Messy Jello Fun!!!!! a sensory activity for toddlers and preschoolers

We love trying new things out so this was a day to play in jello. What a great sensory play activity. I say it all the time but I love finding things that both my boys, 3yr and 1yr, can do together and this is one of those activities.  They both enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed watching their faces as they squeezed it in their hands and tasted it :-)

What you need:  Bowl or pan..., jello, and toys.

What to do:  put the jello(we had jello cups my boys didn't really like, so we used that) in a bowl. I chopped their jello up with a spoon and mixed it around.  Then add some toys or spoons etc...  Last give the bowls to the kids.  You may want to put an apron or old shirt on them.  The jello got a lot of color on their clothes but with stain spray and washing that day it did come out. 

I posted more pictures than usual but these faces they were making are just too cute!

His face is priceless.

He loved feeling it between his fingers.

Got to taste it!

Tasting the jello!

Hope you can have some jello fun too!

Please do come and visit us again. We would love to have you back.

All kids are different and only you can decide how you let your kids play. And with what materials you let them play with. My children are supervised when playing. Please keep this in mind with any post you read of mine!

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Bagel bird feeder

We love to feed the birds at our house.  We love finding new ways to do this and from this site,
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/birdfeeders/a/bagelbirdfeeder.htm, we did just that.  This was our first time using bagels to make bird feeders.  We had fun doing it and the boys had to taste the bagels before we got started:-)

What you need:  

peanut butter, crisco, birdseed, string, and we added some raisins.

What to do: 

 Mix crisco and peanut butter together in bowl, put birdseed in pan with raisins. Take all the bagels and break in half and tie string on them.Now take the peanut butter mix and spread over bagel and then press down in bird seed.  Last go hang them up. 

I have been playing around with photo editing features and trying different logo text and colors.  So they are all different in the post:-)

What we used.

Sweet boy had to taste the bagel after big brother had one.  And the bagels were safe to eat we do not give the birds bad food over here:-)

He enjoyed pressing the bagels down in the birdseed.

What we ended up with.

The birds loved them.  I am sure the squirrels helped eat them too.

The boys where on the way to play on one of their play sets after we hung the feeders and little brother fell down and big brother was helping him up.  This was a mommy moment for me and I wanted to share it with you all.

Please do come and visit us again. We would love to have you back.

All kids are different and only you can decide how you let your kids play. And with what materials you let them play with. My children are supervised when playing. Please keep this in mind with any post you read of mine!

Check us out on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Sulia, Google+,

and our G+ community, All Things Kids.

Other ways we feed the birds:

plastic lid bird feeders

milk carton bird feeder

Paint with water on chalkboard!

What a simple idea to paint with water over the chalkboard but I love it.  I have been wanting to have my son try it out for a while now but we are always doing something else.  So this week just happened to be the week I got it out and let him try it.  He had fun doing it but it couldn't win over the man in the backyard building a new deck for us,lol.  So after he cleared the board he was off back to his seat at the window watching the man work.  I know he would do it again and on a day we are just needing a min to do something different we will get it out again!

What I did was draw on the chalkboard for him and then he had chalk to wash away with the water.  We got out a cup full of water and 2 paint brushes.  He took and wet the paint brushes and painted the chalkboard until the chalk seemed to be washed away.  I just told him to paint but I guess he was really cleaning, haha.  He likes things clean and in order.  But has no problems jumping in the dirt and coming out covered in it:-)  Love my son and his personality!  We did spend about 10 or 15 min outside and got some fresh air while doing this activity.  I would say it was a success.  Hope you can have fun with it too.  Here is a link I had pinned with the idea http://oneperfectdayblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/water-painting-on-a-chalkboard-a-pre-writing-activity/

I was playing around with the picture effects and logo text and color on these pictures.  So they are all different:-)

Our set up.

He was getting ready.

Let's paint.

Love his face.

Thanks for stopping by.

Please do come and visit us again. We would love to have you back:-)

All kids are different and only you can decide how you let your kids play. And with what materials you let them play with. My children are supervised when playing. Please keep this in mind with any post you read of mine!

Check out our pinterest board, Fb page, or twitter page

 

Alien Al and Dizzy Dragon by Priddy Books-with crafts

Both my boys love these books:  Alien Al and Dizzy Dragon by Priddy Books.  My oldest now 3yr started out with the Alien Al book at age 1yr and loved it and still enjoys it.  My youngest son now 1yr has really started to get to enjoy Alien Al.  We just added the Dizzy Dragon and both boys love it too.  There are 2 more books in this series and my oldest told me today we had to get those too! He said mommy and daddy needed their own book now that he and Aiden had their own.  Love the reasoning behind this,lol. These books have a cute story but it is the touch and feel as well as the lights and sound they have that grab the attention of my kids.  We love books over here as many families do and always enjoy finding new ones to add to our collection.  What are some of your favorites?

Here are links for some cute and fun alien and dragon crafts. 

Link for alien coloring pages

Really cute alien craft

another cute alien craft

dragon coloring pages

cute dragon craft

We did 2 crafts:

An alien

and a dragon

The Alien

What you need for the alien: a Kleenex box or food box(we used a pop tart box, paper or paint,googly eyes, pipe cleaners, puff balls etc... to decorate.

What to do: cover the box with paper or paint, then let the kids decorate with the googly eyes etc.. Then you will have an alien!

The Dragon

What you need: a paper cup or tp roll would work, streamers, puff balls, puff paint, tape and hot glue gun.

What to do:  cut out bottom of cup and tape in streams to make the fire.  Then take the puff balls and paint on the eyes-let dry.  When the eyes are dry hot glue the to the cup.  Now you have a fire breathing dragon for the kids to have fun with!

He was so happy to touch the eyes, lol.  He got one off the counter earlier that day that was wet and had paint all over his hands and it ended up in his hair:-)  I found him with it and told him oh no it is wet, we don't touch that right now.  So when it came time to touch he was thrilled!!!

He really enjoyed breathing fire from the dragon!

Linked on: http://www.redtedart.com/

Please do come and visit us again. We would love to have you back.

All kids are different and only you can decide how you let your kids play. And with what materials you let them play with. My children are supervised when playing. Please keep this in mind with any post you read of mine!

Check us out on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Sulia, Google+,

and our G+ community, All Things Kids.

DIY diaper pail or trash can fresheners

I am always looking for ways to freshen the diaper pail over here.  I came up with this and wanted to share it with all of you.  I just love it and so far this week it has worked great.

 What you need:  Borax, tissue paper, yarn,  & essential oil(lemongrass seems to work the best).

What to do:  cut your tissue paper into smaller pieces.  Now add some Borax to the tissue paper and a few drops of essential oils on top of the Borax.  Last tie the tissue paper up with the yarn.  I just dropped them into the bottom of the diaper pail and in our kitchen trash.  I am in love with them.  I love that it is cheap and easy!!!