Fairy Week

This week L decided she wanted to learn all about fairies. So we picked up some books at our local library, searched Pinterest and I racked my brain for some ideas. Lucky for us, a local gardening group put on a fairy event that we attended the weekend prior. The timing couldn't have been better. 

Monday we decided to read a book on fairy poems called,   . After reading a few poems, miss L decided she wanted to write (or rather tell as I wrote) her own. It turned out absolutely beautiful. 

After we completed our poem we made magical fairy finding binoculars. We constructed these out of toilet paper rolls, yarn, tissue paper and silver string (magic fairy dust). L decorated the binoculars and then I twisted the yarn around the binoculars to bring them together. I tied a separate piece of yarn to the yarn on the binoculars to create the strap. I neglected to get a photo of these beauties. 

I hope these activities help you create a creative spark of your own! There will be more on the blog soon!

💗K

Splatter self portrait

We found our inspiration from blogger Meri Cherry. You can check it out at http://www.mericherry.com/2014/07/13/self-portraits-3-5-year-olds/. We changed it up a little by adding pre-made paints to the mix and we didn't make our own canvas, as we found one in our craft supplies. My 4 year old absolutely loves creating this. She loved splattering the paint (which we did inside). I would definitely recommend to do this project outside if messes trouble you. 

We started the project in the morning. We mixed paints and talked about primary and secondary colors. Then miss L named her colors. She named her pinkish color "florist pink" (I know pink isn't a secondary color, she insisted she needed it so we improvised). Her green she named "mintish green", purple was "violet" and orange was "love and harmony orange". Naming the colors was a lot of fun! Once we made the colors, we added a bit of water to them to help with the splatter effect. 

Next we started painting. I showed miss L how to tap the brush gently and let the paint fly. Her eyes instantly widened with excitement and she went to work. Paint ended up on the canvas, on miss L, on me and all over the dining room. Thank goodness it was washable! I joined in on the fun and the canvas was covered in about 20 minutes. 

We let the canvas dry and then I handed L a handheld mirror. I asked her to look at the shape of her face, then paint just the shape of it and to really focus on the lines. We continued this with her neck, eyes, nose and mouth. She was concerned we forgot about the hair so she looked in the mirror and added it! 

I loved this project. I hope you guys give it a try and enjoy it as much as we did! We will definitely be doing this one again!

A craft filled day

We have been quite busy lately, so we unfortunately haven't had a lot of time to get crafty. Today we will change that. We are making seed bombs and having lots of fun!

I recently saw the HGTV seed bomb video that has been all over Facebook. I took some notes and modified it a bit. First Miss L and I found a few pieces of construction paper. Then we tore them into small pieces and put them into a bowl. 

We let the paper soak in water for 3-4 hours. Then we squeezed out most of the water and placed them into a silicon mold we had. We filled the mold hallway and then sprinkled seeds on top. Once the seeds were added we placed the remaining paper into the molds to protect the seeds. Let set overnight and you can start seed bombing the next day.

 

We decided to do a bit of a science experiment with our seed bombs and planted a few in pots in our backyard. In the first pot we buried the seed bombs and in the second pot we left the bombs on top. We then created a hypotheses as to which would grow the fastest. L predicts that the buried seed bombs will grow the fastest. Time shall tell, but I think she might just be correct. 

As always thanks for taking the time to read this blog. I hope you have a lovely day and you are able to get out and create something beautiful today!

Best Wishes,

K & L

Play dough with fresh flowers

Today we wanted to bring the sunshine inside. So w decided to make play dough with fresh flowers. I searched the web and came across this website for inspiration (http://www.kidsplaybox.com/fresh-flowers-play-dough-play/). 

I followed the recipe on the website with a few small adjustments. I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and we found fresh flowers outside.

We went for a walk to find flowers. I made the play dough first and then had the girls add the flowers on their own. 

Once the basic play dough with flowers was not entertaining enough I added in some Easter toys to enrich the fun!

Miss L decided that she wanted to experience the feeling of the play dough on her feet and enjoyed that experience for a while. 

That's all for now,

💜

K & L

Recipe:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon cream of tartar

1/2 to 3/4 cup boiling water

Mix all ingredients other than the boiling water and then slowly mix together. Allow the dough to cool, divide and then allow kids to add their flowers in. 

Belated Valentine's Science Experiment

A couple of days ago Miss L and I stumbled across the Valentine's section at our local pharmacy. I discovered candy hearts and remembered that I wanted to do a little science experiment with them. 

We came home and filled two of her glass jars we use for her experiments with water. We filled the first one with hot tap water and the second with cold filtered water from our refrigerator. Miss L then dropped 5 candy hearts into each jar and patiently waited. 

We made our predictions (or hypothesis) and waited to find out the results. After approximately 15 minutes foam started to develop on top of the warm jar, I explained to Miss L how this is a sign of the hearts dissolving. At this point she also noticed that the water was becoming cloudy in the warm water jar. She drew a picture in her notebook and then we talked about the scientific reason behind why the warm water dissolved the candies the fastest. (The speed of the molecules differs depending on the temperature of the water. Warm water dissolves things faster due to the fact that the molecules move faster.) 

Wishing you all the best,

K&L

Valentine's Garland

Miss L and I decided that we needed to create some decorations for Valentine's Day. So we took some TP rolls and cut them into three somewhat equal parts. In order to make the smaller hearts we simply folded them in half and bent the middle part in, which shaped them into hearts. The bigger hearts are two small pieces of the roll cut in half then glued and shaped together. We then painted them and plan to string them on some yarn and hang it up in her playroom. 

These did not come out perfect by any means, but they will do the trick! L loves them and had fun making them! That's what matters most!

Right now we are also working on the alphabet from Z-A. Miss L decided that we should about it this way, since we have already learned the alphabet from A-Z. We are working on letter recognition and writing the letter on her own. It's been a lot of fun and since I finally figured out how to get the Application on my phone to blog, a lot more will be coming your way!!!

All the best,

K & L 

 

Getting in touch with nature

Hi there!

We started our day out by planting some grass seed in a tiny little pot that Ladybug picked out at Target. It was very cute and she asked nicely, so of course I had to buy it. We successfully planted the grass seed and then L decided to explore. Which is great and I don't mind it at all. I just explained to her that her "exploring" or blowing on the dirt on top of the grass seed wouldn't help the plant grow. I love her interest in nature and I will continue to nurture it. We plan on heading out and buying some flower seeds soon. Hopefully her green thumb matures and she won't try and expose the seeds this time around. If she does it isn't a big deal though and we will try again and again! We found our Enchanted Kingdom Grass Kit at Target but you can also find it here.

Today we attempted to meet up with a local moms group that focuses on getting outside in nature for hiking and nature walks. Unfortunately we didn't make it quite in time and I didn't go to the right location at first. We will try again because Ladybug and I both love hiking! Since we didn't make it out for a walk the first time we made plans with some good friends to go out and get some fresh air later on in the afternoon. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed soaking up the sunshine as well as the company of two of the best ladies we know!

Have a great day friends! Keep exploring!

Hugs,

Mommy K

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (A little late)

Hello,

Yesterday we didn't do a whole lot. I have been having some health issues and yesterday was spent at appointments. So unfortunately we didn't have too fun of a day. Ladybug enjoyed learning more about the doctors office as well as their equipment.

Today we did a bit of journaling and a small craft. We cut a green pepper in half and stamped with them. We used crayola washable paint on a plate and just regular construction paper. If I did this activity again I would definitely use a heavier paper. They produced a shamrock shape and ladybug loved it! She played in a the paint and rubbed it all over her hands. We will be planting soon and find out whether or not she has a green thumb then!

After our fun morning we had an amazing experience modeling at Zulily for the second time. My daughter is a natural with the camera. The staff were so friendly and welcoming. Watching her model was such a joyous experience! Modeling lights her up more than anything else!

Thank you for reading! I hope you had a fun St. Patrick's Day!


Hugs,
Mommy K

Our weekend

Hello all,

On Saturday I was really excited to take Ladybug to her very first Fun Run! She woke up a bit late but I got her ready and we got there in time to participate... or so I thought. I parked and was just getting ready to get L out of the car when I noticed that she didn't have any shoes in the car. I cleaned the car out the other day and left all of her shoes at home.

I struggled to plan her very own Fun Run in the rain. We headed to Target to get some St. Patrick's Day gear to make it a fun experience. We made green pancakes and I have some fun St. Paddy's Day crafts planned for this afternoon.

We went out to a local park in the pouring down rain on all of our green gear  and ran for about five minutes. It made Ladybug's day! I found medals at the dollar store and have one to her as soon as she said she was done! It was a blast and I hope to actually take her to a fun run soon!

On Sunday we headed out to hang out with friends at a local children's museum. The weather was horrendous and the museum was packed but we still had a great time with great friends!

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Mommy K

March 13th (A Day Late) Butterfly Unit Continued

Hello all,

Today we continued learning about butterflies, since that is what Ladybug expressed her interest in. We read a couple of books by the fireplace that involved butterflies and we watched a couple of short YouTube videos about the butterfly life cycle. The videos we watched were Mr R's Songs for Teaching- Metamorphosis and HooplaKidz TV- How does a caterpillar change into a butterfly. Ladybug loved the point in the video where they explained how to act out metamorphosis and she was excited to give it a try.

First we wrapped a scarf around Ladybug's arms then she crawled on the ground and onto a blanket, then she rolled herself up in a blanket which was her chrysalis. Lastly she emerged from the chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly! It was a lot of fun and I believe that her learning was more in depth from acting it out.

After Ladybug acted out metamorphosis we decided to do a quick and easy caterpillar craft. We always have pom poms and construction paper in the house. So I drew a quick branch and let her place the pom poms wherever she wanted to. This is how her craft turned out. I love letting her freely express herself and letting her do the craft how she sees fit!

While I got ready for the day Ladybug and Daddy decided to make a craft. They made a butterfly hat to help me out with an activity we had planned later on in the day. They had a lot of fun making it! I found a picture on Pinterest that gave me the inspiration to try this activity. The Butterfly Hat can be found by clicking on the link. The photo below is the hat that Ladybug and Daddy made.

We had a play date at the park in the sunshine with a new friend and the kiddos really seemed to hit it off. Ladybug loves making new friends! We played with chalk and bubbles and enjoyed the sunshine. It was much needed since the weather is going to be rainy for at least the next week. After our play date we headed home for lunch and a nap.

After Ladybug woke up we continued learning about butterflies. We had to run out and get supplies for an activity and we tried to go to the library to check out more books, but I forgot that they close early on Fridays. So we checked out the nearby park instead. (Two parks in one day, sweet! I'm sure that's what my little girl was thinking!!)

When we got home we cut out some flowers from construction paper, stuck a straw through them and I let her drink nectar out of a flower. She was very intrigued and enjoyed learning hands on.

We had a very full and fun day and I hope you enjoyed your day as well!

Hugs,
Mommy K