Playing House

Over the months I have had an "official toddler", we have acquired a number of toys that represent household objects. It never occurred to me until today to arrange them in a corner of my daughter's room so that she can play "house" for the first time! I set up her play kitchen, her couch, her toy vacuum, and her piano. I also lay down her blanket so it can be the "rug" for her to vacuum. She loved it! She vaccumed, had a tea party, and made imaginary pancakes. Don't have the money for an over priced plastic play kitchen? Check out this homemade play kitchen for ideas to make your own! Of course, you don't have to be that fancy. An overturned cardboard box with burners drawn on can easily get toddler/preschooler's imaginations going. And who says you need special play pots and pans? Smaller sized adult cookware is just as effective. :) Scarlett loves playing house and having her stuffed bears come over to visit. See what you can gather to create a little house for your child too! Any other "house" ideas you have to share?

Where has the time gone?

Wow guys, is anyone still reading this thing? Sorry for the sudden several-month hiatus, life truly got in the way of blogging. Updates on my life: I am now going back to school to get my teaching certificate, learning with my daughter who is now two, and volunteering at a kindergarten 2 days a week. Oh yeah, and I work part time too. Things are busy to say the least! But I would really like to get this baby goin' again, so let's give it a shot! How have you been? :)

Make a Road!

Here's a simple, free activity you can do, providing you have easel paper at home. (if not, go get some! it is relatively inexpensive and lots of fun, even if you don't have an easel!) All I did was take a long piece of easel paper, tape it to the floor and draw a little road with landmarks on each side. I put a forest, a city, mountains, a lake, and a house. I used a sharpie to draw it and then colored it with crayons. You can get as elaborate or as simple as you want. Then get out your toddler's cars and let them go to town! I used play rugs as inspiration, so feel free to steal ideas from those!! My advice is don't put TOO much effort into getting artistic, because it will probably get torn up after one or two uses! You can have your toddler help color it in too! :) For a more permanent play area, I recommend using a large, flat painting canvas (look at any craft store) and use paints to make a road. Have fun!

Toddler Menu Mondays!

Check out these adorable hedgehog biscuits from Wild Animal Baby!!

What you need:

2 cups whole-wheat flour 2 cups bread flour 1 (1/4 oz.) package of active dry yeast pinch of salt 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 teaspoons honey 1 1/4 cups warm water raisins 1 beaten egg

What you do:

	In a large bowl, stir together both kinds of flour, yeast and salt. Add oil, honey and warm water. Mix until you have a stiff dough.
	Put the dough on a floured table and knead. Divide the dough into 8 pieces.
	Shape each piece of dough into an oval with a pointed end. Put them on a greased baking sheet.
	Wash a pair of safety scissors in hot, soapy water. Use the scissors to make snips all over the dough balls. The raised points will look like spines on a hedgehog. Push raisins into the dough for eyes and nose.
	Cover the whole baking sheet with plastic wrap. Let it stand in a warm place for 30 minutes. The dough balls will double in size!
	Remove the plastic wrap. Brush the dough with beaten egg. Bake at 450° F for 15-20 minutes.

Source

Apologies!!

I recently started a new weekend part-time job, and it has really thrown off what gets done around here!! I am slowly making the adjustment though, and I will be back to updating this week!

Last night we painted pumpkins as a family, since Scarlett is too young to carve anything yet. We just used crayola washable paints. My husband and I will probably carve ours next weekend even though we already painted them. Painting them is a fun activity for everyone!!

Really Awesome Toddler Activity Website!

Wow, who knew thar Quaker Oatmeal would have a website full of really great resources to keep your kid entertained?! Go here to find a bunch of coloring pages, seasonal and learning activities, and craft ideas! You can even pick out activities based on our child's age. It's really neat! Check it out! Today Scarlett and I will be printing out the fall coloring pages! :)

DIY Felt Board!

Here's a little project I put together in about 10 minutes. Felt boards are great learning tools, and they are super fun as well! You can use them to tell a story, as paper dolls, learning shapes and numbers, etc. So the following is a really simple tutorial on how to make your own felt board! Your toddler will love it.

First, get your supplies. You will need 1 yard of felt (white or light blue works well, in my opinion. Then get a poster board sized piece of foamcore. You will also need a hot glue gun or in a pinch you could probably make a less sturdier version with packing tape. You can get all this stuff at any craft store, I paid $5 for the materials.

The steps are simple. First, lay out your felt and place your foam core on top. Cut the felt to size the board, with a few inches extra on every side. Also you will want to cut out the excess from the corners so when you fold it over, you wont have too much excess fabric. See the above picture to understand what I am talking about.



Next you will want to use your hot glue gun and glue one side of the felt to the board. Then glue the opposite side and pull the fabric TIGHT so there will be no slack on the front side of the board. If you have ever stretched a canvas, you will know what I am talking about. After you do the first two sides, go ahead and repeat this step with the other sides.



This is what the back should look like when you are done.


And the front! There are lots of different felt board sets you can make or buy on ebay. I started Scarlett off with a quick "face" activity. I cut out pieces of a face and let her unassemble and assemble it (think mr. potato head) Either way, your child will have fun with this one since there are felt sets for every subject out there! If he likes cars, then make or buy a car felt board set! The possibilities are endless as your creativity.

Have fun with your felt board! :)