Cardboard Roll Shadow Puppets

Making shadow puppets is a quick and easy boredom buster. Although, I have always found it a little tricky to use my hands to make shadow puppets, this is an easier way to make shadow puppets with paper silhouettes tapes to cardboard rolls. You Will Need: Cardboard Rolls Safety Scissors Clear Packing Tape Flashlight Dark […]

Covid-19 2020 Time Capsules

Creative Wednesdays Natalie Long, a mother of two from Alberta, Canada, created a free, downloadable time capsule workbook to help her 8-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old John sort through their feelings during the coronavirus pandemic. The workbooks for both children and adults have gone viral. Although the mother has an Etsy site Long Creations in which […]

Tin Foil Easter Eggs

Creative Projects I am trying new ways to get my Nanny Kids in an Easter mindframe. This is a super easy way to make some shiny Easter eggs for the kids to hang on a bulletin board. You Will Need: Aluminum Foil Safety Scissors Sharpie Markers (many colors) What to Do: 1. Protect the work […]

Popsicle Stick Christmas Trees

Creative Projects While simple, this is a wonderful activity where kids will create some crafty Christmas magic. Allow the children to give these popsicle stick Christmas trees as gifts or to decorate their Christmas tree or hang in a window or on a door knob in their home. Don’t forget to visit my storefront to […]

Sea Shell Crafts

Creative Wednesdays Who doesn’t love summertime and days spent at the beach with the kids? I love taking walks down the sandy beaches of the Jersey shore collecting shells, smooth pebbles, and sea glass with my Nanny Kids. We have made photo frames, shell hair clips, and painted the nautical treasures we find. When painting […]

Marbleous Valentine’s Magnets and Pendants

Creative Projects All of the children I have cared for love Valentine’s Day. This year we made marbled hearts pendants and magnets using red and white Model Magic™ for my nanny kid’s friends. The children enjoyed rolling the Model Magic with a rolling pin, cutting out the hearts with cookie cutters and scissors, and then […]

Christmas Tree Crayons

Creative Christmas Craft 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 Christmas tree crayons but you can make solid colored crayons if you prefer. We even wrapped some up to give as gifts to our friends. Melting […]

Straw and Pipe Cleaner Geometry

Creative Wednesday Teaching shapes is fun. Using simple materials, my 8-year-old charge created squares, triangles, diamonds, quadrangles, and more. Older kids can be more creative and make 3-D shapes such as cubes. Build them, take them apart, and start all over again. You Will Need: Pipe Cleaners Straws Safety Scissors What to Do: Show the […]

Walking Water Science

Here’s an easy science experiment with simple ingredients found in everyone’s kitchen. We found that cheap, non-absorbent paper towels actually work better. Try the experiment with different types of paper products (such as napkins or toilet paper) and glass containers (such as test tubes or mason jars) to see which works best. You Will Need: […]

I Love You to Pieces

Valentine’s Day Project Here is a super easy project to let your nanny kids of any age make for their parents and friends for Valentine’s Day. You Will Need: White, red and pink paper White glue Paint brush Marker What to Do: 1. Tear up pieces of red and pink shades of paper. 2. With […]