Ever since asking hands on : as we grow readers what supplies you have on hand most of the time, I got a lot of requests to share with you what kids craft supplies I recommend for those of you starting out doing activities with your kids. I have a lot of odds and ends in my craft supplies, from brands sending me random stuff to try, to me getting supplies here and there to try it ...
Painting With Water is Easy for Toddlers
Painting with water is a blast! You'll love watching the amazement in your toddler's eyes when they are painting with water! Painting with water is such a simple art activity for toddlers. And a great place to start doing activities with a toddler. George has a little thing for water (doesn't every toddler?), so I knew he'd get a kick out of this activity. George and I have a ...
Canned Food Blocks for Toddlers
The simplest of blocks for toddlers. After having canned foods out from the older boys' connect the colors activity, Louis woke from his nap to find a pile of canned foods on the floor. He looked at them like they were a new toy to play with! They ended up being a great alternative to blocks. Great for beginner stacking! Louis got right into stacking them up. And knocking ...
Beginner Connect the Dots for Preschoolers
George isn't ready for a real connect the dots activity with counting numbers and so on. So I made up a very simple connect the dots for preschoolers like George that's great for those not quite reading their numbers yet. Its simple. Its just dots! He can connect them however he pleases. I used random colors just because. And he connected them all over the ...
Giant Connect the Colors of Paper Activity
This is a simple activity to connect the colors of paper with yarn in the same color. Its a more laid back activity, without getting the kids too wild, but still get kids up and moving. Which is great for when you have sick, but not really sick, kids around. I set up this giant activity to learn colors on our rug, but it can be done in any area that you have space. I chose a few ...
5 Beginner Photography Tips for Moms Plus FREE Class from Craftsy
I am not a photographer. I need to lead with that! But I do know the basics of photography and am sharing some of my most basic beginner photography tips, especially geared for moms. Since having kids though, I realized the importance of having a camera handy and knowing how to use it. I was so excited to be introduced to our sponsor, Craftsy free Professional Family Portraits ...
5 Things I Want For My Kids’ Rooms
Every once in awhile, I get a little time to myself. And if I'm caught up here writing about kids activities, I start browsing Pinterest! I'm always drawn to kids' rooms designs. They're so pretty! And sometimes extremely out of my league, meaning that some seem so unrealistic for our home, almost too pretty and unlivable for our taste. Which is why I'm so excited to be ...
15 Recycling Activities for Kids That Are Completely FREE
I often share activities that could be considered as recycling activities for kids to do, using recyclables once more before they're really recycled. However, often times, they require something that you still have to get or have on hand that's not recycled. Such as markers, paint, and other craft items that you may not have on hand. I am partnering with Clorox Greenworks to bring ...
5 Reasons Why You SHOULD Let Your Kids Watch TV
https://handsonaswegrow.com/what-i-wish-moms-would-say/I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for having that title. But I like the combination of technology and kids. I refuse to feel guilty for letting my kids watch TV, or TV programs on other screens, such as our sponsor Kidoodle.TV. I'm not sure how many times I've heard or read in the last 6 years of being a parent that my ...
Fort Magic is the Ultimate Way for Kids to Build a Fort
Fort Magic is one of our favorite ways to build a fort, check out all the ways we've built forts here. (By the way, this post contains affiliate links to support Hands On As We Grow.) Nothing has compared to the Fort Magic kit we recently received from our sponsor. I am so excited to share this ultimate fort building toy with you! What kid doesn't absolutely love to build forts? ...
Edible Indoor Sandbox That’s Simple & Fast to Make!
I set up a very simple indoor sandbox that's completely edible for Louis to play with. This really should have been one of the ideas to turn outdoor activities into indoor ones! Of course, if you mention sandbox, the other boys are right by his side in seconds. They've missed their sandbox this winter! So it was definitely time for an indoor sandbox! An indoor sandbox ...
What Supplies Are NOT in your House?
I am on a mission to help you find activities that you can do. Or maybe, its just making it easy on myself because I like having supplies handy. Either way, I'm trying to make it easy for parents to do activities with their kids. I want to make sure that the activities I share are activities that we can do with our kids at any moment. What does that mean? It means ...
Simple Edible Sensory Play with Frozen Veggies
Unfortunately, I have picky eaters. And I'm not the best parent when it comes to introducing them to new, healthy foods, because, well, I'm a picky eater myself. But, I figured a great way to introduce new foods, or foods that my kids would normally pass over, could be through some simple edible sensory play! I found a quick one to do with a bag of frozen veggies from our ...
A Circle of Objects for Baby to Play & Learn
Keeping track of our kids' developmental progress has never been easier! Poor Louis, he often gets forgotten. I rarely track anything with him. And just finally, he's becoming a part of the activities we do. Its fun to do some special older baby activities just for him too though. I've recently been introduced to our sponsor's incredible new app, called Kinedu, that let's you ...
Last-Minute Personalized Valentine Cards
This post brought to you by Treat.com. All opinions are 100% mine. Sometimes we just enjoy crafting and doing activities for Valentine's Day that I often forget about sending out any cards! That goes for birthdays... Christmas... and pretty much anything else too. They just get forgotten. I found a gem to help me out when I'm in these tight spots! I just had the best time making ...
Watercolor Hearts Made from ‘Newsprint’
At the beginning of the year, we get all these new phone books. The phone books hardly get used to begin with, and then we have the all the old phone books as well. So it was time to do something fun with them before just throwing them in the recycle bin. (Gotta love upcyling, right?) Painting the pages seemed like a good idea! The boys loved this! If you don't have any phone ...
Quick Make & Play Edible Sensory Bottle
A sensory bottle can be almost anything. There are so many variations of them, we've done a soapy sensory bottle that was all about watching it, much like a calm down jars that you've seen around Pinterest, I'm sure. But they can also be I Spy sensory bottles that add in learning and fun. Or it can be about the sound like we made this sensory bottle into this time! I am ...
Pom Pom Learning Games on the Stairs
We played a little learning game on the stairs, using some pom poms. These pom pom learning games can be adapted to whatever it is your kids are learning right now. George did numbers and his name, but we could have done letters, or shapes, or even sight words for Henry! I set up the game with paper plates taped to the steps and wrote numbers on it. I should have just counted by ...
Sticking with our One-On-One Time with Every Kid, Every Day
So... January's about passed. How are your New Year's Resolutions going? Its been a tough month for us. I'm not making excuses, we're just having a hard time getting back into a routine since winter break. If you recall, my New Year's Resolution is to spend one on one time with each of my kids, every day. To make each of them feel special. My goal is 10 minutes a day with ...
Sticky Heart Collage Window Decoration
I mentioned the other day when the boys cut out all those hearts for the Heart Garlands they made for the window, we used the 'scraps' or the outside pieces of the hearts to make something else. They thought this heart collage on the window was just fantastic to make. And I can't complain myself, I absolutely love it. Especially the way they worked together to make it! It was so ...
Comparing Shapes with Snowballs
I set up a shape activity for comparing shapes, more specifically, the size of the shapes. And since its winter, I had to make a snowball activity! In big math talk, we're talking (very loosely) about the area of shapes. With my trusty painter's tape, I taped out four different shapes on the floor. A square, triangle, diamond and a rectangle. I wasn't about to take the time to ...
Turn These 15 Outdoor Activities into 15 Fun Indoor Activities for Kids
We're all set to have some fun this winter with these fun indoor activities for kids inspired by 15 activities that were actually done outdoors. So often I see all activities, such as sidewalk chalk activities, outside that you could do inside as well, but we often overlook it because we just think sidewalk chalk... okay, we'll leave that idea for summertime when we can play ...
One on One Time #EveryKidEveryDay
January is the time for New Year's resolutions. What's yours? This year I am making it a goal of mine to spend focused time with each of my kids. At least 10 minutes a day, every day, with every kid. Not too tough, right? It shouldn't be. Just gotta turn off all the tech and don't run to do the dishes whenever I get a chance. Its kid time. And kid time only. Much like the 30 Day ...
Best Kids Activity of 2013! Plus the Top 10!
Welcome to 2014! What kids activities will 2014 bring? Today, I'm sharing the best kids activity of 2013 from hands on : as we grow, along with the top 10 posts shared during 2013. A bunch (50+) of kid-related bloggers have joined together to showcase their best work of 2013. Which means the best kids activities, whether they’re crafts, art projects, learning activities, baby ideas ...
Completely Upcycled Homemade Wrapping Paper for Teacher’s Gift
I was gathering supplies to give to Henry's teachers for Christmas. They have asked parents for gifts for their classrooms instead of gifts for them personally. So, I emptied out my craft cupboard and have (probably) fully stocked them up! And then I realized I had absolutely no wrapping paper in the house left. Shucks. Christmas wrapping has taken it all. In lieu of store-bought ...
Peanut Butter Cup Christmas Candies: Easy Holiday Baking with the Kids
One of our holiday traditions, every year, is to bake Christmas candies with my mom and sister-in-law. The boys usually don't participate too much, they just play and have a good time, while us adults have a great time too! This year, I included it as part of our Christmas countdown activity chain, so it would be something that just the boys and I would do together. (We're still ...
Craft Stick Christmas Tree Ornaments
I've had colored craft sticks in my craft cupboard for ages and never really had any ideas for them. Then it hit me that we could make adorable craft stick Christmas tree ornaments! I spotted ideas for these awhile back when I collected the 30 homemade Christmas ornaments ideas, and found one from Mom Spotted. And I had the perfect star for the Christmas tree! I'm partnering ...
Decorate a Christmas Tree with Ella’s Kitchen Baby Food Pouch Caps
The boys decorated a simple Christmas tree craft by painting with, our sponsor, Ella's Kitchen baby food pouch caps. I am incredibly excited to be partnering with Ella's Kitchen this month to give you some fun holiday crafts, that are easy to make, fun to give to family, and great for creating memories with your kids. Good in every sense, right? In fact, that's what Ella's Kitchen ...
Crack the Secret Code for Kids
Creating a secret code for kids to decipher, or crack the code, is great for reading, great for writing, and even great for problem solving! This simple secret code is great for kindergartners practicing their sight words. Alissa of Creative with Kids shared on Google+ a photo of her son deciphering a secret code using a very cool decipher tool that you can print off and put ...
Chore List with Dominoes & Numbers
This activity puts a spin on a boring chore list and makes it fun and even sneaks in learning! As a kid, I remember doing chores... and loving them! My mom always made them fun to do. She'd make list of the chores to be done and number them. We'd call a number and that's the chore we'd do next. My mom tells me now that she snuck in fun things too, like watch one cartoon, but I ...
Meet GoldieBlox! Blocks Just for Girls!
I have three boys that just love to build with blocks. The creations they make is incredible to me, their imaginations soar when they're building. And then they play with it for hours afterwards (or until their little brother may knock it down). Blocks are so open-ended that we've done many activities with them, they're incredible for learning opportunities! When I was a little ...
Kindergarten Math Activity to Solve Simple Addition Problems
This is not just a Kindergarten math activity that works on solving simple addition problems, but can also be a great number matching game for preschoolers! Henry surprised me the other day and brought home a coloring page with math addition problems on it. I had no idea they learned addition in Kindergarten! He then went on to tell me answers to 1 plus 1 through 9. I could tell ...
Sort Colors & Get Moving With a Play Tunnel
This is a silly way to get the kids to learn about and sort colors. I absolutely needed to get the kids moving, or at least I thought I did. I have not been making the best of all their energy lately, and it's starting to wear on me. So we included our play tunnel (affiliate link) in an activity, just for the sole fact to get them moving. Which may or may not have been a great ...
Ring Toss Name Recognition Activity
George just recently started learning his name to be more than the letter 'G', so we're working on name recognition lately, and made a ring toss to get him moving and learning it! It was just Louis' first birthday, so we have paper cups and plates still sitting out. I simply wrote the letters of George's name on the bottoms of the cups. I made a paper plate a ring by cutting ...
Super Simple Color Collage
This is a super simple color collage for learning colors. It's a great introduction for colors because its great for kids that are just beginning to recognize that there are different colors and this is all about matching the colors and not putting labels on it. George, however, already knows most of his colors, so its more of a confidence builder activity for him. Lately, ...
Finger Painting with Baby Food While Creating Memories
You can paint with babies! Painting with baby food is a great way to introduce painting to babies! When George was little, we did a little sensory play with baby food, and he also made tape resist letters with edible finger paint that I made. All very special memories I have of him as a baby... It's the season that I start to think about this kind of stuff, ...
Giant Spider Web Maze for Kids
Of course, a large spider web maze for the kids was in store... we just had to! You know how much I love mazes... and spider webs seems to be the theme in our house this Halloween. Plus, I found a super easy way for clean up with Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (who's sponsoring this conversation), so the kids can use markers to go through their mazes now. (Ahem, the kids absolutely ...
Tracing Numbers on Tape
A quick setup for toddlers for tracing numbers that works on recognizing numbers and also is great practice writing for older preschoolers and even kindergartners. I taped numbers on the floor with painters tape. We're huge on using tape in our house. I use it for a lot of activities with the kids. Everyone asks, is it going to ruin my floors? The answer is, I don't know. Try it ...
No Carve Pumpkin Decorating: Mr. Pumpkin Man
I'm always on the lookout for no carve pumpkin decorating ideas. I got a pretty good start with our 40 pumpkin activities for kids, but its so fun to come up with new ideas still! Why not a pumpkin snowman, or a pumpkin man? And I've loved Mom Buns and Mayhem Mr. Potato Head as a no carve pumpkin decorating idea that I've seen floating around, so we merged the two and made a Mr. ...
Yarn Monsters: A Halloween Craft for Kids
Yarn Monsters! Just in time for the spooky Halloween season. There's not much to these monsters, but I think they turned out kind of cute. Henry and I used the same technique we did for our Yarn Circle Garland. Henry did very well cutting the yarn this time. I handed him a pair of my scissors (boy, was this a special occasion to him!), and he had no problems at all ...
Sticker Name Recognition Activity & Personalized Books for Kids
George is just beginning to learn the letters of his name, and recognizing it (besides just a 'G'). I have got to share with you these books that my boys received from our sponsor, I See Me!, that are helping a ton! George got The Very Important Preschooler (affiliate link), even though he's not technically in preschool yet, he goes to daycare two morning a week, and to him, ...
Googly Eyes Crafts & Activities for Halloween
There's something fun and spooky about googly eyes that kids just love to use for Halloween activities! Here's 12 Halloween activities using googly eyes! Googly eyes make great monster crafts, and I have a few of them to share too, but they're great to add a little spooky element to just about anything, even playdough! Learn how to make homemade play dough here! What's your ...
Spider Web Sight Word Match
Inspired loosely by our giant sticky spider web made of tape, I made a spider web on the wall to have a little sight word match! Henry's been diving into sight words in Kindergarten, and doing really well with them. To be honest, we haven't done much sight word practice, other than reviewing the list every once in a while when we go through his backpack after school. So it was ...
A Halloween Beaded Spider Craft for Kids
We've been all about spider webs lately (shh, there's another one coming next week too!), so we just had to make a fun spider craft for kids to make for Halloween too! The boys were begging me to do an activity once we opened our Pom Tree Kids package from our sponsor! (You have a chance to win one below too!) Most of the packages are for 3+ or 5+, so they're perfect for both ...
I’m Playing Hookie.
Okay, not really hookie. I feel like crap and I can't muster up the energy to write my post for the Move & Learn series. So I'm just writing quickly to share what my co-hosts are doing this week and I'll see you again next week! Light Saber Sight Word Practice at Coffee Cups & Crayons Sight Word Rescue Game at The Pleasantest Thing Addition Crawling Game at ...
A Window Fall Tree Craft for Toddlers
Of course, after George did the apple tree craft, he wants to do another one. He goes in these streaks a lot. Often its with water activities... but he does it with painting a lot too. This time its apple trees. I usually try to switch it up a little so we don't get bored, and hopefully to get him interested in another aspect or technique. But repetition is great for young ...
Monster Chocolate Sandwich Cookies! Nam Nam Nam
The boys and I made some monster sandwich cookies for a bake sale! A little fun in the kitchen! Today, we're going to have a little fun here. I'm hosting a virtual bake sale with a team of 5 other bloggers competing (friendly!) against five other teams of bloggers with our sponsor, McCormick. Don't worry, nothing's actually for sale and it's not going to cost you a thing. In fact, ...
Explore Textures on an Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
We went on a scavenger hunt as a backyard exploration. We've done outdoor scavenger hunts quite a bit. This time we made it a learning experienc as well as a way to explore our backyard in a different way. This time we set out in our backyard to explore textures. We've done color scavenger hunts in the past, so I wanted to try out a new way to explore our backyard and really get ...
Fall Leaf Collage made with Bubble Wrap Art
I feel like a successful hands on mom when my preschooler runs to me with bubble wrap in his hand and says, "We have to save this and paint with it later!" That's how this fall leaf collage came about. We made bubble wrap art prints first in beautiful fall colors. Henry started with dumping red, yellow and orange paint onto a sheet pan. Then pressing his saved bubble wrap into ...
Beginning Letter Sounds Sort Game
I normally just wing it when it comes to doing learning activities with Henry. Just basing it off what I know he already knows and what I think should come next. Henry has most of the beginning letter sounds down, so I rarely touch on it at home. We have here and there, but not a lot. Since starting Kindergarten, we now get a list of weekly 'tasks' to do at home (all very hands on ...
Toddler Chalkboard Maze for Learning Letters
George is getting the hang of some, if not most of his letters. But, learning letters seems to come and go with him. Instead of badgering him to learn more, more, more. I'm in a phase of building his confidence about what he already knows. I set up a chalkboard maze for him to work on recognizing letters, but also to work on fine motor skills with a little bit of writing ...
Super Power Rings Scavenger Hunt for Kids
After getting the opportunity to have a sneak preview of the new Disney Super Buddies, we were inspired to go on a scavenger hunt for our very own super power rings. Get ready for an epic tail! Just a little background on the movie first. From the creators of Disney Buddies, Disney Super Buddies (you can buy it on Blu-ray Combo Pack August 27th), is a tail (hehe, tale...) ...
The Kids Went Dumpster Diving… in a Cardboard Box!
We have had a bunch of very large cardboard boxes around from a bathroom remodel. My husband wanted to recycle them right away... but nope, I had to sneak in an activity or two with them first before I could see them go. My mom gave me this truly awesome idea for a big cardboard box. Go dumpster diving! I brought the big box in the house and filled it with trash. Maybe ...
Playful Learning Ecademy: What Is It All About?
Over the course of the next few months, I am partnering with the Playful Learning Ecademy to share with you about what we come away with for each of the eLessons, and how it works for our family, because we all have different things going on in our family life! What is the Playful Learning Ecademy? Its an entire 'school' of courses that are helpful in making your life with your ...
Self Portraits for the Kids First Day of School Outfit
To get Henry excited to head back to school, we went on a shopping trip for a new outfit for his first day back, and (taking Susan's tips for prepping for preschool, it still applies for kindergarten) let him pick out his own backpack! Getting Henry excited to do any shopping really isn't hard. He loves it. It's a treat whenever we go. Usually its an all day event since we live ...
Kid Made Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag
It was for Grandpa's birthday, my mom mentioned there was cake for dessert, so we made homemade ice cream in a bag to go with it! Ever since The Pleasantest Thing shared her homemade ice cream pops here and I saw Coffee Cups and Crayon's homemade ice cream in a bag recipe, I've been dying to make ice cream with the kids. Did you know International Delight now has ice cream ...
Squiggle! Tracing Lines on the Driveway
On a spur of a moment activity (why not? They're the best and easiest), I drew a few random, swirly lines with chalk on our driveway. George had such a fun time tracing letters and shapes on our indoor chalkboard, when I wrote that post I realized it would be so much fun to do the same outside on the driveway! So that's what we did. Though we didn't do it as learning or ...
Making Fitness for Kids FUN!
Getting moving indoors is kind of tough sometimes. Lately, its been so hot outside that we can't really spend too much time out there. And then even when we are out there, the last thing any of us want to do it any amount of work (or running... or anything that will break us out in a sweat). I recently put together a list of 12 gross motor activities to do inside when it's too hot ...
Tracing Letters & Shapes on the Chalkboard
I never did do much for tracing letters with Henry. George is all about writing and drawing though, so this was right up his alley. We have a large chalkboard to use, but we could (and probably should!) do this outside on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk and water too. George constantly asks for water activities (is this line in every post that I do? It seems like it is ...
Turn Leftover Kids Art into Streamers
There are so many times I have the kids' art just lying on my dining room table. And not only that, we often use butcher or art paper to protect the table when we're doing our creating... and it often gets covered with paint too! Or the kids decide to create on that as well. What do you do with all the kids art? Back this spring, we created some spring flowers for Mother's Day. ...
6 Tips for Reading Chapter Books to (Very) Young Kids
Reading chapter books to the kids is just beginning in our house. I've quickly learned a few tips to make it work with both Henry and George though. Since George is not quite 3, and doesn't quite have the ability to listen attentively yet, I found a great solution that works for him. Along the way, I've found a couple other tips that have helped us proceed along and understand the ...
Drawing on the Floor Kids Art! Super Simple Art Project
I like simple ways to create art. And I love it when my kids like it too. This art project was started by receiving an art project in the mail from the Kids Art Exchange. It was a Starry Night drawing. As the kids opened it, I heard my husband tell Henry to ask me to look up Starry Night on the computer so he could see what it was. I did and showed it to Henry. One ...
Weaving with Kids: Fun & Simple Kids Activity!
Weaving with the kids has always been on my wish list. But I never really pushed it with the boys, because I kind of thought of it as a girl thing. I know, I shouldn't be stereotypical like that. I have tried it in the past. When we did our ribbons in a bottle activity, it started with the kids weaving ribbons in a basket like I've seen on Adventures at Home. But it didn't ...
Classic Summer Craft: Coffee Filter Butterflies
When I thought about all the crafts I've done with the kids, I realized we haven't done many classic crafts for kids! This butterfly craft is definitely a classic craft that you probably remember doing yourself when you were a child. The kids loved the process of prepping the butterflies. Dying the coffee filters especially! But putting the butterflies together... that part ...
Shape Activity: Sorting Blocks as a Graph
We've sorted blocks as a shape activity in the past. But it was pretty 'informal'. Not that this is really that structured of an activity, this one just has a place to put each shape of the blocks! To create the 'graph' to sort shapes on, I taped a large piece of paper to my floor with painter's tape. I used our butcher/art paper (affiliate link) I drew on the shapes of the ...
Lowercase Letters String Scavenger Hunt for Kids
A string scavenger hunt was a blast when Henry did one a couple years ago to help him learn his name. It was time to do another one! This time I condensed it down to a smaller area and make it about learning lowercase letters, a review for Henry this summer, and kind of a way for me to gauge what George knew for lowercase letters. Plus, its just plain fun! Who wouldn't love ...
Family Activities to Do This Summer
We recently received the ZUMU 3-in-1 Bike Trailer/Stroller/Jogger to try out with the kids. It got my thinking about some great things we could do as a family together this summer. I've already made an adventure list to do throughout the summer, but that's more for just me the boys, and maybe not Louis for some of them. So I wanted to make a list of activities we can do with the ...
It’s Okay to NOT do Hands on Activities with the Kids. Really. It is.
I've had something nagging at me lately. I know I push being hands on with the kids all the time. That is what the blog is all about... all the hands on activities, crafts and art projects that we do, right? But its okay to not be too. I just read this article, from Almeda Patch, about not helping your children, so they can learn it themselves. She talks about the ...
Fun Process Art for the Kids: Make Rain Art!
I've been wanting to try rain art for awhile. But it seems whenever it rains, we just hide indoors. Why?! Being outside when its sprinkling it so much fun! The boys just love it! Its been raining pretty much non-stop the last few weeks (a horrible planting season for farmers in Iowa this year). I finally took advantage of all the rain drops and the boys and I got to see the ...
A Beginning Letter Sounds Hunt for Toys to Wash
To delve further into prepping to read this summer, we're moving onto reviewing and learning beginning letter sounds. Henry has learned his letter sounds this past year, so this is a great review for him. George is not to this point on his reading journey, so this is entirely new for him and more just as an introduction to have him be around it and not really involved ...
Making Time for Myself
I rarely make time for myself. I take that back, I rarely make time for myself to just relax. I do have time to myself, my husband works nights, so after the kids go to bed, its me time. And I thoroughly enjoy it. I spend it writing posts for here, which I thoroughly enjoy. But blogging is also a job for me. It may be my dream job, but its still a job and is a lot of work to keep ...
Listening Activity with Blocks
A listening activity was much needed... I hate to admit how bad my kids have been at listening lately. They totally either tune me out completely or just plain ignoring me unless I'm yelling at them. And I hate that. Completely hate it. I figured it was time we actually work on their listening skills with a simple activity. I intentionally chose to do an activity that they know. ...
Pre-Reading Books Perfect for Quiet Reading
I've been sharing pre-reading activities to learn the alphabet as part of a series this summer to keep and get the boys ready for reading. How about some books to do during our quiet reading? We've finally found the perfect time and place for quiet reading. It's so peaceful. We head outside. After supper, in the evenings, I tell the boys to grab three books that they'd like to ...
Confetti Sprinkled Candy Bar Wrappers Craft for Father’s Day
These are super easy DIY candy bar wrappers that are a great Father's Day craft for kids to make if their dad is a chocolate lover like ours is! Both grandpas and dad here absolutely love dark chocolate, so that's usually their Father's Day gift. This year, we spiced it up a bit with an easy little wrapper that says "I love you" and "Dad." George and Henry both did these ...
Sign up to start the Kids Art Exchange!
I am so excited to have found a way that I can do this Kids Art Exchange! It has been an idea burning in my head for the year at least and a light bulb recently went off on how to do this! Your kids will love doing this and I hope that you will participate. I think it will be a fun way to connect with each other! Remember back in our own school days? Chain letters were ...
Water Experiment: Find Out What Absorbs Water!
We've done a water experiment that focuses on what dissolves in the past... but I never thought to focus on what absorbs until I saw a post from Amanda of Not Just Cute in the Camp Mom: Summer Activities Pack. I think the materials that Amanda uses are probably better materials to explain the concept of 'what absorbs'. But we decided to use materials from nature instead. I sent ...
Learning Upper and Lowercase Letters on the Sidewalk
This week continuing on our journey to reading this summer, we went outside to review (& learn) upper and lowercase letters! A Mom with a Lesson Plan (check out her new look, oolala!), is sharing easy ways to read 20 minutes a day today, so be sure to pop over and get those tips! No Time for Flash Cards recently posted about 4 ways to learn letters on your sidewalk. I took ...
Must Have Ride On Toys for Summer!
We recently received a powered ride on toy from Monster TRAX, the Dirt Racer 22. Something I swore my kids would never have... until my kids rode one of their cousin's and spent the entire afternoon riding around their back yard. Monster TRAX offered me the Dirt Racer for the kids and I hesitantly accepted, because I knew deep down my kids would absolutely love it... and I'd be the ...
Recognizing & Building with Letter Blocks
With this letter block activity, I built on George's current knowledge of letters and stuck them into something he always loves! Blocks! Last week for the Summer Reading Series with A Mom with a Lesson Plan (she's sharing a book report template today!), I shared the beginning stage of introducing letters with a fun and magical painting! This week, we are progressing to the ...
Learning Activity with Dominoes
I found another quiet activity for Henry to do at nap time! It's a simple learning activity with Dominoes and it makes me so excited because Henry is actually excited for nap time each day and has been asking to do this over and over! We've played with Dominoes before... but more as a toddler version that was used as a busy play activity. Which would work perfectly for a quiet ...
Now its a Soothing Boy Room
Thank goodness Sherwin-Williams sponsored and helped get this bedroom redone! I showed you my Whoops! room... remember? A little bright, if I recall. Thankfully, that photo is all I have left to see of it. It's now calm and much more soothing and perfect for Louis to grow up in. I ended up choosing the subdued colors in green and brown and looks very clean with lots of white, ...
10 Tips for Cleaning Up the Mess After Fun Activities
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Huggies®. It never fails that when doing activities with the kids... there's bound to be a mess. You can prep for it... if you think about it that is. And from what I shared yesterday about no setup activities... I rarely like to prep... so, I usually need a way to clean up after the fact. I always try to include the kids in ...
Basic Water Activity: Added Measuring Tools
I challenged my newsletter subscribers to doing a water activity last week. Yesterday, I shared the blowing water bubbles that was a huge hit, and so simple to set up (um, just a cup of water and a straw)... today is another basic water activity that we did. I set out two large bowls of water (not very full at all) with measuring cups, teaspoons (and the like) as well as a ...
Blowing Bubbles Water Activity
Blowing bubbles is always fun, as is a water activity.... one of those days that I just needed something for George to do in the morning and again all he asks for is a water activity. I'm starting to run out of ideas! Every now and then, I let the kids break the rules. They feel like they get away with something, even though I've told them to do it. And its always fun to break the ...
Summer Reading with Quiet Reading too!
Today is the start of something big, and something really important for our kids... but, its also something I don't normally share about here. Reading. We've always been big into reading here... but its never been on the forefront of my mind of sharing what we're reading with you guys, mostly because we like to read the same books over and over again, and honestly, we don't get to ...
Learning Letters Lineup. Squirt!
George has been learning his letters and its amazing me how easily he's catching on. I don't think he's quite there to know all the letter just by seeing them. So I set up a learning activity that had him looking at a letter and then spotting it in the lineup. I wrote a few random letters on our chalkboard. Using our Melissa & Doug ABC Block Cart (affiliate link), I grabbed ...
15 Quick Sensory Activities from Hands on Moms
A quick list of 15 sensory activities for kids to do from other hands on moms! I'm feeling the need to share what some of my hands on moms have been submitting here lately! I'm in awe of the stuff these ladies do! Check them out and be inspired by their sensory ideas to do your own! And browse the sensory archives (all from hands on moms) for even more! 15 sensory activities for ...
Redoing the Boys’ Whoops! Bedroom
Thank you Sherwin-Williams for sponsoring and for making me redo my Whoops! Room, it was the push I needed to get rid of the much too bright colors! Whoops! I'll call this bedroom my Whoops! room. When we moved into the house, Henry was about 18 months old, and I wanted a fun, bright room for him. And, that's what I gave him. A very, very bright room! The green was a little ...
Gross Motor Activity: Can You Move Like Baby Does?
Have you ever watched the movement of a baby? Its a gross motor activity itself! Watch the poses that they do! They sure don't move much, but what they can do is quite impressive and I could never do it myself anymore. With a baby in the house, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with Huggies as a Huggies® Tester (you can be a Huggies® Tester too and get coupons ...
Mother’s Day Craft for Kids to Make: Tissue Paper Flowers
Henry and I had a little fun making some tissue paper flowers! We made two different types of tissue paper flowers for my mom's Mother's Day craft that kids can make! Tissue Paper Flowers on Contact Paper: Henry got to work cutting up different colors of tissue paper (sneaking in some scissors practice). I had tissue paper with dots and stars on it, too. Those were his ...
Birch Tree Art & Help Reforest for Arbor Day
Since it's too cold still in Iowa to plant a tree for Arbor Day, we're making tree art by painting a tree! Also for Arbor Day, Murphy's Oil Soap is sponsoring this post. This tree art is so simple to do! Tape resist is the secret! I found these beautiful Birch tree paintings on Art Projects for Kids and decided we'd have to make them too! We added some embellishments too! I ...
Yarn Craft for Kids: A Circle Garland!
I'm not really sure what to call this yarn craft, because the craft got adjusted many times during the process. Remember last week when I had two failed crafts before having a success with the vehicle tracks painting? Well, this is one of the failures. It turned out to not be a failure after all. Henry attempted to cut some yarn (again), but yarn is not a great material to learn ...
Simple to Make Photo Memories for Birthdays
I finally found a way to scrapbook easily... by making photo memories every birthday! Henry turned 5 this week and we had a super fun, but very low-key (still a little crazy!), Monster Truck birthday party. When Nothing if Not Intentional shared how to make memory photos using Picasa, I knew I'd have to do them each year at the boys' birthdays. I created one from Henry's party to ...
Craft for Kids: Textured Painted Letter for Wall
We've been working on redoing Louis's bedroom and a letter 'L' has been in the works since Christmas. Thanks to Mod Podge and Apple Barrel Paint for sponsoring this project and giving me the push I need to get it done finally! Even better that the kids got to help make this special project for Louis. It was an easy craft for them to do too. My husband cut the L out of boards. I ...
Simple Machines for Kids: The Pulley
A fun way to learn about simple machines for kids. And it was simple. This one is all about the pulley. I'm not sure if the boys saw this in a show or not, but they were trying to make their own pulley around a door knob. But they just weren't quite getting it. What an opportunity and fun activity for us to do! We do science experiments often around here, but the other areas ...
Big Art Project for Toddlers: Ribbon Painting
Get moving and get creative at the same time with a big art project. Ribbon painting is a fun art project for toddlers to let loose and paint in a fun way. But its also fun for preschoolers too! It wasn't just ribbon painting... it was ribbon throw painting. I begin by asking... Henry, what three colors would you like to paint with? Blue, Green and White. I was ...
Learning Patterns with Blocks
Henry loves to pattern. Once he began learning patterns, he calls them out all the time. Everything seems to have a pattern, I swear! But... I noticed something. Henry only knows how to pattern with colors. Maybe he did know how to do it other ways... which I now know that he now does. But he had never once pointed out a pattern that wasn't color based. We had the Bristle ...
Number Activity: Learn to Count with Grain Bins
Got a farmer? Try a simple number activity to practice counting to five! This farm activity was a sneaky way to get Henry excited to learn to count! I've been having a little bit of a hard time getting Henry to want to do any kind of activity lately. Especially anything that's remotely educational. I brainstormed, trying to figure out what he'd like to do, but still work in ...
Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?
Henry's heading to Kindergarten next year... and thankfully I didn't have to think about whether or not he is ready. I know he is, and this just confirms it for me. As I did for preschool, I'll be prepping Henry the same way again for Kindergarten. When I was pregnant with George, he was due in September. Our school cutoff date is September 15th. All I wanted was to make sure he ...