My toddler is learning her colors! This was a fun activity that we did together. The older two kids rushed around the house independently, while Quirky Kid A and I looked for all the red items. Unfortunately, this is not an original idea, only I can’t remember where online I read about another family having a color race (but I know you are out there). If your family has done a color race, let me know and I’ll link up to your fun! Haven’t had …

My preschoolers love crackers and all things snack related.  I was thrilled to have discovered Sara and her nifty blog, Splendidly Imperfect.  She has graciously agreed to guest post her alphabet cheese crackers for us!  Thanks Sara!  Go check out her blog today and leave a comment there if you like these yummy preservative-free healthy snacks!
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I happen to have a boy and a husband who both love to have snacky-chow around the house. I didn’t want to have them constantly eating sweets, which are my forte, …

My preschoolers love to color with crayons and love to paint – why not do both? This post was adapted from the post on resist crayon paintings on The Activity Mom several months ago. It has been mulling around in the back of my brain as a craft activity waiting for the perfect moment. This craft is really quite simple, even my 18 month old joined in on the fun. First you color your paper with crayons, then you paint over the crayoned drawing. We …

We use a lot of toilet paper at this house.  With two newly potty-trained kiddos and one who is fascinated with all things potty, together use far more toilet paper than ever is necessary.  My hubby thinks I’m crazy to keep all the leftover tubes of toilet paper, and my kids love getting to play and explore with our box of tubes!  I love “free” toys!  We recently had an elementary-aged neighbor over and our TP tube creations became much more elaborate than previous building ventures. All you need for …

My daughter just turned four! Her birthday request was for rainbow cupcakes. I was imagining rainbow icing till she explained she wanted the entire cupcake to be a rainbow. How on earth would I make that?  Then I remembered the blog post I read from Shannon, at Milk and Cuddles, there was hope! We could make rainbow cupcakes after all! Thanks Shannon for some great instructions. We had a blast making our own colorful cupcakes. Check out our collection of kid-friendly snack recipes …

This buckle, clipping toy kept my toddler (17m) entertained for hours! I was inspired to make this one morning at the park, when all the other kids were playing with the slides and the swings and the two toddlers at the park were hunched in deep concentration over a stroller, buckling and unbuckling the straps.  This is a great addition to our activity bag, especially as we were anticipating a long cross-country road trip.   I am so thankful we made this, this and the “I Spy Shaking Bottle” were …

I loved discovering these homemade wooden houses and building blocks!  They are so colorful and inspirational!  My hubby is going to have to replace a portion of our fence soon and I am already daydreaming about the scraps we’ll have and the fun blocks we’ll get to make!  This is even more fun as this post has a trail.  I love how the internet helps inspire us and how we can take someone’s idea, tweak it and then someone else can come along and re-tweak the same concept.  The beginning …

I first found out about Shakey Bottles from a stay-at-home Dad/friend, he made them for his son to enjoy and also gave them out as gifts.   I loved the concept and have had my eyes peeled for a number of weeks, looking for the perfect bottles!  I finally found some at during a trip to a salvage grocery store.  Whoohoo!  Time to make our Shaking bottles!  Hopefully these will help entertain our youngest during a long road trip coming up.
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What you need to make your own Shaking Bottle Toddler Toy:

Some …

We had fun this past week learning map skills together.  I was amazed at how quickly my kids grasped the concept of a map.  I think this was the first time they had to work with one!  I drew a rough map of our living room/kitchen areas, together we filled our snack cups.

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Together we looked at the map and I explained how to figure out where we are on the map and where the “landmarks” were (our couch, the dollhouse, the ktichen table, etc.).  The kids then went to the …

I got the idea to create cereal box puzzles from a lady at my church.  She was discussing how her kids learned early reading skills through interacting with and recognizing brands, that this “recognition” was the first step for them in sight reading.  One of her children has special needs and helping that child learn to recognize brands has helped make her more independent as she can now go get “her” cereal, etc.  We’ll feature more of Mary’s ideas later, but for now, here is an activity that my preschoolers …