tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582387014373959632026-05-06T05:13:19.852-07:00Join us on our creative learning journey as we share kids crafts, holiday crafts, play-based learning activities, books, & more!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.comBlogger444125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-15079954383679913142014-01-17T11:40:00.000-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.416-08:00

Here are some easy crafts and activities my son did a few years ago as a Learning the Letter Hh theme. I had bought candy hearts that tasted awful so instead of throwing them away, I used them in a fun craft. Free alphabet printables can be found all around the web. Once you find one that you like have the child paint glue inside the letters. Encourage them to try to stay inside the lines.

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-68141139329851141932014-01-13T14:08:00.003-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.533-08:00

Recently, I was browsing the Craft Project Ideas website and noticed that the material of the month is Holiday Upcycle and thought it would be fun to try the challenge. I decided to have the kids make a Valentine's Day candle holder. I had saved tissue paper from Christmas to use for crafting purposes so I grabbed a sheet of the red. Ours are made from baby food jars but any

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-46471290623386174062014-01-02T15:20:00.000-08:002014-01-31T00:06:01.523-08:00

Every year we do a Countdown to Noon Year's Party with our friends. This year one of our friends is working so we celebrated a day earlier instead. My kids and I made fun party bags to hand out at this year's New Year's party. We also made 2014 Clock Juice Boxes to take with as well. You can see how we made these kid-friendly New year's drinks by heading over to our craft blogger post on the

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-86194570565321704822014-01-01T15:27:00.002-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.578-08:00

WooHoo, it's 2014! Did you have a good time celebrating? Here is how we celebrated with the kids this year. For our family New Year's Celebration, I gathered some fun and festive items that I thought the kids might like: Silly String - Walgreen's Hershey Kisses - New Year's Kisses Pipe Cleaner Glasses Tutorial Mini Strobe Light - Walgreen's Glow Stick Hand Clapper - Party City....

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-7753781553751758842013-12-30T11:59:00.002-08:002014-01-31T02:19:12.643-08:00

We love making fun glasses for the kids to wear in New Year's. This year, we made sparkly pipe cleaner glasses for the kids to wear at a Countdown to New Year's party at a friend's house. They are easy to make and inexpensive. I bought the sparkly pipe cleaners from Dollar Tree. Here's how to make them. Twist 2 colors together and then repeat with another two.  Cut both in half. Make

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-69431348864406492032013-12-20T11:10:00.000-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.541-08:00

We love all things Christmas-y and were super excited to review these Custom Rubber Stamps- aren't they fun?! I was most excited about the custom address stamp with my son's favorite animal - a penguin. The kids loved the stamps too. They were easy enough for even my 2 year old to help stamp our other-wise boring Christmas card envelopes. The ink is inside each stamp and when stamped, it

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-71015441467695622392013-12-18T05:00:00.000-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.544-08:00

We made snow many adorable Christmas crafts using homemade puffy paint. Head on over to the Gummy Lump Toys blog to see all of them and to get the super easy-to-make recipe. Above is the melted snowman Little Sister made. Below if the puffy snowman painting Big Brother made. Let's Connect! Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+&

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-44039991740361737812013-12-17T11:52:00.004-08:002014-01-31T00:06:01.516-08:00

We have been busy making crafty ornaments for our Christmas tree. Using the craft supplies that CraftProjectIdeas.com sent us, we made all different kid-friendly ornaments. St Nick brought the kids each a wooden snowman ornament which they painted white and covered in glitter. I love how tiny the tubes that hold the glitter are making it easy for my toddler to use. I sealed it with a clear

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-80503316951685641882013-12-06T15:06:00.007-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.562-08:00

Has it snowed in your area yet? It has snowed in the mountains near us and the kids are excited to go sledding. It has been rather cold for where we live so it does feel like winter and therefore we decided to make snowflake crafts. I helped my son make a Snowflake Mobile and my toddler made snowflake art. Get the instructions by heading over to see our Crafty Blogger post on the Gummy Lump

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-32513807655001395442013-11-25T11:26:00.000-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.444-08:00

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? It's such a busy time of the year with all the holidays (and both my kids birthdays!). Here is a round up of Thanksgiving and Fall Crafts my kids made last year that are fun, last-minute ideas that you can easily do at home or in the classroom. Craft Stick Turkey my son made in preschool.  Scarecrow Puppet & Leaf Preschool Crafts Turkey

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-41049296401909594422013-11-24T14:30:00.002-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.465-08:00

This post is brought to you by TJ Hughes. Let your children get creative with a fun easel! Here are some fun easel crafts and activities to inspire your littlest artists: Open-ended toddler art via Pink & Green Mama - list of toddler crafts Rainbow Sticky Easel Activity via Teach Preschool Drip Drop Painting via Teach Preschool Shape Sorting via Learning 4 Kids Ribbons & String

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-25637173433290276272013-11-17T19:05:00.001-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.425-08:00

Like most kids, my little ones love to jump. I saw a fun color hopping activity on Pinterest made with sidewalk chalk and thought it would be fun to make a fall themed one with leaves instead of circles. To make our Leaf Hop activity, I drew different colored leaves with sidewalk chalk. I picked up Crayola 48 Count Sidewalk Chalk at an end of season sale and am in love with it..

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-90354608689159543532013-11-15T15:04:00.001-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.595-08:00

We used a fun painting technique to make this Indian corn door decoration and corn on the cob characters craft. Head over to the Gummy Lump Toys blog to see what we used to make it. Check out our Thanksgiving kids crafts archive and Thanksgiving handprint crafts archive for more fun ideas. Let's Connect! Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram |&

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-81111830195624466022013-11-13T20:01:00.001-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.566-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kroger® Private Selection®. All opinions are 100% mine. Looking for a way to make gourmet food without the gourmet price? Private Selection® offers a variety of foods including meats, cheeses, snacks, and more. "Quality You Can Taste, Value You Deserve."  Their ingredients give us who cook at home a way to make yummy meals at a great

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-39183901692708514912013-11-13T14:33:00.000-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.457-08:00

We had fun making a turkey jar craft to use as a cute Thanksgiving decoration. I am one of those people who holds onto things for recycled crafts (way too many things!) and I am sure glad I saved some of the kids baby food jars from when they were babies. Supplies: empty baby food jar Mod Podge brown paint paintbrush tissue paper (white or brown) googly eyes orange construction paper red

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-40040259480678816782013-11-08T14:02:00.001-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.461-08:00

We were out-of-state for about half of October so we didn't get to make a bunch of Halloween crafts like we usually do this time of year. We still have a few Halloween posts to publish of some of the crafts we did make so be sure to keep an eye out for those to bookmark for next year. Below are some crafts my kids have made over the past several years. Some are from when my son went to

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-29601012603119448962013-11-04T19:01:00.001-08:002014-01-30T23:34:09.440-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Orkin Ecologist. All opinions are 100% mine. Eeewww! That's what comes to mind when I think of bugs and other creepy crawly insects. Living in the desert climate has introduced me to a whole new variety of bugs to be creeped out by like scorpions, cockroaches, water bugs, and camel spiders. A camel spider is also known around our city

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-62695510457126309392013-10-30T21:41:00.000-07:002014-01-31T00:06:01.526-08:00

We have been out of state visiting family so my kids got a chance to paint 2 pumpkins each this year - one at home and one to decorate their Uncle's home where we stayed while visiting. My brother decided to carve his pumpkin which was a new experience for them since we have always just painted ours. The top left was painted by my toddler. She chose the colors and then decorated it with

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-26114939819865050462013-10-11T10:56:00.003-07:002014-01-30T23:34:09.429-08:00

Wait, don't throw that newspaper out! Instead turn it into a cool-looking wall hanging. Head over to the Gummy Lump Toys blog to see how my son and I made this recycling truck craft and to check out the owl-dorable one I made with my daughter. Let's Connect! Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ | Handprint Art blog

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-35897677315598313132013-10-10T14:42:00.002-07:002014-01-30T23:34:09.449-08:00

We made pumpkin paperweights from stones! My kids are forever playing with little rocks so they were more than happy to get to paint one. My 5 yr old drew a pumpkin face on his rock while I made one on my toddler's using a permanent black marker. We cut tiny sections from a green pipe cleaner, folded it in half, and the squished it together. I bent the ends up and hot glued them on.

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-84092965555514788662013-10-07T16:19:00.002-07:002014-01-30T23:34:09.574-08:00

Not sure if I would call this a craft fail because I like how the kids Halloween paintings turned out even if it wasn't what I envisioned in my mind. It's supposed to be a watercolor-glue resist art project but the white glue didn't show through like I had hoped and seen on many blogs. I made outlines of different Halloween themed things white Elmer's glue and let them dry

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-9126393184274152252013-09-19T19:00:00.000-07:002014-01-30T23:34:09.602-08:00

For the past year or so we have been a contributor over on the Gummy Lump Toys blog. We have been having a blast coming up with crafty creations to share with their readers as well as ours. While we have done many different 'themes' for our crafty blogger posts, animals crafts are a favorite for my kids. Here is a collection of the animal crafts we have posted about on their blog. There are

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-86657119542111511522013-09-07T12:58:00.003-07:002014-01-31T00:06:01.530-08:00

My daughter loves pretend play and dressing up. She was so excited when Big Brother and I made these beaded necklaces and bracelets. The wood beads make them fashionable enough to dress up any outfit - especially the fall season! These particular beads are from CraftProjectIdeas.com - their products can be found at Walmart for very reasonable prices. They have TONS of crafty products! I

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-54868563730678196572013-08-18T19:39:00.002-07:002014-01-30T23:34:09.493-08:00

Here is a fun scissors practice activity I made for my little guy that also doubles as a shapes activity AND guessing game! It's so simple and takes less than 10 minutes to create. All you need to do it cut a sheet of paper into small squares. Fold those pieces in half. Draw half of a shape on each one. Have the child guess what shape is on each one. My son is 5 and has known his shapes for

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-658238701437395963.post-92202611551702240082013-07-30T20:43:00.001-07:002014-01-31T00:01:35.140-08:00

My kids just love dressing up and doing pretend play - especially Little Sister! We were recently sent materials from Sprout for creating an easy, no-sew Pirate Costume on behalf of The Chica Show - the 2nd season started this week (July 29th). They thought it was so neat that 'Chica' sent them a package in the mail ...... tee, hee! Chica loves playing dress up and this season you will find all

Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08975217376062306374noreply@blogger.com2