August 2010

Self-Serve Painting

When the girls ask to paint, I try to always say yes. I don’t always have the easel set-up, but they are usually just as happy to paint at the kitchen table. Sometimes they want watercolors, but often they want “real paint,” as Delaney calls it. We use Colorations brand washable tempera paints or BioColor [...]

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Playful Picks (August 30, 2010)

We are back to school this week! I’ll be posting more regularly again over at my homeschooling blog, Early Bird Homeschool, if you would like to follow-along with our learning adventures this year. Enjoy the last two days of August! Quote of the Week Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at [...]

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Simple Abstract Painted Canvas

An extra canvas + masking tape + acrylic craft paints = fun new rainbow art for Delaney’s room! Delaney said the best part of this project is peeling off the tape after the paint is dry. My favorite part is seeing her brushstrokes in each little space. This particular canvas has exposed staples on the [...]

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Our Favorite Board Books

Wanna take a trip down memory lane with me? During the long (and apparently never-ending) unpacking process at our new house, I came across a bin of board books that I had saved. Even though my girls have mostly outgrown these little treasures, I couldn’t bear to part with our favorite board books. These books [...]

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Goal-Setting Charts for Young Kids

Setting goals is not just for grown-ups. Even our littles can benefit from the confidence-boost that comes from setting a goal, working towards it, and achieving it. Goal-setting with young children should be simple and straightforward: Involve your child as much as possible in choosing an appropriate goal. Listen for times when your little one [...]

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Giving Your Full Attention

I always enjoy hearing tips and tricks from other parents and thinking about which ones would be a good fit for me and my girls. So, I thought I’d share some of my parenting tips with you from time to time. My tips may be things you’ve read before, heard before, tried before – but [...]

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Party Tip: Creating Large Cardboard Characters

I’ve had a few questions about the large painted characters we made for Delaney’s Alice in Wonderland party {see Part 1 and Part 2 for more pictures}. My husband did the drawing. I printed out a picture of the character and he drew a grid across it. Then, he drew another larger grid on a [...]

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Playful Picks (August 9, 2010)

Quote of the Week The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. {Thich Nhat Hanh} Fun Activities & Projects Plants in a Jar watercolor resist :: Art Projects for Kids Printable Counting Games (Car Race, Fish out of Water, Dino Blast) [...]

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Learning Coin Values with Money Bingo

Delaney told me she keeps getting “all the coin money mixed up.” It probably doesn’t help that her sister can count her piles of coins without any help. So, we’ve been playing a very simple money bingo game to work on those pesky coin values. Delaney loves bingo, so I can pretty much give her [...]

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Playful Picks (August 2, 2010)

Happy August! Are you still savoring summer or are you feeling the pull of back-to-school and fall? We’re hoping to do a backyard campout this month and fit in as many swim days as possible. We are looking forward to fall a bit, though, with some pumpkin seed planting this week. Fun! Have a wonderful [...]

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