It's Playtime is Learning Time!

I love to find fun ways to teach new concepts to the boys.

Henry's been really into counting lately, so we've been doing a lot of things with numbers. [He's even adding and subtracting, and even sometimes dividing without even knowing it!]

Here's 4 learning activities for the kids from last week's It's Playtime!

Above, clockwise from top-left:

• Mama's Little Muse had fun mixing primary colors with Shamrock Color Viewer!
• Adventures at Home with Mom matched shapes! Match little shapes to their big shape and make a collage!
• A number game from Mummy Mummy Mum has had me thinking of how to make this perfect for Henry! Roll the ball through a tunnel and add [or subtract!] the number above the tunnel to your score!
• Compare, predict and test. Play Create Explore set up a WAY to learn about WEIGHT!

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Sponge Art: Paint a Rainbow

Paint a rainbow with a sponge.

I wish I could claim the idea of rainbow sponge painting, but I saw it last year over at Strong Start.

While this is a kid-friendly idea, a lot of the prep needs to be done by an adult, or older child. And prep needs to be redone during the activity as well.

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Kids Experiment: How Much Water Does it Hold?

Henry wanted to do an experiment.

He said he'd come up with one for us to do after nap.

So, after nap, Henry collected his things for his experiment.

He brought a tractor and his wagons.

He told me his experiment was to pour water into them.

So I grabbed some cookie sheets in case of spillage.

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34 Recyclables to Upcycle for the Kids

I don't think its possible to be a hands on mom without saving anything and everything imaginable.

Ever since I started doing crafts and activities with Henry, we've been hoarding recyclables.

Henry actually has his own 'recycling center' now.

So, what is worth saving?
What can be put to good use for the kids?


I've come up with a list of 34 items to reuse that tend to be in your recycling bin. Try setting them aside before taking them out to be recycled.

What can this recyclable become?

What can it be upcycled into?

A collection of 34 Recyclables to Upcycle just for the Kids

Believe me though, its not just limited to these! 

I'm collecting more and more ways to upcycle your recyclables on Pinterest.

Its never ending.

	Milk Jugs Jug Toss Creative Connections for Kids Water Bottle Big Bubbles Projects for Preschoolers

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Sensory Activity for All Ages: Dish Soap Foam!

I knew when I saw this snow sensory activity from dish soap, from You Pinspire Me, when I collected the ideas for the Snow Collection, that it was something the boys would love and we just had to do it.

Dish Soap Foam!

So easy, your child could, and can, do it!
I put some dish soap in a measuring cup [just squirted a good amount] and added a tad bit of water.
Dumped that in my food processor, and let the kids foam it up!

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It's Playtime: Some Favorites

Sometimes I just like to look through It's Playtime and find some great ideas to bookmark [on Pinterest] for the kids to do.

Okay. Most of the time. That's what I do.

Here are a few that I'm pinning to do with the boys in the near future.

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Counting Activity: A Maze of Numbers

I taped out a maze on our floor with masking and painter's tape.
I simple labeled it with numbers, not necessarily in order.

[By the way: that was the extent of George's participation in the maze activity. Sitting on the maze.]

I used the tape itself as the road of the maze [instead of between the tape lines].

I made sure to include numbers that Henry wasn't quite as familiar with [to fifteen].
He's got 1-10 down pat, but starts getting confused at 13 [skipping to 16, then 19].
He also has troubles recognizing any double digit number, so this was great practice!
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10 Ways to Get More From Walks with Children

Liven up your walks with some fun and learning! A post written and shared by Aimee at Raising the Cameron Clan.

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It is no secret that there is an obesity epidemic in the United States. As parents it is important that we do our part to encourage our kids to get out there and move. Going for a walk is an easy way to get everyone moving. However, sometimes it takes a little creativity to get your kids out the door.

 Here are 10 ways to have fun and learn while out on your walk.

1. Make a scavenger hunt. Write a list of things to find or for non-readers you can make a picture list of objects for them to cross off as you walk. This list can be based on colors, or certain objects or a certain numbers of objects; it just depends on where you are walking.

2. Take Pictures. My boys love to take pictures when we go on walks. You can give them an old camera, buy a disposable or help them use yours, but kids enjoy taking pictures. When you get home, you can take those pictures and make them into a simple book.

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Preschooler Activity: Counting Blocks, Building Towers

Counting blocks on their corresponding numbers. Sounds kind of dull, huh? So...

How do you get a preschooler boy excited about learning?

Bring in the big machines.

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"Make it Kid Friendly" Idea: Fine Motor Hearts

Feeling the love?

Hope so! Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

And so is The Heart Project! 

We have 60+ bloggers creating a terrific ebook of heart projects!

These hearts caught my eye.

They're beautiful.

And the clothespins are such a nice touch!

I apologize, but I cannot find the origin of this photo.

I found it via Pinterest and cannot find it on the website that its linked to.

On to the fun stuff now!

How to make this a kid-friendly activity:

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Fun Kids Art: Melted Crayon Shavings

Henry, Grandma and I made some pretty art with crayon shavings!

And it was fun to do!

The crayon shavings are what makes this art so pretty, but it also gave Henry some time to work on his fine motor skills.

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"Make it Kid Friendly" Idea: Geometric Garland

I found this colorful garland of shapes on Pinterest.

So colorful and bright, I thought this could be turned into a kid project!

Visit Weekday Carnival to buy this gorgeous geometric garland!

I'm not sure what these are made of, or how they're made, but I can think of a few ways to do this with the kids, and even add some learning into the process!

What can be done to make it a kid-friendly activity:

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Toddler Activity : Fine Motor Skills with Pom Poms

Toddler play with pom poms!

Grabbing, pinching and poking at these little items are great for fine motor development!

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Parenting: Learning to Let Go

Guest Post by    Ever feel like this project just isn't turning out? Let go. Remember the process. A post is written and shared by Ali at At Home with Ali.

  
Learning to Let Go

Doing art and craft with young children can drive anyone crazy. Paint going everywhere except on the paper, glue on fingers and in hair, mountains of glitter spread out for no purpose, oil pastels having their wrappers ripped off and smushed into the couch... frankly it was all too hard for me.

However, one day I turned around and realized I had limited my 2 year old daughter's art and craft activities to a set of waxy crayons, a glue stick and some paper – no paint, no pva glue and no glitter.

I love art and craft so how did we get here?

Luckily, I was fortunate to have a mother-in-law trained in the field of early childhood education and we had many conversations about the importance of process over product and child-centered play... which really got me thinking.

You see, I am a graphic designer and all my working life has been focused on the product, sure there is process but I am not happy if the end product does not look great. This sort of thinking had transferred to my art and craft activities with my daughter, Cakey. Time for a different approach – I stopped trying to create beautiful things with Cakey and let her lead the way.




First up, I changed my meaning of a 'successful' activity – I started to measure success only in terms of time spent [the longer the better] and fun had. I stopped whipping away collages when I thought they were finished [i.e. looking lovely with heaps of bits and pieces glued on]. I left them out for Cakey to destroy. She seemed to get more pleasure from ripping the pieces off than she did from sticking them on.

I also re-introduced paint but I took away the easel. Instead, I set the paint up on a big table and supplied a variety of different materials to paint on – bark from a paperbark tree, little canvasses, coloured paper of various sizes, stones from the garden. This stopped her from painting on the table or pavers. And I gave myself a break – on days when I couldn't cope with cleaning up the mess from painting I pulled out our little tray of watercolours instead.

As Cakey got older [she is now 3.5], I introduced good quality [i.e. sharp enough to actually cut paper] child-friendly scissors. I let her experiment with these by cutting up strips of thick paper. I also used to sit her at the table with a magazine and let her go to town on it.

But by far the best thing I have done [in terms of independent arts and crafts go] was to teach her how to use the sticky tape dispenser. I bought a decent tape dispenser and the most expensive sticky tape because it breaks off easily for little fingers. It was well worth the investment. Cakey will happily sticky tape together amazing creations for hours with no help and is always so proud of her results. I do have to buy sticky tape in bulk now though.



Handing control over to Cakey has been hard. I realized that I have many pre-conceived ideas about what are the right and wrong ways to do something, but Cakey doesn't see the world in the same way. She doesn't want me to tell her how to do something, she wants to discover it herself. As I have slowly loosened up, art and craft activities have become loads of fun for both of us and I am learning the difference between supporting her rather than directing.

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I am a graphic designer and a stay at home mother to my two beautiful daughters - Cakey [3] and Boo [1]. Cakey wants to make things all the time - sometimes it is fabulously fun and sometimes it makes me want to pull my hair out. I love the challenge of trying to channel Cakey's interests and ideas into activities we can do together. I also love watching Boo's personality come out and am intrigued by what her interests will turn out to be.

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It's Playtime! Indoor Activities

Its that time of year.
When we all duck our heads and hibernate for a couple of months.

Granted, we try to get outside as much as we can.
But most days its not for long, if at all.

So...
What indoor activities can we do on these cold days coming up?
[Really, its been pretty nice here lately, I can't believe its in the 40s in January in Iowa...]

[Make Do & Friend: Playing in the Dark]

A flashlight does wonders!

Make, Do & Friend Found a way to calm a fear of the dark! Play in it! Take a flashlight and find lots of things shiny and see how it reflects! My kids loving playing with their flashlights, adding shiny objects would definitely be a hit!

Above, from left to right:

• De tout et de rien shows learning in a spot I never thought of , and we all probably all have one. Adding beads to a baby bottle drying rack! There's so much learning that could be done... it could go on and on, and plus keep the kids' hands busy, busy, busy!
• Play with plastic! Drawing on and cutting plastic, a definitely time-waster for the kids, I'm sure! Happy Little Messes has more in store for these plastic creations on a light machine!
• Another dark post, but this time with the aide of a black light! The Mommies Made Me Do It when on a glow hunt in the dark! Shut off the lights!
• Play dough is a go-to activity, especially when we're stuck indoors. Here's some yummy chocolatey play dough! Make birthday cupcakes from play dough and add pasta for candles! A sweet idea from What's Fun Today?

High Five to these play friends!

[Go leave them a playful comment!]

[Please grab the featured badge on the right if you were featured]

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It's Playtime is a community for play loving bloggers to share ways to play.

Head on over to my playtime co-hosts:
The Imagination Tree, Messy Kids, Quirky Momma, Let the Children Play.

New to It's Playtime? Read How to Play to get all the details. 
Basically, share your play ideas at the party below and browse for more play ideas from others! 

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[No blog? You can leave a comment here to share, too!]

Be sure to LIKE your favorite play ideas!

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Henry is 3 years. George is 1 year.

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Learning Activity: Cutting Snowflakes

Henry's been on a cutting kick lately.

Since its winter, I decided to take advantage of this and cut snowflakes!

I tried my best to make this as preschooler-friendly as possible.

We used coffee filters for our snowflakes.

Coffee filters are easy to cut, plus they're already round!

And they were really easy for Henry to cut. He didn't struggle cutting through them at all. 

He has a Crayola sharp pointed child scissors that work perfectly for him. 

And they cut really good.

[Seriously, we've tried many others that don't work worth a hoot.]

I folded the coffee filters into eighths [in half three times].

-- You could add in another degree of learning by talking about fractions with your kid.

So Henry would know where and how to cut the snowflake, I drew marks in a simple pattern on the folded coffee filters.

We did several snowflakes, and I learned how to best draw the lines. [For example, don't draw marks to cut right across from each other, they very may well cut a little to far and cut through the coffee filter.]

We had a mishap with one snowflake being almost completely bare. 

I had almost crumpled up the coffee filter and threw it out.

But, Dad had stopped me, and told me to open it up to show Henry.

[Ah.... see, there's a consequence for an action....]

We decided to keep the mishap snowflake and hang it up with the rest.

Dad even made his own coffee filter snowflake! 

[Can you believe, he had never done this before? Seriously! Even as a child!]

-- Sorry, I don't have any pictures of Henry actually cutting because I had to hold the folded coffee filter as he cut out the snowflake.

Henry is 3 years. George is 1 year.

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10 Simple Ways to Slow Down & Make Your Child's Day

Today's post is written and shared by Joyce at Dinosaurs & Octopuses.  10 wonderful ways to slow down and savor the moments with your kids this holiday season! We all need to take time to do these!

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Life can be hectic and busy. 

Parenting can sometimes seem to compound that problem. 

And then there's the holidays.

It's very easy to get caught up in your to-do list. Or at least, it is for me. We are always having to run here or there, finish this, clean that. Sometimes I find myself saying "no" when I should be saying "yes!" 

Today, I wanted to share a few ideas on making time to slow down and have fun.

I try to allow time to have fun, but sometimes we really don't have the time to jump over every crack. 

When we've had an especially hurried few days I like to plan one day to be a preschoolers paradise. We still do what needs to be done, but I take extra care in the planning and make it my mission to say yes. I try to view the entire day through the eyes of my preschooler. 

Five things we do while running errands:

1. We jump over the cracks! Both of us, it's more fun that way.
2. He pushes all the buttons! Elevators, debit card machines, coke machines.
3. We stop at the grocery store with the carousel even if we don't have shopping to do. It's sacrificing five minutes time for some smiles and giggles. Well worth it.
4. We take the time to stop and watch that trail of ants, find the perfect rock, or read every sign we see. This is something we try to do everyday, but it can often get pushed to the side when we are in a hurry.
5. We have coin races in the Children's Miracle Network donation bins. I bring a bag of change for this purpose. We watch the coins spin round and round. We declare victors.

Five ideas for the time spent at home:

1. Let them help make dinner. Let them pick dinner! Yes, it might be more work for you, but they'll be thrilled to help. And you might get the added bonus of them eating better than usual.
2. Play that board game before you make the phone call. Most games don't take that long to play and making your child a priority will make them feel extra special.
3. Read them one more book. Or three!
4. Is it going to make a mess? Help them make a mess! Let them help you clean it up. That can be almost as much fun as making the mess. No, really.
5. Plan an extra special bath. Instead of getting them out, add more warm water once the original water turns cold. My son looks forward to bath time, but by that time, I'm often looking forward to bed time. This is always a favorite!

All of these things combined makes for a very happy child. I usually get a lot of sweet comments at the end of one of these days. The truth is, I'm happier too. But you don't have to do all of these things in one day like we do. Have you been feeling rushed? Set out to try a few things from this list, or come up with a few of your own. You'll all be glad you did. 

What can you do to slow down 

and make your child extra happy?

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I'm Joyce, a stay at home mom of one four year old boy. I write about our adventures in play and my adventures in parenting over at Dinosaurs And Octopuses. I enjoy finding new ways to play and learn, and I love to pass along our favorites. I share a hodgepodge of activities, crafts, and recipes.

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Christmas Crafts: Child-Made Cards

Guest Post by    Two fun Christmas Card Crafts for the kids to make!  Its shared by Cathy at NurtureStore.  [I love her point that they don't have to be perfect. That's kind of the best part!]

Simple child-made Christmas cards

With two crafty kids in the house we love to make and send some simple child-made Christmas cards to our friends and family. I love adding homemade touches to our celebration and I think sending a special card to someone they love is a fun way to involve children in the spirit of the holiday.

Here are two simple design ideas that are easy to make and look super cute.


Simple Christmas tree card:
 

This design is so easy to make and invites the children to add their own embellishments. The tree is made from a triangle shaped piece of paper, which you simply stick to the front your card. Then it's over to the children to add all the decorations. You can glue on shapes, use stickers and, in our house at least, add lots and lots of glitter.


Easy snowman card :


The snowman is made from two circles of cotton wool, glued in place on the front of the card. Even very young children can add faces, buttons and arms with a pencil or marker pen. We like to add a few falling snowflakes, made by sticking on some sequins. I love how each of the snowmen my kids made looks different, with it's own little personality.

Child-made Christmas cards don't have to be perfect.
The very fact that they have been hand-made makes them special, and using bold shapes with your child's own embellishments is a great-looking combination.


More Christmas craft ideas :
If your kids love lots of Christmas making they might like to try our paper plate angels or our model Christmas village.

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Cathy James writes the blog NurtureStore which is packed full of play ideas, kids crafts and fun activities. Visit NurtureStore and sign up for your copy of the Weekly Play Planner for lots more fun ideas.

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It's Playtime! : Christmas Countdown

It's the beginning of the Christmas countdown.

There's 24 Days before Christmas!
Add to that a collection of 24 Kid Bloggers.
And that means there's a Creative Christmas Countdown!

Creative with Kids has organized an activity a day from 24 creative kid bloggers to countdown to Christmas! I'm very excited for this, and I'm taking part! I'm day 12! Yay!

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30 Days to Hands on Play : Keep Playing

DAY 30 CHALLENGE:

KEEP ON PLAYING!

Today is the final day of the 30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge.
While this month has been exhausting with keeping up with all the challenges and all the participants, I'm very sad to see its over already!

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