Looking back on this video makes me miss the simple days. As the mom of one, I felt like I was managing life pretty well. Clothes were folded and put away, dinner was made and ready to eat by 5 o'clock, and I had so much one-on-one time to spend with my toddler-my only child. That is the one thing that changes the most...along with the laundry craziness...when you have one … [Read more...]
Snowball Toss Indoors!
If it is too cold outside for your little ones to go and play. Being them inside for a snowball toss indoors! Toddlers, preschoolers and even school age kids can all play this game together. My four kids played it one afternoon and had a ball...no pun intended! A snowball toss indoors is easy to set up. You only need two supplies. … [Read more...]
Cotton Ball Toddler Fine Motor Activity
Kids love cotton balls. They are so versatile as a hands-on fine motor and sensory activity. I grabbed some cotton balls for a cotton ball fine motor activity for my twins. The twins were so little! I can’t believe how fast time really does fly. This activity counts as a one item activity for kids too! I have a whole collection of activities that only need one supply. Kids … [Read more...]
Learn Letters with Feet
This post is sponsored by Kids in Socks. All opinions are my own. Please view my disclosure. How many times have you had a fun moment with your child saying the rhyme, “This little piggy went to market. This little piggy went home…”? Countless times we teach kids with their feet without even knowing it. Simon Says, a simple dance party with the kids on a rainy day, number … [Read more...]
10 Activities for Active Play and Less Use of Technology
Welcome to Mom Motivation Mondays where weekly contributing writers share their motherhood experiences to encourage you to find the joy in being a mom. {This week: Post by Lauren} We spent a little too much time this winter in front of the TV. I kept thinking “Only one more day of this. The kids are sick. They need to rest.” It seems like we always had an excuse to … [Read more...]
Number Path Learning to Count Activity
Children are capable of learning so much through play and their everyday interactions with you at home. I love working in learning activities into our daily life to encourage my children to learn and explore at their pace in a low-stress way. This number path learning to count activity can be used for crawling infants, walking toddlers and preschoolers. It is one of those kids … [Read more...]
Sensory Crawl Infant and Toddler Activity {Huggies Little Movers}
It is always an amazing change when a child who is so dependent on you can start crawling and walking on their own a bit. One-on-one time with our children playing and interacting is really important, but it is also important for a child to learn to explore (in safe ways) on their own. It can take time for a child to let you go, but around the older infant and toddler stage … [Read more...]
40+ Activities for Preschool at Home
This back to school season is an exciting one for me. My husband and I have made the choice to homeschool our preschooler rather than send her to preschool 2 days a week. We did send our oldest to preschool for two mornings a week when he was 4 ½, but our situation is different now-where we live, how much preschool costs in our area, and the needs of our children. Each of us … [Read more...]
Spell Your Name Hopscotch Game: Active Learning Series
When we combine movement with learning, kids absorb so much. Especially for preschool aged children, when we can get them actively moving their bodies in order to learn new skills, the learning feels like fun. This Spell Your Name Hopscotch Game takes the challenge of spelling and turns it into a fun active learning activity for preschoolers and early elementary-aged … [Read more...]
100+ Popular Toddler Activities
This list of easy to set up, inexpensive toddler activities is a huge resource for parents of toddlers! I absolutely love this age because learning happens so fast, but the endless energy can lead my toddlers to explore in all the wrong places. These 100+ toddler activities cover your children from 13 months to 3 years old...and almost all can be done with preschoolers too! … [Read more...]
20+ Toddler Activities to do at Home
Toddlers. They can be tricky! Not quite ready for sitting down and doing focused learning activities, this group is active, always exploring and needs their own fun activities to keep them (I don't like the term busy) investigating the right things rather than getting into the wrong ones. It does not take complicated activities to get toddlers interested in fun play. If you … [Read more...]
One Item Activity: Tissue Paper
I love sharing activities that are super easy, really frugal, and perfect for different ages. Many of us have children in different ages and stages, so finding activities that they all can do together-for any length of time-is very helpful. It is so fun watching all four of my kids play together even though they are in very different developmental stages-school age, preschool, … [Read more...]
Patty Shukla Kids Music
It can be tough to get kids moving when you are stuck inside. Patty Shukla Kids Music is a solution for you! This will get your little ones moving-and even getting exercise-while inside. I used these when I was too sick to really keep up with my kids, or when they needed to be inside due to bad weather. … [Read more...]
Homemade Summer Fun with Kids
My children are ‘outdoor kids’, large motor machines. They need to get outside in order to keep their spirits in balance-I need that too. Thankfully summer fun with kids provides a multitude of outdoor time for fun-and learning. Having children in multiple age groups allows me the challenge to adapt activities for different skill levels. Some summer climates limit how … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Bean Bags
I have been wanting to buy my children bean bags for a while and never got to it. DIY bean bags turned out to fit my budget and they were pretty easy to make. I have a CD of bean bag toss songs that teach following directions that I used with my own preschool classes when I was teaching. It was a great indoor activity in the heat of Summer, rainy days or the cold of … [Read more...]