Turn Any Shoes Into Tap Shoes

Here's an idea I've been wanting to try since seeing it in a Martha Stewart Good Things for Kids magazine. Little Bit, obviously bored, was actually asking me to do a "project." I was supposed to be enjoying some much needed personal time, but Daddy-O was "indisposed" at the moment, so I just needed something quick and easy that she could do for a few minutes until he could come and take back over watching her.

I grabbed some pieces of yarn and taped baby food jar lids onto the middle of the yarn. Next, I wrapped the yarn up around Little Bit's shoes and tied them at the top.

Then she shuffled around and doh-see-dohed and listened to the sound of her feet clacking against the concrete patio.

She always loves to dance, so this spur of the moment activity was a no-brainer. It would probably also be fun to experiment with different sounds. Or, perhaps strapping bells to her wrists and letting her go all out as her own percussion section!

Sticky Project in Pictures

Busy weekend.

Very tired.

Unplugged Project: Sticky

Tissue paper on sticky side of contact paper.

"Can I stick it here?"

"I want to try!"

Two artists at work.

Viola!

Found this at The Artful Parent. Go there. Also check out other sticky projects here.

Off topic: Very behind in my blog reading. Hope to get caught up this week!

Easy and Delicious Homemade Ice Cream

I recently tried out this recipe for homemade ice cream with Little Bit and I could not believe how EASY it was, nor how tasty it turned out for being so incredibly simple to make. Your kids will love making the ice cream as much as they enjoy eating it.

First grab:

• One gallon-sized resealable plastic bag
• One resealable sandwich bag
• Kosher salt (or ice cream salt)
• Half & half
• Vanilla extract
• Sugar

Fill half of the large bag with ice and add 1/2 cup of salt.

Then pour 1 cup half and half, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract into the little bag.

Now put the little bag into the big bag...Make sure both bags are sealed tight!

And shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake your bootie off. Shake for about 5 minutes.

Little Bit had a hard time shaking the bag. It was just a smidge too heavy for her. :)

After shaking for a few minutes, check the consistency of the cream mixture. Once it's nice and thick, you can scoop it out and enjoy!

This ice cream was so good. You could easily change it up by using different flavored extracts. I'm thinking a little almond extract would be yummy!

The World is Her Canvas

We love to paint with Little Bit, so this week's Unplugged theme, paint, had us very excited. We decided to bring the paint outdoors and let Little Bit have free reign over our sliding glass doors!

We poured our tempera paints into a muffin tin and mixed a few additional colors for variety.

Then I explained to Little Bit that she could use her paint brushes to paint on the glass doors.

Little Bit was a little apprehensive at first and she's still learning how to use brushes as opposed to her hands, but she started getting into it after a few minutes of exploration and a little modeling by yours truly.

Of course, I should have know that the painting would soon extend to other surfaces.

Subsequently, she abandoned her brush and went back to using her fingers.

Can you tell she had a blast?

Once she had decided that she'd had enough, we made a print of her artwork on a blank piece of paper (inspired by this idea).

And clean-up was easy-peasy with the hose!

This was a fun project and one that I know she'll ask to do again. And, it was a nice "easy" material to work with for this week's Unplugged Project. Actually, I've been meaning to do this activity with Little Bit ever since the weather started warming up, so this week's theme gave us the perfect excuse! Wouldn't this be so much fun to do with a group of toddlers, like at a paint party?

To see how other participants in this week's Unplugged Project used paint, click here!

Toddler Measuring Activity

I think I reverted back to my senior year in high school this week. I kept waiting for Mr. Clagget, my walrus-looking English teacher, to pop out from around my sofa and lecture me (read: yell and shake his finger at me) about procrastinating.

But, we did finally come up with an idea for this week's Unplugged Project involving ribbon and completed it. We used the ribbon to measure each of our family members and then we adhered the ribbon to a wall for comparison.

First we got everybody measured:

Then we stuck the ribbon to the wall, side-by-side, and briefly compared the different sizes. We talked about the biggest and smallest pieces. And I asked Little Bit questions about which ribbon belonged to who.

We also glued faces from magazine cut-outs onto paper plates, and then attached them to the ribbons at the top for little heads, but they turned out really weird looking. I think we'll use photo printouts of all of us instead.

We haven't made growth charts for the girls, so I thought that this ribbon measuring activity would be a great way to introduce the concept of measuring with Little Bit.

To see what others did with ribbon this week, click here!

Newspaper Streamers

Hooray for newspapers!

What a great theme for this week's Unplugged Project. So many possibilities...we made streamers!

We used strips of newspaper, a round plastic lid with the center cut out, a popsicle stick, and yarn and tape to hold it all together.

This picture shows pretty well how it all came together:

I think this was Little Bit's first experience with streamers and it was an instant hit! She loved swishing her new toy all around her body...

or just carrying it around with her.

 

And, not wanting to leave Bitty Baby out of the newspaper fun, we folded a newspaper hat!

We had actually planned on doing a couple other newspaper projects, but Little Bit fell sick at the end of the week and we just didn't get to them.  But never fear, I'm sure we'll do them soon!

Go check out what other folks did with newspaper at Unplug Your Kids!

Green Seek-N-Find

Green was the theme this week for Unplug Your Kid's weekly project. We painted a green apple tree earlier in the week, and today, we sent Little Bit on a green treasure hunt!

We gathered as many green toys as we could find and Daddy-O planted them throughout the yard.

Then we sent her on her way, armed with a handy-dandy green basket!

After much encouragement and several explanations as to what we were searching for, she began to look for the green .

Then she started to get the hang of it...

Here she is showing off her collection:

Once she had collected all of the toys, we talked about where else we could find green in our yard; the leaves on the trees, a blade of grass, the foliage growing in our flower bed.

She also found some yellow.

Check out what others did with this week's theme here!

Apple-Stamped Tree

I've seen the potato stamping done before and always thought it was such a cool idea. A couple days ago I was flipping through this book and came across an apple stamping project. It met our criteria for an excellent toddler craft (easy and quick!) and I just couldn't wait to try it.

So, since this week's Unplugged Project theme is green, I decided to stick with green paint and make an apple tree!

Just a few supplies were needed:

I cut out a tree trunk from some brown construction paper and let Little Bit do the gluing.

Then we dipped the apple halves into a plate of green paint and started stamping!

The only problem we encountered was that the apple was a wee bit too big for my toddler's tiny hands. Rather than stamping, her technique was more like: cradle the apple in both hands, dump it over onto the paper, then mash it down. But whatever...it still came out great!

Here's to quick, easy, and fun toddler art!

Earth Day Round-Up!

Since the '70s, Earth Day's environmental significance has continued to grow. While it's true that "everyday should be Earth Day" sometimes we need a little reminder to stop for a moment and take a mental inventory of what we're doing to help .

Over the past few weeks, we have tried to engage in activities that would instill in Little Bit an appreciation for the natural beauty and wonder that surround us.

We:

• gave some of our birdies a yummy snack.
• enjoyed a laid-back nature walk.
• learned how to plant seedlings here and here.

We also read this very sweet Little Golden Book:

Aside from it being a little wordy at times, this book perfectly explains to little ones that everything we see around us is a gift from God.

Simple activities like such as these can have lasting impacts on our children.

Did you do anything with your family to commemorate this day? If so, please feel free to post your link to share with others!

Scissor Flowers

Our theme for this week's Unplugged Project was scissors. Scissors? What in the world can I do with a child just shy of 2 years old with scissors? She can't use them to cut with...I tried and she is nowhere near ready. So, I decided we would try to turn the scissors into flowers and make a garden!

I figured we could just use a pair of old-school safety scissors, separate them, and use each side as our flower structure. It sounded easy enough, but getting the scissors apart proved more difficult than expected.

Daddy-O had to break out the power tools.

Once the scissors were separated, I used pipe cleaners to shape flower petals around the handles. I then got an old shoe box and put florists foam on the inside.

I poked some holes for seeds.

Little Bit was responsible for sewing the seeds and watering.

 

She looks like she's trying so hard to water her little seedlings well without spilling anything!

And voila! Instant blooms!

   

Here is our finished flower box. We added some moss to help hide the unsightly florists foam, and overall I think it turned out rather nicely!

While this isn't a project I would do again, due to the difficulty of breaking the scissors, I was glad to be able to reiterate the steps in planting seeds with Little Bit.

To see what others did with scissors this week, click here!

A Seed Has Been Planted

Yesterday we planted a few seeds...

We got some annuals and followed these directions on using eggshells and toilet paper rolls for planters.

Little Bit did a fantastic job at pouring the potting soil into our tiny planters.

In fact, she didn't want to stop handling the dirt; so soft and fluffy!

I helped her use her new snail-shaped watering can.

And now we wait!

Seeds. Soil. Water. This was all it took to hold my little girl's attention longer than any of our projects thus far. What is it about gardening that is so attractive to youngsters? Is it the getting dirty part? Or is it that on some level we are all drawn to the natural world?

The flowers we planted will sprout, bloom, and die, but my daughter will learn lessons to last a lifetime: responsibility, patience, and an appreciation for God's creations.

Yesterday we planted a few seeds...

Mountain of Pillows

Here's a little boredom buster that we do around here sometimes.

Collect as many pillows from around the house as you can.

Put them in a big 'ol pile in the middle of the room.

Then let the kids go at it!

It'll wear your little one out and buy you a few minutes until you can think of something else to do!

Have fun!

Finding Nature

As Earth Day approaches, we've been trying to do more activities that focus on appreciating nature. We recently made a special treat for our backyard birds, and today we went on a nature walk!

The weather was perfect: clear skies and light sweaters!

As we began our walk, we came across a fence blanketed with lusciously sweet Jasmine. Delicious!

We walked some more and soon discovered a school of happy tadpoles wriggling around in what was little more than a puddle of water. Little Bit wanted to hold one, so my cuz fished one out to show it to her. I was thrilled to come across the tadpoles. I can't remember when the last time was that I saw one...perhaps not since I was a kid myself and actually took the time to look for such tiny beings.

We tried to let Little Bit set the pace as she stopped here and there to examine a weed or admire a flower.

  

So often she sits relegated in her stroller and I push her along steadily forward. Today we paused, listened to, smelled, and discovered the world. Our world. Our beautiful Earth.

Themed Activities

I had always envisioned that once Little Bit got old enough, we would do fun projects together all the time. I got books and looked online for ideas, but we never really did anything...until...I started participating in Mom Unplugged's weekly themed projects.

For some reason, having a theme and a deadline every week has made all the difference in coming up with ideas and actually following through with them.

We planted a rock garden for the rocks theme,

made a memory book for the books theme,

and painted with pudding for the food theme.

It has been a blast! This week the theme is scissors. Since Little Bit is just shy of two-years-old, it will be a fun challenge to come up with something for her!

Even if you don't want to join the Unplugged themes, it would be really easy to do your own weekly themes. Just take some concepts, either as specific or as general as you wish, put them in a box and pull one out every week. Once you have the theme, you've got some direction on what to focus on in your search and the fun can ensue!

This is what's been working for me lately, and I have to give a shout-out to Seeking Imperfection for sharing it with me! To see what works for others this week visit WFMW at Rocks In My Dryer!

 

Lemme know: How do you come up with ideas for activities to do with your kids?

Fun with Food

We had a blast doing this week's Unplugged Project. I was so excited about the theme, food! There were a ton of projects that I wanted to do with Little Bit, but ultimately I decided on painting with edible finger paints and making an ice cream cone bird feeder. I know, I've done painting in the past (here also), but it's fun, so why not?!

Pudding Paint

I saw the edible finger paint idea here and I thought it was the perfect trifecta: easy, messy, yummy!

What you'll need:

• Vanilla pudding
• Food coloring
• Paper plates
• Bowls for mixing colors

First I mixed the vanilla pudding with food coloring.

Then I stripped Little Bit down and let her start painting. She painted some...

and ate some...

 

and painted some more...

and ate some more...

 

and by the end she was strangely reminiscent of McCauley Culkin in that one movie:

But, she had fun

and created a masterpiece!

 

Ice Cream Cone Bird Feeder

This was actually one of our Earth Day projects, but it fit in perfectly with the food theme so I'm posting it here.

For this project you will need:

• Ice cream cones
• Peanut butter
• Cheerios
• Bird seed
• String (we used zip ties)

First I spread the peanut butter onto the cone.

Then I put the cone onto the plate of Cheerios and bird seed. I love Little Bit's expression here! It looks like she's pleading with her Daddy to please get her out of another one of Mommy's wacky projects.

But, she was a good sport and helped get the bird food onto the cone!

With a little bit of my help, we ended up with this:

I can't wait for the birds to catch wind of the sweet treats hanging from our trees!

 

We have so much fun doing these projects. To see what others did with this week's food theme, visit the Unplug Your Kids blog.

Earth Day 2008: Activities for Toddlers

April 22 is Earth Day! What are you going to do to introduce your toddler to this very important day of awareness?

Here are a few activities that we're thinking about doing!

Sort Recyclables

One of the skills that Toddlers continue to improve upon is sorting, so why not give them some more practice? Depending on your child's ability, offer him several of two or more categories of items such as cardboard, plastic, and aluminum. Of course, you'll want to ensure that all items are safe and clean.

For the littlest sorters, keep it on the simple side with two types of items. For example, toilet paper rolls and empty water bottles. For older kids, try providing a more varied selection.

Build a Birdhouse

Birdhouses can be a great way for youngsters to see how nature is working right in their backyard. Build a house worthy of nesting and your tot might even get to see eggs and, later, baby birds! (Of course, you should not tamper with bird eggs or babies).

You can make your birdhouse from recycled materials such as a milk carton, a coffee can, a juice container, or a gourd!

Make a Bird Feeder

While you're providing a cozy home for your backyard birds, why not give them something munch on as well?

You can use everyday household items to make this bird feeder.

Or use some of your toddler's favorite foods...Cheerios and peanut butter! (but don't forget the birdseed ;) ) You can find instructions for this feeder here.

Plant Something

The rewards of growing live plants are far-reaching.

Plant a tree with your child and explain to them that as the tree grows it will provide shade for us and a home for birds and squirrels.

Grow any kind of edible plant: a tomato, some cabbage, or even a few herbs. Once the plants are grown, your toddler can then experience the satisfaction of eating the fruits of his labor!

Plant some flowers! Flowers are especially intriguing for our young ones simply because of their aesthetically pleasing qualities: they are colorful, often fragrant, and have interesting textures to explore. Or, take advantage of the Spring bulbs that are popping up this time of year. Give your toddler a daily peek at the flowers and anticipate their "grand openings." We just had some lilies shoot up and every day I would explain to Little Bit that they would soon open into beautiful flowers. When they finally did open, she was overwhelmed with excitement as she brought me to the patio door to show me!

Go on a Nature Walk

Little Bit is always excited to walk as opposed to being strolled or slung. She always finds things she wants to stop and look at, but usually I'm in too much of a hurry to let her.

For your nature walk, try to let your little one set the pace. You can bring along a checklist of things to keep an eye out for, or bring along a camera and snap shots as your child makes new discoveries on her own. Later, you can print the photos and make a nature catalog for your youngster to peruse.

Put on Your Green Shoes

Get some plain white tennies and die them green! Then slap them on the kiddos and play music from the 1993 CD Put on Your Green Shoes. Here are the lyrics to the title track (by Cyndi Lauper):

Gather 'round children and you will hear
The sound of a cricket crying in your ear
That's Mother Nature, she's crying out loud
This old earth needs some loving now, so

Chorus:

Put on your green shoes
Put on your green shoes
Mother Nature, she's calling to you
To put on your green shoes

Put on your green shoes and walk with me
We'll go around back and plant a tree
Help it grow and you will see
The way the world was meant to be

Chorus

Wonder how the world would be
Without the shade of a redwood tree
Without all the fish, the birds and the bees
Springtime would be lonely, so
Chorus

I may wait another year or two to do this one, but my nieces did it a few years ago at school and I just loved the idea. It was a great way to get the kids in the spirit and music always has a way of leaving a lasting impression. Plus, every time they don their flashy green kicks they'll remember the importance of taking care of the environment!

Read a Book

Here are some titles we'll be keeping an eye out for at the library and bookstores:

This Is the Earth That God Made

I Love Our Earth

The Earth and I

The Whole Green World

Baby's Book of Nature

I'll post our projects as we complete them then do a round-up of them all on Earth Day. And, if I can figure out how it works, I'll try to post a Mister Linky so you can join me in sharing your Earth Day activities! (If I don't figure it out, you can still share your ideas in the comments).

Memory Book for a Toddler

For this week's Unplugged Project theme of "books," I used our weekend trip to the beach as an opportunity for Little Bit to make a mini-scrapbook. It was a great chance for her and Aunt Patty to have a few more minutes together before we had to leave.

I did most of the prep work like cutting the paper, choosing and printing the photos, and coming up with a layout. Little Bit is usually happy to have the job of "Glue Stick Engineer."

Aunt Patty helped with the gluing and talked to Little Bit about what was going on in the pictures.

Here is the finished product. We kept it nice and short with only 4 pages (including the cover). We also embellished the cover with a few shells that we had collected. Little Bit decided on the placement of each shell. Unfortunately, they are also the first things she grabs for when we look at the book, so we're already missing one. We were going to add some coordinating beach stickers for more of a scrapbook feel, but decided against it since she had pretty much lost interest in the project once we had gotten this far.

Overall, I think the greatest benefit to a project like this is not necessarily the creation of the book, but the nostalgic nature of it. It will make a great keepsake and I know that Little Bit will want to see the pictures of her trip to the beach over and over. It will just be that much more special that she had a hand in creating the book!

Thanks, Mom Unplugged for another great Unplugged Project! If you're interested in seeing what other's did for this week's project go here!

April Fool's Day: Practical Jokes for Toddlers

Never too early to get your budding pranksters into gear!

Here are some fun pranks to play on your babies:

• Pull the chair out from under your little one right before he sits down...it'll be really funny!
• Leave the house for a long time without telling your kids where you're going...it's like an oversized game of hide-and-seek!
• Make the day into a "Freaky Friday" theme and pretend you're switching roles...your two year old will think it's hilarious to see you in a diaper (until it's time to change you).
• Show them how exciting it is to call 9-1-1 and hang up...always a winner!
• To really get them into the April Fool's Spirit, skip the above and see this awesome idea.

Have a fun-filled April Fool's Day!

ETA: If your read this post on April Fool's Day, you were Rickrolled. If you are reading this post on another day, please notice that this is an April Fool's post and is simply a reflection of my sick sense of humor. It is not to be taken seriously (Read: Don't do any of these things).

Unplugged Project: Rockin' Out

Here is our first attempt at participating in the Unplugged Project weekly blog carnival hosted by Unplug Your Kids.

Since I was drawing a blank with what to do for this week's theme, which was rocks, I did a good ol' Google search and came across this.

Perfect! A rock garden seemed just right for a toddler.

So, off we went to Grandma's house to collect some nice rocks!

We didn't have to go far...Grandma's driveway has plenty to choose from!

Here is Little Bit with her shiny red rock collecting pail (i.e. leftover Valentine's Day bucket).  She's starting to lose interest at this point.

So, I helped her out a bit!

Once we had enough rocks we brought them inside for a good scrubbin'. I can tell she'll make an excellent dishwasher one day (yes, I'm ready to start delegating chores).

Back at home we got our supplies together to paint the rocks. Little Bit couldn't wait to get started!

 

And the painting commenced.

Once the rocks were dry, we "planted" them in a nearby flowerbed.

Tadaaa! Here we have a very blurry picture of our completed painted rock garden!

 

I really enjoyed this project. We were able to stretch it out over the span of a few days with each step being nice and short...perfect for a toddler's attention span! And, we got to spend time outside in the beautiful weather we had this week...awesome!

I can't wait to see what next week's theme will be. Sound like fun? Come join us!

 

Friday's Fun: Fun With Books!

Don't just read your child's books to her. Have fun with them!

We love Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt. The book is a fun read on it's own, but paired with rhythm and hand motions it's a sure-fire hit.

Watch as Michael Rosen demonstrates:

 

Here are some more ways to get the most out of your toddler's books:

• Act them out
• Use big hand motions
• Find puppets or stuffed animals to retell the story
• Personalize the characters with various voices
• Pause throughout to allow your child to guess what comes next

For more fun ideas to incorporate into several other beloved children's books, check out Story Stretchers for Infants, Toddlers, and 2s

Goin' Clubbin'

Butts bouncing. Arms flailing. Legs in a fit of uncontrollable exuberance. This is the stuff baby-dancing is made of.

So what's better than getting to watch your little munchkin groove to the beat of Stayin' Alive in the middle of your living room?

Watching her groove alongside a few dozen other pint-sized disco divas in a baby-proofed nightclub.

Kids love to dance. So combining dancing with bubbles, tents, scarves, and snacks is a sure hit. What more could a toddler ask for in an afternoon?

Baby Loves Disco is a monthly event held at nightclubs in more than 20 US cities. Tickets run $12-15 "per walking human," depending on the location. For a few hours in the afternoon (2-5), the clubs open their doors to families of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Real DJs spin music from the 70s and 80s. Babies dance. Parents reminisce of times gone by.

Friday's Fun: Go to the Zoo! (Video)

Zoos make an ideal field trip. They're generally interesting to kids and adults alike. They usually have a play zone for the kids to get their wiggles out in between strolling from animal to animal. And, as we all know, it's all happening at the zoo!

Can't make it to your local zoo? Don't have a local zoo? Too lazy to pack up the kids and leave the house for a few hours?

Here's an idea...

Round up all of those little stuffed animals that nobody plays with and make your own zoo!

The kids will love making all of the animal sounds and you can also sing songs like Old McDonald Had a Zoo with them.

It'll be a blast, and you can still hang out in your jammies!

This is the first in what I hope will be a weekly post offering parents ideas for fun activities.

Unfortunately, I'm not clever enough to come up with cool ideas on my own. The inspiration behind today's Friday's Fun activity is from Fisher-Price.

Paint in the Tub!

No...not with the water in it.

For Christmas some friends of ours got our 19 month old a pack of 10 ct. 2 oz. Bottles - Assorted Color Washable Kid's Paint by Crayola. They explained to us that they let their little guy complete his finger painting masterpieces in the tub before his bath.. that way clean up is fast and easy.

We thought it was a great idea and tried it ourselves. Our daughter painted all over the construction paper, the tub, and herself, and we didn't have to worry about the paint getting everywhere. She had a blast!