DIY Baby & Kids Archives < From Under a Palm Tree

Shape Recognition Activity

April 30, 2018 by Meagan 6 Comments

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

April 23, 2018 by Meagan 4 Comments

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.

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Toddler Bath Caddy

April 16, 2018 by Meagan 5 Comments

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…]

Paper Plate Handprint Mother’s Day Card

April 9, 2018 by Meagan 6 Comments

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…]

Mini Construction Site Sandbox

February 12, 2018 by Meagan 5 Comments

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…]

Turkey Football Footprint Card

November 21, 2017 by Meagan 5 Comments

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…]

DIY Calming Glitter Jar

October 2, 2017 by Meagan 12 Comments

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…]

DIY Cars Theme Cake Pop Stand

August 28, 2017 by Meagan 9 Comments

We just celebrated my son’s 2^nd birthday a few weeks ago, which was perfectly themed “Cars.” He’s a typical little boy who loves anything with 4 wheels! After spending months of planning his 1^st birthday party, I decided to make the second-year celebration a little more low key. So, this time around I bought most of the decorations instead of making them. I was able to find a lot of the Cars themed party décor at Party City and Walmart (which you can check out below). The one party décor item I made was this DIY Cars Theme Cake Pop Stand. J loves cake pops from Starbucks (a horrible thing I blame myself for) so I decided on cake pops this year instead of a cake.

Don’t be intimidated by the all the steps, it’s actually quite [Read more…]

DIY Father’s Day Space Ship Footprint Card

June 14, 2017 by Meagan 12 Comments

Since my son was born almost 2 years ago, I’ve made handprint or footprint cards for loved ones on every holiday. My sister makes jokes that I don’t have to buy a greeting card ever again.

Of course, that’s not entirely true; I’ve yet to make a Mother’s Day card for my mom with my own footprint. For babies and toddlers, on the other hand, there’s no better way to show how much they care than with a handmade card. For older kids, this DIY Father’s Day Space Ship Footprint Card is a fun way to use their imagination while expressing their love for Dad.

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DIY Wooden Growth Chart

June 5, 2017 by Meagan 7 Comments

Watching our babies grow up is an inevitable part of life. It’s exciting, sad, happy, fun, terrifying, and occasionally heartbreaking. Basically, a bag of emotions that we sometimes have no words for.

Sometimes just a smile tells the whole story. Other times, laying it all out on the table to anyone who will listen is what really tells the whole story. Either way, watching our babies grow up is one of the most rewarding, gratifying and yes, difficult gifts we as parents are given.

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