But despite our best laid plans during vacations, our routines do go haywire and it takes a while for kids (and parents) to settle back in the school time schedules. Every new school year brings with it new ideas, opportunities, activities and even challenges. From chore management, school lunch recipes, regular homework to managing routines there is so much to catch up to for parents.

Thankfully technology is our helping hand in this case and whatever the challenge may be there will be a nifty solution to our problem. Free iPhone apps and free android apps are always at our disposal to make our lives, schedules and routines a bit easier and also help us to become better parents.

So here is the list of 7 Back to School Apps that will make your back to school routine less hectic and more peaceful.

7 Free Back to School Apps for Parents

Chore Monster

It is a fun chore management tool that will help you enforce good behavior in kids and ensure that they take part in household chores too. You basically create chores as per your house rules and assign them to kids Each child completes their assigned chores to earn stars which can be redeemed for rewards that you create! The best part is the humorous monster characters that kids can collect as rewards.

Available on : Apple App Store  

Cozi

Back to school means extra curricular activities, pickup and drop offs, teacher appointments and lots more. Keep your life organized with the Cozi App. You can create Family calendars, set reminders, create grocery lists, a to-do list, a family journal and lots more. If your head spins when you think of your family’s schedules then you definitely need Cozi. The best part is that it is absolutely FREE!

Available on : Apple App Store and Google Play

Mint Money Management App

With a new school year comes new expenses, new goals for saving and spending, creating and managing budgets. Mint.com’s free money management app makes it possible to see all your accounts in one place, stay updated on your money, send bill reminders, set budget goals and more. It is the #1 finance apps for parents who want to do more with their money than just spend it.

Available on : Apple App Store and Google Play 

Kindle App 

Don’t own a kindle but want to access the vast number of ebooks for kids? Download the kindle app today and get reading e-storybooks for your kids, picture books, even phonics. The fact that there are a LOT of free ebooks to download also makes kindle app the-go-to option. To start off with click here to know about 12 free ebooks for kids you can download right now.

Available on : App Store, PC and Google Play

Food on the table

Probably the most stressful part of back to school routines in planning meals especially kid friendly lunches. With Food on the table you can make a weekly menu, import recipes from popular websites, organize your grocery store purchases etc.

Available on : Apple App Store and Google Play

My Homework

Want to manage homework schedules, hand assignments on time, track syllabus, tests and projects? Then My Homework is your best bet. It also syncs up with a desktop counterpart keeping you organized seamlessly on all your devices.

Available on : Apple App Store and Google Play 

Screen Time Lite 

Whether you like it or not, you get a little relaxed about television watching time of kids during summer vacations. But once school is back in session it is important to limit the screen time. With Screen time Lite app you can track the television time of your child, give rewards to stick with the allotted screen time, give bonus screen time on completing chores and give rewards if kids give up screen time in lieu of healthy activities.

Available on : Apple App Store

 Which of these apps have you used for your family? Let me know your experience through comments below

Not just for Father’s day but you can do these art and craft activities for kids anytime and create beautiful keepsakes for your family members. I am so happy that our readers get these wonderful craft ideas for kids and bond with them during these activities.

Car Hangings for Father’s Day 

Sun Car Hanging 

Materials required

Orange foam

Colored Ice Cream sticks

Piece of thread

How to make

Two pieces of the orange foam were cut in flower shape. The colored ice cream sticks were glued in a sun’s rays form on one piece of foam and then it was covered with the second piece of foam. Then a black permanent marker was used to write their beautiful message. ADITYA (Aruja’s dad’s name) means Sun and ARUJA – means sun’s daughter. Also, Poornima means, moon who is always orbiting around them. Isn’t that such a beautiful message for a wonderful father.

Rainbow Car Hanging 

Aruja also made a rainbow hanging for her grandpa and it came out so beautiful and of course colorful.

Materials required 

White card paper

Silver shining paint

Strips of colored card paper

Satin ribbon for string

How to make 

Cut out a cloud from white card paper and make the cloud all shiny with silver shining paint. Now on the backside of the cloud stick the colored card paper strips like a rainbow and add the satin ribbon for string. It is a super simple craft for kids which they can make with minimal adult supervision.

Father’s Stash Box

Materials required 

Printed paper

Empty box

Cello tape

Glue

Scissors

Red Felt heart

How to make 

Cover the box with the printed paper. Stick the red felt heart and voila Father’s stash box is ready. Write your message with a marker and gift it to the dad for his stash like watch, keys etc. I think you can use sturdier boxes like shoe box and tie boxes to create these stash boxes.

Thanks again to Poornima for sharing these beautiful creations with us and all the readers of TMV.

Have you created something special for Father’s day?

Share them with us on swapna (at) themomviews (dot) com. 

One of our awesome Mommy readers, Dolly wanted to do a craft with her daughter Tanvee for the most special man in their life- Tanvee’s Dad. For Father’s Day they decided to make a gift box/gift bag which will also be a memorable keepsake for Tanvee’s dad. It is a cute DIY craft for Father’s Day which you can also do with your kids at home and it needs very few materials so it will be an easy-peasy craft for you.

Check the gift box first -Isn’t it adorable!! How cute is that pic of Tanvee as a baby and her dad!

Now over to Dolly who will take you through the whole process- 

DIY GIFT BOX FOR FATHER’S DAY 

Every mom is obsessed with her baby and so am I. My little princess Tanvee keeps me on my toes and we love spending our leisure time doing simple crafts for kids. Father’s Day was another lovely reason to engage in our craft activities.

Tanvee loves exploring colors, paints and decorative embellishments like buttons and beads. I am not adept at crafts myself; but doing these small activities helps me bond with my little sweet pea and also keeps her engrossed in some useful activity than letting her go berserk watching hours of Chhota Bheem on TV.

For this Father’s Day, we embarked on a small craft project on a rainy afternoon for the man in my life who is a fabulous father. We decided to make a keepsake for her dad. It would help Tanvee realize the significance of Father’s Day because no matter where ever she goes in life, whoever she gets married to, whatever time she spends with her friends, ‘He’ will always be her number one man – her super hero. {editor’s note- That is so true, a Father’s love is irreplaceable by any prince charming}

Tanvee as a baby with her dad- Awwww!!

Materials required:

1. Brown envelope
2. Glue stick
3. White Chart paper
4. Pair of scissors
5. Paint brush and poster colors
6. Buttons and other embellishments

The bag used to make the gift box and Tanvee hard at work

How to make:

1. Paint the envelope in your preferred color
2. Cut out the collar shape and bow tie shaped piece from the white chart paper
3. Paint the cut-outs with color of your choice and stick them onto the brown envelope
4. Put some embellishments like buttons
5. Add a picture postcard of father-daughter to give it a personal touch and make it a keepsake.

And Voila…..- we have a gift box ready.

Tanvee is all set to surprise her dad!!

We may not have come out with a picture perfect craft, but we enjoyed the process to the hilt and  the quality mom-baby time spent, fills my little world with joy and when Tanvee says “Mamma majjaa aa gaya” believe me this is  music to my ears. {editor’s note- awwww, that is so cute!)

I think if you haven’t been able to make a Father’s Day gift yet and had to resort to buying one, making a gift box like this will definitely give it a lot of personal touch and touch a chord with the wonderful father. 

Do try this with your kids at home and don’t forget to give loads of appreciation to Dolly and Tanvee through your comments below. 

One of our favorites desserts for summer time is the fruit cream or as it is often called the fruit cream salad. We love it because it is no bake, is one of the easy to make desserts, lot of fresh fruits can be added to it and it is served cold. Just what you need in the sweltering heat of Delhi summers.

So here it is, our all time favorite summer Indian dessert recipe.

FRUIT CREAM – FRESH FRUIT SALAD IN CREAM-

FRUIT CREAM RECIPE

Ingredients

Fresh Cream – 400 gms {I used Amul Cream}

Sugar- 1/3 Cup

Apple – 2

Mango -2

Pineapple-1

Strawberries- 6

Grapes – 100 gms

Cashewnut – 10-12

Raisins         10-12

Cornflakes    (Optional)

How to make Fruit Cream – Fruit Salad Recipe 

Beat the cream and the sugar together till it achieves a consistent texture. You can do this with a normal beater or a hand mixer too just don’t overdo it because that might cause the cream to separate.

Now peel and cut all the fruits i.e. apples, mangoes, pineapple etc. into 1 inch pieces. Cut cashewnuts and raisins into small pieces too. You can keep some strawberries separately for decoration. Now take a square glass serving dish and put the fruits in it. Pour the cream+sugar mixture over the fruits.

Now mix the fruit and cream together with a ladle. Remember keep a light hand. Once they are mixed thoroughly, put the cashewnuts and raisins on top. Now you can decorate the dish with cut strawberries.

As an option you can also top the fruit cream with crushed cornflakes. This provides a crunchy texture to the dish which is loved by everyone.

Now keep the complete dish in the chiller section of your fridge for 1-2 hours. Once chilled take out and serve.

You can also use  other fruits like cherries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, peaches etc.  and in case you have a diabetic in the family use sugar substitute in the recipe.

What is your favorite summer dessert recipe? Have you ever tried fruit cream?

Top Image Credit 

When I received the Steffi Love Loft Kitchen from Simba Toys for review I knew this was the perfect kitchen for those down times when the kiddo wants to play in my room. She loves to bring her many many dolls and stuffed toys too in the kitchen and has a whale of a time cooking, chopping, stirring in her kitchen and feeding the delicious feast to her dolls and of course me. (The ever present guest at her cooking sessions)

Steffi Love Loft Kitchen

The Simba Steffi Love Loft Kitchen consists of all the required items in the kitchen. All the necessities in the kitchen are present in this toy for the little ones to relate to it at a faster pace. From little utensils to a sink the kitchen has it all. There is a refrigerator with a door too but it opens up to pictures of stuff kept inside. If you need shelving the backside of the kitchen has it.

Our Experience

Samaira loved the little kitchen and all the tiny accessories that came with it. Probably the best part for her was the Steffi love doll which added to her ever-increasing collection of dolls.

It is a tiny compact kitchen and can easily be picked up by the kids to be taken from one room to the other. There food items, utensils and some food boxes which can be kept on the shelves of the kitchen. There is also a stool for Steffi to sit on and a kitchen counter to eat dinner on. There is also an apron with the set which can be put on Steffi when she enters the kitchen. All in all a good pretend play experience for kids.

The Loft Kitchen is in the series of more Steffi Love toys like the Steffi love loft Living room, sleeping room, bathroom etc. So you can keep adding to the collection.

Price: Rs 1299/-

To buy or To Not Buy

To Buy

Cute and compact this kitchen will be enjoyed by toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners alike.

There is no need buy a doll to play with in the kitchen since the toy comes with one- the pretty Steffi love doll.

As pretend play toys go this one will keep your kids busy for a while as their imagination takes over and they have cooking fun with their dolls and stuffed toys.

To Not Buy

The accessories given with the set like the saucepan, cups, spoons etc are pretty small and therefore require to be kept carefully in a box to prevent losing them.

I wish the refrigerator and the dishwasher could be opened and used for storage because that would add a great dimension to the toy as kids love opening and closing doors and putting things in shelves.

Check out our video review below-

Overall it is a good buy if your kids want to have a compact kitchen pretend play toy which they can take anywhere with them and have lots of imaginative play time. 

When you have known someone long as I have known my husband (15 years) and you have seen their transformation from a young carefree boy to an involved, hands-on and loving husband and father- you stop and count your blessings.  It is indeed a blessing to have a partner who is as committed to your kids as you are. This morning when I saw my husband getting my daughter ready for her summer camp even before I was out of bed, I realized that I chosen the right prince charming.

So this father’s day me and the daughter have all kinds of plans to make him feel special. One of the gifts we have lined up for my husband this Fathers day is an “all about my dad” card. It was meant to be a surprise but I guess it won’t be once it is published here because my husband is a reader of the blog (an avid one at that!) so I guess we will have to keep the other gifts more secret.

I saw a lot of printables on the internet for Father’s day but I saw some versions of “All about my dad” and really liked them so that is why I made my own.  It is a printable “All about my Dad” father’s day card and you can get your little one to fill it out and then frame it as a gift to your husband.And of course for my lovely readers it is absolutely FREE to download. 

(Click on the image and a high resolution file will open in a new window, save it and print it for use)

I think it is adorable to see the dads from their kids’ perspective and I can bet it will bring a tear or two to even the most stoic dad around. Besides some questions about the dad there is also space for the kids to draw their picture with their daddy. So yeah more mush!!

Check out what Samaira wrote about her dad! She wrote some of it with her own hand but for most I had to help her with the spellings and hold her hand for the alphabets.

It is so heartening to see how your child looks at her dad. When I asked her how tall her dad is, her eyes grew wide and she said “very very tall, mamma” and then her next question was “will I be as tall as him?” . She doesn’t have the concept of weight except heavy or light so she invented her dad’s weight as 51 lacs kgs and I am sure her dad won’t mind.

She drew a picture of her and her dad standing in a park and her dad is holding his doctor’s bag. Trust me her father doesn’t have spiky hair but this is how she draws short hair and can you see how she has drawn her super long hair , because she is Rapunzel in her mind. We had so much fun doing this and I am sure my husband will also love it.

I am linking this to the Father’s Day Linky going on right now and at my blog and three more blogs. If you have a father’s post that you want to link up then click on the image below and head over to the linky right away.

If you are not a blogger and want to share something you have created for Father’s day then send me an email at swapna(at)themomviews(dot)com. I will be happy to feature it on the linky via my blog. 

So download this free printable for father’s day and help your kids show their love to their dad.

 Happy Father’s Day 

but a guiding light whose love shows us the way

10 more days to go before Father’s day is here on 16th June. I always feel that after the showers of love, celebrations and not to mention the marketing propaganda that goes around Mother’s day, Father’s day always seems a bit subdued. Is it because that’s how dads are, strong but silent, full of love but not very good with expressing it or may be we just don’t know how to show our love to our dads.

But this Father’s day I am happy that me and three of the most wonderful Indian Parenting bloggers out there are having an awesome party for Father’s day. The best part is that it is a virtual one and anyone can join in. So if you are a blogger and have written or are planning to write anything on Father’s day- It can be a recipe (one your dad taught you), a memoir post, a heart felt letter for your dad, a poem, a crafty thing you made for father’s day or even a picture post on fathers- LINK it up here, celebrate Father’s day with us and let the party start!!!

Welcome to the

Father’s Day Linky Party 2013

Here are your hosts

Vandana from Mumsphere 

Falak from Momsters 

Poonam from Mommygyan 

and Swapna aka Yours truly from TheMomViews

Rules of the linky party

• Get the party started and link your blog post and hop to all the other hosts’ blogs too.
• The linky party is for everyone who wants to share memories, your dad’s favorite recipe, crafty things for dads or  a heartfelt letter to your dad!…
• While linking REMEMBER to attach the URL of the post and not your blog
• The valid blog post link will appear on each of the co-host blogs in the links section and when you link up your blog posts here it will appear on all 4 of our hosts blogs and that’s a great way to get your blog noticed by our readers!
• Share the Link party on your twitter & FB pages and help us make this bigger n better!
• The link up must be your own and original work.
• Please submit new posts and no posts from the archives will be accepted.
• The linky party starts today till 30th June 2013 midnight.
• We have the right to delete your post if its inappropriate.
• Please don’t link any giveaway posts or commercial posts.
• Each co-host will pick up their favorite posts and feature them on their blog so that you get a special spotlight.
• Lastly grab the linky badge from below and display it on your blog. 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.themomviews.com/fathers-day2013-linky-party/" title="The Mom Views"><img src="http://www.themomviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/vandanaimage.png" alt="The Mom Views" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

So get started with the party now and link away posts dedicated to the most important man in your life!!

Gardening with kids is a relaxing activity and also one where you can teach kids so much without actually teaching them. Sam loves to water the plants, pruning them and even talking to them. This summer we are also trying to get her involved in more and more gardening activities and the first step was to start growing plants on cotton balls and then putting them in the soil. Growing a plant was also on our Summer activity list so we were happy to check this one off.

I think all of us have done this one time or the other in school and as I recall it was super exciting to see how ordinary looking beans could sprout out green and gorgeous plants. So I started this experiment for kids and recorded the growth of our plant every few days.

 GARDENING ACTIVITY WITH KIDS-

GROWING PLANTS ON COTTON WOOL

First off we collected some containers. I used some silicon cupcake molds which we used to make our recycled crayons and hence can’t be used for baking anymore and also some old toys from Sam’s collection. Container gardening is pretty easy and a good idea for gardening for beginners.

We lined the containers with cotton balls and packed them in pretty good. Now we watered the cotton balls generously so that it locks in as much as moisture as possible. Sam was totally absorbed in the whole process and helped me with everything. Once the watering was done we put the pulses/beans/seeds on the cotton balls. We used kidney beans and black chick peas for our experiment.

 Now keep the containers in a dry and cool place. For us because of the May heat the beans started sprouting the next day itself. When Sam saw the sprouts the next morning she was amazed. I think till then she wasn’t totally convinced that Mama could grow plants on cotton. (**laughing**). Over the next two days the sprouts grew longer and formed tendrils and even leaves. More gasps and wonderment from the child!!

Once I was convinced that it was ready to be transferred to soil, we got a small little pot and I helped Samaira line it with soil till three-fourths and then we put in our little sprouts and put the top layer of soil over the roots. Watered the pot regularly and voila in the next two days we had a bona fide plant.

We discussed so many concepts like how do beans sprout, why we need to water the plants, what do plants eat, why is soil important for plants to grow and so on. I don’t think if I had all the time in the world I could have taught Sam more about plants with any books or tools. I guess this is what they call “learning by doing”.

Sam takes care of her baby plants, waters them and yeah talks to them too. And we are ready to now start with some vegetable or flower seeds so that she can see the more tangible results of her efforts too.

What kids learn from this

Science:  Discuss how plants grow, what they need to grow, look at the roots and talk about how plants absorb water,leaves, photosynthesis process etc.

Life Cycles: Talk about the various phases in a growth/life cycles. How a seed becomes a seedling, plant and then a tree. Talk about how shrubs, scrubs, trees etc.

Maths: Make a growth chart by measuring the length of the plants on a daily basis for a few weeks. You can also paste pictures of the growth of the plants in a scrapbook.

Physical Activity Activities involved in gardening like watering, weeding etc encourage physical work and therefore helps kids keep fit.

 World We live What we eat, where it comes from, what are pulses, how are they different from vegetables and fruits, various kinds of beans and lots more.

 There is a lot for kids and parents to learn from this gardening activity and it is a lot of fun to do too.

So go ahead plant some greens and don’t forget to share your pictures with us. 

Let’s jump into it right away and see if any of my favorites are your favorites too.

These are a few of my favorite things {May 2013}

Westside

I know, I know this is not exactly a find but for me it really has been. I discovered Westside and its many many offerings pretty late. See, I always thought that Westside was more about Indian ethnic wear and since I hardly wear that I never used to frequent it. But a few months ago I had sauntered into the store just on a lark and found that it was full of trendy and gorgeous stuff and at really reasonable prices.

In the last few visits I have bought summery dresses, elegant accessories, comfortable footwear, quirky kitchen stuff and lots more. They have a great home collection too and probably the best part has been discovering their ethnic wear collection for kids. So next time you see Westside do drop in and don’t forget to share with me all that you loved. Checkout their facebook page for a glimpse of their collection.

 Treo Glass Water Bottle

I am a water junkie, I prefer drinking water over any other drink and that is why I always need a bottle of water around me. Ever since I found out that drinking water out of plastic bottles (whether food grade or not) is harmful I have switched over to glass water bottles. Glass bottled water is much safer because glass doesn’t leach any chemicals into the water and it is much better for the environment too.

I love my Treo glass bottles, they come in so many designs and are pretty durable.  They are air tight and leak resistant and they are priced quite reasonably at Rs 165/- per bottle so won’t break your budget. My favorite is the Ivory Scribble bottle which is on my desk all the time. To know more about their water bottles check out Treo India’s website.

Fab India Lemongrass Essential Oil

I love essential oils and this summer I am particularly loving the Fab India Lemongrass essential oil. I use it for a lot of things, in my bath water, in my oil diffuser and also in my homemade body scrub (will post that soon). I love its summery, citrus smell and I LOVE how fresh it makes me feel especially in this heat.

After a long tiring day my favorite way to relax is to put some of the oil in the diffuser, put on some soothing music and read a good book. Bliss!! Other than the Fab India store you can also purchase this from Healthkart.

Inalsa Induction Cooker

Ever since LPG Prices shot up we have been controlling our gas expenses and one way to do it is to use the Induction cooker. We were gifted an Inalsa induction cooker and it has been heaven sent. I use it for cooking, boiling milk and most frequently for frying. I made carrot halwa in it in 30 minutes and fish fry in less than 5 mins.

It is energy efficient too so you don’t have to worry about sky high electricity bills. You do have to use the flat base utensils specific to the Induction cookers but that is just one time investment. I really recommend it to anyone looking to control their LPG expenses and also get cooking done quicker.

ELC Easy Painters

Sam got these as a gift a while back and what a joy they have been. On those days when your child wants to paint but you are in no mood to clean up the mess afterwards hand over these ELC easy painters to them. All they have to do is to squeeze the bottle while painting and the color comes out perfectly. The color is as vivid as possible and looks as good as the tempera paints.

Sam colors with them all the time and even though the real water colors are her favorite, she will take these too easily. They come in five basic colors but are good for a preschooler to color with. They are also washable so in case they get some on their clothes you don’t really need to worry.

So this was the May edition of “My favorite things”. Found anything you like? If you have some favorites you would like me to know please do so through comments because I love finding out about new products all the time.

This summer vacation we have been experimenting with a lot of painting activities for kids and most of them needed no paint brush. It is very important and beneficial to explore various textures, mediums, ideas and techniques for painting ideas for kids or otherwise any play activity. The reason being that when you things differently you open their minds to infinite possibilities. You let them know that things don’t always have to be done in a certain way and that if you think out of the box your mind can come up with the most brilliant ideas.

From Straws, strings, bubble wrap to magnets take a look at the various ideas for painting activities for kids we used.

10 Fantastic Ideas for Painting Activities with Kids

Straw Painting

Straws are such a versatile play material for art and craft ideas. You can blow bubbles in the water, use them beads in a string necklace or even paint with them. When I told Sam that she was going to paint with a straw today she was well skeptical but then I showed her how it could be done and she was squealing in delight. We decided to make a flower garden and straw painting was used to make the stems.

I put some blobs of paint on the paper and showed her how blowing air through the straw would make the paint move and how my controlling the straw she could make the paint move the way she wanted to. Petite thing that she is it took her some time to blow through the straw enough to make the paint move but she learnt it pretty quick and look how pretty our stems turned out to be.

Bottle Stamping  

Next we decided to make the flowers for our flower garden using a bottle. (A cold drink bottle is great for this!) Just dip the bottom of the bottle in some paint and stamp away to get beautiful flowers. Sam finished the flowers off with her thumb prints and our garden was complete. Painting with kids can be a breeze when you use techniques like bottle stamping.

String Painting 

Ideally yarn would have been great for this but since we didn’t have it at hand we went with strings. It is so simple just dip various lengths of strings in different color paints and paint away. I didn’t tell Sam what to paint but let them just explore the idea by herself and I think she did a pretty good job of it. She painted on one half of the paper and then pressed the other half on to it to make an impression.

Spin Painting 

For this painting you need to have paper plates or cds or basically anything round and flat. Put some paint on the bottom of the paper plate or CD and then put the colored part on the paper. Then ask your kid to spin the paper plate on the paper for a while. When the lift off the plate there will be a beautiful design waiting for them. The sparkle in my daughter’s eyes when she lifted off the plate and saw the design showed how the kids appreciate simple joys of life. She did this activity many times using various mediums and loved it every single time.

Hand print painting 

This is not an uncommon technique and kids love to do it all the time. Seeing their little hand prints come alive in color is just magical for kids. We decided to give it a slight twist by turning Sam’s prints into a butterfly. The hand prints form the wings and the fingerprints can become the design. 

Magnet Painting 

This was the most favorite technique for Sam. Just put blobs of paints on a sheet of paper along with a metal paper clip. Hold the sheet horizontally and with the other hand get a magnet under the sheet and move it. When the magnet moves the paperclip it will create gorgeous designs. You also get to teach your child the science behind magnets attracting metals in a fun way. Isn’t that a great bonus?

Shaving Cream Art

We did this a while back and although we didn’t add any color to it you can do it for sure. Shaving cream’s texture is something kids love. It is the softest, gooey kind of feeling and kids like that. I poured the shaving foam in a tray and let Sam make designs, numbers, letters with it. When she had enough of that I gave her a few old cupcake moulds and she went to town making cupcakes with the foam. To add sprinkles we used pencil shavings. Admit it, it does look yum!

Bubble wrap painting 

Other than making popping sounds you can also use bubble wrap to make beautiful prints. I taped the bubble wrap on the table and then asked Sam to paint on it as she liked and once she was done we took prints off the bubble wrap. These look so elegant and I am actually thinking of some more ideas to with this.

Fingerprint Art 

Confession- I didn’t do this activity with Sam instead she did this in her school but I think it can be done at home and it is a great activity too. With thumb prints they made an adorable watermelon and got it laminated so each child had a place mat of their own. A simple painting technique and a wonderful art piece to keep.

Puffy Painting 

We haven’t done this activity yet but we plan to do it very soon and that is why it is there in the list. I think this is an awesome activity which is not only exciting to do but once it dries off it looks really cool. Microwave puffy paint is definitely our next project.

Which is your favorite painting activity with kids ?