Santa Claus Countdown

Burgin is 27 months old

Never underestimate the simplicity of something. If you do not have time, this Santa Face is quick and easy to printout. But if you do have more time, here are some other great websites that made Santa a little more gourmet!

1. Oopsey Daisey
2. Santa Pom Pom Countdown

Christmas Glass Painted Plate

This is a craft we did at our last MOPS meeting and I LOVED it!!

1. Take a see-through glass plate from Dollar Store or Old Time Pottery
2. Draw on the top in dry erase markers what you want to do for a design
3. Flip the plate over and begin to paint with glass paints. A little paint goes a long way.
4. Paint in layers and let it dry between layers (the paint dries very fast). For example, in this photo, I had to paint the berries and leaves on the hat before painting the white hat over it. I hope to do a final color layer over all of this to make it really pop. Just haven't had time.
5. Follow baking directions on paint bottle.
6. Add some cookies and give as gifts.

I can't wait to do more of these - such as:

1. A snowman with these Snowman Nativity Poems attached
2. A nativity scene
3. Angel
4. Stocking

The list is endless and so much fun!

Snowman Handprint Ornament

So easy and quick to make:

1. Brush wite Acrylic paint on child's hand and fingers.
2. Press onto dark colored Christmas bulb.
3. While drying, sit the bulb on a cut toilet paper roll tube. I was able to make 4 holders out of one toilet roll tube.
4. After it is dry, use permenant markers or paint to decorate the snowman. Note: when using markers, if paint gets on the marker it will make applying stubborn. Occasionally I had to scribble on a piece of paper to get the paint off and have the flow of color start again.
5. Add the date and name to the back, if you want.
6. Let dry.

This makes for great timeless grandparent and family gifts!

Gingerbread House

Burgin is 27 months old

I normally like to make everything homemade but when my sister gave me this store bought kit I figured I would give it a try. I have realized that the $7.50 spent on a store bought kit is well worth every penny. They give you a tray to help stabalize the house, more than enough candy and icing to decorate, and all the valuable time of not having to cook or clean up any mess. All your time and energy can be spent with your child making the house. Now that is $7 well worth it, and in my case, it was free - thanks Big Sis!!

The Present Game

This is something that can really be done at anytime of the year, but I got this idea from Secrets of Super Mommy (she does it around Birthday Time). For our religous ed class, I went around wrapping a ton of stupid items around the house (it is a little appalling how much junk we collect so easily). Items included toys from Kid's Meals, Office Items, etc. Then these were the rules for the class activity:

1. Sit in a circle. Explain that these gifts are not to be kept; it is ONLY for the activity.
2. Each student goes around one by one picking an item and giving it to the person to their right. The student who receives the gift, opens it and gives a sincere "Thank You, So and So", and then must say something they truly like about it. For example, for a rubber band - "Wow, this will help me stay organized" or for a red ball - "I love bouncing balls and red is my favorite color".
3. If needed, students can help each other.

The other great thing about this class activity was that the day after, Burgin got to spend about an hour opening all the unopened gifts. And the funny thing was that he acted just as excited and surprised as if it was a great present that he had never seen before!

Cereal Box Guitar

Burgin is 27 months

Another amazing project idea developed by Made by Joel. This took me no more than 5 minutes to make and it entertained Burgin for quite a while.

Glass Block Nativity Scene

I opened my Christmas present a little early: A Cricut Expression - Totally LOVE IT already. This is done using:

• Glass Block
• Christmas Village Cartridge
• Black Vinyl Lettering
• Bow - It's on wrapped around the outside even though it doesn't show very well

I used paper until I got the correct sizing.

Santa and Snowmen Candy Bars

Thank you Martha Stewart for such a great idea! Easy and fun to make Santa and Snowmen Candy Bars. If I find a link, I will post it (it was in her November 2010 Magazine)

Christmas Sensory Bin

Burgin is currently 27 months old

The Christmas sensory bin is filled with:

• Red and White Soda/Milk Caps
• Mini Ornaments
• Stuffing
  

Christmas Tree Day

Winner, winner, Chicken Dinner!

Turkey Handprint Craft

Burgin is 27 months old

Another adorable craft that they did in Burgin's MOPS daycare class. Make a Turkey out of hand prints!

Thanksgiving Cube

Burgin is 27 months old

Burgin made this (more like colored it), in his MOPS daycare class. The idea is that the child makes the cube and then rolls it. Whatver lands on top is what they say they are thankful for. I couldn't find a similar cube on the web, but a cube can easily be made by cutting two milk cartons and fitting them together. Cover them with paper and drawer or paste some pictures. or use a folding dice template from the web.

Balloon Lightsaber

Burgin is currently 27 months old

Idea Source: Filth Wizardry

This is a test run on Filth Wizardry's Balloon Lightsaber. I didn't want to spend a lot of time making them all fancy if case my 2 year old could care less. But not surprisingly, anything with balloons and a flashlight, he got very excited over.

Note: Not any balloon pump will do, you must use one small enough for the twisty balloons.

Daniel and the Lions Craft

1. Use a small yellow paper plate, or color a regular one yellow.
2. Add ears and googly eyes and ears
3. Add strips of brown yarn with glue.
4. Draw a nose and mouth.

Felt Turkey

Burgin is 27 months old

Source: I have to find where I got the template.

After printing, cutting the template and the felt. I glued the turkey head together and onto the body. Burgin was able to put the Turkey's feathers on. I also covered a small pizza box with felt to use as a felt board and store my felt board crafts.

In our Religious ed class, students will each put a feather on saying something that they are thankful for.

Turkey Cookies

Idea Source: Thrive

Thanks to Thrive for this adorable and easy edible item to make. Mine didn't come out as good as theirs, but I also had a 2 year old wanting to help!!

Thanksgiving Tree

Burgin is 27 months old

Everyday we glue a silk leave to a tree I drew on our slider. When we glue it we say something we are Thankful for.

Helper

Burgin is 27 months old

Burgin loves helping around the house, so any opportunity I see to include him, I do. This t-shirt folding contraption I got a few years back at a flea market allows Burgin to easily help. Although, I know I bought it for far less than what I see something similar costs at Amazon.com

Homemade Drum Marble Activity

Burgin is 27 months old

Create a drum:

1. Cut a balloon and stretch it across something with a rounded edge like a pot.

2. Use a rubber band to help hold it in place, if possible.

Experiment:

Drop a marble gently onto the homemade drum. It is really neat to watch how it continues to bounce and doesn't fall off. If you bounce it too hard, it will bounce off almost immediately.

Craft Failure

Not every craft is a success. This would be in the craft failure category. I thought by dipping strips of yarn into a bunch of watered down glue and then placing them in a cookie mold would create craft. Maybe I didn't have enough patience to let it dry fully or maybe I didn't use enough glue but as soon as removed the mold, the yarn turned into a blob!

Happy Thanksgiving Corn Craft

Burgin is 27 months old

We made a bunch of these for friends and family.

1. Pop a bag of popcorn

2. Cut out some yellow cardstock into the shape of ears of corn

3. Crumple the popcorn and glue it to the yellow cardstock (Burgin was able to do this part). "Pat, pat, pat" as he would say!!

4. After it is dry, wrap tissue paper around the bottom of the corn for the husk and twist.

5. The "Happy Thanksgiving"strips are printed using special font from Wonderfonts

Leaves are Falling

Burgin is currently 27 months old

Since we live in Florida, we don't get to enjoy raking or jumping in the leaves. I lucked out and was able to buy bags of silk leaves (70 to a pack) for 25 cents each on sale at Target. I play the song "Leaves are Falling" from his Music Together CD while I drop leaves on him. He gets so excited. Warning... it does make a big mess!!

Ghost Shrinky Dinks

Burgin is currently 26 months old

When I come across #6 plastic I save it to make Shrinky Dinks. Burgin colors them with a permanent marker and then I cook it in our little toaster oven on parchment paper for 30 seconds to 1 min. It curled up a bit, so I used my oven mitts to squish it flat. It dries fast so the flattening must be done quickly. Wah-lah, the end result is very cute! We added some googly eyes and a string to hang Mr. Ghost up.

Pumpkin Seed Craft

Burgin is currently 26 months old

Draw a pumpkin on orange paper. Have the child glue the toasted pumpkin seeds to the pumpkin. Cut back into the shape of a pumpkin, if necessary, and hang up!

Happy Hallloween Card

I took what we made from the Ghost Footprint activity. Folded it in half and on the front posted the photo I took from the Hide and Seek activity. I printed the photo out, glued it to a card and added the words, "Peek-a-", so the card reads "Boo" when opened up. I also added the words "Happy Halloween to the inside of the card!

Trunk-or-Treat

Trunk-or-Treat was a big hit with the little and big kids in our family!! This year our theme was It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. We had a photo cut-out section, a bean bag toss, pumpkin clothes pin drop, a movie viewing area and of course, lots of treats!

Ghost Footprints

Burgin is currently 26 months old

So quick and easy to do and they come out so cute!
1. Brush white paint on your child's foot. Put enough so that the footprint will come out very white with little to no black showing through.
2. Stamp it on black paper.
3. Add the word "Boo" or something else with a cute-tip

Zen Garden

Burgin is currently 26 months

OK, so not everything that I envision in my mind turns out how I expect....actually rarely it does! I saw this Zen Garden in the Dollar Store and thought it might be fun for Burgin to get his Zen on. Well, he did the exact opposite. By the end, the sand was all over the patio, but the rake and stones did survive. Maybe for another day or for another project...I have a few possible ideas.

Hide and Seek Clean Up Time

Burgin is currently 26 months

Another one of Burgin's favorite games. I actually love it too because I am able to get stuff done while he hides. For example, while he is hiding, I pretend to look for him and I put away laundry, pick up dishes, etc. I go room to room doing little things. I will call outloud so he hears me, "Where could Burgin be? I just don't know, maybe under the covers, maybe in this drawer, etc." It results in lots of smiles when I do "find" him because he thinks it was a challenge for me. In which he then hides again in the same spot - LOL!

Trunk or Treat Preparation

I love Halloween - the whole crafty, creative part of it, not the scary stuff! After years of traveling and always living in places where we didn't get any trick-or-treaters, I was so happy with the invention of Trunk-or-Treat.

Last year we did the theme of Willy Wonka at our church, but a lot of kids had no clue what it was.

So this year, I am preparing for "The Great Pumpkin - Charlie Brown" theme. This year, I had great plans, but with all our recent travels, I only had time to make a couple costumes, a large pumkin and a cutout to do photographs with. Burgin loved helping color the pumpkin and paint the Linus Cutout scene!

Fuzzy Stick Fishing

Burgin is currently 26 months

Take Fuzzy Sticks and bend them in the shape of a fish. If your magnetic fishing pole isn't strong enough, add a paperclip to the fish. Quick and easy fishing game to practice colors and counting!

Tower of Babel

For next week's Religious Ed class, we will be doing the story about the Tower of Babel. For one of the activities, each group will get to try and build a tower as high as possible using recycled objects. The one rule is that each student must have a turn before the student can have another turn. This encourages teamwork and communication.

Noah's Ark I-Spy Game

Burgin is currently 26 months

This is one of Burgin's favorite things to do. I put a bunch of objects in a container and then pour rice over them to cover them. Burgin digs through the rice to find the objects.

I was able to extend this idea to be used in our Religious Ed Class. I made a sheet with photos of different animals that I had miniatures (old Strawberry Shortcake doll animals). The students then had to find an animal and match it with it's pair to help Noah prepare the Ark.

Laminated Coloring Pages

Burgin is currently 26 months

A big pack of Dry Erase Markers from Sam's Club, Laminated Coloring Pages, and a Miracle Cleaning Eraser is turning out to be one of Burgin's favorite things to do. I plan on putting these sheets on a book ring and I figure when he gets a little older I can make some great reusable maze books for him to play with. His Grampy and Grammy gave him a Melissa and Doug Jumbo coloring book which worked great since there was such a variety. I put two pages back to back and laminated them with the larger size laminator pages.

Rubber Band Marble Pinball Game

Burgin is currently 26 months

OK, this one might not be the safest, but Burgin sure enjoys it, so I figure this is my test run version. I measured and drew lines, putting nails at various crosspoints in a board I wasn't using (as many as he let me...he desperately wanted to play before I was finished) and connected them in various ways with rubber bands (or elastics as us Northerners say). I lay the board at an angle and Burgin rolls the marbles down. It acts like a semi-Pinball Game.

For the safer version that I hope to get to do is one with removable Golf Tees.

Water Coloring Books

Burgin is currently 26 months

One of the gifts he received from his Grammy from the Thomas the Train day was a water coloring book. He really enjoys it but I found that he would squeeze all the water out of the pen at once. I originally had hoped he could use it traveling but because of the "squeezing" problem, we have to resort to dipping (another favorite Burgin pasttime) the brush in a small cup of water.

Science Center

Burgin is currently 26 months

We were fortunate to get to spend a day at Raleigh's Museum of Natural Sciences. The museum was wonderful with such a variety of things to do and see. What's even better is that the cost was FREE! Also, another great thing is that any proceeds spent in the museum store go toward the museum and are tax free!

Burgin really like pretending he was an owl and playing with the dinosaurs!

Time with Grandparents

There is nothing like time spent with the Grandparents. Burgin enjoyed a whole week of it and was all smiles.

Golf Balls and a Pizza Box

Travel Bag

Burgin is currently 26 months

This may look like a big bag of trash, but it actually helped greatly on a long 17 hour trip. I went to the dollar store and picked up a bunch of items, put them in managable containers for a two year old, and wrapped them in packing paper (no professional job needed). I wrapped a bunch of items that he already had. Items that were to big to reasonably wrap, I put in mesh laundry bags that I got for $1 at Walmart. In the end about 20 something containers for the trip and back. So between watching movies, eating, sleeping and getting a special "toy" to play with, Burgin did amazing on the trip.

Sensory Balloons

Thank you Mama Jenn's Blog for this idea. This is one of Burgin's favorite things...I just have to watch him to make sure he doesn't put them in his mouth. I used different colors to help teach colors too. Here are some of the fillings: salt, flour, water, air, and beans. Just be creative.

A Day Out with Thomas the Train

Burgin is currently 26 months

Burgin LOVES trains and we were fortunate on our trip to North Carolina to catch "A Day Out with Thomas the Train" in Spencer, NC at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. There was so many things to do and see.

A Hay Maze

From Burgin's Block

Chalk Drawing

Bubble Blowing

Temporary Tattoos

Minature Trains

Ride on the Round About

Thomas Bounce House

Minature Golf

Photo Opportunity

Big Thomas Gift Store

Transportation Museum

Climb into a variety of Trains

Lego Area

StoryTelling

A visit with Sir Topham Hat

and of course, a ride on Thomas himself!

We spent 4 hours and still didn't do all these things, and exhausted as Burgin was, he didn't want to leave, but they were closing up and we had to go!

More Marble Runs

Burgin is currently 26 months

Pool noodles, cardboard boxes and tubes make for quick and easy marble runs which lead to hours of fun!

Prayer File Folder Games

My husband and I teach Kindergarden Catholic religious education. I love the concept of file folder games, so I incorporated it with learning prayers. Once I find a spot to upload them, these are the ones I have:

• The Lord's Prayer


• Hail Mary


• Glory Be

How to Assemble:

1. Print two copies of the prayers. I used color to make it easier for the younger children. To make it harder for older children, copy in black and white.

2. Laminate one of the copies.

3. Glue the non-laminated copy to the file folder. I had to trim the sides a bit to make it fit better.

4. With the laminated copy, cut out the colored phrases. I trimmed off the excess siding. For older kids, a B&W version with all the words cut out could be done.

5. On a Freezer bag, I labeled it with a corresponding number if having multiple copies/prayersFor example, Glory Be 1. On the back of the laminated pieces, I label with shorthand which bag it goes to, GB1 (short for Glory Be #1). This way if pieces are found on the floor, it is easily determined which bag it goes to.

Marble Run

Burgin is currently 26 months

Burgin is obsessed with marbles. Of course, I always watch him closely that he doesn't put any in his mouth.

I found the idea for the one made out of the cereal box from Made by Joel - it is extremely easy, and fast to make. My son was busy playing with it for hours and I also was able to use it in teaching our religious education class.

Pudding (or Yogurt) Paint

Burgin is currently 26 months

Just add a couple of drops of food coloring to some pudding or yogurt.

The "Clean up Crew" helped clean for me afterwards!