The other night I chopped up peppers to serve with dinner.  I started by chopping  the tops off horizontally . As I set the tops on the counter, I thought they looked like flowers.  I knew that I needed to save them. So I stuck them in a plastic bag and tossed them back in the fridge, because Mama had an idea.















It's two days later, and I'm finally getting around to the peppers I shoved in the back of the fridge. They still look just as pretty and vibrant as when I first cut them.  So what did I save them for? Painting with Peppers!!

With the help of my two youngest, we gathered up finger paints, paper, newspaper, a Styrofoam tray and smocks.  My youngest also found a green Bingo dauber and an ink pad and stamp that he had to have too.  But he was being a forward thinker because the green stamper was quite coveted and came in handy.

After setting up a painting area in the kitchen and getting my 3 year old into her painting smock we were ready! My toddler was not interested in a smock.  He just wanted the mysterious green bingo dauber to play with.

My daughter loves to paint and she took right to messing about with the peppers.  Because little brother was coveting the green bingo dauber, she of course had to use it too! So there were a few tiffs with little brother over the green bingo stamper, and a few talks about sharing along the way.  But otherwise there was a lot of creating going on.

Seeing them getting into the paint and exploring different ways to use the materials inspired me.  I used the peppers to stamp out flower heads, then used the green stamper to make stems, leaves and grass.  My daughter saw what I was up to, but I didn't force her to partake in my project. She did ask me what I was doing though.


I think using the peppers to stamp out flowers would make a nice Mother's Day or Spring art project. You could add embellishments, attach a poem or even make a greeting card. Just putting that out there.

All in all both my littles had a good time messing about with the paint and peppers.  I even got to get a little creative myself. It was an easy activity to pull together, and it gave us something to do together.

I hope you find something that inspires you to do with your kids.  Remember sometimes the little things, like the tops of peppers, can lead to bigger things, like making memories with your kids.  Happy Mother's Day!

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My 3 year old Daughter loves when we tell her stories. As I craft an original tale, I usually take a moment to let her have an input in our storytelling adventure.  I might ask her what the name of a character should be or where they are going to go or who they will encounter.  There are times when she just wants stories told about characters from her favorite children's show.  One day I started telling her a story about a pesky cat who loves to pester the neighbor dog.  She loves to name dolls and cats Bob, so the cat became Bob and I named the dog, Barkley.  Since that first story I have told her a zillion stories about these beloved (by us) fictional pets.  Below I have included one sample story about Bob the Cat and Barkley the Dog. I encourage you to create stories with your child too. Enjoy!
Bob the Cat woke up from a nap and arched his back.  He hopped off the windowsill and sauntered into the kitchen. After getting a drink and something to eat, he decided to go outside. Out the cat door he went and peered through the garden fence.  He saw Barkley pacing around his house.  Bob shook his head.  'What is that dog up to now?' he wondered.  Bob loved to irritate Barkley, it was almost his sole purpose since he moved in next door.

My 13 year old wanted chocolate milk this morning, but we are out of milk.  I compromised by suggesting we make chocolate smoothies. My 3 year old loves to help me in the kitchen, so she immediately yelled, "I want to help!"

I gathered up the following ingredients:

• Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
• Juicy Juice Passion Dragonfruit
• Honey
• Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• Frozen Whole Strawberries
• Frozen Maine Blueberries

Daughter helped scoop out the yogurt and put the frozen strawberries into our Magic Bullet.  I didn't exactly measure anything, but I usually fill the pitcher only halfway.  If I were to guesstimate...we probably used a half cup of yogurt, 2 tablespoons of honey and chocolate syrup, maybe a cup or 2 of juice, and a half cup of blueberries and strawberries.  I cook visually, so if I like how it looks I go with it!

After filling the Magic Bullet we blended for about a minute or until all the berries are pulverized. If it looks too chunky add more juice.  I served our smoothies with straws, so I wanted it liquid enough to be easily drinkable.

The result? My 13 year old said, "This is crazy good!", my 11 year old finicky eater drank it up, my 3 year old asked for seconds and my 14 month old grabbed my cup. So I think it was kid-approved.

I love any chance to get my kids in the kitchen and cooking, because I feel that learning to cook is a valuable life skill.  Smoothies are one of those kid-friendly activities that provides a great sensory experience too.  Do your kids ever help you in the kitchen?  Have you made smoothies together?  What do you put in your smoothies?

This is also an activity that Older Kids could do independently.  Also makes for a really healthy snack. Cheers!!

I love to reuse household packaging. I've made felt board pieces out of cereal box characters; made organizers out of food boxes; and bookmarks out of packaging too. At the moment my kitchen island is balanced by a tiny piece of cardboard too. Repurposing at its finest!

As I was sweeping, I found a popsicle mold package on the floor.  I set it on my counter as I swept. When I glanced over the holes in the package reminded me of eyes.  I instantly felt inspired to create.

I took out a black marker, scissors and construction paper.  I decided to cut the cardboard packaging in half.  Then I took one half and placed it on the paper. I drew dots in the holes for eyes.  This helped me to visualize an outline.  My first thought was a monkey.

As I placed the packaging on the paper in different ways, I came up with a few ideas. When I put both halves down on the paper, I decided to draw a boy and his mother.

I think kids would have a lot of fun with this activity.  It is pretty open ended.  They could first pick out a package from your recycling.  Then they could cut it up into shapes and then they could draw around the packaging. Sky's the limit!

This is a great creative and family-friendly activity.  So please share if you give this idea a try! Have a great day!

I've been on a drawing kick lately.  I've never considered myself to be especially good at drawing, but I want to get better. To help me, I've been exploring how to draw tutorials.  Sometimes I just observe a picture and start drawing an outline and go from there.

This morning, I drew animals and even tried my hand at pattern drawing.  I think they came out pretty good.
I drew with a black marker on tracing paper. Then I gave the drawings to my Daughter (3).  She colored them with crayons and chalk.

I think she made my drawings look a lot better.

                     




My Daughter loves any chance to use scissors. So she got right into this activity. You could also talk about the emotions of the plate people. Why are they happy? Why are they sad?

**BTW, I can't take credit for these activities solely. I saw these ideas on Pinterest.  I did however, draw the lion and faces, cut them out, and write up instructions.  I actually never read the articles attached to the pins. My apologies Pinterest people! 

Hope you feel as inspired as I was! I think your kids will love it! 
What quick crafts have you done lately with your kids?

                       
Today was a gorgeous day for October.  The sun was shining, and the outside was calling.  So we spent quite a bit of time out on our deck.

My youngest likes to climb.  He climbs on any chair within his reach. Mama doesn't like having to chase after him and put him back on the ground a zillion times.  So I decided to get creative with the chairs, and I used them to make a large Blanket Fort!

I brought out blankets and throw pillows. I started to gather up the chairs, and put on the first blanket when bam my 2 year old had to get in on the action.  After I initially setup the fort, things took a very different turn. Daughter had other ideas....

First, she threw the pillows on top of the blankets. The blankets fell off the chairs of course.  Then the play became focused on the chairs.  The chairs were lined up. They were decorated with pillows. Giant stuffed animals were brought out, and set upon the chairs. Little brother was manhandled and moved about also. Lol!
                                                    
This afternoon my oldest son spent some time playing out there with the littles. After he resetup the blanket fort my Daughter ate her snack underneath it, and my one year old laid down. When they were busy playing outside of the fort, Mama even hid under there to get a few moments to use my phone in peace. Haha!

I would have to say this was a successful activity.  Sometimes going old school is better than high tech activities.  They had such a fun time and got lots of fresh air too!

When was the last time you made a blanket fort for your kids? Have you tried making one outside?

But that is what I love about play.  It is different for each child and each person. It takes what you know and puts an individual spin on it.

Both my kids also learned that dry uncooked pasta doesn't taste as good as cooked. Lol!

I hope that this activity inspires you to come up with your own play experience.  Kids really don't need expensive toys to play with. Just use what you have on hand.

Do you let your kids play with their food?

The littles and I were playing in the yard earlier; and I started to admire all the mushrooms and wildflowers growing in our yard.  I instantly got inspired to setup a nature painting activity for them.

I setup a kid-sized table outside, with poster board, fingerpaints, and assorted wildflowers and mushrooms. It got really windy, so we moved the art fun into the garage.  My daughter got right to work making her masterpiece.  It was fun to watch what she chose to work with and how. I left it up to her to choose.

Little brother got in on the fun as well.  He mostly explored the paint.  He also pulled the paper off the table a few times too. Lol!

If you are worried about little ones sampling the mushrooms...you could use mushrooms bought in the produce section at the grocery store.

This fun art activity could be changed up by using seasonal produce, like apples. It's a fun way to tie in food and foraging with nature and art.  Just another way to get kids excited about food and nature.



Do you do nature art with your kids?  Please share in the comments.

Around the 4th of July, our local surplus store had square red, white & blue reusable ice cubes for sale for about 99 cents a bag. Recently my daughter has discovered that they make a fun manipulative. I just found her lining them up while singing, "I'm learning colors, I'm learning colors." She also loves to stack them; plunk them in a cup; and counting them.  I love finding new uses for everyday items, and apparently she does too!

The other great thing about this activity is that it can be done at the sink and in the kitchen. The more kids spend time in the kitchen, the more comfortable they will be in this space.  The ice cubes are also something that can be frozen, so it is also a great sensory experience too.


What kitchen items do your children gravitate towards?  Have they done any Math play with those items?

I've been unpacking food items to put into my new pantry.  Today I found all of our peanut butter jars. My two year old daughter immediately saw a play opportunity.  She lined them up by colored lid; made patterns (red lid, yellow lid, red lid, blue lid); and of course counted them.  She even asked me about the contents at one point. The reds were creamy, the blue crunchy, and the yellow jar contained sun butter. She even investigated the labels for letters and pictures.  She combined her play with her other new toy, an old sushi mat. Who needs expensive learning toys when you can learn in your pantry!

We just moved about a week ago, and our home is filled with boxes and things here and there. As we start unpacking a little bit at a time we are discovering things we didn't even know that we had. The other day our daughter unearthed a large bag of elastics. A thought started brewing in my brain... Geoboards.  When I stumbled upon ice cube trays from our latest trip to Goodwill I knew we had a plan.

Yesterday I setout the Ice Cube trays and some muffin tins. All four of my kids played for quite awhile with our homemade geoboards.  My 11 year old even added a STEM spin by devising a way to shoot elastics with a muffin tin. He and his older brother took turns aiming and shooting. It's possible my oldest was shot in the eye, but I didn't see anything. Lol!

My son decided to freeze an elastic decorated Ice Cube tray. He gets a kick out of offering guests ice from "his" tray. Nothing like a little ownership in the kitchen.

So if you are looking for a fun Math based activity, look no further than the kitchen and junk drawer. Have fun!

We have been celebrating fun holidays lately.  Today we baked up several batches of Chocolate Chip Cookies for Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.  The cookies were a big hit with my kids. I would like to say we made them from scratch but we used boxed mixes this go round.  We just had to, because we got each box at our local surplus store for 79 cents a box.  Can't pass up that deal!  Plus we still had to mix them up, measure and bake them. So a great hands-on Math activity too!