I will be the first to admit that this ivory soap explosion is one super cool, fun science experiment! You'll be just as impressed as your kids when you try it. Here is what you will need: Ivory soap (It MUST be the brand name IVORY soap. Other brands will NOT work! It must be a fresh bar too.) A microwave 1) Take one bar of Ivory soap and cut into half then in half again. Place one piece of the quartered soap in the microwave. 2) Set microwave for 3 minutes (even though you won't need that much time) and push start. 3) Sit back and watch! After about 90 seconds the soap will expand to about 6 times it original size!!! It won't be too hot to touch either. Let it sit for about a minute or two and then remove it from the microwave and watch for your kids' reaction. I will admit that I wanted to see what would happen to a FULL bar of soap....learn from me...don't do it...fight the urge! I had to stop it before it finished because my … [Read more...]
Magic Reindeer Food
Are your kids worried that Santa doesn't know how to find their house? Do they feel bad that Santa gets sweet cookies and milk but his reindeer get carrots? Try this fun Magic Reindeer Food activity to help ease their minds! I was introduced to Magic Reindeer Food last year by a parent from Nutty's swimming lessons. She was giving it out as an advertisement for her photography business and I thought it was so cute! My girls had a ton of fun sprinkling it on the snow Christmas Eve too! Here's what you'll need: 1/4 cup raw, uncooked oatmeal 1/4 cup sugar A sprinkle or two (or more) of red, green, or silver sugar crystals (for cake decorating) Small plastic baggies Paper (preferably cardstock) Printer or markers to make your own tag Stapler with staples or ribbon 1) Make a tag that labels the reindeer food and has the instruction poem on it (make your own, find one on the internet, or attempt to download mine--sorry, I don't know how to make it … [Read more...]
Catch Santa On Camera–DIY FREE!
I'm sure you've seen those websites out there that offer to help you prove that Santa was in your home by capturing him on camera for you. "Upload a photo of your tree or fireplace and for $10 we'll put Santa in your photo!" I'm here to tell you, that with a little effort, you can do it yourself for FREE! Don't worry, I'll walk you through how to do it step by step: I'll start by saying that I first posted this tutorial on my other blog (Mommy's Camera). Rather than re-watermarking every photo, I'm just using the Mommy's Camera watermarked photos (trust me, they are mine!). Also, this is Lindsi's fireplace. At the time I started writing this tutorial I did not have my house decorated or my tree up so I asked Lindsi to send me a photo of her house. She's an over-achiever ya know. Ok, on to the tutorial: Step 1) Download my favorite FREE photo editing software Gimp. If you have Photoshop you can still follow this tutorial. You just have to make adjustments for that … [Read more...]
Fun way to teach your kids how to spell their name
My sister introduced me to this way of teaching my girls how to spell their names and it definitely works! Unfortunately for me, it is hard to explain in black and white. Fortunately for you, you get to watch me make a fool out of myself in a vlog! Without further ado: What do you think? Do you think your kids could learn their names and phone number this way? … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Snow
Wanna play with snow inside and not have it melt all over the place? Make your own fake snow! It's great for decorating , letting your kids drive their toy cars through or just plain playing in! You'll need: A few unused disposable diapers (It would be super gross to use dirty diapers.) Water A container to mix in silver glitter (optional) Ok, now this is so easy you are going to think you missed something! 1) Cut open the diaper and pull out the inside absorbent layer. 2) Put it in the container and slowly add water 3) Mix until it becomes snow consistency! For powdery snow use less water, for slushy snow use more water. 4) Add a bit of glitter for some sparkle. (optional) My girls had a TON of fun playing with the snow! We attempted to add more water and make a snowman but it wasn't really successful. My girls did however, enjoy adding more and more water to see how slushy they could make their snow. We are currently freezing the slush … [Read more...]
Festive pillows
I loved this idea so much that I had to share with our faithful Toys In The Dryer readers too (It was originally posted on my personal website). Yup! My crafty itch has been bad this year. Maybe I'm trying to drown myself in projects? Who knows? Want to know how I turned three BORING blah-zay pillows into cute Christmas pillows? Here is how! Step one: Take any blah pillow you have around the house, or go to the store and buy the ugliest one you can (believe me the uglier the cuter they turn out) I added the red zig zag stitching to each of my blah pillows for a little added flare. Next I made three rectangle swatches to attach to the pillows (notice I added the same red zig zag stitch to these to pull it all together) Then I dug through my Christmas cookie cutters to find three that I liked best and taped them using painters tape to each swatch...like sew (ha ha ha pardon the pun). I let my son pick them out. He helped attach the tape too! Easy peasy, right? Then … [Read more...]
