Daddy's Little Monsters Craft-- Free Printable!

Father's Day is this weekend! Z loves arts and crafts so I knew I wanted to help her make something for my husband for Father's Day. I wanted to include the baby in the project too so I searched for ideas but couldn't quite find what I wanted. So, I made my own template, printed it out, and we got to work creating our monsters!

Daddy's Little Monsters Craft

Supplies Needed:

Paper (I recommend cardstock)

Paint

Template

Paintbrush

Optional: Glitter, googly eyes

Directions are self explanatory! Print out the template (or make your own) and let your little one's imaginations go to work! I helped both girls make their actual handprints and then I let Z decorate the monsters in any way she wanted; different paints, googly eyes, glitter glue, etc. I think they turned out pretty cute-- and they were easy and fun to make too! I think I love them so much that I will frame it for Kevin's home office!

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Snow Cream Recipe

Today we woke up to a winter wonderland... and then it didn't stop snowing. Its up to about a foot now. Needless to say, we stayed home today. Now onto the deliciousness that is called Snow Cream... Snow Cream is not anything new, in fact families have been making it for several years but I don't believe I had ever had it before this year. And it is good. Amazingly good. So good that it is now going to be a winter family tradition for us! 

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

8 cups clean snow

Directions

In a large bowl whisk milk, sugar, vanilla and salt together until combined. Stir some fresh clean snow into the milk mixture until you reach your desired consistency. This should be fluffy and not runny, but it melts quickly, so serve immediately. Top with sprinkles if you wish!

That's it! This is probably the shortest recipe I've ever had on the blog but 5 simple ingredients and less than 5 minutes of your time is all that's needed for this yummy goodness! Happy Snow Day!

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Snow Day Indoors! {Infant/Toddler Sensory Activity}

Today was the second day in a row we woke up to a winter wonderland outside! This is the first big snowfall of Baby Z's life and she is absolutely in awe of the snow. The only problem we have is that it hasn't stopped snowing long enough for us to go out and play in it (she doesn't like the snow blowing in her face and who could blame her?) soooo today I decided that if she couldn't go outside in the snow, I would bring the snow inside to her! I just brought out a vinyl tablecloth I got from the dollar store and some snow friendly toys and we were ready to go! Here's a couple pictures from our day

I highly recommend trying this sensory activity for your toddler or even your infant! We absolutely had a blast (while staying warm) and Baby Z learned so much about snow. We talked about what the snow felt like (cold, wet, etc), the color, how it melted in our hands, and so much more. This snowfall was just what I needed to brighten my mood. 

What winter activities do you do when its too cold or snowy to go outside??

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Candy Corn Toddler Craft

Welcome to the 2nd day of Fall, ya'll! haha This is the first Fall-themed craft we have done this year and Baby Z had so much fun with it. Depending on how independant your toddler/child is, they could probably set this one up by themselves! 

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Glow Stick Bath!

I've been trying to think of new activities for Baby Z because sometimes I feel like we're in a rut. So when I was at the dollar store last week, I picked up some glow sticks. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, I just knew that I'd think of something.

Well, bathtime is Baby Z's favorite time of the whole day. She has homemade bath crayons (I'll make a post on that later!) but I thought it would be nice to change it up a bit. So, as I was getting Baby Z ready for a bath, I decided it would be fun to pull out a few of those glow sticks and throw them in.

She LOVED it. She went crazy over them. I turned off the bathroom light and we just played with the glowsticks in the dark. She also loved that she could take them out of the bath with her and play with them until bedtime.

During the bath, we talked about the different colors and we hid them in toys to see what bath toys glowed and which ones hid the light. After the bath, I got her an empty paper towel roll and she really enjoyed putting them in that! Baby Z is such a girly girl that I think her favorite part was when I turned them into bracelets and she wore them around her wrist.

Actually, I think her favorite part was that she could take the glow sticks out of the bath with her. She absolutely loved carrying them around the house and figuring out new ways to play with them!

Some of the best toddler activities truly are the most simple ones.

Please note: Glowsticks are made for children 3+ and you should supervise your children at all times with them. They can break and they have small parts. And IF YOU ATTEMPT THIS, PLEASE BE SMART ABOUT IT! Crack the glowsticks yourself and make sure there are no leaks in them before putting them into your child's bath and NEVER break the glow sticks open and dump the liquid in the water (yes, people have done this before), they have glass and chemicals in them!

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What To Do And What Not To Do When It Comes To Salt Dough Handprints

To me, salt dough handprints are the easiest, cheapest way to beautifully display how little our babies truly are. I have made several handprints and footprints for Baby Z. I've even given some away as gifts (my mother-in-law and grandmother absolutely love these!). Salt dough has been around forever and its fairly easy to do. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup salt
1/2 cup water
food coloring (optional)

Things needed:
bowl
cookie sheet or aluminum foil
rolling pin (or something else to flatten the dough)
knife or molds

Optional Things I Use:
latex gloves (optional but I prefer it)
toothpick
straw
ribbon

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Cloud Dough

Since, this is my very first blog post, I thought I'd start out with one of my favorite toddler activities! Cloud Dough!

Cloud dough is an amazing type of dough that starts out crumbly like sand but when you put pressure on it or hold it in your hand, it has the characteristics of play dough. Its really easy to make and would be perfect for a child who loves to help! Its so soft and is only made out of flour and oil.

The ratio for the dough is 8:1 flour and oil.  I used 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of vegetable oil and it made the perfect amount. I made my dough with vegetable oil because it's what I had and it's safe for toddlers but I've also heard of it being used with baby oil, sesame oil, canola oil, and olive oil. So, whatever type of oil you have should work just fine!

Baby Z doesn't like to have anything on her hands so I wasn't sure how much she would like this activity but she had a great time scooping it up and moving it from one side of the container to the other. This activity can be rather messy so it would probably be easiest outside but if you do it inside, I recommend laying down something underneath the tub just in case (you can use a shower curtain or tablecloth from the dollar store!).

I've heard of people adding essential oils for the aromas but if you have a toddler who still puts things in their mouth, I would stay away from those for awhile.

When done with your dough, don't throw it away unless its dirty! I keep mine in a tightly sealed tupperware container and it has kept pretty well so far! Although, I can't wait for it to "go bad" or "get dirty" because that means I get to make some more. I think I heard someone say they made pumpkin cloud dough?! Sign me up for that!

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