Lunar New Year Crafts, Recipe, and Book

Sunday January 2023 is the start of the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rabbit. Here are some fun and simple projects to do with the children in your care for Lunar New Year. Paper Lanterns: The Lantern Festival is held on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year holiday. It marks […]

“The Mitten” by Jan Brett and Puppet Fun

This is my favorite literacy project to do with children. There are few books as loved by kids as “The Mitten” by Jan Brett. Winter is a great time to read “The Mitten” and create this cute craft with the kids in your care. As you read “The Mitten” the children will love when a […]

New Year’s Eve Hats

I found templates for New Year’s Eve Hats at The Printablesfairy.com web site. It’s best to use heavyweight paper to print the template on. Let the kids decorate the hats any way they want. We curled ribbons to add to the top of the hats. I may make a small profit when visitors purchase items […]

Could Dough

I love making different types of homemade play dough with the kids. Could dough is a great boredom buster anytime of the year. But, I pulled out the Christmas, Hanukkah, and snowman cookie cutters for the kids to play with this batch of dough to prepare for the winter holidays. I used baby lotion and […]

“Elmer the Elephant” by David McKee and Craft

Children love the Elmer the patchwork elephant book series by David McKee. I love the Mini Mad Things blog. After reading “Elmer’s Colors,” “Elmer and Butterfly,” “Elmer and the Rainbow,” and “Elmer’s Special Day,” by David McKee I let the child in my care use paint and pastels to decorate a cardboard Elmer. It might […]

Lacing Paper Plate Spider Web

This is a super easy Halloween project that isn’t scary for little kids. Be sure to read children’s books about spiders such as “Anansi the Spider,” “The Very Busy Spider,” “I’m Trying to Love Spiders,” “Mrs. Spider’s Beautiful Web,” and “The Magic School Bus Spins a Web” to correspond with this project. Click here to […]

Handprint Acorn Lacing Craft

You Will Need: It’s Autumn where I work and live so I found this seasonal acorn lacing project on the Kids Craft Room blog. I made some adjustments to the craft project by using cardboard and had the child in my care use a safety needle to make this craft. You can buy supplies for […]

Cardboard Circle Weaving

The school-aged children I care for enjoy making beginner weaving projects. I grabbed some cardboard from their recycling bin and traced round shapes onto cardboard to create circle weaving kits for them. This project is not for toddlers, but a beautiful boredom buster for older children. You Will Need: Various Yarns in Different TexturesSafe Plastic […]

“A Fish Out of Water” and Craft

In “A Fish Out of Water” by Helen Palmer a young boy hilariously learns the consequences of not following instructions when he feeds too much to his goldfish. Overfeeding the goldfish causes it to grow as big as a whale. With delightfully retro illustrations by P.D. Eastman this book shows that getting a pet is […]

Turtle Weaving Craft

The 8-year-old I care for enjoyed making Ojo de Dios (oh-ho-day-DEE-ohs) yarn crafts this summer. So I glued three crafts sticks together instead of two and the girl figured out how to make turtles all by herself without instructions by me. You can purchase the supplies needed for this project by clicking the links below […]