Hand Print Crab and Foot Print Lobster

Creative Project Wednesday Teach the kids about the crustaceans lobsters and crabs. Tell them that crustaceans are arthropods which means their skeletons are on the outside of their bodies. They have jointed parts to move and many have legs to move. Crustaceans have two pairs of antennae. Crabs can swim but lobsters  can just walk […]

Seashore Souvenir Photo Frame

Creative Project Wednesday No day at the beach is complete before taking a walk at low tide to gather shells, sea glass, drift wood, and smooth pebbles with the kids. After arriving home from a day at the shore, help the kids create a photo frame of the treasures they gathered seaside. We simply cut […]

Making Rainbows: Rainbow Sun Catcher

Science Fun: Wednesday Projects A long time ago, people referred to rainbows as magical bridges across the sky full of colors. Children and adults still find them quite magical today as well. Explain to the kids in your care that when the sun’s rays shine upon the raindrops they are refracted or “scattered” into the colors […]

Paper Roll Binoculars

Creative Crafts for Kids My youngest charge loves birds. She’s too young to entrust with real binoculars when bird watching. So, it was easy to make these pretend binoculars and they have provided hours of creative fun this summer as we have taken them along on nature hikes to identify birds. If you do not […]

How to Encourage Learning at Home

Success In School Requires Support at Home Success in school requires support at home. As nannies we have a unique opportunity to teach children in important ways that cannot be taught in school. It is up to us to make learning experiences in everyday activities. We can even help children too young for school to develop […]

Paper Airplanes

Boredom Buster It only takes about one-minute to make make a paper airplane and it’s a great way to give bored kids something to do. Making paper airplanes teaches kids attention to detail, since the more expertly they fold the paper, the better it flies. Here’s a super simple way to make a quick paper […]

Paper Bag Puppets

Creative Projects to Do With Kids Every pre-school and early elementary school-aged child I have ever cared for loves puppets. Making simple paper bag puppets allows kids to practice coloring, cutting, and pasting. I like cutting out shapes from colored construction paper for young kids to make animals, princesses, and princes but it’s even easier […]

Bell Pepper Shamrock Stamps

St. Patrick’s Day Project St. Patrick’s Day is coming up so there is no better time to start doing green crafts for the popular Irish holiday. The shamrock is known as a symbol of Ireland, with St. Patrick having used it as a metaphor for the Christian Trinity, according to legend. The four-leaf clover is […]

Drawing With Your Toes

Creative Projects to Do With Kids Have the kids hold a crayon or pen between their toes and try to draw or write on a piece of paper. Simply put some paper on the floor and have the kids take off their shoes and socks and stick a crayon between their toes. The artwork will […]

Making Chunky Crayons

Wednesday Projects to Do with Kids Don’t throw out little crayon pieces that are too small for the kids to hold on to. Use them to create big, chunky crayons. We made multi-colored chunky crayons but you can make solid chunky crayons if you prefer. It does get stinky so be sure to use a vent or […]