It’s that time of the year…time for another DIY handprint card! One of my favorite parts of the holidays is making handprint cards. This year, my son is finally at the age where he can make them almost completely by himself. My son’s favorite book series is Duck & Goose, we read at least one or two (out of 15 or so in the series) a night. So, when I asked if he wanted to make this Easter Chick Handprint Card for some family members, he was delighted. Below, you can find [Read more…]
DIY Egg Carton Patterning Activity
Learning to recognize sequences and patterns is an important part of beginning math skills. Even the simplest form of patterning can help a child learn and develop the skills they will need to master math concepts like times tables and addition. There are many ways to help your preschooler develop these skills without spending a lot of money. One of mine and my son’s favorite ways to practice learning sequences and patterns is with [Read more…]
DIY Rock & Gem Mining Activity
I was inspired to do this DIY Rock & Gem Mining Activity by a recent mini-golf outing with my family. It’s a fun activity that can be put together fairly cheap and done over and over again. The hands-on experience of discovering buried treasures like gemstones, rocks, shells, fossils, and shark teeth is a great beginner science activity for preschoolers and Kindergarteners to learn about [Read more…]
DIY Valentine’s Day Bubble Blower
Bubbles are one of my son’s favorite outdoor activities. Not only does he love to blow them but he also loves to run around and chase them. I don’t know what it is about bubbles that kids go crazy for but I don’t care because I know when I take them out it’s at least a good 30 minutes of fun and running around. My favorite time to play with bubbles is right before nap time—the running around gets him [Read more…]
DIY Hot Wheels Christmas Tree
If you’ve read some of my older posts, you know my 3 year-old-son is obsessed with cars. I imagine most little boys his age are so, with Christmas right around the corner, I decided to make my little guy this DIY Hot Wheels Christmas Tree. Now he has his [Read more…]
Thanksgiving Turkey Magnet
With Thanksgiving just about a week away, I’ve been doing some fun turkey crafts with my 3-year-old. One of my favorites is this Thanksgiving Turkey Magnet. Making this with J brought back some fond memories from when I was a kid. I don’t remember much from my early childhood but I do remember doing holiday crafts with my mom every year. I think that’s one of the reasons I make such a point to [Read more…]
No-Hassle Racecar Box Halloween Costume
When I asked my 3-year-old son what he wanted to dress up as this Halloween, he said with confidence, “A racing car driver!” So I thought, ok this should be easy. I’ll just get a costume at Target or on Amazon and we’re set. Jumpsuit—check. Helmet—check. I thought I was done but to my surprise when my little firecracker tried on his new racing car driver costume, his next question was, “Where’s my car?” I LOL’d because he was right—how could I forget the car! So, I scoured the internet for boxcar costume ideas and found this No-Hassle Racecar Box Halloween Costume. [Read more…]
Shape Recognition Activity
When I first started teaching my son how to recognize different shapes, I would draw them on a piece of paper, point, and tell him what each shape was. Before too long he would get bored and move on to a toy with wheels or sound and leave me in the dust. It didn’t take me long to realize I was going about my teaching style all wrong. He needed something to touch and feel in his hands to be more interested in learning his shapes. So I turned my original boring shape activity into a reusable, hands-on, and very easy to make Shape Recognition Activity with colorful felt shapes that can be stuck on and peeled off over and over. [Read more…]
DIY Colored Beans for Sensory Play
I first learned about sensory development when my son turned about 14 months old. This was right around the time when he started walking and getting into everything he wasn’t supposed to. His curiosity to touch, feel, and taste everything in sight prompted me to do a little research on this particular stage of his development. This is when I noticed the phrase “sensory play” became a common idea among mom bloggers, educators, and psychology blogs. It’s a phrase I think I’ve always heard but never really bothered to understand.
Toddler Bath Caddy
My 2-and-half-year-old son has gone through stages of loving bath time and hating bath time and now loving it again. When he was an infant, bath time was new to him and he was still discovering the whole water and bubble situation. Now, he knows bathtime signifies the end of play time which ultimately leads to bedtime. So sometimes getting him to the bath is tough. Sometimes it takes bribing and trickery. Other times it takes throwing him over my shoulder and hauling him upstairs. Either way, I was tired of the begging and pleading so I got a little inventive in my trickery and got him to remember how much fun bath time can be. [Read more…]