Paper Hand Puppets

We had lots of lasting fun with these fun paper puppets! We saw them in our Family Fun magazine, and I've post the link below, for more detailed instructions. We made the frog from the magazine, but decided to create our own bunny, to hop along with the frog. :) SUPER-DUPER easy! This one keeps them occupied for much longer than craft time.

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/paper-puppets-909092/

We used:
-green construction paper
-pink and white notebook paper
-Sharpie
-gluestick

You could also try:
You could easily do this craft with regular notebook paper, tape and crayons. The possibilities are endless!

Scavenger Hunt + Counting = FUN!

Who doesn't love a scavenger hunt?! This one is pretty self-explanatory. To get us ALL out of the house, I made of list of things my son could identify, and that I knew we could find in our limited surroundings, put the baby in the stroller, and we went for a walk. When we found something on our list, I had my son find a certain number of them, and place them in his little bucket. We then went home and turned them into an art project. My son practiced his counting, explored nature, and discovered the joys of liquid glue!! His favorite part though... showing Daddy. :)

We used:

-glue

-construction paper

-sharpie

-nature!

Painting with water... literally!

So this probably seems like I'm desperate for something to post, but I'm not. I needed some more outdoor activities for my son, that kept us close to home, while my daughter was napping indoors. We are currently in an apartment, which means limited yard space. So I had to get creative. With an old make-up brush and a Halloween bucket full of water, my son painted. As you can see it worked quite well! The entire sidewalk was his canvas, that"magically" erased itself after a while (thanks to the sun), constantly giving him new work space! My favorite part of this activity... NO CLEAN UP!!!

We used:

-make-up brush

-bucket

-water

You can also use:

-sponges, toothbrushes, or paint brushes

Countdown Calendar

In March, 2010, my two children and I were preparing to move from SC to TN to be with my husband who had gone before us a few months prior, to start a new job and house hunt. My son was EXTREMELY excited when I informed him, but of course did not understand that we couldn't just GO! Silly Momma... I should have known. Kids at this age don't get the whole 'time' thing. When you say "Maybe someday soon we can go to the zoo", to a toddler, they run and get their shoes, and wait at the door! So when he began asking me EVERY MORNING as soon as he woke... "Are we going to Tennessee today Momma?"... I decided to make a count down calendar to help him understand. Then every morning, he got to put another sticker on the calendar and count how many more days until we move. It was so easy, and a big help.

We used:

-construction paper

-sharpie

-stickers

Beaded necklace

One of my first crafts with my son, besides crayons and water paints, was this beaded necklace. He was 2 and a half at the time, and he loved it! It can also be educational. You can teach colors and counting while making it, and it also is wonderful for their hand and eye coordination.

We used:
-plastic beads
-leather craft rope

You can also use:
-string, yarn, ribbon, or an old shoe string!
-instead of beads try elbow pasta or cereal (cheerios or fruit loops) however it obviously won't last as long