Christmas

Stocking Stuffers for Your Fur Babies

December 14, 2019

Christmas is less than two weeks away and I’m sure lots of you are doing some last minute shopping. I know I am! For many of us, our pets are like any member of the family. We want to spoil them too which is why I created this list of stocking stuffers for pets.

Toys

Let’s start with the fun items first! There are so many options to choose from, but here are some of the toys my pets have enjoyed. The cats have loved these catnip toys and these Jolly Balls for dogs are basically indestructible. Even when there are holes in the Jolly Ball, it stays inflated.

Treats

What pet doesn’t love treats? Here are some different flavors to try.

Food

I’m not going to list actual foods because there are too many, but here are some ideas to keep cats and dogs busy with their food. Sometimes it’s good for them to work for it like they would in a natural environment.

Grooming

These items would be Diamond’s least favorite. I’m not sure about your cat or dog, but she hates grooming. Unfortunately, with her long hair, it’s a must. If your pet is in need of some new grooming supplies, it’s the perfect time to stock up.

Accessories

Does your cat or dog need a new collar or leash? They can make great Christmas presents either for your own pet or someone else’s.

Small Animals

Do you have a critter at home? Why not get them a little something too? Some blocks to chew or yogurt drops might be the perfect stocking stuffer.

Pet Lovers

Do you have a pet person in your life, but don’t know what to get them? Why not a gift card to their favorite pet store, a picture of their best friend or a cool Christmas ornament representing their fur baby. The options are endless.

What are you getting your pets this year? Tell me in the comments. Happy last minute shopping!

1 Comment

Gift Giving, Parenting

Toy Recommendations for Christmas 2019

November 19, 2019

When I asked Rosebud what she wanted for Christmas this year, she didn’t have an answer. Luckily for her, I have found some cool toys that she will be excited to find under the tree on Christmas morning.

When I’m looking for toys for her, I try to choose things that are open ended to encourage creative play. I also look for toys that will grow with her over time. I like it when toys are educational, but not in a traditional sense. More importantly, I want to get her toys she’ll have lots of fun playing with, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she will do with these new toys. Everything on this list is great for preschoolers ages three to five.

Building

Rosebud loves to build and she loves these Picasso magnet tiles. I bought them for Christmas last year and highly recommend them. She’s played with them almost every day since. We’ve made houses for animals, castles for Barbie, trees, divider boxes for sorting items etc. She comes up with new buildings every time she uses these. I was thinking of getting her a second set, but I wanted something different for to add to her creations. Magna Tiles are a great brand and admittedly, they are on the expensive side, but I caved and got her this Stardust set. These tiles are either glittery or have mirrors. I think she’ll love pairing these with the PicassoTiles.

I also saw these magnetic people that work with this kind of blocks. She loves playing with toy people and these community helpers will be great to add to her buildings.

Science

Kinetic sand

This stuff is amazing! It’s popular with my preschool class, so I just had to get some of this for Rosebud. I love how it sticks together like real sand. It’s not too messy and I even like to sit and play with it. I was torn between the beach set and the bakery set, so I bought both. Rosebud is loving the color purple right now, so I’d like to get her the purple shimmer too. The beach set has the most sand out of all of them and it’s actually a good buy. If you want a quiet sensory activity, I highly recommend this sand.

Toy Sink

I originally wasn’t going to get her this, but I got one for a friend of Rosebud’s for his birthday. Since Rosebud saw it, she has asked why she can’t have one. I think I’ll give this to her on her birthday. You put water in the bottom of the sink and when you turn on the fossit, the water comes out like a regular sink. It comes with dishes to wash, pretend dish soap and a sponge. Why not teach kids to wash dishes along side you?
 
Dramatic Play

Rosebud loves to play in her pretend kitchen, so I wanted to get her some new play foods to experiment with.

She loves pancakes, so I got her this pancake making set by Melissa & Doug. It has everything you need to make perfect pretend pancakes.
 
She loves to bake with me, so I got her a spice rack. This way, she can addd spices to her baking or cooking up a nice meal.
 
She has a lot of fruits and vegetables, breakfast foods and sweets, but I wanted her to have some food to make pretend meals. She loves pasta and I found this cool Melissa & Doug pasta making set. It has a variety of pastas with all the toppings. I know she’ll have fun with this.
 
To wrap up the dramatic play category, I got her this Baby Alive doll with cupcakes. Her birthday is right around Christmas and I thought this would be a great gift. She has started to really enjoy playing dolls in the past few months and she loves to set up pretend birthday parties.

Games

Rosebud is starting to have a better understanding of games and I found a couple simple games to start off with.

First, there’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She loves the book, so I thought the game would be fun and easy for her to play. Next, there’s Pete The Cat buttons game. She loves all the Pete the Cat books, so she’ll definitely love this game. The Pete the Cat cupcakes game would be fun too and I may still get that one for her as well.

I am also getting her some books, but I will save our winter book list for another post. What will be under your tree this year? Tell me in the comments.

Comments Off

Gift Giving, Memories, Shopping

Blast From the Past Stocking Stuffers

October 14, 2019

I was thinking about what else to post in my stocking stuffer series and remembered all the great toys and games we had in the 90’s. I thought it’d be cool to get a couple of things for Rosebud and to bring you all down memory lane with this list of fun toys, games and accessories from the 90’s. There are stocking stuffers for kids of all ages on this list.

Games

Let’s start off with games. Board games were a big thing in the 90’s. I remember many weekends playing board or card games with my friends. Now kids are attached to their screens, but it might be fun for them to play an actual game with real pieces instead. Do you remember any of these?

Toys

There were lots of toys to collect in the 90’s. I had my share of beanie babies, troll dolls and the horses from My Little Pony. I don’t remember the show, but I do remember the plastic ponies.

More Toys

Who remembers these water games?
 
Here’s something for the boys.

Accessories

Here are some accessories and products for girls from the 90’s.
Scrunchies
 
Jewelry

Bath and Body

Who else remembers these fragrances? Bath and Body Works was one of my favorite stores as a teenager.

Candy

Last but not least, how about some 90’s candy?

Did I miss anything? What awesome items do you remember from your childhood? Tell me in the comments.

3 Comments

Gift Giving, Memories, Shopping, Winter

An Unexpected Christmas Gift

December 25, 2018

I had a few ideas for Christmas posts. I had settled on writing my Christmas list. The one that I have in my head that no one else knows about. The one that has all the things I want that I won’t ask for. Over the past couple of days, I’ve gotten something on my Christmas list, but it’s something I never expected. It’s the kindness of complete strangers.

Last week, there was a pot luck at work. I struggled to figure out what to bring. I always used to bring macaroni and cheese, but with my new schedule, trying to cook it and keep it fresh no longer works. I could’ve baked cookies or brownies, but I didn’t feel like it. The week was exhausting. I needed something quick and inexpensive, so I decided to stop at Dunkin Donuts for some munchkins, also known as donut holes. Someone paid it forward and I ended up with a free box of donut holes. In return, I paid it forward and bought someone’s coffee.

The day before Christmas Eve, my mom, Rosebud and I went to Walmart to buy my groceries for the week. I had to buy enough food to feed two kids this week as I have the week off from work, but will be watching a little boy. My mom was buying last minute items to make treats to fill our stockings. Our cart was pretty full. Once we had everything up on the counter and were about to pay, an older man comes up to my mom and offers her a gift card. My mom thanked the guy as the cashier finished ringing up the items.

Her bill came to around $40, but when the cashier checked the balance, she realized it was a $200 gift card. We were all in shock. Partly because we assumed it’d be $20 or less. I figured it was someone trying to get rid of the balance on his gift card. I’ve heard of people giving that much, but only on the news or viral Facebook posts. I’ve never seen it in my real life let alone it happening to me. The cashier even said that she’d never seen anything like that happen in person. It paid for my mom’s bill, my week’s worth of groceries and still had a small balance left over.

I don’t know why the man chose us. I can speculate, but it appeared that it was out of kindness and generosity. He wanted nothing in return. Maybe it is his way of getting into the holiday spirit. Who ever he is, I hope he is not alone this holiday season. I want to thank him for his kindness and for being so generous. He doesn’t know it, but I was looking at the balance in my bank account this morning and starting to worry about bills that haven’t been charged yet. Because of this man’s kindness, I don’t have to worry and will have enough to cover everything. It was a huge help to me.

They say that when you show kindness, it will be returned to you. It might not be reciprocated by the person you showed kindness to, but it will come back to you in another form. I might not be able to give a random stranger a $200 gift card, but in my own way, I will pay it forward to someone else. Thank you not only for the groceries, but for restoring some of my hope that kindness still exists in this world. Out of all the things on my Christmas list, this is the most important. I wish all my readers a happy holiday.

4 Comments

Childcare, Gift Giving, Toddlers, Work

Holiday Goody Bags for Toddlers

December 18, 2018

At work, we usually do a secret Santa gift exchange the week before Christmas. Sometimes we give to a family in need and fill a box with gifts. Some of our teachers make up bags for the children and some of them don’t. This year, I wanted to do something a little different. Right now, I don’t have a class of my own. I float, so I spend time in all the rooms, but I spend a lot of time with my toddler classes now and that’s who I decided to shop for.

I knew I wanted to put goody bags together, but most of the bulk items I found were for preschoolers or older. It took a little extra time and effort to find the right things, but here’s what’s inside the bags.

These sweet treat rubber duckies for the girls and these doggy rubber duckies for the boys.

I figured most kids love their baths and the novelty duckies would be a unique spin on a classic toy.

I found these bubbles at the dollar store in packs of three. There’s chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. 
Bubbles are always a hit with toddlers.

I included 1oz containers of play-dough. You can’t do much with only one or two ounces, but I was on a budget. These small sizes are great for travel.

I found packs of cars at the dollar store and included a car in each bag.

Here is a similar set of Matchbox cars.

What kid doesn’t love stickers? I found this sticker pack on Amazon that has a variety of stickers. There are letters, numbers, smily faces, hearts, animals and more. It’s a good buy if you are in the market for small puffy stickers.
 
Finally, I wanted to include a ball, but wasn’t sure what to do since most of the bouncy balls are too small for toddlers. I didn’t want to include anything that was a choking hazard. On the other hand, I didn’t want to find something too big for the bag. I was lucky to find these awesome jumbo bouncy balls that are the perfect size.

I found these paper snowman gift bags. They were the perfect size. For the final touch, I used gift tags with 3d stickers.
 
Is there anything I missed? What fun items have you included in goody bags? Tell me in the comments.

I’m sure the kids will be surprised. I hope they love them. I wish my classes a merry Christmas!

11 Comments

Activities, Education, Parenting, Preschool, Toddlers, Winter

Gift Giving Sensory Tub

December 7, 2018

This week, I decided to make up a festive sensory tub for Rosebud. I’m calling it the gift giving sensory tub.

What’s in the tub?

Wrapping paper,
Small boxes,
Ribbon,
Bows,
Tissue paper,
Bells,
Snowman rings,
Sparkly pompoms,
A bulb shaped ornament that opens,
A gift bag
A small stocking.

Today was the first time Rosebud got to play with this tub and she played for almost an hour. I had to tare her away for bath time. She loved filling the gift bag, putting the items in the different sized boxes and trying to wrap them. We pretended to give each other gifts. She’d open a box of snowman rings and say, “thank you Mommy. This was the best gift ever.” Then I’d open a gift bag full of pompoms and tell her what a nice gift she gave. If you are working on sharing and kindness, this would be a great sensory tub for the theme.

We worked on math skills by counting the number of pompoms in a box. We used our listening skills to guess what was inside the boxes. We discovered that we can always tell when one of the bells were in the boxes, but we could only hear the pompoms depending on the size and style of the box. Rosebud folded wrapping paper and tried to tie ribbon to practice those fine motor skills.

If your child is a little older, you could include tape so they could practice actually wrapping presents. I did not include tape because I knew it’d be everywhere. I’d love to add more ribbon of different sizes, other Christmas and winter themed trinkets for a wider variety of gifts and child scissors to cut wrapping paper. If you’ve tried something similar or have a festive sensory tub of your own, tell me in the comments.

10 Comments

Activities, Books, Education, Parenting, Toddlers, Winter

Five Interactive Winter Books for Toddlers

November 29, 2018

As I’ve written about before, Rosebud and I love to read. I often buy her new books based on the season and or if there’s a holiday coming up. For the spring, I get out her books about birds, plants and baby animals. In the fall, we read books about pumpkins, leaves and of course Halloween. The winter is no exception. The books we are reading right now are related to snow, Christmas and her birthday coming around the corner.

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’m visually impaired so I don’t see the pictures very well. In children’s books, one could argue that the pictures are the most important thing. Well, they are to the child at least. Since I can’t see all the little details, I love to find books that are more interactive. Not only does it help me, but these extra elements make reading more fun for the children. Here are some great interactive winter books I’ve found along the way.

That’s Not My Snowman by Fiona Watt.

This book shows a snowman on each page with a different tactile element. the mittens are too fuzzy or the buttons are too bumpy. The book is short, but it’s great for infants and toddlers. Rosebud still loves this book.

PeekaBoo Christmas!: Touch-and-Feel and Lift-the-Flap by DK Publishing.

This book is large, sturdy and has illustrations that are shiny and colorful. Some of the pages include touch and feel elements like the pompom on the hat or the ornaments on the tree. Kids love to lift the flap to see what’s inside. Rosebud has always loved the different peekaboo books and this one did not disappoint her.

Little Critter: Just a Snowy Day by Mercer Mayer.

I bought this book many years ago to read to the kids I was working with at the time. Now I get to share it with Rosebud. I love all the interactive elements in this book. You get to spin a wheel to make it snow, smell a cup of hot chocolate and pull Little Critter’s sled. My only complaint about this book is that the pull tabs can be easily broken. This book has always been a hit with any of the children I’ve read it to. The book is now out of print, but you can still find it on Amazon.

The Gingerbread Family: A Scratch-and-Sniff Book by Grace Maccarone.

This story is of a day in the life of a gingerbread family. There is a scratch and sniff sticker on each page. The scents aren’t very strong, but the story is cute. When I was a kid, I never had books like these. I always loved scratch and sniff stickers and am glad I’ve been finding these cool books for Rosebud. She loves the pictures in this book as everything is made up of candy. We like to see which candy we can pick out. When she asks for this book, she says, “Let’s read about cookies.”

The Sweet Smell of Christmas (Scented Story Book) by Patricia M. Scarry.

Many people seem to remember this book from their childhood. I do not and I have not read it to Rosebud yet. It will be a stocking stuffer for her this year. This book is filled with scratch and sniff stickers and I know Rosebud will be excited to read this one.

What are your favorite winter and holiday books? Let me know in the comments.

7 Comments

Activities, Art, Gift Giving, Parenting, Recipes, Toddlers

Salt Dough Keepsakes

November 11, 2018

I wanted to come up with an inexpensive and creative gift for my mother’s birthday. I also wanted Rosebud to be involved in making it so I decided to see what we could create with salt dough.

Ingredients:

1 cup salt,
2 cups all purpose flour,
1 cup warm water,
A pinch of cinnamon, (Optional)

Food coloring or powder paint. (Optional)

Directions:

1. Mix salt and flour together in a bowl.
If you are using powder paint to add coloring, you’ll want to mix it with the dry ingredients.
I added the pinch of cinnamon at this stage for a hint of scent, but that is totally optional.
2. Gradually add the warm water and stir until dough forms.
If you are using food coloring, add it into the water before mixing with the dry ingredients.
3. Once you have your dough, shape it into a ball and kneed for five minutes. the more you kneed, the softer it gets.
4. Time to have fun and see what you can create.

It took several tries, but I shaped the dough into a flat heart and Rosebud pushed her hand in the center to make the handprint. Trying to get a tired child to do something like this can be pure torture, but after the sixth try, we got our final product. The other handprints were missing fingers, missing part of the hand itself or barely noticeable.

To add some sparkle, I put some glitter on the heart. Finally, I poked two holes in the top so the heart can be hung as a decoration. I used a pencil to get good sized holes.

Next, I worked on the small rose. I roled out a coil for the stem and then made the leaf and rose petals by hand. You role the dough into tiny balls, shape them like a fingerprint and then smooth and bend the pointy ends into the stem. I start out with the outside petals which are larger and then work my way into the smallest center petals.

I baked the decorations for one hour at 200F and covered them with foil to avoid browning. The heart could’ve been baked a bit longer, but it air dried the rest of the way.

When it was cool, I painted them. For the heart and flower, I mixed white paint with a tiny drop of red food coloring. For the stem and leaf, I mixed the white paint with some green food coloring. When the paint was dry, I covered it with a coat of modpoj.

Rosebud was proud to give the birthday gifts and I was happy that we created something together. Have you made anything with salt dough? If so, what are your best creations?

6 Comments

Gift Giving, Parenting, Shopping

10 Stocking Stuffers for Preschoolers

September 24, 2018

This is the third post in my stocking stuffer series. Click here if you are looking for stocking stuffers for infants and here if you are looking for stocking stuffers for toddlers. There are so many options for this age group. It’s hard to narrow it down.

1. Art supplies

To encourage some creativity, why not go with something different than the standard crayons?

You could get these metallic crayons by Crayola that have a shimmer in the wax.

Make a drawing you can smell with these washable scented markers.

Add a little sparkle to your projects with this glitter glue.

Your child can get some practice cutting with child safe scissors.

2. Books

There are endless choices of books for preschoolers. I usually include a Christmas book or two in Rosebud’s stocking, but you could go with a book from any theme.

3. Felt story board kit

To go along with story time, a felt board story kit is a great idea. On Etsy, you can find homemade versions and support someone’s small crafting business or find a felt story on Amazon. The kids love moving the pieces to follow along with the story or creating a story of their own.

4. Items from our childhoods

How about this retro style mini Etch a Sketch?

This toy is similar to the Light Bright, but this one is travel sized without the paper.

Who else remembers these water games?

5. Puzzles

Puzzles are a great quiet winding down activity. Preschoolers can handle puzzles that are a bit more challenging.

6. Night light

Many preschoolers are scared of the dark and what may or may not be under the bed. Why not get them a cool night light to make night time a little less scary.

7. Games

Preschoolers can start learning games with simple rules.

8. DVD’s

These are good for a quiet rainy day afternoon inside or a long road trip. These are some of Rosebud’s favorite shows and movies.

9. Accessories

You could get hair bows, hats or jewelry.

10. Magnetic letters and numbers

Preschoolers can get some practice with letter recognition and learning sight words.

These aren’t magnets, but they are great for bath time.

I hope this post has helped you fill your preschooler’s stocking. Stay tuned for more gift giving ideas as the holidays get closer. Until then, happy shopping!

9 Comments

Gift Giving, Parenting, Shopping, Uncategorized

10 Stocking Stuffers for Toddlers

September 17, 2018

This is the second entry in my stocking stuffer series. If you missed it, here’s my list of Stocking Stuffers for Babies.
Click here for Stocking Stuffers for Preschoolers.

Today, I’ll focus on toddlers. Between one and three years of age, children become interested in a wider variety of activities and generally they put things in their mouths much less, so they can use toys with smaller parts. Of course, all this depends on the ages and developmental levels of your children. Rosebud still puts things in her mouth and chews on things that she shouldn’t, so there are still things I won’t let her play with especially on her own. The theme for her stocking last year was creativity. I included a lot of things that she could use for art projects, play-dough etc. Sometimes picking a theme for the stocking can help narrow down what you want to buy, but for this list, I will include a variety of items.

1. Large crayons

Toddlers don’t quite have the control and grip for standard sized crayons, but the larger sizes are perfect. Using crayons is a great introduction to drawing. Those scribbles will eventually become lines and the lines will eventually become drawings. Let them explore and imagine and before you know it, they’ll be drawing their own little world.

Don’t forget a mini notebook or drawing pad.

If you’re more adventurous like I was, you can try washable markers. Rosebud loves both crayons and markers and these particular markers by Crayola have washed off everything she’s drawn on.

Don’t forget to pick up a Magic Eraser to save your stuff and your sanity. Keep out of reach of children though because they are toxic, but they do an amazing job getting rid of scribbles on the furniture or walls.

2. Paints
To continue with the creativity theme, how about these water color paints? They aren’t as messy as finger paint, but you might choose to go that rout. Rosebud loves water colors. Now if I could only get her to remember to dip in the water first and then the paint. Not the other way around. You might want to include some extra brushes.

3. Play-dough

Play-dough is another great stocking stuffer. You can either make your own or get store bought. I’d suggest using homemade play-dough because it lasts longer, you know exactly what’s in it, you get a lot more than what’s in the little store bought containers and it feels smoother and easier to work with. Also, you can personalize it how you like. You can add scents, glitter, food coloring, textured items etc.

You can use tools specifically for play-dough, cookie cutters or items laying around the house.

4. Dramatic play

How about something for dramatic play? Maybe a small baby doll, stuffed animal or small set of toys.

This small tea set is for the bath, but it is small enough to include in a stocking. Rosebud loves this tea set.

This mini feeding set with bottles is another good choice.

5. Building

You could buy small cars, a mini block set or toy people to encourage building and pretend play. Another tip is to take things out of the boxes so they fit into the stocking.

6. Toothbrush

Does your child like a specific character they see on TV? They make lots of toothbrushes with characters on them. Some have lights, music and come in cool colors. Find a toothbrush that they will love and include it in their stocking. It’s practical, but it will get used.

7. Water bottle

It’s important to stay hydrated, so why not include a cool new water bottle. There are water bottles in every color, character and type imaginable.

8. Books
Books are amazing. They can introduce children to new concepts, reinforce things you’ve taught them or getting lost in a great story. I always include a book or two in the stocking.

9. Warm and cozy

Finally, why not include something warm for the winter? Rosebud loves slippers and there are so many options to choose from. Again, if your child has a favorite character you could buy something like this.

Maybe you want to buy something more cute and or fashionable like these.

Mittens or fuzzy socks come in handy during the winter as well.

10. Puzzles

Simple puzzles also make great stocking stuffers. They help toddlers use their fine motor and problem solving skills. I started by giving Rosebud puzzles with ten pieces or less.

If you are on a tight budget And are looking for thrifty and educational stocking stuffers for toddlers, check out this post from Organizing Chaos 101.
I hope you have gotten plenty of inspiration to fill your toddler’s stocking. Don’t forget to check out my other stocking stuffer suggestions. Happy shopping!

11 Comments