The kids in my care love when I cut out 3-D crafts for them from cardboard found in their recycling bin. I found this Christmas tree template from the Mr Printables web site. I traced the bottom of tree to make a short stand instead of sliding the same sized trees together. I highly recommend […]
Baby Safe Earth Day Painting
April 17, 2024 Leave a Comment
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. I love helping the kids prepare for Earth Day by reading children’s books about the Earth, making simple crafts, and baking each year. For this super easy baby safe painting activity, simply print an Earth template and trim it to fit inside a ziplock bag. You can also […]
“Stumpkin” and Pumpkin Sun Catchers
October 11, 2023 Leave a Comment
One of my favorite children’s books is “Stumpkin” by Lucy Ruth Cummins. It’s the story of a pumpkin without a stem trying to be sold in a store in the city that feels left out. “Stumpkin” has a stump, not a stem. So, no one seems to want to buy a stemless jack-o-lantern for their […]
“How to Build a Snowman” and Craft
January 4, 2023 Leave a Comment
After reading “How to Build a Snowman” to the children in your care, allow toddlers and preschoolers to paint and paste together this snowman craft. “How to Build a Snowman” is an innovative and interactive touch-and-feel winter fun book for babies and toddlers by Little Scholastic. A very first winter book with different textures to […]
“Elmer the Elephant” by David McKee and Craft
November 2, 2022 Leave a Comment
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 […]
Sidewalk Chalk Paint
June 8, 2022 Leave a Comment
This is a non-toxic and washable, three ingredient art supply for some summer fun. Children can paint on their driveway and once this sidewalk chalk paint dries the colors are vibrant and beautiful. We used this beautiful food coloring. We didn’t use filters for these photos! We experimented with the recipe. The children in my […]
Ice Cream Foot Prints
September 2, 2015 2 Comments
Creative Wednesdays When you care for kids too young to do much of their own arts and crafts independently you can still use them to help make cards and gifts for their family and friends. In this project, we used a toddler’s foot to create cute birthday cards with a personal touch. You Will Need: […]
Painting Symmetry
June 3, 2015 2 Comments
Creative Wednesdays Symmetry can be taught at an early age with this very simple art project. Explain to the little ones that if you cut something in half and both sides look exactly the same, they are symmetrical. Allow the children to experiment using different sized drops of paint and spaces between the paint dots. The five-year-old I care […]
Paper Bag Pumpkin Project
October 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
Autumn Arts N’ Crafts Here’s a super easy project to do with any toddler or preschooler to use as a decoration for Halloween or Thanksgiving. You can purchase the supplies for this project by clicking the links below or by visiting my storefront by clicking here. You Will Need: Large Lunch Paper Bags Washable Orange […]
Line Dropping
November 13, 2013 Leave a Comment
Art with Kids To help kids develop a love of art history this week I introduced my preschooler the works of Franz Kline. All children begin to express themselves by using line. Given a writing implement all kids scribble and upon examination of the lines the kids draw it is often possible to determine what […]
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