Happy Thursday guys. Any big plans for the weekend? I'll be wrapping up some loose ends getting ready for baby - hanging artwork in the nursery, taking kids clothes to my local consignment shop in the hopes of trading in for some onesies and baby PJs, and also (finally!) packing that hospital bag. Before I do that though - a few things I wanted to share: I also whipped up this super quick and easy Spend/Save/Share Piggy Bank project for my older two... now is a great time to emphasize … [Read more...]
Play Theme Cheat Sheet: Space
Even though it's not quite August yet, we just couldn't wait any longer to post our latest Play Theme Cheat Sheet. We just know you're going to love it!... I am so excited about this month's playtime cheat sheet, just because of the theme alone....SPACE! I don't know why, but I was somewhat overly fascinated with space as a child (nerd alert). I simply couldn't get enough of it. I even asked for a toy planetarium for Christmas one year, which I've now passed down to my son. P.S. It still … [Read more...]
Play Theme Cheat Sheet #4: Exploring Our World
We're past due for this month's play theme cheat sheet. Ready for another stellar list of ways to play all month long? I chose learning about the world around us for July for two reasons: It seemed like a great educational theme to cover while school's out and so many families are hitting the road for vacation. We've been watching Discovery Channel's new series, North America, with C and have all been learning a ton. (Sidenote: I love this program for teaching kids about the continent … [Read more...]
More STEM Skill Activities: Elephant Toothpaste Experiment
Happy Friday pals. Any big plans for the holiday weekend? We're going to finish up last minute details on the house and hopefully get it on the market next week. This won't be my first time selling a house but it will be the first time doing it with kids in tow - I'm nervous! QUESTION OF THE DAY Who has tips on balancing having a home on the market and having kids home all day every day for the summer? I'm all ears! In other news - you guys seemed to really like the Gum Drop Engineering … [Read more...]
STEM Activity: Gum Drop Engineering
A few months ago I was asked to come up with a series of educational at-home activities to do with the kids as part of a collaboration between eHow (who I regularly contribute for) and Target. All together, I wrote 8 posts - many of which centered on developing STEM skills. This gum drop engineering project was one of my very favorites (second only to the inventor's box I shared with you guys last month). Our whole family had a great time building and creating for almost an entire afternoon … [Read more...]
Build STEM Skills: Make an “Inventor’s Box”
I'm super excited to share with you a project I put together for eHow's mom channel recently. You guys know how my ears perk up anytime the words "STEM skills" are uttered, right? Well, the good folks over there at eHow asked me to contribute a few easy STEM skill building activities for home and I took it as my chance to finally try a couple things that have been percolating in my head. The first activity had to be building an Inventor's Box. I've been wanting to start one of these for the … [Read more...]
The Kitchen Experiment Garden: Growing Plants from Food Scraps
The other day I walked into my mom friend's kitchen and found the top of a pineapple sitting in a jar of water. I thought it was odd so I immediately quizzed her about it and she politely told little-ol-woefully-uninformed-me that if you plant the top of a pineapple, it will sprout. What?! I was still digesting this info. a few days later when my contributor Kaley (a wonderfully creative mom in her own right) emailed to ask if she could do her next post on growing stuff from food scraps. … [Read more...]
Homemade Learning: Printable Counting Cards
Kaley's here today with some lovely printable counting cards, perfect for teaching your littles their numbers at home. At our house these have been printed, laminated and are already being used (and fought over - might need to print another set shortly). By the way - do you guys have home laminators? I resisted purchasing one for a long time (just another thing to fit on the desk, right?) but finally caved when we hosted a busy bag swap. I bought this one and, must say, I've squeezed a … [Read more...]
Everything You Need to Know to Start Montessori-ing at Home
Last fall I was absolutely delighted when the lovely Kylie of How We Montessori agreed to write a four part series here on how to get started with Montessori principals at home. We called the series Make Like a Montessori Mama and it was a huge success. With each post Kylie provided detailed instructions on five new at-home activities, each revolving around a theme (food, animals, plants and shapes). It was such a fabulous resource that I felt compelled to link up to the entire series … [Read more...]