New Years Fireworks

I was searching for a fun new years idea for my toddlers at work and found this fun little craft from nickjr.com.
What you need:
*Colored pipe cleaners-2 for each firework
*Glue
*Glitter
*String

First cut all pipe cleaners in half.

Then twist 2 like colors together at the center. They will form an + shape.

Next take two +'s of different colors and twist those together. Bend down the ends of the pipe cleaners to look like a firework burst.

Put glue on the ends (with the toddlers I had them use a paintbrush, older kids may be able to just use a glue bottle)
Pour or dip the glue ends in glitter (I used silver but any color can be used)

Then cut a string to your desired length and tie it to the center of each firework.
Hang it wherever you would like! They look cute in windows or would be cute hanging from the ceiling as well!

Christmas Ornament

This was quick and fun! I saw one like this on pinterest and had to try it with The Prince.

You need:
Green pipe cleaners
Transparent pony beads
String

Bend the pipe cleaner to look like a tree (see pic for reference). Then simply slide the beads on for the tree "lights". Tie string to the top of the "tree" and then tie a loop so you can hang it up in the window or on the tree!

Water Marbles

Inspired by a picture from Play At Home Mom, I decided to make a sensory tub with water marbles. I went to the dollar store and bought 4 cans of decorative water marbles (non-toxic) and a big food storage container. The water marbles were clear which was okay, but I decided I wanted to dye on of the cans blue to give it more of an ocean/lake look.

I first dumped the one can onto paper towels and let them dry out a little so they could absorb the color later.

After drying out I put half of them back in the container and put one drop of blue food coloring in. Then put the rest in and put one more drop of food coloring on top. I closed the lid and shook it up.

Then I filled the container with water, shook it up, drained it, filled with water, shook it, drained it...etc. Until the water draining out was only slightly blue (didn't want the kids hands dyed blue from too much color!)

Then I added the blue water marbles with the clear. When mixed together they almost all looked blue. I put in a couple small containers with lids and scoops for The Prince to play with.

Both my little ones loved this! I love that it is a small enough container to bring with places (like Memaw's & Papa's) but big enough to play in. This sensory play tool is awesome (I love to play with this with the kids too) and you can't go wrong for a total of $5!

Magnet Boards

I went back to Dollar Days today and found cookie pans to use for magnet boards in the car and also for some fun more educational specific boards. I made four different boards, one for numbers, one for colors, one for shapes, and one for compound words. Each one uses words and pictures and can be used at different age levels. Once the glue is dried on these you can just rub off any excess glue. (I did it on some but waiting for others to dry)

For the shapes and the color magnet boards I glued on the words and left the colored shapes in a baggie so that they can be placed on the board above each word. Ex: The blue shapes are put above the word blue or the triangles are put above the word triangle. For younger kids you can tell them what the words say and help them find the shapes/colors to match, for older kids they can practice reading the words on their own and then matching the shapes/colors up.

On the number magnet board I glued down the pictures. I'll have The Prince put both the spelled out number, and the actual number above each picture. I also included a place to do simple equations. I glued down the plus and minus symbols so that The Prince or I can just put the numbers in and the equals sign.

On the compound word board I decided not to glue any of them down. There were too many to fit on the board and several interchangeable ones. So I will do this one with him until he gets the concept enough to do it correctly on his own.

Each of these boards cost $2 to make except the shapes and colors ones which use the same magnets so those cost $3 for the two boards. A very affordable learning tool! And it's fun and portable! :)

Dollar Store Find!

These magnet packs were $1 a piece at Dollar Days. They work great on our magnet board in the playroom (an oil drip pan, $10 from walmart). We are also going to put some in a baggie to bring with for car rides, we are going to use a small cookie sheet for a portable magnet board.

The Prince had to have his picture by his new additions to the magnet board. :)

Painting with Pipe Cleaners

A fun and different way to paint! Using pipe cleaners to paint helps with fine motor skills. It is also a great sensory tool. The pipe cleaner can be used to make lines (when used like a stamp) or to create a textured design when brushed like a paint brush. So grab a few pipe cleaners, some paint, and let your children experiment!

Here are a few examples from the candy canes I had the daycare kids make (ages 14months - 35 months) :)

Hot Dog and Spaghetti Fun!

We decided to spice up our lunches again this week. So me made some spaghetti dogs. I found the original idea on Pinterest, but it did not have a link for directions so I just used the pictures, they were pretty self explanatory. You will need just a few items...

Hot Dogs (Turkey, Beef, or whatever your choice may be)
Spaghetti noodles
And the obvious- knife, pan, water.

First get your water set up to boil.
Then be sure the hot dogs are thawed. Cut the hot dogs into desired sized pieces. For The Prince we did bite sized pieces and for The Princess we did slices, and then cut each slice into fours.

Next stick the spaghetti noodles through the hot dog pieces. I stuck 4 full length spaghetti into each of the princes bite sized hot dog pieces. For The Princess I broke the noodles in smaller pieces and stuck one noodle pieces through each tiny hot dog bite.

Then you stick the hot dogs/spahetti into the boiling water and cook like normal.
Once they are finished you end up with a fun new meal for lunch!

If you are feeling really ambitious you could cook the noodled hot dogs in colored water (see rainbow pasta post) for a funky looking little feast!