Apple Marshmallow Lips

It was a good idea I found on Pinterest but my little guy only ate the marshmallows.  Foiled again!

40 Things To Do with Your Preschooler

OK, I didn't "make" this and I didn't even come up with all of it by myself, but I will definitely refer to it when I feel stuck in a rut.  It is a list of 40 ideas for you and your little buddy:

1. Play "You're It!"
2. Collect rocks in a basket (or leaves or sticks or acorns or whatever is in your yard).
3. Make a fort out of cushions, furniture and sheets.
4. Go for a walk and take your dog if you have one.  Pick wild flowers for your dinner table.
5. Make a alligator head (or car or rocket ship or robot) out of a box. (see pictures)
6. Read a book or three.
7. Write a story together.
8. Go to the park.
9. Finger-paint (so what if it's messy?).
10. Dance to music or make up an exercise routine.
11. Plant something in the ground or in a pot with soil or just dig in the dirt together.
12. Run through a sprinkler.
13. Wash the car together.
14. Make a drum out of an oatmeal box (put the oatmeal in a ziplock bag and decorate the box like a drum.  Wooden spoons can serve as the drumsticks.)
15. Wash windows together.
16. Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's baby clothes.
17. Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets.
18. Play instruments together - piano, drums, triangle, maracas, whatever.  Start a band!
19. Bake something in the kitchen together.
20. Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers.
21. Play hide and seek together with stuffed animals.
22. Make silly paper hats out of paper plates, ribbons, and odds and ends.
23. Give a piggy-back ride.
24. Let your child call an elderly relative.  
25. Make sock puppets out of old socks, goggly eyes, and a mouth cut out of old fabric or felt.
26. Make paper bag puppets.
27. Glue two toilet paper rolls together to make "binoculars."  Decorate with crayons.
28. Make a snack mix together.
29. Act out a story from a book.
30. Draw with chalk on the sidewalk.
31. Sketch an outline of your child on paper.  Decorate it.
32. Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Find ideas online of how to turn handprints into a turkey, tree, spider, etc.  This also makes a great card for loved ones!
33. Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich with raisins, halved grapes, chocolate chips, marshmallows and/or sprinkles.
34. Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through.
35. Play "Red Light, Green Light."
36. Play "Simon Says" or mirror each other.
37. Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals.  Connect the boxes with a hole puncher and string or ribbon.
38. Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room.
39. Make a nature collage with leaves, sticks, grass, pine straw and flowers from the yard.
40. Make a scavenger hunt for your child to do around the house.

Button Wreath Ornaments

 Start with a bunch of buttons (about 75 per wreath) and some floral wire.

 Twist one end of the wire to keep the buttons on.

 Even little bitty hands and fingers can manage this craft. :)

 I had the tiny Christmas bells left over from another project.  I tied everything on with thin red satin ribbon.

 I made the one on the left and my 3-year-old made the one on the right.  Easy and fun!

Rudolph Pancakes

Surprise for Christmas morning!  It was easy - chocolate chips and whipped cream for eyes, cherry for nose, bacon for antlers.  And voila… a delighted 3-year-old!

Paper Towel Roll Christmas Tree

Cheap Christmas Craft made with things found around the house:  

I had a big wrapping paper roll and cut it into small pieces to make a Christmas tree door hanger.  

You can also use a paper towel roll or a few toilet paper rolls. 

First I hot glued the pieces together as shown.

Then I decorated it with paint, stickers and odds and ends.  I attached the hanger with the glue gun.  It was a raffia handle cut from a shopping bag, but you could also use ribbon or a pipe cleaner. 

This is fast and easy enough for a 3-year-old who gets bored easily!

Train Border Step Stool

I went to Michael's and bought an unfinished wooden step stool for $8.99 (orig. $14.99 + 40% off coupon) and a can of blue spray paint.  After letting a couple of coats of spray paint dry, I painted his name in the middle and a train border.  I haven't finished all the trains, so you can see how they start with basic plain rectangles.  It was easy and my son LOVED it!