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.