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, …

We are having a series of tips and tricks that have helped us on our last road-trip. We drove through 9 states and spent nearly 60 hours in the car with three kids aged 3, 2 & 1. Crazy.  Some of the things we used to help us maintain our sanity included: buckets, plastic Easter eggs, ipods, fruit leather, balloons and a portable potty to help make our trip more bearable.  Here is part 2 of some of our car-sanity ideas, the ones that worked!
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I Spy:
We had …

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 am on vacation, not camping, but at the beach – whoohoo!  Kristina, from Amenity Home, has graciously offered to guest post for us today!  She takes her preschooler camping regularly – something I admire.  I am a bit worried about what my kids could get into; I love the tips and ideas she has for ways to make camping enjoyable and safe for our kids.
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There is nothing better than camping with a preschooler. My little boy is four-and-a-half and we’ve been on nine camping trips so far. Every one …

Today’s Fantastic Friday we are going to feature a few of the great posts I have found over the past few weeks.  All of these posts are printables that you can create to help your kiddos learn.   I found a tutorial for custom alphabet cards, some printable word family books
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I love this tutorial!  It is so simple.   Jess over at Mad in Crafts is working on learning the letters of the alphabet with her little tyke.  To help him, she created custom alphabet cards using the free program Picnik.  I …

I love feeding the kids a nutritious breakfast.  I also love teaching them independence and watching my preschoolers have a sense of accomplishment when they “make Daddy’s oatmeal”.  It’s precious!  Here are a few of the ways we have fun with our morning oatmeal.  Do you do anything to make breakfast more interesting?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
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The kids get to pick their own packet – Better Oats has quite the variety of flavors – and dump the oats and water into their own bowls.
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Sometimes, they …

Who doesn’t have a matchless sock hanging around the laundry pile?  Sock puppets are easy to make and a ton of fun to play with this is a great way to inspire creativity and use those lone socks!
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What you’ll need to make a sock puppet:

A sock – the more colorful the better!
Stuffing – or a few cotton balls
Buttons
Yarn
Felt

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What we did was stuff the stuffing into the heel of the sock to create some “puppet ears”.
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For the eyes we cut our circles of felt, then used the button in the …

Does your preschooler love foamy bubbles?  Last year my kids and I went to the town square where the kids were amazed to have discovered a prank (here’s a picture of the Quirky kids with Bubbles).  Some kids (I’m assuming) dumped soap suds into the fountain and there were bubbles everywhere!  Since then we have always wanted to re-create our own foamy bubbles.  Thanks to Brooke  from The Parents and Kids for inspiring me with a bubble recipe.  We adapted it slightly with glycerin to create, well, not quite …

Vacuum cleaners, balloons, tissue paper, straw & a balloon powered car help preschoolers learn about suction and blowing.