fine motor skills

Need a preschool craft for summer camp? Or maybe a kids’ craft table at your summer Lobster Bake?  I’ve got your covered.  These Red White and Blue Patriotic Station Necklaces will be the hit at all your summer festivities from Memorial Day through the 4th of July! Red White and Blue Sea…

Do you know the story of the Brooklyn Bridge? Twenty One Elephants and Still Standing tells the tale of the construction of this famous landmark, and serves as the inspiration for this week’s Architecture and Engineering activity with a fun engineering science for kids challenge.   Can You Build A Bridge for Twenty-One…

Compared to my oldest, Lil’ M (age 2) has never had any attention span.  But now that she is getting older, and when my preschooler is at school, she has started requesting her own ‘projects.’ And, more surprising, without big sister around to takeover, she is fully engaged for 15-30 minutes, an…

My preschooler and toddler suddenly find themselves with a lot of free time on their hands.  Breastfeeding a newborn leaves them to play independently multiple times a day.  I could park them in front of screens each time, or I can prepare amusing busy box entertainment they can access and…

The Peanuts Holiday movies are one of my favorite holiday traditions.  I remember watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas each October, November and December for as long as I can remember.  And I have loved passing this tradition on to my kids… albeit when…

Looking for a little spooky, learning fun this Halloween?  The girls and I had lots of fun this week with this Spider Web Jumble.  It is a great fine motor skills challenge, and the simple set up makes for easy holiday STEM games for kids too. Spider Web Jumble Ever…

The girls and I are having so much fun with this Preschool Art series. I love the inspiration it is providing me in coming up with fun new activities, and I love all the support, feedback and excitement I am hearing from you all in response!  This week, we continued…

Today, we continue our Exploring Art History with Preschoolers series, sharing the first preschool reproduction using one of the masters’ techniques: Matisse Cutouts! Painting with Scissors – Exploring Matisse Cutouts This represents a number of firsts for us: the first Kids Activity in our Exploring Art History with Preschoolers series…

I recently received an amazing set of books from Hands-On-Prints.  Stay tuned for my full review next week, but one of the books immediately became Big M’s favorite.  Around the World from A to Z, by Christinia Cheung and Han Tran, is a beautifully illustrated alphabet book.  Inspired by Montessori…

A few months back, when I couldn’t take Big M’s requests to read the same Fancy Nancy book for the 100th time in a row, I decided to change up our bedtime reading routine and start reading chapter books!  She fell in love with The Wizard of Oz and has…

We have had so much fun from my dust covered golf bag this last month.  Starting with our Backyard Golf Ball Hunt, to refining the girls’ fine motor skills with Golf Tee Challenge, and Big M’s favorite to date – Create a Creature with Golf Tees.  On Monday, we were…

The Masters Tournament is this weekend!!!  And for those mommas out there who don’t share my love of golf (it was an acquired taste for me as well that I only got once I started playing myself), the Masters is one of the four major tournaments annually, and unlike other…

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…

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…

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…

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…

As the temperatures have remained sub-freezing this month, we have kept busy and warm indoors.  We have celebrated the snowy season with 6 winter crafts so far… Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? Our snowman busy box keeps Big M quiet while Lil’ M takes her afternoon nap. Marshmallow Snowflakes Quick and…