Splish Splash!

So I am sure that you are probably smarter than me and have thought of this before, but I tried it the other day and I was AMAZED at   

a) much she loved it.

b) how long she was engaged

c) the educational concepts involved!  Math at it's finest! 

All you need is a sink full of soapy water and some random kitchen utensils.

 Sit your child safely in a chair next to the sink and let them go to town!

By the end, I had taken her pants off because they got water spilled on them.  For the most part though, most of the water stayed in the sink or on the towel.  Happy splashing!

Snowballs

For our 13th day of advent, we decided to make some yummy treats for our friends!  Baking can be difficult with a two year old who wants to taste every ingredient going into something, especially when raw eggs play a factor!  After brainstorming and gathering ideas off of pinterest, we decided to do a mish mash of ideas and make rice krispy snow balls! 

Little C helped me measure out 6 cups of rice krispies and add them to a bowl.  Then we measured out 4 cups of marshmallows (give or take a few handfuls that went straight to her mouth) and 3 tablespoons of butter into a pan and warmed it on the stove.  While I stirred the hot mixture, she sat on the opposite cabinet and gorged herself on extra marshmallows.  As soon as the marshmallow/butter mixture was melted, we poured it onto the cereal and then C stirred it up with a little help from mom. 

After the mixture had cooled for a few minutes, I separated it into 12 dollups and then began to roll them into round balls with buttered hands.  As soon as a ball was complete, I handed it to C who dropped it into a bowl full of sprinkles and rolled it all around.

The end result of our hard work was a super easy, safe to eat, and actually pretty cute little snack!  C was incredibly proud of her hard work and insisted that dad eat a snowball as soon as he walked in the door.  She checked his face with every bite and smiled with each yum.

Hope your holiday season is filled with delicious treats and wonderful memories!

Popsicle Stick Ornaments

These are the easiest ornaments to make, they were always a go-to gift in my classroom!  All you need is: paint, glitter (optional), popsicle sticks, ribbon and a hot glue gun.  (If you make a reindeer, you will also need googly eyes and a nose of some kind)

 Paint the sticks and add glitter while they are still wet.

 Let them dry and then paint over them with either modge podge or elmer's glue to keep the glitter from falling off everywhere. 

 Glue the pieces together and put them on the tree!

Cinnamon Playdoh!

Last week one of the activities in Olive's advent calendar was to make cinnamon play doh!  She loves to shake in spices to anything we are making and cinnamon seems to be her favorite.  I think it is because it is the biggest spice container.  I found this awesome play doh recipe and just used the basic one and added cinnamon.  We have a lot of experience with homemade play doh in our house and this is by far the best batch we have ever made!  You will need:

 Mix it all together in a saucepan.

 Add food coloring to the water.

 And cook over low stirring frequently until it makes a big ball of dough.  Place it on wax paper to cool and then knead it until it is cool enough to play with.  Get out some holiday cookie cutters and have some fun!

Christmas Wreath and Tree Art!

The Christmas season is absolutely, positively, my favorite time of the year.  The smells, the lights, the songs...I relish sitting back and drinking it all in like a cup of hot cocoa.  As part of our Christmas celebration, we do an advent countdown with one special something for each day.  One of our activities this week was a simple art project that I thought was too cute not to share! 

For this project, gather up some paint (in festive colors if you like), a couple of brushes, some hands and feet, and a wet rag!  For the wreath, I painted our two year old's tiny little hand and made a circle of hand prints.  Then she dipped her finger in red paint for the holly berry decor (I added the bow to make it a little less lopsided).  For the tree, we used this idea on pinterest (http://craftrookie.blogspot.com/2011/08/christmas-in-august.html).  I painted our eight month old's chubby feet and then pressed them on the paper; then dipped his finger in red paint for the ornaments.  Viola!  Festive holiday keepsake cuteness!

Enjoy your holiday season!
p.s.  These frames are super cuteness from target that are made especially to display your child's art.  They are hinged and open up easily to change out the art and have a pocket insert on the inside to hold past projects--greatness!

Tissue Paper Wreath

I have come to the conclusion that any activity involving glue and squares is a winner at our house!  For this activity, you will need a piece of paper cut into a shape, small squares of tissue paper, "goopy" glue and sequins. 

  I turned around for a second and she had started making glue dots and sticking on the squares!

I encouraged her to try to cover all of the white and I was surprised at how much she actually covered!

Sequins!  Hooray!

This is a great fine motor activity!  Toward the end I could tell her fingers were getting tired because she started asking me to get them for her. 

We added a bow and hung the beautiful wreath on our back garage door.  She is so proud!

Magic Wand

Saturday Olive was walking through the kitchen and spotted the empty paper towel roll on the counter and said  "I make a magic wand?!" 

So, I grabbed these supplies:

(and some tape)

 

 

 

And I let her go crazy coloring the paper any way she wanted.

While she colored, I cut little strips of curling ribbon, and curled it.  To which, she was completely amazed and kept saying "Do it again!"  Then I taped them into the top of the paper towel roll.

 This was her favorite part, going crazy with glue!  You need to cover the full page, so I just let her go to town!

 Then carefully wrap the roll in the piece of paper, fold the ends into the bottom and you have a very magical wand for performing all kinds of magic.  Too bad it didn't work for the Sooner game, oh well!

I know there are ways to make this much fancier, but I just went with it because she had an idea! :)

dear Santa Claus

Can you believe that Christmas is right around the corner? Me neither! Well, sticking with tradition, we sat down to write Jolly Ole' Saint Nick a letter! We had a little brainstorming party to come up with some ideas, and then began the letter to Santa.

Straight from my oldest girls mouth....

Dear Santa,

          I hope you are having a great day at the North Pole! I want you to know that I have been really nice this year, but I have also made some mistakes. God forgives me for my mistakes though! I have lots of questions for you, Are the elves making lots of toys in the workshop? Do you like Buddy as much as we do? Also, do the reindeer wear really loud jingle bells, so I can hear them when you come to my house? What is your favorite color? I like pink and purple!

          I hope you will bring me some toys. What I really want is….

A ring that is pink with green polka dots, a tea set, some new books, like Pinkilicious, and a Belle princess dress with Belle shoes. I think my sister would like a Snow White baby doll and a Snow White dress. I think she will share with me too! Also she might like some beautiful gold shoes with real diamonds on them! My mommy might like a new dress and my daddy would like a football shirt. And can you bring Lily and Dottie some new bouncy balls to play with?

          You are the best and just to let you know, me, Emmee Kate and my mommy will bake you your favorite cookies and leave you your favorite milk the night you come to visit!

 I love you,

Haddee

Obviously, your letter will be completely different from ours, but it really is so fun to do!

The best part is Santa will write your child back {wink..wink}

All you have to do is create a letter from Santa to your child. Make it very personal, so they will be super excited! Then prepare an envelope that is already addressed & stamped. Put that envelope in a bigger one and ship it to:

Santa Claus 

325 S. Santa Claus Lane

North Pole, Alaska 99705-9998

When the North Pole post office receives and opens the package, they'll find the letter inside and drop it back in the mail to you. Yelp, how's that for some Christmas cheer!

This is from last year, but it shows you that it is from the North Pole~ pretty awesome!

 Our letter on display from Santa

Here is what our letter said last year from Mr. Claus.

Dear Haddee,

        Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! I received your letter here at the North Pole and have been working hard to get ready for Christmas!  I read in your letter that you really like princesses and fairies. Have you been a good girl this year? I sure hope so because my elves and I have been making special princess and fairy toys just for you! I also have been working on a special baby doll just for your sister Emmee Kate! And I didn’t forget about your doggies, Lily and Dottie, I sure hope they like bones!

        Take good care of my helper elf Buddy while he stays at your house. He sure has been enjoying your family! He especially likes it when you share your toys with Emmee Kate and you listen to your daddy and mommy! I hope you keep up the good work!

 Don’t forget to leave cookies and milk out for me and some snacks for the reindeer on Christmas Eve! See you soon!

                                       

                                        Love,

                                     Santa Claus