Fun, quick and easy activities you can do with your kids in your own home. Profiled with easy to find shopping lists, cost, level of entertainment and ease of clean-up!
Last Thursday, I kicked off a multi-week series of golf-related activities to put my dust-covered golf bag and all its contents to good use. I launched the series with a Backyard Golf Ball Hunt last week, and promised a post to Create a Creature with Golf Tees for today… but…
Contact paper has been on our craft wish list for a while now. It’s one of those things that I always mean to get, but never remember when I’m actually at the store, nor am I entirely sure what the right store is to find it in! Then, last week…
When I was 9 years old, the author/illustrator, Steven Kellogg visited my elementary school. My mom got me an autographed copy of a book he illustrated, If You Made a Million. I can’t tell you now if she bought it because I was already interested in math, or if the…
For us, spring means green grass, buds on the trees, daffodils and tulips blooming, puddle jumping, Easter, and… golf. Before kids, my girlfriends and I golfed regularly. Post kids, my golf bag has been collecting a thick layer of dust in the corner of the garage. But this Spring, we…
When you spend your whole childhood in one place, you grow up believing the foods you eat and traditions you celebrate are the norm for children everywhere. It wasn’t until I graduated from high school and went to college across the country with people from everywhere that I came to…
Before Big M started preschool, we used to attend a weekly playgroup at our local elementary school. It was a great way to meet other moms with kids the same age, the kids got to play together, do a craft, and at the end, had a little circle time singing…
I have been reading the Wizard of Oz to Big M at bedtime for the last few weeks. We read a chapter every night, and she has become totally in love with the story and characters. She plays with her Kelly doll characters during quiet time, and every day asks…
In lieu of our regularly scheduled Financially Savvy Fridays, today, I guest posted for Totschooling! Big M has a fascination with making footprints, or as she likes to call them, ‘paw prints,’ so I made her some paws of her own to try on and stomp around. For all the…
As I mentioned earlier this week, I started reading Big M The Wonderful Wizard of Oz before bed. We read a chapter every night, and each night, she is more excited than the last to hear where the story will lead us next. Earlier this week, our weary travelers finally…
As a woman, and now as a mother to two little girls, I am all too keenly aware of how strictly gender roles are defined pretty much from birth. You need look no further than the clothing section of a baby store: one side full of lace, pink and frills,…
Big M LOVES to craft, and more and more often, wants to do every part of it herself. This includes using scissors. I first introduced her to scissors about a year ago, and it lead to more frustration than fun. However, over the last 12 months, with the help of…
Have you ever had what could have been a kitchen disaster turn into one of your favorite foods ever? This Mint Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is just that – a giant oops, that ended up tasting so good, I now make it on purpose. Mint Chocolate Chip Banana Bread The…
As I mentioned in last week’s post on School Fundraisers, this month, we have been raising money at Big M’s school with Coin Wars. Every week we sort out the coin of the week from Daddy’s coin jar to bring into school and fill her class’ jar. Having sorted the…
The secret to keeping your kids entertained, especially through this interminable winter, is a well stocked craft closet. You’ll often notice in my At-Home Activity posts, I mention that an activity was free or cost me a $1 because I already had everything else in the craft closet. So what…
Lil’ M no longer cares to be left out. She wants in on every craft and activity Big M does these days. Sometimes, it can be a bit of a struggle, given their 2 year age difference, but I am enjoying the challenge of coming up with activities I can…
Last week, we shared one of our favorite activities from a Montessori Play Group we attended when Big M was 18 months old… Montessori Animal Match. This week we are sharing Big M’s other favorite activity from the play group… Montessori Color Match. Playing Montessori Color Match Order and ‘exactness,’…
How many conversation hearts did your child get in their Valentine box this week? Instead of consuming all those little sugar bombs, you can make a great learning experience with them. Big M has enjoyed two great activities this month using two different types of candy hearts: Graphing with Sweethearts Conversation…
When Big M was about 18 months old, we went to a trial Montessori playgroup with a few of our friends. All the kids enjoyed themselves, and the minimalist, open-ended toys and play ideas were great. At the end, the facilitators handed out brochures to enlist registration for the 6-week…
We still have the Frozen soundtrack on repeat in the car, so anything Frozen related is still a big hit. I found these great heart sequins in the Dollar Spot at Target last week, and the next day saw this amazing post from Totschooling: Thawing a Frozen Heart, and thought…
Do your kids pick the same book at the library over and over? We go to our local library fairly regularly to check out books and participate in story time. I always let the girls select their own books, and they always seem to gravitate toward the same handful of…