Back to School:: Crayons

It isn't the start of a new school year without a fresh box of crayons.

Preschool-sized backpack with adjustable straps from ChildishThoughts

Crayon Box Applique Shirt w/ Matching Hairbow from jbowsboutique

Crayon Wallet from OddEDesign

Back to School Korker Bow from SweetPriBow

Small Back to School Bows from NeverlandNook

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Kids Summer Paper Crafts

When I lived in the UK I was a member of Girlguiding (or Girl Scouts in the US), and often helped plan meetings and activities, especially the craft ones. So I am digging out some of my past projects to share with you to keep the kids busy this summer.

So some summer paper Crafts

Paper Ice Lollies

Print off the pdf design (2 lollies a sheet) and let the kids colour them in. Then cut out the shapes, fold in half and stick together with a popsicle stick in the middle.
Download pdf file

Flip-Flop Matching Game

Print off the pdf file and cut out the squares. For younger children they can just match the colours, for older children they have to match colour, and left and right foot.
Download pdf file

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Fun Snacks this Summer

This summer I have seen so many creative ideas to make fun creative foods for kids. Fruit and vegetables, breakfast, lunch and snacks! Here are some of our favorites, enjoy!

Berry Fish Bread from Funny Food Recipes

Peanut Butter Banana Split Sandwich from Inspired RD

Carrot & Zucchini Bars from MOMables

Rainbow Fruit Kebabs from Sumptuous Spoonfuls

Lemon Squares from Babble (plus other deserts)

UFO Banana Bagel from Spoonful

Peachy Parrot from Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons

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Easy Oil Paintings

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

My son and I are working through the alphabet with a “letter of the week,” and when I needed an art project for “O Week” a couple of weeks ago, I turned to this marbleized paper tutorial from Unplug Your Kids. For our purposes, I called them oil paintings.

Here’s what you need:
A shallow pan (I used a dish pan)
Food coloring
Vegetable oil
Water
Thick paper (We used watercolor paper and cardstock)
Dropper

First, mix up the colors. Stir together 1/2 tablespoon oil and several drops of food coloring for each color. Mix with a fork for several minutes to combine the two ingredients. (Next time I will try shaking it, as suggested in the original instructions. It's a little like salad dressing.)

Put just enough water in the bottom of your pan to cover the bottom. (The colors will sink if the water is too deep.)

Use the dropper to put dots of color on top of the water. Don’t be afraid to mix colors, put colors on top of each other, or swirl them around. My son is into mixing colors lately, so he loved mixing the colors together.

When you’re done adding colors, gently place a piece of cardstock or watercolor paper on top of the water. Let it sit there until you see the pattern of colors seep through the paper. Gently peel the paper off, let excess water drain off, and set aside to dry.

Change the water and try again!

We’ve used our oil paintings to make cards, and I’m thinking about getting frames for a couple of them. They’re so pretty!

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Happy Father's Day

Daddy's use to be little once too!  Here are some fun finds for the future daddy's in your life.

Balloon Buddy (fabric balloon cover) by kidsloveletters

Dinosaur T-Rex T-shirt by Westmama

Fire Truck Personalized Wall Art by babychickdesigns

Custom Boys Knight Costume by VintageDuck

Boutique Burp Cloth set of 3 by MomNMiaQuilts

Toddler Boy Bow Ties by kdpdesigns

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Science Experiment: Dyed Flowers

From Michelle of himamma.

Science … we love it. Many times when we have gone past the flower area at the grocery store we smell the sweet scent of fresh roses and dainty daisies ... the girls have been fascinated with the flowers that are in an array of colors that are dyed but yet they know that they are not naturally that color … and have wondered “how do they do that?”

Well, we made it our science experiment last week! So now they have a much better understanding and can visualize how the flower petals changed colors.

Steve Spangler Science shares a great tutorial on dying flowers, in addition to other experiments he has done…but most importantly the details and why they work make sense on his website that kids understand.

Our science experiment was over a course of several days. We started out using some older daisies that we had purchased later the week before. We recut the bottom of the flower stems and placed them in the colored water glasses. The older flowers did not dye as well as we had hoped, but we knew that might be the case going into the experiment. A few days later we purchased new flowers and this time they did much better and the color was obvious.
One question the girls had asked was how soon do you think we will see the color in the petals? Within two hours, it was amazing to see the colors showing in the white petals. By dinner time, the flowers were fully dyed and in a brilliant shades of yellow, blue, red and green.

We even wondered if certain colors would dye the petals quicker than others. It seemed to us that the blue and the green food coloring dyed the white petals the quickest. I know in the printing world, that when you print with blue ink, it takes longer to dry than any other color just due to the pigment. I know it doesn't relate to the experiment but it is an interesting fact that makes you wonder about inks in general.

Do you have a favorite science experiment book/curriculum that you use? Please feel free to comment below or send us an email. We are always enjoying and reading science books and would like to share with other families in the journey of learning.

In addition to the Steve's website we also enjoy the following:

• The Magic School Bus series. We will reserve DVDs and library books from our library and/or watch the various topics that we are studying via YouTube. Last year, I purchased The Magic School Bus Science Experiment books that take each of the episodes and relate it to an experiment/participate in an observation. On the MSB website they also have a Parent/Teacher section that is very helpful. Ms Frizzle and the gang are always a hit with the girls. I must admit...I love the series too.
• I recently have exchanged emails with a mom I met through a workboxes group. Via our email workboxes group, Colleen shared that she has written several books, with one particularly focused towards science. Colleen has a blog called Raising Lifelong Learners as well as her writing website called Colleen Kessler. I strongly suggest you visit her blogs to learn more.

As we prepped for our experiment we talked about how flowers/plants drink water to survive, how the flowers use their roots, and the water travels up through tubes in the stem. By coloring the water, we will then see the water move up the stem and into the flower petals over a course of a couple of hours. Steve Spangler Science shares a great tutorial on dying flowers, in addition to other experiments he has done…but most importantly the details and why they work really make sense on his website that kids understand.

You can find Michelle online here ... Facebook, Twitter, her blog Hi Mamma and of course her Etsy Shop:

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How to Travel with Kids ... and avoid yelling

From Emily of BusyChickadee. 


My family lives a little over 4 hours away and I like to go visit about every other month.  I recently decided to go and visit for almost a week. My husband couldn't take that much time off … so we left him at home.

That meant I needed to plan well to avoid…yelling! Grouchy mommies don’t make the best drivers, right? If I have happy kids I have a happy mommy.

Here are 8 tips and tricks I used to have a happy family drive:


1. PACK a LUNCH

I decided to pack a lunch to avoid having to get fast food, and to avoid having to PAY for fast food! That adds up quickly. I packed peanut butter sandwiches (no cooler needed), apples, and water bottles.  Packed in individual lunch sacks, means everyone has their own trash sack and trash stays where it should and not strewn across the floor of my car. 

2. HAVE a CONTAINER FULL of TOYS and BOOKS

I always pack a crate of some kind with small toys and lots of books. Yes, they will end up all over your vehicle because they will drop them after they grow tired of them! I figure this is a mess well worth keeping them occupied. Also, I make sure the container is close to the older ones so they can hand them out to the younger ones. When I was the only older one, I kept it close to me so that I could keep handing them back.

3. The POTTY - NEVER LEAVE HOME without IT!  

When my kids are potty training, I never travel without it. It makes it much easier to attend to “MOMMY, I have to go…NOW!” It is also easier when your kids don’t like public bathrooms. I stop the van and put the potty chair in the middle of the van. I let the child go and then I dump it outside when it is just pee. (Animals do it, right??) I bring along grocery sacks and dump it in there if it is…more substantial! (heehee) Then I throw it in the nearest trash. I wipe it out with wipes when they are done.

4. GO RUN!!

Kids are kind of like puppies…they like to run! When we do stop to go to the bathroom and there is open space, I yell, “Go RUN!!” I like to let them get out some of that energy. Sometimes I even chase them around or walk the stairs in the area around them to get out energy of my own. This helps us get back into the van with less tears.

5. PACK SNACKS

I make sure to fill up a bag with snacks. You never know what is going to be that one thing that keeps everyone together. I like to pack things that can’t get too squashed into the carpet. I bring things like: pretzels, popcorn, Goldfish, dry cereal and maybe fruit snacks. I bring bowls or cups to put the snacks in to make it easier to hand them back. A friend of mine packs them in little baggies and I think that is a great idea too.

6. MUSIC

Bring along the children’s music. This can sometimes bring someone back from the brink of a meltdown. If you don’t have some, just start singing together. Songs like “Wheels on the Bus” and “5 Little Monkeys” are great ways to pass the time.

7. DVD PLAYER

We finally broke down and bought the DVD player for the van. I was one of those people who said, “But I didn’t have one when I was little.” That lady left one day when I realized it would just make long trips easier.  If you haven't broken down and done it yet because you don't travel as much as we do, see if you can borrow one from a friend if you have a long ride coming up this summer. They really do make it easier.

8. GAMES

As I was driving today and thinking about what I would write for this post, I thought about some things I would have done differently. I think next time I will make sure to pack some travel games like tic, tac, toe and car bingo.  The board game isle has travel games you can purchase and small electronic handheld games like battleship, 20Q or yahtzee that are inexpensive and great fun.  You can also look around pinterest and blogs for games you can make or print yourself.

Find Emily online at Facebook and Twitter, by visiting her blog - Raising Busy Chickadees and her Etsy Shop - Busy Chickadees:

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St. Patty's Picks

Happy St. Patrick's Day from all of us a the EtsyKids Team!

Baby Boy, Diaper Cover Onesie Set, with Green Frog from RaeGun

AHOY Matey, Boys Green Pirate Shirt from SweetThreadsClothing

Needle Felted Green Apple with Happy Worm from ThingsByV

Elephant Plush Toy from LittleSidekick

Words of Inspiration 11x14 Typography Poster from AsYouWishPrinting

Double Minky Baby Lovey from notybaby

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Tutorial: Shake an Egg

From Lauren at crocheting4baby.


Have you heard of Laurie Berkner?

She sings songs for kids that we just love here in our home. She makes kids music enjoyable, instead of annoying. I must say I can listen to her music non stop while playing with Bug and not get sick of it. She has 5 CDs {i believe} plus a The Best Of CD and I can't tell you which is my fave. I love them all!

On her CD "Whaddaya Think of That?" there is a song called I Know A Chicken, it's also on The Best Of CD.

The song is so much fun and she tells you different ways to shake an egg. If you don't have a shaky egg you can just shake your body, but we made some shaky eggs from old plastic eggs we had in our play food cart since Easter.

What you will need:

• Plastic Eggs {one per kid, or as many as you'd like}
• Small items to put inside the egg to make noise. We used yeast, rice & small noodles. We wanted to make ours soft and loud shakers. Other ideas are oatmeal, cornmeal, sprinkles, beads...
• Crazy glue
• Tape

First you are going to want to tape the inside where the holes are {if any} so there are no leaks.

Then fill half an egg about 3/4 of the way. Place glue around the edges and let it dry. {don't glue your fingers to the egg} If you are lazy and impatient like I am you can just wrap some packing tape around the egg so it doesn't open easily. You might not want to do that meathod with younger ones who will try to open it. Bug was a good listener and didn't even attempt it.

Give it to your little one, turn on some Laurie Berkner and shake an egg!

See more of Lauren's toddler friendly activities on her blog, Tutus & Tea Parties, follow her on facebook and see her crocheted offerings in her Etsy shop:  

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Valentine's Day is for the Birds! - Bird feeder tutorial.

Today we have a guest post from Mia4Art!!

A fun craft for my preschooler: Valentine Bird Feeder

Materials: cardboard, shortening, pen, scissors, glue gun or glue, bird seed & ribbon

Cut out two rectangular pieces of cardboard. Place three points on each piece of cardboard in order for your preschooler to create a heart line drawing. The two points at the top form the letter V.

I instructed my daughter to make the letter C and backward C to connect the V to the bottom dot. A pen or crayon would be best for this.

After cutting out this heart, help your preschooler use this heart to trace onto second piece of cardboard.
After tracing, cut out second heart.

 

 

After cutting the two hearts out for your preschooler, fold the ribbon in half and place at top of heart about an inch down. Put glue over the heart and part of the ribbon. Place the second heart ontop like a sandwich.

Your preschooler will enjoy spreading the shortening on both sides of their heart! "Spread the Love!"

After spreading the shortening, have your preschooler dip their cardboard hearts into a plate of birdseed. Using their fingers they can sprinkle any areas that are empty.

Lastly, go outside and select a winter tree to share the warmth of Valentine's Day!
My daugher loves peeking outside of her window to check to see if any birds have come to visit!

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Valentine's in a HURRY!

Still looking for the perfect Valentine's for the kids to take to school or to mail family and friends?  Here are five EtsyKids Team Members who offer custom personalized Valentine's that you print yourself!  They will email you a digital file you can print yourself!  Quick, simple and oh so affordable!  

Retro Pink and Brown 5x7 Printable Photocard from GreenBeansieInk

Valentine Printable, iPhone design for SweetHearts box from MadeByAPrincess

Valentine Printable Cards, Forest Woodland from polkaprints

Owl DIY Printable Sticker or Favor Tags from kidEprints

Personalized Printable Boy's Airplane Valentines from PamperYourParty

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Looking for more than just a card for Valentine's Day?  Lots of EtsyKids Team Shops have top quality Valentine gifts made up and ready to ship out to you today.  See what we have to offer here. 

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Cardboard artwork with the kids

Today we have a guest post from Amber of AmberParis.

She is sharing a fun activie to do with your kids and all you need is cardboard and lots of glue!

start with lots of cardboard…one large piece to serve as the base/canvas and many many smaller scraps cut/ripped down. I cut a lot of strips with a paper cutter and also cut several piles of squares, circles and triangles. I also gathered some various thin wood odds and bits to incorporate. and some empty ribbon spools.

add a big container of homemade paste…we mixed some elmer’s into ours to give it a bit of extra hold.

we looked at some of louise nevelson’s work prior to this project, but I didn’t give the kids any instructions beyond letting them know they had to put paste down EACH time they added something new to the piece…my 3yo had trouble remembering this step…but in the end, the paste was a sculptural element in its own right!

once your kids are happy with their piece and/or tire of art making, set the art works somewhere safe to dry for several days.it took nearly a week for ours to dry, but the paste was also inches-thick in areas!

now it’s time to shop for spray paint! my kids only got to “shop” through my selection of colors in my studio, but a trip to the hardware store to choose from the many colors out there would be fun!

 

give the pieces a good coat or two of spray paint and then allow to dry thoroughly. we loved ours so much, we framed them to hang in our living room!

 

When Amber is not having loads of fun with her kids she is sewing and making fun felt play food! She sells the yummy enough to eat felt food in her etsy shop.

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Curling up with a good book

Today we have Posies and Petals guest posting with us!

Winter is a great time to curl up with a great book. I relish that quality time with my kids and recently we've had quite alot of it. So I asked Will to bring me his two favorite books, I wasn't surprised that he couldn't stop at two. First he brought me these two....

  

then these....

 

and lastly this one.

They are all fantastic books that I have enjoyed in my classroom as well as my living room. Today we spent a little extra time with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We made a tree and used our letter magnets to retell the story. First Will and I, then Will and his dad, then lastly Will told the story to his sister Caroline, who sat and watched in amazement.

Then we just happened to have some animal crackers shaped like letters, so we acted it out again over snack! I love when things work out like that. Tomorrow, we will look for number magnets to act out Chicka Chicka 123.

What are your favorite books right now? For yourself and your kids? I always love hearing new titles!

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Celebrating Winter

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

In addition to celebrating Christmas, my family carves out a little time each December to mark the Winter Solstice, the first day of winter. Many years – like this one – the Solstice falls on my son’s birthday, so we celebrate it the day before or after. This year, the Winter Solstice is Thursday, Dec. 22.

The first day of winter is the shortest day of the year. Gradually, until the Summer Solstice in June, the days will get longer and longer. Ancient peoples celebrated this time of year because they knew the light was returning. It gave them hope for the spring.

We find inspiration in the changing of the seasons throughout the year. After the chill and growing dark of fall, we look forward to the return of the warmth and green of spring, even though there’s a lot of winter yet to pass. Celebrating Solstice keeps our family in tune with the natural patterns of the Earth.

Here are some of the ways we mark Solstice in our home. There are lots of ways to get kids involved.

Feeding the Birds. There’s little for birds to eat in the suburbs during the cold winter months, so we set out bird feeders. This year, we’re using pinecones collected throughout the year and covering them with peanut butter and birdseed. They’re hanging in the tree in front of our house.

Sharing with Others. We also make it a point to share with others, and the past several years, we’ve done this on Solstice by taking some of our holiday cookies to our neighbors. It’s fun to visit with them and see their trees, and we get to know the people in our neighborhood.

Look for Winter. If the weather cooperates, we like to walk around the neighborhood with our son and look for signs on winter: bare trees, snow, winter birds and animals, etc. It’s also a fun time to check out the decorations on our neighbors’ houses.

Decorations. A Yule log is the centerpiece of our Christmastime table. We light it before dinner and talk about the good and bad things that happened in the past year and the goals we have for the new year. Regrets from the past year are burned in a burning bowl. Our son is about to turn 4, and last year, he was able to participate in this part of the day with us by talking about what he thinks are the blessings in his life.

Special Food. Much of what we eat on Solstice is inspired by the sun. The past several years, we’ve ordered pizza for lunch – it’s round like the sun! For dinner, I cook the same thing every year. We’re vegetarian, so the main dish is a Quorn roast in an orange-garlic juice marinade (recipe below), but the original recipe calls for using the marinade on turkey. I serve a winter salad of spinach, oranges, dried cranberries, and walnuts with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and we enjoy cookies for dessert. I also like to make mulled wine (Gluvein) or cider.

After dinner, we each get to open one small gift, usually something associated with light or winter.

Orange-Garlic Marinade
(Modified from The Wicca Cookbook)

1c orange juice
1/4c butter, melted
3-4 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Combine ingredients, and pour over meat substitute or meat. Use a brush to baste occasionally.

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10 Reasons You Should Buy Handmade this Holiday

Article submitted by StoryBuilderToys

With the holiday shopping season fast approaching (most retailers already have their Christmas items on the shelves) it’s time to start planning your holiday shopping lists. This year why not be adventurous and try buying some handmade products for the ones you love? Why should you buy handmade instead of the usual store bought products you’re used to, well I’m glad you asked. Here are ten reasons why you should shop handmade for the holidays.

Floppy Bunny by StoryBuilderToys

1. Be original. Handmade products are usually one of a kind or produced in small batches so you don’t have to worry about gifting something the person already has or giving the same gift as someone else. Instead you’ll be able to find something just as unique as the person you’re shopping for and nothing brings a smile to someone’s face better than knowing you really cared enough to find them the perfect gift.
2. Support people, not companies. By giving your business to local artists and crafters you’re helping build a better economy without lining the pockets of overpriced corporations who’s only interest is the bottom line. People care about each other, companies care about themselves and getting as much of your hard earned money as possible. A crafter will appreciate your business while a corporation demands it. The choice seems pretty clear.
   

   

   35" Play Silk by TheEnchantedCupboard
   

3. It’s more environmentally friendly. Handmade items are usually made from natural raw materials with much less waste and machine emissions than mass produced items. If your goal is to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the planet that you can’t go wrong with locally produced handmade items.
4. Build a personal connection with the person making your items. Craftspeople love what they do and not only does it show in their work, but also in their attention to customer service. Have a question about how something is made or what inspired it? Ask away and the crafter will be thrilled to tell you all about it. Handmade items have a story and a history that mass produced products will never have.

   

   Magnetic Story Board from sosimplesosweet
   

5. Avoid shopping at the mall. Holiday shopping can be pretty crazy and sometimes even dangerous as the days tick by. Why not save yourself the trouble of finding a parking space and braving the overcrowded big box stores by shopping local boutiques, craft fairs or even online handmade outlets like Etsy. Finding the perfect gift for a loved one should be fun, not frantic.
6. Get it customized. Since the items are made by real people you can often ask for little extras like customization or even fully commissioned work to your exact specifications rather than having to settle for whatever the store has in stock.
   

   

   Wooden Yo-Yo by AmandasAngels

7. Handmade products are made with passion. Crafters pour their time, talent and passion into everything they make. Store bought items might all be the same size and specifications, but they will never have the heart or soul that a good handmade product is made with.
8. Quality counts. Because even the raw materials are individually selected by hand more effort is put into the quality of each individual piece. Crafters want each and every product they make to be of the very best quality as a testament to their work They don’t take mass produced shortcuts or shortchange the customer by using lower quality materials, just the best material carefully crafted into the best possible product.
   

   

   Matching Game by applenamos

9. More unique choices. An individual making a handfull of something is able to be more adventurous than a corporation which must sell ‘x’ amount of a product to be able to turn a profit. This means that handmade products can afford to be more unique and creative than store bought products.
10. More value for your money. Handmade items are made to last. While mass produced items must be made quickly for as little money as possible handmade products are made from only the best materials and techniques. Corporations don’t mind if their products break down over time, then you’ll just have to buy another one. A well cared for handmade product on the other hand can last generations. Perhaps that is the reason people are still crafting by hand today even with all the advancements in technology trying to render them obsolete.

Toy Lamb/Sheep by woolies

Bonus Point! Know where your gifts come from. There is something empowering about taking control and making something yourself, or at least supporting someone who does. It’s making a conscious decision to spend your money on a quality item instead of a mass produced product built by machines and underpaid workers in a distant country. Show support to your local economy and buy from artists and crafters in your area this holiday season.

Are you going to buy any handmade products this year? Share your handmade gift ideas in the comments section.

Find StoryBuilderToys online: Blog, Facebook and Etsy Shop.

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