Who says Halloween crafts and activities have to be scary? I absolutely love this slimey, ooey, gooey activity for helping little ones to get in on the festivities. Here's our contributor Kaley with the detials... It's gooey. It's gummy. It's like glue. It's oobleck! I have a soft spot for activities that correlate with children's books, and this is one of our favorites. After reading about the green sticky goop that falls from the sky in Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck, amaze your … [Read more...]
Boredom Buster
I love activities that are cheap, easy, and entertaining for more than just a minute. This is one of my favorite "go to" activities to do with bored kids. All you need is a handful of completely random objects and/or toys from around the house and a bag. The objects in the bag can be used in SO many different ways. Lay them all out for your kids to look at and then take one away when they aren't looking. Have them try and remember what you took away. Dump out … [Read more...]
Play: DIY Body Paint
A few weeks ago C finished up his first year of preschool and they had a little carnival to celebrate. (I'm not even going to talk about the mini panic attack I had at the realization that my baby will be heading off to real school in a couple of years - nope, not gonna talk about it.) Anyway, a few of C's beloved teachers offered up their face painting skills at the festivities and I asked the kids if they'd like something painted on. At the time they only had eyes for the … [Read more...]
Life-Size Building Blocks
Happy Monday everyone. I'm pretty thrilled to be able to announce today that Allison of All for the Boys will also be joining the MPMK team as a regular contributor. If you've been paying attention, then you already know I'm a fan (featured her here and here). As you'll see from today's post, her ideas are spectacularly fun but also remarkably simple. You really won't be able to resist trying them out at home. It's no secret that we love forts, tents, and hideaways … [Read more...]
A No-Mess Painting Technique
I'm at momtastic this week sharing my favorite new painting technique. S and I picked it up at toddler group and it was a big hit. Don't get me wrong, I'm still all for getting messy but it's nice to have some tamer creative activities to draw from. When I was plotting this project in my head I envisioned using paper cut into egg shapes to make some pretty Easter decor. When it actually came down to it, everything was so spur of the moment that I couldn't harness C's excitement long … [Read more...]
Creative Play Easter Basket Idea: Water Bead Eggs
Aren't these water bead eggs cool? They were unbelievably easy and inexpensive to pull together and I think the kids are going to get such a kick out of opening them up and playing with the contents on Easter. UPDATE: check out how my kiddos played with these after cracking them open here. If you're not familiar with water beads, they come in little plastic packets that fit in the palm of your hand. Each "bead" is a teeny tiny ball which, when soaked in water … [Read more...]
Yarn + Sandpaper + a Cereal Box = A Fabulous 3-in-1 Quiet Time Activity
I've been doing a lot of lamenting about C dropping naps over on the facebook page lately (which, by the way, is new and improved!). Despite all my whining, the situation remains the same - I can no longer count on having a chunk of my day all to myself. Honestly, it's not as bad as I feared it would be. C is very good at independent play and he does still nap occasionally. I've found the key to surviving the no-nap days is to always be prepared with a stimulating activity or … [Read more...]
We Tried It! – Discovery Bottles
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...]
We Tried It! – DIY Edible Fingerpaints
I was recently lamenting on the facebook page that I find myself blogging about fun activities for the kids more often than we actually do them. I've told myself engaging in messy art projects with a toddler and a baby is just too difficult. And while that may have been true in the past, S is a year old now and the name of the blog is Modern Parents MESSY kids... it's time to put up or shut up. So today I'm introducing a new series, called "We Tried It!", in which I'll be trying … [Read more...]