Glitter Oatmeal Snowflakes

Simple textured snowflake using craft sticks, glue, glitter, and oatmeal.

This was a pretty simple craft that took all of probably 8 minutes to do with 2 toddler boys who just wanted to play.

I did a bit of prep work to keep the craft simple and quick since the boys would rather play with each other than stop to do a silly mom craft. I hot glued the sticks together and added the ribbon the night before. I also pre-mixed the oatmeal and glitter so that all the boys had to do was add glue to the sticks and shake the snow flake in the glitter and oatmeal.

I hot glued the project together the night before to
make this craft very toddler ready, but you could
easy have an older child use wood glue and glue
them together themselves. 

Both boys said wow as we pulled their completed snowflakes from the oatmeal container, so I think the craft was a success.

Supplies

• ½ cup of oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon silver glitter
• Some type of container with lid (I used an empty oatmeal container)
• Wood craft sticks
• Hot glue and gun
• Ribbon
• Glue
• Paint brush

Directions

• Before craft time, hot glue wood craft sticks together in the shape of a snow flake and add a ribbon loop to the top of one of the sticks. 



Putting the snowflake decorations
in a shakable container made this
craft basically mess free, and the kids
loved pulling their creations
 out once they were done. 

• In empty container, combine oatmeal and glitter. An child can do this part. I just did it to make it easier on the day of the craft. 
• Have child paint craft sticks with glue and then place in container. Tighten lid and shake (definitely Calan's favorite party). 
• Take snowflake out and let dry. 

You could use a lot of alternatives to the oatmeal and glitter like rock salt or sugar or sequins. I just had oatmeal and glitter on hand, so that is what we used. I just recommend adding different textures together to give a fun look to the snowflake.

I got this craft idea from 

Post linked @ 

Winter Unit Study

During the month of January Calan, Maisie and myself will be learning about different aspects of winter. I am not sure how structured learning is going to go in my household, but we are going to try again. I am keeping everything pretty simple and repeatative, so if we don't get to something, no big deal. I have set some goals for us to learn, but again, it is just about us keeping our days filled and engaging.

So here is the plan:

Goals

• Color: White
• Number: 3
• Letter: W
• Books: 1) "The First Day of Winter" - A rhyming play off of the 12 days of Christmas, but instead the 10 days of Winter bring all the special things needed to build a snowman. 2) "The Snow Bear" - A little cub gets help from friends while he waits patiently for his mother to find him.
• Characteristic: Patience
• Bible Verse: 

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.

• Psalm 37:7 •

Jan. 7

Making Popsicle Stick Snowflakes and W is for winter coloring pages. (Hosting my monthly craft playdate with our good friends)

Source: mrskarensclass.blogspot.com via Jodie on Pinterest

Jan. 8

Sorting cotton balls with tweezers in egg carton with Maisie and placing cotton balls on the number 3 and letter W with Calan. As well as, playing in our snow sensory bin. (Attending a Mom's Club playdate in the morning)
Found these great artic animals online for our sensory bin. There were $12 after shipping.

Source: secure.thebigzoo.com via Jodie on Pinterest

Jan. 9

Painting with ice cubes on their Aquadoodle mat. (Continuing our Playaway class on Wednesday mornings.)

Jan. 10

Playing with Cloud Dough (8 cups flour mixed with 1 cup baby oil). 

Source: funfamilycrafts.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Jan. 11

Having a snowball toss. I'll set up baskets and bins around the room and the kids will be able to toss rolled up white socks into them. 

Serving others, 2-year-old style

Here is what I used for the thank-you cards the boys
decorated. I put together the base of the ornament and they
added green and white ribbon to the red ornament and
colored on the white ornament that we signed their
names to. 

Here are the peppermint covered pretzels I made. I got the
idea from Blooming Designs. 

The final ornament that Calan made for the firefighters. 

Here is one of the firemen that
we met. We were there basically 2 seconds
and Calan is already running as fast as he
can to the fire trucks. 

As parents, Bob and I truly want Christmas to be different for our children. We love being able to give them things that they want or need, but we want them to see Christmas as a time where we help others, love family, and celebrate Christ.

We also know that doing those things can never start soon enough. 

Yes, as a 2-year-old, Calan does not understand the things we are doing or why we do them, but he won't know any different as he grows up. The things we are doing now before he gets it will just be the way we do things. 

We went shopping as a family for Children's Hospital's Snow Pile (basically toys bought for the parents of children in the hospital to pick from for all the members of their families since they won't have time to shop and be there for their child in the hospital). We also do several year-end givings to charities that are important to us. 

While those are wonderful things, they do little for a 2-year-old boy. He approved of the gifts we bought, but never saw or interacted with anyone. 

So, a friend and I decided to take some treats to our local fire station to say thank you to the men and women who work there. This station is probably a quarter mile from our houses. I did not expect the experience to be as wonderful as it was. 

I made a treat for them and Calan and his friend decorated thank you cards for them. And then we packed up and headed over to the station. 

Calan driving a fire truck with all the lights going. He sat there
for what felt like forever and then drove the ambulance for
what felt like forever. 

Basically, we got a one-on-one tour of everything! Calan could barely handle his excitement. He sat in the driver seat for what felt like forever. Every time I asked if he was ready to get down, he said, "No, mom, I driving." 

The men were so nice and wonderful to our little boys. It almost felt like our thank-yous weren't enough. 

I am so glad we did this. It showed Calan in a small way that giving to others really gives joy in return. 

I know as an adult when I am helping and serving someone else above myself, I feel happier, more content, and more peaceful than when I am just serving my own needs. 

This experience was definitely the
right way to go to get a 2-year-old started in a serving direction. 

Thank you Royal Oak Fire Station #3. Merry Christmas and God bless you. 

Truth in the Tinsel

This is what my family room looked like last night.

This is where all the mess went to.

What am I doing? I am taking Calan and I on an Advent adventure till Christmas.

Using the e-book "Truth in the Tinsel", I have created 24 bags filled with ornament crafts and Bible study for Calan and I to do leading up to Christmas.

We will use each bag to learn a little more about Jesus and the Good News of his birth.

After we create the ornament, we will hang it on a small empty Christmas tree that we have. It will be Calan's own little tree to play and decorate.

I hope to do something like this every year with my kids.

Bob will do the Bible study with the kids in the morning before he leaves for work. I printed out the verses from the Good News translation. It seemed the most kid-word friendly.

Each craft looks pretty easy for Calan to handle. I doubt Maisie will be able to do them, so I'll give her some activity to do in her high chair while we are working. I am sure that I will have to help Calan quite a lot, but the end product is never as important as the process. I hope that he looks forward to the different ornaments each day.

We will paint, glue, decorate, color, etc. till all 24 ornaments are hanging on the tree.

Turkey Feeders

My finished turkey feeder that I used to show the boys what to do.
I found almost all my supplies at our local Dollar Tree. I got the bird seed
at our local grocery store.

In order to keep busy this winter and to keep from spending too much money on class after class, my friend and I have decided to host a craft play date for our boys twice a month alternating at each other's homes.

My friend hosted the first one at the beginning of the month where the boys put together pumpkins and decorated with stickers. We played and ate lunch together heading home just in time for naps.

Yesterday was my day and we made very simple turkey bird feeders. I just kind of took a few ideas from different blogs and came up with something that was easy and not a huge mess. Our boys are almost 2 1/2 years old. I pre-cut everything the night before so the boys just had to stick it all together.

Here is what I did:

Supplies

• Plastic container
• Different color foam sheets
• Brown contact paper
• Googly eyes
• Double stick tape and/or glue
• Scissors
• Corn syrup
• Wild bird seed

Directions

Here are the finished feeders that the boys made.

• Take the different colored foam sheets and cutout feather shapes, beak, wattle, and feet
• Take plastic container and place two strips of double sided tape or add glue along one side of the container and stick feathers to container.
• Take the brown contact paper and cutout a circle for the turkey's face. Stick to front of container. 
• Add googly eyes, beak, and the turkey's wattle (the red thing).
• Stick feet to the bottom of the container. 
• In a mixing bowl combine some bird seed and corn syrup to make the bird seed stick together. I did this so in case a squirrel tips it over, which I am sure will happen, I won't have a huge bird seed mess to clean up. 
• Place bird seed in plastic container. 

We found a nice spot for the bird feeder on our deck that Calan can watch from our family room. I'm pretty sure the squirrels will destroy the feeder, but it will be interesting to see if any birds stop by this late in the season. 

We did not get reading done, but here are a couple books that Calan
has enjoyed reading about Thanksgiving:
1. "Thanks for Thanksgiving" by Julie Markes
2. "Five Silly Turkeys" by Salina Yoon
3. "This is Thanksgiving" by Harriet Ziefert

C for Caterpillar

When trying to decide what I wanted to teach Calan this month, I decided that his name was a good place to start. He of course knows his name and I know that he somewhat knows how to spell it, but he for some reason refuses to spell it for me when asked. (I hear him spelling it when not prompted.) 

So over the next month, I'll be going over his the letters of his name and working with shapes and colors and numbers that go along with it. 

Here was this weeks lesson plans:

Telling the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar helped
to keep Calan engaged.

Goals:

• Recognize the letter C
• Recognizing numbers 1-5
• Picking out colors Red and Green
• Following directions



Our decorated C is for Caterpillar craft.

• Repeating parts of weekly bible verse: "The old has gone, the new has come" 2 Corinthians 5:17

  

  Tot Book Pack from 1+1+1=1 

Activities:

• Reading the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" with felt pieces.
• Coloring number Caterpillar pages
• Using 1+1+1=1 Tot Book activities to sort colors and sequencing.
• Create a C caterpillar craft
• Reading the story of John the Baptist

Calan did pretty good for our first week of activities. I tried to keep everything to under 30 minutes. He liked reading the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" with the felt pieces that I made. He helped me count all the fruit the caterpillar ate. He loves butterflies, so he liked it when the caterpillar becomes the butterfly. We have read the story many times before, but using the felt pieces helped bring it to life for him.

Coloring pages that we worked on each day
counting and coloring the fruit.

I was impressed with how much Calan wanted to color. In the past, it has been a quick activity that he had little patience for. I colored right along with him. We would trace inside the numbers. He liked it when I held his hand while doing this.

Calan did well at picking out his colors. He did OK at counting just to 5. He seems to always want to end with 8,9,10. He is starting to recognize his numbers, but isn't quite there yet. He did great at picking out the letter C and was even connecting C to Calan, which I knew he knew. We did not get a chance to work on shapes like I had planned. I was suppose to make a circle caterpillar that we were going to put together on the wall. We just never got around to it. I'll save the idea for a rainy day.

Next week will be A for Ant. 

Car ride science experiment

Here is an easy science experiment using soap and oil that any toddler and 1-year-old can enjoy:

Water-bottle sensory toy

Supplies

• 2 empty water bottles
• Water
• Oil
• Dish soap
• Food coloring
• Glue

Directions

• Take the water bottles and fill about half way up with water. 
• Take 1 of the water bottles and add about a teaspoon of dish soap.
• Take the other water bottle and fill with a generous amount of oil. 
• Add a few drops of food coloring to each bottle. 
• Take the water bottle lids and dab with some glue. Twist lids tightly shut. Wait to dry.

I made these for the kids before our trek home from vacation. I figured that they would be sick of the car toys that I had been using for our vacation and knew that I needed something for our 5.5-hour trip home. 

I came across the idea at We Made That. It took me literally 3 minutes to throw them together. 

Calan calls them his "shakes." But, I think he liked the sound of the crinkling plastic more than shaking the bottles up. The soap one is his favorite by far, and even Maisie enjoys shaking them up and crinkling the water bottles. 

They were only about 5 minutes of entertainment in the car, but now I have them as another toy option when we are out and about. 

A Little Red, White, and Blue

Paper plate, red and blue paint, and star cookie cutters makes this super easy Fourth of July craft.

Can you believe that it is almost the Fourth of July? It is sad to say that I realized today that the Fourth is a great learning opportunity for toddlers - easy colors with red, white, and blue and easy shape recognition with the star.

So I quickly got this craft together this morning for Calan to paint. I asked him the colors of the paint and plate and the shape of the cookie cutters. It really was as simple as that and basically was about 15 minutes of activity. Nothing lasts long with him, but little seeds of learning is all that he needs right now. 

What crafts are you doing with your toddler? Share a link in comments. Here is my Pinterest board of some crafts and recipes that might inspire some of you. 

I add soap and water to my paints to make them easier to wash off. 

Talking about the star shape and colors he is using to paint.

Still hates to get things on his hands, but somehow painting his face is just fine. 

I {heart} the internet

I am not a teacher, but I need to teach. I am not creative, but I need to create.

And that is why I thank all those mothers who blog, post ideas, and offer so many free activities.

As a stay-at-home mother, I need to think of my household as a type of one-on-one daycare. Why do I need to do this? Because my children deserve a mother who is activity trying to teach them lessons and skills for life.

I am lucky to be at home with Calan and Maisie, but I do see there are a lot of positives about a childcare center - Structure, socialization, and classroom lesson plans.

If I was looking for a childcare, I would be looking for all those things. So when I am thinking about my home, I want them to have the same things.

I am not a teacher. I have no idea how to be a preschool teacher, or what I should be teaching. But I know where to look. The internet is full of free lesson plans and ideas. Any preschool theme you could think of is available is some way or another online.

This week I printed out the 1+1+1=1 Tot school pack for the Letter A. Calan is already doing a great job with it. So far we have matched fruit and colored. The packet is so complete from numbers and matching to coloring and drawing. And that is just on the Letter A. There are tons of packets available. I can't wait to see at the end of the week how he does.

I don't know what I would do with our days at home if it wasn't for Mom bloggers. Thank you. Each and everyone of you out there. You keep me sane.

Calan's scribbles. He worked on it while I was preparing lunch. 

Spring Chickens

Hand print paper plate chicken

I hosted a "Spring Chicken" play date today. I made bird nest cookies and deviled eggs and set up this cute paper plate chicken craft. The craft was a little more than what Calan is into doing, but it is good for older toddlers with a little preparation. 

Supplies

Construction paper (yellow and orange)

Yellow paper plates

Feathers (and any other fun decorations)

Googley

Glue

Fasteners

Scissors 

Hole-punch

Directions

1. Cutout two legs and a beak from the orange construction paper. (I did this in advance, so the kids just had to glue them on the plate)
2. Trace child's hand on yellow construction paper and cutout 2 hands for wings. 
3. Hole punch paper plate and hands and fasten with a fastener. (I did this so the wings were movable)
4. Glue on eyes, beak, and legs to plate. 
5. Decorate chicken. (I had feathers, stickers, crayons, pipe cleaners, and sparkle-glue sticks set out for them.)

Bird nest cookies: Melted butterscotch morsels, chow mein noodles, and jelly beans

April showers

It's time to kick off April with a little umbrella and rain craft. Surprising, my little guy has been a little into painting lately, so I have been rolling with it. I found the idea for this craft at All Kids Network.

Supplies

Paint (or crayons or anything to color umbrella)

Template of umbrella

Glue

White construction paper

Blue ink pad or blue BINGO marker

Directions

Color or paint or decorate umbrella however the toddler wants. Let dry. Cutout umbrella and glue onto construction. Let toddler press fingers into stamp pad and press finger tips all over construction paper for rain drops or if using a BINGO marker let toddler use that.

You can also add rain clouds with cotton balls, but I left that part out.

I am still trying to find crafts that have about 10 minutes of preparation and about 10 minutes of activity since that is all the time that Calan usually wants to do them. He liked the painting part, but all he wanted to do with the ink pad was put the lid on and off and then just squeeze the pad part. He did not really get the whole stamp your finger tips on to the paper, so I had to basically stamp his hand and then stamp it on the paper for him. But overall, pretty easy craft for any toddler to do.

Fishy, fishy

Paper plate collage fish

Once again we are sick here in our household. So, there has been little activities, but here is a craft we did a few weeks ago. It is no secret my son loves water and anything that has to do with it, so I set up this easy fish craft that he for the most part enjoyed. 

Staple tail at point and curved opposite from body of fish

I added just a little glue at a time. 

Supplies

Paper plate

Torn construction paper (multiple colors)

Scissors

Glue

Stapler

Directions

1. Cut wide triangle into paper plate
2. Staple triangle point to opposite side of plate. Make sure curve of body and tail are opposite directions.
3. Place torn paper in easy reach of toddler. (I put mine in a bowl for him)
4. Drip a little glue on to plate and let toddler stick pieces of paper till paper plate is covered. 

Calan actually had fun with this craft. Nothing stuck to his hands and he liked to make his fish swim around the house afterward. 

Toddler Tuesday: Travel road map

A travel road map made from felt and glue. 

The large house is a pocket that you
can park a small car in. 

Next Monday, I am taking part in another Busy Bag Swap. I figure with two kids, I can't have too many go to activities. For this swap, I decided to make a travel road map for toy cars. Calan is really into cars and trucks and isn't so into matching and sorting games, so I figured at least this activity he would use right now.

The idea was an easy one, but making 10 of them has been a little time consuming. It has been worth it though. I am super happy with how they turned out. Each one is decorated with trees, a lake, 2 small houses, 2 stores, and one large house that acts as a pocket to park a small car. I also found bulletin board road signs that I added felt to to make more durable. 

The back of the map includes a blue pocket for
extra cars a spot for the road signs.  I used extra felt
to hold the two sides together. 

The map folds up easily into thirds to fit into
any diaper bag or purse. 

The road maps fold easily into thirds for storage and have a pocket on the outside to store the road signs and extra cars. 

So how did I do it?

It was super simple. I used this template from Serving Pink Lemonade for the road and small houses. I cut the template apart to fit as many pieces onto each black piece of felt as I could. I cutout templates for the other accessories and went to town cutting out a ton of felt. If you want templates for those, let me know I will post them, but they were really easy to figure out. 

I cutout all the pieces for the houses, stores, and trees and glued them together with a felt craft glue. 

After getting all my pieces together, I hot-glued everything onto my green pieces of felt. 

I took a small piece of black felt and hot-glued it to the back to keep the two pieces together, and I added the pocket for storage. 

Calan has already been playing with his and he loves the extra road signs. So, glad that I added felt to the back of them because he has already tried to crush them and chew on them. Not sure how long they will last, but for now they are holding up.  

Post linked to a few bog hops here and here. 

Tried yogurt painting

Easy activity that takes little planning, and some extra clean up. 

Well. I tried. I'll keep trying. It was a complete failure, but it was pretty much just a big mess.

First, I took a paper plate and taped it to his high chair tray. I scooped out a 3 dollops of plain yogurt and squirted 1 (swear 1) drop of red, blue, and yellow food coloring in each.

I thought letting him stir in the color and mix them would be fun, but he started with blue and it stuck to his finger right away and he instantly placed them in his mouth, which then turned a bright shade of blue as well.

I then mixed the color into the yogurt more, so it wasn't so potent. That helped a little. Calan liked using a spoon to stir them up a little, but he wasn't completely interested in the activity. He watched me mix them and play with the yogurt.

I then thought that maybe flipping the plate and stamping it on to the tray would get him a little more interested. He did play with it for a little longer, but he was ready for a wash down.

The whole activity lasted about 10 minutes. This would be why i don't put too much planning into activities. He is just not quick into them yet, but hopefully if I keep trying he will one day craft for hours. (Well at least for 30 minutes.)

(After a long teeth brush and his evening bath, all blue food coloring is gone.)

Hot & Cold Hearts

My son loves water. Loves to drink it. Loves to play in it. Loves to splash in it. There is no other activity that keeps his attention like ones that include water.

So, for Valentines Day, we played with the ideas of hot and cold water.

Last night, I froze a few heart-shaped ice cubes that I put a few (probably too many) drops of red food coloring in to. 

I let Calan play with them for a little bit. However, the food coloring was dying his fingers, so that part ended more quickly than I had planned. I then placed the ice cubes in a plastic bag, and poured some warm water into a decent-sized container. That part Calan loved. Using the ice cubes and warm water, I kept talking to him about warm and cold. 

True to Calan form, he just wanted to play with the water and just kept handing me the ice cubes. 

But that is what toddler activities are all about. Nothing ever goes perfectly. It is about letting them explore the activity. They learn things from being hands on. So, while the water was more interesting to Calan this time; maybe next time the ice cubes will be.