is Awesome

2012-01-13T08:56:00.003-06:00

We FINALLY made Cloud Dough, which is just gloriously simply FLOUR+BABY OIL!

OH MY...its wonderful! It is extremely soft yet is it is moldable. I've only just recently been introduced to the store bought Moon Dough stuff, and yes, it's very similar but why pay the money when you can make it for super cheap and far better smelling! I've seen it all over blogland, my friend made it for her 3 kids so I finally couldn't resist. WOW.

I wanted a big batch so I used 8 cups of flour and 1 cup baby oil. I ended up adding a few more tablespoons to get juuuust right so it's not an exact science thing.

and ohhhh the fun WE had!

Sandcastles...or Cloud Dough Castles

Cutting and Dividing

Birthday Cake

Cookie Cutter Shapes

Animal Prints

Dinosaur Caves

This is seriously one of those...you GOTTA MAKE THIS kinda things.

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Making Fresh Orange Juice

2012-01-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite Goodwill finds was this hand juicer. I never bought it with the intention that I would use it to make fresh juice, I bought it so L could. He absolutely loved doing this and man did his little hands and arms get a workout! He was SO SO SO proud of doing this "job" as he called it. It was a lot of work for little hands and he did need help getting all the juice out of each orange, but he never gave up! The little things in life...making juice...can be so awesome.

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The Children's Art Group: The Great Playdough Playdate

2012-01-09T16:10:00.003-06:00

The Children's Art Group
The Great Playdough Playdate

After constantly wishing there was an alternative to the expensive art classes and camps, I decided to start a local Children's Art Group, now with 30 members! We have some awesome little artists, enthusiastic parents, and we are having a BLAST focusing on process art and projects.

I called this art meetup The Great Playdough Playdate because I envisioned a ton of playdough and a ton of cool and exciting playdough "accessories." I told members to bring storebought or homemade playdough and some playdough "accessories."
I gave members this list of suggested materials to bring.

It was a great turnout and all the moms brought lots of cool playdough loot!

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Cooked Spaghetti Sensory Bin

2012-01-08T20:50:00.003-06:00

I cooked up some spaghetti for L to play with and briefly thought about giving him real sauce, but QUICKLY changed my mind and opted for red tempura powdered paint instead.

I let him play with the "sauceless" noodles first.

When I thought he started to get a little bored I introduced the "spaghetti sauce"

I mixed salt with red tempura powdered paint for the

"spaghetti sauce" and put it into an empty spice shaker

and he LOVED adding the "sauce!"

It was soooo red that my camera was blinded by it and couldn't really get a great close up

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Winter/Christmas Sensory Bin

2012-01-05T12:44:00.002-06:00

For my winter/Christmas sensory bin I used fake snow as the filler, tiny ornaments, different sized jingle bells, christmas buttons, tiny sparkly beads, styrofoam balls and white pom poms (snowballs), glittery ribbon, tiny sparkly beads, battery operated flickering candle, etc.

I'm a member of a playgroup called PLAY 2 LEARN and the group threw a Christmas party. I was in charge of the sensory bin activity and so this is the bin I brought. The kids really liked it!

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Googly Eyes and Playdough

2012-01-05T12:42:00.003-06:00

Googly eyes + Playdough = fun!

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Miniature Playscapes in the Home

2012-01-05T12:22:00.002-06:00

I've been setting up these miniature nature playscapes for L these last few weeks using natural materials and felt. The one above I actually did as an "elf on the shelf" antic but it stayed long after Elfy's other tricks. The one below is the one he currently has set up in his room.

I love the imaginitive play that happens here. :)

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Decoratable Felt Christmas Tree

2011-12-30T18:13:00.001-06:00

If your a PINTEREST addict like me, you've probably seen the famous felt christmas tree pin.

I saw it and just had to make one! Whats so cool about it is that it's not a one time use kinda thing. Once you make it, you'll have it for many Christmas' to come!

The tree and the ornaments are all made of felt and since felt sticks to felt, the tree can be decorated and redecorated over and over again. I did rub the side we'd be decorating with a scouring pad to make the ornamnts stick even more easily.

another Pinterest project completed!!!

L's Homemade Christmas Gifts

2011-12-30T13:33:00.002-06:00

I was so thrilled to make L some homemade gifts this year. Last year I meant to and didn't get around to it. Even though I didn't make everything I had on my list of homemade gifts to make, I was still so happy to be able to give him a few special gifts from mommy :)

Face Feature Magnets

L loves magnets and I've made tons of homemade magnets but when I saw THESE, I knew he'd love them and they'd make a great addition to our collection! Since I can't draw AT ALL, I didn't draw mine, but I found lots of cool face features on google images, printed and cut them out, stuck them onto sticky magnet sheets, and cut them out again. Here's a picture of them on the magnet sheets before I cut them out.

I put them in a tiny tin which is mostly round,

so if we travel he can also take them and use the tin as a face!

Super Hero Capes

I knew I wanted to make L a super hero cape but I can't sew. However, when I saw how easy this tutorial for a no sew super hero cape was, I went to Goodwill and bought a bunch of dollar tshirts. I spent about 20 minutes making ALL of them. Seriously, its so easy it's silly! He loves them!

Silly Story Sequencing Blocks

Ok, so this idea I DIDN'T copy from another blog or get from Pinterest! An original idea...WOOHOO! (although I bet if I looked hard enough, someone has already beat me to it. Oh well. ANYWAY...) I'll try to explain these.

There are 3 blocks with 6 sides (obviously)...I'll give you examples to three of the sides to each block so you get the idea.

each side of block ONE has the BEGINNING of a different small story.

1. Once upon a time there was a boy named Lawson

2. Once upon a time there was a Fish named Fishy

3. Once upon a time there was a Monkey named Mo.

You get the idea....

Each side of block TWO, has a different MIDDLE of a story, but each story matches with one of the 6 BEGINNINGS of block one.

Every story on this block ends with "He drew a picture of himself and it looks like this...."

1. He lives in a house with his mommy, daddy, and baby brother. He loveds to play cars and superheroes and his favorite food ispeanut butter and jelly. He drew a picture of himself and it looks like this…

2. He lives in the ocean. He is orange with yellow fins. He loves to swim all day with his friends In his fish “school.” His favorite food is seaweed. He drew a picture of himself and it looks like this…

3. He lives in the jungle. He loves to eat bananas! He swings from tree to tree saying ooo ooo ahhh ahhh! He drew a picture of himself and it looks like this…

Ok, see how these match up with the beginnings of the first block?

Each side of block THREE contains a picture that matches the stories.

1. A picture of L

2. Fish

3. Monkey

OK, i'm assuming you understand the concept lol...but the point is for me to play along with him. There are a few things we can do with them. We can practice story sequencing (beginning, middle, and end), we can roll the dice and see what silly story we got (obviously the beginning, middle, and the end picture will hardly ever match up and we'd end up with a silly story), and we can also read them and match them up ourselves.

wow, thats a lot harder to explain here than it was just to show L how to do it.

Play Dough Set

L loves playdough so I've been collecting cool utensils from Goodwill to put together a playdough set. I made some snow playdough and space dough too. The space dough was really pretty! (just added glitter to black playdough)

I'm looking forward to making more homemade gifts next year!

Did you make any homemade gifts for your little ones?

If so, send me a link, I'd love to see!

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The Children's Art Group: Cut and Paste

2011-12-30T12:32:00.003-06:00

The Children's Art Group
Cut and Paste

For this meetup, I wanted there to be a ton of different kinds of paper and scrap material, and ways to manipulate, cut, and paste it. SO, I had parents bring one or more of the following items:

child scissors, binding agent, and paper or scrap materials.

I gave parents a list of suggested materials:

Suggestions for Papers or Scraps

Greeting cards, wrapping paper, magazines, file folders, envelopes, newspaper, tissue paper, crepe paper, paper towels, junk mail, cardboard, photos, brocures, catalogs, printer scraps, cupcake wrappers, bubble wrap, etc.

It's always nice to have pre-cut pictures from magazines/catalogs, etc. in case some children get frustrated with the scissors or we have younger children who don't know how to use them.

Suggestions for Binding Agents

glue, glue stick, stapler, masking tape, duct tape, labels, stickers, contact paper, hole punch, ribbon, yarn, brads, etc.

I taped a long piece of brown packing paper to the floor and separated the materials into 3 bins... paper scraps, binding agents and paper manipulatives, and extras.

L loved cutting straws

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DIY Rainbow Chicken Pox Flip Book: A Fun Get Well Soon Gift for Kids with Chicken Pox

2011-12-17T09:19:00.000-06:00

My good friend and blogger pal Tiffany, has a little girl, M, who is one of L's best buds and she had what was thought to be the chicken pox. We brought her a chicken pox get well basket and included in it was this rainbow chicken pox flip book that I made.

The result is a flip book that allows each color to be behind the chicken pox holes making silly colorful chicken pox. :)

How I made it

I found, printed, and cut out a picture of a little girl's face.

Then used a hole punch to punch out holes on the face to mimic chicken pox.

I laminated it and used the hole puncher to punch a hole in the top corner.

I then used paint samples (from lowes) in each color of the rainbow and hole punched each one in the same corner. I stacked them together and used a ziptie to attatch them to the hole in the laminated sheet.

(You could just as easily use colored construction paper,

and book rings or string or yarn for the last step)

I got to thinking about it....This same flip book, alternating colors or patterns idea could be applied to many themes! It would be fun to see what else I could do with the same idea.

New Favorite Hobby: Terrariums!

2011-12-13T14:25:00.002-06:00

NEW HOBBY

Terrariums!

I just love the idea of a tiny contained world. There's just something about it that totally brings out the inner child in me. This is my first one and I can't wait to make another! I think my next one will be one for L....maybe a dinosaur one! I'm a bit giddy about it haha.

This one's theme is

Berry Picking

I found an old Hi Ho Cherry O game at Goodwill, cut off the stems of some of the cherries and hot glued them onto the "bush" and some in the acorn basket as well. The basket is just an acorn cap with a piece of jewlery wire bent and hot glued to make a handle. And the ladder I made using small sticks and hot glue.

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The Children's Art Group: Melted Crayon Art

2011-12-09T09:32:00.002-06:00

The Children's Art Group
Melted Crayon Art

For this meetup I warned group members that we would be using hair dryers which would of course be loud. This was necessary of because some kids are scared of hair dryers! I had members bring crayons, thick paper or canvas, and a hair dryer. We layed wax paper under the canvas to catch splatters. I already had 2 glue guns for everyone to use. We hot glued unpeeled crayons to the canvas and let the kids hold the dryer (high heat, low speed setting) and melt the crayons. L actually did the hot glue gun part himself and also loved holding the hair dryer while melting! Even younger kids with parental help can do this project though!

this parent was helping her son with the melting part.

He was watching it melt and thought it was pretty cool!

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The Children's Art Group: Spice Painting

2011-12-09T09:26:00.002-06:00

The Children's Art Group
Spice Painting
After constantly wishing there was an alternative to the expensive art classes and camps, I decided to start a local Children's Art Group, now with 30 members! We have some awesome little artists, enthusiastic parents, and we are having a BLAST focusing on process art and projects.

I've done spice painting before with L, but I thought it would make a great group activity as well! So I told everyone to raid their spice cabinet for old spices (no hot spices) and bring a bottle or two of white glue. I poured a bit of glue into tiny plastic cups and added water to dilute it, then we let the kids help add the spices to the glue. Then the fun began!

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Hail Painting

2011-12-07T06:26:00.003-06:00

During a hailstorm I ran out and stuck a bucket on the porch to collect some of the hail to do...hmmmm, something with.?

L ate a bunch.

and then I brought out the food coloring to do a little HAIL PAINTING.

pretty huh?!

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2 Candy Experiments: Melting and Dissolving

2011-12-02T09:03:00.003-06:00

We used some of our Halloween candy

for 2 easy experiments involving MELTING AND DISSOLVING.

We sorted our Skittles into color piles and then dissolved them into glasses of hot water.

and then we took our Gummy Bears and put them on a paper plate to melt them in the microwave.

L really liked watching the bears melt haha!

I gave him a few q-tips to play around in the gummy goo before it hardened.

It was a great opportunity to talk about MELTING AND DISSOLVING and the way that HEAT affected our candy and changed it.

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A No Battery Operated Christmas

2011-11-29T15:13:00.000-06:00

Last year I Christmas shopped frantically last minute and though L played with his gifts, most of those gifts aren't still being played with and MOST of them were battery operated toys...the bells and whistles kinda toys. I then really thought about the way that L plays, and the toys he plays with most often. The things he spends most of his time with are the simpler toys that provoke his own imagination. Those big flashy Transformer light up, shoot em, talking robots got little use and he uses them ONE WAY...as Transformer Robots from the movie and when their batteries run dead, they wont see any action at all. Where's the open ended-ness in that?!

So, this year I made a goal to first of all buy NO BATTERY OPERATED TOYS and secondly to only buy toys that fit into a few different categories (imaginative play, educational toys, books, board games, and open ended toys.) I took a bit more time shopping and really thinking about how my son plays and what is really going to hold his interest.

Here's what I came up with

Keep in mind these are based on what I know my child will like but maybe it'll give you a few ideas or at least thinking differently about the kinds of toys you gift this Christmas if like me you are tired of the flashy noisy toys that tell the child how to play with it and the oooo's and ahhh's are over after a week....

Architetural Blocks

If you google image search "architectural blocks." you will be amazed at the sheer COOLNESS of different kinds of architectural blocks they have! Some sets are more difficult than others but this takes block play to a whole new level! This was our BIG purchase as we bought 4 or 5 different sets of these.

Board Games

As a VERY low media household, it's no suprise that I hope and literally PRAY that L doesn't get caught up in the video game craze when he's older. Maybe a bit hypocritical, but we do own gaming systems but mainly for blueray movie purposes and my husband and I do love the occasional Guitar Hero Battle haha. But overall, this is an almost TV/Video Game FREE household. Therefore, I wanted to make sure we had the old school kids board games like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, etc. This makes for great family time too!

Playdough Gift Basket

L likes to play with playdough and we keep it interesting by always doing different things with it. For Christmas though, I've been collecting objects that i've found from Goodwill to put together a playdough play basket. Items such as things that I think will make cool imprinting tools, mini muffin tins and odd shaped containers, etc. to give him along with a few different batches of homemade scented playdoughs.

Pirate Ship

L looooves pirates and he has the BIGGEST imagination (it really is amazing!) so this is his other BIG gift and true its a bit of a bells and whistles kind of gift but I based this purchase off of how many imaginative adventures I know he'll have with it and how much serious play action this ship is going to get. Plus, this ship had great playtime and STURDINESS reviews. It's by KidKraft. I knew I wanted to get him a castle or a pirate ship and this is what I went with.

Super Hero Cape

L is going to FLIP when he sees his personalized super hero cape! I'm trying to order from

PlumPearAppleDesigns if they'll ever email me back! If not, then i'll order from somewhere else but nevertheless, a superhero cape is on my list! I can't wait for all the super hero action!

Ok so those are his BIG gifts.

Other things he'll be receiving are:

Books

(never can have too many)

A pet fish

(really wish Dory and Nemo weren't salt water fish that don't live well together and are tougher species of fish to take care of, but whatever...lol)

Homemade Toys

such as:

-Felt toys/games

-Story Blocks

-Miniature Sensory Bin

(I've been collecting little tiny minature things for a while now to make a sort of miniature world sensory bin. Kids love MINI anything!)

- Homemade Puzzles

-Cardboard Box Creation

(I'm going to use PINTEREST and lots of cardboard and hot glue to create something super cool! An airplane? Car and gas pump? Castle? I dunno yet :)

Soooo, my ultimate fantasy Christmas wish list would include all handmade Waldorf toys but I haven't the cash to spend on a whole Waldorf Christmas, nor can I just throw away all of our old toys at this time. This list isn't even close to the idea of my Waldorf wish list BUUUT my goal was to get away from the battery operated toys this Christmas and focus on more open ended, educational, homemade, family centered, imaginative play kinds of toys and I'm proud that I did just that!

Mother-Daughter Hiking Trip

2011-11-28T22:55:00.000-06:00

My mom is amazing. My husband works almost 80 hours a week, leaving me with little time to myself, but she is ALWAYS so willing to watch the boys to give me much needed ME time. She is also the best Nonny the boys could ever ask for!

I knew she'd been really wanting to go hiking this fall and so I suprised her by arranging a weekend trip just for the two of us to the Buffalo River Valley in Ponca/Jasper, AR. It was so great to just spend time with my mom in one of the most beautiful places EVER!

So I thought I'd share a few pics from our trip.

Elk!

higher than it looks!

caving

my momma :)

old farmstead in the woods

Eden Falls

(i'm in the bottom right of the picture. Gives you an idea how high the falls are. Too bad it was dry. We definately HAVE to come back during the spring when the falls are running)

Eden Falls Cave enterance

I'm saving a caterpillar from drowning haha

Dinner at the famous Ozark Cafe in Jasper

Some antique store browsing

a dinosaur

a photo we could not resist taking haha

and my most FAVORITE picture of the whole trip!

Arkansas is a seriously beautiful place

Such an awesome trip! I loved the time spent with my Momma in my amazingly beautiful homestate!

Painting with a Spin Spa

2011-11-27T12:20:00.004-06:00

I saw this SPIN SPA thingy at Goodwill and thought, "How cool would this be to paint with?!" SCORE! It's battery operated and with a push of a button, the head brushes spin on their own.

So cool!

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Sea in the Sink

2011-11-21T10:30:00.002-06:00

I've been using L's sink for a few fun activities lately. He loves to play in water and I can put a few towels at his feet, let him stand on a step stool and play.

The above picture is when I got a cup full of blue gravel and shells from our

OCEAN SENSORY BIN, along with his ocean animals for afternoon of play.

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Oh the Possibilities of a Cardboard Box House

2011-11-17T13:35:00.005-06:00

Cardboard box house. Obviously nothing new, and we've made them before, but today I took the extra cardboard from a few flaps and hot glued them into a shelf and also made a roof.

Suddenly our cardboard house had so many more imaginary play possibilites!

It is currently being used as a fast food restaurant.

The owner is super friendly (and adorable I might add), the prices are great, and the food is DELICIOUS!

and yes, that is the view from INSIDE the box.

I squished as much of myself as I could in there so L could play customer for a while.

and then we took it outside so L could personalize it a bit

Ohhh the possibilities of a cardboard box house!

And seriously..what would I do without a hot glue gun?!

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The Children's Art Group: Hand/Foot/Fingerprint Art

2011-11-16T14:21:00.002-06:00

The Children's Art Group

Hand/Foot/Fingerprint Art

After constantly wishing there was an alternative to the expensive art classes and camps, I decided to start a local Children's Art Group, now with 30 members. We have some awesome little artists, enthusiastic parents, and we are having a BLAST focusing on process art and projects.

For our 6th meeutp, we did a Hand/Foot/Fingerprint Art playdate. Hosted at a members house, she set up 2 different stations for the handprints and fingerprints, and another on the kitchen floor for footprints. She covered a few tables with easle paper and let the kids color and play with toys while the parents took turns rounding up their kiddos and getting their hand, foot, or fingerprints to make adorable print art!

And check out the cute print art the art momma's made!

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Spice Painting

2011-11-13T12:26:00.001-06:00

We did spice painting today, which I had seen on one of my new favorite blogs, One Inch World.

What an awesome sensory art experience!

I brought out an array of spices (no hot spices obviously), some glue, and thick paper.

He did it two ways. He slopped some glue down first then sprinkled the spices on and smeared it with the brush, AND we also put some glue into bowls, poured the spices in, mixed it all up and painted with the glue and spice mixture.

yummy smells!

Fun stuff!

Smelled wonderful!

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Homemade Cinnamon and Sugar Banana Flavored Cookie Cutter Tortilla Crisps

2011-11-09T09:25:00.000-06:00

I make my own Low Carb tortilla chips for myself, BUT using regular tortillas, melted butter, cinnamon/sugar, banana flavoring, and cookie cutters I also make L some very tasty (and fun!) tortilla crisps that are a fairly healthier snack alternative to cookies. The banana flavoring is optional but we are banana lovers in this house and the subtle banana flavoring on these is soo good! You could try other artificial flavorings though!

First I cut my tortillas with the cookie cutters and lay them on a baking sheet.

Then I combine melted butter with a few drops of artificial banana flavoring.

I use a brush to paint the mixture onto the tortillas.

THEN I sprinkle on a cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 until they start browning just a bit and are crispy. Its a fine line between a perfect browning and crispiness to totally burnt to a crisp SO you pretty much have to keep checking after 5 minutes or so.

They are pretty yummy!

They keep well in a ziplock bag or cookie jar.

Pom Pom Magnet Buddies

2011-11-06T22:20:00.004-06:00

I combined 3 of my favorite craft things (pom poms, googly eyes, and magnets) to make L some pom pom magnet buddies to play with on his magnetic dry erase board.

I just hot glued a magnet to the bottom of a pom pom and added googly eyes.

He also used them with his magnet wand to make them move on the table.

I made some for myself to use as fridge magnets.

For these, I glued the googly eyes on the top of the pom poms instead of the side.

Seriously, if I could glue googly eyes to everything I would! lol

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The Children's Art Group: Puffy Paint

2011-11-03T14:41:00.004-05:00

The Children's Art Group

Puffy Paint

At our 5th meetup with Children's Art Group, we made PUFFY PAINT. We also brought lots of "accessories" such as rice, colored noodles, beans, shells, glitter, q-tips, squeeze bottles, etc.

The kids AND the adults loved it!

thats me! :)

Puffy paint is made by mixing equal parts Flour, Salt, and Water and adding food coloring or tempura paint in desired colors. You can also add glitter! The result is awesome and really fun for kids to work with! It will dry into a raised work of art! For an added element of fun, you can put the puffy paint into squeeze bottles, and because it is so thick, using utensils such as a fork to rake through it to make designs is fun too!

To see our previous art meetups visit The Children's Art Group page at the top of my blog.

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A Challenge: 30 Days to Hands on Play

2011-11-02T11:42:00.003-05:00

I've decided to participate in the 30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge hosted by two blogs that I LOVE, The Imagination Tree, and Hands on: As we Grow.

A 30 day challenge to inspire you to play [at least] 15 minutes with your kids [no interuptions].

To become more involved with them.

To introduce yourself and your kids to new play ideas!

Learn More about the challenge HERE

I think i'm pretty good about really playing with my kids, but because I have a new baby, I feel that my oldest son "L" sometimes takes a backseat when it comes to mommy's full attention. Throughout the day I try to play one on one with him, but there are times when the day comes to an end and I think to myself.."Did I give L my FULL attention today?"

SO, I'm thinking this CHALLENGE will make me more accountable to try and balance my time more wisely and really put a huge focus on playtime with L. What kid doesn't need MORE playtime and one on one time anyway!?

Day One Challenge

Take mental note, or jot down, a simple mission statement of how you'd like to become more hands on with your kids. Also, jot down a few of their interests, or general behaviors that may be helpful for the upcoming challenges.

My Mission Statement

I want to better focus my time and energy to allow for MORE playtime with my son. I will try my best for this playtime to be soley focused on him, without the interruption of daily chores, phone or computer time. While playing, I want to really watch how my son plays and learn more about the amazing little person he is!

L's interests

cars and trucks

anything messy

intricate and detailed manipulatives

imaginary play

outside play

L is very kind and thoughtful and would rather pretend his army men are best friends going on an adventure rather than enemies at war. He loves to be outside, and he really looks at the details of everything all around him. His imagination knows no bounds and he loves more than anything for me to be involved in his imaginary play. He becomes bored easily at games that repeat the same process for too long.

Playing with Army Men Outdoors

2011-11-01T14:09:00.000-05:00

With all the toys that zip, zoom, wizz and boom, army men have almost become a thing of the past.

I was suprised when I found them at Walmart and for the sheer "old schoolness" of it, I got some for L.

I had no idea he'd love them so much! He rarely plays shoot and kill with them, he usually makes up stories about heroes and protectors.

On a cool morning this past summer we took his army men and tree blocks outside, gathered some big rocks, leaves, and small branches and made an army man base camp.

See the bird hiding? The army men are protecting the bird and her eggs.

That's how my sweet hearted boy played with his army men.

Baby Son napped peacefully on a picnic blanket

Fall Sensory Bin

2011-10-31T09:37:00.002-05:00

L played in his Fall Sensory Bin (or pool rather) today outside. I spent 0 dollars on this bin (YAY!) because all of the items were things i've been gathering from outside, had from previous sensory bins, part of my fall home decor, or things I stole from my moms house. haha

dry beans

pumpkins (real and fake)

pinecones

different kinds of acorns

plastic apples

leaves (real and fake)

miniature buckets, rakes, and brooms

Miniature horse and buffalo (why a buffalo?...I dunno haha)

corn husks

Toy campfire and turkeys from the "Little People" sets

It was almost like a Fall I Spy Pool

and Baby Son slept peacefully in unseasonably warm autumn air

View more sensory bins HERE

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Leaf Snowflakes and Leaf Confetti

2011-10-26T08:00:00.002-05:00

Today L and I gathered beautiful fall leaves from our yard. The only thing I had in mind was getting the scissors out and letting L cut them however he wanted, which he did and LOVED!

Beside my scissors sat the hole punch and I instantly knew I HAD to make fall leaf confetti!!

and we made snowflakes too.

L made snowflakes but then he cut them all to pieces so no pics to show of his lol.

but my favorite was the confetti. THE prettiest confetti EVER! Gotta find a project for it now!

OH, and just for fun I edited one of the pics with some rainbow filter (of course rainbow!) and it looked so neat I just had to share.

ahhhh...if only the trees in my yard had leaves like THIS!

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Our Week in Pictures

2011-10-25T14:45:00.004-05:00

A WEEKLY POST

THAT CAPTURES THE MEMORIES WE MADE

FROM MONDAY-SUNDAY

(this one is from the last two weeks actually)

An impromptu photo shoot that I couldn't resist after driving by an open field with the perfect late afternoon lighting. My beautiful little boy, who luckily was wearing the apple print shirt I made him!

The "Living Forest" event at Hobbs State Park. So neat! A ranger guided us along a trail where we stopped at certain points to let "animals" (costumed humans) tell us about themselves and how we can help them in the wild. L loved it!

made up yard games

toss the beach ball into the.....ice bucket. lol

the quickest "just give me 15 min. to do the dishes idea EVER"

"You can eat the fruit loops after you've sorted them all by color"

dishes...done!

Playing in the Fall Sensory Bin (or pool actually)

my sleepy little bear

My little B, working with my mom.

one of the coolest playdates ever.

All the moms brought cardboard boxes and other various items such as tape, scissors, yarn, crayons, stickers, sheets, toys, etc. and the kids and adults worked together to build a cardboard fort. Totally awesome.

Cookie Cutter Carpet Cookies haha

Trip to the Tulsa Aquarium

My birthday and my very girly bday suprises. My husband LOVES to indulge my love for Disney Princess' and I LOVE him for it! (those of you that have little girls and can't stand the "princess/fairy thing, I get it but I LOVE the princess/fairy thing! BUUUT I am surrouned by boys and I take my pink and girly where I can get it! haha!) My card said "Happy Birthday Princess Jessie!"

Love that man!

Lost 13 more lbs YAY!!

This is our country life. Amazing.

a rainy day 2 hour bubble bath

Pumpkin Patch. Yes, we ALL rode the mini cow kiddie tractor ride

Me taking a picture of Brian taking a picture of me. But look at L's face...I just love him!

L grilled rocks and leaves for us at the park. YUM!

Our Hawkmoth Caterpillar that we've had in a mason jar emerged from his cacoon finally! We found him early in the morning and the cat was chasing him! He's one lucky moth!

Discovering B's likes and

DISLIKES lol!

Computer Cat: who hides behind the coputer screen and attacks your fingers while you type!

Hidden Diamonds Water Beads Sensory Bin

2011-10-21T16:02:00.006-05:00

I've been wanting to join in on the water bead craze and so I went and bought a bunch of colors. L picked the clear ones to try first and while they were soaking I still had no idea what I was going to do with them. That is until they were done growing. They were so pretty, I immediately thought of the plastic diamonds we have in my craft supply!

I poured the beads into a clear glass baking dish (so its a sensory dish actually) and added the diamonds. They REALLY blended in. How well they blend in really only shows up on camera WITHOUT the flash.

and he loved it!

and when I put a red table cloth under it, it became even harder to spot the diamonds.

Yep, loving water beads! Can't wait to try different things with them!

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Cereal Box Book

2011-10-20T13:19:00.001-05:00

We are big cereal eaters in this house and L loves to look at the back of the box. He is content looking at the back of the same box each time he's eating his breakfast. SO, I started cutting the back of the cereal box out and saving them to make a cereal box book. I keep them together with a bookring.

Some are just colorful and fun to look at, some have easy games like "hidden pictures," or mazes, or jokes and riddles. We keep it in the car to keep L occupied on longer carrides. He loves it!

I've been asking my friends to save me their kids cereal boxes to build on our book!

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The Children's Art Group: Apple Printing

2011-10-19T22:41:00.005-05:00

The Children's Art Group

Apple Printing

After constantly wishing there was an alternative to the expensive art classes and camps, I decided to start a local Children's Art Group. With 30 members, some awesome little artists, and enthusiastic parents, we are having a BLAST focusing on process art and projects.

For our 4th meetup, I hosted an Apple Printing Playdate. The kids made apple prints with apples, washable paint, and paper. When the kids were done and off playing, the adults made apple print shirts with fabric paints!

For an added element of play, I made an Apple Picking Sensory Bin, VERY much inspired by the one I saw HERE at Pink and Green Mama.

Click HERE to see the details of the APPLE PICKING SENSORY BIN.

I was really blown away at how creative the adults were with their apple print shirts!

I love to see art drying all over the counters!

I loved this meetup!

I thought it was fun to get the parents involved in the art activity too!

For more info and ideas about starting a Local Children's Art Group yourself or hosting large group art playdates, click HERE, or the page link at the top of my blog.

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Apple Picking Sensory Bin

2011-10-19T22:30:00.002-05:00

I hosted an Apple Printing Playdate for my Local Children's Art Group recently and inspired by the theme I went perusing blogs to find apple sensory bins. I stumbled upon one HERE, at Pink and Green Mama's blog. So, very much inspired by hers I made the one you see above.

I made the mini baskets using acorn caps, wire, and hot glue.

I also made the mini ladder with little sticks and hot glue. The trees I copied from Pink and Green Mama's idea and are toilet paper rolls and felt leaves. (brilliant!)

apples and cinnamon... perfect combination!

The kids loved it!

and L continues to play with it at home.

Transferring apples from one bucket to the other with tongs

Painting with Pudding

2011-10-19T15:53:00.002-05:00

Painting with pudding is a great way for ones and two's to experience fingerpainting. If they eat it...who cares, more calcium!

We never did it when L was little, but today I bought this new Jello pudding that changes colors when mixed with milk. It became such a vibrant green that I knew it was no longer just a snack.

It was time to fingerpaint!

and then it was bathtime.

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Busy Bags

2011-10-14T17:12:00.008-05:00

I have a busy bag collection started. A busy bag is a simple, age appropriate activity that can be pulled out and easily assembled and completed by your child for when you just need a few minutes of uniterrupted time but don't want to stick them in front of the TV! For more information, click HERE

My friend Tiffany started a local busy bag swap.

(10 people per swap, which means you make 10 of the same busy bag to swap with the others, leaving you with 10 different busy bags, one being your own.)

Check out the "Busy Bag Page" on the page bar above where I'll be posting the busy bags that I make for the swap, or just for Lawson, as well as some of the ones we receive! So check back often for new bags!

October Swap: Halloween Theme
My Bag: Web Weaving

This busy bag focuses on fine motor skills, pattern making, and coordination! Lawson and I have done WEAVING BEFORE and I thought I could turn it into a halloween theme for this busy bag swap calling it "web weaving" and adding a spider for the web. I cut out 10 cardboard circles, cut triangle groves around the circle, spray painted them black. I then used a nail to pierce a hole in the middle, thread some string through the hole and tied a knot in the string on the backside of the cardboard to hold it in place. I made sure there was several feet of string so the kids could make a really cool web. Coordination comes into play when the child must hold the cardboard base with one hand and weave the string in the groves with the other hand. I also decided I wanted "friendly looking" spiders and so I made them using pom poms, fuzzy craft sticks, googly eyes and hot glue. The kids can play with them and put them in their webs after they are done, OR a parent can hot glue the spider to the finished web to keep as a halloween art keepsake!

September Swap
My Bag: Clothesline Busy Bag

I found this busy bag idea HERE, which contains the free instructional page and pattern download. The idea is simple, you make miniature clothing with fabric or felt, add a few feet of rope or clothesline and some clothes hangers so the child can work those fine motor skills and hang up the clothes. I raided my scrap fabric stash to make the clothing which you see in the above picture!

Felt Cupcakes

I made these felt cupcakes for L a while ago and he STILL loves to play with them (a very successful busy bag!) I used THIS TEMPLATE, to create a set of to create a felt set of 4 cupcakes, 4 liners, and 4 frostings. I also used felt, mini pom poms, and plastic hearts to make "toppings."

Felt Pizza with Recipe Book

I had a 3 week old baby and at 9PM the idea to make this felt pizza and menu/recipe book for L popped in my head and I found myself up until after midnight making it! I'm a glutton for punishment haha! I cut a circle from cardboard for the "crust." I cut a circle from red felt for the "sauce" and then "freecut" pepperoni, cheese, mushroom, green pepper, olive and sausage shapes from felt in the appropriate colors.

Then I got to working on the Menu/Recipe Book.

The first page contained simple phrases that Lawson could learn and repeat by himself.

The next page contained the ingredients which I freehanded and colored (left page). And the rest of the 5 pages were customer "orders." For this, I cut people or families out of magazines, glued them to the top of the page and made a recipe for what kind of pizza they wanted based on the number of each ingredient they asked for. Great imaginative play

REINFORCING NUMBER RECOGNITION, COUNTING, AND FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!

The last page. Again, containing sentences he can easily remember and recite on his own.

This bag gets played with VERY regularly. He loves to ask Brian and I what kind of pizza we want and to make it for us. The bag stays in his room on his shelf with a plastic pizza cutter and small wood cutting board that he uses for "putting his pizza in the oven" :)

Felt Rainbow and Learning Template

I found this rainbow template, printed it, used it to trace another rainbow on another sheet of paper, and then laminated the printed one.

I then took the one I traced and cut out each individual rainbow color band (and cloud) to use as a template to trace out on each sheet of felt. Then I cut out each traced band of felt color.

I chose this rainbow template because it had the colors spelled out on each band, so not only is it fun, but it has that additional learning element as well.

ahhh...don't ya just love rainbows!?

Other

There are several busy bags that I have that contain things I bought from the dollar store, things from my craft supply or junk drawer even! I love these because they were cheap and I didn't have to make a thing! Some bags just contain one item.

Lock and Key Matching: 3 different kinds of locks with keys

Measure: Mini Tape Measure (L LOVES measuring things)

Coloring books and crayons

Fake money

Glowsticks

Buttons

Pony Beads and Fuzzy Craft Sticks

Playdough with a few "accessories"

Magazine clippings of different themes (food, people, toys, etc)

A few stamps, stamp pad and paper

stickers

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