Busy Boxes (Part 2)

This week both boys were pretty under the weather, which made for a long "vacation" week here at home. Both kiddos are such high energy guys, that sometimes one of our biggest struggles when they are sick is how to entertain them without a lot of movement and "on-the-go" play.

It seemed like the perfect time to create some new busy boxes for Big Brother. He was able to use them first when he was feeling sick, and needing some new quiet activities, and also later in the week when Little Brother was the one who was feeling more under the weather and needing more of Mama's attention.

This round of box ideas are probably best suited for preschool aged kiddos. As always, I tried to use materials we have around the house.

Outer Space Sandwiches

We often have a lot of fun " making" our sandwiches here at Kitchen Floor Crafts. Alright, really it's me having a lot of fun with them. This is especially true on holidays and other "needed" occasions. This past week both boys have been sick, and needing some fun. After spotting a cute rocket ship sandwich on Pinterest , we decided to try our own.

Alphabet Adventures: U is for Under the Stars and Unusual Animals

Amazingly, this post makes our one hundredth post at Kitchen Floor Crafts, hard to believe we've written that many already. And although it would seem symbolic to say we're finally wrapping up our Alphabet Adventures, we're still not there quite yet. But the good news is we haven't forgotten them and we're still determined to reach Z!

The Adventure

Even as we planned this summer for our adventures, we knew U was going to be a bit of a stumper in terms of an activity. It was actually Big Brother who gave me the idea when telling me one day "U was for under" which lead me to think of a local museum and planetarium we've been wanting to visit. We headed north to the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium.

Painting with Feet as Inspired by Dr. Seuss

Last year we had so much fun celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday (March 2) that we're already starting to read some of his books and create new fun around them. Today's read was "The Foot Book."

The read inspired us to do one of our messiest projects yet . . . painting with feet! 

Painting with Feet

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Light Table Letter Match

About a year ago I started noticing other bloggers' posts on using light tables with kids. Although they make light tables specifically for kids, I was inspired to ask on our town e-mail list if a former photographer had a table they would be willing to sell of give away. I was pretty excited when someone responded with a homemade one as it seemed perfect for using with kids.

We started exploring it just after the winter holidays, when the early evenings were dark and we needed something to perk up our afternoons. This is our most current exploration, and it was a huge hit!

Roll A Snowman Collage

In the fall we had a lot of fun creating and playing with our Build A Monster Game. Reading the book All You Need for a Snowman inspired us to create a snowman version.

I decided unlike our monster game to make it an art project. As we rolled the dice we collected different pieces for a snowman. At the end of the game we glued our snowman together as a collage.

Using Candy Hearts for Early Math Skills (With 3 Free Printables)

We've been having a lot of fun with these early math games and activities the last week, all using candy hearts, and had to share in case a kiddo in your house gets these treats tomorrow.

Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins

If you've been reading us for a little while, then you know we love muffins here at Kitchen Floor Crafts. In fact, apparently we love them enough to travel with muffin ingredients. This weekend I traveled to a mini-college reunion at a friend's house, and I was so inspired to try a new recipe I brought the ingredients along with me. 

They were so delicious, and even moderately healthy, that they will definitely be making an appearance on our breakfast table on Valentine's morning. The mix of berries and white chocolate make them very family friendly. 

Olympic Luge Marble Painting

We try to limit TV time in our house during the weekdays, but with the Olympic coverage Big Brother and I couldn't resist watching some of the events late this afternoon. Big Brother was instantly interested in the women's luge singles. He had lots of questions about the sport, many which I couldn't answer, but it did inspire a pre-dinner project.

To begin with I cut about three feet off a clean pool noodle and then split it lengthwise down the center. We collected some of the marbles from Big Brother's room and our washable poster paint. I taped a large sheet of white paper to the floor.

Valentine's Day Sensory Bin

The other day we wound up home on a snow day, which gave us a nice long day to work on some Valentine's Day projects and crafts. 

One activity was setting up a Valentine's Day sensory bin. 

Before this week we had note yet tried a bin of rice for our sensory play. We decided to try it for this round. 

Chocolate Playdough Valentine's Day Play

We couldn't resist making a new batch of our Chocolate Cake Playdough as we approach the Valentine's Day holiday. We love the super chocolate smell of this great playdough.

This time, we decided to pretend to make Valentine's Day chocolates and cookies. We used cookie cutters, heart sequins, beads, mini muffin liners, and sparkly pipe cleaners to decorate the creations.

Five Simple Crafts for Celebrating Chinese New Year

Yesterday we wound up with an unexpected day home, which gave us a whole afternoon to learn about and decorate for Chinese New Year.

Several years ago I was one of a handful of teachers from across our state who traveled in a grant funded program to China. For two weeks we traveled across the country; participating in home stays, sampling local foods, and seeing a variety of sights. As I traveled I collected many different resources for teaching children about China, and added to that collection to develop a unit I taught for several years. This week, as Big Brother's preschool class learned about Chinese New Year we pulled the unit box out at home and explored many of the items inside. As we looked for something fun to do on Friday afternoon we decided to decorate and celebrate for Chinese New Year.

All of our crafts were quick and simple, and extended from either the materials we'd been looking at or a great young-child friendly book, My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz.