Thursday, November 29, 2012

Color Chart from Magazine Clippings

I came home the other day to find this beautiful piece of artwork on the floor.  My babysitter said the kids spent an enormous amount of time on it.  



They picked things out of magazines to cut out and then they glued them into a different columns, depending on color.  I thought this was pure genius since:

A) It took them a long time and kept them busy 
B) My preschooler got to work on her cutting
C) They got to work on colors

It was a win all around so I thought I'd share with you!

For more ideas on projects and games to keep your kids busy, please check out my new book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn.  It is packed full of information about keeping kids busy, but in productive ways, so that they still have the opportunity to learn while you are stuck doing the dishes!  Here is one of the reviews from Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "Must Have" book!!!, July 9, 2012
By 

 This is truly a fantastic book! I was shocked at how many activities the authors came up with - many of which didn't even require a trip to the store for supplies! The Mom who wrote this has great stories & the Teacher has valuable experiences...it's a perfect blend of unique insight. Fun (inexpensive) activities that keep my 2 kids away from the TV, what more can you ask for?!?!? This book is really helping me become a better Mom - Thank you!



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Posted by at 4:47 AM 3 comments

Monday, November 26, 2012

5 Store-Bought Crafts Worth Buying

Before I learned how to be crafty at home, I used to buy craft kits and I always sort of thought, "Who are they kidding with this?"  We never could quite get them to work the way the instructions described, and they always seemed to cause more frustration than enjoyment, but over the past year I have actually bought a few crafts and games worth buying.  Here they are:

1.  Alex Tissue Art: There are some products by this company that aren't worth buying, but this is a great one.  We have played with this on multiple days and even my 2.5 year old could sort of do it and my four year old absolutely loved it.


2.  Suncatchers.  I cannot tell you how many suncatchers my daughter has painted in the past 6 months.  She never seems to grow tired of these.  You can actually buy them at Walmart for less than $1 apiece and they sell the paint for them too since they take a special kind of paint.  Or you can buy this kit that comes with everything.



3.  We have bought different lacing stuff before, but this is the only one that my daughter actually enjoys.  We have taken these on many vacations and they are great because they can keep them busy and pack into a very small area.  Plus, they are great for developing fine motor skills.



4.  Hubby doesn't love these as much as we do, but we absolutely love them.  The kids can color on the windows and then they come off easily afterward when it's time to clean them up (I find this to be a great chore for the kids.  It doesn't quite get done right, but they can sure try!)



5.  I find this to be a great one to do when my daughter has friends over.  They can each get a pile of beads and they can each make a pretty  necklace.  Again, this is great for fine motor and the beads simply snap together.



If you are interested in craft ideas that you don't have to buy, you might be interested in my book!  I teamed up with Susan Case who is a former Kindergarten teacher and a passionate advocate for learning through play.  We give you dozens of other ideas on how to keep your kids busy, but in a productive way, so they are actually learning while they are also having fun!  Here is what one of my readers wrote on Amazon after she read our book:

  This book seriously saved my sanity. I've read a bunch of parenting books but this is literally the only one that actually gave me real and specific advice and ideas for things to do with my daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year old and I was at my wits end trying to come up with ideas of fun, easy, creative things to do with her that will keep her busy and occupied and help her learn. I wasn't very good at following through on ideas that I heard about from friends or read in other books or online because they seemed too complicated (aka: messy!) but this book broke it down and made it so simple. I highly recommend it!   
 

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Posted by at 5:02 AM 6 comments

Monday, November 19, 2012

Easiest Thanksgiving Craft Ever

Extravagant Holiday crafts are not my specialty.  However, we haven't talked about Thanksgiving very much much lately, so this year, we went ahead and did one...but it was the easiest and most simple craft in the history of crafts.  I simply got a few paper plates, some construction paper, and some googley eyes.  I cut up some "feathers" for them and gave them their glue.  I even sat down and did one with them and they really enjoyed seeing my finished Turkey.  Sometimes it takes so little to impress children that it really thrills me.

Here is my daughter's Turkey (Age 4)


And here is my son's (Age 2.5).  You have to use your imagination a little bit and as usual, he went a little overboard with the eyes, but he sure likes having it hanging up for the world to see!


For more easy craft ideas, please check out my new book! The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn has been out for a few months and people seem to be really enjoying it!  And if you do get it, would you do us a big favor and leave a review?  The more reviews, the better!  

Thank you so much!!

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Posted by at 6:58 AM 2 comments

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

That is the strangest craft I've ever seen

I see a lot of themed art and crafts on Pinterest and I do generally think that's the best kind, but last weekend we made something genuinely unique (and by that I mean bizarre) and we had a lot of fun.  Here's how it happened: It was raining, and it was cold, steady rain, the kind that is sure to last all day.  We knew that Daddy would be gone all day so it was a series of musical rooms while I tried to entertain the kids all day long inside the house.

At one point, I decided to make sheep out of paper plates and cotton balls.  We've done this before, so the kids were familiar.  However, the sheep soon turned into something entirely strange.  First Little Buddy starting glueing eyes to the cotton balls.  


Then Big Sis saw what he was doing and thought she would join in.  Pretty soon, we weren't making sheep at all and they kept asking for me to get out new things for them to glue on.  Honestly, there is a time in my life that I probably would have said, "No, we're supposed to be making sheep.  You only need two eyeballs for sheep."

However, in my old age, I have a totally different philosophy.  Now, I figure if it keeps them busy and they are being creative, I get the heck out of the way so that I can keep doing dishes!  Haha


This really did keep them busy for about 30 minutes, maybe a little bit longer.  As usual, once this was done, they scampered off to do some imaginary play by themselves for awhile, which is the real beauty of these projects.  


For more ideas on projects and games to keep your kids busy, please check out my new book, The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn.  It is packed full of information about keeping kids busy, but in productive ways, so that they still have the opportunity to learn while you are stuck doing the dishes!  Here is one of the reviews from Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "Must Have" book!!!, July 9, 2012
By 

 This is truly a fantastic book! I was shocked at how many activities the authors came up with - many of which didn't even require a trip to the store for supplies! The Mom who wrote this has great stories & the Teacher has valuable experiences...it's a perfect blend of unique insight. Fun (inexpensive) activities that keep my 2 kids away from the TV, what more can you ask for?!?!? This book is really helping me become a better Mom - Thank you!


Did you enjoy my post?  Don't forget to vote for me by clicking the banner below.  You can also enter your email address below to receive all my updates!  I really appreciate your support!!
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Posted by at 4:40 AM 4 comments
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