My Nanny Kids and I love making home made play dough. This frosting play dough recipe I found on thesoccermomblog web site is one of the kids’ favorite homemade play doughs. It is easy to make, smells delicious, and feels soft and beautiful. It is non-toxic and edible if toddlers put any in their mouths. […]
“Paper Wishes” by Tara Knudsen is a lovely children’s book about a boy who is missing his grandparents, as they live very far away. He gets the idea to make an origami love heart, and he posts it to them. He wonders where it is on its journey and whether it will go by plane, […]
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 […]
What kid doesn’t like bunnies — especially when Easter is right around the corner? I found this project at beafunmum.com and a 7-year-old child I care for made these bunny ears hat out of a paper plate all by herself. If you want the hat to be a snug fit for a particular child’s head, […]
Going to the library with children weekly is fun. The parents you work for and the children you care for will love doing crafts projects that correspond to the children’s books you borrow from the library. After reading “Snow Day!” by Lester L. Laminack make a sled out of craft sticks with the kids. In […]
For last few years I have been cutting out 3-D crafts for the children in my care from cardboard found in their recycling bins. I found this amazing winter wonderland idea from the Mr Printables web site. Although the child who decorated this project only wanted to decorate the trees with green paint, one star […]
The school-aged children I care for loved decorating these standing 3D sculptures I make from cardboard for them. I just grab cardboard boxes from the recycling bin and cut out characters from cardboard. For this activity they used paint, pastels, and tissue paper squares to decorate their Thanksgiving turkeys. You Will Need: Turkey Template, remove […]
I found these super quick and easy Halloween masks on the itsalwaysautumn website. Use card stock paper and either staple elastic to the masks for the kids to wear them or paste them to jumbo crafts sticks for the children to hold the masks up to their faces. You Will Need: Card Stock Paper Printer […]
During a babysitting job with boys and girls aged 4- to 8-years-old I brought autumn crafts to make with the bunch of little ones. They enjoyed making these easy autumn leaf crowns. I especially loved when the little boy was dancing and singing, “I am Autumn Man,” while wearing his leaf crown. Be sure to […]
In “Meet Georges Seurat,” Seurat the artist describes his unique approach to art. He describes pointillism and how to use math, logic, and lots of dots to make beautiful paintings. I had the children I care for use the idea of pointillism to make autumn leaves for 3D cardboard trees. Also be sure to read […]
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