Modern Parents Messy Kids

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Going Ons

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I'm so happy to get to end this week with a few new additions to the site.  I received a thrilling email from Parents Magazine a few days ago informing me that MPMK has officially been named this year's Reader's Choice Best Craft for Kids Blog (see the shiny new banner at the top of my left side column).  I am so thankful for the honor and I know it wouldn't have been possible without all your amazing support.  Thank You!And remember last month when I said I wanted to explore a little more of … [Read more...]

A Few Fabulous Deals to Get that Christmas Shopping Done Early

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Happy hump day everyone. In the spirit of the holiday shopping season, I'm pressing pause on all the playtime goodness that normally goes on here to bring you a few "don't miss" deals.Please support our site by enabling javascript to view ads.This Gap Kids commercial was recently sent my way via my ad agency and I decided to share it with you for the following two reasons:One of the little girls in the ad breaks out with something down right hilarious right around the 49 second mark. You really … [Read more...]

Taming the Chaos: Play Room Edition

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Last week I promised I'd be back with the "gory details" of our recent re-organization weekend and today I'm delivering the first installment.  A number of you have asked for more posts on storage and organization, particularly pertaining to toys.  Just for you, I'm going out of my comfort zone a bit here and exposing what is decidedly one of the less stylish spots in my house in order to share what's been working for our family.   Before we get started, I just want to point out that I do … [Read more...]

Make Like a Montessori Mama: Part 4 – Shape Activities

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Part 4 of the "Make like a Montessori Mama" series is definitely my favorite, it's right up our alley.  C loves creating pictures with his Magnetic Pattern Blocksand learning the names of the shapes (everything from quadrilaterals to trapezoids).  Plus this shape sorter is currently S's toy of choice.  I can't wait to try out these activities with the kids later this week... Take it away Kylie:   Five great Montessori inspired activities about SHAPES! There are many Montessori … [Read more...]

Veteran’s Day

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Looking for a simple way to commemorate Veteran's Day with the kids?  I love this flag project from For the Love of Art.  It's an easy open-ended project that reminds me of something the Novogratz crew would hang loud and proud on a wall.   And if you really want to go the extra mile, check out Operation Miles - a wonderful collaboration between The Frequent Flyer Father and Fisher House.  Together they are encouraging and collecting Airline Miles for:   Service members … [Read more...]

We Tried It! – Discovery Bottles

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I've been on the lookout lately for a new activity both the kids would enjoy. S is going through an afternoon crankiness phase (at least I hope it's a phase) and C is always up for something novel to play with. After thinking over my options a bit, my mind turned to the various discovery bottles I've seen popping up on pinterest.   These guys are easy to make and open to lots of interpretation.  I figured if I came up with multiple version, C and S were each bound to like a few of them. … [Read more...]

Reusable To-Do List

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Today I'm sharing with you the full post of an organizational DIY I did over at U-Create a while back.  Hopefully it'll get you moving in the right (orderly) direction.  Enjoy: You'll only need five minutes and three simple items: a stack of colorful sticky notes, a marker, and a shadow box.  I got my shadow box from Ikea (it measures 19.5" square) but, as I'm sure you all know,  they can be found at any local craft store.   Start by labeling your top row of sticky notes.  I used the … [Read more...]

DIY Reusable To-Do List

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Today I'm sharing with you the full post of an organizational DIY I did over at U-Create a while back.  Hopefully it'll get you moving in the right (orderly) direction.  You'll only need five minutes and three simple items: a stack of colorful sticky notes, a marker, and a shadow box.  I got my shadow box from Ikea (it measures 19.5" square) but, as I'm sure you all know,  they can be found at any local craft store.   Start by labeling your top row of sticky notes.  I used the headings: … [Read more...]

Family Photos – Finally!

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It's been three years since the hubby and I grew from an "us" to a full-fledged family and I'm ashamed to say that in all that time we've never had professional photos taken.  It seemed like the timing was never right. I wanted to lose the baby weight, then for C to be walking, then for S to arrive and so on and so forth.But no more - I'm very pleased to be able to say that thanks to MPMK's newest sponsor, Carrie Stroud Photography, I now have a bevy of beautiful family photos to hang on the … [Read more...]

How to Maintain Your Zen When the Kids Have Lost Their Ever-Loving Minds

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I bet you read the title of this post, looked at the photo and thought something along the lines of, "Is this chic seriously trying to tell me a beach ball is all I need to stay calm when my child is having a level 10 melt down?... Go sell crazy somewhere else sister.  I ain't buying it". Don't worry, the beach ball photos are from my momtastic post this week - all about our favorite way to burn off some steam indoors.   As for maintaining your zen - I've got back up for that, a … [Read more...]

Christmas Gift Idea: Make a Dress Up Kit with Halloween Clearance Items

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When I polled you guys a few weeks ago on what you'd like to see more of here, one of the most popular answers was kid gift ideas.  So I wanted to share with you the DIY dress up kit I'm in the process of making for my two tots for Christmas.   I know, I know -  isn't it a little early for to be thinking about what Santa will have in his bag this year?  Yes... but if you too want to put together a dress up kit then now is the time to do it.  Striking while all the Halloween stuff is on … [Read more...]

Make Like a Montessori Mama: Part 3 – Animal Activities

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So now that the kids are all hopped up on sugar, I thought it would be a good time for some more constructive playtime activities.  To that end, Kylie is back with part three of our "Make Like a Montessori Mama" series: animal activities.  Take it away Kylie... Five great Montessori inspired activities about ANIMALS!   Animals, just like food and plants, give children an opportunity to explore nature. Once again these activities use materials that are widely available. There are a … [Read more...]