Baby Activity – Page 2 – Cecelia's Spot

Handprint Turkey Craft

I don’t know about you, but my daughter LOVES to paint! She also loves to paint with her fingers! A turkey handprint is the perfect craft for Thanksgiving!

Materials:

paper
glue
finger paint
googly eyes
paint in assorted colors
paintbrush

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First, get a blank piece of paper and tape it to the table so that it doesn’t move. Choose the paint colors (Madison did this). I squirted them out onto disposable coffee tops since I had a lot left from a party.

Next, paint your child’s palm and thumb and press them down on the paper. I made 2 on one paper so I could give one as a gift!

We chose a different color for each finger and painted each one and then pressed it down. These made colorful turkey feathers!

After letting it dry we added a beak, turkey gobbler and feet by drawing them on. However, you could also paint them.

Finally, we added the googly eye and our turkey was complete. A family keepsake to hang up each Thanksgiving!

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Sparkle Pumpkins!

It’s finally fall and pumpkin time! Toddlers LOVE holidays and what a great way to get ready for trick-or-treating by decorating pumpkins! Obviously, toddlers shouldn’t be holding knives to make jack-o-lanterns so there are many fun alternatives!

You can have your toddler paint a pumpkin, add stickers, pom-poms, and many other accessories instead of the normal jack-o-lantern.

Or….you can have them make sparkle pumpkins! My daughter LOVES glitter, I mean who doesn’t? Okay, maybe we don’t, especially when you have to clean it. However, this is a perfect activity for outside in the cool, crisp fall weather.

What do you need for this activity?

A pumpkin of course! Other materials you need are paint, glitter, glue, and brushes. You may want a paper plate or something you are using to put the paint on to mix it with glue. Glitter is a very important part of this activity! We used various colors.

First ask your child what color they want to start with! Add HALF glue and HALF paint concoction together. Mix them with the brush. The glue helps the paint stay on the pumpkin and not flake off. It also helps the glitter stay on. Your child can have fun painting their pumpkin!

Let them paint to their heart’s content, then have them pick a glitter color or two.

Madison spread the paint pretty thin, so I went ahead and put some liquid glue on the plate and had her brush the glue over the paint. This allowed the glitter to stick better. She just shook the glitter over the pumpkin (and all over the sidewalk).

I recommend you keep the pumpkin out of the rain!

ENJOY!

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Fall Wreath Fun

We always hang a wreath on our door for each season or holiday. Madison wanted in on the fun, so we decided to make our own fall wreath! It’s very simple and easy!

Materials:

paper plate
glue
assorted fall construction paper colors
string
pom poms (optional)
You could also add glitter or any other extras!

First, cut out the middle of the paper plate so you have a circle left. Next, I cut the construction paper in strips, then cut it into small squares she could glue onto the “wreath”. We pretended the squares of construction paper were leaves. You can use your scissors for this or if you want more of a messy look you can rip the paper or have your child do it.

Madison had a lot of fun gluing on all of the pieces. She loved using the glue stick. We covered the paper plate then we added fall colored pom poms on top of the “leaves” (construction paper). She LOVED this project and after it dried we hung it up on the window. She points it out proudly every time we go by!

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Felt Weather Board

A felt weather board is a great way for a toddler/preschooler to learn the days of the week and the weather! I ended up having a few pieces of felt, some thread, and ribbon left over from other projects so I thought, why not? Weather board time!

The first thing I did was fold a piece of felt in half, horizontally. I decided to make 2 pockets to hold the weather icons. Sew the two sides together, going through both layers of felt, then do the same in the middle.

Next, decide on a background color. Lay the felt pockets on the bottom overlapping the background color. I overlapped 2 inches then hand sewed the sides 2 inches down (only on the inner layer which you can’t see) and along the top.

Next, I used a sharpie and wrote “Today is” at the top. I didn’t intend to do the days of the week as my girl is only 2, so she won’t really grasp that, but I had more felt and space! This weather chart can grow with her. Not only will I add more weather icons such as hail, sleet, moon phases, but I will also add the days of the week as she gets older. For now I will store them to the side to focus on weather!

Time for the fun part, making the weather symbols! There are countless ways to create them, I decided on these.

I also added a partly sunny symbol which you will see in later pictures. I did all of these by hand, sometimes outlining the pattern I wanted on the felt first, then cutting them out. I used the glue gun to add some different colors such as the white on the snowflake, the mittens, wind, lightning and rain.

I bought some velcro from Michaels. You can use the scratchy side on the back of the weather symbols. This scratchy side will stick to the felt that is the background, you don’t need the soft side of the velcro at all.

I also added a partly sunny symbol you can see at the top of the picture. I did not use the hot glue for the velcro, it just happens to be in the picture. The velcro has a sticky side that will adhere to the felt.

I had extra felt so I made days of the week!

My daughter won’t really grasp the days of the week but we can practice anyway. I can also store them until she’s ready. I might have to do that! She loves the felt weather board so much she puts them all up and takes them all down. Her favorite symbols are the sun and partly sunny. She had to take them to my sister’s house. Luckily I convinced her to leave them in the car so we didn’t lose them and I returned them to her board!

I ended up adding ribbon by making a stitch at the top. To make it extra sturdy I decided to hot glue the bottom of the ribbon to the felt too! You can use string, small ribbon, or anything you choose for this! I hung it above her work table using the clear command hooks that will easily come off of the wall if I want to remove them.

You can make the weather board a daily routine! Do it in the morning, or change it throughout the day based on the weather. Enjoy!!!

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A Daniel Tiger 2nd Birthday Party!

Ugga Mugga! It was Madison’s 2nd birthday and she LOVES Daniel Tiger. First thing you need to know if your little one loves Daniel is to visit the PBS site! Follow this PBS link and you will find TONS of FREE printables and crafts to make for the perfect party! These Daniel Tiger masks were made from the site. All you have to do is print them on card stock and attach a tongue depressor. However, I decided to add my own twist since I didn’t have the capability of printing on card stock. I printed on regular paper, cut it out and glued it onto card stock. Next, I taped recycled straws onto the bottom. It worked perfectly and was a hit with adults and children alike!

I also made these super cute and easy finger puppets from the PBS site that will give you step-by-step directions. We used them as favors! As for food we kept it simple. We went to costco and got her favorite-marconi and cheese! The party only had 10 people there so we decided to go with pot pie and shepard’s pie from Costco already made, with salad as a side. It kept us warm on a cold day!

As for cake, we went to Weis and they had 4 different Daniel Tiger cake designs. We decided on the cake with all four characters! They had lots of different flavors to pick from and the cake was delicious!

I made her birthday banner with Microsoft Publisher. I simply used the preset example of a birthday banner and added a few more pages. I saved some Daniel photos and put them on the banner and printed it. Next, I laminated the banner and cut it out. I used a hole punch to make holes and strung it up with yarn I had around the house.

Last year I spent quite a bit of money making her a chalkboard first birthday poster. This year I made her a poster myself. The poster itself only cost $1 from the dollar store! I couldn’t find a Daniel Tiger Chalkboard poster with the number 2 with pictures so I created one myself.

I also got a tablecloth, plates, cups, napkins and balloons. The balloons were perfect! I found them here at Amazon. The cups were great for apple cider and the plates were very sturdy. I found them on Amazon too!Weis filled the balloons, which was awesome! Coloring pages are from the PBS site.

I made Madison a Tigey stuffed animal using felt.

Lastly, I made Daniel Tiger shirts for my husband, the birthday girl, and myself. I saw many ideas on pinterest and etsy, so I used Powerpoint to make the images and then bought Iron on paper. I also made Madison’s tutu with fabric.

Your little boy or girl will love their Daniel party with little touches! We even played Daniel Tiger songs while the kids danced with the balloons. We wrapped up the party by watching the Daniel Tiger Birthday episode (first episode ever)! It was GRRRR-RIFIC!

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Easy Valentine Scavenger Hunt!

There are many different types of scavenger hunts for holidays. This one is a simple Valentine’s Day heart hunt that has many variations!

So cut out hearts (I used the foam material so it won’t rip), and hide them around the house! You can use paper but it may get torn and won’t last as long!

There are a couple ways to make it more complicated for older toddlers:

Number them and have them line the hearts up
Tell them to find certain colors and sort them
Line the hearts up by size
Alphabetize the hearts
You can have one child hide the hearts for another
Have the child decorate a bucket or paper bag to hold the hearts! Or the child can even decorate the hearts once they are found and give them out as valentines!

Have fun and enjoy Valentine’s Day!

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Valentine’s Heart Suncatcher (SO EASY)!

I’ve had contact paper sitting around for quite a while and decided it was time to use it! I had a snow (ice) day today and wanted a fun valentine’s craft for my toddler.

You will need:

-tissue paper in different colors

-contact paper

-tape

-glitter

-construction paper

I used pink construction paper to cut out the heart. I simply folded the paper in half and cut out the heart shape.

Next, I cut out a smaller heart from the middle of the heart. This made a nice border.

I cut out contact paper and put the heart on top of it. To get the contact paper to stay still and smooth, I put tape on the edges to keep it down.

Here comes the fun part! Decorate! The heart is on the sticky contact paper, so anything will stick to it. My little girl used glitter and cut up pieces of tissue paper.

I underestimated how much she would love using glitter!

If she had a choice she would’ve just used glitter…all of it!

She LOVED this activity, so much that we made a few suncatchers! They make great presents for family 🙂

When your child is done decorating (or they’ve used all of the glitter), put another sheet of contact paper (sticky side down) on top of the heart. Cut out the extra contact paper around your heart.

Then you are done! Hang it in a window that gets sunlight! You can hole punch and put a string on it or use contact paper to put it on the window. We will definitely make this again as she loved it soooo much! It’s a great craft idea for any age!

Since tomorrow is Valentine’s day and it’s currently snowing outside, the sky is cloudy. I couldn’t get a great picture of the finished product, but will post the pictures anyways. Keep in mind that the glitter is colored and will shine brightly when the sun is out but today it is cloudy!

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A Family of Superheroes

Does your child like to play make believe? Ours is just getting into it at almost 2 years old. How do I know? We went to story time at the library last week and one of the songs, “The Ants Go Marching” includes pretending to pick up sticks. She was great at pretending to pick them up and continues to do it at home! She loves playing with tea and pretending to have picnics and play in the “sand” inside.

We’ve been stuck inside for a few days and the dreaded day I am to return to work from my child rearing leave keeps getting delayed due to snow days (hey, I’m okay with that). So what do we do? We pretend we are a family of superheroes!

My husband and I used blankets, but knew they were too long and wouldn’t stay on our little girl. I did a quick google search and found out how to make a t-shirt no sew cape for Madison. All you need to do is take an old adult t-shirt (that you don’t want anymore) and cut it a few inches under the collar in the front. Continue cutting around to the back a few inches from the collar and down the back (the sleeves get cut off). Do the same on both sides and you will have a cape that simply slips over your child’s head.

If you want to be fancy you can add a design on the back with fabric markers, iron on images and so on. We happened to have an image on the shirt already.

We pretended that the snow was piling up in her room and we had to save all of her stuffed animals by putting them on the couch in the living room. She loved racing down the hall while we shouted, “Fly to the room, save the stuffies! Super Maddy saves the day!” Singing also helps and humming superhero ballads. She loved this so much we did it multiple times today and putting that cape together took about one minute (as you an tell by my hasty cutting).

It’s definitely priceless to see your toddler stretch her arms out in front of her in the flying pose while yelling, “Save the stuffies!” Start a family of superheroes today!

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Felt Snowman Fun!

What’s that? A foot in the corner of the picture? Yes! Madison couldn’t wait to get her hands on the felt snowman and decorate him!

My pile of felt was stacking up after doing a few projects and Christmas was over…what to do with it? I took down the amazing felt tree my sister made after the holidays and felt a bit depressed. Noooo Christmas can’t be over! Winter isn’t over, so why not make a felt snowman similar to the felt tree Madison loved so much?

The project is very simple & super cheap!

You need:

Felt in various colors: white, orange, black and a few other colors for the hat, buttons, and mouth.
Velcro
scissors

First, I cut out the 3 circles for the snowman out of white felt purchased at a local craft store (you can also get cheap felt at Walmart). I didn’t use any patterns, but just cut everything free hand. You could also use a marker to draw the shapes first, then cut them out.

I went with simple features, a carrot nose, 2 arms, and a scarf. You can choose whatever colors suit you. I made 4 buttons, a mouth, rosy cheeks, eyes, and 4 hats.

Why 4 hats you ask? Madison likes to dress up different dolls and I thought she would like to make the snowman not only something she puts together, but gets to switch the different features. Plus, I had lots of extra fabric and time. After cutting everything out I hot glued the 3 white circles that make up the snowman together.

Another option would be to put velcro on the bottom of the top 2 white circles and your child could put the snowman together that way. I know my toddler, and she likes to pull on things, so gluing it together was the best option for us.

I bought velcro with sticky back so I wouldn’t have to glue it. I simply used the hook side of the velcro. Yes, I had to look that up, the hook side aka the rough side. I cut each piece depending on what I was using the velcro on. For example, the scarf is long so I used at least 5 inches of the hook side of the velcro.

For the buttons I used about an inch each. You don’t need the soft side, the loop. If you use felt then the rough side of the velcro will stick to the velcro. After you cut the hook velcro just peel off the sticky side and put it on your snowman accessory. Do this for each accessory. When you are all done putting velcro on, you can have your child decorate!

If you wish you can put dots on the buttons and lines on the carrot nose with a sharpie marker! You can lay this on the floor or hang it up for your little one to decorate. It also makes a great present!

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You’ve Been Booed!

Have you ever been booed? If not, now’s the time to start the booing in your neighborhood!

Am I talking about hanging outside your neighbor’s house and jumping out in a ghost costume the minute they get out the door? No! I’m talking about the contagious spread of joy! Whether you are a little kid or an older adult, this is so much fun! I love sneaking up to neighbors’ houses and dropping off the treats. The key is to make sure no one sees you!

Here’s how it works. Find a free printable online, you can search “you’ve been booed” and countless links come up. Here is the one we used: https://www.happinessishomemade.net/free-youve-been-booed-printables/

You can use paper lunch bags, or any containers you like to hold treats for 2 houses. Madison and I had fun going to target and getting green pumpkins for $1!

Include the printables so people know they have been booed. Make sure you check the doors of your neighbors to confirm they haven’t been booed yet! You can include any kind of treats you want. We decided to include Halloween goodies we already had for trick or treaters: pretzel bags, reese’s, kit kats, and pencils.

Your little one, or you will enjoy filling a treat bag or pumpkin knowing it’s going to surprise a neighbor!

If they have already been booed, you will see the “We’ve Been Booed” signs on their door. Now here is the fun part, make sure they don’t see you! You can do this when it’s dark, or when you notice they aren’t home. I’m home during work hours, so it wasn’t hard to see who wasn’t home. We got to deliver in the daylight!

Sneak up to their door and place the treats outside their door. Then run away! Kids and adults will be wondering who placed the unexpected treats at their door! Then it’s their turn. They will read the paper in the treat bag and boo 2 more people!
It’s so much fun to watch the we’ve been booed signs go up in the neighborhood, knowing you started a fun game of giving!

If you don’t live in a neighborhood, but still have houses in sight, you can still do this! Give it a try, it’s even more fun to give than to receive!

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