My girls love chalk. They also love markers. When I saw a request to review liquid chalk markers, I thought they would be perfect for my girls! Unfortunately, neither girl was home when they arrived in the mail so I decided to give them a try :) Um, yeah, bad idea...I went a bit crazy coloring all over the windows and mirrors of our house! Liquid Chalkers came with specific instructions about using them on non-porous surfaces vs porous surfaces but says mirrors and windows are safe so that's what I stuck with. After all, that's the only thing I'll allow my girls to use them on anyway. If you accidentally use them on a porous surface and they don't wipe away easily, Magic Erasers work well at removing residue left behind. My girls came home from their playdates and saw my writings all over the house and insisted on trying the markers themselves...They couldn't get enough! They had fun drawing and erasing, drawing and erasing all over the front door. When all was said and … [Read more...]
How To Make A Rain Instrument–Pinned it, Did it!
I originally pinned this rain instrument for a Pinned it, Did it post however, the pin does not link to the original source, it links to another Pinterest type site. This website appears to be a copy-cat type and when I click on the pin I pinned, it leads to a broken link. I refuse to give credit to a copy-cat type site that leads to broken links. I learned my lesson to try to pin from the original site vs just re-pinning random pins. Now onto how to make a rain instrument... Ok, this is super simple... 1) Get a bottle 2) Put in a bunch of tooth picks 3) Put in some rice 4) Close the bottle and shake That's it!! It really DOES sound like rain! To be completely honest, my girls were thrilled with this for about 5 minutes and then it got old. My neighbor's 2 year old son, however, loved it! Side note: Did you know that we are now on Vine?? (link only works if you have Vine installed on your phone) Yup, that's right, we'll be sharing short videos of … [Read more...]
Imaginative Play With Play From Scratch #Spon
In an age filled with electronics and step-by-step instructions for every toy out there, it's hard to encourage your children to use their creativity and imagination. Children are constantly looking to adults (or electronics) to entertain them with what to do and how to do it. They get frustrated when parents tell them just to make something up. When we were contacted by Play From Scratch to try out their products we were both excited and a little skeptical. After all, it's just a bunch of cardboard boxes, tubes, and tape. Why would someone pay for that?? Well, this is why... Jamie's thoughts: Nutty's birthday party was the perfect time to bring out the Play From Scratch Creative Party Pack! I opened up the world famous box of boxes and the enormous tube of tubes, laid everything out, and gave the girls two rules: 1) Use your imagination, 2) Have fun... The girls promptly got to work choosing their boxes, picking their tape, and forming teams to work on things. I … [Read more...]
Budget-Friendly Summer Activities For Kids–Camp Alternatives #Spon
Summer is almost over but many kids are still packing their bags to attend overnight camps. According to the American Camp Association, the average cost of one week at overnight camp is $690. If you don’t want to pay the high price tag of a summer camp, there are plenty of camp alternatives that won’t empty your wallet. Read on to discover six budget-friendly summer activities for kids. Sign kids up for a reading program. This is an especially good summer activity for kids who are just learning to read. Find out what programs your local library offers, and sign up your little ones. It’s a great way to keep kids busy for a few hours each day. Start your own “camp.” It will require a bit of coordination and planning, but the closest camp alternative is creating your own “camp program.” Decide which parent will be hosting “camp” each day of the week and make a list of activities for each “session.” If you will be driving the group of campers, make sure everyone in your vehicle is … [Read more...]
Volcano in a Bottle
Making a volcano in a bottle is a great (and fun) way to teach kids about chemical reactions and also teach them about volcanos. Here's what you will need: an old soda bottle or water bottle (I used an old wine bottle) 1 Table spoon of baking soda a drop of food coloring 1/4 cup vinegar water Place your bottle in the kitchen sink (or in your yard). Make sure the bottle is filled about 2/3 the way with water. Create a funnel or use one you have to add the baking soda. Pour in the 1/4 cup of vinegar and food coloring and watch it erupt! Fun facts: Mixing vinegar and baking soda produces carbon dioxide....this is the same gas that is found under the earth which causes a volcano to erupt. Have you made a volcano in a bottle with your kids yet? … [Read more...]
Berry Picking
Do you have a fun place to get away from the "real world?" We do! We go up north to my father-in laws house twice a year...once at Christmas time and once in the summer. Summer is my favorite time to go there for sure. There are so many fun things to do and see that we don't get down here in the big city. When we go in the summer we spend the majority of the days outside enjoying the fresh air! We ride papa's tractor, the fancy John Deer Green Truck, four wheelers and so much more. My favorite thing by far is to go berry picking! We haven't been all that lucky the last two years because the weather has not cooperated. Two years ago it was too cool and a frost destroyed all the berries, last year it was too hot and the berries were destroyed....this year the weather has been JUST RIGHT! We brought some of our dear friends up north with us this time too! We scavenger around the forest for wild blueberries, wild strawberries, and my personal favorite wild raspberries. Even though I … [Read more...]
