Button Snakes: Frugal Toddler Craft

Happy toddler= Happy Mama

I have dubbed those hours between 4-6PM in my house the "howling hours". For some reason at the strike of 4 all our toys render themselves "boring", and the ample amount of fresh air out my backdoor is deemed "too windy." Thus, howling begins.

To minimize the howling, and to allow me that much needed time to keep an eye on those bubbling pots of my stove, I have created a "creativity box." The box is just a large plastic Sterlite Organizing bin with drawers, which I now keep several easy to assemble (and guaranteed to keep small hands occupied for at least 20 minutes) activities that my wee one can do on his own. Last week I shared our Modern Art Sculpture that we create using pipe cleaners and spice jars (you can see more detail on this post). This week the new favorite is the button snakes.

I can't take credit for these easy to assemble "snakes." I've seen them all over other blogs (see: this blog, this blog and this blog)  and within the pages of my Montessori books. But great ideas are meant to be shared, and this one has been a lifesaver for me. The snakes are a  great way for E to learn how to button and unbutton (as potty-training is in full swing), and he also just has fun sorting all of the felt shapes by color and size.

The howling still starts every day, but at least now I have a few more tactics that save my eardrums and my time in the process.

What are your clever ways to keep your children busy during the hours before dinner?

Toddler Craft Project: Chalk Paint

Last week we made Chalk Paint, and oh was it loads of fun! I know I have seen this before and have been dying to try it. Of course, when I went to find a recipe I had a difficult time finding one that made sense, so we made up our own. Hours...and days later we are still painting our sidewalk with these bright neon colors.

The recipe is super easy (and edible too...which I found out when my toddler decided the paint was brightly colored milk....I guess he was thirsty-don't worry, he only took a sip!). Here's the secret to making chalk paint, enjoy!

To Make 1 Cup of Chalk Paint (One Color)
2 Tbls Corn Starch
1 Cup Water
About 5-6 drops of food coloring (we used Neon Colors)

Pour the corn starch in to a cup or jar, add the water and stir or whisk well. Make sure there are no lumps. Add the food coloring. Stir well again until you have the color brightness you want. Go outside and paint the ground!

Toddler Craft Project {Egg Carton Painting}

A little more than just the carton was painted

The afternoons have been filled with arts and crafts projects for us lately. Providing little fingers with many opportunities to explore and imagine, while allowing those bigger mama hands to get a few things accomplished themselves (like writing this post!)

Recently the paints made their way to the creativity table again. This time instead of paper we painted on card board egg cartons! There is something enticing about painting on a non-flat surface. My wee one enjoyed moving his paint brush through the rivets and dips of the carton.

Our intention is to turn this little project into a birthday gift for dadda. So far, the wee one has done his part, now if only the mama could find some time to finish it off!

What have you been doing to keep little hands busy lately?

Water Play

It was warm this weekend. Yes, Mother Nature has decided it's now summer. Forget that is was in the low 40's last week and raining just last Monday! Well, because it was so hot we decided to get wet and do a little exploratory development.

I filled Emory's baby bath tub that he has outgrown with just a little bit of water. I gave Emory a Tupperware full of water toys, funnels, cups, and measuring cups to play with. He spent an entire hour handling, pouring, scooping, splashing and just having a ball. We will definielty be doing this again on our next hot day.

How do you like to cool off when the weather gets warm?

Toddler Game:: Spring Muffin Tin Sorting

Since E has been sick with Pnemonia we have been a little stir crazy as our usual activie lifestyle has been gretaly reduced to hanging out in the house, or  hanging out in waiting rooms of the hospital. I decided it was time to go outdoors and do some "quiet" activities in the sunshine. I was stumped. But how do you keep a busy toddler quiet and peaceful? A sorting game was in order!

All it took was a muffin tin, a metal tart dish, and some felt flowers from my craft stash (perfect for spring don't you thihnk?)

I poured all of the felt flowers into the tart dish, sat my boy down, showed him how he could transfer the flowers from the tart dish into the muffin tin, and viola-instant quiet activity to enjoy outdoors.

E had so much fun seperating the flowers into the different cups of the muffin tin. At first he was just placing them into the cups with no real purpose. Then I showed him he could group them by color and he thought was amazing. He couldn't quite do it, but he tried!

He stayed busy with the sorting for at least 30 minutes, which is a long time in toddler world. Once he was over placing the flowers into the tin, he moved onto physically exploring the muffin tin by sitting on it, smacking it, and eventually full on standing on it.

We soon had to go for a walk in order to keep him from moving too fast, but it is so difficult to keep a curious toddler from zipping around like a humming bird!

What other fun purposes do you use muffin tins for?

Indoor Games: Blocks!

The weather is still wet and mucky, meaning all of our hiking trails require serious off-roading shoes, which I have but am not really into strapping on a backpack chock-full of toddler and making my way through the drenched wilderness. Ahem. Maybe next week?

In the meantime, we have been busy with fun indoor games. Blocks and cars are new fascinations for Mr. Emory, and I don't think his dad is complaining. As you can see dad is one of the main ones having a little fun. We purchased these handmade blocks from Little Saplings Toys on Etsy for Emory's birthday. Such a great deal and loads of fun for him!

Emory has loved seperating the blocks out by color, or rather, watching me and dad seperate the blocks by color and then he swoops in and recombines them again. He has also enjoyed moving the blocks from one type of container to another. Two shoe boxes make a great transferring game. I just plasced all the blocks in one box and showed him how to move them to the second. He thought it was fun when I started using a little plastic sand shovel to shovel the blocks over to the next box. Very fun in a toddler's eyes.

 Anyone else still dealing with wet rain or snow? We would love to hear some of the activities you have been doing to make best use of the indoor time.