Toddler Activities: 29 Months Old

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them  entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

DIY Cloud Dough: Aside from being a wonderful sensory activity for young kids, cloud dough is inexpensive and easy to make! Just mix baby oil and flour in a 1:8 ratio - we used 1/2 cup baby oil and 4 cups flour - and you have cloud dough! It looks like flour, but it holds its shape when pressed. We started mixing it with a spoon, but ended up using our hands to mix it thoroughly. 

You’re going to get your hands in it eventually anyway! It kept Emma occupied for quite a while, and she’s asked to play it again multiple times. We used measuring cups and spoons the first time, and have also played using cookie cutter and cars to drive around in the cloud dough. 

This worked alright as an indoor activity, but we did get pretty dusty and ended up needing to change clothes. It swept up and washed out of clothes pretty easily. It would be great to make this stuff in the summer and just go wild outside in the yard. 

 

Snow in the Bathtub: We love playing in the snow! But lately, it's been freezing outside. I'm talking high of -5 degrees freezing with a windchill down to -45 degrees. Not only that but even on days without subzero temps, sometimes it takes longer to get the little ones bundled up to go outdoors than we actually spend playing outside! 

 

One great way to get the outside experience without the headache is to bring the snow to you! On one of our arctic days, I decided to shovel some snow into two of my big stockpots and put the kids in their mittens to let them play with snow in the bathtub. 

I gave them each a measuring cup and a big spoon for digging in the snow and let them enjoy our indoor winter wonderland. When the kids were finished playing, I pulled them out of the tub, dumped out the snow, and turned on a warm shower. They were enthralled watching the melting snow and flow down the drain. 

The idea of playing with snow inside is certainly not new. I even have a picture of my sister and me as kids, frequently sick and stuck inside in the winter, playing with snow in our bathtub.

And, of course...

Read: Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma and Bryson's current favorites are:

• Snowball Fight! by Jimmy Fallon (yes, that Jimmy Fallon.)
• Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson
• Snow Day! by Patricia Lakin

We did an activity with one of our books, Snowball Fight! It's been too cold lately to play outside, so we had an indoor snowball fight! We filled three buckets (one for Mommy, one for Daddy, and one for Emma) with cotton balls. We left Daddy's bucket at the bottom of the stairs and ambushed him with a snowball fight when he got home from work. I think this would also be fantastic to do with marshmallows! Unfortunately, we didn't have any on hand. Make sure you follow it up by drinking some hot chocolate!

My 3 good things for today are:

1. Warm socks!
2. Hot cocoa!
3. A blazing fire in the fireplace!

 

Toddler Activities: 28 Months Old

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them  entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

Decorating a Paper Tree: Emma loved decorating our tree, so I wanted to do some sort of Christmas tree activity this month. I cut out a pine tree shape from green card stock, and taped it onto some white printer paper and added a star. Throughout the month, she decorated it with various objects like Fruit Loops, pompoms, and paper circles. It turned out to be a great quiet time activity and kept her occupied much longer than I anticipated. This activity could easily be done as an "apple tree" at other times of the year.

 

Bird Feeder Craft: Okay, I know what you're thinking. We made a bird feeder last month! In my defense, it has been REALLY cold here the last couple weeks - honestly too cold to take the kids outside. But both Emma and Bryson love to watch the birds and squirrels in the trees outside. So making a feeder to attract the birds is our way to connect with nature when it's too cold to actually go outside to enjoy nature. This craft could not be more simple. I took a pipe cleaner and made a loop at one end, then Emma threaded on a handful of Cheerios. I made a small loop on the other end to hold the Cheerios in place. Simply hook the loop onto a tree branch and you're done. Full disclosure: I hung the feeders we made on our Christmas tree and was waiting until nap time to take them outside. Later that morning, I discovered that Emma had gotten all three down and devoured the Cheerios while I was in the other room nursing Bryson. So ours ended up being a toddler feeder instead of a bird feeder.

And, of course...

Read: Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma and Bryson's current favorites are:

• Baby's First Christmas by Christina Goodings
• Snow by Uri Shulevitz
• Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson
• Merry Christmas, Ollie! by Olivier Dunrea

My 3 good things for today are:

1. We have great weather outside for playing in the snow!
2. Bryson is fully crawling, and...
3. Bryson is pulling himself up on furniture to a standing position. I am choosing to keep a positive attitude and regard this as a "good thing" and NOT utterly terrifying!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from my family to yours!

We have so many good things - more than I can count - to be thankful for from this past year, and I hope you do as well!

Christmas Traditions

Traditions bring families closer together, create legacy, and can be symbolic. As our family grows and as the kids get older, it's important to Derek and me to establish some family traditions.

Though we each had our own unique family customs growing up (he is from an angel-atop-the-tree family, and I have a star-atop-the-tree background), we've worked to blend the parts of Christmas that we treasure and added a few new ideas to create family memories and traditions for our own little crew.

We want our children to find a sense of awe in Christmas, having it be not only a time of family bonding, but a reminder of the importance of Christ - a celebration of His majesty.

In my experience so far, it has been helpful to start this early - Emma is just over 2 years old, and Bryson is just coming up on 7 months - so we have a few years to add to and change our ideas, as well as work out any kinks before the kids are really old enough to understand.

Coming from a family that sets up an artificial tree each year, (my mom and sister have allergies) it's been a fun experience to drive out to a tree farm and cut our Christmas tree. We make a day of it, and spend way too much time picking out the perfect tree. Many of the tree farms we've been to also have horse-drawn sleigh or hay rides, as well as petting zoos, visits from Santa, and even complimentary candy canes and hot cocoa! Then we haul the tree home and cover it with lights and homemade ornaments. Last year and this year, Emma got to put the star on top of the tree. We decorate it together and reminisce about each ornament and its origin.

If you take time to think about and talk to your children about your family customs and the rituals of Christmas, traditions can be a wonderful way to pass down stories of faith for generations. As you decorate your Christmas tree, remind your kids that an evergreen tree is a symbol of the cross and the everlasting life of Christ.

If you listen to Christmas songs on the radio, talk about the words in the carols and remember the proclamations of rejoicing! When Emma plays with her nativity "window stickies," I have the opportunity to talk to her about how God came down to earth as a baby and lived and died as a man to take away the sins of the world, and as we wrap and give gifts we repeat the story of the three wise men who came to adore the baby Jesus.

I know some other other Christian families will disagree with this, but this year, we started doing Elf on the Shelf. If you're not familiar, the story is that your scout elf comes to see you at the beginning of the Christmas season and returns to the North Pole with Santa on Christmas Eve. Every night, your elf flies back to the North Pole to report the day's activities to Santa.

You find your elf in a new location every morning when your elf returns. There are two rules: you can't touch the elf, and the elf can't move while you're watching. Since we have a busy, active toddler, and a baby who recently became mobile, we've kept our elf out of reach so far to avoid the issue of touching.

Day 1: Elf arrives with snowman pancakes!

Day 2: Resting on the mantle

Day 3: Sitting up on the chandelier

Day 4: Hiding in the Christmas tree

Day 5: Peeking out from the coffee bar

I know that Elf is not for everyone, and if that is you, I completely respect your opinion. We emphasize Jesus in our home at Christmas, but we are not anti-Santa. Personally, I really don't think the concept is worth all the arguments I've seen back and forth from both sides. The reason we do Elf is a chance to teach our children about one of the many gifts given to us by our wonderful God: joy.

Day 6: Hanging from the kitchen cabinets

Day 7: Looking down from the curtain rod

Day 8: Hiding in the plant

Day 9: Elf with the apples

Day 10: Sitting on the lamp shelf

When I see the bright smile on Emma's face as she wakes each morning to find our elf, who she named Flynn, I'm reminded of our Savior, Jesus, who took a break from his very important teaching to spend some time laughing with a group of children. Everything I know about God says that he likes to see his children laugh. So we read Bible stories of the birth of Christ and also get our nightly visit from "Flynn the Elf" who reminds us of the multitude of gifts given to us by God out of love, joy and laughter included.

As I mentioned briefly in the previous paragraph, the other tradition we began December 1st was a Scripture reading each evening together, and a chocolate treat from our little advent calendars, as we count down to Christmas Day. Emma does a pretty good job of sitting still and listening as she waits for her treat. We try to distill each section for her when we finish, whether it is a prophecy about Jesus, the story of the conception and birth of John the Baptist, or the angel appearing to Mary. A short Google search will bring up dozens of Bible advent plans, so it's easy to find one that's right for your family.

As fun and memorable as decorating the tree or searching for the elf may be, I cherish our Scripture reading each day above all the others as it helps us all remember the point of the holiday season and redirect our eyes on Him before we go to bed each night.

Toddler Activities: 27 Months Old

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them  entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

Homemade Object Matching: This really could not be easier! Just grab a few uniquely shaped objects (I found that cookie cutters work very well!) and trace them onto a piece of paper with a marker. To make it a "permanent" activity, you can cover the sheet of paper with laminate paper. If you had a few everyday objects or toys that you don't mind being out of commission for a while, this would also make a great quiet bag activity!

Bird Feeder Craft: All you need to make these simple bird feeders is a toilet paper roll, some string, 2 small sticks, peanut butter, and nuts, seeds, or Cheerios. (We made ours with Cheerios because Bryson was having a fussy day and I didn’t want to turn my back for a moment and then find Emma eating bird seed. Besides, who doesn’t like Cheerios?!) To begin, cut a piece of string, poke a couple of holes near one end of the toilet paper roll, and tie the ends of the strings through them. Poke 4 holes at the bottom of the toilet paper roll and insert your sticks through them to make a couple spots for birds to perch. Smear peanut butter on the empty toilet paper tube. Roll it in bird seed. Then hang your toilet paper roll bird feeder in a tree and watch how much the birds enjoy it!

And, of course...

Read: Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma and Bryson's current favorites are:

• Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
• Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
• How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? by Jane Yolen

We did an activity with one of our books, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? It is a scratch-and-sniff book with two great cookie recipes at the end. We baked Cinnama-Saurus Rex cookies and they were delicious!

My 3 good things for today are:

1. We have a beautiful dusting of snow on the ground.
2. Bryson has two new teeth and is almost crawling!
3. I discovered a great teething biscuit recipe. Bryson loves it!

Banana Oat Teething Biscuits:
1 very ripe banana
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
2 cups oat or mixed grain baby cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mash the banana well with the oil and water. Add in baby cereal and mix or use your hands to combine until you have a soft, smooth dough. You may need to add more water depending on the moisture of your banana.  Roll the dough out to about a 1/4-inch thickness and cut into smooth shapes. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet (I baked mine on parchment paper) and bake for 15-20 minutes until pale golden.

Toddler Activities: 26 Months Old

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom is finding activities for your little one to keep them entertained throughout the day. These are a few of our current favorite activities:

Homemade Connect the Dots: You can make a great connect the dots activity very simply from supplies at home - all you need is a sheet of paper, a few stickers, and a marker. I actually let Emma place the stickers on the paper herself, which she loved! Then I had her scribble from dot to dot with the marker. Depending on the stickers you have, and your child's level of interest, you can also change this activity a bit to make it more challenging. We used animal stickers, and the sticker sheet had multiples of each animal, so after mastering the general idea of "connect the dots," Emma got to connect the sheep to the other sheep, and connect the pig to the other pig, etc. You could use colored stickers and have your child connect like colors, or write numbers or letters on the stickers and have your child connect 1-2-3 or A-B-C.

Leaf Rubbing: Our yard is full of fallen leaves this time of year! We selected a few different types of leaves for a leaf rubbing activity. Just picking out the leaves was a good learning activity as we discussed how the leaves were similar or different colors, shapes, sizes, etc. We picked some leaves that were still soft and green, and others that were brown and crunchy.

We did the leaf rubbing together because it requires the usual fine motor practice but was a little more difficult because you have to hold the crayon sideways - something new for Emma!

And, of course...

Read: Reading is one of the best activities you can do with your child at any age!

A few of Emma and Bryson's current favorites are: 

• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro
• Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

We did an activity with one of our books, Not a Box. This one was super simple and Emma loved it. Derek brought home a paper box from work, and Emma got to play in the box. She climbed in it, and tipped it over on top of her like a hat, pushed it around the room, and hid under it.

My 3 good things for today are:

1. Falling leaves!
2. Apple cider!
3. Decorating pumpkins!

Mesothelioma Awareness Day (September 26)

This Thursday, September 26th, is Mesothelioma Awareness Day. I'm going to be honest, I didn't know much about this type of cancer until I received a message from a woman named Heather. Her story touched my heart.

Heather is a wife, mother, and a mesothelioma survivor. When her daughter was 3 ½ months old - a few weeks younger than my Bryson is now - Heather was diagnosed with this rare and deadly cancer, and given 15 months to live. Despite her grim prognosis, she knew that she needed to beat the odds for her newborn daughter, Lily. It’s been 7 years now and she is using her story to pay it forward by inspiring others.

In honor of upcoming Mesothelioma Awareness Day, she is using her personal story to help raise awareness of this little known cancer, and to provide a sense of hope for others facing life's difficult challenges. Her goal is to have 7,200 social media shares (a special number!), and I'm hoping you will help!

Please check out her story here, and consider sharing on your social network or blog!