Treasure Hunt

November 29, 2016November 29, 2016Leave a comment

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We were stuck inside from wind and rain – the perfect chance to brighten up the day and set up a treasure hunt! All you need is crepe paper and a treasure waiting at the end.

You can either set up this game while your child naps or is in another room, but I knew Travis would be very into the crepe paper itself, so he helped me roll it and spread it all around.

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You can make your trail as complicated or simple as you like. We looped around door handles…

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… and wound under pillows…

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…and crisscrossed multiple trails.

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Because we’re in the holiday season, the prize waiting at the end of our line was a candy cane – the first one Travis has ever had, leading to much delight! Any similar simple-yet-joyful prize is sure to brighten even the dreariest day.

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As a bonus, Travis then invented games with the leftover crepe paper for quite a while!

Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree

November 28, 2016Leave a comment

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Why stop at one Christmas tree when you and your child can craft together this adorable second? Travis was so excited when he realized what shape we were making with our popsicle sticks.

First, you’ll need to get good and messy with green paint. Paint as many popsicle sticks as you need to make a tree shape – be prepared for green fingers so you can paint all the way to the edges! Once the popsicle sticks dry, cut a few into smaller pieces so your tree can taper at the top. Leave two sticks unpainted to serve as the trunk.

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Have your child help you arrange your “tree” on poster board, then glue each “branch” down, starting from the bottom up. Travis loved seeing the tree take shape as he worked!

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Then it was time to decorate! Party confetti from the grocery store worked perfectly as ornaments and tinsel, but use any sparkly crafty items you have at home that can be glued on.

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For the star on the top, we traced a star-shaped cookie cutter on construction paper, then cut out and glued on. A very cute and festive project.

N Week!

November 25, 2016August 14, 2017Leave a comment

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Even with the Thanksgiving holiday, we squeezed in games and crafts with a letter N theme this week, as we continue on our Letter of the Week journey. Highlights included…

Nature/natural: This was really our key theme of the week, and we kicked things off with a gorgeous fall walk through a nature preserve before the weather turned very windy. With the collection of nature items we found, we came home and arranged them on contact paper. Simply fold the sticky paper in half when you’re finished and voila – a nature collage!

We also saved some of the leaves and flowers for a natural dye collage (and added a few store-bought berries because I knew their colors would be vibrant). We used cheesecloth, since I knew we wouldn’t be keeping this project, but make your dye collage on muslin or other cloth if you want to save it for doll’s clothing or another project. Once arranged, Travis loved pounding on the items with a mallet, and seeing the beautiful colors that (naturally) resulted.

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Finally, for all those events out in nature, we needed a trail walking stick.

Nest: This word was closely linked to the nature ideas above. We used our air-dry clay to shape a nest, and pressed in more great finds from our nature walk – pine needles, grasses, and leaves. The process was so fun I devoted a separate blog post to it.

Noise: Make some of course! Pull out whatever instruments you have in the house, or use items around the house to create instruments, or simply bang on pots and pans. However you make noise, Raffi’s “Let’s Make Some Noise” is the perfect song to do it to.

Net: To play with a random butterfly net we own, I fashioned “butterflies” from construction paper and we set them aflutter for Travis to chase around. It was so windy that we were able to do this right at our windowsill, though we briefly tried outside as well. Nets are also great for bathtub “fishing” or just for letting your toddler collect little items.

Newspaper: Old newspapers are the gift that keeps on giving. You can wad them up and use an old baby tub as target practice…

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…or roll into a “golf club” and aim golf balls at a target (such as an empty shoebox on its side). We also made newspaper hats, and Travis was so proud wearing his!

And our weekly extras:

Fine art: My intended project was a bit of a fail. I hoped to encourage Travis to make a necklace by threading o-shaped cereal (we used Freedom O’s) onto licorice (yes, Twizzlers are vegan) but he decided it would be much more fun just to eat the cereal and watch me work. Win some, lose some!

Food: We had noodles for dinner one evening. Travis has also gotten a kick out of belly buttons lately, so what better snack than a navel orange?

Books: Library picks this week included Jan Brett’s Noah’s Ark, The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and Dog’s Noisy Day by Emma Dodd.

Songs: Give a listen to “These are the People in the Neighborhood.” Then follow it up with a walk or drive around your neighborhood!

Math: Nickles are an obvious choice. Travis knows quarters and pennies, so this week I taught him to recognize nickles as well, tough because they are the “medium-sized” ones!

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I also simply left out all his toys and books that feature numbers, so he could return to them throughout the week.

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One neat way to visually depict how numbers increase is to build increasingly tall towers (Duplo blocks are perfect) on a corresponding number mat or puzzle.

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Bird’s Nest with Miniature Speckled Eggs

November 23, 20161 Comment

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Adding natural elements to a make-believe bird’s nest makes it all the more special – both as a project and to play with! We used air-dry clay to shape our nest, but if you really want to be authentic, try using mud after a rainy day, or make mud by mixing dirt and water at home. Just be sure to place a piece of poster board under your creation to contain the mess!

To start, I helped Travis shape clay into a nest shape, and then we pressed on finds from a recent nature walk – pine needles, grasses, and leaves – for a realistic look.

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Travis loved selecting the items to use!

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As a finishing touch, we made clay eggs. Travis enjoyed rolling the clay between his palms to make egg shapes, but then also loved smooshing them, so I ultimately shaped the final eggs we used!

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I thought it would be fun to speckle the eggs blue, but the mechanics of this were a bit advanced for Travis. Instead, he smeared blue paint on some while I speckled a few others, and then rolled them between my hands for a more realistic look.

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Once everything dried, he loved playing with a clay bird inside the nest!

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We drew a tree on our poster board base to give his playtime a background as well.

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Overall, a very fun way to use our clay!

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Trail Walking Stick

November 22, 20161 Comment

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Travis could happily spend all day simply walking outside, digging in the dirt, looking for bugs. It has inspired me to slow down, to appreciate nature in ways I never imagined before being his mom. He also motivates me to get out even in chilly weather – something that never happened before his birth! – so we didn’t let a cold snap deter us from making a walking stick this week.

The first step is to find a good sturdy stick on one of your excursions. We brought it home and the next day I pulled out multi-colored yarn.

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Although the actual mechanics of wrapping the yarn around the stick are a bit advanced for Travis’ age, he insisted on helping every step of the way. I would tightly wrap one section, then he would “wrap” the next section before we took turns again.

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His eyes lit up when he saw the plain brown stick transform into a pattern of purple and white, and he took the whole business very seriously until our stick was complete!

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I added a smaller stick towards the top for a handle, but a simple straight stick would work just fine. And as I mentioned, a little cold weather didn’t deter Travis from testing it out!

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Gratitude Tree

November 21, 2016Leave a comment

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I found this idea on Kids Activities Blog, which is full of neat craft ideas for the holidays… or any time of year. It seemed like a beautiful way to introduce a toddler to the idea of giving thanks. Two and a half is of course young to entirely understand the concept of “grateful,” but Travis does know what he loves and enjoys best, so those were the words I used as I guided him to fill out the leaves of our “tree”.

First, find a branch or stick with several twigs on it that you can talk home – a perfect excuse for a fall nature walk!

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We took our branch home and planted it in a glass with dried beans for stability. Small pebbles would work as well, but I liked that the beans represented the Thanksgiving harvest and bounty.

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The next day, I cut “leaves” from fall-colored construction paper – reds and yellows and oranges – and sat down with Travis to fill them out. While he colored some of the leaves, I prompted him to share what he was thankful for and wrote down his answers on other leaves. I also shared my answers with him, to help him understand the idea.

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Punch a hole in each “leaf” and hang from your tree branches with string.

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Your gratitude tree is now ready to adorn the Thanksgiving table – perhaps with some turkey friends for company?

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Turkeys at the Table

November 20, 2016November 21, 20164 Comments

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I try to make Thanksgiving a holiday full of gratitude – for our loved ones and our blessings, and also for all animals. Raising Travis vegan, this means teaching him to celebrate turkeys, while still making sure he doesn’t feel left out of traditions! So we make these beautiful birds the stars of the table, but not the plate.

Every year since his birth I’ve adopted a turkey in his name, bringing us up to our third turkey now. Meet Kristoff!

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To further highlight turkeys, we made cute napkin-ring centerpieces for the table this year!

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Cut a paper towel tube into thirds, and trim each so that a triangle sticks up at the top. Let your child cut a slit on two sides of the tube, then insert two pieces of craft foam – one yellow, one orange – that you’ve cut into “feathers.” (To simplify, you could buy craft foam flowers and cut in half).

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Fold down the triangle on each tube to be the beak, and then add eyes (either with marker or googly eyes) and a triangle beak cut from orange construction paper.

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Your turkey friend is now ready to hold a napkin at your table!

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Walnut Boats

November 19, 2016November 19, 2016Leave a comment

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To truly make these adorable boats (which really float!) you’ll need hot glue. I decided to go ahead and improvise with the glue we have, so while the boats still made for fun play, they took quite a bit longer to assemble. Read on!

First, fill empty walnuts shell halves with glue all the way to the top. Travis loved squeezing the glue into a big goopy pile to help with this part.

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Insert a toothpick into the center of each glue pile to be the mast. If you have hot glue, you’ll only need to hold your pick a minute or two for it to set. I propped up the shells and masts and had to leave them overnight at this point!

Once your glue is dry, you can adorn the mast with the sail of your choosing. Paper flags would work just fine, or add pirate flag decorations if your toddler is into pirates! Instead of paper, we used little marine-themed stickers that I had lying around.

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We tested the walnut boats in a basin first, before bringing them to bath time for soapy sailing. Travis loved throwing in the additional marine stickers.

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If you successfully make these boats with hot glue, please share in the comments!

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Foil Monster Truck Rally

November 18, 2016November 18, 2016Leave a comment

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Travis has a “monster Jeep” that he loves, so when I saw this adorable way to play monster truck rally at home, I had to give it a try!

Wrap small cars (matchbox race cars are the perfect size) in foil to form an impression, then remove the car to leave the shape behind. This takes some practice, but don’t worry if your work is a bit sloppy – the cars are about to be crushed anyway!

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Line the “cars” up in a row; now it’s time for your monster trucks to wreak havoc!

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Travis was mildly interested in driving the jeep over the foil, particularly when he was surprised to see the cars get crushed instead of staying solid.

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Even more so, he loved the general idea of wrapping cars in foil and then discovering which one was hidden inside. It’s yet another instance of setting up a game for him, only for him take it a new direction that he enjoys more. So why not!

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Either way, you’re sure to have some fun with this one.

Flying Saucer

November 18, 2016November 18, 2016Leave a comment

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We talked a lot about modes of transportation here on planet Earth this week… but what about transportation in outer space??

To make a super-stellar UFO at home, all you need are two paper plates and a few supplies for decoration. Glue the plates together and let dry completely.

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For the best flying saucer, I recommend silver paint. Travis had a blast painting, since it’s a color we’ve never used before!

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Then we added glitter because, well, we needed space dust of course. In retrospect, I would have skipped this part, as it made flying the UFO a glittery mess every time! But for toddler fun, glitter can’t be beat.

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