Tin Foil Christmas Ornaments

 You will need:

A recycled cereal box

foil

cookie cutters or stencils

tape

glitter glue

hole punch

ribbon

1. Trace Christmas shapes using your cookie cutters.

2. Cut them out and cover with foil and secure with a piece of tape on the back.

 3. Have your little ones decorate the ornaments using glitter glue.
4. Punch a hole at the top or your ornament and put a ribbon through the hole and tie it.

5. Hang your new creations on the Christmas tree!

Halloween Glass Jar Lanterns

This a less sleek and less perfect looking "kid" version of the jar lanterns found on one of my favorite websites here. 

What you will need:

empty glass jar

mod podge

brush

tissue paper

black construction paper

tea light

 Instead of cutting in strips like the original post we decided we would rip our tissue paper apart into little pieces. Then we "mod podged" it onto our glass jar trying to cover every empty space. We then we cut out eyes and mouths out of construction paper and also adhered them with mod podge. 

We let the mod podge dry and then put a battery powered tea light inside to make it more safe for kids. Spooky, don't you think!

Fourth of July Festivities!

Here are some ideas for parents to do with their kids on or before the upcoming Fourth of July holiday:

• Patriotic wind sock: color a large white construction paper using red and white, tape it in the shape of a cylinder so the designs are on the outside, tape or glue the ends of red, white and blue streamers to one end. Put it on a string and take it outside!


• Rockets: Download a template for a cone, have your little one color it in patriotic colors. Shape it into a cone. Make sure to cut a little bit off the tip. Attach colorful ribbons to the large end of the cone. You'll need a string about 5 feet long or so. Thread the string through the cone. Have someone hold each end of the string tightly. (or fasten to chairs) Blow in the cone and watch the rocket zoom to the other side!


• Sun ovens: Make smores using the heat of the sun. All you need to do is shape a piece of foil into a small shallow "bowl" to fit in a sanwich baggie. Place a piece of graham cracker in the bowl, top it with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips. Put it out in the sun, watch it melt and enjoy!

Valentine's Day Snacks

I'm not a mom quite yet, but thought it would be fun for moms to have their toddler help make Valentine's snacks for the family.

Here are some ideas:

heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (use a cookie cutter)

english muffin pizzas with heart shaped pepperoni (just use kitchen shears to cut the pepperoni)

cupid's arrow made with pretzel sticks, marshmallows and other small candy

Here's a treat/activity:

Have your child finger paint his or her own valentines using chocolate pudding. Draw basic Valentine's shapes on cardstock or paper. Have them color using red, purple, pink etc. Make some chocolate pudding. Have them use the pudding to finger paint on the paper. It sounds funny but I did this with kids at school and they loved it! The pudding dries well. Just make sure it's a little thinned out. Then you can enjoy the leftovers if you'd like.