Salt dough wreath, ornament, or garland!

So we have done the salt dough ornaments before, but this time we made garland and a wreath out of our painted Easter ones!

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All you need to make salt dough ornaments is flour, water, and salt. So, start with two cups of flour, 1 cup and salt and mix. Then add water slowly until it is a play dough like consistency.  We ended up using our hands to mix it up. If it is too sticky, add more flour, too dry add more water.

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Then we rolled out the dough to a 1/4 inch thin, and used some Easter egg halves, including a bunny, chick, and jelly bean shape. You can of course just use cookie cutters as well. Use a straw to make a circle hole at the top of each ornament so you can add string later.

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Turn the oven on at 200 degrees and put parchment paper on the tray and leave in the oven for 2-3 hours. If you don’t have parchment paper just move the ornaments with a pie lifter to make sure they don’t stick about an hour in. Time depends on how thick the ornaments are. Once cooled and dried, paint them as you wish.  You can add sparkles if you want. Once all dried, use string or ribbon through the hole and tie.  After that hang them up!

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Or, you can make garland by putting one ornament through the string and then tying it in place and continuing until desired effect.

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If you want to make a wreath, we just used 2 paper plates glued together and cut out the inner circle then used a hot glue gun. Of course you can use cardboard or other material, but this is what we had on hand with the quarantine.

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We used the glue gun to glue on some ribbon and add pom poms.

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Crushed Chalk Paint

Have any old pieces of chalk laying around? If you have lots of chalk, you are bound to have small pieces here and there. Take those pieces and make chalk paint for the driveway or sidewalk! Your child will have fun mixing colors, smashing chalk, and painting up the driveway!

First, take the chalk and crush it into a powder. You can do this by putting it in ziploc bags and smashing it with a hammer. We did it by simply putting it in a bowl and smashing it with a rock (neanderthal style).

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When you have all the chalk crushed add water to the consistency you like. BOOM! There you go! Mix it up. If you want to get rid of the smaller chunks you can use a whisk, but we just kept it simple and mixed it with our paintbrushes.

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You can use all different sizes of paintbrushes and mix colors. My daughter played with this for over an hour and a half! She probably would’ve done it longer if it wasn’t getting dark outside.

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You might not think your child will love it, but give it a try! While painting the color is not very bright but dries brighter than regular chalk! Enjoy!!

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Explore…get out there!

Today, when walking down a hill with my two children, an older woman and her dog passed by (don’t worry it was over 6 feet away!), and the woman said, “Oh, don’t go down there it’s treacherous down there! I just smiled and nodded as my son ran up the dry creek bed and tripped on a rock landing face first.  What I thought in my head was, “It’s more dangerous going to the food store these days.”

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I’m not about to lock the kids in the house, but I’m not going to take them to a crowded park.  Getting outside is important for children’s brains to develop, grow, and learn; not to mention, to have fun and explore!  So get outside and find new paths, hear new bird calls, have a picnic, get wet and jump in puddles for goodness sake! This is the times you and the kids will remember.  In fact, after all this, the kids were exhausted.  My daughter said it was the best day ever!

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We saw frogs and toads, explored dry creek beds, found “hideouts” (make believe hideouts), looked for fossils under tree roots, climbed mountains (to a kid its a mountain), balanced and walked on logs (with mommy’s hand of course), jumped in puddles, and went through tunnels (under bridges).

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So pack a backpack, even better, have your kids pack theirs with extra socks, a dish towel (to dry off their feet), snacks, water, magnifying glass, zip-lock bag or bucket (to hold things), binoculars and any other things they want to bring (but that their backpack wont be to heavy and you will end up with it!),

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When we moved from a less populated wooded area to a more populated neighborhood, I didn’t think we would find so many fun outdoor activities for free this easily!  Behind the baseball field that is near our house is a small woods with boy-scout paths and a creek, and this is fun for days for the kids to explore and play!  I can’t wait for tadpoles!

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So get out there and explore your surroundings!

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Baking recipes with kids!

If you are on lockdown like our county is, and possibly soon to be state, you need some more activities to do with your kiddos!  My kids love baking!  Of course it gets messy, but that’s part of the fun (or that is what I tell myself).  My kids love baking and using measuring cups.  They prefer more ingredients so they can stir more together and also pour more (and make more of a mess!).  When I get a box of something to mix with one or two things, they are sorely disappointed. So, most of the time we make recipes not from a box (don’t worry its pretty easy!).

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Luckily, we had the ingredients this morning to make banana bread.  I always freeze bananas that are starting to go bad to save them for occasions like this (I mean when its raining not when there is a pandemic!)

 

So, I’m going to list some of the kids favorite things to bake on a rainy cold day.

 

Today we made chocolate peanut butter banana bread (but just plain old banana bread with chocolate chips is what they usually like best!)

  1. Chocolate peanut butter banana bread

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2. Chocolate chip banana bread

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

3) Muffins! Muffins! and more muffins!

These are applesauce oat muffins(the kids actually liked them yes!)

how to make applesauce muffins step by step in grid of steps

Here are 14 muffins the kiddos will love- including blueberry, chocolate chip, chocolate

4) Cookies of all kinds of course!

Especially sugar cookies!  They love to decorate them!  I try to do a recipe that doesn’t have to be refrigerated before hand.  They love using cookie cutters and decorating each cookie (although expect for it to take a long time to get all the shapes cut out and expect way too make sprinkles!)

This Sugar Cookies Recipe requires no chill time!

5) This is my kids favorite chocolate cake (although we usually use a bunt pan and just put icing on the top)

Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake

 

6) Here are some fun cupcake recipes!These are on the fancier side- we usually just ice the top with a knife and call it a day (the cupcakes are gone before you have a chance to make it fancy!)  I’ve wanted to try the ice cream cone cupcakes- that will be next on our list!)

Ice cream cone cakes

 

Any baking recipe the kiddos will love to make the memories with you! Don’t forget to take pictures!!!

 

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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!

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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!)

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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!

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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!

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You can keep adding more vinegar to make it continue exploding!  Just bring it outside lol. img_2709

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ENJOY!!!!

 

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Learn Names by Cars

Hi everyone!

The schools in Pennsylvania will be closed for at least 2 weeks due to the coronavirus, so I am home with my family.  I hope to do a lot of crafts and activities with my toddler to keep her busy & happy! You can look at previous posts and check back for more frequent posts during this time on things to do with your child! Today’s craft/activity will help your child learn letters and the spelling of their name (it will also be fun for them to play with)!

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All you need is a box, marker, cars, and some paper and glue or tape.

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You can use any box you have, I just happened to have one with a folding cover so added a ramp to it.

 

 

 

 
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Next, I wrote the letters of her name on construction paper and cut them out. Remember to space each letter out so you can cut them into rectangles or squares.

 

 

 

Next, I wrote start and made a line. I also made lanes for the cars to go to their parking spots. I figured Madison can then have them go on the ramp and race down to the letters at the bottom. Just a fun, quick, and easy activity if your kiddo likes cars!

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Going GAGA for Googly Eyes!

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Have paper plates? Googly eyes? Some paint and paper? Your kids will LOVE making these dinosaur plate crafts!

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Simply cut paper plates in half for the dinosaur/monster/turtle whatever you want to make bodies. For the next step you can use paint, stickers, or gems!

I cut out sponge shapes to dip in the paint, but my daughter enjoyed using the sides to paint with them more!

Have your child decorate the body of the animal you are creating, then let it dry!

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Your child will LOVE doing these. Next time I’m going to have my daughter use a brush. Another time I will try stickers, gems, and construction paper shapes!

After the plates dry, cut out the head/feet/tails you would like from construction paper or card stock to glue onto your painted plate bodies.

Your child can glue them on and decide how many of each item they would like!

Their favorite part is yet to come…googly eyes!!!

You can NEVER have enough.

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She had SO much fun she wanted to keep doing googly eyes. I drew whatever animal she wanted and she added the googly eyes!!

WARNING: Your child will LOVE using ALL of the googly eyes!!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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

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

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Happy Ornament Making!!!!

 

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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!

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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.

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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!

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

 

 

 

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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!

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ENJOY!

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