Chocolate Playdoh

After seeing Chocolate Playdoh on several blogs, I was inspired to make some too!

This is the recipe that I used. I added cocoa powder until is was my desired color.

The girls had so much fun making heart cookies! The playdoh smelled delicious, which led to a few nibbles!

Easter Activities

I was able to find a ton of ideas for Easter shelf activities! The first morning that all the new Easter theme activities were on the shelf, the girls were so excited!

The sensory bin caught their attention, first. Inside the sensory bin: grass, eggs, rubber ducks, stretchy bunnies, shovel and scoop. They spent hours playing with these items (and, yes...I'm still finding grass).

I also included two baskets with several eggs in each. We hid and found numerous eggs throughout the week! Mac mastered opening the plastic eggs.

For fine motor skills, Izzie enjoyed matching the large Styrofoam eggs (Dollar Tree) to their correct color. I simply used markers to color on the circular Styrofoam (Dollor Tree).

In addition, I brought back out an activity that she completed last year...transferring eggs from a basket to a plate, using tongs. She didn't use the tongs in last year's picture. I found a cute pair of small bunny tongs at Michael's that she used and was successful in transferring the eggs. She enjoyed this activity the most, unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures!

Both girls enjoyed placing the hanging eggs (Dollar Tree) on the tree (Dollar Tree). Izzie is really excited about patterns, lately, and has been organizing everything into patterns...she really had fun creating patterns with the eggs on the tree.

I adapted an activity that Izzie did last year. Instead of matching up numbers, I made it a little more complicated. I kept the top portion of the egg as a number, then add the correct amount of stickers to the bottom portion of the egg. To keep from getting too frustrated, the eggs were only numbered 1-10. This was probably Izzie's least favorite shelf activity for the week...I think it was too time consuming and since the eggs are circular, some of the stickers went all the way around the egg, which made Izzie loose count and have to start over, again and again.

The musical eggs were also included on the shelf. Mac really enjoys just shaking the eggs and making music with them!

Another activity that Izzie completed last year was this matching shapes game. I really love having activities/games already created that I can bring back out! Even being a year older, she still really enjoyed matching the eggs to the correct shapes!

We traveled for a long Easter weekend to visit my in-laws. The girls had a blast playing and entertaining Grandma and Grandad. We took the girls to an Easter egg hunt, where 10,000 eggs were hidden...and it was super crowded, too crowded. Thankfully, it was sectioned off into age groups, but it was still way too crowed. The girls also had a great time coloring eggs with Grandma.

The girls received this adorable bunny Popsicle holder from their Great Aunt. I was super excited to put it to use! And, as you can tell...the girls were super excited too!

Okay...so, this post layout looks really weird! I tried a new layout...trying to use less space with more pictures and when I previewed the post, it looked like everything was where is was suppose to be. But, now that it's uploaded, everything is out of whack! I'm way too lazy to go back and rewrite this post...back to the old layout, next time!

Textured Number Bags

Several weeks ago, I made Mac textured number bags for her first birthday and she has been having so much fun with them!

I made numbers 1-10, each with a different fabric and stuffing inside. I had so much fun at the fabric store picking out the various fabric. I was able to get 10 completely different fabric textures! I used scrap fabric and webbing to add the numbers. In addition, I added ribbon to correspond to the number.

A look closer (the pictures would not turn around, sorry!)...

What's inside?

1. cotton balls
2. plastic baggies
3. rice
4. plastic baby wipes package
5. small beans
6. large beans

7. lentils
8. craft beads
9. tissue paper
10. felt

Tot School: Mac's First Offical Week!

Izzie is currently 40 months old and Mac is 12 months old.

Yay! Mac just turned one, so we are officially beginning "Tot School" with her too!

I made her texture bags for her birthday (post coming soon) and she has had the best time with them!

I gave her a handful of cotton balls and a snowman muffin tin ($2.50 at Target)...she explored...then, quickly began to put the cotton balls in the muffin tin...

Then, became very interested in pulling apart the cotton balls...

And, finally, decided to taste the cotton balls!

When given the opportunity to the bathroom, she heads straight to the toilet paper and loves to measure how much she needs to cover herself...this does count for early math skills, right?

When left alone for a split second with a semi-open wipes container, she uses her fine motor skills to quickly remove as many wipes as possible from the container, before I come back into the room.

Her current favorite book is, Little Feet Like, which has a different texture on each page. She really enjoys using her feet to feel the different textures!

Izzie's theme this week was "Snowman". She completed several shelf activities, click here to see!

In addition, for her stART project, she created an adorable snowman!

And, had a great time playing in the 12+ inches of snow that we received on Saturday! This afternoon, she helped Daddy shovel the driveway.

To see more Tot School activities, visit 1+1+1=1.

Salt Dough Ornaments

I recently saw salt dough ornaments at Live, Learn, Love and knew I had to make them with Izzie and Mac. I absolutely love making keepsakes out of handprints and footprints! We ended up creating them on Christmas Eve. I can't wait to display them on our tree next year!

Izzie's handprint and Mac's footprint.

I made a handprint/footprint calendar last year...click HERE to see the entire calendar.

Snowflakes

To celebrate our 31 inches of snow, Izzie created these cute snowflakes for our Christmas tree!

I love homemade Christmas ornaments!

Materials needed: Popsicle sticks, glue, paint, and glitter.

Thrifty Thursday: Homemade Play-doh

I like to get the kids at church and our playgroup a little something for Christmas. So, this year, I decided to make them homemade Cinnamon Play-doh. It turned out great and smells delicious!

I saw that Mari-Ann from Counting Coconuts recently made some Play-doh, so I asked her for the recipe. This is what she sent me:

"I got this from another blog, My Montessori Journey – it’s the BEST playdough recipe I’ve found. Here you go: Homemade Playdough

1 c. flour

1/2 cup salt

1 T. cooking oil

1 T. cream of tartar

1 c. water

Food coloring of your choice

Add-ins of your choice (i.e. spices, extracts, glitter, etc.)

Stir ingredients together well. Just measure them into the saucepan you will be using to cook the dough, but mix them well before heating up the pan. Over medium heat cook the dough, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. (NOTE: When it starts to pull away from the sides somewhat and clump together and most of the "wet-looking" parts look dry, it's ready to remove from the pan.) Turn dough onto a board (or the countertop) and knead until very smooth. (NOTE: It will be pretty warm to the touch, but try to knead it until it becomes a nice, smooth ball. If it feels sticky, you can work a little more flour into it and it will be fine.) Cool. Store in a covered plastic container OR in a sealed ziploc bag. (ANOTHER NOTE: This dough does seem to always stick in the saucepan somewhat. I have tried spraying the pan first, but I still have a crusty residue on the pan when I'm finished. I am used to this now and just plan on soaking the pan after I make a batch. I just wanted you to know about that though so you wouldn't think you had goofed something up if that happens.)

When I add spices, I usually start with about a teaspoon (though I never actually use a spoon). I just shake a bunch in until I think it's going to produce the desired level of scent. (I like a LOT of scent.) If you are adding an extract like vanilla or peppermint, for example, probably just a teaspoon will be enough, but you can experiment with a little more than that. Also add gradually if you are doing glitter. I would still start with only about a teaspoon and go from there."

I packaged one ball of red and one ball of green Play-doh in a holiday goodie bag. I attached a cookie cutter to each bag. I found the bags (20/pack) and cookie cutters (6/pack) at the Dollar Tree.

To see more Thrifty Ideas, please check out Brilliant Moms!

Christmas Gift Reviews: Games and Puzzles

It's that time of year again, when I start researching for Christmas gifts. I'm always curious to know what other parents are buying for their children. I read countless reviews on toys that I'm considering to buy because I want to know the pros and cons for each toy. The best way to really discover a toy is to ask other parents and children too. I would love to know what your children favorite toys are. So, each week, I will have a different category to review. Click here for the category list and dates. Please feel free to share your views about toys in each category too.

This week's theme is Games and Puzzles.

My daughter currently has two favorite games that we play, a lot! But, I don't mind because I love these games too. They are both fun and educational. In addition, these are the first games that Izzie has actually finished, normally, we start a game and end up not finishing.

The first is The Picnic Game by eeBoo.

The object of the game is to be the first player to gather a table setting and collect food to set your place at the table for a picnic. The game includes a checked tablecloth, a spinner, 4 plates, 4 sets of utensils, and 4 pieces for each category (drink, main dish, fruit, vegetable, and dessert). This game is for 2-4 players, ages 3 and older.

Pros: It's a fun and exciting game to reinforce "taking turns". I also like that it gives Izzie a chance to make a decision during her turn, when she spins a certain category, she has a choice to make. In addition, it has encouraged Izzie to share more. At first, she would get upset if another player chose a food item that she wanted, but now, she understands the concept of the game and is willing to "share" all the pieces. The game pieces are large and sturdy and very detailed.

Cons: It's hard to find in stores; I was lucky and found our game at a consignment shop.

The second game is Picture This: A Puzzle Matching Game by Mudpuppy.

This is a great memory game with a twist! The object of the game is to find all the pieces to your game board.

Each player has a different color board with corresponding pictures to locate. I like that the picture on the board isn't identical to the game piece, but it's an item within the picture. This concept requires Izzie to pay close attention to detail. In addition, the game pieces are color coordinated with it's matching board. Notice the game board above has a pink trim and all the pieces have a pink background. (I haven't pointed this out to Izzie.)

These are the finished game boards. I really like that it shows how many individual pieces make a whole picture.

Pros: A new way to play an old favorite game, requires Izzie to pay close attention to details, and she even enjoys playing it by herself.

Cons: Again, another hard game to find in stores. This was another consignment shop find!


Favorite Puzzles: Giant Floor Puzzles by Hurricane Toys.

Izzie has always enjoyed working puzzles. These are really nice floor puzzles that contain 28 pieces each. They are great for preschoolers, who are seeking more challenging puzzles, but still aren't too overwhelming.

Pros: Challenging for a preschooler, but not overwhelming with too many pieces.

Cons: None

Disclaimer: I did not contact or receive any products from the above companies. These are my opinions, which may vary from your experience with these products.

Please link your child's favorite games and puzzles too!

Tree Hugging Tots: Pumpkins

This week's theme for Tree Hugging Tots is pumpkins! This was our first year craving a pumpkin with Izzie.

She refused to stick her hands inside the pumpkin...she kept saying that is was "messy" and "sticky".

However, she did enjoy scooping out the seeds with a spoon!

Our little pumpkin!

To see more Tree Hugging Tots, visit Mommies Wise Little Bookworms.

Open Ended Art: Fall Colors

This week's open ended art theme is Fall Colors: red, yellow, orange and brown.

I decided to have Izzie create a fall tree with falling leaves. She really enjoys finger painting.

It is so colorful...this masterpiece is screaming to be framed! It would look amazing in our dining room.

To see more open art fall colors, check out Growing and Learning by Leaps and Bounds.

Musical Eggs

I made these musical eggs at Easter, but decided to bring them back out to play with during our Farm Theme week. There are a total of 12 eggs or 6 matching pairs. The object of the game is to pair up the matching sound eggs. Izzie is doing very well matching up the eggs by the different sounds.

Mac is having a blast with the musical eggs too!

Open Ended Art: Beans

Each week, Shannon at Growing and Learning by Leaps and Bounds hosts an Open Art activity with a specific material. This is our first week participating and the material is beans.

To stay with our weekly theme, On The Farm, I printed out the corn cob from here. Izzie worked really hard on making sure that the beans stayed in the lines of her corn cob.

To see more creative open ended art, click here!