Clothespin Dragonflies

Here’s a cute project I found on the First Pallette web site. I always include children’s books that correspond with the projects we do. I read “Are You a Dragonfly?” by Judy Allen and “Fast Facts About Dragonflies” by Garstecki-Derkovitz while doing this project. My 7-year-old Nanny Kid clipped her pretty dragonflies on her bedroom […]

Hot Glue Tin Foil Painting

For a Memorial Day craft project I had a 5-year-old paint an abstract American flag on tin foil. I used hot glue to make a box and lines on the tin foil for the child to paint inside the lines. Be sure to read children’s books about Memorial Day while doing this project. We recommend, […]

Laundry Detergent Slime

For kids that like using their hands to make projects, this is such a simple slime recipe to make at home. The 7-year-olds I care for are addicted to making this slime. I never measure the glue and laundry detergent precisely but mixing the two ingredients together always works. I bought a bunch of glue […]

Happy Mother’s Day Maaa…

I found this adorable Mother’s Day card idea to make with my Nanny Kids at the craftymorning blog. It would be perfect to make with white paint on dark paper like the project on the blog. But we used white paper with my nanny kid’s mother’s and grandparents’ favorite color paint instead. You can purchase […]

Itsy Bitsy Spider Characters

One of the most popular finger plays is the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” It’s fun using props to act out the story while singing the song. I had my school-aged Nanny Kid help make the characters in the song for her younger sibling. Click here to learn how to use other finger plays with the children […]

Unicorn Books and Unicorn Craft

I love finding activities to do with kids that correspond to their favorite books. I also enjoy using recyclables to make crafts with kids. The Mini Mad Things Instagram page sells inexpensive templates to trace onto cardboard to make crafts. I recommend using pastels and paint sticks for these cardboard projects. I used the unicorn […]

Earth Day Window Sun Catchers

Making sun catchers is an easy project to do with kids of any age. The 18-month-old toddler, 4-year-old, and 7-year-old I babysit for all love making sun catchers for every holiday and season. I find using self-adhesive laminating sheets easier than using contact paper. I recommend purchasing some self-adhesive laminating sheets by tapping the links […]

Window Butterfly Sun Catchers

My Nanny Kids are addicted to making these simple, colorful sun catchers for every season and holiday. For spring, I printed out buttery templates (listed at bottom of page) and read children’s books about butterflies with the children in my care, (books listed below). Using self-adhesive laminating sheets is even easier than using contact paper […]

Easter Crowns

After 30 years of working as a nanny and family assistant I thought I had done every Easter project possible with children. But I found these beautiful and easy-to-make Easter Crowns on the Sassy Mamma web site to do with my Nanny Kids this spring. You can print the crowns for free on the Sassy […]

3-D Bunnies

I love the Mini Mad Things web site. For a very low cost you can purchase the templates for bunnies to print out and trace onto cardboard from the recycling bin. After cutting them out I let the kids use paint, markers, pastels, crayons, or colored pencils to decorate the bunnies and use the bunnies […]