My girls LOVE to paint! Sometimes, however, they get "bored" with the same-old paints over and over. That's when marble painting comes in! Marble painting is a TON of fun and creates some pretty unique pictures. None are alike! To do it with your kids, you'll need: paints marbles paper tape cookie sheet (or shoe box for smaller kids) Step 1) Tape the paper to the cookie sheet or the bottom of the shoe box. Step 2) Dip a marble in paint then roll it around the cookie sheet or the shoe box. Shoe boxes work better for younger kids because they have high sides. Younger kids may have trouble keeping the marble on the cookie sheet. For older kids, that's half the fun! That's really it! For some more fun, dip a few marbles in different color paints and roll them around at the same time. See what fun paintings your kids can make! What have you done to spice up your kid's painting fun? … [Read more...]
Hidden Apple Pancakes
Pancake covered apples...they sound kinda weird but my girls thought they so cool and yummy! Hidden apple pancakes were also a great way to add some fruit to breakfast without my girls really knowing! I have to admit, I got this idea from Pinterest but I tweeked the recipe a bit because I didn't have all the ingredients. My recipe is also a lot easier than the original. What you'll need for my version: Your favorite pancake mix Cinnamon Sugar Apples Topping of choice (apple syrup, maple syrup, butter, cool whip...) Step 1) Cut the apples into thin slices and cut the cores out. (I think I used Macintosh apples but any apple will do depending on your preference) Step 2) Prepare the pancake batter as directed on the box. Add cinnamon and sugar to taste. (I used Bisquick mix and made 1/2 a batch of pancakes. I added about 1 Tbsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.) Step 3) Coat the apples with the pancake batter. Step 4) Cook until the pancake part … [Read more...]
Ridiculously Easy DIY Fudge Pops
I'm almost embarrassed to post this DIY Fudgescicle or Fudge Pop recipe because of how easy it is. However, it is so easy that most people don't even think about doing it! We were in the grocery store and my girls were begging for Fudgesicles. Our grocery budget for the week, however, did not include the $6 treats. Never fear, we had the ingredients at home to make our own (for $5 less)! Please excuse the blue nail polish, it's compliments of my 3 year old :) What you'll need to make your own: Instant chocolate pudding Milk (2% or whole milk makes for a creamier popsicle) Popsicle molds or ice cube trays/toothpicks or small cup/popsicle sticks Really!! That's ALL you need! I told you this was a ridiculously easy recipe! (Here's where I apologize for the lack of photos in this post. I was living in the moment with my girls when we made these and I completely forgot to take photos!) How to make your own Fudgescicles or fudge pops: Make the pudding … [Read more...]
Paper Mache Maracas…FAIL
Ok, the third, and hopefully the last, fail post (for a very long time) of the week... Christmas break and, once again, my girls were bored. What can we do with things I have lying around the house? (Insert--me: search, girls: "no", me: search, girls: "no", me: search, girls: "no", finally...) "How about paper mache maracas?" "YES!!" Before I go on...I am not going to tell you how to make the maracas in this post. I'll save that for when we can re-make them and they turn out...now let's continue... I knew we had flour, water and newspaper in the house, and I thought for sure we had some left over water balloons lying around. After looking all over the place, I could NOT find the balloons. I've got my girls all psyched up for these maracas and now we can't make them...what to do...? Hmmm...how about a sandwich bag? I'll just blow air into it, twist the top so the air can't get out, and tie it off with a twisty tie... Good idea, in theory (mistake #1). My girls had … [Read more...]
Dance Party!
It was Christmas break and if I heard "I'm booorrred..." or "what can we do?..." one more time I was going to SCREAM! The girls were antsy and I was crabby. Soo... I put a Kidz Bop CD in the stereo, cranked up the volume, and had a dance party with my girls! It gave them something to do, got the antsies out, and uplifted my spirits. At this risk of self-embarrassment, I decided to post a video clip from our dance party. Yes, sometimes I set up the camera and take a video. #1--it's a memory to create, #2--my girls like to watch the videos of themselves dancing. Nutty usually dances a little more than this and she's got some great moves. For some odd reason, she decided she'd rather sing more this time. This is one of her favorite songs... Remember last week's coloring with your kids post or the cloud watching post from a few months ago? Having a dance party is another free, no-frills, spur of the moment, activities that you can do with your kids. Go ahead and get … [Read more...]
Coloring WITH Your Kids
The tag line of our Toys In The Dryer blog is "ideas for living in the moment with your kids." The whole purpose of this blog is to get you interacting and doing things with your children. We have a ton of fun and crafty ideas around here and we hope they inspire you. However...sometimes it's not about the super cool, crafty stuff...sometimes it's just about time with your kids. When was the last time you sat down and did something simple--nothing fancy, not a ton of supplies, not a lot of thought required? When was the last time you did a craft or activity with your children instead of supervising them. When was the last time you let your inner child out to play? (Thanks to Hubby for taking this photo while I enjoyed time with my girls) Early in this blog I did a post about cloud watching. It's a great, free and fun activity that allows you to spend time with your kids. Today, I'm encouraging you to color. I'm not talking about getting out the crayons/coloring books and … [Read more...]
