My Creative Family

10 Ways to Bring a Book to Life

2012-02-23T08:07:00.000-06:00

We love books in our house. We love to read them, look at the pictures, listen to them, and many times fall asleep with them. We also love to do crafts and activities based on some of our favorite books. Here are 10 fun ways to have fun with books!

1. Use props. You can use dolls or stuffed animals to help you tell a story. Story boards and flannel boards are also popular props for story telling. Check out this story board example from Rockabye Butterfly for the book Going On a Bear Hunt.

2. Do an art project in the style of the illustrator. There is such beautiful art work in picture books. Get lost in the art work and try to create your own illustrations. We tried to emulate the artwork in the book The Little House.

3. Dress up like a character and act out the book. Take a peek at how Inspiration Surrounds, Creativity Abound dressed up like Fancy Nancy.

4. Use dramatic voices when reading aloud. Don't be shy! Give that monster a deep, gruff voice or the mouse a squeaky voice. Your kids will love it!

5. Get crafty! Do a craft project based on one of your favorite books. We made paper princesses based on the book The Paper Princess and also collages based on the book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. If you're looking for more ideas, this Children's Book Related Crafts and Activities board will help you out.

6. Have a theme day. Do crafts, activities and even have snacks that relate to a specific book. Mommy and Me Book Club is full of ideas that can be incorporated into a theme day. One of my favorites is their recent post about the book The Three Little Kittens.

7. Make up a new story with your favorite book characters. What kind of adventures did Little Red Riding Hood have when she went to town, instead of to her Grandmother's house? Or, tell about the adventures Mary and Laura may have had on a picnic out on the prairie. Let your imagination run wild.

8. Use puppets to tell the story. Make Do & Friend shows you how to make adorable Three Little Pigs Puppets. They'd be perfect for storytelling!

9. Play! Creative Connections for Kids read the book Little Blue Truck and made masking tape roads to play with. What a fun way to interact with a book!

(via Creative Connections for Kids)

10. Have a meal or a snack based on a book. Green Eggs and Ham is always a popular choice. Annie's Eats made green deviled eggs and ham sliders to celebrate the book.

*Bonus Activity: Go to a story time. Most local libraries offer a story time each week and some even offer an evening story time. Go, discover new books, and enjoy!

What do you like to do to bring a book to life?

100 Dresses

2012-02-22T10:12:00.001-06:00

Did you ever read the book The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes? It was a favorite of mine growing up and the idea of all of those drawings has always been appealing to me. Perhaps that's why, when Lizzie asked me for something to color, I started drawing dresses.

It started out innocently enough. I drew her a few dresses and she went off to color them. When she was finished, she came back for more and then kept coming back. I think I'm drawing dresses every couple of days now.

I typically draw a couple of dresses in pencil, then go back and trace with a Sharpie. Then, Lizzie colors them with her markers. I'm not sure why she decided that these should only be colored with markers, but it does make them nice and vibrant.

Now, we've got quite a large collection of beautiful dresses. Probably nearing 100 if this pile is any indication. Now, what should we do with them? Make a display, a scrapbook.... hmmmmm. What would you do with all of these dresses?

Linking up to It's Playtime.

Watercolor Resist Flowers

2012-02-21T08:48:00.001-06:00

This isn't our first attempt at watercolor resist. We first tried our hand at it with our watercolor resist circles. We keep coming back to this method, because it's fun and the results always look so pretty. This time we decided our subjects were going to be flowers. Lizzie has been very interested in drawing lately and I knew she was pretty confident in her ability to draw a flower. I wanted her to enjoy the process and not get frustrated.

She drew her flowers in pencil, then traced over them with oil pastels. (You can use crayons for this part. The results will be the same.) When she was done with the tracing, we got out the paint. Her black lines helped her stay within the lines a lot better, because ultimately that was HER goal with this project. So in the end, this project wasn't a watercolor resist in its truest form because that's not what Lizzie had in mind. But, the results were fabulous!

So, what was AJ, my 2-1/2 year old, doing? Why, she was working on her own project. She drew as many lines and circles as she could with many different colors of oil pastels. When she was finally satisfied with her drawing, she started painting too. She was very deliberate with her painting until she noticed the colors started mixing! So, here's AJ's finished project... a very green watercolor resist abstract painting!

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Just a little bloggy business for you! Don't forget that I'm moving my "10 Ways" series to Thursdays to make room for the Kid's Co-op link-up. And, also remember to check back on Saturday for the second installment of "Weekends." Thanks for all your support and for taking the time to read!

Weekends: Declutter & Create a Donation Bin

2012-02-18T07:41:00.000-06:00

Happy weekend! Are you ready to do something for yourself? Let's do a bit of decluttering and create a donation bin to help keep that clutter from taking over your life. Now, I know this doesn't sound super-creative or even all that exciting, but hear me out. This is worth all the time and work. You will feel better, refreshed, and much more organized when you're done. Believe me, I felt pretty good about myself when I finished.

I spent the weekend weeding through my closet and even recruited my husband to do the same. We ended up with about three boxes full of clothes to donate and another box of clothes that needed recycling. And yes, we did enjoy ourselves and had some good conversation while we were at it. Recruit your children to do the same! Freshen up your house or your closets and help others out at the same time.

How do you decide what can be donated and what should be recycled? Donate anything that is: clean, in good repair, and free of any stains. If it has holes, stains, or just looks worn out, it needs to be recycled. Fold it all neatly and pack it in either boxes or bags. Do you really want to donate a bad full of wadded up clothes? No, I didn't think so!

Now let's make that donation bin! What is the purpose of the donation bin? It's a place where you can put things that need to be donated as you find them. Instead of putting those clothes that your kids have outgrown into a drawer, add it to the donation bin. Once it fills up, it's time to take a trip to the donation center.

I used the donation bin as an excuse to go shopping, that part's not necessary... but it is fun. After wandering the aisles of my favorite home improvement store pondering all the cute baskets and bins I could buy, I came to the realization that I was going to have to find something with a lid. You see, I have a pretty black cat who really likes to sleep in baskets. Her favorites baskets are ones that are big with something soft in them. So, big plastic bin with a lid... welcome to my house.

Find something cute, but most of all practical, and set it aside for a donation bin. I labeled mine with a simple sign taped on the top. Make sure the family knows where you are keeping it and what the purpose is for. I decided to put mine in the laundry room. It's out of the way, yet easily accessible.

Now that you've decluttered and made your donation bin, you've got two things left to do.

1. Take a trip to the donation center and drop everything off.

2. Relex, celebrate, go out for ice cream, enjoy your family!

Working together to take care of your home and to help each other is always rewarding. And, your kids are never to young to participate!

How are you planning on spending your weekend?

Kids Co-Op

2012-02-17T14:12:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited to introduce the Kids Co-Op to you. I'm joining forces with some wonderful and fun kid's blogs to bring you a weekly link-up. You get to show off what you've been working on!

So, please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we'd love you forever if you'd link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts blogs! So, if you're excited as I am, join up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!

Be sure to check back here every Friday for the Kid's Co-op. Starting next week, I'll be sharing some of my favorite posts that were linked up the previous week! (My 10 Ways posts will now be moved to Thursday to make room for this fun and fabulous link-up.)

10 Ways to Have Fun With Math

2012-02-17T07:27:00.003-06:00

When I was a kid, I rarely enjoyed math. All of those worksheets, memorization, and lists of problems to solve just did not interest me. There's just no fun in that! Luckily, math doesn't have to be boring. And for children just learning the concepts of counting and math, it can be loads of fun. Here is my list of 10 ways to have fun with math.

1. Play games. Get out a deck of cards and start playing. Number recognition, greater than and less than, and addition are all very fun concepts to learn with a deck of cards. Here's a post by Imagination Soup that lists several games you could play.

2. Get out your blocks. Recently my girls and I had great fun practicing our counting and basic addition with our building blocks. You can also learn about subtraction or even basic geometry with your blocks. Start building and you'll be surprised at what your kids learn.

3. Learn about measurement and estimation with non-standard units. NurtureStore used Legos to measure with, while The Imagination Tree used hand prints. Come up with your own non-standard unit. Maybe you'll use blocks, foot prints, or even whole body lengths to measure. Try to guess how many blocks you'll need to measure the length of a book. Have fun and let your kids use their problem-solving skills.

4. Play with pattern blocks. Make patterns and have your kids replicate them. Create shapes using the pattern blocks. PreKinders has a lot of pattern block mats you can use to help your kids create pictures with the pattern blocks. (I found our pattern blocks at Discount School Supply.)

5. Learn about shapes by going on a Shape Hunt. Send the kids all over the house looking for examples of different shapes.

6. Get out your play dough! Sculpt them into numbers or shapes. Or, you could roll out lengths of them and practice cutting and measuring with a ruler, just like this example at Shannon's Tot School.

7. Practice counting with a counting maze. Hands On: As We Grow shares this wonderful and fun idea!

(via Hand On: As We Grow)

8. Practice math with candy. You can practice counting, estimating, graphing, sorting, adding, subtracting, and more using candy. Creative Connections with Kids shows you some fun ideas with M&M's and Quirky Momma shows you all the math fun you can have with a bag of Skittles.

9. Have some counting fun with nursery rhymes. Your littlest ones will love counting along with some of their favorite nursery rhymes such as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Five Little Monkeys.

10. Get active. Play hopscotch or jump rope to practice counting. You could also mix it up a little bit and play shape hopscotch instead of traditional hopscotch.

*Bonus Activity: There are many, many books full of math activities that you could find at your local library. Two of my favorites are Math Play by Diane McGowan and Mark Schrooten and MathArts by MaryAnne Kohl.

How do you like to have fun with math?

***Come back later today for a special post with a link-up!!***

Linking up to The Sunday Showcase

Art & Writing Corner

2012-02-15T08:36:00.000-06:00

There are so many wonderful and inspiring play and learning spaces all over the Web. Some are large taking up entire rooms and while wonderful, that's just not realistic for my family. So, when Lizzie started showing a lot of interest in both writing and drawing, I knew I wanted to set up an area that she could go to and have plenty of materials at her disposal. A lot of my inspiration for this area came from Mariah Bruehl and her blog Playful Learning. Her writing caddy was foremost on my mind while creating this space.

We had a small, unused cabinet that I moved to a sunny corner of our living room. The girls' table is set up next to the cabinets. Then, I gathered baskets, boxes, empty cans, and plenty of art and writing supplies. The purple basket is full of all kinds of paper. Plain paper, lined paper, old stationary, colored paper, and even a few coloring pages. In addition to the various types of paper, I also made sure there were different sizes as well. Then, I set out our box of crayons, markers, colored pencils, and recycled muffin tin crayons. We have an A,B,C stencil book I found at our library's book sale that I added to the area. I also included a cup with a few more stencils, a pencil sharpener, and glue sticks.

This is an independent area that the girls can use anytime they want. It's also in an area of our house that we spend the most time in, which was very important to me. Now the girls are able to draw, color, or write anytime it strikes their fancy. And, I have piles and piles of drawings to attest to how much they use this area!

A learning space doesn't have to be large or expensive to set up. It could be a small corner of a room or it could even be portable in a basket or bin. But, it's a wonderful way to encourage a budding interest in your child!

Do you have any special learning or play spaces in your home?

Two Last Minute Valentine Crafts

2012-02-14T08:24:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We've been doing Valentine's crafts for several weeks now, but I know that's not the case for everyone. If you're still looking for Valentine's crafts, I've got two quick and easy ideas for you. We made these heart necklaces and napkin rings using simple supplies that you probably have around the house.

Heart Necklace Supplies:

Construction paper

Markers or crayons

Yarn

Tape

For the necklaces, I cut out two heart shapes from pink construction paper. We decorated with markers to make them pretty then taped them to a length of yarn. We knotted the ends of the yarn together and had necklaces. Easy-peasy!

Napkin Ring Supplies:

Construction paper

Markers or crayons

Cardboard tube

Tape

For this project, I cut an empty TP tube into four pieces and cut four heart shapes from the construction paper. We decorated the tubes and the hearts, then taped one heart to each tube. I wrote names on each heart, because tonight, we'll put pretty napkins through them and use them to decorate our table for Valentines Day.

So there you have it, two very easy Valentine's projects you can do today!

Are you still crafting for Valentines Day?

Pretend Play Jewelry Store

2012-02-13T08:19:00.000-06:00

We like to play "store" around our house, so in honor of Valentine's Day, we set up a pretend play jewelry store. But, before we could set up the store, we had to make our inventory. We got out our bucket of beads, some string, and some pipe cleaners, and set to work making jewelry. We made necklaces, bracelets, and even a few rings.

We went in search of anything we could find to make our store "fancy." We covered the coffee table with a pretty blanket and used a few pastel-colored bins as display cases. I found a pretty mirror to display our tiara on and Lizzie decorated with flowers.

We made signs and price tags and made sure everything was set up perfectly. And last, but not least, I found a few fabric bags and our cash register so the girls could pay for their treasures. I think setting up the jewelry store was even more fun than playing with it!

Aren't those rings beautiful? I know you want one for yourself!

Oftentimes, pretend play scenarios can be set up using nothing more than what you already have in your home. No cash register? Use a box and make paper money. Don't want a jewelry store? Get out all of your stuffed animals and have a pet store instead. Or save old pasta and cereal boxes and have a grocery store. The possibilities are endless!

Do your kids like to play "store"?

Linking up to Tuesday Tots and It's Playtime.

Weekends Are For... Grownups?!?

2012-02-12T11:36:00.000-06:00

If you notice, the name of my blog is My Creative Family and almost everything I blog about is for the kids, activities for kids, crafts for kids, games for kids. We do a lot for our kids, don't we? It's easy to get lost in that. I know I find myself doing that all the time, thinking only of the kids and forgetting about myself in the process. It's easy to do. But, hopefully, I've found a remedy for that. I'm claiming weekends and you should too!

I'm not proposing you ship the kids off for the weekend or ignore them completely. I'd like to show you ways to do something for yourself, something a bit more "grown-up," but still involve the kids. Because, after all, we're part of the same family.

I'll be steering away from the child-centered posts on Saturdays and give you ideas for you... the grown-ups in the family. Whether you're a parent, a grandparent or a child-care worker, I hope you'll find ways to enrich your life and the whole family's life. I want My Creative Family to include the entire family.

Each weekend idea will have a theme, with ideas surrounding that theme. We'll declutter and make a donation station. We'll explore a new hobby. We'll spend a weekend exercising outdoors. We'll rejuvenate, renew, and reinvent.

I invite you to join along!

10 Ways to Say "I Love You"

2012-02-10T08:10:00.000-06:00

With Valentine's Day coming up soon, it's easy to find ways to say "I love you." But, what about all the other days of the year? I've got 10 easy ways to show your love that you can do any day. They're perfect for you to do for your kids or your spouse and are even wonderful ways for kids to say "I love you" to their parents, siblings, or friends.

1. Make their favorite meal and have a special dinner. This will always brighten up someone's day.

2. Give them a secret love note. Find the details to make these fun secret notes at Awesomely Awake.

(via Awesomely Awake)

3. Hug them - there's nothing better than a big, warm hug. So, hug the ones you love often!

4. Give them your time. Do one of their chores for them. Clean their room. Run an errand for them. You get the idea!

5. Make them a special card and surprise them with it! It doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. Our Heart-Stamped Cards would be a perfect surprise.

6. Celebrate the small things. Celebrate the first loose tooth or the day they learn to write their name. Make sure you let them know they are special.

7. "Heart Attack" them! Learn about this special idea at Toddler Approved.

(via Toddler Approved)

8. Write them a love letter. Write your child a letter to let them know you love them and think they are special.

9. Make a love notes wipe-off board like this one from The Golden Gleam. It's a wonderful way to show your love.

10. Spend time doing something they love, even if you don't necessarily enjoy it. Watch that baseball game with them even if you'd rather be watching House Hunters. It will mean a lot!

*Bonus idea: Just say it!! Never forget to tell the people you love that you love them!

What are some ways you like to say "I love you?"

Linking up to the TGIF Linky Party, Show and Share Saturday, and The Sunday Showcase.

Sponge-Printed Valentines

2012-02-09T09:27:00.000-06:00

When thinking about Valentines, I can't forget to include our favorite Valentine's book, Max's Valentine by Rosemary Wells. It's a simple book, in very typical Max and Ruby style. But, year in and year out, this is our most requested Valentine book at our house.

So, I knew we had to do a Valentine's craft based on our favorite book. I cut out several hearts from sturdy paper (such as card stock) and got out a few supplies. Since Ruby used an awful lot of glitter in this book, we made sure we had quite a bit on hand.

We used sponges instead of paintbrushes. I used a clothes pin to help the girls hold on to the sponges. (I don't remember when I first saw this idea, but I'm almost certain it was somewhere on Pinterest.) After setting up everything, I stepped back and let the girls do what they wanted. The painting was such an amazingly nice and neat process, but then came the glitter! And boy did we use the glitter!

You've got to make sure everything is well glittered, right? After attaching a few bits of tissue paper, the girls were done. Now we've got some nice and sparkly Valentines inspired by Max and Ruby.

What is your kid's favorite Valentine's book?

Linking up to Read.Explore.Learn

Building Blocks and Math Fun

2012-02-08T08:42:00.001-06:00

When I picked up the book Jack the Builder by Stuart J. Murphy at the library, I didn't expect to have so much fun with it. We learned a new math concept, counting on, while playing with blocks. It doesn't get any better than that!

Jack the Builder is part of the MathStart 1 series of books. This is a series that teaches kids about basic math concepts through stories. The book we chose talked about counting on, an early step to addition. If you have three blocks then add two more, start counting from 3 then 4, 5. You have 5 blocks. Jack kept adding more and more blocks all the while encouraging the reader to add with him.

What really got my girls excited was Jack's imagination. He didn't just build simple towers with blocks, he built hot dog stands, boats, and rockets. We were encouraged to get out our blocks and see what we could build. We played and talked about math for an entire afternoon.

We built towers, circus trains, and village by the sea. We built wide structures and high structures. We had a competition to see who could build the highest tower. All the while, we were counting, adding, and subtracting. This was the perfect way to learn a little about math!

Do you have any sneaky ideas for teaching math skills?

Valentine Ideas Blog Hop

2012-02-07T07:29:00.001-06:00

Valentine's Day is coming soon and boy, do I have a lot of ideas for you! We've done several ideas ourselves, such as:

Heart-Stamped Valentines

Silly Heart Puppets

Stained-Glass Valentines

Love Banners

And there are many more ideas from the following blogs who have all joined to together to bring you the ultimate Valentines Idea Blog Hop:

Mama Pea Pod, Let Kids Create, My Creative Family, Hands on: as we grow, La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life, AngeliqueFelix.com, The Golden Gleam, Teach Preschool, Critters and Crayons, Living at the Whitehead Zoo, The Iowa Farmer's Wife, Nurturestore, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, The Chocolate Muffin Tree, Jamie's Jumble, The Outlaw Mom Blog, Mama Smiles, The Mommies Made Me Do It, Dinosaurs and Octopuses, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, Toddler Approved, Messy Kids, Rainy Day Mum, JDaniel4sMom, Glittering Muffins, Red Ted Art, Mommy and Me Book Club, Putti Prapancha, Dilly-Dali Art, Creative Connections for Kids, Mommy Labs, De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire, Imagination Soup.net, Rockabye Butterfly, Classified: Mom, Kids Creative Chaos, A Mom with A Lesson Plan, PlayDrMom, RainbowsWithinReach, Living Montessori Now, Curly Birds, Growing A Jeweled Rose, The Home Teacher, A Little Learning For Two, Sun Hats and Wellie Boots, The Imagination Tree, Mummy Mummy Mum, Critters and Crayons, La-La's Home Daycare, Come Together Kids, Tinkerlab, Dirt and Boogers,Multiple Mummy.

Check them out and feel free to add your own Valentine Ideas!

Cooking With Kids: Fruit Salad

2012-02-06T10:05:00.001-06:00

I don't really write too many cooking posts. It's not that I don't like to cook or never cook with the kids, but I just haven't figured out how to do it and take pictures at the same time! But, I did want to share the one project that gets the girls screaming with glee if I suggest it: fruit salad. They love to make it and they love to eat it.

It's always a collaborative project. We each choose one to two fruits we want in the salad, which often results in a shopping trip. The shopping is part of the fun for us, but this project most certainly does not need to involve shopping. Just use what you already have! Bananas and blueberries always seem to be a mainstay in our salads. Lizzie loves the responsibility of cutting the banana. It's the perfect fruit to teach knife skills. It's soft, easy to cut, and usually stays put on the cutting board. AJ is typically responsible for adding the blueberries. I'll tackle the harder fruits, like apples or pears. When everything is in the bowl, the girls will take turns stirring. We don't add anything else to the salad, just the fruit. Nothing else is needed.

Sometimes we use all fresh fruit, and sometimes we will use fruit from a can. This is usually because it's winter and it's sometimes hard to find fresh fruit that tastes good. If you want peaches in January, more than likely they'll come from a can!

In this particular fruit salad, we used:

1 banana

Handful of blueberries

1 apple

1 small can pineapple

1 small can peaches

The best part about fruit salad is that anything will work and it always tastes good together. We worked together, combined our favorites, and came up with something even better than if we just ate a banana! There's nothing better!

What is your favorite thing to cook with your kids?

Linking up to Learning Laboratory, The Play Academy, and Fun Sparks

10 Ways to Learn About Weather

2012-02-03T08:09:00.002-06:00

It seems that kids have an endless fascination for weather. And why not? It's always around them, easy to experiment with and always fun to learn about. Here are 10 ways to learn about weather and have fun at the same time!

1. Experiment with the wind. What is wind? How does it feel? Pretend to blow in the wind. Go outside on a windy day. Fly a kite if the day is nice. Or, become the wind yourself like Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas shows in this fun wind experiment, Can the Wind Move It.

2. Make a rain gauge and measure the rain. Greening Sam and Avery shows you how to make this simple rain gauge.

(via Greening Sam and Avery)

3. Make a tornado. Try the classic tornado in a bottle experiment. You'll need to round up two 2-liter bottles for the trick, but it's definitely fun! Weather Wiz Kids has a wonderful explanation of how to do this experiment.

4. Make a rainbow and learn all the colors in a rainbow. Search for one after a rain and then make your own. Draw one, paint one, or make a collage. Did you know you can even make one show up on the back of a cd if you hold it up in the sunlight?

5. Make it rain in your own kitchen. Yes you can, and it won't make a mess either. Sense of Wonder shows you how.

(via Sense of Wonder)

6. Learn about temperature and experiment with hot and cold using ice. Place ice in different areas, in the sunlight for a warm area and in the refrigerator for a cold area, and see how long it takes to melt. Science Sparks shows you a fun example of this experiment with melting ice.

7. Read a book about weather. There are tons of books written for any reading level. Check the selection at your library and find a few. The nonfiction selection is usually quite large. Or, you can find a fiction choice in which weather is the main subject and use the story to further conversation about the weather. The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow is a great fiction choice to get you talking about the weather.

8. Make a fun chart and chart the weather everyday. Warm Hot Chocolate shows you how to make this adorable weather dial.

(via Warm Hot Chocolate)

9. Make your own DIY weather station and learn to collect data. Kitchen Counter Chronicles shows you how to make your own simple backyard weather station.

10. Learn about clouds and create some of your own. What are the different types of clouds and what do they look like. Then get crafty and make your own clouds like we did!

*Bonus Activity: Experience the weather! Play in the rain, throw snowballs, or soak up the sun. Why is weather so much fun to learn about? Because, it's so easy to experience!

How do you like to learn about the weather?

***While researching this post, I came across a wonderful website, Weather Wiz Kids, designed to teach kids about weather. It was created by a meteorologist and provides lots of fun activities, experiments, and information. If you and your kids are interested in learning about weather, this is the perfect site to check out! ***

Antarctica Fun

2012-02-01T21:22:00.002-06:00

We just got back from an exhausting, but very fun trip to Antarctica. We even captured some incredible penguin pictures. Don't you like that little guy above? Well... we didn't actually go to Antarctica, but we did recreate it in our kitchen!

We had a pile of penguin books we've been reading and thought it would be fun to add in a little sensory play. After seeing all the fun that Mama Smiles had by bringing the snow indoors, I knew we had to try it sometime! This was the perfect opportunity. I took a couple of bowls and froze some water in them, then went outside and gathered some of the (quickly melting) snow we had outside. I grabbed some toys from our water table and a cookie sheet and set up this cute little snowy scene. Yes, I do realize that polar bears and penguins don't actually live on the same continent... but we did need a few more animals to play with than that one lonely penguin!

The girls had a blast. They played, made snowballs, tasted the snow, and played some more. All the while, I read a couple of our books from the penguin pile. One of the books we read was The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins, which I highly recommend. It is a nonfiction choice, which tells the story about how the male penguins guard the eggs until they hatch. The author did an amazing job relaying the facts in a storytelling mode that had my girls hooked from the first page.

We had a lot of fun playing with our little Antarctica play scene. While it's a whole lot of fun to play outside in the snow, it was also a lot of fun to bring it indoors!

Have you ever brought snow inside?

Linking up to It's Playtime

The Heart Project

2012-01-31T08:48:00.000-06:00

We all know someone whose life has been affected by heart disease. Each and every family has been touched. So in order to raise funds for the American Heart Association (AHA) 70+ bloggers have joined together to bring you a beautiful book of heart projects. The book includes 100+ projects in it that are heart-related and kid-related made by the kids, for the kids or about the kids. There are projects to create, cook, play with and display in your home!

By making a donation to the AHA, you will receive this amazing collection of photographed heart projects from bloggers all over the world! We hope you will join all of us in our efforts to raise $1000 by Valentine's Day for the AHA!

Here's a sneak peek of some of the beautiful projects you'll find in the book (including two of ours!):

The eBook has links of almost all of the heart projects to a tutorial on the blog that contributed it to the book! There is a collective index in the back as well for those that are purchasing the printed version to check out each of the blogs in the book.

Make a donation of $5 to the American Heart Association
and receive The Heart Project ebook as a free gift!

US $5.00 Donation to AHA

[The book is only available for donation through the month of February, so hurry!]

For every book sold, Craftprojectideas.com is donating $1! That means in addition to your $5 donation by purchasing the The Heart Book, Craftprojectideas.com will donate another $1 on your behalf [up to $500!]!

Please pay a visit to the Craftprojectideas.com Facebook page and tell them a BIG THANK YOU for being so generous!

There's a printed version of "The Heart Book" also available. Its beautifully printed, 8.5 x 8.5", full color, paperback for only US $20.00. Five dollars (US $5) of every book sold will be donated to the American Heart Association.

US $20.00

Order the Printed Version

♥ $5 of every sale of the book will go to the AHA ♥

(The book is only available for donation through the month of February, so hurry!)

If you'd rather just donate without receiving the book, we'd love for you do so!

In addition to the book, we're raising funds for the AHA in several other ways too!

Fundraiser Auctions:

♥ All proceeds of each auction will go to the AHA ♥

Melissa & Doug - 4 Trunki with Teddy Bear Auctions!

Fudoo Boards - 3 Fudoo Board Kits for Auction!

Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10

Giveaways are going to be happening every day from now until the 14th! There's more than one some days, so be sure to check them all out! These giveaways are from The Heart Project Contributing Bloggers who are very generously donating their projects from The Heart Book, or something related to their heart project.

There are also a couple special giveaways from Melissa & Doug, Fudoo Boards and CraftProjectIdeas.com!

Be sure to check back each day to enter that day's giveaways!

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1. February 01: Dilly-Dali Art [ends 2/8]
2. February 01: Ready. Set. Read!
3. February 01: The Preschool Toolbox
4. February 01: Toddler Approved
5. February 02: Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
6. February 03: Putti Prapancha [ends 2/9]
7. February 03: The Golden Gleam [ends 2/9]
8. February 04: Share & Remember [ends 2/10]
9. February 05: FUDOO BOARDS GIVEAWAY! at hands on : as we grow, Heart Journey [ends 2/12]
10. February 06: Broken Treasures
11. February 07: Sense of Wonder
12. February 07: The Craft Barn
13. February 08: MELISSA & DOUG GIVEAWAY! at hands on : as we grow, The SEEDS Network, Little Illuminations, Toddler Approved, Putti Prapancha, Share & Remember, Living Montessori Now, Broken Treasures [ends 2/15]
14. February 09: Teach Preschool
15. February 10: Among Many Blessings
16. February 11: CRAFTPROJECTIDEAS. COM GIVEAWAY @ hands on : as we grow [ends 2/18]
17. February 11: Kreative Resources
18. February 12: Carrie Saindons Photo Journey
19. February 13: Little Illuminations
20. February 14: GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY: Printed "The Heart Book" at hands on : as we grow, The SEEDS Network, Broken Treasures, Among Many Blessings [ends 2/21]

February 01: Dilly-Dali Art [ends 2/8]

February 01: Ready. Set. Read!

February 01: The Preschool Toolbox

February 01: Toddler Approved

February 02: Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

February 03: Putti Prapancha [ends 2/9]

February 03: The Golden Gleam [ends 2/9]

February 04: Share & Remember [ends 2/10]

February 05: FUDOO BOARDS GIVEAWAY! at hands on : as we grow, Heart Journey [ends 2/12]

10.

February 06: Broken Treasures

11.

February 07: Sense of Wonder

12.

February 07: The Craft Barn

13.

February 08: MELISSA & DOUG GIVEAWAY! at hands on : as we grow, The SEEDS Network, Little Illuminations, Toddler Approved, Putti Prapancha, Share & Remember, Living Montessori Now, Broken Treasures [ends 2/15]

14.

February 09: Teach Preschool

15.

February 10: Among Many Blessings

16.

February 11: CRAFTPROJECTIDEAS. COM GIVEAWAY @ hands on : as we grow [ends 2/18]

17.

February 11: Kreative Resources

18.

February 12: Carrie Saindons Photo Journey

19.

February 13: Little Illuminations

20.

February 14: GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY: Printed "The Heart Book" at hands on : as we grow, The SEEDS Network, Broken Treasures, Among Many Blessings [ends 2/21]

This linky list is now closed.

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The Heart Project Contributing Bloggers
Each of the following bloggers have contributed a project to The Heart Book. They are all creative and generous folks, so pay them a visit. You won't regret it!

hands on : as we grow	♥	A Little Learning for Two	♥	Among Many Blessings
Angelique Felix	♥	At Home with Ali	♥	Broken Treasures
Busy at Home	♥	Busy Kids Happy Mom	♥	Carrie Saindon's Photo Journey
Child Central Station	♥	Classified: Mom	♥	Classroom Magic
Creative with Kids	♥	Creativity My Passion	♥	Critters and Crayons
De Tout et de Rien	♥	Dilly-Dali Art	♥	Dinosaurs & Octopuses
Excited 2 Learn	♥	Hand Over the Cookies	♥	Handprint & Footprint Art
Happy Hooligans	♥	Heart Journey	♥	Imagination Soup
Jamie's Jumble	♥	Kitchen Counter Chronicles	♥	Kreative Resources
Let Kids Create	♥	Little Illuminationss	♥	Living Montessori Now
Loudness of the Lambs	♥	Love and Lollipops	♥	Mama, hocemo nesto da pravimo
Mama Pea Pod	♥	Mama Smiles	♥	MemeTales
Messy Kids	♥	Mindful Meanderings	♥	Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Mommy Labs	♥	Mommy Perks	♥	Mum Paints Lives
Mummy Mummy Mum	♥	My Creative Family	♥	NurtureStore
One Artsy Mama	♥	Peace Love & Rainbows	♥	Play Dr Mom
Putti Prapancha	♥	Rainbows within Reach	♥	Reading Confetti
Ready. Set. Read!	♥	Red Ted Art	♥	Sense of Wonder
Share & Remember	♥	Stacy Molter	♥	Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
Teach Preschool	♥	The Artful Child	♥	The Chocolate Muffin Tree
The Craft Barn	♥	The Educators' Spin on It	♥	The Golden Gleam
The Imagination Tree	♥	The Iowa Farmer's Wife	♥	The Joy of My Life
The Kids Fun Review	♥	The Outlaw Mom Blog	♥	The Preschool Toolbox
The Seeds Network	♥	Toddler Approved

Snowballs Book and Craft

2012-01-30T08:38:00.001-06:00

We found a lot of inspiration in the book Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. Lois Ehlert is one of my favorite children's book illustrators and I've been wanting to do a craft based on her illustrations. Snowballs was the perfect choice of book.

The book tells the story of a snowfall and the children who decide to make a family of snow people decorated with found objects. It is full of collage illustrations that inspired us to make our own snowman faces.

Supplies Needed:

Paper plates

Pictures of food

Glue

Cotton swabs for spreading the glue (if desired)

I had a few old cooking magazines that were destined for the recycling bin, so we went through them and cut out pictures of food. We found fruits, vegetables, grains, and even a few cookies. If you don't have any old magazines, check the sales ads in your newspaper or print out some clip art to find your pictures of food.

We propped the book up for inspiration and I let the girls work. Lizzie was very deliberate in placing her food pictures, since she was trying to make a face. She wanted to make sure she had the perfect eyes, nose, and even cheeks. AJ, on the other hand, was just having fun gluing. She ended up making a pretty nice food collage. They turned out great!

If you would like more inspiration, check out these Lois Ehlert style snowmen from Teach Preschool.

Linking up to Kids Get Crafty

10 Ways to Explore Nature In the Winter

2012-01-27T08:25:00.000-06:00

**Since my last two "10 Ways" posts have been so popular, I've decided to make this a weekly series. Stay tuned every Friday for a new "10 Ways" post.**

I don't know about you, but winter is always the hardest season for me to come up with ideas to get us outside and exploring nature. So, with that in mind, I did some searching and came up with 10 fun ways to get out and explore nature in the winter.

1. Feed the birds. Use existing bird feeders or make your own, like our simple bird feeders. Put the bird feeders close to a window and provide small notebooks, binoculars and a bird book. See what kind of birds live in your neighborhood in the winter. (*Special note: if you do decide to feed the birds, please continue to feed them until spring comes and they are able to find their own food.)

2. Explore ice. What are its properties? When does it melt? Try to break it. Mama Smiles recently spent some time exploring ice. Check out all the fun they had!

(via Mama Smiles)

3. Learn to read an outdoor thermometer and check the temperature outside. Use the opportunity to learn a little about weather and the characteristics of winter in your area.

4. Learn about snowflakes. Look at them up close with a magnifying glass. What do you see? Check out the fun The Chocolate Muffin had exploring snowflakes.

5. Explore rocks. It doesn't matter whether it is winter, spring, summer, or fall, rocks are always in abundance. Have fun exploring and learning about rocks. Or, you can do like Kitchen Counter Chronicles and make rock art.

(via Kitchen Counter Chronicles)

6. Look for signs of life. Winter is the time of year when many plants are dormant. But, not everything! Go exploring and see if you can find any signs of life. If you need inspiration, Rainy Day Mum recently went searching for fairy homes (aka mushrooms).

7. Give your kids a camera and see what they can find. Here is a great post from The Mommies Made Me Do It about the time she gave her son a camera when they went on a hike.

(from The Mommies Made Me Do It)

8. Read a book about winter animals and look for signs of wildlife. Try finding foot prints near a wooded area. Learn about which animals hibernate and which ones need to forage for food in the winter. Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft is a great resource for this activity.

9. Bring it inside. If it's too cold to go outside and explore, bring some nature indoors. Set up a nature table with all the nature treasures you've collected throughout the year. Or, you can do like Mama Smiles did and bring some snow indoors to play. You don't always have to be outside to explore nature!

10. Make art. Get creative. Use the natural items that you find and make beautiful art. The Chocolate Muffin Tree made this beautiful snowy land art for Valentine's Day.

(via The Chocolate Muffin Tree)

Bonus activity: PLAY! Throw snowballs, make a snow angel, collect sticks, and most of all have fun!

How do you like to explore nature in the winter?

Linking up to It's Playtime

Kindness Challenge: The Bookmark Project

2012-01-26T08:57:00.001-06:00

When Toddler Approved issued their 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge, we jumped right in. The challenge is to do 100 Acts of Kindness between January 16 and February 14. We talked about the challenge and brainstormed different ways to be kind. We plan on helping pick up toys, saying please and thank you, waving at our neighbors, feeding the birds, sending cards to people we love, hugging each other, and many more acts of kindness.

We talked about places we go to often and how we could be kind there. One such place is our local library. And this is where we got a little bit sneaky and had a lot of fun! Bookmarks, we thought, what kid doesn't like a new bookmark? And wouldn't it be fun if we hid them in books at the library for kids to find and hopefully be a bit surprised!

So, we cut strips of paper and got out our stickers and a few fun punches. We decorated and giggled and talked about the kids who might find our bookmarks.

When we were done, I turned them over and wrote "If you found this, please keep and enjoy. Happy Reading!"

When it was time for our weekly library trip, we hid the bookmarks in my purse. If you're going to do this, you have to be sneaky, right? We whispered and giggled and talked about the books we were going to put them in. We decided on chapter books, because you need a bookmark to read chapter books.

When we got to the library, we made a bee-line for the chapter books. We pulled them off the shelf one by one and stuck a bookmark in the middle. Will it make someone's day? I certainly hope so!

What did we learn (other than the fine art of sneakiness) during this process? We learned it was fun to be kind and it was fun to plan little surprises. We learned that there are many, many ways to show kindness. And hopefully, we learned a little bit about loving our fellow human beings.

Have you and your kids performed any acts of kindness lately?

Silly Heart Puppets

2012-01-25T08:59:00.000-06:00

We've been making a lot of Valentines for our family and friends, so I thought the girls would enjoy doing something for themselves. We got out all the fun supplies: puff balls, googly eyes, paint, and glitter and made a couple of silly heart puppets.

Supplies Needed:

Cardboard (I used an old cereal box)

Large craft sticks

Glue

Paint

Googly eyes

Puff balls, glitter and any other embellishment you want to add

We started by gluing our craft sticks onto the backs of our cardboard hearts. Next we painted. After the painting was done, it was time for the glitter. I had the girls sprinkle the glitter on the wet paint, which will hold it on as well as glue.

Finally, it was time for the embellishments! We glued colorful puffballs and googly eyes on our hearts. Use your imagination! Scraps of fabric, ribbon, sequins, and beads are just a few of the things you could add to your puppets.

They're a bit kooky and a lot silly and we had a great time making them! Now it's time to have a lot of fun playing with them!

Linking up to Kids Get Crafty, The Play Academy, The Sunday Showcase, Show & Share Saturday, For the Kids Friday, and The TGIF Linky Party

Love Banners

2012-01-24T08:09:00.001-06:00

We had a lot of fun marble painting, then turned it into a beautiful Valentine's garland. I will confess that this craft took us a couple of days. One day we did the marble painting and another day we did the cutting, sewing, and letter writing. But the results... they were worth it!

I've read about marble painting ideas on several of my favorite blogs and have been wanting to let the girls try it. I found a cardboard box and a few large beads, since we didn't have any marbles. I squirted a bit of red and pink paint on the paper and showed the girls how to move the box around and watch the marbles "paint."

They had a lot of fun and loved working together. We ended up with four different paintings!

The paintings are so pretty and there are so many things you can do with them. Use them as wrapping paper, note cards, or even a background for scrapbooking. But, we were wanting to make a Valentine's Day decoration with them. What were we going to do? A garland, of course!

I found a heart-shaped cookie cutter and started tracing. I used the cookie cutter so that the hearts would all be a uniform size. Then the cutting began. While I cut, Lizzie practiced her writing. I had her write the word "love" a few times until she felt comfortable, then handed her a Sharpie. She worked hard to write the letters on all of our cut-out hearts. For the final step, we took a large, sharp needle and some thick thread. I sewed through both sides of each heart to string together each of the letters in the word "love". I did the sewing myself on these garlands, but a child could definitely do this part. Lizzie just chose not to. Use your discretion with your child's abilities.

Now we have about a dozen love banners that are the perfect size to slide into an envelope and surprise some of our family and friends!

Heart-Stamped Valentines

2012-01-23T08:22:00.001-06:00

Yes, you can make a pretty Valentines using an empty toilet paper roll! We turned ours into stamps to make these pretty heart note cards. We've explored cardboard roll stamping before and had a lot of fun, so I knew the girls would love making these Valentines.

Supplies Needed:

Empty cardboard tubes

Card stock

Red and pink paint

In order to prep for this projects, I squished and folded my cardboard tubes until they looked like a heart. To keep the point at the bottom, I found it helpful to staple the point near the middle of the tube.

Once our stamps were ready, I gave each girl a piece of white card stock and poured a bit of paint onto a couple of plastic lids. The girls got to work stamping. They took their work very seriously!

When we were done, we had a couple of very pretty heart pictures. But, as pretty as they were, they were destined to be note cards. I cut each piece of card stock in half and then folded each in half. Now we've got four pretty Valentines ready to go!

This project is part of a “Heart Project eBook” created by Jamie at Hands on as We Grow, This collaborative project, involving more than 60 bloggers, will be a fundraiser with all proceeds going to the American Heart Association. Check back on February 1st for all the fun details about the participants, how you can get your own copy of the e-book, and a few giveaways as well.

Linking up to The Mommy Club and It's Playtime

Stained Glass Window Valentines

2012-01-20T08:34:00.000-06:00

Our Valentine's Day crafting has begun! Lizzie has been begging me for a few days now to make Valentines, so out came all the red and pink paper. Our first project was to make stained glass window Valentines.

Supplies needed:

Card stock or other stiff paper

Scrapbook paper or other decorative paper

Contact paper

Tissue paper torn into small pieces

Glue stick

I did a bit of prep for this project by cutting heart shapes out of the card stock and scrapbook paper and also cutting the contact paper into small squares (large enough to cover the heart shape you cut out). When cutting out the heart shapes I cut a piece of card stock and a piece of scrapbook paper together. I wanted the heart shapes to be the same size since we would be gluing them together later.

I taped the contact paper down, sticky side up and had the girls start layering the tissue paper bits. Taping down the contact paper is not necessary, but it is a big help! Once they were finished with the tissue paper, we layered a second piece of contact paper over the top and trimmed the excess tissue paper around the edges.

Using the glue stick, cover the piece of card stock with glue, paying close attention to the edges. Put your contact paper collage over the heart shape then layer the decorative paper over the top, lining up your heart shapes.

Now you have a lovely flat note card with room to add your own message. Make sure to hold it up to the light and see how pretty it is when the light shines through!

Have you started making Valentines yet?

This project is one of over 100 appearing in The Heart Project e-book, a fundraiser for The American Heart Association!

Linking up to The Sunday Showcase, Serenity Saturday, Monday Madness, Artsy-Crafty Feb 2012, and For The Kids Friday

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