Here's an easy holiday toddler activity to do! It has some of my favorite aspects of DIY - Dollar Store products, assembly with my toddler, and lots of fun! Here's what you need: 1) Poster Board - the thicker kind (can get it from the dollar store or from local stores like Target. Amazon link included) 2) Ping Pong or Styrofoam Balls 3) Styrofoam Cups for "Ornaments" 4) Paint/Crayons/Markers to decorate the tree Steps: 1) Outline a Christmas tree on the poster board. I drew the outline and let Teddy color in the rest. 2) Have your toddler color the cups for the ornaments. Also draw some ornaments on the tree too to add color! 3) Tape/Hot Glue cups onto the tree 4) Have fun! Easy, holiday toddler activity!
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I didn't realize that baking your own bread is a common thing until people in our neighborhood started posting on social media during the quarantine where they could find yeast. Well, it took a little bit to inspire me, but I decided to give it a try. DISCLAIMER - I am the WORST chef although I give everything a good try. I went into this with VERY little expectations. I discovered two things: 1) Baking bread is a very easy toddler activity 2) I am amazed at how excited Teddy actually was about this We found a simple cinnamon roll/sticky bun recipe that also helped me clean out my pantry. Teddy was involved in everything from dumping the ingredients into the bowl, rolling the dough, kneading the dough, and sprinkling the cinnamon-sugar mixture. He was SO excited to help every step of the way. Baking bread takes time and this activity really kept us busy one Sunday. The best was that the rolls actually turned out pretty good too! We've done the pull apart cookies as an activity, but I was pleasantly surprised how much more fun this was for Teddy. I may be late to the game on this one...Teddy loves playing with chalk (not my favorite with the mess, but he loves it). Anyway, since we've had about a month of extreme heat warnings here, it's tough to go outside to play with the chalk. We needed a different option and I wasn't crazy about investing in an easel. We have enough toys sitting out! Well, enter Goodwill. I actually got this frame from the Goodwill for a couple dollars when we got married. I went to Home Depot and bought some cheap plywood and cut it down to size to make a backing for the gorgeous frame. I added a coat of chalkboard paint (which comes in way more handy than you would ever believe) and we're DONE! It served as a homemade welcome sign at the wedding and now an easy chalkboard hack for Teddy. Now, when the chalkboard sits out it actually looks pretty cute and not too kid-ish in bright primary colors. I haven't decided if I want to hang it on the wall low for him or leave it out and tuck it away when he's not using it. Today I felt really motivated to pack up the baby toys. And Teddy felt really motivated for me not to pack up the baby toys. What we did discover is a great way to work on his problem-solving skills. We took the baby toys that had rings attached (usually attached them to his car seat, stroller, or baby play mat). Once we gathered all of those toys, we decided to “decorate” the dresser. Note – I really do not encourage him to play with any furniture, but I always make sure all of the furniture is anchored to the wall. It’s so important! Really, you can hang them anywhere – kitchen cabinets, tree branches. First, I let Teddy hang up a few of the toys and he did a good job to hang most of them the right way. Then we spiced it up a little bit and did some variations. 1 )I hung some of the pieces upside down and he had to figure out how to get the toys to hang the right way. 2) I added even more toys and he had to figure out the best way to make all these toys fit with only so much space. His problem solving skills impressed me so much! This just goes to prove, with a little imagination, ANYTHING can be a learning experience. It also proves that I need to wait until nap-time if I am ever going to get these baby toys packed up! ![]() Sensory bins are one of my favorite activities to do with Teddy. I bought everything I needed from the dollar store and keep everything in this tub from Target. Today’s sensory bin was OATMEAL! Here’s what you need:
I set him up with the sensory bin and let him play. Some days we bring cars in and drive tracks throughout the bin. Sometimes we bring our dinosaurs in and bury them. Sometimes we just like to measure, scoop, and pour. And sometimes we like to do EVERYTHING! Teddy can sit and play for a long time here and he absolutely loves it. A little music in the background doesn’t hurt either. HOW TO REMOVE CRAYON ON waLLS, tOYS, ETC...OR...HOW i DYED MY HAIR AND MY BATHROOM CABINETS (OOPS!)5/24/2020 ![]() How have I not appreciated Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser Sheets sooner? About a year ago, I had heard they were good for cleaning shoes, so I naturally bought an economy sized box at Costco (ugh, to stroll Costco aisles again and shop aimlessly). I tried to polish up my white Keds full of stroller marks and footprints (you hear me). The rubber portion cleaned up well, but the canvas just seemed to get wet-dirty. It wasn't quite the look I was going for. I hadn’t touched the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers since. Hellooooo quarantine for encouraging me to give them another shot. (It also made me appreciate my pack-rat qualities for hanging onto them.) Quarantine has really helped me perfect my home hair dye techniques. The techniques are still clearly a work in progress, because while trying to cover up my gray roots at home, I splattered hair coloring artistically down the front of my white bathroom cabinets. There’s nothing quite as gut wrenching as seeing black hair dye on white cabinets. Soap and water just seemed to encourage the dye to soak into the cabinets while simultaneously raising my blood pressure. I had nothing to lose, so enter the Magic Eraser! I wet the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge a little on the corner and haphazardly dabbed at the splatters of hair dye. I did not expect the cleaning sheet to live up to its name. Boy, was I wrong! Magic Eraser is probably the best named product I've ever used. It took the hair dye right out of my cabinets with minimal elbow grease. Naturally, I had to try out the Magic Eraser on something else to find out just how magical it actually was. Sure, it would have been smart just to Google how to use the eraser, but I had tried that for the shoes and struck out already. I was up for a little trial and error and it was nap time anyway. I spied Teddy’s Little Tikes kitchen set and Little Tikes water table. He’s been going through a really creative phase. In encouraging these artistic tendencies, crayon just seems to get everywhere…including the living room walls and on ALL of his plastic toys. OMG! The Magic Eraser did its magic on the crayon markings. While there are still hints of stubborn marks on some portions, it’s pretty much out and left his toys looking brand new. So how does it work?
Now I should probably Google what else I need to magically erase in my house…. Suggestions?? Between quarantine and the 100-degree weather here in AZ, we are having a tough time staying busy and cool. Teddy loves his Little Tikes water table (shout out to Target’s curbside pickup for supporting my impulse Target purchases). But I was looking for a way to change it up. (Probably more for me than for him.) Usually, he plays with the water table and I throw all caution to the wind and give in to extreme splashing. By the time we are done, we are both soaking wet from a mixture of pouring water and playing with the hose.
Today, I finally figured out how I could still use the water table, keep him cool, and keep us both much drier. We had some left-over ice from our cooler and I decided to dump the cubes into the water table. He had so much fun and moving the slippery ice cubes definitely didn’t hurt his fine motor skills.
An article posted in the Boston Globe explains the science behind grip force. It’s pretty interesting to think that children grasping ice are most likely having to use more force to hold onto that item – a cautionary grip – knowing that it could easily slip. Stay cool out there! |