Mini Monster Fruit Pizzas
We swapped date nights with some friends of ours this weekend…we went out on Friday (and they watched the kids) and then they went out on Saturday (while we watched the kids). On our night with the kiddos we decided…
Monster Sensory Tub
This was definitely our favorite sensory tub yet! Even I enjoyed digging around in it! We used water beads, which I first learned about from my friend Julie’s blog. She found the idea on Play At Home Mom. These little…
Fun Body Parts Song For Toddlers
Little Brother had absolutely no interest in singing this song with me (probably due to the blocks, large exercise ball, and train table in his immediate eyesight). But I think it is a fun song nonetheless (especially for younger toddlers),…
Clothespin Capital & Lowercase Matching Activity
This was a super-easy activity for Big Brother that combined fine motor skills and alphabet recognition. I was pleasantly surprised how much Big Brother took to this activity…he really enjoyed it and needed very little assistance. I just reused the…
Toddler Time: Simple Color Sorting
We’ve been casually working on our colors with Little Brother. Right now everything is “yellow”. Big Brother did the exact same thing, only everything was “blue”! Sorting is an important concept for young children, though this is our first deliberate…
The One Thing I Want Parents to Know: A Kindergarten Teacher’s Reflection
Guest Post by Amanda of The Kindergarten Chick In honor of back to school time and sending my three year old to preschool, I wanted to blog about what I have just discovered upon reflection this week. This is my…
‘Are You My Mother’ Sensory Tub
After our Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Sensory Tub, I thought it would be fun to do more sensory tubs inspired by some of our favorite children’s books! The Are You My Mother? Board Book is one of Little Brother’s…
Encouraging Independence: Going Down the Stairs
Stairs are recurring parts of my nightmares. I am terrified of my children falling down the stairs…especially the half of our flight of stairs that isn’t carpeted. But much to my dismay (and a racing heartbeat), stairs are an inevitable…
Turntable Art
I love free stuff. I happened upon this PhonoViewer on the “free-take it” shelf at church. It came with tons of “records” as well. I honestly don’t really know what a PhonoViewer is…and apparently I won’t be finding out because…
Encouraging Independence: Getting Dressed
Getting a toddler/preschooler dressed is normally less about the skill involved (although that certainly takes a lot of practice),and more about the battle of the wills…or at least this is the case in our house. Last summer, Big Brother…
Homemade Musical Instrument
Both of the boys have had so much fun playing with their musical instruments. This is really multiple instruments in one…it acts as a maraca, a tambourine, and a drum. Talk about versatile! A word to the wise: Don’t let…
Baby Sign Language 101
Somehow during the blog transfer, this post was deleted. So I thought I would post it again since it was one of my first posts! It made me kinda sad watching it…Little Brother was so tiny! Has your baby ever…
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Sensory Play
Big Brother’s favorite book at the moment is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We read it at least twice a day. If you’ve ever read this book, you know how long it is…it is quite the time investment! I think the…
Painting with Dried Corn Husks
It seems like just about everything these days can be transformed into a fun art project (much to the dismay of my husband)…often including what otherwise might go in the trash. After eating fresh corn on the cob recently, I…
Encouraging Independence: Eating with a Spoon
Learning to use a spoon is a dirty job. There’s no way around it…this skill set requires on-the-job training. As much as it makes you cringe to think of the impending disaster that awaits you, your little one, and your walls…
Toddler Time: Matching Socks
It’s been months since we’ve worn socks! I’m not complaining…it just means that I don’t have to pair them up after washing ’em! Pulling out the {unused} socks made for a quick and easy matching game. I’ll be honest…Little…
“Little Cloud” Activity
I just love Eric Carle. His books are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers…bright and colorful with simple story lines. Little Cloud is a fun, simple, and utterly adorable book that we recently checked out from our local library. After reading…
Icy “I Spy”
We’ve done several variations of “I Spy” activities…“I Spy” bottles, “I Spy” mats, and an “I Spy” Magnifying Glass. This fun variation, however, adds a sensory element using ice cubes. Here’s what you’ll need: ice cube trays, water, food coloring,…