The Power of Play Dough

Homemade Play Dough Young children love to play with play dough, and play dough play is a great way to support their learning. It benefits children socially, creatively, and physically while building language and literacy, science, and math skills — all at the same time! Homemade or out of the can, this preschool staple can […]

Spring Science at Home

How To Make People with Grass for Hair 1. Allow the child to decorate a rectangle of construction paper cut to fit a small milk container or Styrofoam cup. The child that made this cute plant holder is just two-years-old but I let her color the paper and then put stickers on the paper to make eyes since she’s isn’t capable […]

Snow Star Craft for Nannies and Au Pairs

Have You Had Snow Yet This Winter? With paper folded the right way and a little ‘cutting edge’ imagination, you can create something better than your typical paper snowflake — you can make Snow Stars! Younger kids may have a little trouble with this craft, but it’s like magic when they open them up. Well […]

Do You Paint or Carve Pumpkins with Your Charges?

7 Reasons To Paint Pumpkins By Chris Yates, Kids Craft Magazine One year I took the kids to a local farm where they sold really cute painted pumpkins for $30-$50 per pumpkin. Being a pretty crafty person, I decided that I wanted to try pumpkin painting on my own. Now we paint our pumpkins every year […]

Making Bark and Leaf Rubbings

What Does Autumn Feel Like? As the weeks pass and the weather changes, we begin to experience chilly Autumn days. Our clothing reflects the temperatures as we don wool sweaters, waffle weave long underwear, thick socks, and perhaps even a puffy down vest or a coat before we go outside. There are other ways to […]

What Does Autumn Look Like?

Using Our Senses to Enjoy Autumn The most beautiful sight in Autumn is the changing colors of the leaves. This provides opportunities to create leaf rubbings and other leaf related crafts. We can rake leaves together, which naturally leads to jumping in leaf piles! Kids also love collecting acorns and seed pods, watching migrating birds, and […]

Arts N’ Crafts for Apple Season

Apple Crafts to do With Kids Now that it is apple season, Chris from Kids Crafts Magazine has posted some fun crafts you can do with kids using apples. Apple Stamping Cut an apple in half. Dip the cut side of the apple into paint and dab it on a paper towel to wipe off […]

What is Your Favorite Mess-Free Activity?

Mess-Free Finger PaintingBy MaryAnne of mamma smiles =) Here is a fun activity found on the mama smiles =) blog. This activity is a super-simple way to let children finger paint without dealing with the mess! Use a plastic Ziploc bag (freezer works best, since the plastic is stronger), and add paint or a similar […]

Helping Kids Learn the Alphabet

Arts n’ Crafts for the Letter “A” You can help children learn the the letters of the alphabet by reinforcing letters with fun activities. Here are some letter “A” activities shared by Chris Yates of http://www.kidcraftsmagazine.com/. Thumbprint Ants – Draw an ant hill with a marker on a plain sheet of construction paper. Use a black […]

Reading and Learing About Caterpillars and Butterflies

Weekly Trip to the Library Each Saturday on the Be the Best Nanny Newsletter blog we take a Weekly Trip to the Library for nannies and au pairs. The following book and activity are from Scholastic, a terrific resource for reading and learning with kids. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle The story of The Very […]