Author Archives: Angela Conley
What Makes a Great Kids App?
Seemingly, everything has gone digital along with our kids’ games. It seems as though that, as well as Nursery songs on Youtube, are the most popular forms of entertainment for small children. While TV still dominates screen time, we’ve seen a tremendous rise in online and app-based games. On average, over one quarter of three […]
Make Your Own Plates Part III: Yarn Art
Oh boy, this one was fun! To design these plates we used yarn, glue, and the MakIt plate templates. Simply paint a circle of glue in the center of the plate area and start winding the yard around the center point. Continue painting the glue around the outside of the yarn and pressing the yarn […]
Make Your Own Plates Part II: Scrapbook Style!
We’ve been having so much fun making these plates. Here’s another style we tried…Scrapbook! We used scrapbook papers, scissors, glue, and buttons for this design. Scanned our creation and sent it over to Makit to finish them. So much fun and they would make fantastic Mother’s Day gifts too!! Get your plate template here and […]
Musical Instrument Coloring Pages
We explored the new interactive appbook about a Little Lost Note that was on a mission to find herself. Through this self discovery she has a chance to try on lots of different musical sounds and your kids get to play the instruments she encounters along her way. Such a whimsical story that leaves children […]
DIY Plate Designs
We were wanting to make some plates for Mother’s Day gifts this year so we asked Makit if they would help us out with this. They were totally on board! So they sent us the the plate forms and told to go crazy. Ask and you shall receive! :) Here are the first set of […]
Easy Peasy St. Patricks Day Dessert
The kiddos and I were on the lookout for a fun dessert to make for St. Patricks Day. What makes a good St. Patty’s Day treat? Well it has to be green. Check! And it has to have something magical inside. Check! We were inspired by an activity we saw over at Chalk Preschool (they have so […]
Zebra Coloring Page
Just in time for Valentines Day! Download this free zebra coloring page and color it for your special little someone. Click here to download this beautiful hand drawn zebra coloring sheet!
Paper Mache Hearts by Crafty Allie
Last month, Crafty Allie took our Kids Craft Blogger Challenge and we’re SOOO glad she did! Look at this adorable and totally creative paper mache hearts project she came up with to use some of our challenge supplies…tissue paper squares! One of the things I love the most about the final project is that you […]
What Would You Do with Feathers, Pipe Cleaners, and Tissue Paper?
We recently ran another Kids Craft Blogger Challenge where we sent a few lucky bloggers a package full of craft supplies. These crafters were challenged to come up with a craft or kids project using feathers, pipe cleaners, and small tissue paper squares. There were so many great submissions! Here are a few of our […]
Customizable (and totally adorable) School Valentine’s Day Cards!!
Looking for adorable school Valentine’s Day Cards for your kids school Valentines Day party? Well these are pretty stinkin cute! Simply select a School Valentine’s Day card, personalize the card with your child’s name, load photos from your computer or Facebook, then you’re done! These are only 99¢ at Cardstore if you use […]
Ready for 2014!
I was this image here and thought WOW, this really captures a lot of emotion and excitement. It reminds me of how I feel coming into 2014. It’s exciting, a little crazy, the boy is clearly having fun, he’s wearing handmade google that adds an element of purity. The image makes you smile and think at […]
New $100 Bill Printable Coloring Page
A new 100 dollar bill went into circulation last month (October 8, 2013 to be exact). It was estimated that the currency costs 12.6 cents to make with a special blue ribbon woven into the middle of the bill. We wanted to learn a little about the spiffy new $100 bill so we did a […]
Paint Pen Pumpkin Decorating
It’s pumpkin season! Carving pumpkins is great, but with young kids it’s hard to make that happen. At our house, we like to use paint pens to decorate our pumpkins in various ways. It is so much faster and less messy. Plus, kids can decorate their own pumpkins no matter how old they are. We […]
Ramps, Tubes, and Balls: Enriching Creative Play
Why is it the box the toy came in is more engaging than the toy? Because children get to use their imagination, be creative, and build an experience bigger than any toy can create! Creating an atmosphere of enriching creative play doesn’t have to be hard. Here’s some ideas to get you started: – balls, […]
Easy Soft Play Dough Recipe
This super-easy play dough is not only is it easy to make (only two or three ingredients and you probably already have them!), it’s a snap to clean up and makes for a great sensory experience. You need some hair conditioner (whatever you have should work), cornstarch, and, if you want, food colors. I started […]
Backyard Fun: Digging for Worms and Bugs
It’s always fun to dig in the dirt when it’s not work. Kids love getting dirty and finding little critters to put in their dirt pails. If you’re closing up your garden for the season make sure to let your kiddos dig around a bit for this great sensory activity! Dig, scoop, and move the […]
DIY Scratch Art
Create your own scratch art paper and artwork! I was amazed at how well this worked. Here’s what you’ll need: – Watercolor or Multimedia paper – Oil pastels – Acrylic paint (for traditional scratch art you’ll want to use black) – Paint brust – Scratching tool What to do: 1. Create a design on your […]
Rainbow Letters Coloring Pages: Free Printables for Beginning Writers
A great activity to work into your preschool letter lessons is Rainbow Letter Tracing. The idea is for the preschooler to trace the same letter several times with different colors to get the hang of how to write that letter. They create a rainbow of colors on the letter. It’s a great way to get […]
Dream Catcher Sculpture
These might just be the perfect summer camp craft. The sculptures are fun to make and can go in so many directions with a little creativity. I’ve never actually seen anything like them before. The idea came to me when I was thinking about creating a dream catcher activity and saw the stick sculptures one […]
Rock Art
Kids love rock art…OK, I do too! It’s so much fun to find the perfect rock and write a message on it or paint a mini picture. What you need: – rock – pencil – paint pens How to do it: 1. Go on a rock hunt. Find a few great rocks with […]
4th of July: Fireworks Art Project
What you need: – black construction paper – crayons – glitter glue Draw the fireworks with a crayon, then go over it with the glitter glue. Try different base crayon colors to see what you like the best. Make some fireworks with several colors of glitter glue. If you don’t have glitter glue but you […]
Paper Cube Ninja
Print, cut, and fold your way into this AWESOME paper cube ninja! What you need: – download and print this paper cube ninja design – paper – scissors How to do it: 1. Cut the white parts away from the 5 character sections. 2. Use your scissors or exacto knife to cut the […]
Summer Fort Coloring Page
Marc, our fantastic designer, dreamed up this summer time tree fort and created a coloring sheet to get the kids thinking about their dream summer fort. Make every coloring page great by finishing the sky with watercolors. The crayon acts as a resistant so you can’t mess it up! Let your child water color […]
Popsicle Stick Kazoos
This popsicle stick kazoo project is easy and fun. Kids enjoy making then and them making music with them afterwards! What you need: – 2 popsicle sticks – washi tape – 1/2 in wide strip of paper – 1 wide rubber band – 2 thin rubber bands Start by decorating your sticks with […]
Simple Science Experiment: Making an Eruption
To make this simple eruption all you need is 2 small containers, baking soda, and vinegar. We did the experiment outside so we didn’t have to worry about the mess. If you’re doing this inside, do it over the bathtub or container. To conduct the experiment, start with one container with a bit of baking […]
Foam Dough = Shaving Cream + Corn Starch
My preschooler loves playing with play dough, but what do you do when you run out? I’ve tried making my own, but it never turns out as smooth as the store-bought dough. I don’t love the price tag either. So, as usual, I browse the internet for ideas. When I first saw this dough online, […]
I bet you CAN…Challenging Your Kids to Believe in Themselves
Today my son took 6 trips to bring all his matchbox cars out into the family room to play with them. We built ramps and had races. He crashed and wrecked them. Pure fun. After he was done, he needed to put them all away. The putting away part is never as much fun as […]
Printable Mother’s Day Card for Kids
Click any of the images to download this printable Mother’s Day card. Or download your printable Mother’s Day Card for kids here! We would love to see your creations too! Share them with us on our Facebook Page!