5 Days of... Preschooling with Pinterest: Day 5

***Note to self:  Do not schedule your post, then forget to check that it actually showed up on your blog - for two whole days.  That will be the time that you apparently hit "save", rather than "publish".

Here we are, at Day 5 already!  Today I have decided to share with you some Preschool ideas that I really like, but didn't feel fit in a category together - aside from this "miscellaneous" category, that is.  I hope you all have enjoyed this series, and that you have also checked out some of the other great themes being explored on the other participating blogs!  If not, just click the "5 Days of Blogging with the Homeschool Crew" button in the side column, and have fun!

• First up are the science/discovery bottles at Laguna Parent Participation Preschool.  They are made of reused Gatorade bottles, and are filled with all kinds of interesting things to explore!
• Along the same line, have you seen the jelly fish in a bottle?!?  It's at Bhoomplay's Blog, and it looks amazing!  It's hard to believe it's just a bit of plastic grocery sack in there! 
• Oops, here's one more bottle activity!  Pink Pistachio shows how to make sensory bottles.  I just love the Aquapod bottles she used, and already have some of those sparkly pom-poms.
• If your little ones love sidewalk chalk as much as my kids, you may want to check out how to make your own at Minieco.co.uk.
• I think this physical activity cube looks useful - see the details at Little Family Fun.  [Clicking through the link on the pin gets you an error message from Pinterest - but you can still go through the pin, and I promise that it does NOT go to spam or something inappropriate, as of 05/18/2012!]
• Have you introduced your little one to paper dolls?  Polly White's Picasa album has several sets of vintage paper dolls, including a Goldilocks set.
• Need more ideas?  Check out Quirky Mama.  Activities there are sorted by age from baby up to middle school!

That's all I have to share with you right now, but be sure to check out my preschool ideas board on Pinterest.  There are more ideas there, and I will continue to add to it!

5 Days of... Preschooling with Pinterest: Day 4

Let's talk about the busy-ness of it all.  If you have a preschooler, then you know there are times when you want to keep them a little... independently busy, shall I say?  Maybe you need to help an older child with their school work, finish making dinner, or just have a few minutes of quiet.  What's that?  You don't want to necessarily plop them down in front of the tv?  Well, fortunately for you, I have some "busy" activities on my Preschool Pinterest board!

• The Princess and the Tot does up what looks like a different tray for her little guy for each day of the week.  If you have a little one like mine, who wants to be on the couch as much as the "big" people are, then a tray would be great because it gives them a surface to work on, and helps contain any small items that might be part of the activity.
• Have you heard of busy bags?  Second Story Window has loads of ideas to help you fill bags for your little one.  They also host an exchange!  Busy bags are great because they are portable, meaning that you can take them with you if you know you will have to wait somewhere that will challenge your preschooler's ability to behave - like a doctor's office or a government office.  The Princess and the Tot also has some ideas, as well as an alternative idea to the typical zip-lock bag as container.  Money Saving Mom has some ideas on her blog, as well.
• Does your little one like to do worksheets?  You can find lots of preschool printable packs at 2 Teaching Mommies.  You can find more at Over The Big Moon.  
• Maybe you just want some coloring pages?  I love the animal pictures from Louise Elliott Design.  Each animal features regional folk art patterns!  There are some cute religious coloring pages at Karla Dornacher's site.

Make sure to come back tomorrow for Day 5 - anything goes!

5 Days of ... Preschooling with Pinterest: Day 3

Ok, I promised you a post on dough and other squishy things today.  Play-doh is something else that little kids (as well as big kids) seem to like.  However, it can be annoying to shell out money for it, then have it dry up quickly.  Also, watching your child eat it, then not wondering what exactly is in it is nearly impossible.  That is why I have greatly enjoyed making my own dough for my kids to play with!  Let's look at my pinboard of Preschool ideas, shall we?

• First of all, I love, love, love the recipe for play dough from adelynSTONE.  I followed her instructions exactly, aside from using sunflower oil (instead of vegetable) and adding a little bit of lemon essential oil.  I was just trying to add a pleasant aroma with the lemon oil.  Unfortunately, it didn't seem to really add a lemon scent to it.  However, I just pulled out all of the containers I had, and discovered something interesting:  the one that my older two made, without lemon oil, was moldy!  The other two that I made - back in December! - are completely mold-free, and still as pliable as the day I made them!  The moldy one was made in February or March.  I did use regular food coloring for mine, and also added some matching glitter I happened to have.  Aside from the glitter, this recipe is entirely edible!  I just took this picture of the doughs I made almost 6 months ago - they're much more sparkly in person!

Galaxy dough on the left, regular dough on the right

•  The second dough I made was galaxy dough.  This is just a fancy name for black, sparkly play dough.  I came across this pin, then read through the post on Fairy Dust Teaching about how to make it.  I took her suggestion to add a whole bottle of black food coloring and a bunch of glitter, and applied it to the basic recipe I used above from adelynSTONE.  I am still impressed with the deep shade of black, and love the glitter - though I wish I'd had some moon & star shaped glitter to add to it.  I had to settle for black, purple, silver, and Prisma.
• Now that you've got a good basic dough recipe, there is no end to the varieties you can make!  There is "cloud dough", which is basically dough made with white flour and no coloring.  You can make "snow dough", like this one from Ten Kids and a Dog.  You can also make scented ones like the gingerbread dough from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.  There is no end to the themed doughs you can create!
• How about moon sand?  Did you know you can make your own version of that, as well?  Just check out the recipe from Irresistible Ideas!  Obviously, this one is NOT edible.  Also, corn flour = corn starch.
• Lastly, for a bit of a twist on "squishy", check out the matching game from Tutus and Turtles. 

***A note about using baby oil in play dough - I don't suggest it, though some recipes out there call for it.  If your child eats the dough, a food-grade oil is much safer for them.  My opinion is if you wouldn't put it in their food, don't let them put it in their mouths.

Come back tomorrow to learn about busy-ness and how to create it!

5 Days of ... Preschooling with Pinterest - Day 2

Most little kids love to paint.  Unfortunately, paints can be pricy, especially if they're specialty ones, and the ingredients oh-so-mysterious.  Remember how funny tempera paint smells?  Today I am talking about paints - the kind you make yourself.  I have several ideas on my Pinterest board of preschool stuff, just begging for you to try them!

• Bath tub paints.  When I decided to try this idea, I actually combined a post (which I've lost) about tub crayons and the post from Meet the Dubiens about tub paint.  I got a set of small, plastic containers that have screw-on lids, and decided to use Wilton frosting colors rather than food coloring.  And, WOW, did the colors come out vibrant!  Also, I used some old tear-free shampoo we had sitting around, rather than bubble bath.  It was translucent pink to begin with, but you couldn't tell when I was done!  I did notice that my paints separated a little between uses, but all I did was stir them up when we were ready to use them again, and all was fine.  Don't be concerned about how bright the colors are - it washes off (and out!) with no trace.  Maybe because the dye is mixed into the soap first?  The one thing I don't like about the recipe is that there tends to be some corn starch left in the tub once it has drained.  It just needs a bit of rinsing again afterward, if it bothers you.  Little Miss loves her bathtub paints, and I'm due to make some more as our little bowls are almost empty!

 

• If you are looking for regular finger paints, check out the recipe from Easie Peasie.  There is also this one from The Imagination Tree, which looks a bit thicker and maybe better for toddlers.
• A great one to try this summer would be sidewalk paint from Hammer & Thread.  I think it's so cute how she painted the recipe on the concrete, then took a picture of it!
• Make a dimensional paint with the recipe from Delaware County Moms.
• Also paint-related:  Don't like letting your little one have lots of paint?  Try cutting small pieces of sponge, then soaking them in paint, the way they did on Baballa [it's in Spanish, though, so I can't tell you any more than that!].  Or, you can re-use a frappe cup to minimize spills.

One thing I love, love, love about all of these recipes is that with the exception of the bubble bath, all the ingredients are food!  If your little guy decides to taste-test a gob of finger paint, no worries!!!  Plus, all of these things are items that most people have on hand!  So, what are you waiting for?  Go make some paint!

Oh, and come back tomorrow for a discussion about dough!

Christmas Helps For a Busy Season

I don't believe I've said before, but the church we belong to is The Salvation Army.  Mr. Man grew up in it, and my family joined officially when I was 15.  It is the church that Mr. Man and I were pastors in, and are now working on rejoining as pastors.  

If you know anything about The Salvation Army, you know that they do a LOT of social service ministries, especially around the holidays.  With all the planning and work that goes into ministries like bell ringing and angel trees, Christmas really gets going by the beginning of October for many Salvation Army officers.  The most important thing to me during this time is that my children not grow up feeling that the season was "ruined" for them by how busy their parents were and the lack of time spent together.  I know many families see an increase in activities during this time of year, however, whether they are in "the ministry" or not.  I'd like to share some tools that may help cut down on some of the craziness, and even help keep the focus where it should be - Jesus!

Photo Credit:  stock.xchng

• A tool I just discovered last year was The 12-Week Holiday Planner by Sheri Graham and Marilyn Moll.  It starts October 1st (whoops!), and has all kinds of goodies in it like check lists (shopping, cards, gifts, etc), menus, recipes, schedules, gifts to make, and more!  I'm excited to try it out this year!  You can also sign up to be notified of updates to the planner if you choose to buy it!
• On a tight budget?  There are free ones available, too.  The FlyLady has a holiday control journal, which starts before Thanksgiving, that you can print out and pop in a binder.  Organized Home has tips on how to create your own Christmas planner, as well as forms you can print out.
• I haven't tried it, but the Springpad app sounds like a useful thing.  I'm a list-maker (I'm making one right now!), and this seems like just the thing for me - if I had a phone that used apps...  I often have pieces of paper floating around with lists of things I wanted to remember or look into later.  I'm definitely trying Springpad out!
• Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam has a list of quite a few Christmas traditions to try with your family.  I really want to do some of them with mine.  I'd love to try out something she mentions in the "Candy Cane Trail" post - only opening a few presents per hour.  I'd love to slow down the whole morning, and make the kids really focus on what they just opened, rather than flinging off the paper and then moving on to the next present.  It just sounds so peaceful!  And, lastly...
• Do you read A Holy Experience?  If not, YOU SHOULD!  Ann Voskamp has a way of connecting EVERY. LITTLE. THING. to living a more full relationship with God.  One post was about the power going out in their pig barn and her sons working together to keep the pigs from overheating.  Somehow, she found a spiritual application in it!  And, it touched me!  Anyhow, if you sign up for email updates from her blog, there is a link at the bottom of each one for her Jesse Tree Journey, which she wrote with Nancy Rodden.  If I do nothing else this Christmas season, I want to make sure I do this advent series with my family.  We need it.

I hope you've found something in that list to help you out this Christmas season - whether it is a way to stay better organized or an activity to help recenter your family on the true meaning of the season!


**Note:  The link to The 12-Week Holiday Planner is my affiliate link.

Pamper Some Body!

I have been browsing through my bookmarks, and realized I have quite a few DIY bath and body recipes saved. With Mother's Day coming up, I thought it might be nice to compile some of them into one place. These recipes would be good for any gal in your life (yourself included!), or even just everyday use for your family. I haven't tried any of them yet, but I'm working on gathering the ingredients and can't wait to make some of them and replace some of the conventional products in my bathroom!

• First up are 9 recipes from Total Beauty. Recipes included are: an egg mask, carrot buttermilk mask, lettuce cleansing lotion (this one sounds interesting!), rose toner, body wash, flower petal steam facial, travel facial towels (I plan to make these with witch hazel and cloth wipes, instead of vodka and paper towels), sesame body butter, and gardener's hand cream.
• Make-Stuff has a post with a basic shampoo recipe, variations for oily and dry hair, conditioner, dry shampoo, and even hair gel! I'm not sure I could get Mr. Man to try homemade hair gel. Maybe if I didn't tell him...
• A Sonoma Garden has a lot of homemaking how-tos down the left side of the blog, including homemade deodorant, lotion, and chapstick. There are also printable labels down the right side!
• The gals at Gooseberry Patch have a recipe for vanilla brown sugar scrub, complete with a cute printable label, too!
• I'm really excited about this one! Stacy at Delighting In The Days has a bunch of great bath and body recipes, including belly butter and a homemade vapor rub! I can't wait to make that one!
• Leslie over at Crunchy Betty has a plethora of natural beauty recipes! I'm especially interested in her post about using soap nuts, and cinnamon as an alternative for bronzer. One word of warning, though - the image on her blog header is a 1940s pin-up girl, and I know some of you may not care for that. I thought I'd let you know ahead of time!
• There is another deodorant recipe at Journey to "Green".
• Lastly, have you heard of Made-On hard lotion? Well, they tell you how to make your own on their site! Just scroll down beneath the video for the instructions.

If you have a favorite bath and body recipe, be sure to leave a comment and share it!