Never Loose Another Puzzle Piece: Organizing Puzzles
My kids love puzzles and I think they are a fabulous learning tool, but they are messy! A few years ago we adopted an organizational system for puzzles that has been serving us well ever since, plus we are never missing puzzle pieces any more!
You will need:
- Large plastic storage bags with a slider
- 18 quart storage bin (clear is preferred)
- puzzles
In each bag place one puzzle with all its pieces, then seal the bag. Place all the bagged puzzles inside the storage bin. Label the outside of the storage bin and place in a convenient spot. Voila easily stored puzzles. Now when we want to do puzzles we bring out the bin and each child chooses a puzzle without any mess. When they are done they slide the puzzle back into the bag, seal it and place it back in the bin. Easy as pie.
I shared this tip as part of the Avery Tip It Forward contest, go HERE for details on how you can enter too!
Easter Crafts with Kids
This year I have been trying to explain Easter to my girls and while the concept of Jesus dying on a cross and opening the gates of Heaven is difficult for a 2 and 4 year old to understand I am laying the groundwork. I have been trying to reinforce the meaning of Easter with fun art projects here are some we have done and are planning on doing. I just love all these creative moms who post their ideas it makes it so much easier for non-creative moms like me!
Recreate the Last Supper with this easy and creative Last Supper Craft!
Make salt dough crosses. We made crosses and eggs, I didn’t have beads but sequins worked just as well.
Tomorrow we are making eggshell mosaic crosses. My girls are excited to paint the eggshells this afternoon!
This St Veronica Veil Craft is amazing but I am not sure I am talented enough to make it.
Hopefully we will find time to make these adorable jellybean bracelets, my girls would be thrilled!
And of course we have been enjoying lots of Easter coloring pages, you can print a bunch HERE for free.
Snow Day Activities
I can’t believe I am writing this post during the last few days of February but since everyone is once again getting hit with large amounts of snow and lots of us are stuck in doors I thought I would share a few ideas for activities. My kids have been locked inside since Little C has RSV so I have had to be creative to keep them from going crazy. I would love ofr you to add your ideas in the comments, we can all use new ideas.
Oatmeal Playdough
I love this playdough because it didn’t require me to go to the store for ingredients I don’ thave. It is a bit stickier but my grls had fun with it.
- 1 cup flour
- 2 cups oats
- 1 cup water
Mix it all together and let yours kids imaginations do the rest. We spelled words with it which was fun.
Bring your water table indoors. Yes I know this is risky but I just laid towels down in the kitchen and filled it partially with water. The girls had a blast. You can also set up stations of smaller buckets and enlist your kids help in washing their toys. One bucket with soapy water and one with rinsing water. Then a drying station.
Dance Party. This is something we do on a daily basis. We clear off the floor and turn up the tunes and have a dance party. My girls are in that princess phase so they put on a fancy church dress with dress hoes and dance dance dance. You can join in to burn a few calories as well. No need to make it kid music, just kid friendly . My girls enjoy the Beatles and the Beach Boys as much as they enjoy the Wiggles.
Yogurt Finger Paint. Most kids love to finger paint and they tend to lick their fingers too. So let them use yogurt on a tray or plate to make some art.
Noodle necklaces. If you have extra pasta and some string you are set to make noodle jewelry. Let your kids decorate the noodles with markers and then string it up.
Bake cookies. You can always bake cookies or any other treat you have the ingredients for. I love to let my kids help by pre-measuring into plastic cups and letting them add the ingredients.
Valentine’s Day Kids Craft
Need any easy Valentine’s Day craft to do with little kids? Try this… Simply paint your child’s hand with non-toxic paint and place it on a paper. After it is dry draw a heart in the middle, add a sweet Valentine’s Day message and voila a homemade Valentine’s Day card form the heart. My 4 and 2 year old had a blast making these!
Cheap Kids Christmas Crafts
My kids love doing crafts and I of course want to keep them as inexpensive as possible. A fun kids craft that my kids enjoyed is making popsicle stick Christmas trees. They are simple and easy enough that my 22 month old made hers and the supplies needed are very minimal. Here are the directions:
Popsicle Stick Christmas Trees
6 popsicle sticks
sequins
green paint
glue
Paint the popsicle sticks green the day before and let dry. Cut the sticks down each one progressively smaller ( kitchen shears work fine). Glue the sticks on to form a Christmas tree. Let kids decorate with sequins. I squirted a glob of glue on the plate so my kids could dip and place the sequins themselves.
Halloween snacks
A great way to get in the mood for Halloween is by making fun Halloween snacks! here are a few cute ones I like!
Ants On A Log
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celery sticks
peanut butter
raisins
Fill the celery stick with peanut butter and line the raisins across the top so it looks like ants on a log.
Mouse in A Cage
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Orange cut in half
Peeled banana
Red string licorice
Raisins
toothpicks
peanut butter
Place one orange half skin down on a plate. Lay a small piece of licorice on the orange for the tail. Using peanut butter glue about 1 inch of the banana to the orange with licorice hanging out like a tail. Glue the raisins on as ears using peanut butter. Stand toothpicks all around the edge of the orange for bars on cage. Place other half of orange on top of toothpicks.
Spiders
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round crackers
peanut butter
chocolate chips
pretzel sticks
Spread peanut butter on one cracker. Place 8 pretzel sticks on cracker sticking out like spider legs. Add some more peanut butter and top with another cracker making a sandwich. Glue 2 chocolate chips on top with peanut butter for eyes.
Don’t forget about the
Ghost Pretzel Rods
Soft Pretzel Spiders
Spooky Halloween Hands
Ghost Pretzel Rods
Ghost Pretzel Rods
1 bag of pretzel rods
1 package white candy bark ( or white chips)
sprinkles or candy to use for decoration
Melt the candy bark in a microwave safe dish in the microwave for 1 minute on high. Stir and reheat as necessary to keep the candy smooth for easy coating.
Coat half the pretzel rod in candy, add decoration for eyes.
Let dry on a wax paper lined baking sheet.
I like jimmies for eyes but anything that looks like eyes to you works well.
This is easy to do and fun for the kids to help with!
Grab Bag Sale at Krafty Kid
Until today I had not heard of the company Krafty Kid but this looks like a great deal on kids crafts. Krafty Kid is having there grab bag sale which means you get 5 complete craft kits for $4.99 plus FREE shipping. The themes include
- Fall
- Winter/Christmas
- Spring/Summer
- Bible/Religious
- Surprise
(thanks Alyssa)
Balloon Fireworks Kids Craft & More
Balloon Fireworks:Place a balloon over a funnel and fill the balloon 3/4 full with confetti. Blow up the balloon and tie. Either hook the balloons to something or throw them in the air allowing kids to pop with a sharpened pencil ( good for older kids with supervision). Plug your ears and listen to the squeal as they are showered with confetti!
Be sure to check out my fireworks in a jar craft here.
I just found this super festive and yummy sounding 4th of July drink over at Stephanie’s blog be sure to check it out here also check out my easy 4th of July recipes here.
Fireworks in a Jar Kid’s Craft
Here is a fun and easy science trick/ craft to do with your kids…make fireworks in a jar.
Take a glass jar and fill it with water. In a separate small bowl mix together 1 TBL vegetable oil as well as a few drops of blue, red and yellow food coloring. Dump the food coloring mixture into the jar of water and watch as the fireworks show begins!
Cheap Kids Crafts at Target
Today at Target as I perused the $1 area I found some great little craft kits for kids 3 and up. They have several foam kits to make bookmarks and animals all for $1. Plus they also have bags of foam letters, shapes, pipe cleaners, pompoms and more all priced at $1. My 3 year old and I did 2 of the kits today and she loved it, it was a well spent $1 since I had no prep work to do. Check them out for great crafts with your child or even cheap party favors.
Easter activities
As we quickly approach Easter I am trying to help my kids get in the spirit with all kinds of Easter themed activities this week. I thought I would share what I have and hopefully you have some ideas to share as well. Some of these are religious and some are not.
- Go here to print out some Easter themed coloring pages
- Go here to check out some fun Easter kids games including word searches, tic-tac-toe and memory all with aster themed pieces.
- Go here for instructions to make a rabbit windsock
- Go here for instructions to make a toilet paper roll rabbit
- Go here for instructions to make a rabbit door knob hanger
- Easter nest cupcakes here
- Make a mobile with the 4 stages of the caterpillar (egg, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly) and explain to your children how the cocoon is like the tomb and both Jesus and the butterfly emerge to a beautiful new life.
- Decorate hard boiled eggs
- Decorate a tree with plastic eggs
