Sensory play with rice is one of two-year-old Lily’s favorite activities! Colored rice is a super easy to make, and I’ve found that it lasts a long time – we only have to sweep/vacuum a little bit after every play session. Of course, it’s a different story if you have a kid who up-ends their tray, but my kids just don’t have that personality. So far, at least. We’ll see if number four decides to break the mold…
This time, for example, Lily spent a LONG time just looking at the colors sitting next to each other. Then she asked for cars and marbles, and they sat arranged like this for a while:
Eventually, the cars drove around, thoroughly mixing the pink and green rice. Lily loved feeling both the rice and the larger, smooth marbles slip through her fingers:
As it happens, rice also makes an excellent sandbox for teeny tiny toys! Different day – over two weeks later – but same shirt. And same (lack of) hairdo. She loves her snail shirt. Hairdos, not so much.
Do your kids enjoy playing with colored rice? Do you have other fun sensory activities to recommend?
Lily was thrilled to discover that you can “paint” on construction paper with icicles! The paper is fairly porous, so the water shows up right away, then dries so you can paint all over again!
This was a great distraction from the virus she was battling, and she surprised me by making some pretty neat observations about her icicle:
It was so much fun that we decided to do it again with Johnny when he got home from preschool the next day! Lily showed him what to do:
And Johnny was equally fascinated!
Emma was very disappointed to discover that she had been left out of icicle painting, so we’ll be repeating this activity the next time we have icicles hanging from our roof!
I love the variety five-year-old Emma put into these valentines – proof that sometimes it’s best to hand kids the supplies and leave them to it. They’ll do it differently on their own, and that can be a good thing!
These shape monsters are super simple and super easy to make – and they were such a hit with my kids that I think we’ll make some as part of Emma’s craft-themed birthday party next month!
I gave each kid a sheet of construction paper, a bunch of shape foam stickers, and googly eyes, and set them free! I love the individuality of each creation! Two-year-old Lily’s (above) I find especially charming in its wonkiness!
Four-year-old Johnny loves symmetry, and it shows in his artwork! I like that he came and asked for extra eyes after I gave each kid only two to start with. He had a vision of what he wanted to create! Johnny is very into both snowmen and robots right now, and I think his monster reflects both of those interests!
Five-year-old Emma has been making little guys like this out of paper for a couple weeks now! I think they are cute, and this one feels a bit wistful to me somehow.
I keep a stash of fun craft supplies for emergencies – times when we need to keep the kids busy in a peaceful way – and foam stickers are always a popular choice for the kids! They love the texture, and it takes a little bit longer for them to peel the backings off – buying me a little bit of extra time! This was our first time using peel-and-stick googly eyes. Normally we just glue them on, and in many cases I think that’s the better option. I had to peel the backings off of these, even for Emma.
What are your favorite emergency craft supplies? Do you have a favorite quick and easy kid craft to share?
I’ve always thought of spring, summer, and fall as the big outdoor learning seasons, but WOW, my kids have proven me wrong this winter! I love watching them learn and explore outside, no matter the weather!
Our snow had been rained away and the new snow wasn’t sticking, but there were two inches of solid ice in the top of our sandbox (which had blown off in a big windstorm earlier in the week. The kids figured out how to get the ice out (without getting absolutely drenched in ice water), and then set off breaking the chunks into smaller pieces:
Small enough for even Lily to pick up and carry about:
Emma found an empty planter box, which she brought over:
And all three kids filled the container with chunks of ice, discussing textures and lines in the ice as they did so!
With three kiddos big enough to bundle up and play outside, no mountains of snow too high to climb in, and Lily finally adding boots to her snow attire, I’m loving this winter!!!
The kids were awesome this week, which I really appreciated. I even have all three kids sleeping all night in their own beds, I think for the first time ever. I’ve been on antibiotics since Tuesday, which always make me incredibly tired. Then I had a low-grade fever last night (alongside Lily), that I’m assuming is viral. Everyone else is healthy – and hopefully they’ll stay that way.
For this week, I’m planning another fun pizza-making afternoon. I also want to make my kids some of these mittens from ikat bag. Our knit ones get soaked too quickly, although doubling them up helps. There’s more to the week than that, of course, but we’re going to take the days as they come.
How was your week? What are your plans for this week? Link up your posts at the Afterschool Blog Hop, hosted this week at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns!
My kids are into teeny tiny toys right now, so I thought we’d make some teeny tiny toy accessories. A glue stick, tape, and cardboard makes a simple and fun toy teeter totter that even a toddler can make (with help)!
First, we assembled our materials. Then, it’s as simple as taping the glue stick to the middle of one side of the piece of cardboard:
And playing! You can add sticky tack if you want the toys to stay in place on the teeter totter.
This doubles as a nice little airplane, too. Maybe we’ll make a biplane next. =)
White boards can be amazing tools for literacy and creativity. There’s something magical about the way the markers glide across the surface, dry instantly, and erase easily. My parents purchased a white board for us when I was seven years old, and I still remember how magical it was.
White boards aren’t the novelty item they were when I was young, but my kids love them every bit as much. And, somehow, they eliminate the perfectionist tendencies my kids sometimes exhibit. Emma spelled this sentence out correctly (recognize Lily’s bug?), but I’ve noticed that she is more willing to risk guesses instead of asking me how to spell every single word when she is using the white board. Johnny attempts to write words, as well. Last night he wrote, “Go. T.” and then asked Emma for help with writing “the zoo” – then went on to draw a zookeeper with the word “zoo” written on his shirt, and an entrance sign for the zoo without further assistance.
When Emma draws on paper, each line is deliberate. On the white board, drawings are spontaneous, and she doesn’t worry about perfection. She knows that when the drawing is done, she’ll simply erase and draw another.
We have several small white boards, and the kids love to sit and draw together, often working on similar projects. Here, Emma drew a series of faces exhibiting various emotions. Johnny followed along, drawing his own interpretations:
Do your kids enjoy writing and drawing on white boards?
Pipe cleaners are an incredibly versatile craft supply for kids, so I was happy to see them featured as the craft supply to explore this month in the kids art explorers project at NurtureStore. One way my kids love using pipe cleaners is to string pony beads.
This is excellent fine motor practice for little ones – the pipe cleaner stays still and straight, making it easier to get the beads on, and the fuzzy coating keeps the beads from slipping off.
Emma used the pony beads to make her doll a crown – and then a few other accessories! Allalena is one pampered doll!
Or July, although that would be a surprise given my track record. Reactions from the kids:
Emma: Huge grin =)
And now to me, at every meal: The baby eats what you eat!
My midwife would be proud.
Johnny: No! LONG pause. Mike and I exchange worried glances. This is not the reaction we were expecting, especially from baby-adoring Johnny. Then:
Twins!!! I wanted twins! So Emma could hold one baby and I could hold one.
What a relief! He has since decided that one baby is better than none.
Lily: Only baby sisters! No baby brothers! As of yesterday afternoon she claims our baby is a boy, so I guess she’s okay with that option.
Mike and I are, of course, very excited!!!
All three kids currently say our baby is a boy, although I think Lily is following Johnny and Emma’s lead – who are eager to even out the gender imbalance. What do you think?
This blog is about my life as the mother of three young, craft-loving children. I blog about family life, parenting, and activities I do with my children.
