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...]
Glittery Snow Globe
Here is a "nearly free" and fun project. This is one that I would say to let the parents do because of the mess involved. I use this when my kids are sick in bed, they will sit and look at the glittery globe for hours (OK minutes, but in kid time that is a long time). Let me preface this with "yes, I know snow globe usually equals winter, but this is a great "sick kid" activity." My son recently had surgery and I made one of these for him to play with in the hospital...he loved it! Here is what you need Baby food jar or a water bottle if you want a big one Glitter Mineral oil (or Baby oil) One drop of food coloring Super glue Simply sprinkle a little glitter in the jar, fill the jar half way with mineral oil and the other half with water, add one drop of food coloring, glue the cover on tight and hand it over to your sick kiddo. They'll love to watch the oil and water try and mix and to see the glitter bounce around. … [Read more...]
How To Make an "I Spy" Bottle
Do you want an activity that will entertain your kids for a while and keep them quiet? Make an "I Spy" bottle! It's super simple to make, and is good for kids of all ages (my husband loves it as much as my 2 and 5 year old!) Use the "I Spy" bottle for long car rides, laying low when your kids are sick, or keeping your little monsters busy when you need to clean. Here's what you'll need: A bunch of objects that are small enough to fit into a water bottle. An empty, completely dry water bottle without the label. Paper and pen Funnel (or a piece of paper to roll into a funnel) White rice Glue String, yarn, or ribbon Clear contact paper or laminating paper (optional) Now how to make it: Step 1) Have your kids help you hunt all over the house, garage, and outside for things to put in your bottle. Make sure to write on your paper everything you collect. Coins, nails/screws, Barbie or Polly Pocket accessories, Legos, hair stuff, rocks, office … [Read more...]
Coloring inside the cracks
So we have had this odd family tradition that dates back to when I was a little girl...some 15 oops I mean 17, 20+ years ago. One thing my grandma was known for was making something out of nothing much. She always had a HUGE bucket of chalk waiting for the grand kids to use up whenever we came over. She had this cement driveway that was broken and cracked in numerous places. One day we all sat on the driveway and started to fill in the cracked pieces of driveway with shapes. After just a little bit of time we came to find that what we were doing turned out to be kinda neat. Here is a fun activity for you to try out (oh yeah, include the kids too). Here is what you will need: A bucket of sidewalk chalk Cement walkway, driveway or step A little bit of time What's fun about this is that each person does their own design and it turns out really neat when you do a large area. Try it out with your family and share some photos with us too! Have fun! and just for … [Read more...]
