Water-Powered Window Stickers

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All you need for this activity are a few sheets of craft foam. And since these “stickers” peel off and on any window as many times as your child wants, they lend themselves perfectly to imaginative stories and play.

We used craft foam in three colors, and started out by tracing cookie cutters to make shapes and people (hint: you’ll want to use a gingerbread man cookie cutter!). Travis quickly wanted all our stickers to have a Star Wars theme, so we traced a few nightlight inserts in favorite shapes like R2-D2 and The Millennium Falcon, too.

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Then he decided to draw a few favorite characters free-hand, like Jabba the Hutt! I was impressed with his creativity.

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Draw on any details like facial features, buttons, or hoods with permanent marker, then cut each shape out.

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All Travis had to do to create a stage for his little characters on the window was to dip them in a dish of water. I set down a bowl of water (and a paper towel to clean up any drips!) and the fun began.

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Travis loved the way he could manipulate the characters all over the window, changing the scene and staging battles and rescues.

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Because you can layer one foam piece atop another, be sure to add accessories, too. Darth Vader’s mask could go over any of the little people’s heads, for example. You could even make a foam cut-out to look like a speech bubble and add words with permanent marker.

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No matter what theme your child has for these stickers, they are sure to be easy and fun.

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Beachy Creature Feet

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It’s just about the end of summer, which means by next year any current flip-fops are not going to fit your kids’ feet anymore. So here’s a fun way to transform those flippies as the season winds down!

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I had each of the kids select which kind of “creature” paws they wanted, care of a few suggestions in Highlights magazine, then helped trace and cut the shapes out on craft foam.

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If your kids truly won’t be wearing their flip-flops again, you can use tacky glue to adhere the foam, as well as additional foam dots or stripes for decoration. If you want a more temporary version (we still have a few beach days left!) use double-stick tape for a fun, reversible transformation.

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They loved stomping around as creatures for a little bit!

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I’d say these were the cutest critters on the beach.

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Homemade Bath Shapes

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Here’s a fun variation on foam sheers in the tub that Veronika has enjoyed lately at bath time.

This time, I used cookie cutters to trace shapes that are becoming identifiable to her, including stars, moons, basic shapes like circles, and a few fun ones like bells.

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I cut them out and then lined them up on the bathtub walls so she could see how they stuck right to the tub. She loved taking them off and on again.

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The star was a fast favorite. With no prompting, she held it up high every time I sang the “up above the world so high” line of Twinkle, Twinkle!

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The moon likewise received big smiles when I recited a favorite poem about the moon.

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This was a great way to combine tub fun with object recognition as your toddler begins adding more and more words to his or her vocabulary.

Foam Sheet Bath

Foam Bath (5)There’s a new favorite bath toy around here, and it’s as simple as this: leftover foam sheets from the craft store!

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I happened to have circular ones, which were the perfect material for the tub. They are slightly smaller and thus easier to manipulate than standard rectangular sheets you can purchase. If you have big rectangular ones, consider cutting into smaller shapes in a variety of squares, circles, and triangles.

Veronika was soon squishing them in her hands in the water with glee.

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I showed her how to stick them up to the wall as soon as they were wet, and she proceeded to pull them down and stick them back on all bath.

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Rather obviously, the game was great for talking about colors, too! Could she put her hand on the blue one? Could she hand me a green one?

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As a bonus, leave them in the tub for older siblings; big brother Travis turned these into “lily pads” for toy animals!

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