My goofy one year old loves to pretend feed everyone. We have been spending lots of time recently talking about penguins and watching them eat the fish and waddle around on youtube.  Penguins are so fun!
I used a cardboard box to make my penguin body and used lots of construction paper and tape to make him come to life. I cut a hole with my box cutter for his mouth and made my fish out of red and blue construction foam so that they would not crumble when he tried to "feed the penguin".
This activity takes a lot of fine motor skills.. I was actually a little surprised at how difficult it was for him to get the fish in the penguins mouth. Parker is really stubborn but gets really upset when he is unable to do it himself. He practiced and practice but there were definitely frustrating moments at the beginning. Our penguin has been hanging out in our playroom for about 2 weeks now and has a regular diet of fish.... and every piece of play food from his kitchen. 

Happy Baby=Happy Mama!

Oh blustery winter!  While Parker thought that the snow outside was fun the first few days .. he is now just irritated with boots, snow pants, bulky coats and gloves making walking and moving difficult. So today we brought the magic of snow inside. I didn't even go outside but rather opened a window and filled up my bucket from the porch roof. Fantastic!

I made some simple water colors with food coloring, gave him a few paint brush options and cups for building ... and we played until our hands were about to freeze off. The water and warmth of inside make the snow perfectly wet for building and construction. It was simple clean up with the tarp and throwing the used snow in the bathtub. I highly recommend giving this activity a try with your toddler!

Happy Baby= Happy Mama!

Happy New Year! Here is to new beginnings and fun activities!  Cheers!

This simple art project with paper, paint and two toliet paper rolls (with the ends cut to fringe) is perfect for a young toddler! Easy prep and clean up with minimal supplies gives your child a "special" activity to do when you need to switch things up.  Parker and I watched a youtube video of fireworks before he created his very own fireworks display and he kept yelling "BOOM!" while creating his masterpiece!

Happy Baby= Happy Mamma!