Easter Egg Maracas

April 18, 2019Leave a comment

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Here’s a great use for any extra plastic Easter eggs you have lying around this time of year! You can make the maracas after the hunt on the holiday, or set aside a few and make them beforehand; they look beautiful among other Easter decorations.

First, scoop a little rice into plastic Easter eggs. Good scooping practice!

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Place two plastic spoons around the egg, and secure with decorative washi tape. Any color will do, but I looked specifically for colors and prints that evoked springtime! Whoops – Travis thought it was funny when he taped my thumb in for a moment.

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Now continue wrapping in washi tape until the egg and the spoon handles are completely covered. This step got a big frustrating for Travis, so finishing up became a mama job.

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Turns out little sister Veronika loved the maracas, too!

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In fact, perhaps more so than Travis.

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But they were still great for shaking and grooving to music.

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Add these to your table centertop for an Easter decoration, or just enjoy them during any music play.

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Shadow Show

April 17, 2019Leave a comment

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I haven’t used a flashlight during play with Veronika since she was quite little, and today I wanted to put on a little show for her. To be honest, she was more into my hands than their shadowed counterpart on the wall, but either way, she was entertained!

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Set your child someplace dim, and shine a flashlight on one wall. First, I gave a simple wave to introduce her to the idea of shadows.

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Next, try making animal shapes! A butterfly was fun.

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And this was something like a barking dog.

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For each shape, you can act out a story, if your little one is captivated.

We then thought it would be fun to show her the shadow of certain toys. Big brother Travis loved helping with this part!

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So although she wasn’t as into the shadows as the whole process, Veronika sure enjoyed our show.

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Vegan Easter Eggs, Three Ways

April 17, 2019April 17, 20191 Comment

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Every Easter since Travis was little, I’ve wanted to dye eggs, but didn’t manage to find plastic or wooden ones in time for the holiday. This year, I was prepared! Today, Travis and I tested out three neat methods of dyeing plastic Easter eggs. Did other people know these plastic ones from Paas exist? What a find!

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To be honest, none of the following three methods worked that great on the plastic – it was more about the process and the fun than the result. The colors and tricks may work better on real egg shells, if your family is not vegan.

First up was a Marble Finish version. Fill a baking sheet with a generous layer of shaving cream.

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Add drops of food coloring at 4 separate intervals. Swirl the color slightly into the shaving cream.

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Now add 1 egg to each color, rolling around slightly.

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Let sit for 10 minutes. Wipe off the excess shaving cream, and you should see a neat marbled color effect.

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Of all the methods we tested, this one worked best!

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While the eggs sat in the shaving cream, we set up the second attempt: Soap Star eggs.

Fill a small bowl with 2 tablespoons dish soap, 1 teaspoon water, and 10 drops of food coloring. Use a straw to blow bubbles in the solution (they will be big bubbles), then stir quickly until you have smaller bubbles.

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Dip an egg into the bubbly water, then let set until the bubbles dry.

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Finally, we made Bubble Fun prints! Draw with sharpie marker (or use an ink pad) on bubble wrap.

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Wrap around an egg while the ink is still wet, and press firmly. You’ll have dot marks left behind.

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As mentioned, all of our results were faint, but I was so glad my little vegan got to join in the Easter egg fun!

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Sheet Pan Sausage and Tots

April 17, 20191 Comment

Sheet Pan Sausage

I love any meal you can make on only one pan, and this one makes dinner especially exciting, since it’s a breakfast-for-dinner kind of treat, too! You can use vegan breakfast sausage links (such as Field Roast) for the recipe, but I like using the sausage patties from Hilary’s. If using the former, use 6 to 8 links, instead of 4 patties.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen potato tots
4 vegan breakfast sausage patties
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Black pepper to taste (optional)

Arrange all of the ingredients on a baking sheet, tossing to coat in the olive oil. Bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes, stirring about halfway through.
If desired, sprinkle with black pepper for serving.

Gallant Challenge: Secret Agents of Kindness

April 16, 2019May 6, 2019Leave a comment

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Travis was introduced to “Goofus and Gallant” in his welcome issue of Highlights magazine, a feature my husband remembers from his own childhood! For those who don’t know, Goofus is always messing up or erring on the side of rudeness, while Gallant always does the right thing. Each issue will feature a Gallant Challenge, and Travis was up for the first one – to do a secret and kind deed for a neighbor!

We talked about some nice things you can do (such as leaving cookies at someone’s door, or helping an elderly neighbor carry mail or groceries) and decided that today our task would be to make people smile – with cheerful chalk messages!

At various entrances around our apartment complex, Travis helped me think of kind messages to write, and I chalked them in (bigger kids can, of course, do this step themselves). Travis added scribbles and drawings around my messages, and loved signing his name at each stop, too!

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Soon we had left behind happy missives like “Happy Spring!”

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“You are wonderful!”

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and “Life is Good!”

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Near this last one, Travis decided to make X’s, which he said meant he was crossing out any bad days that people were having. I loved how into the project he was!

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Some other suggestions included:

Bringing in trash cans
Leaving the newspaper at a neighbor’s door
Cleaning up trash

Whatever action your kids choose, the key is to do it in secret. Then hide and see if you can watch a person’s surprised and pleased reaction! How do your kids spread kindness? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Tickly Toes

April 16, 2019Leave a comment

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Ok, spring has only just begun, but today I tantalized Veronika with a hint of the summer to come… With sand, that is! No matter what time of year you play this game, sand is a fantastic tactile and sensory play ingredient.

Since you don’t want sand anywhere near a baby’s hands or mouth, this is strictly a foot game for a five month old.

I poured some sand into a shallow baking tray, and sat with Veronika on my lap. I dipped her toes into the sand for a little feel. She seemed intrigued, although also confused.

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Swirl baby’s toes around or press gently into the sand. You can also pick up a little handful of sand and trickle it down over the toes – this will both feel good and look exciting!

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Once she tired of her toes in the sand, I took some time to pour sand from a cup for her, so she could further enjoy watching the sand sparkle. It won’t be long before this girl is at the beach!

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All Fall Down

April 16, 2019Leave a comment

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Try this adorable game to improve your baby’s hand-eye coordination, as well as skills like concentration or cause and effect. It also introduces a love of playing with boxes, something that’s sure to continue throughout the toddler years.

Small boxes are ideal for this game, to fit a baby’s small hands. We had a variety pack of cereal boxes that were just right for the job. I taped the empty boxes shut so no edges poked up.

First, I simply let Veronika hold and explore one. She was instantly drawn to it – probably because of that grinning cute tiger!

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Stack a few of the boxes together, just out of baby’s reach. This was a bit tricky, since Veronika is just learning to hold herself upright in a seated position, and she wanted to lunge for the boxes. Concentration, being built!

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Once I had a tower, I let her take a swing. Bam! We all fall down.

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If your baby doesn’t seem interested in the boxes themselves, you can set a toy on top of the tower as enticement.

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Once baby reaches for the toy… Boom!

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The boxes fall.

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But honestly Veronika was so eager to get her hands on the cereal boxes, the toy was a moot point.

Once we’d had enough of sitting and knocking down, I set the boxes up for tummy time.

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She also had fun with them while she played on her back. As always, boxes make excellent toys.

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Art of the Color Wheel

April 15, 2019Leave a comment

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A gray day seemed like the perfect chance to bring color inside. To combat all the dark rain clouds, Travis and I explored different ways we could make a color wheel. This project was part lesson, part craft – and all fun!

First, we did a quick review: I showed him paintings that use yellow, red, and blue as the dominant colors, including Piet Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie and Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Yellow, Red, and Blue).

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Take the time to ask your child what he or she thinks the pictures are about, or how they make him or her feel. He told me Rothko’s made him “happy happy sad.” When I asked him to explain, he said the red and yellow were happy, but the blue was sad. Then remind your child these are the three primary colors.

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Now it was time to make color wheels! We started with the most basic version using crayons. I filled in yellow, red, and blue on a paper plate divided into 6 portions. His job was to figure out which secondary color went where.

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The next version was a little messier. We made three blobs of paint in the primary colors, and he used a paintbrush to drag these together. Soon we had a color wheel!

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I encouraged him to make a version with hand prints, but he didn’t want to get that messy. Using my hand and fingerpaint, I showed him an example, pressing together yellow and blue prints. Your kids might want to have goopy fun with this and make a full handprint color wheel!

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Finally, it was water mixing time! We filled three cups with water, and added our primary colors (now in the familiar red, yellow, and blue) with food coloring.

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Use a pipette (which means you’re sneaking in fine motor skills, too!) to make a few drops of each color on a plate. Then mix and match to form the secondary colors.

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Travis enjoyed this version the most, and soon was experimenting with making a big plate of brown.

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All of this was prompted by a Raddish Kids lesson, so we also watched some of the recommended videos to further our exploration. There’s lots more you can do to go further in depth with older kids: check out fine art books at the library, or head to a gallery for a primary and secondary color scavenger hunt!

Messy Play

April 14, 2019Leave a comment

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Veronika’s old enough now for her first messy sensory play, and this little game is a baby’s first introduction to ooblek!

As a reminder, “ooblek” is a fantastic substance that acts like a liquid in some circumstances, and a solid in others.

To make a very basic version, combine 1 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup water in a bowl. Add just a few drops of natural food coloring.

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I sat Veronika down in her high chair – with sleeves rolled up and bib on! – and got ready for the mess.

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Drip some of the mixture onto the highchair tray. It will drip like a liquid, but solidify once on the tray. You can run your finger through it, and leave neat designs.

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She seemed hesitant at first, which surprised me; this is a girl who loves to get her hands in her food. But soon, her little fingers were squishing through the mixture.

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I very gently spooned some right into her fist. She squished and squeezed!

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Ooblek is fun!

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What sensory play does your baby like? Please share in the comments!

Boomerang Toy

April 14, 2019Leave a comment

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Veronika hasn’t spent much time playing on her back lately; as soon as she learned how to roll, that was it… My little girl likes tummy play! As a result, I dismantled her play gym, and she spends most of her time playing on her belly.

But today, I wanted to focus on her grabbing skills and hand-eye coordination, so we made this cute boomerang toy.

Simply cut open a strong rubber band and attach to any soft small toy. (Make sure this is tied very securely, so the rubber band doesn’t become a choking hazard).

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While your baby lies on his or her back, bounce the toy above them. Pull down so the rubber band snaps back. Well wouldn’t you know, Veronika went wild for it!

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Her eyes were wide with delight, and she loved grabbing for it.

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Gotcha!

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And kicking it with her feet.

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When I made a silly “boing” sound, she began cackling and giggling.

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What an absolute delight it was to watch her joy.

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You can also purchase toys that mimic this rubber band bouncing. We have an old stroller toy from when Travis was a baby that retracts on a string. This one also elicited lots of giggles and grabbing.

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