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5 Brilliant Ways to Make Oatmeal Easy

March 29 by Natalie

5 Easy ways to make healthy steel cut oats - including on the go options - never skip breakfast again!

Ever since participating in Prescribe Nutrition's New Rules program, I've been determined to start my day off with a healthy breakfast. (By the way, they have two new sessions starting April 8th & 15th - go here for more info. and use the code: MPMK20 for 20% off.)  Lately oatmeal has been my meal of choice. Two hard boiled eggs just started to get depressingly redundant. Browsing pinterest for a good recipe, however, quickly left me overwhelmed. Baked, slow cooked, left overnight in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Natalie Tagged With: baked oatmeal recipe, crockpot oatmeal recipe, healthy breakfast recipes, oatmeal bar recipe, oatmeal recipes, overnight oatmeal recipe, slow cooker oatmeal recipe

New Series: Happy Family Habits

March 28 by Kristin

Last week something kind of remarkable happened to me.  I had one of those rare days where everything just seemed to be flowing. The kids and I were connecting, I was getting stuff accomplished without feeling frazzled or distracted, and the whole day through I felt... happy.  It was so wonderful that once the kids were in bed that night I sat down and took a few minutes to reflect on what we'd done differently that day to make it so. In fact, lately I find myself doing quite a bit of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Happy Family Habits, Kristin

3 New Approaches to The Easter Egg

March 27 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Love these Easter projects using melted crayons, washi tape, and stamps - perfect for older kids.

Happy hump day friends.  Do you all have big Easter plans for this weekend?  We're actually double booked - which I'm bummed about.  Friends of ours are hosting a hunt in their backyard and the idea of all our littles running around together sounds so fun. But our annual tradition is to head home for an organized egg hunt with both sets of grandparents - anything else just wouldn't be Easter.  (Plus the Easter bunny himself makes an appearance, which the kids love).  So we'll be piling in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holiday Projects, Style & Simplify, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: Easter activities for kids, Easter art, Easter crafts, melted crayon Easter eggs, stamped Easter eggs, washi tape crafts, washi tape Easter eggs

How to Instantly Double Your Play Space (Plus a Giveaway!)

March 26 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Time for another play/art room update.  The last time I showed it to you guys we had just chucked the couch and acquired a huge new art table (thank you craigslist).  Since then we've been getting tons of use out of it - we can be found creating in the room almost daily.  I've been so, so happy with it, with one exception.  While the addition of the art table has exponentially increased our creative endeavors, it takes up quite a bit of space and has cut down a bit on the amount of area we have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dramatic Play, The Everyday, The Make & Play Vault

Book Nook: Top Kid Reads for Spring

March 25 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Our children's librarian's pick for the top books to get kids excited for spring.

Resident MPMK children's librarian Janssen is back today with her top 10 picks for Spring and, bonus, a few Easter favorites too.  I'll definitely be picking up a one or two of these to add to S and C's Easter basket this weekend. QUESTION OF THE DAY Do you have a seasonal home library for the kids?  (We started ours about a year ago and it's so fun to see S and C's excitement over the books they remember from last year hitting our shelves again.) I've always loved spring, but now that I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, The Book Nook Tagged With: books about spring, children's books for spring, children's gardening books, gardening kid books, kid books for spring

Family Movie Night Menu: Ratatouille

March 22 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

A full menu to eat with the family before watching Ratatouille - the kids loved making a whole theme night out of family movie night!

Do you guys remember this post on creating Family rituals?  From holidays to Friday nights, starting the bonding when your littles are still little is such a great idea.  I believe in the idea so much I wanted to give you all a cheat sheet of sorts on throwing together a family movie night that goes beyond pizza and popcorn (although those work too!). The recipe here is simple: pick a flick the kids are sure to love and combine with a few easy to throw together courses that stay on theme.  This … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen Tagged With: family movie night ideas, family movie night menu, family movie night recipes, Ratatouille movie

Virtual Book Club: “How to Talk So Kids Will Listen…” – Part 1

March 21 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Virtual Book Club: "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen..."

Today's the day we finally get to delve into our new-and-improved book club format.  Hopefully you guys already picked up your copy of "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" and are ready to jump in today.  If not, it's not too late.  We're covering the first half today and will be back in 3 weeks (Thursday, April 11th) to finish up. Overall, I've been impressed with this book so far.  I especially love the format.  I found all of the examples and the cautions really … [Read more...]

Filed Under: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, Virtual Book Club Tagged With: how to talk so your kids will listen and listen so your kids will talk, parenting books, virtual parenting book club

MidWeek Musing: Do You Use Natural Home Remedies?

March 20 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

When it comes to dealing with sick kids, parents fall all along the spectrum from purely homeopathic to over-the-counter all the way. QUESTION OF THE DAY  Where do you stand on homeopathic cold or flu remedies? Any that your family swears by? A few months ago our contributor Natalie shared a slew of her favorite naturopathic cold remedies and I was intrigued. As with a lot of things, I'm somewhat of a moderate when it comes to treating sick kids.  Mind you I'm not talking about serious … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Midweek Musings

Watercolor Eggs: For a More Creative Dyeing Experience

March 18 by Kaley

The perfect method for dying eggs with kids - allows for more creativity and less mess!

Hope everyone had a good St. Paddy's Day, now it's time for Easter - it's so early this year! Kaley's here sharing an awesome idea on how to make egg dying more fun for the littles.  I'll definitely be trying this with S and C for Easter.  In fact, boiled eggs have become a daily snack around here ever since New Year, New Rules so this might become a regular art activity for us. QUESTION OF THE DAY Speaking of Easter - how do you all hunt?  Do you prefer a small backyard gathering or do you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creating & Engaging, Holiday Projects, Kaley, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: Easter activities for kids, Easter egg dying with kids, mess-free Easter eggs, watercolor Easter eggs

Friday Share: An Easy Lunch, Hair Tutorials, and Bubble Painting

March 15 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Time for another "Friday Share" friends. But first two quick notes: Our eBook Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life: The Quick Start Guide is on sale as part of a limited offering Spring Cleaning eBook bundle at Bundle of the Week.  For $7.40 you get 5 helpful eBooks on cleaning and organizing - only catch is the sale ends Sunday. Virtual book club is next Thursday.  So grab your copy of "How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" and get reading.  We're covering the first … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Style & Simplify

DIY Book Binding: Experience Journals

March 14 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

A simple tutorial on how to help your kids make an "Experience Journal" for keeping track of your adventures together both big and small!

We have two very special guests today, all the way from Singapore.  They're stopping by to share with you a little of the book arts - specifically how to easily create what we're calling an "experience journal" with your child.   I love the idea of using them to capture some of the journeys you make together, both big and small. P.S. QUESTION OF THE DAY Are you good at capturing some of the everyday moments with you kids?  What are your favorite ways for doing so? When I remember, I try to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Art + Kid Crafts, Style & Simplify, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: book binding, book binding for kids, book binding tutorial, experience journals, how to make books, how to make journals, how to make kids journals, kids journals

POYEL: How I’m (finally) Planning for our Financial Future

March 12 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

If you're visiting this site then you are most likely a grown person, probably with kids.  Which also means that you have a working budget and emergency fund as well as a solid plan for paying for your retirement, their college, any remaining school loans of your own, and other debt... along with adequate life insurance, disability insurance,  up-to-date beneficiary forms, a living will, power of attorney documents, and a last will and testament  - right?  No?!  Did your blood pressure rise just … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Tagged With: sponsored

POYEL: Using Technology to Get the Chores Done Whine-Free

March 7 by Kristin

It's March!  Which means spring - and spring cleaning - are just around the corner.  Which also means it's time to dig into some more Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life ideas.  Today Kristin's here sharing her favorite app for motivating her kids to get their chores done (without having to nag, yell, or essentially drag the will to participate out of them). And speaking of POYEL - don't forget, our new freezer cooking eBook is coming out in a matter of days.  Be sure to join MPMK's newsletter … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kristin, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life, Schedules & To Do Lists Tagged With: chore apps

Make It: St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Treasure Box

March 6 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Surprise! You're getting a twofer today. Since our Midweek Musing is a little light (What can I say? I just wasn't in the mood to go heavy), I wanted to also stop in and quickly share this fun St. Paddy's Day activity I put together for eHow. Sensory boxes are nothing new around here, and the rainbow variety has long been a classic.  But what makes this version special is what can be found at the bottom of the rainbow - shamrocks and leprechaun gold, of course.  Pop over here for all the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holiday Projects, Seasonal Fun, Sensory & Interactive Play, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: how to color rice, rainbow rice, rainbow rice sensory box, rice sensory box, St. Patrick's Day craft, St. Patrick's Day Kid Craft, St. Patrick's Day sensory box

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