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Showing posts from October, 2016

reese's cup soap

We had a lot of fun making this and they came out beautiful and look so yummy! What you need~ Clear glycerin soap Brown food coloring Cupcake wrappers Start by melting the soap in cubes for 15 seconds till they are fully melted. Once melted add in the brown food coloring a little at a time till you have the color you like. ( I was thinking some chocolate essential oil would be really neat to add at this point and you could, I just did not have any on hand) After mixing pour into cupcake liners and set in fridge to harden. Once harden it is done! The food coloring will not stain and though I have seen adults use these for pranks I do not suggest that.

Vampire Slime

Just in time for Halloween, a craft you can do quickly and probably have the stuff all ready. Need for this craft~ liquid starch glue food coloring Halloween teeth and anything else you would like to add In a cup mix the glue with the food coloring. I used two different types of glue one cheap one and one regular school glue. I am pretty sure the cheap dollar store one didn't work while the one I normally use did. So my mix was some what liquid and slimy. It was pretty neat actually. Once the food color is mixed in add liquid starch a little at a time till the slime forms. I had to add a lot because of that off brand glue.  To finish mix with hands and done! Just add teeth and any other add on's.  If you do not want kids to get dirty before Halloween place slime and anything else in a zip lock bag, and let them poke and find everything hidden. It is just as fun!

The four Christmas gift challenge

1. Something they want 2.  Something to wear 3. Something to read 4. Something they need  For many parent Christmas can easily get out of hand and become one expensive holiday, but that is not what Christmas is all about. So this challenge is to keep spending low but still have fun. I noticed as my kids get older the things they want are getting more expensive and this also helped my kids decided what they REALLY want, otherwise they would write a  two page list of just "things". We still do the stockings too and normally place candy, new tooth brush, lotion and such in them. Here are some ideas of things to give as Christmas gifts beside the normal toys and electronics.  ~Tickets! (zoo, concert, train rides(we have a place near us that does Christmas train rides and stories with hot coco), aquarium ) Can also do memberships to these places  ~Magazine subscription  ~Classes (for art, excising, dance, soccer) ~Monthly boxes. (I have seen a monthly box for

What is the big deal with people not liking safety harness for kids? (are you for or against?)

When my two kids were little  I had one that was so attached she never left my side and one that was a runner, meaning if he seen something he liked he went for it. Really who could blame him, at the toddler stage he really didn't understand safety and there was lots to explore. I remember going to crowed places and always having to hold his hand or put him in a stroller to keep him safe. I remember thinking how unfair this was to him but necessary cause he still did not understand safety. He was to young to really grasp it. Then on a local giving group a mom was giving away this backpack harness for free and I figured why not give it a try. It will give him a little more freedom to explore the world around him with both hands and without having to sit in a stroller.  The first time we tried we went to a local mall and he was so happy to be able to walk freely.(he is not one to hold hands) You could tell he felt like such a big boy, but with that the looks started. It really did

Making the most of TV/Telly watching

Most kids at some point watch tv and many believe it to be mind rotting.  So here is some questions to get kids thinking as they watch tv and after. 1. What was the programs message? 2. How would you rate this show from 1 to 10? 3.Was there anything you did not agree with in the show? 4. Could you identify with any of the characters? 5.What would you do to solve the problems in the show? 6.Do you feel like the show portrayed life as it really is? 7. Would you watch this show again? why or why not? 8. Has the program motivated you to do better?(be a better person?) Tv in moderation can be beneficial, especially when you turn it into a learning experience.

Halloween night safety tips

Halloween is a fun time of the year for kids, lets remember to be safe with these tips! ~Halloween starts by getting the right size costume. Too big could make a kid trip and fall and too small will restrict movement. ~Mask can block eye sight, mask free is the best way to go but if your child chooses a mask costume make sure the eye holes are big enough to see clearly out of. ~Try to stay away from dark costumes, or add reflective tape. (even a car going slow can kill a kid if hit)(We like to go all out with glow sticks, kids love them) ~Test all make up on skin before the night of Halloween. This way you will know if it irritates skin ahead of time. ~Remind kids to not eat any candy till it has been checked over. ~Do not let little kids go alone. (You would think that was be common sense but I was surprised to see how many were just let to go by themselves last year) ~Stick to side walks or paths ~Remind kids to never go into someones house. ~Skip over any dark houses.(no l

Shapes in nature, A I Spy walk

A fun game to keep kids entertained while going on a walk. I know mines can get bored and  I start to hear are we going home yet pretty quickly. So we made up this game to keep little minds busy  and learning. It is a twist on the regular I Spy game, this time we just picked out shapes. Who knew there was many to be found!  Heart leaf  Circle, round berries Snowflake looking flowers  This is in the middle of  a field...still counts as a circle right  This praying mantis had a triangle head with long skinny legs This bug was just interesting and it took us all a second the realize it was eating another bug. I thought it was a dragon fly but was told later it is not and can sting, so I am still not sure what it is lol

Pine cone bird feeders

This is a activity we love doing every fall and I have shown on here but it has never been our actually pictures.  So this year I remembered to grab pictures, well as many as I could. It was still a messy process and my kids still made a mess but it's allowed when doing something so fun.  So to start you need to collect pine cones. I did not realize sense we moved there is little to no pine cone trees around, so this was a little hard. We had to go for a very long walk ;) (they slept well that night) After collecting many pine cones we left them outside in a bucket so any unwanted bugs had a chance to leave. The next day we tied string around each and painted them with peanut butter. Once completely covered we rolled them around in bird seed, and that is it. We went for another walk in the woods and found a down tree, it became the perfect place to hang them.    Nice way to feed wildlife and give back.

Dippin' Dots slime and foam

This was one of the best slimes we have ever made! What you need~ foam dots ( the little ones that you find in bean bag pillows...we found ours in the dollar store, sold as fake snow)  glue food coloring liquid starch  Before you start decided if you want to make slime or foam. Slime will flow a lot more then foam. To make foam you will add more liquid starch and to make slime you will add less. So to make one color start by pouring half a bottle of glue in a bowl and add the food coloring. Mix. Once done you add the liquid starch. Again if you are making slime only add a little bit and for foam add more. Mix. This is where I like to let it sit for a minute so all the extra liquid starch can settle and be poured out. After getting rid of any extra liquid you mix in the foam balls. You have to add a good amount,  I would say 1 1/2 cups. I used both sizes the store had. Mix. That's it, pretty easy, just repeat for other colors. It turns into a great sensory play

Cookie cutter pumpkin...fail?we tried it..our results

When I first seen this idea floating around I got really excited...people made it seem like it was a easy clean way for little kids to help with pumpkin carving. Well after buying a medium pumpkin questioned started to come up...like how is a kid going to get a cookie cutter threw the hard skin of a pumpkin?...anyway here is what happened.... I took the pumpkin first to try this out...cleaned it and let it dry...Then I used one cutter and tried pushing it into the pumpkin...yep that wouldn't work for anyone..skin is way to hard...So then I got out a hammer and started banging on this ...sounds easy right? nope! The cutter kept slipping from its first spot. So being a good mom I am I called out my 5year old to try this..gave him the hammer and guess what second hit, he missed...hit my finger though...dangerous, maybe?..Anyway even with the hammer this is not easy..you have to hit these with force and that's not any force my 5 year old had...I couldn't imagine hi

construction paper Halloween crafts

Pumpkin and Frankenstein  Hunted house Trick or treat night using finger prints for stars and the moon Boo Pumpkins  Pumpkin using rolled up pieces of construction paper Hand print spider Construction paper pumpkins Scented pumpkins made by mixing different spices with paint 

Pumpkin rolling

Something my son came up with one his own and really enjoyed it. He used our slide and the hill in our yard to roll these pumpkins down over and over again. Running to catch the pumpkin after he let it go.Took a lot of energy out of this little guy but was the perfect activity to get him out and about. Another way to add to this is to add card bored or long paper to the end of the slide and place paint on the slide for the pumpkins to roll down and make art as they roll along.  

Big giant slime ball!!

This was such a fun activity! All you need is two boxes of slime baff and a wubble ball. We got the super wobble ball. So to make this epic slime ball use the tube it came with and place it in the ball as directed on the instructions. Next pour in all the slime baff. After that grab a hose and hold it in the tube. At first we did not let it get that big, too scared of it popping.  The kids including neighbor kids loved it. We played kid bowling and let this roll down the driveway. The kids thought it was the best thing ever to see this ball bend around them with out breaking. (will attach videos at the end)  If you look close you can see the slime forming. You can barely tell it started as a blue ball.  After awhiel of play we decided to make it bigger. We attached the tube and hose again and let it grow till the kids said stop.  Below is how big it got moments before popping.  This had to weigh a lot. Once the ball popped all the kids had fun playing with