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Showing posts from April, 2014

Learning about sponges

To do this hands on learning I set out a water table with sponges, water, and some soap. Not only was this a learning thing but my kids happily used the sponges to the fullest and cleaned all the outdoor toys witch really needed it. Win win How do sponges work> http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4661324_do-sponges-absorb-water.html

lego and play dough cars

using legos and play dough to make some new fun cars Don't forget to send in ur fan photos!

Bathtub restaurant

This bath included toy food and cooking tools. To make this bath even better I wanted to do a menu and recipe cards on the walls using paint but I did not have time.

Hand flowers

To make trace ur kid/kids hand/hands on green paper then cut them out. Glue the hand print to blue paper and add little flower petals to the fingers to make flowers. note- you can also do this with paint and paint the hand and use finger prints for the flower petals.

Dirt sensory bin

Fun messy time! 5 Reasons to Let Your Kids Play in the Dirt > http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/03/26/5-reasons-let-your-kids-play-dirt

Painting with a fly swatter

Making different patterns and mixing colors.

Holding the earth craft

to make this craft color a coffee filter with blue and green markers, then spray it with water and let dry. Note- the more the coffee filter is colored the better. Then trace ur kid/kids hands on black paper and cut them out. Once done cut two pieces of contact paper and lay the hands and earth on one piece (sticky side) and use another piece to laminate it.(lay them sticky sides toghter)

Bathtub movie night

For this fun bath I made a bubble bath, movie tickets out of paper, set up my ipad with a movie and gave some snacks. It went over really well and was a lot of fun! This will be something we revisit.

Melting buggy paint

to make this easy play idea just freeze paint in a ice cube tray with toy bugs. Once done let ur kid/kids have fun painting outside and watching as the paint melts and the bugs come out.

homemade tea bags

We made ours by filling a coffee filter with loose tea, then folding the filter and stapling it closed. Once done add a piece if string(we stapled a piece on) and on the end of the string add a paper tag. Let ur child labe l the tea, we used green tea, black tea, and lavender tea but I let her have fun with the labels. Once done add ur tea bag to some hot water and have a tea party!!! Great for sensory play. How does the tea smell? how does it feel? what color is it? what color does it make the water? Also great for pouring practice.

tea party with play dough

Tea party sensory bin

Tea party sensory bin with colored rice To color rice add some uncooked rice in a bag then add in some food coloring and little bit of water. mix then lay out to dry.

Easy word game

Word game using word cards and a fly swatter. First place some word cards on the floor or table, then say a word and have ur kid slap each word you call. You could also spell the word and have them find it.

Story art

Tissue paper and construction paper art. First cut out two even size pieces of contact paper ,then take the back off of one piece and lay it sticky side up. decorate using tissue paper and different shapes cut from black construction paper. To finish unpeel the other piece of conatct paper and lay it sticky side down to seal in ur picture.  We made up a story to our picture to add some more fun.

Teaching fractions using legos

what do you want to be when you grow up?

Today my kids are answering this question, not only by talking but also acting some ideas out with toys and play dough.

Painting with recyclables

reuse, recycle, reduce

Building blocks

bring it back to basics Learning how to build a "house" for horses and bridges...Learning color patterns and what structures hold up best...even something as simple as playing with blocks is learning!

Earth Day crafts

Earth day Tree hand and arm print Heart Earth  using paper cut out a heart then using a black marker let ur child draw a earth and color it in.

Dog park (small world play)

Dog park for play Made with play dough and toys. Make ur own park and send in pics! What would you add?

Shaving Cream Easter eggs

Done by placing shaving cream in a dish then place some paint on top and swirl it around. Once done place a paper eggs on top and push down lightly. Pull up and let dry, once dry you can rub off the shaving cream gently.

Footprint Earth

Footprint Earth using paper and paint. We did not have big paper so we use printer paper put toghter. Worked fine but as you can see getting the circle cut out was a little hard.

fun with easter eggs

Easter eggs, water beads, and light play Great for sensory play It was finally hot over where we live, so to get out and have some fun I filled our water table with water and easter eggs. (keeping up with our easter theme) Both my kids had a lot of fun filling the eggs and watching the water run out of the holes. They also had a blast seeing what happens when you fill a egg with water and drop them on the hard concrete. Cheap sensory play! to see more ways of playing with easter eggs check out here~ https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.505220946186833.103070.439754472733481&type=3

Earth suncatchers

Make one by cutting out two even pieces of clear contact paper. Unpeel one and lay it sticky side up. Now decorate using green and blue ripped tissue paper. Once done unpeel the other piece and lay it sticky side down on top of the first piece. Done, now ur earth is ready to hang up!

Birthday Bath

This was my daughters birthday bath. We included birthday cups birthday mask water balloons (some had colored water, others had little surprises) and a "cake" making station  (that included a bowl to make the cake in, colored shaving cream(mix shaving cream with food coloring)and candles) Don't forget to send in ur fan photos!What do you do to make ur kid/kids birthday special?

Play dough Birthday cupcakes

we made our play dough cupcakes using play dough candles heart toothpicks sequins  cupcake liners

Horse small world play

To make this set up we used green yarn (for grass) green paper (for grass) rice for the arena area some toy horses and jumps Once playing I let my daughter practice with scissors cutting all the grass. We also talked about what horses eat, drink, and the different colors horses can be. When play time was done the horses went back into a barn for bed, ending our small world play for now.

Easter suprise eggs

Fun gift for toddlers and kids alike for Easter. Take a easter egg and place a small toy inside, then cover the egg in play dough. Once done place the egg in a bag and in a easter basket.  Fun suprise eggs

DIY fabric scrap easter basket

Easy project Take long scrap pieces of fabric and tie them around any basket to give the basket a new look! Great for kids learning to tie.

Pretend play with play dough, fake flowers, and pots.

My daughter had a lot of fun doing this. First she made her flower pots. This was a great time to go over colors and we went over some spelling. Then when she was done making her planted pots we played shopping and took turns being both the customer and cashier. That also allowed us to go over money.

Our Easter sensory bin

homemade lavender bath bombs

In a bowl mix about 2 cups of baking soda and 1 cup of water. You want the end result to be a paste, then add in some loose lavender tea. (If you do not want to use tea you can use lavender oil) Once mixed shape  into whatever you would like. I free handed them but cookie cutters would be easy to work with. Once done place in freezer till frozen. Took about 6 hours. Once frozen just add to any bath time for a relaxing bath. note~ both my kids have sensitive skin and this did not bother them.

Tin foil easter eggs using markers

They really are pretty, pictures do not do it justice. Also great way to go over colors with any little one who might be learning them.

dot confetti easter egg

using two pieces of contact paper. First cut two even egg shape piece of contact paper then peel the back off of one and decroate it with dot confetti. Once done peel the back off of the other one and lay the sticky sides toghter. Hang up and done!

Simple dot pictures

Simple craft using dot stickers. You'r kid/kids can make anything using their imaginations.

Dino Water table fun

Very simple and cheap to set up. We did this dino table with mud, colored water (using food coloring), and dino toys. Only thing I will do different next time is add some rocks.

Melted crayon easter eggs

need~ hard boiled eggs (still hot) crayons something to hold the egg (we used hand towels) Once the eggs are done boiling, dry them. Then holding one in a towel or just letting it sit decorate it using crayons. Let cool and done!!

tissue paper suncatcher eggs

To make one first cut two even egg shapes out of clear contact paper. Then decorate using ripped tissue paper on the sticky side of one of the eggs. Once done peel the other egg shape and place sticky sides toghter and finished!

Wet chalk Easter eggs

Very easy  First cut out some eggs from paper then using tape, tape ur eggs in different designs Once done use wet chalk and color in ur egg. (we did this by dipping the chalk in water) Once done take the tape off. I did not wait till it was dry to take the tape off and the tape came off easy.

Birthday Sensory Bin

Birthday sensory bin we added birthday confetti, birthday cups, a number 4 candle(my daughter is turing 4), hat, pink bubbles, and some other extras that I knew my daughter would like. Make ur own next time ur kid has a birthday and make sure to send in the picture!

Easy to do Easter bath bombs

To make mix baking soda with a little bit of water. You want it to become a paste. If you want, place some in different bowls and add few drops of food coloring to each bowl. Then using plastic easter eggs fill them and close them. Place in  freezer for a day then take out. To remove the bath bomb from egg I ran the egg under warm water for a moment and then opened the egg. note~ you can also add a small toy to each egg so when they melt ur little one finds a suprise.

pretend garden

using fake flowers and green styrofoa m

Paper Birthday cupcakes

My daughter will be turning 4 soon so we decided to start doign some birthday crafts. This is our first, Birthday cupcakes made from paper cupcake tops and bottoms, foam stickers, and crayons.

Painted eggs using bunny tails

need- paper eggs paint pom poms or cotton balls clothespins

Paper bunnies for easter

using paper, crayons, egg stockers and pom pom tails

dino tray

using green styrofoam fake moss fake plants  and dino toys

bring new life to old toys

Try using a light table, even if the toy does not glow.  Maybe make it "night" with whatever you are playing with and make the light under the light table the moon. This time we took a train set and played with that making nightly rounds.

Q-Tip painted Easter eggs

need q tips paper eggs paint