Kiddo Krafts-- Mickey's Medals

Anyone else have a Mickey Clubhouse fan? Booger is obsessed! One of the newest episodes was Olympic- themed and called "Mickey's Sporty-thon". It had the Clubhouse members and friends doing all sorts of sports-- basketball, swimming, running, biking, etc.

At the end, they all got Mickey Medals.

So what does Booger need for when shes plays obstacle course in her playroom? A Mickey Medal, of course!

Now, before we go further into this Kiddo Kraft, know that I had to do this on the fly, so  there are spots I will explain how to do it better than I did!

You'll need:
**Tin foil
** ribbon
** Scissors
** Tape (I used scotch tape, but duct tape would probably stick to the foil better)
** hard circular object (cardboard would work well, so you could leave it inside the foil for structure)

Making the medals was pretty easy:

1. Take a piece of foil, wrap it around your circular object. I used a lid to a water cup, so I first wrapped it around, took out the lid, then flattened it back into the circle shape. This is where a piece of cardboard cut into a circle would be better-- wrap the tin foil around the cardboard and leave it in for structure.

2. Cut a piece of ribbon as long as needed to make the medal necklace length for your kiddo.

3. Tape the ribbon to the "medal" and voila! You can also decorate it, make different color medals for different places, etc. I did have a flower taped to one, but Booger didn't like it and ripped it off....

And that's it! Mickey Medals for everyone!

Kiddo Krafts and Saving Mama's Sanity

Toddlers.

They suck.

The End.

How many mama's could write that book? These little pint sized dictators with their emotional roller coasters are exhausting. Perfectly fine one minute, then the world ends for twenty minutes, then they become a super cuddle bug and back to perfectly normal.

This was our house 5 times the other day. Yes, we had FIVE horrible, hysterical, manic, full blown meltdown tantrums. Three within the first 2 hours of the morning. I tried being nice. I tried being stern. I tried being strict, I tried ignoring. I tried everything I could think of to keep my sanity. It didn't work. By 3pm, both Booger and I were absolutely exhausted. And then she had one more.

We used to do time outs, but those have become super stressful for both her and I. We've tried 'time in's' but those usually end up with me being punched or scratched as she tries to escape, which becomes more stressful for her. We've tried quiet time in her room until she calms down, but that ends with multiple escape attempts, sometimes trashing her room, and usually prolongs the tantrum a bit until she is done. 


I've tried connecting the dots-- when does she have meltdowns? Is it because of something that happens, or at a certain time of day? I've found that most of them happen around the time she is getting hungry-- snack times, meal times, a while after a meal she didn't fully eat. If she doesn't end up eating all her breakfast, I know we'll have some tantrums that morning. Sometimes the first tantrum starts with me asking her to finish her breakfast...

So anyway, moving onto the Kiddo Kraft-- one item I've been thinking about using for a while is a Sensory Bottle. A DIY item where she can sit quietly and watch the glitter fall in order to get herself to calm down.

I'm hoping to make a couple of these bottles-- at least one to keep downstairs and one to keep upstairs. That way we can sit and offer the bottle when she gets crazy. Hopefully this solution will work for more than two days..

Materials:

** empty bottle (plastic water bottle, etc)
** glitter glue in your choice of color
** extra glitter
** water
** optional: small toys (legos, figurines, etc) to watch moving around the bottle

1. Empty, wash, and dry the bottle.

2. Pour glitter into the bottom (if you have multiple types, it makes for more to watch)

3. Squeeze glitter glue into bottle (tip: let the littles squeeze a bit, then take the cap off and do the rest yourself. We used about 1/2 bottle of glue for each bottle)

4. Fill almost to top (leave a bit for combining) with warm water
5. Add toys (optional)
6. Hot glue cap onto bottle
7. Shake, shake, shake, shake! It'll take a bit for it to all combine.

The more glitter glue you use, the longer it'll take to reach the bottom. My plan is to let her use the bottle until she feels calm, but you could tell a kiddo that time out is as long as it takes for the glitter to settle.

Kiddo Krafts-- Wonder Crayons

This is a kiddo kraft I've been meaning to do for over a week now, and we finally got the chance to do it this morning.
The best part about this one? It spanned over an hour and a half and I didn't even realize it! I was looking back on the time stamps on the pictures and was amazed-- time truly flew with this one.

Wonder Crayons

Materials--
**silicone baking mold
**oven
** crayons (perfect craft for all the broken, run down crayons at the bottom of the box)

1. Pre-heat oven to 175*

2. Peel paper from crayons, break into small pieces (Booger was very helpful and excited to do this. She loved being able to peel and break them without getting into trouble!)

3. Place broken pieces into mold (in hindsight, we should have only done max 3-4 per mold, some on the very top didn't melt as well)

4. Place into oven for 7-14 minutes (start low and check routinely), until crayons are melted. This is where some of the ones on top did not melt fully. It doesn't effect the use of the cray, just aesthetics. I did try to mix them a bit with a small knife-- maybe a toothpick would have helped more?

5. Once cooled (we went for a walk for 10-15 minutes to let cool), turn mold upside down and pop out-- note, it did stain my mold. Not sure if it comes out in the dishwasher or hand washing as I haven't tried yet.
If not fully cooled, place into freezer for a few minutes. Then, use a paper towel and rub the outside of the crayon (like washing off a strawberry). I found some residue that got on my fingers, and it seemed to wipe off with the paper towel. The crayons still left some color on our fingers, but nothing that couldn't be washed off in the sink.

6. Enjoy and color! We colored a nice picture for Papa. I probably wouldn't recommend the starfish shape, as the legs tend to wear quick with how hard Booger presses, but any shape should do the job! It's fun when the colors come out together- orange and blue with one swipe? Wow!

That's it! Over an hour and a half of entertainment (with a walk thrown in there) and now she has 6 new crayons to play with (3 are being sent as a present to her cousin). It reuses old broken crayons, lets them pick their favorite colors (let them choose which colors to put in each mold), and shows them how to make something new from something old!

I can see this as a great item for a party gift bag, part of a birthday present with coloring books, or just a fun activity for kiddos!

Kiddo Krafts-- Stained Glass Painting

We love crafts in this house. Play dough, beads, painting, coloring, you name it, we like it.
However, crafting with a toddler is difficult. Usually it takes longer to set up the activity than Booger actually spends doing it.
Paint, for example. Booger loves to paint and make pictures. She likes to paint wooden items like frames, birdhouses, letters, etc. Its a great activity. It only takes about 3-4 minutes to set up (put the paint in the cups, make sure she has a bib, paintbrush, etc). On some days though, the painting activity only lasts as long as 3 minutes. "All done painting!", she says after putting five brush strokes on the paper....

Safe to say, painting is a bit more of a rare occurrence at my house. But when I found this option, I knew she would be all for it. It entertained her for about 30 minutes, and she demanded I leave it on the window for later!

Stained Glass Painting:

Materials--
** Paint
** gallon sized Ziplock bags (double zippered on top is nice to make sure the paint stays in!)
** painters tape
** optional: q-tips, paint brush, anything soft to move the paint around

1. Squirt a generous amount of paint in each bag. We did 2 colors per bag, but you can do more if you want! Make sure theres a decent amount, it'll make it easier for the pictures to "erase" by spreading the paint back around.

2. Get most of the air out of the bag, and close up tight.

3. Using painters tape, adhere to a window, sliding door, floor, table, etc. The stained glass look comes from it being on a window or door, but it could be just as fun on a table if needed!

4. Let your kiddo make pictures with their fingers, paint brush, or anything they can find that won't puncture the bag.

Some things to do:
** use it as a learning tool: write numbers, letters, shapes, words
** pucker up and kiss it for an outline of lips!
** press your hands on it and see your hand print
** zig zag the middles to combine the colors (bonus if you have colors that make another one-- red and yellow to make orange in the middle)

Have fun!

Kiddo Krafts

So far, this summer has been gorgeous! It's been rather hot lately, but cool enough in the mornings to venture outside.
So yesterday, Booger and I had a special project in mind-- painting rocks!

First, we had to find the rocks. We strapped Chunk into the stroller, got our shoes and off on a walk we went.
What I didn't plan on was the shortage of rocks in my neighborhood...Who knew it would be so hard to find a decent sized rock? Luckily, after about 30 minutes of combing the streets, we found enough to satisfy both me and Booger-- though we may have stolen one or two from our own yard...

Once home, it was time for the Rock Wash. All it took was a small tub about 1/4- 1/2 full of water and a very excited toddler ready to get her hands wet! She washed, I dried, and we laid them out into the sun to finish drying completely.

After nap time, lunch and walking the dog, it was time to return to our (now super HOT) rocks. Mama had to hold them while she painted for a bit, until they cooled down enough for her tiny fingers. We used the same washable paint we use for painting pictures inside, so cleanup was easy. However, that does mean that the paint will probably come off in the rain, so keeping them outside will prove to be a problem. Our goal is to put them in a small flower pot in her play house and hope for the best...

Painting took about 30 minutes-- I would hand her the rock, she would paint however much she wanted on it, then it was set aside to dry. We came back to each rock once or twice to cover the whole thing. I put some special touches on some bigger ones, like a butterfly, heart, family initials, dog's name, etc. She was SO excited to show daddy when he came home from work. He barely got in the door before she was dragging him back to the deck!

 Little artist hard at work

All done!

It was a fantastic activity that helped span almost the whole day and included some physical exercise, mental exercise (choosing colors) and hand/eye coordination (painting). I call that a WIN in my book!