DIY Treasure Chest for Toddlers
Today is Day #2 for “A Very Toddler Summer” series with Toddler Approved! We decided to create our own DIY Treasure Chest for Toddlers using a baby wipes container and baby food lids to kick off our first activity….
Easter Eraser Sorting with Tweezers
I found these cute little Easter erasers in the Dollar Spot at Target a few weeks ago. We used them for this great sorting and fine motor activity! Sorting is a wonderful skill to encourage cognitive development in preschoolers. And…
27 Ways to Learn with Ping Pong Balls
Ping Pong balls have quickly become my favorite learning manipulative. They are cheap. They are great for kinesthetic learners. They are easy to customize. And did I mention they are cheap?!?! Seriously…you can buy a bag of 144 white…
Word Family Snowball Toss
Word families can be a beneficial component in your teaching-your-child-to-read toolbox. To put it simply, word families are words that rhyme. Teaching children word families is a phonemic awareness activity that helps children see patterns in reading. This is…
Paper Reinforcement Heart Art
Little Brother and I enjoyed making this paper reinforcement heart art that doubled as fine motor practice. Pulling those tiny reinforcements off the paper is great for developing the small muscles in hands! Here’s what you’ll need: Â paper reinforcements…
Fine Motor Christmas Trees
After Christmas last year, I scored some great deals that I tucked away until this year. Unfortunately, the holiday season has flown by and I have hardly had a chance to break them out…until today! Little Brother and I used…
Snow & Ice Salt Writing Tray
I am somewhat obsessed with the smooth, shiny, ice-like texture from corn syrup paint. A few weeks ago we created a Frozen-inspired name painting. After it was finished, I thought it would be a great for a salt writing tray…
Yarn Wrapped Snowflake Ornaments
I have had it on my “list” for us to make these yarn wrapped snowflake ornaments for the last two years, ever since I first found these Woodsies skill sticks. We have made other snowflake ornaments before, but these…
Lighted Shadowbox Nativity
My favorite Christmas decorations are Nativity sets. We have a few Santa and Snowmen decorations here and there, but we have several Nativities. I just love the simplicity of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus in the manger. And I love…
Frozen-inspired Painting
Brrrrrr…it’s cold outside! Little Brother and I spent our first frosty morning of the season with this Frozen-inspired painting activity. I absolutely love using corn syrup as paint because it dries shiny (we have made a fishbowl inspired by One…
Silly Putty Melting Jack-O-Lantern
We made homemade silly putty this week and created our own melting pumpkins! This was also a great time to discuss the 3 different states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and point out that silly putty is neither one! I am…
Building Solomon’s Temple with Golden Blocks
I am still working on supplementing our church’s curriculum for the unit on Solomon. It is so intriguing to read about the building of the temple–how all the stones were pre-cut and no tool could be heard in temple while it…
Clip the Color Activity for Toddlers
 I have just about every “subset” of young children:  a school-aged child, a preschooler, and a baby. I don’t currently have a toddler at home, however, but I recently came across these colorful clips at the Dollar General and knew they would…
Ping Pong Alphabet Bounce
This is a super-simple activity that Little Brother loved! I used leftover ping pong balls from our hands-on blood demonstration and the plastic inserts that hold frozen quiche bites from a baby shower I helped with several months ago. To…
Paint with Tops
A few weeks ago we made homemade spinning tops (which the boys are still having a blast with). We found yet another way to have fun utilizing them:  paint with tops!! Besides being a fun art project, this activity is also great…
X-Ray Playdough
We are having a blast learning about the human body! As we have been learning about the various systems, the boys were especially intrigued with the skeletal system. We came up with this fun and interactive way to learn…
Sum Splat: Learning with Water Balloons
Water balloons are so much fun for the summer! But besides being a great way to burn off some energy, they can also be a surprisingly good learning tool! We used water balloons to create this sum splat game…
Pom Pom Push
Guest Post by Malia of Playdough to Plato I’m sometimes surprised by what my boys find entertaining – cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, duct tape… This Pom Pom Push definitely fits in that category too. It’s not fancy but kids…