Uncategorized – Cecelia's Spot

How to draw

My daughter is still in virtual school due to covid rates rising again. I’m not the biggest fan of having her on the tablet for too long, but I definitely found some helpful sites from her teacher.

One of the activities is the videos on how to draw. She loves doing these and produces some good pictures for her age. She also has her little brother participate. He’s 4 and even likes it!

There are all types of videos, so you have to make sure you look up kids art hub drawings and make sure it’s appropriate for the age group.

My kids like the art kids hub videos which frequently are for young children and use shapes to draw. A small child is also drawing with the host for the videos so it is more relatable and realistic.

So try them out on a rainy day, or if you are looking for holiday decorations, or simply dinosaur time! My kids are currently interested in dinosaurs and love drawing them!

Follow
Share

Christmas Milk Magic Experiment

If you want an experiment that will have your kids screaming, “MORE,” this is it!

Materials: Shallow dish, red & green food dye, milk, dish soap, cotton swabs

First, pour a thin layer of milk in your dish.

Next have the kids or yourself put in drops of food coloring.

Third, have your child dip the cotton swab into the dish soap. Finally, have them press it down in one spot and hold it for 15 seconds. An alternative action is to have them let it drip down into the milk/food dye and observe what happens.

My daughter had other questions and we talked about what she thought would happen if she did something in particular (hypothesis). She wanted to use a dropper and see what happened. She also wanted to pour the dish soap in to see what would happen. We did this 3 times emptying & refilling the dish. She would’ve done more if I let her (but we wouldn’t have any milk left)!

My daughter doesn’t understand exactly why things happened in this experiment, but that’s okay. Doing experiments at a young age breeds curiosity and helps them learn to observe.

The explanation is that milk has fat in it. When the dish soap enters the milk, it breaks apart the fat. The soap molecules try to attach to the fat molecules in the milk. You can see what’s happening because of the food dye. Here is more information from Steve Spangler.

Have fun!!Follow
Share

The 12 Days of COVID Christmas Ideas

It looks like we will all be quarantined from our extended families for the holidays again as COVID is raging in our area. Having small children in the family makes it extra tough. Instead of the kids remembering not being with their uncles, aunts, cousins & grandparents, let’s have them remember the wonderful time they spent at home. Let’s have them remember it as a special time with the family.

Here are some ideas to try to make the time leading up to Christmas special.

The 12 Ideas of COVID Christmas…

On the 1st day of COVID Quarantining Christmas…

Put up extra Christmas lights to add to the holiday cheer! Add a fun blowup or blow mold to surprise your kiddos! Have your kids help you place items or string the lights-they will LOVE it!

On the 2nd Day of COVID Christmas…

2. Do a light tour! Drive around to neighborhood displays. Take some hot chocolate in a thermos and cookies! Our local newspaper always features a light tour so we follow them. Many time local news also shares different homes to see. Check out to see if there are any light displays you can drive through in your area. Definitely a de-light!

On the 3rd Day of COVID Christmas…

3. Get family Christmas mugs! My daughter woke up to run into the kitchen for a surprise. I let her pick which one she liked. She picked the gingerbread man mug and called him “cutie.” She told me she would leave him out for Santa to have milk in and he would LOVE it! We had hot chocolate as a family immediately!

On the 4th Day of COVID Christmas

4. Paint Christmas rocks! My daughter and I have been painting rocks with regular acrylic paint for a while since COVID began.

The other day I discovered acrylic markers for painting rocks and shells and this was a game changer. They are so easy to use, less messy, and much better looking! Fun for the whole family!

On the 5th Day of COVID Christmas…

5. Give out the rocks! We love going around the neighborhood and leaving them on people’s doorsteps or tables in the front. Madison gets a thrill knowing she is making someone’s day. They also teach kindness and that everyone can make a difference. Another option is to leave them in places around the community like parks. Many people trade rocks too.

On the 6th Day of COVID Christmas…

6. Make some special breakfasts! You must excuse my poor pancakes, I am a newbie at this. Madison loved them and they did taste good. Kids will LOVE your snowman pancakes…even if they turn out like mine!

On the 7th Day of COVID Christmas…

7. Write to Santa! Check with your local community, post office, and online to find where to write. Our local community has Santa write back! There are also many services online you can pay for and they will have Santa write back to you. Another option is a zoom or digital call with Santa!

On the 8th Day of COVID Christmas…

8. Make cookies! Each year you might make cookies-but try some new ones! Your little ones will love to help. Yes, we ended up with flour all over us and bellies full of yummy cookies, but it was great! As an extra bonus get your Christmas mugs and cookies and have a movie night!

On the 9th Day of COVID Christmas…

9. Make lots of crafts! Kids adore crafts and family loves getting them! Look up crafts on blogs and pinterest. Make ornaments, fun photo crafts, and smelly playdough! For extra fun make more for family and deliver it on their doorstep for a nice surprise!

On the 10th Day of COVID Christmas…

10. Read, read, read! Get more Christmas books! There are so many interactive, smelly, sound, and regular Christmas books! Madison has her favorites and talks about some of them year round!

On the 11th Day of COVID Christmas…

11. Wear matching PJS! It’s so much fun! They not only make matching pjs now, but matching sweaters and hats. It’s fun to wear cheesy and cute clothes and now you can match with your entire family! Turn on some Christmas music and dance in your matching clothes to a Christmas dance party!

On the 12th Day of COVID Christmas…

12. Get creative with your advent calendars! Some people do 24 days of books. Check a thrift shop online or marketplace to find cheap books. Stores & online sell all kinds of fun advent calendars with toys, chocolates, cheeses, and just about anything you can imagine. This year I have a wooden advent calendar with drawers. I plan on have a clue for a craft I will complete with Madison each day leading up to Christmas. My sister is going to have something similar for her kids, but have scavenger hunts to find their gifts. The first clue will be in the wooden drawer on the advent calendar.

No matter what you do for the holidays, stay safe and make the most of a crummy situation by turning it into a gift. You are home and make home a special place for you and your family this holiday season!Follow
Share

A Happy COVID Halloween!

This year’s Halloween was quite different than others. We decided to skip trick-or-treating due to the pandemic and do a very small family gathering with our own version of trick-or-treating.

Start by decorating the house and getting in costumes!

Next, add the kiddos!

Time for fun, games, and crafts!

A great activity is painting pumpkins! To keep it clean and organized have a paint set and brush for each kiddo with their own cup of water. You can use cardboard box lids to keep it clean.

For the next craft we used paper toilet rolls to make Frankenstein (or Frankie as my daughter likes to call him).

You will need: toilet paper rolls, googly eyes or buttons, glue, tape, black construction paper or foam sticky paper.

I cut out the black hair, eyebrows and mouth ahead of time and stuck each one in a plastic baggy with the green construction paper. Each kid got a bag and pulled out the green construction paper and taped it over the toilet paper roll. Next they pressed on the stick foam hair, eyebrow and mouth. If you don’t have sticky foam colors then you can use construction paper. They chose their own eyes by using googly eyes or buttons and glued them on!

Next we did a Halloween piñata! The kids used a badminton to hit it then Aunt Amanda helped out with a big pole. Once it spilled open the kids got playdough, bubbles, and candy…yum!!

Next we made lots of spooky treats like meatballs, jack-o-lantern grilled cheese & clementines and mummy hot dogs!

Grandma baked sugar cookies & had each kid decorate their own box to hold them with foam stickers (leftover takeout containers). They used icing and sprinkles…yum!!

Instead of trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, we went trick-or-treating around the house to each door! The kids LOVED it and ran to each door multiple times!

As if this wasn’t enough, we did a Halloween dance party and Halloween egg hunt (Easter eggs filled with Halloween goodies and pennies).

To end the night we had a campfire & smores! Happy Halloween everyone and stay safe!

Follow
Share

Letter Activities

If you have a preschooler or even a toddler you can do some fun craft activities with them! Today we focused on the letter “M” since my daughter’s name is Madison.

We read an ABC book and focused on the letter M. Next we did Madison’s favorite: crafts!

M is for marshmallows! This activity is fun because your child not only gets to eat some marshmallows but starts to learn letter recognition.

Yes, those are yard sale stickers. We didn’t have any blank ones left so we used what we had!

For this activity you will need to cut the letter M out of construction paper and glue it onto another paper. Next, use dot stickers and have your child put them on the letter m. Finally, have your child or yourself put glue dots on each sticker and stick on marshmallows. If you have an older child you can have them do patterns with marshmallows in different colors and count marshmallows.

All you need for this craft is buttons, glue, and paper. If you don’t have buttons you could use other items like stickers or pom poms. Use the glue to draw the letter M and then have your child put on the buttons!

She had so much fun she kept asking for more M arts and crafts. Other M activities could include drawing 2 moose antlers and stapling/taping them to make them into headband. Making M monsters by writing the letter M and adding googly eyes and many hands/legs/tentacles, whatever your child wants would work too!

We decided to end the day with movement!

Follow
Share

Rescue the Numbers!

There are many simple ways to get your child to start to recognize numbers without drilling them. One activity is called, “Rescue the Numbers!”

Materials: a bucket/bowl/container with water, spoon, numbers (I used foam), paper, plastic sleeve (I had a lamination sleeve)

I traced the numbers onto a blank paper and put it in a lamination sleeve, this way it stayed dry. Next, I put all of the numbers into the container with water & she got to have fun taking them out! If you have numbers and you can draw faces on them your child would like that even more!

I had the numbers saying, “Help!” and when she got each one out I’d say the number (or she would) and she would match them on the paper. When they were all done we counted them while pointing to each one.

She ended up putting in some rocks and making them sink, then pretending they were stuck and she had to rescue them again. We also talked about sinking and floating. She loved it so much she asked to do more (next time I’ll do the alphabet).

Follow
Share

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!

Follow
Share

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!Follow
Share

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.

60901038882__5FAB6EAD-ED60-4BCC-A765-4746DCAD8804

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!Follow
Share

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).

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.

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.

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!!Follow
Share