Pretend Lollipops

Here is a super simple way to make pretend lollipops.  We traced circles onto adhesive backed fun foam.  Cut out two matching circles and put a lollipop stick in between.  That's it!  The kids had lots of fun creating different lollipops for the candy shop.  They poked each lollipop stick into half of a piece of pool noodle to display the lollipops.  The display headed off to a table and they hung up the candy shop sign.  Check out more candy shop ideas.

This activity encourages:

• creativity
• imagination
• fine motor skills

Playing Cards in the Bathroom? It works!

As you can see from the lack of blog posts I am having trouble making the time to write.  With children life can be very hectic at times as most of you know.  Between work, after school schedules and a little one each day seems to fly by and the Christmas season is making it pass even quicker.    Lately, I have been trying to make time during busy times to play with the children.  Here is what is working right now (doesn't mean it will work next week - haha!):

1.  Playing cards in the bathroom - I know sounds weird right?  But actually the two year old will stay in the tub happily entertaining herself which means I can pay some extra attention to the older children.  They take turns coming into the bathroom and we play a round of cards on the bathroom floor.  It is a win-win situation.  The little one gets clean and I get to play cards with the older ones.

2.  Cooking - My children love to cook and bake and obviously we need to eat.  During dinner preparation or baking desserts the kids will always help.  I don't have all of them help each time but rather one or two.  Makes it less overwhelming for me and they can tell me about their day without being interrupted.

3.  Travel Toy Bags - My older children are involved in sports which translates into lots of running around and some down time for the younger kids.  We have a few bags that come with us with small toys, trinkets and always paper and crayons to entertain us while we wait or watch.  The two year old obviously does not sit still for a basketball game nor would I expect her to.  This allows us to sit and play while I sneak peeks at the games.

What are your favorite activities to squeeze in?  I would love some new suggestions.

Sticky Christmas Tree

Boy, just realized how long it has been since I lasted posted.  So busy here with back to school and sports that I can not seem to keep up with blogging which I sorely miss.  Partially because it forces me to "lesson plan" for some family activities and partially because I just enjoy sharing fun activities that work in our house.  Here is one that worked for us - sticky Christmas tree.  First use some permanent marker and draw a Christmas tree on the non sticky side of contact paper.  Then hang the contact paper sticky side up on the wall.  Give your little one some foam shapes or pom poms and start decorating.  The great thing about this activity is that it can used over and over again quite a few times before the stickiness comes off.  Super simple and entertaining for the 2+ year old crowd! 

Kid Created Scavenger Hunt

Many things make me proud as a mother, but when my children create their own entertainment I am always genuinely so proud.  It might seem simple to some but in this day and age of immediate entertainment of television, video games and tablets children are at risk of losing the skill of entertaining themselves.  Therefore, I spend a lot of "mothering" time trying to ensure that my children don't fall into the electronic abyss.  So when my daughter created this outdoor scavenger hunt for us to participate in the other day all by herself from the idea to the finished product, I was super proud.  She quietly started drawing a map of the yard and natural objects we had to collect at each location.  Then she made copies, made a cardboard mailbox with slots for each of us and the game was ready to go.  It was lots of fun for us all to do and I was beaming throughout the entire game.

What small moments make you proud as a parent?  

Playing Pretend Pet Store

Since most children would love to purchase many different pets, nothing beats playing pretend pet store.  The children can be pet store owners or shop for all the pretend pets they would like.  It also makes excellent use of all those stuffed animals kids have around the house.

This last time the kids played they separated the shop by sorting the stuffed animals grouping them together.  There was a self service feeding station where you could scoop "pet food" (actually colored macaroni from a sensory bin) into pet food bags from Playing Pretend - Animal.  This area was a huge hit and the younger set pretty much scooped "food" the entire time.

The kids hung price tags from many of the pets.  The printable receipts from Playing Pretend - Animal was also lots of fun. 
 

Wax Leaves and More

This is an activity that I used to do as a child.  Until we tried it ourselves I could not remember why we thought it was so great.  As the project progressed I quickly remembered why...

Step 1:  Head outdoors and collect flat, dry leaves.  Oak and maple leaves worked well.  We also collected acorns and some mums.

Step 2:  Heat up some wax in a recycled can.  Put a little water in a small pot.  Put the wax inside the metal can.  Put the metal can in the water.  This is your make shift double boiler.

Step 3 (optional):  Draw on leaves with paint pens.

Step 4:  An adult removes the metal can and carries it to table.  The child uses a paint brush to paint on the waxy coating.  Once dry, the leaves feel very smooth and will be preserved.  We even dipped flowers and acorns in the wax.

STEP 5 (THE SUPER FUN PART THAT I REMEMBERED):  Once the wax has cooled to the touch, start dipping your fingers into the wax.  It feels soooooo good.  My kids of course had to take it a step further and make waxy hands.  When you peel it off in once piece it makes this really cool impression of your hand, the wrinkles in your hand and your skin.

This was a fun Fall activity that we all got involved in.     

Making Flavored Ice Cubes

A few weeks ago we made some flavored ice cubes.  My son started out with a few different flavors of Kool Aid and added sugar to make it sweet.  He poured the different flavored Kool Aid into ice cube trays and abracadabra flavored ice.  We added it to seltzer and water to create delicious, pretty drinks with much less sugar than soda or a full cup of Kool Aid.  The kids loved adding a variety of flavors to create their own "specialty drinks".   

We also landed up making flavored ice cubes with straight lemon juice and lime juice.  These were also delicious to create a refreshing lemon and/or lime drink with no sugar.  

If you ask my son, he had the most fun mixing up all the different colors of Kool Aid into one pitcher - see the resulting brown Kool Aid?