Under the Sea Play Scene

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Here’s a fun sticker art project that turns into a game at the end!

First, I told Travis we were simply making underwater scenes. He’s been learning about coral reefs, which made this a neat extension. We added stickers to thick white paper featuring coral, sea stars, fish, and more.

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I also added a background with crayons to show sand, water, and extra seaweed. Next, fill zip-top bags with blue paint. Insert your sticker scenes, and seal tightly.

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I showed Travis that now he could uncover his ocean scene beneath the waves! In addition to the cool tactile feel of this, it was fun to watch the crabs and fish appear on the “surface”.

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If your child is learning to spell, the paint is great for practicing: F-i-s-h, fish!

 

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Note: I would use a lot more blue paint next time, since I didn’t have much and ours barely covered the paper, which sort of spoiled the “reveal” of the scene beneath. But Travis still enjoyed it!

What will go in your ocean scene? Please share in the comments!

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K is for Kiss

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Veronika loves to play with the makeup under the bathroom sink, so today I decided to let her have free reign with a tube of old lipstick. We even threw in some early letter recognition and phonics!

To start, I drew a big letter K on white paper and cut it out.

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Then I showed her how to apply lipstick first on mommy and then on herself. This girl loves to make herself up!

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Now we each gave the K a kiss, and I emphasized the beginning letter sound as I told her what we were doing. She thought this was so silly! I added lots of kiss marks so our K was covered.

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There was still a little lipstick left in the tube, which she could use like a paintbrush on an extra piece of paper.

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She also loved taking the tube cap off and on again, which was great for fine motor skills.

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Who knew a tube of old lipstick was a great toy for a toddler!

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Pipe-Cleaner Party

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Here’s an old activity I used to do with Travis, and today was Veronika’s turn. Make your kitchen colander into the prettiest one in the world with pipe cleaner decorations!

I set out a big handful of pipe cleaners and showed Veronika how to poke one down into the colander’s holes.

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She took over immediately!

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Big brother Travis wanted in on the party, too! He liked making the pipe cleaners into loops instead of simply sticking them out straight.

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I challenged the kids to see if they could fill all the holes, which they nearly achieved!

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For an extra challenge at the end, I sorted the pipe cleaners around the colander by color. Could Veronika figure out where a few leftovers were supposed to go?

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After a bit of prompting, she aced the test! This was a great way to play with common household items, now that colder days have us inside longer hours once more.

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