There are five things that have made my life so much easier welcoming our latest bundle into the home.  Juggling a newborn with three feisty preschoolers can be a bit daunting, maybe these ideas will help you adjust to life with a newborn (and older kids).
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New Toys: Keep your preschoolers entertained in those early baby days.

I’d like to say I thought of this one myself, but I didn’t.  The kind souls at B.You Toys were super generous and sent us a big box of Stackadoos bristle blocks.  To say that …

Do you have independent children?  So far, I have three of them!  This Popsicle recipe is perfect for them.  It was simple enough that with minimal supervision/intervention my four year old was able to give the directions (she loved that) to my three year old who mixed these yummy treats up!  We made a couple different batches.  The inspiration for these popsicles came from hearing about the dripless icecream that they make with jello, and after having to hose down a toddler covered in traditional popsicle goo… Why don’t we …

Are you looking for a quick, interactive treat to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or another celebration? Combine vanilla pudding with M&M candies for green goodness kids will gobble up happily. This is a fun way for a younger toddler or preschooler to learn about colors and color mixing. Thanks Julia for inspiring us to have fun during snack time this week!
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Supplies to learn about colors with Saint Patrick’s Day:

Vanilla or coconut pudding, plain yogurt, a milkshake, even applesauce.
M&M candies (we used blue, yellow, and green)
Small bowls
Spoons

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Before …

Do you remember Cootie Catchers from when you were a kid?  I loved them!  Here is a cootie catcher perfect for the learning to read kiddo in your life!  For our paper we used one of the sheets of Shaving Cream Painted works from yesterday.  I was inspired by Jimmie and her daughter Sprite (love their blog).  They created cootie catchers for learning history and math facts at Heart of the Matter Homeschoolers.   If they can make one for the Civil War, I bet I can make one about “Short …

I loved discovering Mindi’s site, B.A. Bookworm, we are bookworm wanna-bes over here and I love some of the ideas she has for ways to encourage reading in our kids!  She is an advocate for getting kids up and moving, rather than sitting in front of a TV (or computer – we love starfall and online educational game over here!)  All you need for these activities is a brown paper bag and some creativity!

I love our fun activity box, well, actually we have two of them, one for when we travel with the kids and one for when I need to occupy them say at Church or another event where they have to sit quietly for a few hours.  Depending on how you use the box and how creative you get, the entertainment can last for hours!  To make the box last longer, only pull one activity out at a time.  If you don’t need to worry about stretching the fun out, try …

This is a super simple activity I remember playing when I was a kid.  Basically, we created a stop/go sign and one person got to be “in charge”.  When the sign said go we ran around like crazy banshees!  When it said stop, we’d stop.  Super simple!  Kept them entertained for quite awhile.  I even got a morning “quiet time” as a result of all our running!  I have some resting preschoolers this morning.
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What you need to make your sign:

Paper towel roll (I think we used the insert from our …

Are you struggling to find something to give/make for someone on your list?  Wanting to give a handmade gift that people will really use?  In this day of heightened environmental awareness a canvas bag is a great gift.  I found this was a project that showcased the work of  even the youngest budding artists in an aesthetically pleasing way.   Use it as the gift itself or as an eco friendly alternative to wrapping paper.
Materials to make your tote bag:

old cereal box to use as a “frame”
tote bags (pick the size and …

We have had so many terrific submissions!  So many tips! Thank you to all who participated in our first blog carnival! Our next carnival will
Ticia is mommy to three preschoolers and she explains how she makes doing chores easy for her youngsters by using plastic dishes and even explains her method of getting groceries unloaded (which at my house can be an all-afternoon event).  I hope you can learn from her and her post, Chores and Kids posted at Adventures in Mommydom.
Sherry shared her chore list for us!  …

More ways to use chores to teach your kids…
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Mopping, wiping, vacuuming and learning:

I use mopping to work on memory skills. Did you already mop here? How can you tell? With our table top we can easily practice deductive reasoning. The area without crumbs and greasy hand prints was wiped down, the other areas still need attention.
With mopping, short-term memory is more important. Often the floor looks about the same. So we work on developing our short-term memorywhile mopping.  Where have we mopped? Where …