Five Green Activities for St. Patrick's Day Fun
I'm skipping the talk about rainbows and leprechauns this year and just doing "green" activities for St. Patrick's Day. Below are five different activities you can prepare this weekend to do on Monday with the children in your life! Interested? Keep reading!

 

So, I feel like I've been pretty busy this Valentine's Day season (can I say that...Valentine's Day season?) completing my various 14 day challenges. Yet and still, I wanted to make time to do at least one or two super simple Valentine's Day crafts. I had these lofty plans in my mind to complete all these fun activities, but...well, it just didn't happen. There are still a few activities I plan to do tomorrow, but as far as crafts go, we kept it real simple.

 

Hey there! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and maybe a day or two of rest thereafter. Whether you did all the cooking, or all the traveling, it’s important to take a breather. I know I needed one!

While I didn’t gather any official statistics, I know this is a busy time of year for travel and many of us will spend quite a bit of time in our cars, dining out, or just lounging with friends and family. This is wonderful and usually quite enjoyable especially for adults, but for toddlers and preschoolers, maybe not so much.  I know many of moms {myself included} who have rushed through meals and hurried through conversations to avoid any potential melt downs or outbursts. Kids may be able to handle idleness for a while, but at some point, they are likely to get antsy… hello childhood!
 

You know I enjoy a good, simple craft so here are a few Thanksgiving ones you can do with the children in your life!

Pre-reading:  Right before we did each of these crafts, we read a simple Thanksgiving book that discussed why we have Thanksgiving…. the Pilgrims leaving England, the Mayflower, Native Americans {Squanto}, etc.

Got a few extra minutes you need to fill entertaining a toddler or preschooler? Try these super, duper simple pumpkin decorating ideas.

Materials:

Orange construction paper (for the pumpkin)
Green or brown construction paper (for the stem)
Tape or glue
Paint
Crayons
Markers
Stickers (any kind will do)
Googly eyes (optional)
Pipe cleaners (optional)

Prep work:

*Cut out circles or circle-ish shapes to use as pumpkins. I traced a circular object I had, but you can free hand! No pumpkin has a perfectly round shape!

*Cut out rectangle and square shapes to make the stems for the pumpkins.

Cut out at least 5 pumpkins for one child, but I cut out several more just so we could make more than one each day!

Day 1:

Decorate the pumpkin using crayons! Have the child select any colors he/she wants or you can make suggestions that reinforce color recognition like, “Let’s use purple to color in the bottom of the pumpkin.”

Day 2:
Make a face on the pumpkin! Use the googly eyes and pipe cleaner to make a funny face. No googly eyes or pipe cleaner? Use crayons, marker or other pieces of paper to make a face!

Day 3:
Decorate the pumpkin using stickers! Depending on the age of the child you are working with, you may have to already have the stickers pulled up making them easy to grab. For my 2 year old, I take all the stickers off the sheet and place the tip of the sticker on the edge of our table or on the edge of a cookie sheet. For my 4 year old, I don’t do this. Use whatever kind of stickers you like! I used these Fall leaf stickers I found in the Dollar Spot at Target.

Day 4: 

Decorate the pumpkin with paint…using Q-Tips! This is easily becoming my newest favorite way to allow my children to paint! Q-tips are cheap, they don’t have to be rinsed off or washed after use, and they are great for developing pre-writing skills! Set out a few Q-tips and some paint, and let the child create a unique pumpkin!

Day 5:
Decorate the pumpkin using markers! I like to make sure my children use both markers and crayons weekly. While very similar, the functions of these writing utensils are slightly different.

Bonus (and keepsakes): Cover the child’s hand in paint and make a handprint on the pumpkin. Write the child’s name and date on the back. Laminate for durability and you have a keepsake to save or share with loved ones!

For the fifth and final day of 5 Days of Fall, I’ll be sharing some super simple crafts to do with any children in your life. The web abounds with craft activities to do with children, but I wanted the ones I shared to be really, really easy. The kind that don’t involve spending $50 at Michael’s and buying extra supplies like wire cutters, fabric paint, and foam brushes. Now, don’t get me wrong, those crafts are fun, but I wanted these to be basic.

Supplies Needed

*Computer and Printer (to print a coloring page and leaf letters)

*Markers
*Crayons
*White printer paper
*Leaves from outside
*Children’s paint (optional but recommended)
*Q-tips (optional but recommended)
*Blank canvas (optional)
*Brown construction paper (optional)

Craft Activity #1
Do a simple coloring page and begin a discussion about Fall, Fall colors, what happens in Fall, etc.
You can print this Fall coloring page.

Craft Activity #2
Leaf rubbing. Get a leaf or 2 from outside and place it under your white computer paper with the veiny side of the leaf facing the paper. Using a crayon (on its side) color over the leaf to reveal an outline of the leaf.

Craft Activity #3
Fall leaves are falling down. Take a piece of white paper and draw a tree trunk or use brown construction paper to cut one out. Once the trunk is on the paper, make some branches. Have the child use Q-tips to paint dots/ leaves in Fall colors falling from the tree.

Craft Activity #4
Fall canvas art. Using a blank canvas, give your child a paint brush and allow him/her to create a masterpiece using Fall colors. No canvas? Just use white paper.

Craft Activity #5
Leaf letters. There are many things you can do with these leaf letters. You can create your own by cutting out the outline of a leaf and writing a letter on the leaf. You can create a leaf for each letter of the child’s name or you can use another word like Fall or Autumn. Once you have all the leaf letters, you can hole punch the top of each letter and string together to create garland or bunting effect. You can also leave the letters apart and talk about one letter a day by writing other words your child knows on the back that start with that same letter. For example, if the letter is “C”, you could pronounce the C sound and then write the word cup on the back. These could also be used like flashcards. The possibilities and variations obviously depend on the age of the child. The activities I described are with at least a 1 year old in mind, but of course it’s never too early to talk to a child! Adapt up or down as needed!

Below are leaf letters like those used in the above picture.

Leaf Letters A-B
Leaf Letters C-D
Leaf Letters E-F
Leaf Letters G-H
Leaf Letters I-J
Leaf Letters K-L
Leaf Letters M-N
Leaf Letters O-P
Leaf Letters Q-R
Leaf Letters S-T
Leaf Letters U-V
Leaf Letters W-X
Leaf Letters Y-Z

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to share any Fall crafts you enjoy…for children or adults!

Have a great weekend!

Easy Playdough Gift Idea with Printable Tags

Here is a simple gift idea for children. If interested, follow the steps below!

Step 1:  Make playdough (recipe below).

Step 2:  Let playdough cool and place in clear bag. I got my bags from the Dollar Tree.

Step 3:  Print tags and cut out.

Step 4:  Attach tag to bag with ribbon, string, or tape.

The end!

Playdough Recipe
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 T vegetable oil (or whatever kind of cooking oil you have)
1 T Cream of Tatar
1 cup water
Food coloring of choice
Spices for scent (I added cinnamon but you can also add an essential oil like peppermint or orange and/or a pack of kool-aid for scent and color)

Combine all ingredients and cook on medium heat stirring constantly. Once it starts sticking together, remove from heat and knead. If it feels too sticky, add more flour.