With Halloween around the corner, now is a great time to prepare kids for trick-or-treating fun using pretend play to reinforce good manners, important safety tips, and proper Halloween etiquette. Here are some of our favorite ways for getting ready for Halloween with pretend play with lots of imaginative playtime fun thrown in! A BIG thank you […]
Apple Taste Test and Graph Activity
September 17, 2013 by
Using seasonal favorites is something I do a lot of in homeschooling. Each year we do something with apples, then pumpkins, then turkeys, then snowflakes and so on. It creates a rhythm of the year that the kids can rely on. I love teaching my kids with food related themes, so right now, it’s all […]
Apple Themed Mini Unit
September 16, 2013 by
I love fall, especially since it means fresh, crisp apples! Every year we visit our local orchard to pick apples and I wanted to do a quick apple themed day beforehand to get the kids excited about picking apples. Planning a week long unit can be daunting but creating a mini unit is simple and […]
When Your Child Hates School
September 13, 2013 by
“I hate Kindergarten,” he confessed with little arms crossed and tears in his eyes. “I did not have a good day and I do not want to go again.” My heart sank. It seemed that almost everything, from a too-tight snack box to a lonely after-lunch recess, had gone wrong for him on his first […]
Autumn Tree Sculptures from a Paper Bag
September 11, 2013 by
Fall Craft for Kids Need a boredom buster for the kids to celebrate Fall using materials you probably already have on-hand? These Autumn tree sculptures can be made from a paper bag and coffee filter leaves, and they are a great way to introduce kids to the concept of form and balance in sculpture art! […]
10 Apple Crafts and Activities for Preschoolers
September 5, 2013 by
We are getting ready for Fall, and that means plenty of crafts, recipes, and activities with one of my favorite fruits — Apples!! Every Fall our family looks forward to picking our own apples from the orchard. Once we return back home, we bake, cook, or craft with them! Whether you pick your own apples […]
Kid Illustrated Summer Memory Books
August 30, 2013 by
The end of the summer is bittersweet; it’s sad to say goodbye to the warm weather and time with the kids, but the new school year and upcoming seasons are wonderful things to look forward to. We celebrated summer’s end by creating Summer Memory Books, illustrated and put together by the boys! This post contains affiliate […]
Simple Summer Scrapbooks Kids Can Make
August 23, 2013 by
Need an easy way to keep the kids busy while preserving some of their favorite Summer memories? Here is a very simple scrapbook project the kids can make, just in time for back-to-school when many teachers begin the school year asking what the kids did over Summer vacation. A big thank you to Melissa & […]
Water Fun with a Marble Run
August 14, 2013 by
Using water as a learning tool in the summertime serves a dual purpose; kids learn and stay cool! Below is a list of three things that kids can learn about water through water fun with a marble run. 1. Water drips in drops. Due to surface tension, when water is slowly dripping off the marble […]
DIY School Supplies Kids Can Make
August 9, 2013 by
Busy getting the kids ready for school? Here are some easy school supplies the kids can make and clever ways they can add some creative touches to school supplies they already own using common household items. Most of these materials can also be found at the dollar store! 1. Modern Notebooks and Matching Pencils or […]
Ocean Themed Fun
July 26, 2013 by
Interested in teaching your children more about the ocean? Make a day out of it! Here are some ideas for planning a day filled with lots of ocean themed fun. Eat ocean themed food Make an octopus’s garden snack with a bell pepper as the body and 8 legs wallowing in the dip of your […]
Beach Keepsake Craft
July 24, 2013 by
One of our favorite places to go for vacation is the beach. It’s so relaxing and enjoyable, yet at the same time, the kids love to explore, build, and discover on the shoreline. This summer, I decided to use this opportunity to create a beach keepsake using their discoveries. The supplies you need are quite […]
Quick Craft for Kids — Toy Boats
July 24, 2013 by
Need a super quick craft to keep the kids busy? Here is a really simple toy boat the kids can make themselves, then race in a local creek, lake, or even in your own bathtub! My kids love making their own toys, so this activity was a big hit with them, plus it uses mostly […]
16 Summer Outings for Kids
July 21, 2013 by
Beat the Heat with these Summer Outings for Kids Surviving a heat wave with young children is no easy task! Here are 16 of our favorite Summer outings to stay cool when the weather is HOT:
Developing Storytelling Skills with a Mini Sandbox
July 19, 2013 by
Here’s a quick and easy way to work on developing storytelling skills with your preschooler using the sandbox, or in this case, a mini-sandbox! Clara was very lucky to have received this mini sandbox kit from a friend for her birthday, and she has spent many hours happily playing with this!! You could easily make […]
Sandbox Social Skills
July 17, 2013 by
There is a park near our home that has a spectacular public sandbox. Public sandboxes are fun places to play and learn because the high quantity of children and sand-toys present many opportunities for preschoolers to develop life-long social skills. As parents, we sometimes forget that our children are not born with social skills. Children […]
How to Make Cloud Dough
July 15, 2013 by
Summer is a great time to get outside and play in the sand and water, but those aren’t the only sensory activity opportunities! The warm weather makes it easy to take a variety of activities outside, and that typically means less mess and more fun! So today we’re sharing a video tutorial on how to […]
Fossil Hunting at the Creek
July 5, 2013 by
Summer is hot and the water in the creek is cold! We had fun cooling our toes while hunting for fossils! The rocks in the creek we visited were predominantly shale and limestone. Mixed into the bunch were some incredible fossils! I explained to the boys that fossils were impressions of the remains of creatures […]
