From the category archives:

Create

Crayon Play

Here’s a super-simple creativity boost for your kids today! Make ordinary crayons a little more interesting by bundling them together.
Crayons + rubberband:

Crayons + tape:

Set out a variety of crayon bundles and a stack of paper and see if your kiddos are inspired to play! Keep the rubberbands and tape handy, because my girls are always [...]

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Magnet Painting Activity

Yesterday, the girls had fun with magnet painting. This is something they both remember doing at preschool and were excited to experiment with it again! You will need:

magnetic marbles
magnet wand
washable paint
a shallow box or tray (not metal!)
paper

I think you can see the basic set-up in the picture below. You want your box to be propped [...]

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Stained Glass Coloring Books

We went to our local toy store to look for a new board game and the girls spied this coloring book on the spinny rack:

I mean, garden fairies, stained glass, and glowing background colors? I knew we would be bringing this book home with us!
The book contains 16 beautiful illustrations on a vellum-like paper. The [...]

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Air-Dry Clay Hearts

Today we had fun squishing, rolling, and cutting hearts made from air-dry clay.

We punched holes with straws, so we can give Valentine necklaces to some special friends – and we’ll keep some for ourselves, too!
We gently pressed in sparkly sequins – everyone agreed this was the best part!

We also made some little decorations and pendants, [...]

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Projects with Pixos

My girls received some Pixos Starter Sets for Christmas. They were really excited to try them, having seen them in the store a few times. Basically, you arrange these little colored plastic balls on a dimpled tray and then spray with water to adhere them together.

I have to say, working with all those tiny little [...]

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Quilt for a Teacher

I don’t think I ever shared this quilt! It was a gift for our preschool teacher at the end of the school year last May.
Just like the quilt I made for my Grandma, we used Pentel Fabric Pastels for the artwork. The kids love using these pastels – they go on smooth and bright! (And, [...]

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Creating Zoo Maps

This is one of our all-time favorite activities! Since we made our zoo maps, there have been maps of mermaid lagoons, five-story malls, fairy lands, and much more. If you are stuck inside on a cold day, this is a great activity to work on with your kids. Have fun!
{Originally posted June 2008}
Some of the [...]

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Simple Holiday Traditions

~ making birdseed pine cones ~

~ decorating graham cracker candy houses with cousins ~

~ cutting lots and lots of paper snowflakes ~

~ making (and eating!) Holiday Pretzel Treats ~

I was feeling a little badly that we haven’t done many of the “new” Christmas crafts or activities that I had planned this year – but, of [...]

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Kid-Made Place Card Holders

Are your kids giving you the how-many-days-till-Christmas announcements each morning? So much waiting and anticipation, but the good kind!
Here’s a simple handmade gift even the littlest kiddos can do – wood block place card holders:

We started with a pack of wood blocks from the craft store and my helpful hubby cut a little groove in [...]

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Fairy Tale Book Ornaments

The girls and I were really excited to participate in the Kids’ Ornament Swap organized by Cassi from The Crafty Crow. The theme was fairy tales, and after many, many ideas floating around, my girls settled on making a tiny fairy tale book with a sparkling magic wand on the cover. I think they turned [...]

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