CHOPSTICKS

Kids tend to copy what you do, and what a great thing, when it's a good thing your doing. We where sitting down to have a small meal of our favorite pot sticker and I handed out chop sticks. I didn't think to give it to my son until he did the point and grunt. I handed him his own pair and he did a great job of poking the pot sticker with the chop sticks. You could see his mind working, he tried using both in one hand and then gave up and used one in each hand. I will be sure to have a pair for him when we sit down to our next chopstick meal. Watch out silliness can occur!

Been gone...

I've taken a small break from posting the last 10 days. I am hoping to get back on track tonight.. Stay tuned... While I've been on break, I've had lots of fun with kid friendly crafts.. I can't wait to share!

Hop on Pop Valentine

For my husband this year Gabriel and I made a shirt for him that says HOP ON POP. It sums up how they play together. I bought a shirt at the craft store and acrylic paint, the kind you use on a canvas. I had my brother in law hold Gabriel's feet and then I painted and helped place his feet in the right spot. I reapplied a new coat of paint before each new print. I then brushed on the words. For the front breast emblem I used Gabriel's initials and the date with out any dashes to separate the month, day and year to add a different touch. The paint drys very fast and stays on through the wash.

LOVE BUG

In the spirit of Valentines day I wanted to bring you the LOVE BUG today. I had a bunch of egg cartons left over and wanted to have Gabriel do some sort of craft with it. Being an artist myself I was so excited to see him hold his paint brush the right way. He had a great time painting something other then just paper. I helped after the paint was dry with some pipe cleaners, googly eyes and a button.

Will you.........

Be My Valentine???

With Valentines being so close we made little Valentines to send out to family. With a little patience, stamp pad, paper, scissors, stickers, color photo copier/printer and some mono adhesive we made cute little Valentines. I suggest using a washable ink pad!!! With my guidance I helped him make a heart with his pointers and thumbs. Then I used my handy color copier/printer and did a copy of his hands and then doubled up to make more hands per print out. After I got the right amount it took some time to cut out each heart hand print, but well worth it in the end. I then added a few things here and there and WA-LA, we made Valentines. I expect lots more help from the little one next year! :) I wanted to do more but run out of time. I hope to have the Valentine We are doing for my husband up tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Home Made Playdough

We had lots of fun with playdough today! We made it at home... Here is a very very easy recipe:

Uncooked Playdough (salt and flour)

1/4 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/4 cup water

I made half the recipe for a smaller amount. It was the perfect amount for him.




Have your child mix the flour and salt in a bowl then add water. Knead and squeeze the dough to make a clay consistency. You may need to add more water

PAINT, what a horribly great mess!!!

"The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting." - Vincent Van Gogh
Today I was at the wonderful target and found a pack of 10 finger paints for less then five bucks! Finger paint and a almost 2 year old, you can imagine the mess in your head! However as a painter my self I couldn't resist. I took our kitchen table away from the wall, covered it with brown wrapping paper I got from the dollar store and places him up on it. As an artist I put the colors on a paper plate, I suppose thinking he would just use one color at a time. I was wrong, he mushed them all together and man what a mess, BUT WHAT FUN!!! He got a kick out of mushing the paint in his hands and mixing the colors. When he was done with that he decided it would be fun to see what it would look like on his tummy. After the mess was created I stuck him in the bath and like magic it all was gone before he was even done playing. It was a very easy clean up and we will be doing this a lot more!

Side walk chalk...

My sister gave us a big pack of side walk chalk. It has been dry the last few days, amazingly enough for Oregon. We went out side and swept off a small area to have a little chalk fun. It was cold so we didn't get to do it for long. I like that we did it when rain will surely wash it away soon.

Thank you...

I wanted to Thank my dear sister Tam for encouraging me to starting this site and helping me come up with idea's, my Husband Seth for supporting me with this idea and my sister in law Kathrine for coming up with a great title that I've been struggling with!

On a Toddler Walk

Today we went on a walk. Oh boy what a walk! So many many things we don't see when we grow up! I like to let him lead the way. I also like to stop and look at things when he does. Everything from hiding behind a mail box, looking at his shadow, a crack in the sidewalk, a Dr. Seuss looking plant, a hole in a fence and a crank on a trailer, so many things I wouldn't ever take the time to look at if it weren't for him. When we go on walks we are normally gone for about an hour and half, But I know at about 45min we should head close to home or I'll have a long walk with a monkey (so to speak) on my back. This is another fun thing to do at various ages, as they change so does the things they look at. Try the walk and let me know what your kiddo brings to your attention!!!!

Boxes, Boxes... what to do with boxes!!??

Boxes, boxes, oh glorious BOXES!!!!! Today we had lot of fun with all different sized boxes! As he gets older I can't wait to see the new ideas he comes up with. It isn't everyday that we play with such size verity in boxes. This time he had some mama assistance. Next time, who knows, maybe he'll paint them, put stickers on them, use them as a house or car. It is fun to see how different kids are with the same toy at different stages in life.