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Earth Day Activities and Recipes

April 3 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

The Best Earth Day Activities and Recipes - Lots of great, do-able ideas here, we're going to do the seed starters in ice cream cones as well as the plantable paper Earth!

It's really too bad Earth Day doesn't get the same fanfare as Valentine's Day, Halloween, and the like. The shape our environment's in these days, we could certainly use a day where every family sits down and really talks to their children about the impact (both positive and negative) that they can have on the world they live in. Here are 14 of our favorite ideas to help you hold an Earth Day celebration at your house. Show Above Clockwise from top right Make a Plantable Paper Earth - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creating & Engaging, Holiday, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: Earth Day activities for kids, Earth Day desserts, Earth Day treats, Planting activities for kids

Natural Play Spaces: Children’s Veggie Gardens

May 4 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Lots of good ideas here that my kids would go crazy for - bookmarking for later this spring when the weather warms up!

You guys! It has been the rainiest season in Seattle in the history of ever (literally) but the sun is out today. And - of course - it's making me want to plant all the things.   If you're feeling me, here's a post we did a few summers ago on one of the coolest kinds of gardens out there; the kids' garden. Enjoy and happy planting! Now that the bark has been laid, we've made one more major addition to our backyard natural play space.  But don't get too excited - I haven't had a chance … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Natural Outdoor Play Spaces Tagged With: Earth Day activities, Earth Day activities for kids, gardens for children, kid gardens, kids vegetable gardens, natural play spaces, planting with kids

Audiobooks for Calming Hyper Preschoolers (and Where to Find Them)

August 10 by Janssen

A children's librarian's pick of the best audiobooks for calming down hyper kids - love that they're broken up by types of books and reading skill!

We've got yet another resource for you to use with our free B.O.R.E.D. printable today. Our children's librarian, Janssen, has rounded up the best audiobooks for calming active (aka hyper) kids. And it's just the thing for keeping the preschool set occupied for the rest of the summer and in the fall if, like in our house, they're missing older siblings who have ventured off to school. Read on for Janssen's picture book, easy reader and early chapter book recommendations! I've long been a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, Quiet Time, The Book Nook Tagged With: book nook, children's books, Earth Day activities for kids

Chalkboard Flower Pots for Mom, Teacher, or Your Own Windowsill

April 27 by Janssen

Mason jar planters with chalkboard paint - great DIY for Mother's Day or Teacher Appreciation Day.

It's Teacher Appreciation week next week - do you have something special picked out for the educators in your kids' lives? If not we've totally got you covered with an easy DIY you can use to appreciate a teacher, for Mother's Day, or even as a hostess thank-you gift.  Here's Janssen with the full details... One of the things that makes me happiest in the spring is live plants. They look so vibrant and remind me that winter really is winding down. Whether you're looking for a simple Mother's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Art + Kid Crafts, Creating & Engaging, Janssen, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: chalk board paint, chalk mason jar planters, DIY Mother's Day gift, DIY teacher appreciation gift, Earth Day activities, Earth Day activities for kids, mason jar craft, mason jars, teacher appreciation gift

Earth Day Activity: Recycled Planters

April 2 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Making Up-cycled Planters for Earth Day - My kids are gonna love cutting apart the bottles and adding the goggley eyes

Up-cycled or recycled planters are the perfect Earth Day activity for kids, which is coming up April 22nd (only 2 days after Easter so don't blink and miss it). It incorporates two earth-friendly activities - up-cycling AND planting - plus this particular version involves goggley eyes and what kid doesn't love those? Check out my full tutorial over on eHow's Mom Channel. For More Earth-Friendly Kid Activities, Check Out: How to Make an Up-cycled Inventors Box DIY Plantable Paper … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Educational Activities, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: bottle planters, Earth Day activities, Earth Day activities for kids, Earth Day crafts, up-cycled crafts, up-cycled planters

How to Create an Upcycled Inventor’s Box for Hours of Open-Ended Play

January 14 by Kaley

Upcycled Inventor's box - awesome activity for teaching kids about recycling and creativity. Be sure to get the free printable idea cards!

Have you ever noticed that no matter how many toys your kids have, they are always drawn to things like cardboard boxes and paper towel rolls? It seems that a simple box will usually entertain them longer and promote more creativity than the fanciest of store bought toys. Rather than fight this phenomenon, just embrace it and marvel and what natural upcyclers your kids are. Furthermore, encourage even more of this open-ended creative play by … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creating & Engaging, Kaley, Sensory & Interactive Play, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: Earth Day activities for kids, kids' inventors box, open-ended play, recycled building blocks, recycling activities for kids, recycling with kids, REPREVE, turnitgreen, upcycling with kids

The Kitchen Experiment Garden: Growing Plants from Food Scraps

April 23 by Kaley

Grow a windowsill garden with your kids using food scraps (with a free printable)

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...]

Filed Under: Creating & Engaging, Educational Activities, Kaley, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: Earth Day activities for kids, growing experiments, growing from food scraps, growing with kids, kids science activities, kitchen science, kitchen science activities, science experiments for kids, STEM activities for kids

Make it: Plant-able Paper Earth

April 17 by Alli

DIY: make a plantable paper earth and watch your garden grow - We're doing this for Earth Day!

Every once in a while we do a project here on MPMK that I'm over-the-moon excited about. That's how I feel about these plantable earths for Earth Day.  They're so cute, I want to send a few to everyone I know. I loved making paper as a kid. I don't know why, maybe it's something about the mess. Or maybe it was the idea that I could make the very same thing I used so often in my daily life, all by myself. (just prettier) Regardless. I loved making paper, and this time was no different. It was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Alli, Creating & Engaging, Outdoor Play, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: Earth Day activities, Earth Day activities for kids, Earth Day crafts, Earth Day crafts for kids, How to make paper, plantable Earth project, plantable paper

DIY Veggie Garden Sensory Box

May 3 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

DIY vegetable garden sensory box with FREE PRINTABLES - a great way to get kids playing and learning about planting.

If you've been here since the beginning, then you'll remember the "diggers and dumpers" sensory box I made for my son as a Christmas present.  It was a big hit and he still enjoys it but I've been feeling like it's time to change it up.  So a few weeks ago I exchanged the pinto beans for black beans (to imitate soil) and put together this vegetable garden sensory box. I found a lot of my supplies at Target. (The gloves, trowel, and watering can were in the dollar section.  The yellow tub was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dramatic Play, Learning & Engaging, Sensory & Interactive Play, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: baby play ideas, Earth Day activities, Earth Day activities for kids, playtime, rainy day play ideas, sensory bin, sensory play, vegetable sensory box, veggie sensory box

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