Here's a craft project we did today - Lion faces! I got the idea from here. I found that link here, a do-it-yourself blog which posts a handful of different DIY projects every day, ranging from kids crafts to home decorating.
Jayna wanted a blue lion, and Sage wanted purple.
Jayna wanted a blue lion, and Sage wanted purple.
ROAR!
Last week I started significantly limiting the kids' TV watching time. I'm not a big TV person, and I'd be ok if we had the TV hidden away in a closet. I admit, it comes in handy when I need to get something done. But it also becomes easy to slip into having it on all the time, or letting the kids turn it on whenever they want to without thinking much about it.Because a 2- and 3-year old have attention spans of about 3 minutes, it can get hard to keep them occupied all day. Every day last week I had to tell the kids "no" about 50 times when they asked if they could turn the TV on. Halfway through the week, I realized that if I was going to take away most of their TV time, I would have to find other things for them to do. They get bored just playing in their room all day. I've encouraged them to read quite a bit, which they have, but they can't do that all day. The weather has been rainy, so there's not much we can do outside. I don't have a lot of craft supplies on hand (yet... I hope to build up a supply), but this lion craft was perfect because the only supplies we needed was scissors, glue, and construction paper - all of which I have.
If anybody has any ideas for me on how to occupy their time (preferrably very inexpensive), let me know, I'd love to hear what other mom's do with their kids during the day.
Here is one thing we do at our house.
ReplyDeleteWe pull out all of our stuffed animals and create a zoo. We group the animals together. Someone is the caretaker and the other person is the manager. The manager gives the people the tour of the zoo. If the animals get sick they get shots with the plastic medicine shooter. We made tickets for the zoo and everything. Sometimes they bring out the wooden snake and let the people pet the snake and try and tell a little fact about it.
Since I have the day care we use real people as visitors. But you could use babydolls in a little baby stroller or something that the manager could pull the visitor around the zoo in.
i like jayna's inside out lion. very creative.
ReplyDeletewater-color paints. we LOVE those! and lots of colored pencils and crayons and paper.
ReplyDeleteforts - you know the blanket and pillow kind.
isaac goes on lots of 'hunting' trips, and sometimes maddie goes with him.
i am trying to cut back on tv time, too. but it's very hard when it is so cold that they can only be outside for about 20 minutes at a time.
our school time takes up some hours, too.
oh, spring, come soon, so we can play outside again!
The lions look great!
ReplyDeletethis was a post from a friend of mines website...thought you might be interested..along with your fun crafty projects....
ReplyDeleteTissue Box...
Also known as the "Mom, I'm Bored!" box....
This box is going to come in handy when Summer comes, but is also helpful on the weekends. Basically how this works... a plain old tissue box is wrapped in paper and then inside, strips of paper are added with ideas of fun things for the kids to do. The activities can include family things or simple ideas just to get them excited about something. And somehow when they pull the idea of coloring a picture out of a box it is more exciting than just Mom telling them to go color a picture.
I used the Walk in the Park designer series paper set from the Stampin' Up Occasions Mini Catalog that will be available from April 1 until June 30, 2009. I used a full 12x12 sheet of paper, plus a little bit extra. The first sheet I wrapped around the tissue box and then pressed and cut the corners so it would lay flat. I had to use a little bit extra for the second sheet just to cover the small parts that weren't covered. Then I used sticky strip to make it stay put. Around the hole on top, I taped the paper down and then ripped the paper away (or you can cut it away for a different look). Finally to cover up some of seams I took a pink piece of paper and made a belt around it. I embellished the back with a button and the front I used the stamp set "Wagon Full Of Fun" from the mini catalog. It was a fun project and it will be put to good use with the kids.