Pin It

I am in love with this little Valentine for a few reasons: It’s cute, no candy, and super easy.  Last year we had Valentine’s Day candy well through summer, no kidding. It put Halloween to shame – craziness!  So this year, we’re opting for a sweet way to spread the love without all the sugar.

I got the idea from Aubrey; for neighbor and friends gifts these last holidays, she gave out little bags of bubble gum with a note saying “Blowing Christmas Wishes Your Way” and I thought it was the cutest idea.  I knew it would be perfect for Valentine’s Day and my kids valentines.

There are many ways you could switch this up, catch me after the jump for the free download and all the details!

Blowing Kisses Your Way Handmade Valentines

I found these wedding favor bubbles at Micheal’s in the wedding section, they were $8.99 for 36.  I used a 40% off coupon I printed off their website from the weekly ad section at the top, costing me about $5.00 in the end, not bad!  They had white bubbles and blue ones available too, so you could make this little man friendly too.

For ours I made a little design to print off and then used a glue stick to glue card stock paper onto the back.

Then I just snipped two little holes in the center and threaded string through the back to tie on the bubbles.

Pretty easy, cute, and inexpensive. I think she likes it

If you would like to use the image I made just click on the picture below and save to your computer then print. You could even save it to a word format and duplicate the image and resize it if you needed.  To get two on a page, duplicate on landscape setting.  To save on ink, print one and then take to a local copy shop.

A few variations on this:

• For older kids you could use a little bag of bubble gum balls with a tag attached
• Use a pack of Extra gum, make a little wrapper to go around it saying “Blowing EXTRA Valentine Kisses Your Way”
• If you have only a few kids to give to, you could use a bigger bottle of bubbles and wrap paper over the label for the Valentine message

To make your own custom label, head over to picnik, they have all the premium features available until they close in April (wipes tears).  I have a tutorial on how to make your own printables here.  I cropped my white image to 682 x 682 (you could go a tad smaller) and then added the bubbles and text.

Looking for more ideas?  Check out our other simple handmade Valentines here.  The Paper Calla Lilies are my favorite for grandparents and teachers.

Now, let’s just hope everyone doesn’t go sugarless for Valentine’s Day this year…I do look forward to helping them it eat!

~Destri

Linked to Skip To My Lou

Pin It

About this time last year I had posted a list of 12 ways to keep your kids busy on a snowy/rainy day.  It’s crazy how different the weather is here this time around!  Although it’s not exactly freezing outside, we have a very rainy couple days in store and I know at least some of us are getting snow.  So I thought we could do another round-up of fun things to do indoors.  Again the idea is the same as last years: Activities and games that only consist of simple things most people have around their house.  Have fun!

14 More Ways To Keep The Kids Busy On A Rainy/Snowy Day

• Send them on a scavenger hunt: print out the shape list or make your own with age appropriate items. This kept my kids busy for at least an hour.
• Have fun with cotton balls: and glue…just a warning
• Diy story from a bag: this one intrigues me, on our list today. Found via Modern Parents Messy Kids
• Make a magic drawing: fun for any age.
• Make a collage: This one was made for Valentine’s day but you could use any images cut from a magazine.
• Good ‘ole make believe fun: shoe box ice skated anyone?
• Get out the camera: love this idea.
• Make a cave of stars: could even let the older ones make shapes.
• Masking tape race track: my boy thought I was the coolest ever. I used painters tape in place of masking tape.
• Drink coffee? Then you’re set to make these: tie on a string to run around and “fly them”.
• Make use of all that paper in the shredder: why didn’t I think to use this stuff, the possibilities!
• Mini weaving: great for older kids, but heck, this would entertain me for hours.
• Cardboard painting: great new way to paint.
• Make a raindrop umbrella: easy way to make simple activities seem like more fun.

Phew! That should keep them out of your hair busy for at least a couple hours!

Feel free to link up any posts or ideas in the comments!

~Destri

Linked to the fabulous Skip To My Lou

I love getting emails from readers, especially the ones that require me to spend more time on Pinterest in the name of research .  Today’s post is brought to you by Rebecca.  She wrote in asking if I had seen any great Valentines for boys to had out to classmates.  Her little boy is in Kindergarten and apparently it’s a really big deal in their school, but her boy is reluctant to give anything girly.  I hear you Rebecca, it can be hard to find fun Valentines for boys to give, but lucky for us the ever creative blogging community has us covered.  I found several “boy certified” options, and all are diy so that boys can have fun help making them.  These are just four of my favorites, but if you head over to my Valentine’s Day Board on Pinterest you will find many many more great ideas, like the Snow Globe Valentines I found today…oh the cuteness!  Hope this helps!

Dandee “I’ve had my eye on you” Valentine via Samone
Thirty Handmade Days  “I wheelie like you” Valentine via Melonie
Modern Parents Messy Kids Animal Heard Valentines pinned by me
Family Fun “I Dig You” Valentine via Beth

And hey, are you following me on Pinterest yet?

What’s that, you need an invite?  Just let me know in the comments and I will pull your email to send you one!

Happy New Year to you and yours.  Hope it was joyous and magic and full of sparkles.  (Okay, so it’s fine if you were in your jammies with some pizza, as long as you had fun with it.)  Now that the madness of the holidays is past us, I choose to dive straight into the craziness of birthday party and vacation planning.  Because I am a glutton for punishment, but also because I need a carrot to dangle in front of me to keep me plowing through til March.

Despite the warmer temps that seem to be blessing everyone this year, this is most usually the time  that everyone is itching to get those kiddos outside! Their crafts have covered your walls, they have bored of their new holiday gifts and they need to move.  This is also a great time to teach kids about how to monitor some of that activity by themselves.  Okay…I know you like it when I talk fancy.  Time for children to learn all about SELF REGULATION.  Yes, for realz.  They eventually learn to tell themselves when to calm down, chill out, take a breather, RUN AROUND THE BLOCK FOR PETE’S SAKE! But like everything else, sometimes they need a little coaching.  Have you ever found yourself raising your voice and saying “CALM down!”  only to have your adorable munchkins look at you like you are speaking a different language and then proceed to stomp,tramp,yell, run, jump around like pogo sticks?  This is partly because we usually expect kiddos to know what calm looks like without showing them.  We also expect them to know when they are getting too excited or upset BEFORE it gets out of control without helping them understand where the line is.  This activity teaches kids to be physiologically aware of their emotional state and their body.  It’s also great for children who have difficulty regulating their voice level.  Plus, it’s fun.  So get in there.

Activity: Hum Garden

Ages: 2-99 years

Materials needed: at least one child and a grown up with knees that work well

Directions:  Start by letting  kids know you are going to make a garden.  Where do flowers start?  Your garden will be a hum that grows. (Remind them that humming is with your mouth closed.)  Everyone crouch down and hold hands.  Begin humming together at the softest volume possible.  The adult leads the “growth” as the group slowly rises inch by inch, their humming growing louder until you are standing on your toes, arms in the air, loudly humming.  Repeat this a couple of times and watch as kids start to associate their movement with their hum.  As they become skilled at this, you can change the hum to saying a chant, like “we are great!” or “macaroni and cheese!”

Kids need to feel connected to their emotions and their bodies.  Notice when they start to get excited or upset.  Describe to them what you see as if you are taking a photograph and let them know what needs to change.  Most importantly, describe what calm looks like too.  You can generalize this activity later by asking them to use their seed voice, or their short flower voice.  Encourage kids to let you know if their bodies feel like they need to move, or shout or dance.  Once they start to become more connected in this way, they also become more independent in their behavior management.

Hope this is helpful and fun!

Have a playful day!

Best,

Tina

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…please tell me that my kids aren’t the only ones singing this song non-stop.  It has been on replay in my mind for days!  Might as well have some actual bells to go with it.  The kids had made the caramel popcorn balls (have you tried yet? So good!) for their friends and I thought adding something to help them jingle through the holidays would be fun. The bracelets only take a few minutes to make and require just a few supplies.

We tied ours to the bag of caramel popcorn with a little ribbon and a note the said “Just a little something to help you jingle through the holidays!”, then we delivered them.  My kids thought this was the fun part, I love this age!

Shall we get started?  Catch me after the jump!

Pipe Cleaner Jingle Bell Bracelets

You could use anything from ribbon, yarn, to plastic cording for this, but I had pipe cleaners on hand, just use what you have!  If you are using something like ribbon just tie knots to secure instead of twisting.

Supplies:

• pipe cleaners, ribbon, plastic cording…
• little jingle bells – I bought mine in the kids craft section in Walmart
• utility scissors

Start with two pieces of pipe cleaners, and slide a bell down about half an inch of one.

Fold the tip down and twist it to secure the bell to the top.

Now take the second pipe cleaner and wrap it around the first pipe cleaner.  Try to cover the ends when wrapping to get any pointy ends.  Feel around it and make sure you don’t feel any sharp ends.

Twist the two about an inch and then slide another bell down one pipe cleaner.

Then twist a little more and add another bell.  On this one I only added three bells, but in the rest I added four.  Just twist and add one more.

For my 4 and 3 year old I cut an inch off both ends to shorten them, but you may not need to cut any off for older kids. If you have a model, use them for measurements. Then twist to the ends and bend one end over like shown.

Twist the end of it around to make a loop at the end.  You should be able to put the ends into the hole in the top of the bells to hide any pointy tips. Make sure to feel around the bracelet to make sure there are no sharp ends sticking up.

Now just slide the loop over the end bell and you have a bracelet.  Jingle bell bracelet that is.

We made some green and white and red and green ones too – they just seemed better suited for the boys .

So there you have it, easy peasy!

You should probably reserve these for little ones over the age of three, wouldn’t want anyone running around with a jingle in their tummy!

How many times have you had to tell your toddlers to leave the Christmas tree ornaments alone?  With this felt tree, they can decorate and redecorate until there hearts content.  One of my friends that works from home is always finding ways to keep her kids busy while she is working.  She shared this idea with me, and I’m so glad that she did!  My girls have had so much fun, and it is great way to involve the festivities of the season in a way mom doesn’t have to help.  Perfect for the “I can do it myself” age. Oh, and no mess!

This tree can be done as simple or as fancy as you would like.  I choose to do mine very simple so that I would get it done. 

Supplies:

• green and brown felt and a variety of other colors
• scissors
• cookie cutters
• white or silver marker for candy cane stripes
• hot glue gun (optional)

First cut out a large triangle for the tree.  Then glue a rectangle of brown felt for the trunk (optional).  Choose a wall space and pin it to the wall.

Trace different shapes of cookie cutters and cut them out.  I doubled and tripled the felt when I cut so that I could cut out more at a time.

Simple right!?  At least a daily half an hour of keep them busy so you can get something done time!

Happy tree trimming!

*Aubrey*

There is nothing better than getting the Christmas tree up every year.  I love the way it completes my home and make it feel so festive!  Since I love Christmas trees I thought it would be fun to do a simple craft using them.  My little girl and her friend had so much fun painting decorations on their Christmas trees.  It was such a simple and fun project for them!

Supplies:

• green, yellow, and white paper
• scissors
• glue
• paint (we used glitter glue)
• Q-tips

First I cut out the Christmas tree and the star and then had the girls glue it to the white paper.  Then they painted the decorations on the tree and all around the tree of course.  I put some old t-shirts on the girls, nothing kills a creative mood quicker than mom fretting over paint on clothes .

Happy tree trimming,

Aubrey

Hope this finds everyone recovering from Halloween candy coma and prepping for the holiday season that seems to sneak up on me every year.  (Seriously, every year…like it’s some kind of surprise on the calendar I didn’t know about.)  When Destri gave me the opportunity to write these guest posts, I jumped at the chance.  I felt giddy about the idea of sharing my passion about parent/child play and relationships and the importance (and, ahem….POWER) of play in child development. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I find Destri’s enthusiasm to be quite infectious.  If she asked me to write posts about paint drying on the walls, I am sure she would find a way to get me excited about it.

When I sit down to write a post, my gears start turning in a geeked out frenzy.  Should I tackle self regulation or coping skills?  Play that nurtures or play that sets limits? What kind of mad ninja play skills can we master today?  Today I choose to focus on a skill I am working on myself.  I have a confession:  I am a play junkie…..but I STINK at free play.    If you come to my house, there will be all kinds of mischief and mayhem, all planned to get the most out of the moment.  But to just BE with my son and let him guide me in play?  To get lost in moments with a pretend world and some matchbox cars and dinosaurs?   Rarely happens.  If you want to know what types of play builds certain skills, or improves the parent/child relationship, I can guide you.  But the fact of the matter is that I am incapable of free play without multi-tasking some kind of project at the same time.  I can play cars and make a grocery list.  I can’t set up the play farm and JUST set up the play farm.  I start thinking of all the other things I should be doing at the same time.  Or I create a play activity for us to do.  It seems to be impossible for me to just be present and play.  Shocker, right?  Because I am the play gal.  I know this stuff!  Enter….the smoochy attack.

After some quality family play time one night, I got up to do what I do.  Make dinner, clean out the dishwasher, create world peace.  This leaves my husband in the living room to play with my son.  While I was cooking, the laughter that echoed from then living room pulled me away from the stove.  There was my son, flat on his back with his hands planted firmly on my husband’s scruffy face.  There was my husband making crazy faces and pushing himself closer and closer until he successfully planted smooches and kisses all over the tot’s head and cheeks.  They were both in a fit of laughter.  I couldn’t remember the last time I made my son laugh that hard.  And so dinner got cold and I embarked on my own “smoochy attack” leaving us all  breathless on the carpet.  Even the dog jumped in.

Today’s post will not use my most advanced clinical skills.  I am not going to talk about development or parenting skills. I won’t use an fancy jargon.  I will tell you to get down on the floor.  Turn off your phone and the t.v.  Turn off your agenda.  Turn your entire focus on your kiddos.  Be silly and let go.  Allow your child to pull you in.  Free play is just as powerful as structured play.   Your child needs to experience these moments with you and you need these moments with them.  Even if it’s just a “smoochy attack”.    We can become free play experts together.  I am sure there is some laughter waiting for you in the other room.

Thanks for having me around here at the Mother Huddle.  Have a playful day!

Best,

Tina

Tina is a full time working mom.  She is a mental heath therapist (LSCSW) and registered play therapist supervisor (RPT-S).  She is married to an incredibly tolerant and patient dude and has “just one” adorable tot.  She laughs too loud, talks too much and usually creates a scene.  She can be found writing on Bull in a China Shop in her spare time.

We had a play date with one of my sons friends, and in an effort to calm an escalating duel for a certain toy, I brought out some paper and scissors. I don’t know what it is about kids, but they love to cut things!  In the midst of cutting, I remembered a fun lesson on lakes and islands.  I asked the boys if they knew what an island and a lake were, and they both looked a little puzzled.  So I took the opportunity to teach them something new.

Sometimes it’s the simplest things that get them excited – paper, tape, and scissors.

Simple Islands And Lakes Preschool Lesson

Supplies:

• green, blue, and brown construction paper
• tape or glue
• safety scissors

For the lesson cut out an island from a piece of green paper, then a lake from a piece of blue.  Then glue or tape the lake to a green paper and the island the blue. I cut one piece of both colors in half to save on paper.

Then talk about how an island is a body of land surrounded by water, and a lake is a body of water surrounded by land.  Ask them some open ended questions and see where the conversation goes.  Ours went to dragons and pirates – no surprise .

Hand them the scissors, some blue and green paper and tell them to cut out one island and one lake.  Then give them one more green and blue piece of paper and tell them to tape the island to the water, and the lake to the land…if they get it right then mission accomplished!

I cut out some little palm trees (I know, sad looking palm trees) and asked them to tape them where they thought they should grow, and they got it.

There you have it, a simple way to divert a play date fixing to go south.

Happy Wednesday friends, thanks for stopping in!

~Destri

My girls and I get together with friends every Monday for a little singing time.  This past Monday we started our Halloween songs and fingerplays and they were so fun.  I thought it would be fun to share them with ya’ll (I’m slowly becoming Texan).    Thanks to the two mamas for giving me the songs/fingerplays we sang.  These would be perfect for pre-school, kindergarten, or just singing in the car too.

The Pumpkins are Here  (tune: The Farmer in the Dell).
The pumpkins are here, the pumpkins are there. The pumpkins, the pumpkins are everywhere.
The pumpkins are up; the pumpkins are down. The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all around.
The pumpkins are in; the pumpkins are out. The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all about.
The pumpkins are low; the pumpkins are high. The pumpkins, the pumpkins all say, “Good-bye”.
Cut out pumpkin shapes (add faces if you wish) and glue to popsicle sticks. Let the children use these as props when you sing this song.

Ring Around the Pumpkins (tune: Ring Around the Rosies)
Pocket full of spiders
Boo! Boo!
We all fall down!
The ghosts are in the meadow
Drinking witches brew
Boo! Boo!
We all stand up!

Three Little Witches
One little, two little, three little witches. (Hold up 1,2,3 fingers) 
Fly over haystacks, fly over ditches. (Make flying motion with hands) 
Fly over moonbeams without any hitches. (Make flying motion with opposite hand.) 
Hey, Ho, Halloween Night! (Clap)
One little, two little, three little witches. (Hold up 1,2,3 fingers) 
Fly over barb wire and tore there britches. (Make flying motion with one hand, then turn and show your “torn britches”)
Had to go home and get some stitches. (Pretend to sew) 
Hey, Ho, Halloween Night! (Clap)

Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate, (show 5 fingers)
The first one said, (1 finger)
“Oh, my, it’s getting late.” (hands on cheeks)
The second one said, (2 fingers)
“There are witches in the air.” (point up and look up)
The third one said, (3 fingers)
“But we don’t care.” (wag pointer finger)
The fourth one said, (4 fingers)
“Let’s run and run and run.” (move arms like you’re running)
The fifth one said, (5 fingers)
“I’m ready for some fun.” (punch up w/both fists)
“Whooo!” went the wind,
and out went the light, (clap on “out”)
And the five little pumpkins (5 fingers)
rolled out of sight. (roll arms)

The witch has an Itch (tune: Farmer in the Dell)

The witch has an itch, The witch has an itch.
Oh where, oh where, oh where does the witch have an itch?

On her tiny little ____, her tiny little ____,
The witch has an itch on her tiny little _____.

(Children fill in body parts like toe, nose, etc.)

The Ghost Fingerplay
I saw a ghost (fingers circle eyes)
He saw me too (point to yourself)
I waved at him (wave your hand)
But he said, “Boo!” (try to scare the person next to you)

Pumpkin
A pumpkin is big ( circle hands over head)
A pumpkin is round ( circle hands in front)
A pumpkin has a great big smile ( outline smile on mouth)
But doesn’t make a sound ( Put finger over lips)
Boiling Hot!
Boiling hot, boiling hot  (Stir “witch’s soup”)
What will we put in the witch’s pot?
Boiling hot, boiling hot
We’ll put some spiders* in the witch’s pot  (Toss something imaginary in the pretend pot)
* stinky socks, hair, muddy boots, etc. children will be happy to provide suggestions to add to this ghoulish recipe.

Enjoy singing and doing fingerplays with your little ones!

*Aubrey*