Footprint Reindeer and Handprint Trees

One of the things I LOVE doing in crafts is documenting the kids' growth.  So these two crafts are a great way to do that!!  The first one is one that my daughter did at preschool, and the second one is one we did at home with BabyJ.


Reindeer Footprints

Supplies Needed

1 large piece of green construction paper

Brown craft paint

1 pair of googly eyes

1 circle of red paper

Clear craft glue

1.  Paint your child's foot (your choice, left or right!)

2.  Gently place your child's in the center of the green paper and have them step down.  (NOTE:  You will want to have either a wet cloth or a small washbin handy to wash the paint off right away!!)

3.  Do the same with your child's hands, and place them next to the toe-prints, as the antlers. 

4.  Using your craft glue, attach the google eyes and red circle (for the nose)

5.  Let dry and enjoy!  I always attach the kids' names/ages on the back of each one, and then I have a great time capsule of how big their hands/feet are each year!  You could also repeat a craft like this each year, and compare them each year!  If you get misty-eyed like I do, keep a box of tissues on hand to help with your nostalgia :)

Handprint Christmas Tree

Supplies Needed

1 piece of white heavy paper

Yellow, green & red paint

1.  Paint your child's hands green.  I did this one-at-a-time, and it made it easier.  Place one hand (open-palmed) onto your paper.  I did it at a bit of an angle. 

2.  Before you do the 2nd hand, make sure that you wash off the first one!  I had an old wash cloth on hand with warm water.  MAKE SURE YOUR PAINT IS WASHABLE!!!  Sometimes, even when your paint says that it is washable, IT WILL STAIN YOUR SKIN!! BabyJ has had green hands all day :)  It will come off in the tub, but make sure if you have a special event or family photos planned that you don't do this craft beforehand!!

3.  Paint and place your child's other hand at a bit of an angle opposite the first hand.  This should look like a tree shape.  I re-painted BabyJ's palm and placed it at the top to finish off the tree shape. 

4.  Use your yellow paint to paint a star at the top and your red paint to do small circle ornaments just beyond the fingertips.  I chose not to do "ornaments" on the handprints themselves, so you'd still be able to see them.

SO CUTE!!!



Christmas Crafties

Recently, I was introduced to Pinterest.com.  What a fun website!! I've been having a blast looking at other people's craft posts, and have had fun making up some of my own!

Going along with our debt-free Christmas theme, my hubby's office is having a decorating contest, and the winner gets a neat prize.  So of course, I started thinking up all kinds of crafts and things to put up!  And getting BabyJ and Jellybean in on the action was half the fun!!  We've decided that we're going to decorate his area of the office with homemade Christmas items and we're going to hang this quote from the Grinch:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons.

It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

-Dr Seuss

So we started today making all kinds of crafts, and we're going to share them with you in a few different posts. 

The first thing we made were Christmas trees. Super fun and easy; G loved it!!

Supplies Needed

Green popsicle or craft sticks

Purple popsicle or craft sticks

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Clear craft glue

Beads, doo-dads, sparkles, glitter

Imagination!!

1.  Take your popsicle/craft sticks.  You will use 3 per tree.  On the first one, place hot glue on each end.  Place your other popsicle sticks on the glue, and use one more dab of hot glue to adhere the final 2 ends.  We used 4 different kinds of sticks.  We used large and small popsicle sticks, small bumpy sticks and large popsicle sticks with holes in them.

2.  Cut your purple sticks into 3 pieces.  The cut edges may be a bit sharp; you may want to use some fine sandpaper to sand off the rough edges.  Adhere to the middle of the bottom stick with a dab of hot glue.

3.  Using the clear craft glue, start decorating!!  We used beads, pompoms, glitter and sparkles, sequins and glitter-glue. 

Some of our finished trees!!

We've got enough glitter and bling to make Elton John proud!!

When we go to hang them, I am going to use some thin ribbon at the top and adhere it with a dab of hot glue.  I find hot glue works better than the craft glue for that type of thing, as it will hold up under the weight of the popsicle sticks and various adornments when it comes time to hang!

Christmas is coming!

This Christmas, we are trying to do a debt-free Christmas.  This means that we are saving our pennies specifically for Christmas things, instead of using a credit card.  So far, so good!!  We are hand-making a lot of our own ornaments and decorations this year, so we are going to post some of the fun things that we are doing! 

The first craft we attempted is sun-catchers.  I saw this post on Play At Home Mom (LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!), and we had to try it!!

Supplies Needed

Picture frame (We got ours at the Dollar Store)

Clear glue

Clear, plastic gems (either colored or clear.  We got ours at the Dollar Store)

Hot glue gun and glue

Newspaper

1.  Remove the wrapping, paper and backing from your picture frame.  You can decide if you want your gems to be behind the glass or in front of it.  If the gems are thicker than the frame and you put them on the back, the sun catcher won't sit flat on the window.  We stuck ours on the back, and we actually ended up using a second framed attached to the back to give it extra depth.

2.  Using your glue gun, run a line around the inside of the frame where the glass sits.  Then insert your glass.  This will seal your frame, which will prevent the clear glue from leaking out of the frame.

3.  Spread your clear glue onto the glass.  Clear glue is key, as white glue will look a bit filmy. 

4.  Attach your gems!!  Remember, the thicker the layer of glue, the stronger the hold will be.  However, it also means that your project will take longer to dry.  Ours dried for about 2.5 days before it was finally ready! 

5.  Enjoy!  We used a large suction cup to attach it to the window that gets all of the light in the winter, and we'll move it in the spring.  





Pumpkin Decorating!

Last year, we decided that instead of carving our pumpkin, we would paint them.  This year, my Mother in law came to visit, and she and Jellybean decorated the pumpkins!  She had brought a kit that had all kinds of neat stuff in it, like pipe cleaners, googly eyes, foam shapes in the shape of mouths, eyes and noses, and of course, stickers!  If you don't have a kit, you can always use whatever craft supplies you have on hand!

Here's what the girls came up with :

Such a happy little guy!

Zorro pumpkin!



This one if my favorite!  I love how surprised he looks :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!



Pumpkins

I just had to post this one to show off our Pumpkin creation!!  We went onto a search engine online and typed in "Pumpkin Carving Templates" and found a whole bunch we could print off!  We let our daughter choose, and this is what she came up with:

Supplies Needed

SHARP knife

Pumpkin

Carving template

1.  Cut the lid off of your pumpkin in the shape of your choice.  We chose to do it in kind of a flower shape.  Make sure you cut your hole large enough to reach in to scoop the seeds and bits out, but also taper it so that the lid won't fall into your pumpkin like mine did :)  Just angle your knife a bit as you carve it inwards.

2.  Pick your template online and print it off. Make sure your design isn't too big for your pumpkin or it won't look right when you pop a candle in there.

3.  Using the tip of your knife or a pin, make a series of dots as the outline that you will cut. It's hard to see it in this picture, but that's what we did here.

4.  VERY carefully cut your shape.  By using your knife tip or a pin to outline your shape, it is WAY easier to cut that way instead of trying to do it freehand.  I used a larger knife for the bigger shapes, and I used a very small, thin paring knife for the fiddly bits.  There are a TON of kits that you can get at the Dollar Store or your local big Box store that have tiny little pumpkin carving knives in it.  When you are carving, be VERY careful that you don't cut over the lines that are there to hold things together.  Or, you will end up having to tape your pumpkin back together :)  When you use an intricate design, there will be bits that you cut around that will make the shape your are creating, and will also hold your shape together.  I tried to glue Minnie's jaw back on, but of course glue on a wet pumpkin just wasn't going to work.  So because we're using a battery-powered candle and not a real one, I used some clear tape to hold it back together :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

 

Halloween!

I know we're cutting it close to the wire on this post, but I wanted to post some of the fun Halloween things we've been doing!


HOMEMADE (AND SUPER CHEAP!!) DECORATIONS:

Supplies Needed

1 Dollar Store :)

Foam shapes (We used Frankenstein, ghosts, bats & pumpkins)

Small, blank paper or white plastic bags

Felts, crayons, pencil crayons

Googly eyes

Halloween Stickers

Anything sparkly and fun!

1.  Pick out foam shapes

2.  Attach your mediums of choice (beads, glitter, stickers etc.)

3.  Hang them up! 

I got these ghosts at the Dollar Store, and they are awesome!  You could very easily make these at home with a paper or white plastic bag.  We filled ours with tissue paper, but you could use newspaper or even leaves from your yard.

We chose to hang our little foam creation up with masking tape on the wall of the house leading up to the front door.

Very spooooky!!

Water Play

Well, it has been a very eventful few weeks!  We've had more illness in the family, and we've also had company staying with us since the end of September, so we haven't been able to post as often!

So here's what we've been up to:

Jellybean started Preschool this year.  It was so strange to see my little girl in her backpack all ready to leave me behind, but it was great to see how independant she has become!  She didn't notice at all when I left, she just went right in and started to play.  It was great, although a small part of me wanter her to cry, just a little!  Along with her newfound independance, we have also discovered some newfound attitude, with a capital A!  It has been such a challenge to stay calm and relaxed with her, when sometimes I'm ready to pull my own hair out!  How do you deal with a cantankerous toddler?  I'm always open to new thoughts/ideas, and I'd love to hear how other mamas deal with this stage!!

In other news, we've been experimenting a lot.  Jellybean LOVES playing with different mediums, and her current favorite is water.  So we set her up at the table with a towel and some different tools and she had a blast!

What We Used

Two plastic cups (they're from Edo Japan for soy sauce with your sushi, but we reused them!)

A plastic cup

A picnic mustard bottle (I got these at the Dollar Store, I think they were 2 for $1)

Plastic bowls

A Towel

1.  Spread your towel.  If you're doing this outside, it doesn't matter if you use the towel as much, but as we did this in October when it was only 2 degrees outside, we decided a towel was a must!

2.  Give your child his/her "tools" and let them have at it!  You could also use an old dish tub for more play!  Jellybean loved squirting the water from the mustard bottle into the little cups, and then from the little cups into the bowl.

This activity is fantastic for gross and small motor skills, and it's also great for hand/eye coordination.  Don't be afraid of a little mess!  At least your floors will be nice and clean when your kids are done!  :)



Tis The Season...For A Cold!

I don't know how it is at your house, but in our house, when we get colds, we like to share them with everyone! Jellybean gets it first, then Daddy gets it, and then Mama gets it in the end.  I try so hard to avoid it by using good hand washing and alcohol soap, but somehow it always manages to get me.  I am just getting over a terrible cold, one that completely knocked me on my backside and stayed awhile.  It was one that made it physically hard to breathe, and made it impossible to sleep.  I woke up in coughing fits more times than I can count, so I'm glad to be on the tail end of it!

One of the only things that I really wanted to eat was Chicken Noodle Soup, but I wanted to find something that was really low in sodium and would be really healthy.  I wanted big pieces of chicken and vegetables, but I wanted them soft and mushy.  There wasn't anything canned that would fit the bill, so I made my own!  I wanted to share my recipe, as I know that there are a bunch of different illnesses going around.  And for those of you who have more than one kid or a child in daycare or school, you'll be needing this before too long!!

Supplies Needed

Chicken Broth

4 stalks of celery

4 large carrots

4 cloves of garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chicken 

1 medium white onion

Garlic salt 

Garlic powder

1.  Prepare your chicken broth.  I happened to have a chicken carcass from the night before, so I boiled my chicken bones for about 3-4 hours on low.  I also used some chicken broth from Epicure (amazing, low in sodium and no MSG!).  You could use canned or boxed broth, whatever floats your boat!  I think I did about 16 cups of broth and 8 cups of water.

2.  Remove your chicken bones and discard, if you chose to make your own broth.  Crush your garlic with a garlic press or chop it into tiny pieces.  Garlic is a natural illness fighter, so use it profusely!!!  Chop and add your chicken.  Chop your onion, celery and carrot into bite-sized pieces and add those as well.  **Note!  When you add your veggies in, remember that your broth is hot!!  Do not drop them from a great height or you will splash and potentially get burnt!!**

3.  Add your spices.  Don't be stingy!  Remember that you're working with a large volume of liquid, so you will definitely want to taste as you go.  I thought I had added too much salt, but it was actually not quite enough.  The garlic salt is great because it adds a ton of flavor.  I also add about 1-2 tablespoons of butter as well.  It sounds really weird, but it actually adds a ton of great flavor.  I don't know if it's the salt from the butter or the fat content, but it just tastes so yummy!  You'll be amazed at the difference in the taste!

4.  Let this boil for 3-4 hours on low.  You could do this whole thing in a crock pot (without boiling the bones, of course), and leave it on low for the day while you're out, and it would  taste awesome, too!  I served mine with some baking powder biscuits; it was the perfect sick day food!!!

Infant and Baby Sensory Tubs

Recently, I've started looking after a VERY sweet little guy (BabyJ) while his mama works.  I had forgotten what it was like to have a baby around!  I was doing a sensory tub with Jellybean on Friday, and had a lot of fun making one for BabyJ, too!

Sensory tubs can be made out of absolutely anything you happen to have on hand.  You could use buttons, pasta, fabric scraps, sequins, beads, lentils, beans, chalk, cotton balls; you name it!  The point of a sensory tub is to allow your child to run the items through their hands, feel the different surfaces, fire synapses in their brains and so on. (You can see our earlier post on sensory tubs for all of the benefits!).  We also use it as a tool to introduce new words.  Like if we use colored pasta, we use words like "Rainbow" or "Hard" or "Bumpy".  If we use fabric scraps, we use words like "Scratchy" or "Rough" or "Smooth".

When I was making one for BabyJ, who just turned 1, I tried to think of things I could put in a sensory tub that he wouldn't eat or try to stuff in his mouth.  So I went scavenging in Jellybean's room and found some big, chunky toys for him to use and he loved it!

We used a Rain Stick (we totally scored this one for $1 at Value Village!), a shaker, a teething ring, a big teacup and saucer, a plastic bunny, a MegaBlok, a stool from a Little People set and a heart that came with one of Jellybean's games.  BabyJ loved the rain stick the most, as it is full of little plastic beads that sound like rain when you flip it over.  The beads were all different colors, and he was mesmerized as they fell!  He also liked the fact that it is a very hard plastic that he could bang around on his high-chair tray :)

I was super intimidated by sensory tubs when we first started doing them with Jellybean, but she loves stacking and sorting things and pouring whatever is in there back and forth between cups and bowls that we do it at least once a week now.  It's also awesome for fine and gross motor skills, so it's really a win-win activity!

Colored Baths

One of the problems we encounter as parents with little ones is the dreaded "B" word.  That's right, I'm talking about the Bath!  Jellybean used to LOVE being in the tub, but now that her hair is super long and curly, she hates having it washed.  So we had to come up with some creative ways to get our little girl washed!  While blog surfing, I came across colored baths and the first time we used it, it was a hit!

SUPPLIES NEEDED

Food Coloring of Your Choice

Bathtub With Warm Water

One Child (Or As Many As You Have!)

1.  Get your tub set up as you usually would for your child.  

2.  Add about 15 drops of food coloring.

3.  Enjoy!

One of the great things about this idea is that it doesn't stain your child!  Jellybean LOVES it when we put red in because it turns the water a very pretty pink color, so she loves to have her pink bath.  It has been a great bargaining tool for getting her in the tub!  Everything right now is about Princesses and dresses and everything girly, so having a pink bath is very appealing for her!  Kids love it because it's out of the norm, and it entices them to stay in longer!  Usually, Jellybean is so busy playing in her pink water that she forgets that I'm washing her hair!  It's awesome!!

I'll Huff...and I'll Puff...And I'll Paint!

Today we found a recipe from Play At Home Mom for Puffy Paint and decided to try it out!  It was really easy to make, and Jellybean LOVED it!  She had a blast using a plastic knife and a paintbrush and cardboard squares to paint, and even got her hands in there, too!

Supplies Needed  

1/2 Cup Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

2tsp Salt

Food Coloring

Water

Bowl

Cardboard Pieces

1.  Mix the fist 4 ingredients together with enough water to make a smooth, paintable paste.  

2.  Start playing!  You can either leave your paint in the bowls, or you can put them into squirt bottles (I got some at the Dollar Store, 2 for $1).  Apply your paint to pieces of cardboard and have fun!  You can use the squirt bottles, dabbers, paint brushes, your hands, whatever works!

3.  Place your cardboard in the microwave for 10-30 seconds.  For some areas with thick, thick paint, I put it in for an extra 10 seconds or so.  

4.  Voila!!

Look how puffy!!

Final product!!

Sun Catchers

A little glitz, a little sparkle; these sun catchers are sure to lighten up even the cloudiest of days!

Supplies Needed

Cheese Grater

Paper 

Pencil

Scissors

Single Hole Punch

Crayon Gratings

Glue

Sparkles

Iron

Old Towel/Washcloth

Wax Paper

Felts/Crayons

1.  Choose the shape you want to make.  You can either cut out your shape from paper, or use a premade template.  I found mine at the Dollar Store, and it was 12 for $1.25. 

2.  Using a cookie cutter as a template, cut out a circle from the middle of your shape *hint:  Make your shape at least 1" larger all around than your cookie cutter size*

3.  Use the single hole punch to make a hole in the center of the area you're going to cut out.  *hint:  you could also use a pencil or the tip of your scissors to make a hole to start your cuts*

4.  Cut the shape out of the middle.

5.  Grate some crayons (this is a great way to use up those broken or cheapo crayons!!).  I picked up a simple grater at the Dollar Store and just grated while Jellybean napped.  I did a couple of different colors and stored them in zip top bags.  MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT STORE YOUR GRATINGS IN A HOT PLACE!  Areas that get direct sun or get SUPER hot will make your gratings melt into a giant blob :)

6.  Cut out circles of wax paper that are about 1/2" larger than the hole you cut in the center of your paper.  Do two per sun catcher.

7.  Take a small sprinkling of your crayon gratings and place them on one of the wax paper circles.  *Note:  If you use multiple colors, it can sometimes turn your suncatcher brown when the wax melts :)*

8.  Place your wax paper circle with the crayon gratings onto an old pillowcase or dishcloth and place your 2nd wax paper circle on top.

9.  Fold the pillowcase or dishcloth over on top of the wax paper circles, being careful not to move the top wax paper circle, so that the wax paper is sandwiched between the two layers.

10. On a high setting, gently iron small circles over your wax circles.  This will melt the crayon and adhere the two wax paper circles together.  Be careful that you don't have too many crayon gratings in there, or you they will ooze out the side as you iron and will make a goopy mess.

11.  Let it cool for 1 minute, then place a layer of glue around the outside edge of the circle.  Place in the middle of the circle you cut out of your paper shape.

12.  Let your little one decorate the shape.

After Jellybean was done coloring hers, I put some glue on it and added some glitter for some extra sparkle!

13.  Enjoy!!

***NOTE OF CAUTION!!***  Depending on what you use to sandwich your wax paper as you iron, you may run the risk of having it ooze through and get onto your iron.  Make sure you either use an iron that is just for crafting, or clean it well after you do this, before you iron your husband's good shirts!!  (You could also place a layer of newspaper on top of your wax paper to prevent this).  

Whooo...Whooo...

Jellybean has a love of birds, so we decided to make our own owl :)  It was really easy and fun, and actually turned into a craft that lasted for 2 days as everything dried.  She loves it!

Supplies Needed

Brown paper lunch bag

Feathers

Googly eyes

Sparkles

Glitter

Glue

Sequins

2 different sheets of colored paper

1.  Cut out 2 circles for the owl's eyes

2.  From a different colored paper, cut out 1 large triangle for his beak, and two feet.

3.  Turn your bag upside down so that the fold of the bottom of the bag is facing up.  Glue your beak so the triangle is upside down in the middle near the bottom of the fold.  Glue the feet down at the bottom of the bag.

4.  Glue your eyes on either side of the triangle, then glue your googly eyes into the center of the circles.

5.  Start decorating!  Let your little one run wild as they decorate their owl!  We used glitter, glitter glue, sequins and sparkles.

6.  Let it dry for at least a couple of hours until everything is dry.

7.  Turn your owl over and spread glue on the back to adhere the feathers.  I let Jellybean do the glue, and then she arranged the feathers wherever she wanted them!

Sidewalk Paint

With these beautiful Alberta days, Jellybean has been begging to go out and play!  She loves to play with her sidewalk chalk and she loves to paint, so we found this recipe and tried it out!  I like it because it is biodegradable and eco-friendly, and clean up is a breeze on both sidewalk and Jellybean!
I found this recipe at Busy Bee Kids Crafts, and it worked really well!

Supplies Needed

1/4 Cup Corn Starch (per color)

1/4 cup water (per color)

8-10 drops of food coloring

Paint Brushes

Bowls (1 per color)

Other implements (craft sticks, plastic spoons etc.)

1.  Mix together your corn starch and water.  Add the food coloring.  I mixed these right in the bowls.  You will notice that it seems to be quite runny, but it does thicken up over use.  Make sure to stir right away or your corn starch will clump and make it harder to use.  If you find it stiffening up, just stir it some more!  I used blue, green, red and yellow, and Jellybean painted with a spoon, a plastic rake, her hands and feet and her paint brushes.  

We started out with paint brushes...

Then we discovered neat patterns and designs when we dumped the paint.  Jellybean loved running her hands over the piles of paint as it creates a smooth, puffy finish.  And of course, no painting is complete without a rock!  She had fun using the rock to scrape the paint off.  It left a fairy dust of chalk-like powder that was also fun to smear around!

And of course, we HAD to splatter the paint with our fingers and brushes!

2.  When you're done, get out the hose and wash your art away!  I was surprised at how cleanly it all washed away!

Bird Seed Biscuits

Today we decided to take a lesson from the Scott School, and we made birdseed biscuits!!  Jellybean LOVES seeing all of the birds in our backyard (we get a lot of robins and magpies), so we decided to attract some more.

Supplies Needed

3/4 cup birdseed (I got a HUGE bag of it for $5 from Wal Mart)

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons water

Cookie Cutters

Cookie Sheet

Tin Foil

String or ribbon for hanging

(Makes 2 biscuits)

1.  Mix together your seeds, flour and water in a small bowl.

2.  Grease the inside of your cookie cutters and press your birdseed into your shapes.

3.  Insert your straws near the top of your cutters as a place to put your ribbons

4.  Bake in the oven on a foil-lined cookie sheet at 170 degrees for 1 hour

This was our final product

There are a few things that I didn't do that I wish I had.  

1. Pat down your birdseed quite firmly to ensure your biscuits stay together
2. I didn't use foil on my cookie sheet, but I wish I had.  A few of the biscuits stuck and they fell apart when I tried to move them.
3. Make sure you don't place your straws too close to the top of your biscuit or you run the risk of them falling apart when you hang them.

This was a super fun project, and now that we've tried it once and worked out the kinks, we're totally going to do it again!  Thanks for the idea, Scott School!!

More Fun With Lentils!

I saw this on No Time For Flash Cards, and loved it!  We did this craft right away, and Jellybean had such a good time with it that we are definitely going to do it again!

Supplies Needed

Dried Lentils

Construction Paper Shapes

Glue

Scissors

1.  Cut out different shapes from Construction Paper.  We chose flowers.

2.  If your little one is old enough to use glue, have her squeeze glue onto the paper.  Jellybean wasn't quite ready for that, so I tried to squeeze different shapes onto the paper.

3.  Let your LO place the lentils on the glue.  I tried to have her do it one at a time for fine motor skill practice, but she had more fun just dumping them on :)

4.  Let them dry and them hang them up!  Make sure that when they are dry that you give them a shake over a bowl or back into your container, otherwise you will have loose lentils all over the place!

Sensory Play

Sensory play is so important for little ones.  They learn so much through their senses, and by doing sensory activities where they can dig their hands in and squish things and move them around and see how things move and smell them and even taste them, millions of synapses in their brains start firing, which is a huge step to helping them learn!  Many people already do sensory activities with their children like singing to them and swaying and rocking them, hanging mobiles above beds and cribs, reading books etc.  Some other things that you can do for your kids is creating sensory tubs.

We did our first one a few weeks ago with Jellybean, and it was amazing watching her.  You can do it with anything:  Shaving cream and food coloring, dried beans, lentils etc., water and sponges, popcorn, water beads, you name it!  Whatever you can cram in there that's safe for your kids, do it! (Just make sure that you are supervising while they play to avoid choking!)

We used an old dish tub (actually it wasn't old, I got it for $1 at Dollorama!) and poured in dried lentils, and then gave her different things to scoop and pour with, like a plastic spoon, plastic cups, egg poaching cups, etc., and she had a blast.  When we did our colored pasta last week, we poured everything into a metal casserole pan (the disposable kind from the dollar store) and let her play.  

It was great not only for sorting because she sorted the wheels from the long tubes, but it was also awesome for sensory play because she got to stick her hands in and rattle the pasta in the tin, she practiced pouring them from a cup into the tin and from cup to cup, and then, of course, all the long noodles ended up on her fingers!!

This was awesome as well because she went back to it day after day.  We stored the lentils in a rubbermaid with a tight lid and put it on our craft shelf in the kitchen, and she kept coming back to it and pulling it out and dumping the lentils.  We left the pasta loose in the tin, and I'd hear noises from the kitchen and say "Jellybean what are you doing?"  "I doing nothing, Mama!"  I'd then go into the kitchen and find her filling up her cups with noodles!  I walked in yesterday and she'd lined up the tubes!!

Sensory tubs are a great way to teach your child, and there are so many different variations that you will never run out of things to do!!

Mushroom Counting

Jellybean has been working very hard to learn her numbers.  She is able to point to her fingers and toes and count to ten, so I wanted to start doing some number recognition with her, and was really excited when, while checking out some other awesome blogs, I discovered this fun craft!  Now, I can't remember where I found this particular one, but I've seen it done as ladybugs and worms and apple trees.  You can really let your imagination go!

Supplies Needed

2-3 different colored papers

Scissors
Glue Stick

1 Sheet White Paper

Colored Dots

1.  Determine how many mushrooms you want to make.  We chose to make 10.  

2.  Cut out the mushroom "stems" out of white paper, one piece for each mushroom.  

3.  Write the numbers 1-10 on the bottom of each white paper.

4.  Cut out the corresponding number of mushroom "tops" out of your colored paper.  I made a small one for 1 and 2, medium sized ones for 3-6 and large ones for 7-10.
5.  Cut out your colored dots.  I used a piece of scrapbook paper that had a circular design.  This was very time-consuming, so when we do this again, I will either buy the large dot stickers from Staples, use different stickers that we have on hand at home, or have her draw them on herself.
6.  Start assembling!  If your Little One is able to use a glue stick, he/she can glue the stems to the mushroom tops.  If not, give them a hand.  This was Jellybean's first time using a glue stick by herself!

 

7.  Start gluing on those dots!  I started by pointing out the number at the bottom and telling her what it was, and then I handed her  pile of dots that she got to count out for each mushroom.  Then we counted together when they were all glued on.  She also liked lining them up in order according to number, and we also lined them up smallest to biggest.

This craft is not only good for number recognition, it's also for fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.  I found that Jellybean got a little bit bored part way through, so I think that next time instead of doing 1-10 all at once, we'll maybe do 5, take a break and do something else, then do the last 5.

Have fun!