Baby Activity – Cecelia's Spot

Summer Yum

Summer is a wonderful time to pick fruits and veggies! Kids love picking (or eating them as we are picking like my daughter).

To start off the summer we went strawberry picking: yum!

Some things to remember when you go picking are:

-Call ahead or check online to make sure they are open. Sometimes they get picked out.

-Don’t forget to bring a bowl, sunscreen and hats!

-Bring cash. Many local farms don’t accept credit cards.

-If you have a little one don’t have them wear their best clothes! If it rained the night before, wear boots!

Blueberry picking is currently in season and bring the same things to pick those blueberries as you did strawberries! There are so many wonderful things you can make with blueberries from smoothies and pies to different things you can try like cooled blueberry soup (yum)!

Try going with friends or cousins to have even MORE FUN!

We are excited for raspberry picking and peaches. Have fun!

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Strawberry Picking

Yum!!! It’s the season for delicious mouth-watering strawberries!!! There’s nothing like picking them right from the field and eating them. Of course you don’t want to eat so many you have strawberry juice all over your face like our kiddos.

We ended up picking tons of fresh strawberries which we will use for countless recipes like strawberry pie, smoothies and shortcake!

Here are some things to remember before you go picking:

Call ahead. Many strawberry fields get picked out in a day, especially at the beginning of the season. Call ahead to wherever you are picking to make sure there are plenty left!
Bring a hat, apply sunscreen and wear your old sneakers. If it rained recently you might consider rain boots as it may be muddy!
See if you need to bring buckets or bowls to pick. Some patches have a policy where they give you the container to pick. Other patches like you to bring your own bowl which they will weigh ahead of time. Your bucket will be weighed afterward to figure out the price per pound.
Prep the kids on what to pick. Tell them to pick ripe only-red but not mushy. You don’t want a bowl full of white or green strawberries!
Taste some while you are there, but not too many as it’s rude and they probably still have chemicals on them! My daughter ended up with NO strawberries in her bucket because she kept eating them. It happens.
ENJOY!!!

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25 Ideas for Advent Calendars (&Crafts)

Today there are many advent calendars that can be bought, ranging from simple chocolates to complex lego advent calendars. There are wine, book, superhero, and just about anything advent calendars that can be bought for a price. I remember having certain Christmas traditions in my home as a child and want my children to experience similar fond memories when they are older. So I purchased a German Christmas pyramid second hand (as they can be very expensive and knowing children, it most likely will break).

I also decided to buy an advent calendar for my children. I decided one sturdy wooden advent calendar would do the trick! I saw many beautiful lit ones for higher prices; however, I felt they could easily be broken. I finally decided on one I purchased at Lowes.

Now, the big question is, what should I fill each day with? So many options, but such a SMALL space. So, only very small items fit, such as two Hershey kisses or two small mini candy bars and the door wont completely shut. I didn’t want to start off with something too grand in the first door. My kids were excited about chocolate, so that’s what I did, two very small pieces of chocolate.

For the other doors, I will have some small chocolates in a couple, but I have many other cute and fun items for the kiddos. I’ll leave a very small piece of paper in the day that will have a clue to where their item is located. I was going to go into scavenger hunts, but lets be real, I would rather relax for a couple minutes after bed (or do this post), instead of trying to come up with an elaborate hunt they will be done with in 5 mins! Since my children can’t completely read yet, I decided using pictures might be best. So in day 2 I will put a picture of a christmas tree. They will run to the tree and see a pack of fruit flavored candy canes under the tree to hang up on the tree.

Here are some other ideas of items you can leave notes for:

Candy
Christmas books
Plato
wooden /ceramic projects
Felt snowman fun
any kind of christmas project including photo ornaments, easy glitter ornaments, and many other ones on this website
ornaments for the tree
Christmas clothing
Christmas lights
coloring books
Christmas cookies
Baking recipe to make cookies
Sprinkles for cookies
Hot cocoa packet/marshmallows..or homemade hot cocoa
Christmas movie
Christmas mask (2020)
Christmas headband, clips, socks
Small stuffed Christmas santa, elf etc.
Sock Snowman (either made or have supplies to make)
Felt Christmas tree (can make one, or if child is old enough they can make it!) or just an ornament to add to their current felt C
Christmas tree!
Tree Prints!
Salt dough wreath, ornament, or garland!
+Pomander Ball supplies
Felt Snowman Fun!
Singing holiday card/toy/Christmas solar bobble head

ENJOY AND HAVE FUN!!

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Turkey Pinecone Gobble!

We went on a pinecone adventure! First we grabbed our magic buckets and took a stroll down the road. We found the BIG pine trees and searched all around for pinecones. We filled out magic buckets with little and big pinecones. Once full, we continued our adventure to find any other good objects for future projects. Pinecones can be used for many projects, including some upcoming Christmas ones!

Since it was unseasonably warm here in Pennsylvania, we decided to paint outside so there wasn’t as big of a mess. Besides using a variety of paints, we used glitter of all colors! Some of the trees we purposefully painted blue and green for Christmas tree pinecones!

After allowing the pinecones to dry overnight, we found some googly eyes, construction paper, and leftover foam pieces from an owl project! The kids cut out feathers and showed mom where to glue them. Mom used the hot glue gun to glue everything on, however you can use regular glue but it will be more challenging to stay and dry.

You can of course decorate your turkey any way you like with any materials! Get creative and enjoy!

Gobble Gobble!!! Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe and stay home if you can (quarantine)!

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4th of July Fun Banner Craft

Whether you are celebrating in quarantine or with a small group of people, this banner will be a hit! You can use this activity to make cards, artwork, or even use the stamping to make paper headband hats!

Materials:

Large piece of paper for the banner (we used her easel paper)

Red, White & blue paint

Pipe cleaners

Star cookie cut out (or you could cut a sponge or potato in the shape of a star)

I put paint on a plate and used a star cookie cutter. Madison dipped it in the paint & had fun doing red, white & blue stars!

If you don’t want to make a banner, you can do this on a paper, card, or cut a sheet of paper in half and tape it to the other half to make a “crown” or stars for 4th of July!

After doing the stars we decided to make fireworks. We bent pipe cleaners around each other to create a firework shape, then added a handle for easy dipping.

She had so much fun! I wrote “Happy 4th of July” to complete the banner. If your kiddo is a little older they could write it or you could do bubble letters they can paint!

Have a happy & safe 4th of July!

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Tree Prints!

Madison loves painting and gluing, so this craft is the perfect combination! I wanted something that we could easily mail to grandparents and this fit the bill!

Materials:

construction paper in the color of your choice for the “trunk” of the tree
white paper
paint in various colors for the “leaves”
assorted markers or crayons
glue

Trace your child’s hand and arm for the branches and trunk of the tree.

Next, cut out the trunk and branches and glue them to the white paper.

Choose different colors of paint and have your child use their thumb or fingers to make “leaves.” Madison liked making the leaves all over the place. You can vary the colors based on the season you are creating.

For summer, use lots of different green colors. For fall, use browns, reds and yellows. For winter ,use a different color background like blue and do white snowflake prints. For spring, choose colors like pink, purple, green, and yellow!

If your child is a little older then they can draw different scenery, animals and clouds. Your child could also add stickers. We sent these to her grandparents and they loved them!

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An Outside Play Area

I have been using pinterest a lot lately. Since being home due to the coronavirus crisis, I have more time on my hands and I love being outdoors and doing projects for my little one. I really wanted an area for a mud kitchen and a place for her play house and slide. I found many really cool ideas on pinterest but I had to use materials I already had or that I could get with contactless delivery to my home or car. I ordered landscaping fabric and picked out a spot in my yard along the fence.

I ended up cutting away some of the fabric as you can see in the picture. I did this so my daughter can dig for dirt near her mud kitchen. I ended up having lots of extra bricks at home which I used to line the outside. I left 2 openings near the playhouse and the slide to get into the area. You could also use edging for the project.

Next I added mulch on top. I went with cedar natural mulch. You definitely don’t want dyed mulch because it will only be a mess. Some people used rubber mulch but I figured that might get too hot in the summer.

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I added some potted plants around the house.

I plan to add some stepping stones (which will be tree stump slices) and paint numbers on them.

I also added a little balance beam (made with bricks and a long piece of wood I had sitting in the garage.

I used tools from her play set and extra kitchen tools for her mud kitchen. What is a mud kitchen? It’s just an area where kids can create and make “food” out of outdoor materials. Some people buy them, some use old wood, crates, or tables. I had an old side table I was going to get rid of so I used that. I ended up ordering hooks to attach to the fence for her materials and a container with a lid. Before summer I will probably try to add an umbrella or shade to the area using the fence or clothes line for shade.

She loves her new play area, especially her mud kitchen. She makes “salamander tea” and soup. She heats it up on her stove in her playhouse.

I’d say it’s a hit!

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Mixing fun

If you’re looking for an activity for your little ones to enjoy and also learn try this mixing fun. You can also use whatever you have in your kitchen! Just as an update, the kids ask to do this almost daily they love it that much!

You need a container, preferably a tall see through one such as a large mason jar as shown. Fill the mason jar half way up with water.

Then you will need something to stir with (we grabbed a chopstick!)

Lastly, you need items to put in this mixture, so food coloring or natural coloring (we also used washable paint one time!

Coloring from beet juice etc.

Sprinkles can be used to see if they float or sink!

Ice cubes

Salt versus sugar-do they dissolve

Olive oil or any type of oil to see if it mixes with water

Croutons, cereal, some scraps from the compost bucket, lettuce leaf, onion (although you may want to hold off on too many food items with the quarantine right now!)

We even tried jelly to see if it would sink or mix into the concoction. Then have your child mix it real fast in a circle and see a cyclone happen!

Dish soap and the bubbles it causes is fun as well!

Pretty much try anything!

Vinegar and baking soda which you want to save for last! The acid base pair will cause a volcanoes explosion! We did those outside then to have a huge overflow!

You can keep adding more vinegar to make it continue exploding! Just bring it outside lol.

ENJOY!!!!

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DIY Felt Unicorn Ornament

My daughter saw the cutest ornament at Boscov’s the other day…a unicorn. It was made from felt and I thought, “I can make that!” If you know anyone who loves unicorns then this simple felt ornament can be made for Christmas, or enlarged as a stuffed animal!

Materials needed:

-Felt in various colors: I used leftover felt I had from other projects. Any colors will work. I used white, yellow, blue, and pink.

-scissors, needle, thread

-hot glue gun, felt marker, cotton for stuffing

First I laid out a white piece of felt and drew the body. I didn’t use a printout or pattern, I just eyeballed it by looking at pictures. I cut it out, then laid it on top of another piece of white felt to trace and again cut out. This way I had both sides of the unicorn’s body.

The second cut out of the unicorn body ended up a little larger, but I just cut and adjusted the size as I was sewing it. Next, I moved onto cutting out the hair for the mane and tail. I also cut out an ear and horn. I looked at pictures and drew it freehand on the colors of felt I desired. They ended up looking like little worms.

I placed my tail pieces on the back to make sure they looked okay and hot glued them to the back piece of the body. I did not glue them to BOTH body pieces, just the front of the back piece of the body (see picture).

Next, I placed the hair and ear on the unicorn to make sure it looked correct. I didn’t glue it, but just placed it there to make sure it was to my liking. I drew on eyes, a mouth and nose with a felt marker.

I hot glued the horn onto the front of the back piece of the body. I hot glued the mane and ear onto the front body piece. Next I sewed the unicorn together. As I was sewing, I stuffed it. Don’t wait until the end or your won’t be able to fill the smaller spaces like the legs.

After sewing and stuffing the unicorn, I cut a piece of ribbon and hot glued it to the back of the unicorn.

Next, I hung it on the tree. Wallah! DONE!

Happy Ornament Making!!!!

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My Toddler’s Favorite Christmas Books

My toddler’s favorite holiday is approaching fast…Christmas! She’s the kid you see in line screaming, “SANTA!!!!” like Buddy the Elf. She LOVES Santa and LOVES books, so I thought I’d write about her favorite books in case anyone is looking for toddler books!

“The Sweet Smell of Christmas”warms our hearts.

This is a scented book, or in my day they called them “scratch and sniff” books. Little Bear gets ready for Christmas with his family and the book centers around the smells of Christmas. He wakes up to smell something and asks his mom what the smell is. She responds by saying that the smell is Christmas. The family gets a tree, trims it, adds candy canes, hangs stockings, and enjoy Christmas day together.

Yes, it looks like Madison is kissing the pie…maybe she’s actually trying to eat it since it smells so good! I love asking her, “Can you smell Christmas?” She looks at me with a smile and says, “YES! I smell Christmas!”

A tried and true favorite is Little People’s “Christmastime Is Here.”

I’ve had this since she was a baby and she’s loved it every single year. There are over 65 flaps for your child to lift. The adventure starts in the classroom and the characters travel to Santa’s workshop with the elves and then home for the holidays. The characters are the same throughout the little people books so your child will squeal in delight at seeing them again.

An interactive book called“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is based on the song.

It has push, pulls, and slides that have your child discovering snowmen, sending sleds down a hill, and uncovering Santa and his sleigh! It’s a wonderful family book and a great way to learn the lyrics. It even has a QR code to scan that plays the song along with the book.

The last book is “Sesame Street, A Christmas Story.” I searched for this online, but it looks like it’s not made anymore. However, I did see it on ebay and at local libraries. My daughter loves this book because all of the characters from sesame street are there and there are many sounds!

There are many sesame street stories, including scratch and sniff ones (which I’m sure my daughter would love).

As you can tell she LOVES interactive books and I’m sure your child would love these too!

Look for more blog entries coming up with favorite preschool books and books to buy your child this Christmas. Happy Holidays!

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