Shake, Shake, Shake It!

This was so much fun, my kids asked me to do this over and over.  Luckily, I have a stash of plastic bottle waiting to be put to use!  To do these, simply pour the paint into the bottle (any size will work), put the lid on and shake it, shake it!!  So great for discovering which colors make other colors, fine motor, sensory, and all that shaking gets rid of some of that incredible energy!  This is a great (mess free) painting experience for your babies and toddlers too. Yippee!



Candy Trees

I saw these on Pinterest and knew they were something we just had to try.  How cute are they?  All you need is a couple old fashion ice cream cones (the cone shaped ones, obviously), some frosting and whatever candy you want.  You could use M&M's, gumdrops, peppermints.  We used Skittles.  We tinted the frosting yellow, I asked the kids what color they wanted their trees and that is what they chose.  Then we frosted the cone, placed it on a paper towel and added the details.  So simple and

 "kid-friendly" as my friend stated! 

Yarn Wrapped Letters

This was a great activity for fine motor and problem solving.  I cut the letters out of a cardboard box and got out the box of yarn.  The kids picked their colors and punched a hole in the letter.  I tied off the yarn and we got busy.  It took a little struggling to figure out the best way to wrap them.  We finally figured out that if I held the yarn, the kids could wrap it easier.  I just love how these turned out!

Q Tip Snow Flakes

I saw these in the December issue of Family Fun Magazine, and knew they were something we would have fun doing.  All we needed was some q-tips, glue and wax paper.  You could embellish these any way you wanted really, but we used plastic fake snow.  All we did was make our design on the wax paper, squeeze the glue on the points where they meet, sprinkle some "snow" on the points and let them dry.  Once dry, we simply peeled the snowflakes off the wax paper and there you go! 

Doing Puzzles...With a Twist

My little girl really loves doing puzzles.  So to put a twist on one of her favorite activities, I put all the pieces of her foam alphabet puzzle into a empty baby wipe box.  She reaches in, grabs a letter and then finds the correct spot on her puzzle mat.  She really had a good time not knowing which letter was going to get pulled out next. 



Shmuzzy Pick Up

This is a great activity that help develop those little hand muscles needed for writing.  It is also great for sorting, color matching, and problem solving.  I got out our shmuzzy supply and some clothes pins I picked up at Walmart (so many uses for these).  I dumped them into an egg carton added the clothes pins and set it out for the kids.  I sat down with them for a bit and practiced my own fine motor and hand/eye coordination with them.  This kept them busy for quite awhile too!

Zoo Pal Paper Plate Puppets

We made these puppets a couple months ago and the kids have been having soooooo much fun that I had to do a post on it.  We saw them at the grocery store for a couple dollars and I immediately knew we could use them for more than putting food on!  I cut out the eyes and glued a craft stick on the back of it.  Voila, instant mask!  We have been making animal sounds, singing "Old McDonald has a Farm", puppet shows, you name it! Really, what could be more simple! 

 Fun, fun, fun!



Spiky Pumpkin Turkeys

I saw some adorable apple turkeys on Pinterest.  That led to me to set this up for the kiddos.  We had several pumpkins that we have been collecting and I couldn't bring myself to just throw them away.  So, I  bought some wooden skewers in the baking aisle at the grocery store.  They were less than 2.00.  I also bought a box of Fruit Loops cereal,  but any cereal with holes in the middle would work too.  We sorted the cereal into colors first (great math, matching, color experience), then the kids pushed the skewers into the pumpkin.  Took quite a bit of muscle to get them pushed in.  Then the kids went to work putting the cereal onto the skewers.  We used some googly eyes and wooden  pieces to make the faces.  So cute....and spiky too!

Painting with Pinecones

While camping in the mountains this summer, we gathered up some pinecones.  I sealed them up in a plastic bag just in case in buggies hitched a ride in them.  I just broke them out the other day to do some painting.  I taped some paper to the bottom of a deep box.  Then the kids squirted their choice of paint onto the paper.  They tossed in the pinecones and shook, shook, shook!  Instead of changing the paper for each kid, we just squirted in some more paint and passed it on to the next kid.  A good lesson in sharing as well as some great large motor skills.  We definetly shook some sillies out! So if you have some pinecones around, this is a really fun paint activity for your kids.....and YOU!



TP Roll Feathered Somethings

So I set up our creation station with feathers, empty tp rolls, glue, stickers, markers and crayons.  Then called the kids over and let them get to creating.  Below is what they made.  I was thinking...ya know, TURKEYS...but I have learned not to label what they are "suppose" to make and just let them use their imaginations.  I just love listening to them discuss and problem solve and then watch as they create.