Old magnets - New

Something to do with old magnets. Have your tot glue wrapping paper on the top and decorate with pom poms, glitter glue, stickers, etc. Glue stick works better than real glue for this one. Cut out a hole for tot's photo. Good, messy fun.

Art on the Window

Little Dude had a ball with this rip-off of No Time for Flashcards post on free art. I thought our window was a better spot on such a gloomy day. It was perfect. He loved experimenting with stickers, markers, crayons. He asked if we could leave it there tomorrow too. No problem.

Letter R Fun

This is our little project on the letter Rr. Stevie colored the R's with markers and I cut them out. We then played an "initial sound" game after I cut out some pictures from magazines. I usually cut out some pictures that start with /r/ and some that don't. Stevie has to decide which one belong on the Rr and he glues them. It's a quick activity, but obviously takes some prep time.

Bat

Here's a "handy" project from notimeforflashcards.com.

Michael Jackson

Yeah. This one was inspired by the following question to my kid:

"Who's your favorite singer?"

Kid: "Michael Jackson"

I was fully expecting Laurie Berkner, Wiggles, or Mommy.

Stevie did some of the handy marker work, but I drew and cut out the pieces. Glitter glue on glove. Stevie told me where to glue all the pieces. Nice.

Squash Rocket!

We went to the pumpkin patch last week and found the perfect squash. Stevie picked it up and said "this one looks like a rocket." So I asked him if he wanted to take it home and paint it like a rocket. A project was born. Here's the result.

Fall Dotted Tree

Leaves are confetti. Just get your hole punch out and start punching. The tot drops the dots on paper (that's been covered in glue stick). Easy and pretty. Sound out the word "F-all" in chunks. Your tot will love that they can help you spell words.

Peas on P's Project

After reading Eat Your Peas, Ida Louis, I thought it would be fun to do a craft with split peas. Here's what we came up with. All you need is some split peas, a gluestick, paper, scissors, and markers. Stevie like sorting the peas more than the actual project. Good fun.

Make a Scarecrow

My son loves to collect leaves, acorns, pineneedles, and other outdoor items. Our bucket-o-outdoor stuff was full so we decided to make a scarecrow with it. Stevie and I were inspired by the scarecrow in the book, Up, Down and Around (Katherine Ayres). This one requires real glue, no gluestick, because of the pine needles.

Sidewalk Paint

I found another gem of a website with all kinds of crafty/fun/creative ideas for tots. Yay! On the site, I saw a recipe for sidewalk paint. Stevie and I made the cornstarch sidewalk paint(with the help of Pink and Green Mama)and we had a blast. Check out Pink and Green Mama's post on sidewalk paint.

My Kid is a Robot Birdman

After breakfast, I tried to think of something we could do to mix things up a little. Here's what I came up with. We made a costume called Robot/Birdman. Half robot, half bird. Stevie loves both of those things and also loves glitter glue. If you have foil, a cereal box, tissue paper, a magazine, and glitter glue, your kid can become a robot-superhero too. Make sure you get the washable glitter glue and supervise the activity. Great fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Letter collage

This was Stevie's first time using a glue stick. He was intrigued by the texture and loved it. First, I cut out pictures from a magazine, we glued them, then labeled them with letters. I think next time we'll just cut out and glue, then later on label them with their initial letter. Stevie was proud of his art work. Take out the letters that your toddler will need to ensure success with this one.
The conversation went like this:

Mom: What's that picture?
Stevie: A fish
Mom: What letter makes the /f/ in fish?
Stevie: F
Mom: Yes, F says /f/. Let's find the F and glue it on the fish.

We put Stevie's art on the refrigerator and he's been commenting on it all day. We'll do this one again soon.

Noodle art

Stevie made noodle art today with some pasta I had in the pantry. He seemed to enjoy the dumping of the noodles more than the actual painting.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Crayon Melts from Cool Website

I found this cool activity today. It's a perfect way to put those crayon pieces to good use. Yay for 100 degree weather! During your kid's naptime (God help you if there is no naptime), take some time to browse through this site. It is awesome.

Go to the site No Time for Flash Cards