Lately, we’ve been doing activities with leaves. I was inspired by this post from, On Your Own, But Never Alone. I thought why not use the glitter leaves as sun catchers?
What you need:
Leaves that are dry, but not crunchy,
Glitter glue,
Paint brushes,
Mod podge,
Contact paper or clear sheet protectors,
String.
What you do:
1. Lay leaves on a flat surface and paint them with the glitter glue. You can paint just parts of the leaf or the entire thing. We used three different colors of glitter glue.
2. Set aside to dry.
3. Paint leaves with mod podge.
4. When dry, arrange leaves in contact paper or sheet protector. I didn’t have any contact paper so I just glued the leaves inside the sheet protector.
5. Punch hole in contact paper and tie a string. If you use a sheet protector, the holes are already there.
6. Find a nice place to hang your creation. Some leaves will catch the sun and others will not depending on the color. Either way, you have a nice glittery fall decoration.
What are you making with leaves this fall? Let me know in the comments.
Anyone who has kids knows that they are loud. They run instead of walk. They think everything is a drum. It could be pots and pans, the ball they were just playing catch with or the kitchen table. On some days, their voice has only one volume, loud! While I love listening to Rosebud’s conversations with herself and enjoy watching her take on life with such energy and enthusiasm, I definitely need a few quiet moments here and there. Here are a few activities that can give you just that. Peace and quiet.
1. Sensory Bottles
These can contain anything. I made this one for Rosebud when she was an infant. I used shells, acrylic jewels, glass marbles and glitter. Fill the bottle with water, ceil the top and your child will have some quiet time looking for and watching the objects floating around. Sensory bottles can be loud depending on what you put in them, but other quiet ideas include pompoms of different colors, sand with shells, foam numbers and letters, or vegetable oil and water which can be interesting because the two substances don’t mix. Sensory bottles can be done in any theme.
Here are some really cool sensory bottles I’ve found.
Felt boards are great for stories, rhymes and even learning about the seasons. In our preschool room, we had felt parts of a tree and flowers and the kids could make a felt garden. You can use a felt board to work on sight words with letters. They also have felt doll dress up sets. The Weather Bears Felt Board Set
3. Blocks
You must be thinking that blocks can’t be a quiet activity, but hear me out. Last year, I found some great foam blocks that I gave to Rosebud for Christmas. When she is building alone with these and is concentrating on what she is building, it can be very quiet. The other great thing about this activity is they can do this on their own.
I had to share this image. We were building today and I figured out how to put some of the shapes together to make a heart. I asked Rosebud if I could take a photo of it and she said, “Of course.” Each time I went to take a photo, she’d throw another block in the middle of the heart. On my phone, I have the live photo feature enabled so when I click on it, I see the block being thrown in the middle of the heart.
4. Bubble Wrap
This obviously can be very loud, especially if you have the bubble wrap with larger bubbles, but I have found that the bubble wrap with smaller bubbles is great for small hands. The pops are relatively quiet. If you are watching TV, preparing a meal or are engrossed in a phone conversation, you probably won’t even hear the little pops. This is a great activity for developing those fine motor skills and concentration. After you show them how it works a couple of times, they can do this activity without help.
5. Puzzles
There are lots of puzzles to choose from, but the quietest are foam puzzles. If puzzles are at the appropriate developmental level for your child, they should be able to figure them out on their own. I usually show Rosebud a couple of times and then she gets it. She loves knowing that she can put them together herself. This is also another great activity for developing fine motor skills and concentration.
These activities are great for a nap time when a child doesn’t sleep. They are also great for a quiet corner or for those times when a child is so wound up and needs to relax. What are your favorite quiet time activities for kids? Tell me in the comments.
In the beginning of September, I brought out all Rosebud’s fall and Halloween themed books. She has been wanting to read them every night, so I thought I’d share the ones she really enjoys.
1. Five Little Pumpkins.
I’ve had this book since her first Halloween and she loves it. It’s a simple rhyme about pumpkins. They have finger plays and songs for it as well. She loves to read along and his it memorized now.
2. Who’s There on Halloween.
This is another cute Halloween book. It has hints for different Halloween related characters like the witch, ghost and spider. She has this book memorized too, but she hasn’t figured out that the point is to guess by the clues before you turn the page.
3. Boo! A Halloween Peek-a-boo.
This is a short, but silly Halloween book. A dog chases different Halloween characters in costume who say different things. Rosebud likes when I do silly voices with this book. I just introduced this one to her this year because it has paper pages, but she always asks to read this first.
4. Scratch and Sniff Halloween.
Who doesn’t like scratch and sniff books? They are fun until they lose their scent, but Rosebud has been having fun reading this one regardless. You can smell the minty witches brew, the spooky pumpkin or the sweet lollypop.
5. Big Pumpkin
I just ordered the paper copy of this one, but we like to listen to the audio version I found on Youtube because it’s sung to a song. If you’ve never read this book, the witch wants to make pumpkin pie, but the pumpkin is too big to take off the vine. The witch, ghost, vampire and others try to remove it, but it doesn’t work until a bat comes along with the solution. This book is good because it’s an actual story, but it is not too long that an older toddler won’t sit through it. Rosebud is growing out of the simple board books. Although she still loves them, I think she’s ready for longer stories.
What are your favorite Halloween books? Tell me in the comments.
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!
Rosebud loves her food and loves her routines so when it comes to the bottle, she’s been very attached to it. When Rosebud was born, we started having feeding troubles right off the bat so I had to introduce formula in the first few days of her life. She preferred the bottles since she would get more milk at a faster rate. This obviously made nursing a struggle and I pushed through for several months before we finally found a rhythm. Rosebud got bottles when I was working and nursing when I was at home. Maybe I will do another post later specifically about the feeding problems and how we got past them, but this post is about how we said Bye Bye to the Bottle for good.
I wanted to stop nursing when she turned a year old because by then I was tired of it, but Rosebud had other plans. I slowly started to cut out feedings and eventually it had stopped by 18 months. One of the ways I cut out feedings was by replacing them with bottles of milk which Rosebud liked. She got very attached to the bottles again and it simply became a substitute for nursing. This is why she was still having two bottles a day even after she turned two.
I started reducing the amount of milk in the bottles which she was totally fine with. I tried putting milk in different cups, but she would never drink it. She has been drinking water from a cup since she was six months old and more recently I’ve given her juice in a cup, but she’ll take one sip of milk and put it back on the counter telling me she doesn’t like it. I’ve tried role modeling by drinking milk with my meals, sharing my milk with her etc. I tried not allowing her to have bottles at all and only offering cups of milk, but she refuses and will go days without milk. I’ve started introducing foods with more calcium because I was worried about her not drinking her milk.
Last week, I told her that we were all done with bottles because she is a big girl and big girls drink milk out of a cup. This makes her sad and occasionally she will ask for a bottle. She was tearful when asking for one this morning, but I reminded her that she’s a big girl and doesn’t need a bottle anymore. I told her it was okay to miss her bottles, but that we could snuggle while she drinks her milk from a cup the same way we would snuggle when she drinks bottles. That seemed to help.
This past weekend I caved and bought some chocolate and strawberry sirup to flavor her milk. My mom had suggested this, but I didn’t want to do this because I thought if she wouldn’t drink plain milk, then I didn’t want her to start getting sugary replacements. I did some searching online and this strategy has seemed to work for many parents so I’m giving it a try. So far, it has worked. She has been drinking her milk and seems to like both flavors. My plan is to decrease the amount of sirup little by little until she is back to drinking plain milk again. Distraction has worked as well. If she’s busy playing, she is less likely to think of asking for a bottle.
Since we have gone a week without them, I packed them away in a box. The next thing to go is the pacifier, but I don’t want to take all her comforts away at once. My baby girl is growing up and it’s happening way too fast! It seems like yesterday when I brought her home and now she’s talking in full sentences, climbing up the huge slides on the playground and we are the beginning stages of potty training. She has a mind of her own and she knows what she is ready to do. I encourage her to take the next steps, but I also remember to let her go at her own pace. Sometimes that has meant taking a step back and trying again later. It is a learning process for both of us. What helped your toddler give up the bottle? Tell me in the comments.
I know Easter has passed, but why not keep playing with eggs and peeps? Rosebud loves all the textures in this sensory tub.
What’s in the tub?
Plush peeps,
Plastic Easter eggs,
Regular and sparkly pompoms,
Small cups,
Mini shovel and spoons.
Rosebud made up her own activity. She found a basket and loves to transfer the pompoms from the tub to the basket. She does this over and over again. It’s good fine motor practice. It’s a really simple activity, but she loves it.
Here are some lessons that I’ve learned since Rosebud has brightened up my life.
11. Talk to the cats as if they will respond. Tell them about your day, get them involved in what you are doing even when you are brushing your teeth.
10. Always eat your veggies first. It’s the best part of the meal!
9. If anyone is unwell in the house including the animals, you must get your doctors kit and get to work.
8. Sparkles in any form must be noticed and commented on.
7. You can always pretend that something is something other than what it is at any time. It shows your creativity and imagination.
6. You must always eat with a fork even if the food is pretend. It’s polite.
5. It’s okay to tell someone that you don’t like something they did unless they’ve cooked you a meal. In that case, you have to tell them the food is delicious even if you avoid eating it at all costs.
4. If you are caught doing something you shouldn’t, yell really loud. It will distract them and maybe they won’t notice what you did.
3. If you find yourself in front of the tv, you should sing, dance or find some way to interact with it. It keeps your brain working.
2. If someone falls, you should always help them up.
1. Hugs and kisses solve most problems and you can never give too many of them.
What have your kids taught you? Tell me in the comments.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
2. Set aside to dry.
4. When dry, arrange leaves in contact paper or sheet protector. I didn’t have any contact paper so I just glued the leaves inside the sheet protector.
5. Punch hole in contact paper and tie a string. If you use a sheet protector, the holes are already there.
Anyone who has kids knows that they are loud. They run instead of walk. They think everything is a drum. It could be pots and pans, the ball they were just playing catch with or the kitchen table. On some days, their voice has only one volume, loud! While I love listening to Rosebud’s conversations with herself and enjoy watching her take on life with such energy and enthusiasm, I definitely need a few quiet moments here and there. Here are a few activities that can give you just that. Peace and quiet.
3. Blocks
These activities are great for a nap time when a child doesn’t sleep. They are also great for a quiet corner or for those times when a child is so wound up and needs to relax. What are your favorite quiet time activities for kids? Tell me in the comments.
5. Building
6. Toothbrush
I know Easter has passed, but why not keep playing with eggs and peeps? Rosebud loves all the textures in this sensory tub.
Rosebud made up her own activity. She found a basket and loves to transfer the pompoms from the tub to the basket. She does this over and over again. It’s good fine motor practice. It’s a really simple activity, but she loves it.
6. You must always eat with a fork even if the food is pretend. It’s polite.
