Toddler Activities from Familyeducation.com http://ift.tt/1GLSK2e Using glue dyed in different colors, your toddler can make a spaghetti mobile that you can hang from the ceiling.
***** ToddlerActivities ******** Sponsored by: www.anycard.games No In-built rules. Play any card games just like holding cards in your hand with upto 10 players online!! Free to join and free joining in-game cash Bonus for limited time!!
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Over 27 Medieval Activities for Kids
Kids Activities Blog http://ift.tt/1bjEBLs 
The Medieval time period is a fascinating part of history! Everything from togas,swords, and knights, to fun catapults, and adventurous books help children relive and learn all about the Ancient Rome and Greek eras. The Medieval time period is such vast unit of study. This list of over 27 Medieval Activities for Kids is sure to make your learning adventures fun!
Medieval Activities for Kids
Experience a “hands on” Medieval experience with Dining Like Royalty at Medieval Times– Kids Activities Blog
Expand your homeschool math Using Roll and Count Medieval Questions– 3 Dinosaurs
Why not allow your kids to Build a Medieval Castle– Nurture Store
Allow your little ones to experience the fun with this Medieval Sensory Bin– And Next Comes L
Every little girls needs their own Homemade Medieval Princess Hat Tutorial– Childhood 101
Explore all about this fun ancient time period with this FREE Medieval Kinder and First Grade Pack– Royal Baloo
Another fun way to build a medieval castle with Toilet Paper Roll Castles– Crafty Morning
Incorporate some dress up play into your lesson plan with DIY Knight Shield for Pretend Play– The Educator’s Spin On It
A fun math activity and history all in one with Learning About Roman Numerals– Creekside Learning
Use this insightful Knights Unit Study to learn all about knights- Every Star is Different
Use the alphabet in this Medieval ABC Booklet– Royal Baloo
All kinds of hands on learning fun with Castles, Catapults, and a FREE Shield– Happy and Blessed Home
Let your kids create their own Knight’s Shield Craft– No Time For Flashcards
Hands on fun with this Sensory Art Play: Colorful Gelatin Castles– Twodaloo
Learning About Greek Mythology is yet another way to uncover medieval myths- EDventures with Kids
What boy wouldn’t enjoy learning how to Make Your Own PVC Pipe Swords– Frugal Fun For Boys
Explore all about the medieval period using these facts about Ancient Greeks– Adventures in Mommydom
Easy and Fun Catapults for Kids to Make will make the medieval learning experience super fun! – Kids Activities Blog
Build a Catapult with these easy materials and your kids will love it! – Therapy Fun Zone
Roman History Printables allow your child to discover medieval facts individually- Are We There Yet?
Discover tons of medieval information through Ancient Rome: Togas and More– Creekside Learning
Need a quick printable? Get this Educational Freebie: Ancient Rome Lapbook– Motherhood on a Dime
Get the whole family involved by Celebrating the Ancient Greek With a Feast– Kids Activities Blog
Discover the history of Olympics with Greek Olympics Lesson Ideas for Kids– Teach Beside Me
Do your kids use a tablet or IPad? Try this FREE Ancient Greece Kids Discover App– IGame Mom
Reading – Medieval Activities for Kids:
Yes, we love crafts and games and printables (OH MY! LOL!) But, what about some quiet time reading? No Unit is complete without some read alouds and independent reading books. Here are a few picks just for you:
Utilize these Books About Ancient Greece into your unit study- Planet Smarty Pants
Have some reading time with these Books About The Roman Empire– 3 Boys and a Dog
Explore all about knights with these Books About Knights– No Time For Flashcards
The post Over 27 Medieval Activities for Kids appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.
7 Times We Sneak an Activity into Our Daily Routine
hands on : as we grow http://ift.tt/1HTLrnM
I always get this question that I don’t know how to answer:
Can you provide a schedule of your day that shows when you fit activities into your day?
Simple question. A not-so-easy answer. Especially since I share an activity planner that helps you fit those activities in your day, but yet I can’t tell you how to schedule them into your day.
You see, my days are very rarely the same. I am not a scheduled person. I roll with the flow most days.
I find this works best for us. It takes a lot of pressure off me that I would put on if I had a schedule to follow. That doesn’t mean that I don’t gather ideas for the week or have plans. I do have those.
However, I do have routines here and there that we do. Little things that happen. They might not happen every day. And may not happen at the same time every day. But they do happen.
Routines make everything simpler. And they’re actually really good for the kids – it helps them learn to do their everyday task on their own. Read more about why routines are important for kids here.
I am excited to work along with L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins to share these little tips on how our simple routines are keeping me balanced while their vitamins make it super easy (they’re gummies and they taste awesome! The kids love them)!
One of our simple routines is in the morning. First thing in the morning we get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, play a little, and head to school.
That’s it. Short and simple and fairly obvious, right?
Bedtime is fairly the same. The boys get a bath, get pajamas on, get their L’il Critters™ vitamins, brush their teeth, read a book and say goodnight.
That’s it. Everything in between is pretty much up for grabs.
My oldest is in school. The two younger boys go to preschool and daycare three mornings a week. Those are my work hours.
Activities happen anywhere in between.
But where exactly?
First off, a little more about how my home works. I’m primarily a stay at home mom. So I’m at home with my kids and work when I can. My husband works nights, so he’s home during the days with us as well (in the morning he’s sleeping). He is there to help me during activities if I want it.
Your home might be a little different in that you work out of the home all day, or you’re at home by yourself until the late hours of the night. If that’s the case, I urge you to jot down 7 of your own ways that you can squeeze in activities into your daily routine.
These are 7 of our times that we do activities. Please take note that we do not do activities during every single of these times all the time. We’re not activity-making machines! We like to take it easy too! These are just the time slots when we usually have some time to squeeze one in here or there.
As long as activities are kept simple they can be squeezed into any part of the day!
Another thing to remember is that activities usually only take 15 minutes or so (give or take a few depending on the age of your child). So don’t be discouraged if you don’t have huge chunks of times to squeeze them into. They literally can be squeezed in small spots!
7 Ways We Squeeze Activities in:
In the Morning. Activities are most often slipped into the mornings when the kids don’t have preschool or daycare. Sometimes even on mornings before they go to school! If they’re up super early some days (because it happens!) we’ll sometimes squeeze an activity in after we’re ready to go and have a little bit of time to spare.
During the toddler’s nap time. Nap time has always been a life saver for me and activities. It’s when I have been able to focus on my preschooler and do more advanced activities that my toddler might disrupt or get in the way of.
After nap time. This is hit or miss for us because after nap times my kids can often be very grumpy (are mine the only ones?). If I’m not just sitting and holding them to keep them from a meltdown we’ll often sneak in a quick activity before my oldest gets home from school.
After school. Right now, the weather is fantastic (which has been a long time coming here in Iowa), so this time is less and less. They’re often just running around outside enjoying the weather. But when we’re stuck inside or once this newfound fun of the outdoors has worn off, we’ll be back to doing activities in this time slot. I love doing activities with all three kids!
Before Dinner. This is always a crazy time of day when I’m trying to get dinner on the table. Which makes it the perfect time of day to get them settled in a busy activity. I get them started and it’s an activity that they can keep going on their own while I get dinner ready and supervise from afar. See our 20 easy activities to keep kids busy.
Weekends. I often leave Sundays open to family, but Saturdays are fair game for activities! It’s also often the perfect time for a walk around town that leads to the playground. Yes, that counts as an activity, too!
Before heading out for the day. We have one day of the week that I usually reserve for errands or going to Grandma’s house. There have been countless times that we squeeze an activity in before we head out. I find this to be a perfect time to connect with them (and give them that one-on-one time) before heading out and doing things that are all about me. Or at Grandma’s, it’s all about Grandma and not a time for me to connect with them.
Bonus time: The Witching Hour. Between dinner and bedtime. This is the perfect time if time allows. Often our dinner runs into our bedtime routine so there’s not always time. See 10 activities to do during the Witching Hour.
It’s not anything scientific, or anything really secret. It’s just how we flow around here. Simple (if you haven’t noticed, that’s how I like it).
I keep finding over and over again that a simple life is a much happier life. I try to keep things as uncomplicated as possible and that goes for my parenting, our activities, and our day to day routines. Simple makes it much more balanced in our house.
What balances your life the best?
While maintaining balance, I’m also trying to maintain my family’s health with the aide of L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins in our daily routine.* Every night each of my kids beg to get their vitamins because they’re so good! Little do they know how much good they’re doing for them! I know that my kids are not eating the healthiest (does peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day count as healthy?), so the fact that their vitamins offer many of the vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements to meet my kids’ health needs (not to mention mine and my husband’s) may help make up for my lack of lunch ideas.
Just a quick FYI: L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins have no high fructose corn syrup, no synthetic (FD&C) dyes, and are gluten free. And L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins are available at club, mass, drug and grocery stores nationwide including: Costco, Walmart, Target and Walgreens. More information can be found at www.gummyvites.com.
Leave a comment below letting me know how you create balance for your family to enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I received free product and payment for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.
Entry Instructions:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 4/30/2015 – 6/30/2015
Be sure to visit the L’il Critters brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
7 Times We Sneak an Activity into Our Daily Routine on handsonaswegrow.com
7 Times We Sneak an Activity into Our Daily Routine
hands on : as we grow http://ift.tt/1HTLrnM
I always get this question that I don’t know how to answer:
Can you provide a schedule of your day that shows when you fit activities into your day?
Simple question. A not-so-easy answer. Especially since I share an activity planner that helps you fit those activities in your day, but yet I can’t tell you how to schedule them into your day.
You see, my days are very rarely the same. I am not a scheduled person. I roll with the flow most days.
I find this works best for us. It takes a lot of pressure off me that I would put on if I had a schedule to follow. That doesn’t mean that I don’t gather ideas for the week or have plans. I do have those.
However, I do have routines here and there that we do. Little things that happen. They might not happen every day. And may not happen at the same time every day. But they do happen.
Routines make everything simpler. And they’re actually really good for the kids – it helps them learn to do their everyday task on their own. Read more about why routines are important for kids here.
I am excited to work along with L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins to share these little tips on how our simple routines are keeping me balanced while their vitamins make it super easy (they’re gummies and they taste awesome! The kids love them)!
One of our simple routines is in the morning. First thing in the morning we get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, play a little, and head to school.
That’s it. Short and simple and fairly obvious, right?
Bedtime is fairly the same. The boys get a bath, get pajamas on, get their L’il Critters™ vitamins, brush their teeth, read a book and say goodnight.
That’s it. Everything in between is pretty much up for grabs.
My oldest is in school. The two younger boys go to preschool and daycare three mornings a week. Those are my work hours.
Activities happen anywhere in between.
But where exactly?
First off, a little more about how my home works. I’m primarily a stay at home mom. So I’m at home with my kids and work when I can. My husband works nights, so he’s home during the days with us as well (in the morning he’s sleeping). He is there to help me during activities if I want it.
Your home might be a little different in that you work out of the home all day, or you’re at home by yourself until the late hours of the night. If that’s the case, I urge you to jot down 7 of your own ways that you can squeeze in activities into your daily routine.
These are 7 of our times that we do activities. Please take note that we do not do activities during every single of these times all the time. We’re not activity-making machines! We like to take it easy too! These are just the time slots when we usually have some time to squeeze one in here or there.
As long as activities are kept simple they can be squeezed into any part of the day!
Another thing to remember is that activities usually only take 15 minutes or so (give or take a few depending on the age of your child). So don’t be discouraged if you don’t have huge chunks of times to squeeze them into. They literally can be squeezed in small spots!
7 Ways We Squeeze Activities in:
In the Morning. Activities are most often slipped into the mornings when the kids don’t have preschool or daycare. Sometimes even on mornings before they go to school! If they’re up super early some days (because it happens!) we’ll sometimes squeeze an activity in after we’re ready to go and have a little bit of time to spare.
During the toddler’s nap time. Nap time has always been a life saver for me and activities. It’s when I have been able to focus on my preschooler and do more advanced activities that my toddler might disrupt or get in the way of.
After nap time. This is hit or miss for us because after nap times my kids can often be very grumpy (are mine the only ones?). If I’m not just sitting and holding them to keep them from a meltdown we’ll often sneak in a quick activity before my oldest gets home from school.
After school. Right now, the weather is fantastic (which has been a long time coming here in Iowa), so this time is less and less. They’re often just running around outside enjoying the weather. But when we’re stuck inside or once this newfound fun of the outdoors has worn off, we’ll be back to doing activities in this time slot. I love doing activities with all three kids!
Before Dinner. This is always a crazy time of day when I’m trying to get dinner on the table. Which makes it the perfect time of day to get them settled in a busy activity. I get them started and it’s an activity that they can keep going on their own while I get dinner ready and supervise from afar. See our 20 easy activities to keep kids busy.
Weekends. I often leave Sundays open to family, but Saturdays are fair game for activities! It’s also often the perfect time for a walk around town that leads to the playground. Yes, that counts as an activity, too!
Before heading out for the day. We have one day of the week that I usually reserve for errands or going to Grandma’s house. There have been countless times that we squeeze an activity in before we head out. I find this to be a perfect time to connect with them (and give them that one-on-one time) before heading out and doing things that are all about me. Or at Grandma’s, it’s all about Grandma and not a time for me to connect with them.
Bonus time: The Witching Hour. Between dinner and bedtime. This is the perfect time if time allows. Often our dinner runs into our bedtime routine so there’s not always time. See 10 activities to do during the Witching Hour.
It’s not anything scientific, or anything really secret. It’s just how we flow around here. Simple (if you haven’t noticed, that’s how I like it).
I keep finding over and over again that a simple life is a much happier life. I try to keep things as uncomplicated as possible and that goes for my parenting, our activities, and our day to day routines. Simple makes it much more balanced in our house.
What balances your life the best?
While maintaining balance, I’m also trying to maintain my family’s health with the aide of L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins in our daily routine.* Every night each of my kids beg to get their vitamins because they’re so good! Little do they know how much good they’re doing for them! I know that my kids are not eating the healthiest (does peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day count as healthy?), so the fact that their vitamins offer many of the vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements to meet my kids’ health needs (not to mention mine and my husband’s) may help make up for my lack of lunch ideas.
Just a quick FYI: L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins have no high fructose corn syrup, no synthetic (FD&C) dyes, and are gluten free. And L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins are available at club, mass, drug and grocery stores nationwide including: Costco, Walmart, Target and Walgreens. More information can be found at www.gummyvites.com.
Leave a comment below letting me know how you create balance for your family to enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I received free product and payment for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.
Entry Instructions:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 4/30/2015 – 6/30/2015
Be sure to visit the L’il Critters brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
7 Times We Sneak an Activity into Our Daily Routine on handsonaswegrow.com
15 Fun Family Gardening Projects
Kids Activities Blog http://ift.tt/1qd54uw 
Family gardening is a fun way for the whole family to get outside and enjoy a hobby together. There are many different types of gardening to choose from. Maybe plant some vegetables to harvest or plant your favorite fragrant flower.
No matter what you decide to plant, get out, get dirty and have fun. Your kids will be so excited when the first bud begins to bloom and they see the fruits of their labor.
15 Fun Family Gardening Projects
1. Here is a list of five tips for gardening with young kids. You want to make sure to choose something that produces quickly like a radish or salad greens.
2. Incorporate math with your gardening and they’ll never know they’re learning. How many seeds do we need? How many pounds of dirt do we need? This post has lots of good ideas for learning math while you garden.
3. A fairy garden is such a fun activity for kids. Upcycle some things from around the house to create a lovely little pretend garden for fairies to visit.
4. Use a plastic container to plant a garden that can go anywhere! Perfect for homes without a large yard for gardening.
5. Make a potted garden as a gift with this flower kit idea. Let your child paint the flower pots then add baggies full of rocks, seeds and dirt.
6. Dig into reading with these fun family gardening ideas based on children’s books. Some ideas are The Curious Garden and Are You A Snail?
7. If an outdoor garden doesn’t suit you, try staying indoors and making a mushroom garden. This one is fun and tasty.
8. Using paint stirrers, make your own rainbow colored garden markers for a fun family craft.
9. Give your kids their very own garden! Section off a tiny space in your yard with tiny pickets and help them plant a few of their favorite flowers. Let them take the responsibility to water them everyday!
10. Here is another fun fairy garden idea to try. Plant grass and flowers and even add a fairy swimming pool.
11. These adorable garden markers are a fun project for kids to make with alphabet letter beads and wire.
12. Make a simple indoor bulb garden and watch your favorite spring flowers grow.
13. Add these simple Cheerio bird feeders to your garden to attract birds!
14. Paint rocks bright colors and label them for a cute way to mark the plants in your garden.
15. The Kokedama hanging garden is a fun family activity and is super easy to take care for.
More Gardening Fun!
The post 15 Fun Family Gardening Projects appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Find the Color
Toddler Activities from Familyeducation.com http://ift.tt/1zs028Y When you name a color, your toddler has ten seconds to find something with that color in this wild tag game.
Create a Summer Reading Program!
Kids Activities Blog http://ift.tt/1OFTbPR 
While the summer can be filled with new adventures and fun vacations, it’s well known that kids lose some of their knowledge and learning skills over the summer! So it’s important for kids (of all ages) to maintain those skills over the summer months. So why not create a summer reading program with incentives. This will allow the kiddos to earn rewards for doing what they were already doing over the school year.
We started a summer reading incentive program last year and it really helped keep my kids interested in school and reading. This summer we are going to add math to the equation! Math skills are really lost over the summer months. I am going to add bonus math points this summer.
Here’s how we did it:
1- Create a spreadsheet to document all of the books read. I use a poster board with columns that list all the weeks of the summer. Every time my kids read a book, we wrote the title of the book on the poster board. I also used a gold star sticker to put next to the title. The kids love putting a sticker on the board to show their achievements.
2- Points are awarded for each book read. Each picture books earns them 1 point, each chapter book is worth 10 points.
3- Prizes and Incentives are awarded each week. On Sundays we total up all the points from the week. The child with the most points for the week, earned a prize or incentive. I created a treasure box that included note cards with rewards. If they both earn the same amount of points, they both choose a reward.
Rewards included:
– Stay up late
– Saturday freebie (choose what we do as a family on Saturday)
– Play date with friends
– Trip to bookstore or library to get a new book
– Choose Friday movie on Demand
– Go for ice cream
4- Monthly and Summer prizes were also rewarded. To keep the kids interested throughout the summer, we also rewarded them if they had the most points each month and at the end of the summer. These prizes included toys and gift cards valued at $10. Then at the end of the summer, the child with the most points was given a $25 cash prize to do whatever they wanted.
**This year I am adding math to the summer incentive chart. I will give each of them a math problem to solve each day. They will get a bonus point for getting it right!
There are many ways to create your own summer reading or math incentive program. And there are others you can also sign your kids up for. Barnes & Noble, The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge and Pizza Hut’s Spark your Greatness Summer Reading Program offer great incentives.
So now you may be asking what should my kids be reading this summer. Here’s a list of the summer’s most popular books. (affiliate links)
Ages 1 – 3 years
First 100 Words Board book – This will help improve your kids vocabulary with 100 color photographs and first words!
My Big Animal Book (My Big Board Books) Board book -This is another great “first” book for kids. This will help them learn about animals, where they live and how to visualize the word.
Ages 4-8 years
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books) – This is perfect for kiddos who love dinos. Learn everything you need to know about all the different types of dinosaurs. And there are beautiful visuals for the kids to enjoy.
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids – I love the lesson in this book. Learn why it’s so important to fill everyone’s bucket each day. Filling a bucket can be as easy as helping someone or giving a compliment. This is my kids favorite book.
Ages 8 and up
Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book – What I like about this book is it makes kids think while finding treasures and they can use their coloring skills to keep busy.
Charlotte’s Web – This is a classic and a rite of passage for summer.
Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids -What is summer without a few laughs. I bought this joke book for my kids over the holidays and we are still laughing at these jokes. They are simple and very funny for kids!
If you are looking for other summer book ideas, here’s a complete list on Amazon.
The post Create a Summer Reading Program! appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Sculpting with Cornstarch Clay
Kids Activities Blog http://ift.tt/1OCtEaq 
Want a cheap, unique art project for your kids? Using cornstarch to create a clay is a new twist!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CORNSTARCH CLAY:
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup salt
HOW TO MAKE CORNSTARCH CLAY:
**In a small saucepan, mix the baking soda & salt with 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch & 1/4 cup water and stir well.
**When the salt mixture boils, remove it from the heat & add the cornstarch mixture. Stir vigorously for a minute or two to thicken the clay. Scoop onto a sheet of waxed paper & allow to cool before giving it to children to play with.
This recipe make a small batch of clay, probably enough for 3 or 4 sculptures. If you’re entertaining more than a few kids or have a child with a big creative streak, I would double or triple the recipe.
To make your sculptures even more fun, look through the junk drawers & art supplies for things to stick on your sculptures for eyes, arms, antlers, buttons, etc. Google eyes, screws, luggage keys, sequins, soda can tabs, tiny nuts & bolts, buttons, paper clips…any tiny pieces would make great additions!
The clay will air dry in a few days, so set them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper to serve as a drying rack.
**If using small pieces to decorate your sculptures with, this project is not appropriate for young children.**
The post Sculpting with Cornstarch Clay appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.
More Pompom Fun
Toddler Activities from Familyeducation.com http://ift.tt/1m4Htw1 Toddlers fill cups with the right number of pompoms, based on the number of dots painted on the side of each cup.
Nature Sensory Bag Suncatcher
hands on : as we grow http://ift.tt/1HWzHCI
I love making simple sensory bags for the kids, this nature sensory bag is no exception. They’re easy to make, super fast, and gives the kids something to explore in a fun way. I find them super entertaining for toddlers.
We’ve recently done learning sensory bags for the older boys, making them ‘I Spy’ sensory bags to find letters and math equations (for my first grader).
But my favorite one we’ve done in the past was so simple, just some googly eyes to explore. (It was during the Halloween season).
We needed to explore something for other seasons, right? This is perfect for Spring with all the little bits of nature peeking up now.
The boys did their part to help me make this nature sensory bag.
They went outside to collect flowers and leaves (make it a scavenger hunt!) to add to the sensory bag while I added hair gel to a gallon-size baggy. I buy the cheapest hair gel I can possibly find (affiliate link, this was L.A. Looks which brought back funny memories). This gel was blue in the bottle and I didn’t have a lot left, maybe half a bottle, but it was enough! I love that it didn’t end up looking too blue either.
It took them awhile because we don’t have many flowers yet in our yard, so they had to head to Grandpa’s yard to find gorgeous flowers (he gave them the okay to pick them).
Once the boys got back with their nature finds, I added them to the bag of gel.
I decided on a front side of the sensory bag and tried my best to lay the flowers flat facing that side.
I didn’t double bag it, but you could if you’re worried about holes or it leaking.
I taped the nature sensory bag to our front door that’s a full glass window to make it a suncatcher too! It looked so pretty with the light shining through.
Another project! Make a nature suncatcher.
Louis explored the flowers with his fingers. He tried to move them around a little, squishing it.
The older boys were playing outside when they saw Louis in the door with his sensory bag and decided they needed to play with it too!
Louis also thought it was time for him to go outside at the same time because he saw the older boys. So they literally swapped places and then Louis realized he wanted to be inside when he saw them playing with the sensory bag. Oh the fun of a toddler!
You can find a week of simple activities for a 2 year old here!
Henry thought he could spot pairs of flowers and match them together by moving them in the sensory bag. He didn’t have very good luck moving them though, the flowers kept breaking apart (but that leads me to an idea for a puzzle sensory bag sometime!).
My one big tip with sensory bags that I failed with this time is to make sure you get all the air out of the baggy. After putting the flowers in the bag full of gel, I forgot to squeeze it out until later. While Henry was trying to move the flowers around, some started falling to the bottom of the bag as the gel was beginning to settle. If I had sucked the air out it wouldn’t have happened, at least not as soon as it did.
Nature Sensory Bag Suncatcher on handsonaswegrow.com
Nature Sensory Bag Suncatcher
hands on : as we grow http://ift.tt/1HWzHCI
I love making simple sensory bags for the kids, this nature sensory bag is no exception. They’re easy to make, super fast, and gives the kids something to explore in a fun way. I find them super entertaining for toddlers.
We’ve recently done learning sensory bags for the older boys, making them ‘I Spy’ sensory bags to find letters and math equations (for my first grader).
But my favorite one we’ve done in the past was so simple, just some googly eyes to explore. (It was during the Halloween season).
We needed to explore something for other seasons, right? This is perfect for Spring with all the little bits of nature peeking up now.
The boys did their part to help me make this nature sensory bag.
They went outside to collect flowers and leaves (make it a scavenger hunt!) to add to the sensory bag while I added hair gel to a gallon-size baggy. I buy the cheapest hair gel I can possibly find (affiliate link, this was L.A. Looks which brought back funny memories). This gel was blue in the bottle and I didn’t have a lot left, maybe half a bottle, but it was enough! I love that it didn’t end up looking too blue either.
It took them awhile because we don’t have many flowers yet in our yard, so they had to head to Grandpa’s yard to find gorgeous flowers (he gave them the okay to pick them).
Once the boys got back with their nature finds, I added them to the bag of gel.
I decided on a front side of the sensory bag and tried my best to lay the flowers flat facing that side.
I didn’t double bag it, but you could if you’re worried about holes or it leaking.
I taped the nature sensory bag to our front door that’s a full glass window to make it a suncatcher too! It looked so pretty with the light shining through.
Another project! Make a nature suncatcher.
Louis explored the flowers with his fingers. He tried to move them around a little, squishing it.
The older boys were playing outside when they saw Louis in the door with his sensory bag and decided they needed to play with it too!
Louis also thought it was time for him to go outside at the same time because he saw the older boys. So they literally swapped places and then Louis realized he wanted to be inside when he saw them playing with the sensory bag. Oh the fun of a toddler!
You can find a week of simple activities for a 2 year old here!
Henry thought he could spot pairs of flowers and match them together by moving them in the sensory bag. He didn’t have very good luck moving them though, the flowers kept breaking apart (but that leads me to an idea for a puzzle sensory bag sometime!).
My one big tip with sensory bags that I failed with this time is to make sure you get all the air out of the baggy. After putting the flowers in the bag full of gel, I forgot to squeeze it out until later. While Henry was trying to move the flowers around, some started falling to the bottom of the bag as the gel was beginning to settle. If I had sucked the air out it wouldn’t have happened, at least not as soon as it did.
Nature Sensory Bag Suncatcher on handsonaswegrow.com
Mother's Day Letter
A to Z Kids Stuff-Educational ideas and activities for young children http://ift.tt/1EB7iiQ
Write a letter and color the flowers for your mom.
Time-Saving Cleaning Secrets
Kids Activities Blog http://ift.tt/1ElaNIV 
Cleaning the house can be so tedious sometimes, but these time-saving cleaning tips should help.
The mess can take over our homes and our emotions, but cleaning the house with these little cleaning hacks will make it go by just a bit quicker (maybe even adding in a little fun!)
*This post contains affiliate and consultant links.*
Cleaning the house:
1. Start with a daily cleaning list and then take the next 25 days and organize the home.
2. You can eliminate pet hair by using a wet dishwashing glove. Just run it over your furniture and it will collect the hair.
3. Find a use for all of those socks that have lost their match!
4.This printable chore chart is organized by age-appropriate chores and will certainly help your kids.
5. Foaming shaving cream or even white wine can remove red wine spills from the carpet
6. Dust your lampshades with a lint roller. It will get rid of dust faster than anything.
7. If you want to hire someone to clean your house, but can’t afford it, a friend of mine had a great idea! Hire a teenager or friend to help you clean for four hours. Pay them and get everything done with two of you doing the job together.
8. Clean the bathroom while the kids are playing in the bath tub. Use a dish scrubber in the shower – keep it filled with a cleaning solution. You could even give one to the kids with vinegar in the shower.
9. My sister-in-law uses 3 drops of tea-tree oil to clean any rough-spots or scratches on her wood floors.
10 My Aunt swears by the trick of ditching your paper towels for newspaper when cleaning glass.
11. Use hairspray to take ink out of your clothing. Just keep dabbing at it.
12. An iron and a lunch bag can take crayon out of any fabric… who knew?
13. Use Vinegar as a kitchen cleaner- it can do more than you thought!
14. Clean your combs & brushes with a mixture of 1/2 c. distilled white vinegar, 20 drops of lavender oil and 1 1/2 cups of water. Soak them for 20 minutes. Rinse with water.
15. Get the smell of mildew out of your towels and washcloths with a cupful of vinegar in your wash.
Get the family involved:
16. Put a dab of hot glue over the opening of any bath toys before you use them. This will keep water (and mold) out of the toy.
17. Use an old Candy-Land board game to add spice to doing chores for the kids. The prize at the end is a night of fun for the whole family!
18. Even your 18 month old can be helping with chores like loading the dishwasher and cleaning up spills, among this list of other things.
19. Make chores fun! Put chores on little pieces of paper and put them into balloons for a fun way to divide chores between the kids- they get the chore that they popped.
20. At our house, we have a basket at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. If we have stuff to go down, we put it in the upstairs basket. If we have stuff to go up, it goes in the basket at the bottom of the stairs. It just keeps switching all day long and it is an easy system that even the kids understand.
21. Get gum off of items by using orange oil. Just apply a little bit with a cotton pad or cotton ball.
22. Magnetic strips for hair supplies, tweezers, nail files, etc. Get the strips on Amazon .
23. Clean the kids legos by putting them in a lingerie bag and throwing the bag in the washing machine.
24. To remove stubborn price tags from items like dishes and glassware, try using a cotton pad soaked with rubbing alcohol. The alcohol dissolves the sticky glue. If you don’t have that on hand, try peanut butter. Works every time.
Thank you for reading these tips… I hope that you have found these little hacks to be helpful!
The post Time-Saving Cleaning Secrets appeared first on Kids Activities Blog.
C is for Cotton Cloud Letter C Activity
Learning 4 Kids http://ift.tt/1Kq71QE 
C is for Cotton Cloud Letter C Activity is an activity that was inspired by the book Little Cloud by Eric Carle. It is a great story to introduce children to the letter c and motivate them into making their very own cotton cloud in the shape of the letter C.
Making the letter C cotton cloud is simple and fun activity that provides the opportunity to expose children to the C, identify what the letter C looks like and what sound it makes.
I have incorporated a free printable for this activity in both cursive and standard print. The dotted letters provides the opportunity for children to practise reading and writing as they trace over the dotted letters.
Keep an eye for more activities coming soon here on Learning 4 Kids that were inspired by the Little Cloud by Eric Carle.
What you will need?
You will need cotton balls, PVA craft glue, glue brush or pop stick, Little cloud by Eric Carle and our C is for Cotton Cloud printable.
Click here to download and print:
C is for Cotton Cloud Printable Cursive
C is for Cotton Cloud Printable Dotted Cursive
C is for Cotton Cloud Printable
Let’s Play
To complete the activity children use the glue brush to paint on the PVA craft glue into the space of the letter C. It is best to place the glue onto the paper and not apply the glue to cotton ball as the glue brush become covered in cotton wool. Children then fill the letter C space with cotton balls. Add extra glue to paper as needed to ensure all the cotton wool balls are glued down.
Some Ideas:
- After reading the book Little Cloud by Eric Carle, go back through the book and see how many letter ‘c’ you can find.
- On the printable, ask your child to circle all the letter C they find.
- Encourage good pencil grip and support your child’s hand if necessary when writing.
- When the letter C cloud is completed and dry, you may like to cut it out and glue it onto a blue paper for the sky.
- Talk about other words that begin with the letter C.
- Watch videos on YouTube that are about the letter C.
Let’s Learn
The dotted letters provides the opportunity for children to practise reading and writing as they trace over the dotted letters.
Learning Opportunities
- Letter recognition
- Fine Motor Development
- Hand-Eye Coordination and Control
- Concentration
- Phonemic awareness – hearing and understanding that words are made up of individual sounds and other word patterns.
- Problem Solving
Click here for more ALPHABET activities & play ideas
Click here for more A to Z activities & crafts
Other Letter C Activities on Learning 4 Kids: C is for Cool Car
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The post C is for Cotton Cloud Letter C Activity appeared first on Learning 4 Kids.
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