Sustainable & Creative Living
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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.
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…]
I’m back at it again with hand and footprint cards this Mother’s Day. The last few cards I’ve made were with J’s footprint because I couldn’t quite get him to be still enough to use his handprint. He was always squirming around or fighting to get out of my arms and play with the paint. Somehow the feet were just quicker and easier to capture. [Read more…]
I’m always trying to come up with fun activities for my 2-year son to do while I’m at work. This Mini Construction Site Sandbox is a perfect tabletop activity that can help develop his sensory and motor skills.
If you’ve read some of my other posts, you know that I bring little J to work with me every day. He’s been coming with me since he was 6 weeks old! As he’s gotten older, I’ve had to come up with new and exciting things to stimulate his little mind. Right now he’s into PlayDoh, coloring, painting, cars, and soccer. [Read more…]
If you’ve checked out any of my other posts you know I have a toddler that I love doing crafts with. Okay well maybe I’m doing the crafts and he’s chillin on the couch with his cars while I paint, glue, and glitter everything in my house. I’m hoping as he gets a little older he’ll enjoy making things with his momma a bit more. Right now, I’m working on a creative art space for my little man so check back soon for a blog post about that!
One of my favorite crafts to do with J around the holidays are hand and footprint cards for dad, grandparents, and other family members. I always try to give each card a cute holiday spin that will [Read more…]
I’ve been looking for a way to help calm my 2-year-old son when his temper gets the best of him. About 7 years ago a family member made this DIY Calming Glitter Jar for her daughter to serve the same purpose. I made a mental note to give it a try when my own child came along, you know if I needed it.
Fast forward 7 years, the terrible twos in full swing, and I’ve quickly learned that toddler tantrums are tough to deal with. When your crazed child is [Read more…]