Showing posts with label family fun. Show all posts

A Simple "I Spy" Toy You Can Make


I found a clear mailing tube at the thrift store today and knew what I was going to do with it when I got home.  I'd been making those "I Spy" bags in the past for gifts but this is SO much easier.    Just add a filler, I happened to have the clear plastic poly beads from the craft store but rice will work, fill half way.  I used the little trinkets I have collected but you can use any toys that are too small for your little ones mouth; pennies, marbles, barbie shoes, etc.


Add a little bit more filler, leaving a couple of inches in the top.  Attach the second lid and make sure to super glue them on.  They stay on well by themselves but you do not want this thing coming open.


They love playing with this and the more stuff you can sneak in the better.  Look for beads shaped like sports balls, animals, even confetti with cool shapes or letters.  This is a great item to take on long trips or to the doctor to keep them entertained.  Help your little ones look for items you know are in there and be surprised by the ones you've forgot. 

I'm thinking for just over a dollar or so per kid, these would be great party favors as well!  Or even a teacher appreciation gift that can be appreciated by a whole classroom of kids too.

A Playroom for Pre-Schoolers

You many not know this but I am not only a mom of 3 boys, I also teach 3 & 4 year old children in this wonderful place called Creative Playtime.  It's not just a place for children to spend 4 hours a day, a few days a week playing with other kids.  It is an environment where kids explore their world with other kids their age and get to stretch their imagination while learning the fundamentals necessary for school.

I'm cleaning up the kids room and keeping in mind that I am a teacher after all.  Remember this mess from several days ago? I realized that their play environment at home should be no less stimulating and accessible as it is at school.  Wouldn't you agree?

I love this so it's staying.


My husband and I built this light box.  I got the idea from...you guessed it, Creative Playtime.  Their light box was expensive from a catalog and ours cost about $20 because we made it.  The light box has several different blocks that the kids can play with.  I'm leaving these out for a week and then I will replace them with one of these.  We have magnetic builders, gears, wooden blocks and more.

 

This toy below is one of my kids favorites.  It was a great deal at Christmas on Amazon for only $9.99 and I was so excited when it came in a really flat box for us to put together.   It was worth the effort.  It's made from wood and came with wooden cars and a helicopter.


The other toy that's hanging around for awhile is the rug below.  I will not have to take it out, only change the toys that they will play with on the floor.  This week, I'm limiting it to a few odd pieces to see where their imagination takes them.  Next week, I might put out the trains or maybe the hot wheels. 

 
 
An element that I personally believe should be in every classroom from Pre-K to Grade 12 is a comfortable spot to read a book and books to choose from.  I obsess a little over children's books but more importantly, I stress the importance of the "experience of books" in our house.


The boys also love their kitchen.  Jake likes to help me cook for real and this gives him a chance to mimic my amazing cooking skills.  I think however, I'm going to give them a dust rag for future playtime.  All the remodeling we've done in their room has left a slight white film...sorry you had to witness it.  I wouldn't wish this dust on anyone.



The general rule of thumb at Creative Playtime is that we change the children's play environment weekly.  We build on their experiences as well...think Montessori style teaching.  With all the toys the boys have, I am able to divide these items up and sort them into containers.  Then put the containers away.  Every week from now on, we will put away the "old" toys and pull out the "new".  it's a little like when you rotate toys from the attic, which I still do.  However, the amount of toys is ridiculous even when I am rotating them.  So now it is a matter of scaling WAY back.

No Housework Day Project #3 and it involves Angry Birds

Why are the Angry Birds so angry?



Evan will answer that question for us with his magnificent drawing of an Angry Bird.  The kid has never seen the game Angry Birds but must have gotten wind that there are some very angry birds out there.   In his under armor and undies he drew this picture to explain why the birds are so angry.


"Cause those angry birds have so many eyes."

I love my kids!
They are so funny.

It reminded me of...
"Momma says alligators are so ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush"   Bobby Boucher: Waterboy

Anyway, drawing pictures with the kids was the highlight of my day.
Boy do I have alot of housework to do tomorrow.

YAY! For No Housework Day


It's no housework day!  YAY for April 7th!
I was tickled to death last night when I put my grandfathers bed up in our "study".  I moved the desk and put it under the book shelves that are made from one of his old barns.  I cleaned it up and announced to the house, this is MY ROOM!  I also announced that if anyone wanted to sleep in my bed and watch Netflix on the computer they had to ask permission and be responsible for making the bed and cleaning up the room.  


I woke up to find that the bed had been slept in all night and they were thoroughly enjoying MY ROOM.


Now, since this room is spic and span and it seems to be the only room they care to help keep clean, the rest will have to wait and I'll just have to turn away visitors because of NO HOUSEWORK DAY!  I think we'll be pulling off some of those books we need to read again and spend a good part of the day playing and reading.  

What will you do instead of housework?

Spring Break Bliss at Home

Taste and See that the Lord is Good.  Psalms 34:8

I have this scripture on a plaque in my kitchen.  This morning, me and the little boys woke up to the smell of bacon.  My husband and oldest son had cooked breakfast together before they left for work and school.  My oldest had spring break two weeks ago and now the little boys and I are on spring break.  The smell was intoxicating, I'm thinking even a vegetarian would thing it smells wonderful.  My kids love turkey bacon and so my husband cooked this morning and when they left, we came drifting down the stairway like in those cartoons where their noses carry them to whatever smells so delicious.  After watching Dinosaur Train together...

He's got his Momma's eyes.

Jake decided that he wanted strawberry muffins shaped like dinosaurs.  Thanks to our new Nordic Ware muffin tin, that is possible.

It was a gift to my oldest son from James and I for Christmas, he loves to cook and LOVES muffins, while the other boys LOVE dinosaurs.  So more bacon and a few dinosaurs later we were enjoying a nice relaxed breakfast together.


Most importantly, the boys and I are going to spend this week relaxing and doing fun stuff around the house we never get to do.

Like cleaning their rooms from top to bottom and dreaming of new bedding so that their beds match since they are in the same room.

Or like putting away all the laundry I folded last week or put on hangers.

Or going outside to make Hiccup the Dog work on his fetching skills.

Or teaching the boys the proper way to ride the "shooter" (aka scooter).

Or maybe even we will clean up our breakfast mess from this morning (and dinner mess from last night) and start all over...I think we might be in need of some sort of homemade cookie today.


Looks fun right? 

Tomorrow is Wednesday and I had told Cooper he could pick two days to stay home from school this week since we were on Spring Break.  He picked Monday and Wednesday because he didn't have tests or would be preparing for tests those days.  Smart boy!  So, tomorrow he gets to stay home and I get to make up for the crappy day he had yesterday while I hulled up on the sun-room couch to finish my semesters work for school, yelling at them to keep it down cause I couldn't think and stressing that "outside" was much better than inside.

We plan on taking Psalms 34:8 seriously this week!  Yay us!

Thank you Dear Lord for weeks like these.

Praise the Lord for Spring

When I went away to college I turned a little OCD.  I was so proud to finally be on my own.  With the help of my Mom we furnished the apartment with her old furniture and let me tell you, I kept a spic and span place to live.  I would obsess about every detail.  The hangers in my closet were all the same and evenly spaced, the kitchen cabinets were neatly organized, the laundry was folded perfectly and put away perfectly.  I don't know what sparked in me to be that way but I'm here to tell you today, it was a battle I lost after getting married and having kids.


I spent my week cleaning house, not just cleaning but organizing and putting away everything in its proper place...can you tell?  It only takes my kids one good afternoon of playing inside to completely destroy their rooms.


And one evening alone home with Dad for a few hours to destroy what's left of the house.  As much I would like to say that I stay cool and calm when this happens, I have to confess that I do not.  As a matter of fact when I tried to make a point to say, I cleaned all week and now look what you have done, even my husband becomes defensive as if I am blaming him.  Actually, I shouldn't blame him or even the kids, they're ALL just kids after all.  I blame the weather, because as soon as it is pretty enough for them to go outside, that's where I find them.




I love it when they are outside and I love how their imaginations soar.  Evan came pushing his wheelbarrow full of sand and said, "Me and Jake are going to New York City."  I don't know what they were going to do in New York City but it definitely involved sand.  James and I worked on cleaning up our yard and then when I came inside they only thing that I could tell that didn't need straightening were my books and that is okay with me. 


Awe!   I love spring.


Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 ESV

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ...

Flour Power!


I was reading a post by MiniEco today and realized I'd never posted about playing with flour.  It's less messy than you think, safe and SUPER fun!  Our favorite activity is to put flour in my large cake pan and go driving in the "snow".


It's easy to clean up and can be used over and over again.  They never get tired of this stuff.  Visit Mini-Eco soon, she is doing boredom busters and the current theme is flour.  If you have an idea, submit it for the list she is compiling.   Be sure to tell you Aimee from HomeSpun-Threads sent you. 


Now, be brave and have fun!

Toddler Time: Let's Get Wet and Learn!

  1. Start early. By the time your child is 12 months old, he or she will begin to recognize amounts. Count with your child whenever you have a number of objects to count. Write numbers with crayon and paper and count them. Count splashes in the tub. Count food, toys, socks ... anything.

  2. Sort and classify objects. Again, you can use any object your child is interacting with while pointing out differences and similarities. Say things like, "I see two blue blocks and one red block. You have three carrot sticks and four crackers."

  3. Match objects and create patterns. Most toddler toys will be primary colors and shapes. Match similar objects while talking out loud about what makes them match. Create color and shape patterns, like red, blue, blue, red. Encourage your child to continue the pattern by saying, "What comes next?" Even make patterns of sound with instruments or clapping.



  4. Play with water and sand. Pouring, dumping and transferring sand and water from different containers and using different utensils teaches valuable concepts of weight and volume. Encourage your toddler to count the scoops it takes to fill a container. Talk about how a container feels when it is full and empty. Compare sizes while talking about big and little.

Are your kids this funny???



This is the before, when they were both being cutie pies!




This is the during...




And this is the Kiss and Make-up afterward.

These kids crack me up!

YES! Halloween was a success!

Lots of candy = SUCCESS (if you are the trick or treater)
Super cute costumes = SUCCESS ( if you are the mom)
The kids get lots of candy = SUCCESS (if you are the dad)




 I stayed up late making Coopers costume, his vest, sash, "boots", hat and then Evan decided he didn't want to be a super hero but a pirate too!  So, I took a thrift store Kathy Lee dress and made a "coat" with a gold belt, added a hat and holster for his gun and his pirate sword, so Jake was our puppy dog!  The one that follows the pirates around that they pirates tend to ignore and his name was "LOST".


After a few rounds to family members, we hit our yearly Trunk or Treat spot!
Then to Chick-Fil-A and to Wal-Mart for groceries, where Evan fell asleep in the shopping cart with the groceries.
What a fun time!!!
Now to prepare for one of my favorite Holidays!

Teach Your Child to Ride a Bike

A while back I saw one of these and the price tag and bawked!
Are you kidding me!  Was my reaction...
Just the other day, my expert bike rider son
Was outside riding around and my middle child wanted to ride too, only my husband thought it was time for for the middle child who  is three to learn to ride.  So, I thought I'd show you what we do...please don't spend a ton of money on a peddle-less bike.
remove peddles and training wheels and encourage your child to sit and push the bike with his feet.  After your little one is comfortable doing this, they'll start to go a little faster and the result is always the same...coasting!
Eventually, your little one on his little bike will love coasting and after he has mastered that skill, it is time to add the peddles back on...You don't get happy bike riders like mine in a day but this is easy and as long as you kind find a bike small enough, you can probably teach the youngest to ride with ease.
 
Poor Jake, does not have a bike his size yet but it will not be long!  The next step after the peddles are on, to help your child learn to start coasting like before and then gently putting his feet on the peddles and push...it works!
P.S. I love that I can see my mom and dad's house and my brothers and my cousins from my front yard...how many people in the US, can say that?  Probably not many!  I love it!
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