When we woke up this morning, we were greeted by these….. …. sprouts of basil from our indoor herb garden!! To celebrate, we read the book Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. What a fabulous find this book turned out to be, and I highly recommend it if you have any junior gardeners in […]
Junior Stamp Collecting
September 28, 2009 by
This little gem of an activity was inspired by a recent package that arrived for Mark all the way from Hong Kong. Emily was enthralled with the stamps, so I thought I would introduce her to my old stamp collection from when I was a kid. My dad has a much larger collection, so it […]
Eliminate Plastic Bag Clutter with this Easy Craft
September 26, 2009 by
We recently borrowed Ed Emberley’s Picture Pie (Ed Emberley Drawing Books) from our local public library, and it inspired this quick project for a plastic bag organizer that uses an empty tissue box! We used a large circle cutter to cut all the pieces quickly and easily. Then Emily chose a design from the book […]
Simple Tip to Reuse Workbooks
September 17, 2009 by
We go through several workbooks in this household, so I was trying to come up with an easy way to reuse them and save them for when Clara is a little older. This seemed to work the best, and it’s also very frugal. To reuse sheets from a workbook, tear out the pages, and place […]
Write to Grandma Kit
September 9, 2009 by
Emily loves writing letters to Grandma, so we put together a little letter writing kit to encourage this important task! This is a fun way to celebrate Grandparent’s Day (Sept. 13th). Somehow I had accumulated a tremendous amount of stationery over the years, and Emily enjoyed going through my collection to pick out cards and […]
Look What Came in the Mail!
June 22, 2009 by
A few days ago, I signed Emily up for a letter/artwork exchange with a 3 1/2 year old girl named Lu from 4 Crazy Kings. Mama King has a fabulous blog over there, and it is definitely worth checking out. Emily was so excited to receive her letter, and quickly went to work on a […]
Slacker Saturday — Bug Hunt
May 9, 2009 by
Bug hunting is probably one of Emily’s favorite activities. Even if it’s raining outside, she likes to hunt for bugs inside the house! I think she inherited this bug-loving gene mostly from Mark. Although when I was a kid, I was known to have a fascination with caterpillars, but I think most kids are naturally […]
Jar Matching
April 14, 2009 by
It still amazes me how much of our inspiration comes from our recycling bin. For Emily, this is like an endless supply of free craft materials! For this matching activity, you will need jars of various sizes with different sized lids. We used jars from apple sauce, salsa, yeast, baby food, and artichoke hearts. Wash […]
Slacker Saturday — Pouring Practice
April 11, 2009 by
Just before Emily went off to bed tonight, I set up a quick and easy pouring activity for her. This sort of transfer activity is very Montessori-inspired, and it was good practice for her. Start with a small pitcher and a medium sized bowl. Fill the pitcher with dried beans and have your child practice […]
Frugal Fun with Music
February 20, 2009 by
This afternoon we made musical instruments from recyclables. This was a big hit and Emily is still making lots of new sounds with her drum, guitar, and shaker. We made the drum with an empty oatmeal canister. If you saw this post, you would understand why we have a lot of these! This version of […]
New — From PBS Kids
January 2, 2009 by
Emily alerted me to a new find on the PBS Kids website, one of her personal favorites. PBS Kids.org just released a new online learning tool called PBS Kids Play, an interactive virtual activity center that adjusts to your child’s individual level and tracks development with custom progress reports! It is primarily geared towards kids […]
Get Ready to Read Skill-Building Activity Cards
November 16, 2008 by
Get your FREE set of skill-building activity cards here. These are filled with great ideas to bring literacy skills into your home and daily routine. They are free and easy to print out, and all 36 activity cards are available in Spanish or English.
Free Online Learning Games for Kids
November 15, 2008 by
If you are looking for ways to keep your child busy this winter, why not try some online learning games? My daughter Emily (4) is a trained professional high-tech toddler. Here are some of her favorite sites that offer free online learning games that your child is sure to enjoy. PBS Kids.org — This […]
