crafts

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had enough of all of this rain. I know it’s important and all that, but it’s really gotten in the way of our pool, beach and amusement park plans over the last few weeks. We’ve spent a lot of time in the house, and I’m not gonna lie, many hours on screens. Here are some great activities to keep your kids active, learning and having a great time, even when you can’t escape the house!

15 Rainy Day Activities for Active Kids and Toddlers:

Get Messy in the Bath– The bath tub is one of the best places to get messy because clean up happens naturally. I love these homemade bath paints from Parenting Chaos.

Jump That Energy Out– Small trampolines like this one from Fisher Price take up very little space, but keep little ones endlessly entertained.

Create Your Own Snuggle Fort– I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling like fort-making was one of the highlights of my childhood. I love a good fort! It’s free and keeps kids busy for hours.

Dance it Out with Scarves– These colorful scarves from Amazon are so much fun to dance with or throw up in the air and catch.  I’m always amazed by how long they keep my children entertained.

Go Fishing– I love this laundry basket fishing idea from Munchkins and Moms. Kids love sitting in them so much, why not make a fun game out of it? You can use magnetic fish and fishing poles if you have them, but feel free to get creative like the blogger below.

Paint the Easy Way– Little ones love to paint, but they might not have the ability to grasp a paintbrush yet. I love this cotton ball painting idea from Domestic Mommyhood that makes painting easy for toddlers.

Make it Rain– These rain sticks from Happy Hooligans are colorful and easy enough for toddlers to help make. Let them practice their fine motor by picking up the corn, rice or other small noise-making items and putting them in the paper towel roll.

Host an Animal Pool or Ice Skating Party– How cute and easy would it be to freeze water in a small tray or even a foil pan and make animals their own indoor ice rink like this pic below from I Can Teach My Child. If you don’t have time for the freezing, make the toy animals their own pool or bubble bath.

Become a Sorting Expert– Color sorting is so easy and fun for kids, while also being a great learning opportunity. I love this Cereal sorting mat from I Can Teach My Child. For a more active color sort, give kids a color and have them run around the house with a basket collecting everything they can find that matches the color you chose.

Create a Pillow Roadway– I love this fun idea from Hands On As We Grow! Collect all of the pillows and couch cushions in your house and lay them on the floor to make an indoor roadway for kids to run around on.

Make Child-Sized Art– Get a large piece of paper or poster board and trace the outline of your child’s body. Next, have them color and decorate the inside. This is a great activity to do year after year to see how they grow and how their drawings mature.

Photo credit: Passionate Homemaking

Experiment with Sensory- I love the sensory activities we made last week for playgroup. Check the recipes out here. Another option is an easy sensory bin filled with corn, rice, or anything else small and fun to scoop up and pour out. The yellow sensory bin below is featured on Every Day Chaos and Calm.

Stack ’em Up– How easy is this, but I swear, it keeps them busy! Experiment with cups of different sizes to see what works best for your child.

Photo credit: Everyday Chaos and Calm

Make a Busy Bag– There are so many variations of busy bags, but basically they are engaging activities that kids and toddlers can complete mostly independently, and they are stored in bags so they are ready  to go at any time.  The Teaching Mama does a great job listing some great examples on her blog. Check out her great color sorting bag below.

Have Your Own Mini Toddler Obstacle Course- This is similar to what you’d see at a toddler gymnastics class, an obstacle course that little ones can go through over and over again to work on their gross motor skills and spatial awareness. How fun would it be to create your own obstacle course at home? It just takes some creativity. Start by finding some things that your kids can go under, step over and step on and some bean bags to throw into bins or to balance on their heads. Whatever you do, make sure you model it for them, step by step.

Photo Credit: How to Run a Homemade Daycare

∗ I also have to include this amazing list of 45 age-appropriate indoor learning activities for the littlest of learners, 18-24 month olds.

Hopefully the skies will part and the sun will come shining through again before we know it! Until then, keep your sanity by keeping the little ones occupied and having fun…..and be sure to stock up on wine.

♥ Erin

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting a little tired of all of this rain!  My three kids have spent way too much time indoors, and that’s made for some really long days. Keep your kids busy and avoid the “I’m bored!” chorus with these inspired indoor ideas.

The sun may come out tomorrow, but if it doesn’t, try one of the ideas above and have some indoor fun.

♥ Erin

It’s May and it’s finally feeling like spring! I don’t know about you all, but Mother’s Day has really snuck up on me this year. I usually like to get something for my mom and my mother-in-law to go along with a homemade card or note from the kids. I got this cute idea from Amy at the aptly named, Idea Room, but wrote my own poem. My mother-in-law loves to bake and cook with my kids. She’s great at making plans for pizza nights and cookie nights with them whenever they sleep over so I thought this personal, but practical gift would be perfect.

Almost everything you need for the craft can be purchased at the Dollar Tree: oven mitt, sponge, string. Buy the smallest jar of white and red fabric paint you can find. I got mine at Michaels for under $5. The fabric paint will keep the handprint on the oven mitt, even if it needs to be washed.

Materials Needed:

• Oven Mitt
• Fabric Paint (I used red and white.)
• Sponge or Foam Brush
• Yarn or String
• Single Hole Punch
• Printable Mother’s Day Gift Tag (printable below)

MOTHERS DAY OVEN MITT INSTRUCTIONS from the Idea Room

1. Take your oven mitt and place it on a flat surface.:
2. Take your child’s hand and paint a little fabric paint on the palm of their hand with a foam brush. Don’t do a lot of paint. If you paint it on so that it isn’t too thick you will get a little more definition of the hand rather than a large glob of paint. You may want to practice on a piece of paper first.
3. Take the child’s hand and hold it steady with your own two hands and gently press it onto the fabric making sure that the entire hand is pressed on the oven mitt.
4. Wash your child’s hand and then let the paint dry. If there are a few areas that did not get enough paint, you can take a small paint brush and touch up those areas.
5. Take the red paint and paint a heart over the child’s palm print.
6. Print out the free Mother’s Day Poem on some white card stock and attach it with some yarn or string.

Find the free printable Mother’s Day Poem here. When you go to print it you can change the printing size from 100% if it will print to big.

Happy Mother’s Day!

♥ Erin

Good morning! I’ve compiled a list of springtime activities guaranteed to keep the whole family busy as the weather warms up.

Springtime Crafts/Recipes

Birdseed Ornaments from Debbie at One Little Project- I can’t wait to try these with my kids next week!

Hand-print Flower Pots from Connie at Little Stars Learning- These would make great inexpensive mother’s day or preschool teacher gifts!

Button Rain Drops from Kim at The Pinterested Parent- Such a sweet and easy craft, that can be adapted for the littlest crafters. For older kids you can expand the activity by having them sort the buttons by color, shape or size.

Salt Dough Egg Ornaments from Polona at Baby Jungle- We used to make these for Christmas when I was a kid, but the eggs would make great Easter decor!

Ice Cream in a Bag recipe from Genius Kitchen- We actually made this last weekend at our house. My daughters wanted plain vanilla, but for my son I added a few drops of blue and green food coloring and 3 drops of peppermint essential oil and he had a delicious turquoise mint ice cream in under 10 minutes!

Peeps Playdough from Crystal at Growing a Jeweled Rose- I’m not gonna lie, I hate the taste of Peeps. What a great way to use them without exploding them in the microwave, though that’s fun too.

Outdoor Activities

Ice Cream Cone Seedlings from Gardening Know How- How clever is this idea if it works?! Once the seedlings are ready to plant in the ground, you can plant the entire cone so there is no waste!

Make a Butterfly Feeder from Ehow.com- Design your own butterfly feeder. Let your kids choose and add the flowers and glass beads and create something that you can watch and enjoy together until the fall.

Outdoor Sticky Mural from Jenae at I Can Teach My Child – What a great way to save all of the “treasures” that your child finds outside without having to bring them into your house!

Host an Outdoor Sensory Playdate from Crystal at Growing a Jeweled Rose- How fun does this look for kids of all ages?! Use the ideas here or come up with your own, and watch your kids have a blast engaging in sensory play.

Color Hop from Jenae at I Can Teach My Child. This activity is so simple, yet so effective and fun for teaching your toddler colors.

Nature Scavenger Hunt from Shaunna at Fantastic Fun and Learning- A scavenger hunt is so fun, kids will forget they’re learning. You can also adapt them for whatever you want your kids to work on that week: colors, numbers, shapes, etc.

Check out these fantastic sites and get even more great ideas for having fun with your child while teaching them something new!

Growing a Jeweled Rose

I Can Teach my Child

Busy Toddler

Spring is a time to get outside and explore, and to play with our children as if we are still children ourselves. It’s a time to teach them something new, and learn something new about ourselves in the process. Enjoy this great season of new beginnings and family fun!

♥ Erin