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!

Christmas is so magical! So many new sensory experiences- lights everywhere, Christmas trees, excitement in the stores, pretty decorations, blow up snowmen and reindeer...and of course a trip to see Santa! 

While I really wanted to have more crafts prepared for the days leading up to Christmas, it is also a very busy time of year.

This sensory bin was easy and quick... and we have been playing with it daily for a week. The objects I used in my bin should not be used without careful supervision as they can be dangerous for young children. I picked up some bows from the dollar store, a string of gold beads, a santa hat, decorative snow and scented pinecones. I carefully examined the pinecones before giving them to Parker and removed any sharp thorns.  Later this week he decided that the pinecones are food for the barnyard animals at the stable. The Santa hat and the bows were obviously his favorite and has been destroying any hope I had of recycling the bows for wrapping presents. 

You could make your own Christmas or holiday bin with so many different objects- jingle bells, cotton balls, wrapping paper, tissue paper, garland, a snow globe, burlap, cookie cutters, and more! Happy Holidays!

Happy Baby=Happy Mama!

The weather outside is frightful... therefore indoor activities need to kick it up a notch! I need a few ideas that will occupy Parker without my 100% involvement for times when mama needs to cook dinner, pay a bill or respond to an email.

This activity was a quick fix... not complicated or creative... but it was a good time for Parker! I have a feeling that it will be simply amazing for your little one as well.

I started by running some warm water in a bin, emptied all of my ice trays and threw in all the  cold weather animals I could find to create an artic winter scene.  Honestly, Parker was less interested in the animals or my (lame) water scene but rather completely fascinated by the ice. He kept fishing for the cubes, trying to pick it up to watch it melt. Does that sound boring? Well guess what? Ice and water is pretty amazing when you are one year old! And it's quite fascinating when you are an adult watching it through a child's eyes.  Clean up was easy with a small tarp and quick change of clothes!  Simple, simple! 

Happy Baby= Happy Mama!

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas! I am having my second childhood over here! After Thanksgiving, we immediate started our Christmas season! I was worried about Parker touching and knocking over the adult Christmas tree so I created one just for him!

I bought a large peice of large green felt from a local craft store- folded it in half and used a sharpie to sketched out a tree. I also created simple, colorful  circles, diamonds and a star for the top of the tree and used a brown sheet for the trunk.  I used my roll of white butcher paper to make a background (attached with blue painters tape) and hot glued my felt tree to the paper.  

I created the fireplace out of diaper boxes, screwed them together, wrapped it in butcher paper, used red paint and a sponge to create the brick look.... and Santa is coming to town folks! The fire was a $10 find from Target.  

This stage has been played with, talked about and used for hours and hours of dramatic play! We are loving it! We talk about the shapes, the colors, the hot fire; we sing Christmas carols; read Christmas stories... and are enjoying the magic of Christmas!

Happy Baby= Happy Mama!

Well we had oatmeal this morning- a favorite in this house- and finished the big quaker oatmeal container! So... we made a week worth of fun and games out of it. I cut 5 holes in the top and got out my pom pom for Parker to work on his fine motor skills. It has been a hit all week! Simple simple simple... it took less than 10 minutes of my time and yet gave us hours of entertainment and play.  Give it a good with your kids or nanny charges! It is sure to be worth the effort.

Happy Baby=Happy Mama!

I am so in love with how the rice color came out! I have made colored rice before using alcohol and it was awfully stinky and... not the best for kids. I followed this easy, mess free and simple recipe from Happy Hooligans  and in just over an hour we were ready to play! He loved it! We loved it! I did purchase a 5'7 tarp from Amazon after this activity as rice was everywhere! The best part about this activity is that I can just stick a top on the container and get it out any time we need a little something different to play with. Give it a go and let me know your results!

Jack O Lantern season may be over but we are still not even to Thanksgiving! We are still in full fledged pumpkin world in our home. In fact, we have a whole bunch of pumpkins that are starting to go soft from being indoors  so this activity came at just the right time! It provided over an hour of entertainment- no joke- I cooked dinner in peace. He played with the slimy pumpkin 'guts", picked out the tiny seeds, practiced taking the top on and off the pumpkin and worked hard at using the spoon to scoop out and put back in the innards of the pumpkin. I put packing paper from an amazon box on the floor and clean up was a breeze! Check out this activity this week before everyone gets full fledge into the Christmas theme... it's chocked full of learning and totally a hit!

Happy Baby= Happy Momma!