Tissue Paper Flowers

My youngest Nanny Kid and I are making flower crafts this summer and reading our favorite children’s books about flowers. This is a super simple arts and craft flower activity to make with kids preschool-aged and up. See how to make beautiful flowers with coffee filters, flowers out of paper plates, cupcake liner flowers, paint […]

Clothespin Dragonflies

Here’s a cute project I found on the First Pallette web site. I always include children’s books that correspond with the projects we do. I read “Are You a Dragonfly?” by Judy Allen and “Fast Facts About Dragonflies” by Garstecki-Derkovitz while doing this project. My 7-year-old Nanny Kid clipped her pretty dragonflies on her bedroom […]

Laundry Detergent Slime

For kids that like using their hands to make projects, this is such a simple slime recipe to make at home. The 7-year-olds I care for are addicted to making this slime. I never measure the glue and laundry detergent precisely but mixing the two ingredients together always works. I bought a bunch of glue […]

Itsy Bitsy Spider Characters

One of the most popular finger plays is the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” It’s fun using props to act out the story while singing the song. I had my school-aged Nanny Kid help make the characters in the song for her younger sibling. Click here to learn how to use other finger plays with the children […]

Unicorn Books and Unicorn Craft

I love finding activities to do with kids that correspond to their favorite books. I also enjoy using recyclables to make crafts with kids. The Mini Mad Things Instagram page sells inexpensive templates to trace onto cardboard to make crafts. I recommend using pastels and paint sticks for these cardboard projects. I used the unicorn […]

Earth Day Window Sun Catchers

Making sun catchers is an easy project to do with kids of any age. The 18-month-old toddler, 4-year-old, and 7-year-old I babysit for all love making sun catchers for every holiday and season. I find using self-adhesive laminating sheets easier than using contact paper. I recommend purchasing some self-adhesive laminating sheets by tapping the links […]

Window Butterfly Sun Catchers

My Nanny Kids are addicted to making these simple, colorful sun catchers for every season and holiday. For spring, I printed out buttery templates (listed at bottom of page) and read children’s books about butterflies with the children in my care, (books listed below). Using self-adhesive laminating sheets is even easier than using contact paper […]

Easter Crowns

After 30 years of working as a nanny and family assistant I thought I had done every Easter project possible with children. But I found these beautiful and easy-to-make Easter Crowns on the Sassy Mamma web site to do with my Nanny Kids this spring. You can print the crowns for free on the Sassy […]

3-D Cardboard Easter Bunnies

I love the Mini Mad Things web site. For a very low cost you can purchase the templates for these bunnies to print out and trace onto cardboard from the recycling bin. After cutting them out I let the kids use paint, markers, or Sharpie Paint Pens to decorate the bunnies and use the bunnies […]

Easter Bunny and Egg Figurines

This is set of 5 do-it-yourself Ceramic Easter Figurines.The kit included 3 ceramic eggs, 1 sitting bunny rabbit, 1 crawling bunny, 5 sets of acrylic paint, and 5 paint brushes that are a great project and gift for Easter. The vibrant, acrylic paints are great to paint on the ceramic figurines and are translucent when […]