image source.
i love this playful TIDNY fabric (available at ikea). it's perfect for kiddo projects; a rainy day marker fest, a special preschool project, add fabric paint for pillowcases, tote bags, or use as the tablecloth for a painting party (drape an art smock over each little chair)! i can just imagine the children chatting and coloring while waiting for all the guests to arrive. it could be a whole doodlebug party theme. oh, cute. i couldn't resist including a yard of it in a birthday gift for a couple artistic little ones.
happy tuesday.
i found these small beanbags at a school supply store and thought they may come in handy someday. (i am dreaming up a cousins carnival, which may or may not ever happen this summer.) however we've had plenty of fun playing with them on lazy mornings. who knew simple beanbags could be so entertaining and versatile?! since i keep them with the art supplies benji thinks the beanbags are pretty special. the other day we got them out along with three containers (big, medium, small) and we made up games; sorted them by color, talked about empty vs. full, counted them, stacked them up tall, discussed what a pattern is and then, as per usual, introduced cars into the mix. i love letting these little preschool 'lessons' drive themselves. my favorite thing was when the yellow dice suddenly turned into the neighborhood gas station.
our three year old loves to learn (he is spelling out signs and wanting to read more and more), it's amazing to me how it comes so naturally. i want to teach him about Jesus and how to choose the right and make good choices while learning is still fun for him. his heart is so open, i hope to fill it up with the very best things while he's young. i want to make the most of the quiet storytimes we have together. after a few times of hearing him sweetly bless the Easter Bunny in his prayers, i decided we need more daily reminders of what our faith teaches rather than what the world is promoting.
we put together three thin binders (easy enough to carry, tote to church or the car, etc.) for our family. i made one binder of faith-promoting articles for adults, another for benji full of colorful scripture stories and simple pictures and another binder dedicated to activities and articles focusing on christmas. we included stories about Jesus, and stories of little boys learning an important lesson, powerful scripture heroes, lessons from good examples etc. (i custom made it just for him). and while benji rode circles around me on his bike, i sat on a lawn chair and compiled the articles into plastic sleeves. i could tell this was a good idea when benji kept coming over and asking if i could read him this one and then that one. i love when he crawls into my lap and says, tell me what this one is about...
i love easter time and am attempting to focus more on Christ, less on chocolates and egg hunts. the articles seen here are all taken from monthly magazines, The Ensign and The Friend.
featuring the kitchen table
+ crayola washable window markers. / best rainy day activity ever. thanks oma & opa!
+ pizza making party. (sadly, only two outta three were actually edible.)
+ always over-prepare when it comes to homemade pizzas.
+ loved this jonathan wright card. perfect for my talented culinary friend.
+ shamrock sugar cookies from great harvest bakery did not disappoint.
+ purple nail polish to mix things up a bit.
this weekend was good and felt so typically march (sunny one minute, rainy and windy the next). the only thing missing was flying a kite. we were lucky to spend lots of time as a trio: road-testing bikes, two pairs of new running shoes, leprechaun magic abounding, a family stroll with a red wagon, daffodils blooming!, staying up into the wee hours, good company and good food. one pizza didn't quite pan out as it should've, but still, it was a fantastic happy weekend. deadlines were accomplished, yard work has begun, the belly is bigger than ever and lots of hilarious chit chat with benji. it feels so good to be a family.
i'll let you in on a little secret. i want to teach playschool someday. i don't know when or how, but i'm already organizing my supplies like i have an army of kids showing up at my door. we'll see if that ever comes about, but when i do host a playdate with benji's buddies, it has become super simple to grab a project from the closet when they need some downtime.
i keep loads of crayons and glue in my office, but i decided i need kid supplies closer to the kitchen if i'm actually going to utilize them often (which i hope to do). it's more practical to have them nearby so i can start up a project when i'm cooking, etc. i made space in our main shelf and got to work organizing our arts and crafts supplies. (i think it's ironic how my house seems to fall to pieces when i'm organizing one area. i think to myself, at least this closet is awesome and tidy.)
i love the clear sterilite storage bins with the handy handle (i even keep his baby clothes in them). they are perfect for grabbing and hauling to the table. when he's older he can help me out. the open canvas bins are nice for benji to rifle through and grab the play-doh or lacing beads himself or we can bring the whole thing out. little options like these make me happy. an extra ice bin (supposedly for the freezer!) holds our paints and crayons. random, but fantastic. i call our tactile (messy) projects science projects. he loves that, so it just stuck. everything with letters and numbers is labeled learning activities. when we get them out i tell him we're playing school. (he gets into it and likes wearing his backpack to the table.) many of these items have been collected at back-to-school sales, from party favors, the target dollar aisle, and at michaels. you'll find a list of my favorite supplies below. please tell me your favorite kiddie art supplies, i'd love to hear them.
kid arts and craft supplies
coloring books / enough for friends too ($1 each at michaels)
stickers (i keep them in a large manila envelope for sanity's sake)
washable markers
washable crayons
twistable crayons
mad-lib notebooks
watercolors
washable finger-paints
colored pencils
sponge paint brushes
large stamps and stamp pad
scissors
tape
white glue and glue sticks
pipe cleaners
cardboard tubes (and other craft-potential items)
sidewalk chalk
tracing stencils
lacing cards
play-doh and cookie cutters
bubbles
foam sheets
shaving cream
sparkly pom poms
small magnetic white board
flash cards
alphabet letter magnets
foam alphabet letters (originally bath toys)
handmade musical instruments
large foam dice
lacing string and beads
benji and i loved this little project. all you need is a can of shaving cream (or perhaps whipped cream) and food coloring. we talked about mixing colors; blue and yellow make green. (i would've thrown more colors in the mix, but i've used up all my red in red velvet cakes!) the best part about it was his disbelief that i was letting him get so dirty! he was a bit timid at first, so i got in there too and showed him how to mix it up good. he quickly got the hang of it and loved playing monster fingers. we swirled colors, wrote letters, added sprinkles and mushed the mixture around a lot. our hands were dyed green for 24 hours, but it was a great art project. in the summertime, i'm thinking we could use plain shaving cream and rub our wagon clean with this same process.
p.s. are you taking advantage of barnes & noble online storytime? we just found out about it and love it.
taking off early this week. happy groundhog day and have a wonderful weekend. we're headed to visit friends tomorrow! also on the to-do list: do some crafting, play in the new snow, go to a super bowl party, have chocolate shakes, make valentines, string a banner together and continue to celebrate dan's birthday.
some of our best preschool projects come around by accident. one morning benji was lining up a few cars while i finished the morning dishes and we were talking about their names (have you noticed that all the cars 2 characters have a first and last name? holly shiftwell. finn mcmissle. miles axlerod. rod torque. i could go on. oh, wait, these are not the types of facts that run through your mind? seriously, i understand when moms say that their brains are turning to mush.) and we discuss their origins. he has this recent fascination about where his playthings came from; not like made in china.. but target, or santa, or grandma, or wal-mart, or this one was a potty prize, etc. and even if they don't have a name, we're big into naming things around here too (even if it's just jeep. it becomes a beloved jeep). i find it a little humorous when we're all searching for char car and frantically hollering downstairs, where's char car? where's flames car? where's songie? anyway, i had an idea and seized the moment. i grabbed the alphabet magnets from our craft bin and told him to go get even more cars and we'd start our little project. he was suddenly so excited. which is always the best.
+ line up a few favorite named toys and talk about what letter of the alphabet each toy starts with. for older kids, you could spell the names out. we talked about their colors and if they were big or small. (the one on the far right is what benji refers to as hot dog truck. it has a little band-aid image on the truck, but he has assumed it was a hot dog all along and i love it enough not to tell him it's just a regular ol' ambulance. i mean, who else has a hot dog truck for a pal!?! after our game had ended, it tipped over and he says to me, mom can you fix hot dog truck? all his pretend hot dogs are tumbling out.)
p.s. in posting these preschool projects, i in no way intend to convince you that lookie here, i'm a good mom. i am just doing my best and i love finding new kid-friendly ideas (aka free activities!) online and am often inspired by what other moms are doing. i hope to pay it forward. plus i love documenting our happy times together. he won't be little forever. but, does mommy mush brain last forever? happy monday.
notes // cloud dough feels like soft squeezable sand which molds easily into shapes. we love cloud dough. it was messier than i thought, but super fun and simple to make. i was glad i used a large container with tall-ish sides and i was happy baths were directly after this preschool project. be prepared to let little ones think of new things to introduce to the sand. i kept calling it moon sand, because it acts more like damp sand than any 'dough' i've ever come across. however we made lots of pretend pies and cookies with our cloud dough. benji let it sift through his fingers and hugged it in his palms. it's so relaxing. he was thrilled with the impressions it made with his truck tires. next time i'm getting out his dinosaurs to make 'footprints'. and (bonus!) the baby oil softened my cuticles during playtime. the cloud dough has remained soft and moldable for three days; i'm unsure if/when it will lose its awesomeness. there are more preschool projects to come; hope you're game.
p.s. we listened to brad paisley cds throughout our cloud dough experimenting. i'm cramming to memorize all of his music by friday night. we're headed to his concert (haven't been to a concert in forever, plus it's our first country music concert ever)! surely it'll be a night to remember. i love that dan is a recent convert to country music and is totally pulling me into it; every morning we wake up to a little twang with our toast. am super excited. however i'm nervous i'll start crying. his sappy tunes get me every time. anytime i need a good sob fest, country music is my go-to. does it have this effect on everyone?
inspiration for making cloud dough originated with tinkerlab's version.
go green / gorgeous kitchen via revelment
lots of time spent in the kitchen yesterday. i told dan the other day that i love cleaning my kitchen way more than i ever have. this is shocking. why would i have grown to like the daily grind of kitchen duty, i wonder. have i finally matured and owned up to the fact that doing dishes is a daily (if not, three or four times daily, more if you make your family a healthy meal!) required task? (so why moan and groan about it?) or could it be because i don't have a tv anywhere near the kitchen, so i'm not pulled in the direction to just sit and veg out to ellen? or maybe because it's a house and not an apartment, so i feel some sort of housewifery ownership over it? not sure; but i'm glad.
i'm glad i've finally succumbed to the feeling of satisfaction that comes with sucking up crumbs underfoot with my nozzle vacuum hose attachment. you have no idea how happy i was to change my vacuum bag after the holidays. (it was stuffed to the gills, like santa's pack on christmas eve.) all those pine needles; all those party crumbs; all that clean-up. i felt some sort of strange accomplishment which, i assume, only a woman can understand. guys just get the job done and move on. ladies like me revel in knowing that this task completed is a giant black mark slicing through words on a carefully written to-do list.
and isn't it funny how madly you clean a house before guests arrive and five minutes later it's a complete wreck!? (dan always jokes with me, reminding me we haven't invited the queen to our house.) chocolate cake crumbs, ice cream melted on the tablecloth, dirty dishes piled high. but laughter is abounding and kids are playing and you have this feeling of ahhh. that was fun. we should do it again. making the mess (and eventually cleaning it up) was worth it. and yet, here i am again, cleaning my kitchen. and there i will be, tomorrow, doing it again. i guess i've finally gotten over thinking i wish it would just stay clean. because it won't. because we are living here. and living here means making messes. and if it were always, always clean, then that would mean there ain't a lot of living going on which would make me super sad. so, i'm over it. and i'm counting my blessings. i have a kitchen to clean. and people–better yet, a family–who help me dirty it up and even a little one who leans over (tip-toed on his stool) to wash his own dishes. we have hot water and bubbly soap and a dishwasher and no mice or cockroaches (add the no mice or cockroaches part to any statement and you'll realize how lucky you feel)! it's a simple thing, but a happy thing. and i'm learning to appreciate the cycle; super clean. tidy. unclean. messy. crazy dirty. sleeves up. apron on. mopping and wiping and scrubbing and sorting. shiny plates out, sloppy plates in. a heap of dirty dish towels, the vacuum unplugged and a sack of garbage tied into a neat knot is my personal job well done.
other random tidbits // do you have an old-fashioned egg beater? i highly recommend having one. they make scrambled eggs a cinch. not that whisking yolks is all that hard; but something about the wheel and beater mechanics makes it all the better. my kid loves it. in fact i let him whir water and cinnamon and salt together all morning long. have i mentioned he loves creating concoctions. he even said, mom you go clean and i'll keep baking. monday should be declared our cleaning day. but usually when i declare something, it doesn't ever end up happening like it should. so i quit that habit long ago. i even busted out the blind cleaner gadget. do you have one of these? i picked ours up at home depot awhile back and am finally getting around to actually using it. dusting blinds is right up there with watching paint dry, but this little gadget does help. a wee bit. so there are my two tiny recommendations; an egg beater and fuzzy wuzzy blind cleaner. so, there's that. oh one more. yoga pants from costco. i am a believer.
p.s. i just discovered tinkerlab, thanks to pinterest, and am all motivated to get back to (intentionally) providing homegrown preschool projects for benj. we're off to purchase some foam sheets and sparkly pom poms for our art supply bin. what is more fun than being three and getting to egg-beat cinnamoney salt water and glue sparkly pom poms onto construction paper?! do you have any kiddo activities and/or awesome kitchen gadgets i should know about?
most mornings are all about getting somewhere, making a plan, packing up, meeting up, and making the most of the morning sun. we've had all kinds of adventures this summer. but yesterday we decided to stick around home all day (me in my flannels). i forgot how easy it can be to entertain (and educate) a child with the simplest of materials. our favorite activities come to us by almost accident.
benj (and his bear) took a ride in the wagon and i noticed all the pretty gray hues of the rocks as we went by. (who needs paint swatches with pretty pebbles nearby!?) we decided to collect them. benji loved picking them up and putting them in his wagon. we sat right down and talked about their surface texture, colors and sizes. he lined them up all the way around the interior edges of the wagon. (i love watching him make his own decisions like that.) my favorite rocks are the smooth gray kind that have 'stripes' through them. i always consider them lucky. benji particularly liked the clunky, speckly granite rocks which we think resembles oreo ice cream.
we drove them up to the front porch and washed them all clean in grandma's galvanized bucket. benji washed them one by one. i tried to let him lead the activity, taking all the time in the world. we then sorted them by color, lining them up, counting them and admiring our work. then leaving them out as a rock installation for daddy (and passerbys) to enjoy.
p.s. do your children have end-of-summer sandal tans like mine does? oh and what about temporary dino tats?! benji is pretty stoked about the one on his arm.
yesterday we spent the afternoon making countdown chains for the month of august. i always have plenty of scraps; so i was thrilled they were used for a good cause. seven year olds are easily enthused (and don't you love seeing olivia's sweet handwriting)! each link has a favorite activity, outing, or craft labeled on the inside to ensure we soak up every last bit of summer. cousin olivia is counting down til school starts and benji is counting down til his 3rd birthday. i can hardly believe it's almost august already! we are loving all of the family events, lazy afternoons, outdoor barbecues and parties we've packed in thus far. happy end of summer, everyone.
p.s. stay tuned for two major recommendations from yours truly.
