I must admit, this LEGO head fine motor activity that my son has been doing every day with therapy putty for the last few weeks has me laughing every time. There's just something so funny about LEGO heads to me! Is that weird? Fine motor skills can be a big challenge for a lot of...
LEGO Head Rescue: A Fine Motor Activity
10 Picture Books for 6-Year-Olds (and up!)
Often, once a child can read independently, or he or she can sit though a chapter book, parents (including me) may let picture books sit in the "to read" pile a little too long. I'm a huge advocate of reading picture books to older kids and my 6-year-old is certainly a big fan of colorful illustrations and...
I Survived Making Slime, One Kid Touched It, and No Superheroes Were Injured
I write a kid activities blog and yet I have never made slime. How can that be? I don't have any good excuse except that neither of my kids have a great appreciation for sensory play. My oldest son flat out refuses to touch anything slimy, gooey or sticky, and his brother is very hesitant....
Why We Love Subscription Boxes for Kids
Are you familiar with craft subscription boxes? If not, let me introduce you to the joy of receiving a box full of crafty-tinkering science-art goodness in the mail each month. This may seem like an odd post for me since, if you've been following the blog for a time, (which, by the way, makes you a very...
Easy Handprint Art Project (For Kids Who "Hate Art")
My 5-year-old has declared he "hates art." Nevertheless, I continue to try and find small, simple ways to encourage moments of artistic expression, being careful not to exert any pressure on him. This handprint tracing art idea may not be totally innovative and mind-blowing, but it works! And it works really, really well. Try it,...
10 Alternatives to Forcing Your Kids to Learn to Read
Does your child hate learning to read? Mine does! There is so much advice out there about raising readers and for my first child I mostly ignored it. Not because it wasn't good advice. It was! It's just that my older son taught himself to read at the tender age of 3 and has since...
14 Children's Books with Multiracial Families
I want books that reflect a diverse, multicultural world. Children's books with multiracial and biracial families and characters are for everyone! My family lives in one of the most diverse cities in the nation and I am so fortunate my children will grow up knowing people from all walks of life. It will help them become the tolerant, compassionate individuals I...
Teaching Compassion to Kids (Even on Halloween)
As I've mentioned before, teaching my kids to have compassion for others is high on my list of priorities. As a parent, it is more important to me that they are good citizens than they know their multiplication tables. Of course there are lots of big ways to teach kids about compassion through volunteer work,...
Game of the Month: Forbidden Island
This month's pick for game of the month is another cooperative game. Although we are a family that loves games, lately competitive games have been causing a bit of stress for my youngest son who has a really, really hard time losing! There are many ways to help everyone in the family enjoy game night (<---...
Halloween Coloring Page and Puppet Craft for Kids
This new Halloween coloring page from children's book illustrator, Melanie Hope Greenberg, marks our two year collaboration to bring you a fun coloring page each month. A boy in a Halloween costume fishes for apples in the sink and the Halloween icons on the side can be turned into stick puppets for extended pretend play. I left...
1970s Children's Picture Books
This list of 1970s children's books is meant as the picture book companion to my post about great 1970s chapter book classics that I compiled as part of my series, Children's Classics by the Decade in which I shared favorites children's novels from the 20th century. I think it is safe to say all parents enjoy...
16 Indoor Water Play Ideas for Kids
My kids absolutely love playing with water. Indoor water play has saved me on many a bad-weather day or when the kids were especially cranky and I needed a quick activity to keep them busy. It's such a simple concept and it cleans up so easily. (Just make sure you have a towel -- or...
16 High Quality Magazines for Kids
My kids love getting magazine subscriptions in the mail. I like it too because when I pull out the latest edition of Click or Ladybug from the mailbox I know my kids will be quietly occupied for 30 minutes to an hour. Why Kids Magazines and Not Just Books? If you're not sure why you...
How to Have the Perfect STEM Play Date
Play and learning are natural partners. Kids' activities that promote STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) concepts do not have to be complicated and simple STEM projects are perfect for play dates so friends can learn and play together. One of my older son's best friends is another boy his age who lives in our building....
8 Ways to Use Poetry to Calm Your Kids and Bring Joy to Daily Life
I am happy to report that our home has experienced an explosion of poetry, a "poetry renaissance", if you will. Back in April, I started the Poetry Reading Challenge and it would not be an overstatement to say that it changed our lives. As I reflect on how we have infused our daily life with...
34 Play Dough Activities for Fine Motor
Play dough is great for fine motor work! Originally I had not intended to write a post about play dough activities but as September 16 is National Play-Doh day (Seriously. For real!), and I had these photos from a recent play dough session with with my 5-year-old, it seemed like a fun idea. Perhaps this list of items...
Festive Birthday Party Train Coloring Page
This birthday train coloring page is perfect for the child who thinks that no party is complete without a train! The illustration features a toy train engine pulling two cars and a caboose and carrying a dog on a background of confetti composed of toys, sweet treats and ribbons. This latest coloring sheet in our monthly...
Handmade Journals and Books about Writing for Kids
The kids are back to school and it's time for another book art project with my partner in bookish awesomeness, Ana from Babble Dabble Do. As you know, I try to encourage my kids to exercise their writing skills in playful ways, including using journals for fine motor work, or making a hobby book. Ana...
Game of the Month: Story Cubes
You may have seen the popular Story Cubes game on the shelf at the toy store, or buzzing along in your Pinterest feed, and I'm here to say that if you haven't played this literacy game, it's time to correct that oversight and that is why Story Cubes is our Game of the Month. (Note:...
Tongue Twister Lunch Box Notes: Literacy at Lunch!
Tongue twisters are a much overlooked screen-free boredom buster. Really! My kids and I discovered that practicing tongue twisters is a silly and fun distraction when when everyone gets antsy waiting for the bus, or an appointment. And since tongue twisters make a good alternative to screen time when out and about, why not use...
Math YouTube Channels for Kids
My older son's favorite subject is math. Although I'm no slouch, mathematics is not my greatest skill and I know I will not be able to help him much as his school math lessons get harder. Most of the math channels on YouTube that we've come across are very, very, very dry and are just like...
Back to School Bookmarks to Color
These free, printable bookmarks to color are just in time for back to school. As part of her series of bookmark coloring pages for this blog, children's book author and illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg created these school themed bookmarks for kids to color, print and cut out. We like to make our own bookmarks, some of...
Best Science Videos for Kids and YouTube Channels
Although our DIY summer science camp has been primarily hands on, and we are a mostly screen-free home, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret. Sometimes we watch a few educational science videos for kids on YouTube! Our Science YouTube Playlist Did you know we have a YouTube Channel? We even have...
The Pulley: Simple Machine Project for Kids
Engineering is a big part of science, so a simple machine project with a pulley was the perfect addition to our DIY summer science camp. I had originally planned an afternoon of building with a bag full of goodies to inspire tinkering, but it turned into a playful session with a pulley. What I love...
Simple Play Activity: Throw Rocks
Simple nature play is sometimes the most entertaining things my kids can do. Remember when my kids were fascinated for hours with thin ice? Even messing about with acorns keeps their attention. One of my kids' favorite things to do is throw rocks into water. I bet your kids love it, too. There's a lot...
DIY Simple Kids' Science Lab
Summer science camp continues with a simple at home science lab that I set up one afternoon to keep my 5 year old busy. This idea is perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners but even older kids will love to explore the chemistry of mixing different household items they find in the kitchen. The idea behind...
8 Reasons Why Mom (That's Me!) Loves Pokémon
Both of my boy are really into Pokémon. Sometimes it takes me a while to come around kid products that are clearly designed to keep you buying more, but the other day, while they were playing with the neighbor's son I asked myself the following: what logical reasons, other than the fact that the cards are...
Leak Proof Bag Science Experiment
I knew this leak proof bag science experiment with the kids was a project that would have a high fun factor since the kids LOVE anything that includes water play. Since it is such a simple science project it was the perfect addition to our DIY summer science camp. I wanted to do the experiment outdoors and as long...
Beach Coloring Page
I love how our collection of coloring pages by Melanie Hope Greenberg is growing! We now have several summer-y printable pages for your kids with the addition of this seaside scene. This beach coloring page seems kind of retro to me, which is awesome. One of my favorite thing about Melanie's coloring sheets is that the...
Game of the Month: S'Quarrels
S'quarrels was a serendipitous find in an airport bookshop. On our way home from a family vacation we were stranded in an airport for 12 hours and I went in search of a novelty for the kids. I had never heard of this card game before, but S'Quarrels is now a family favorite and was an...
Map Science with a Homemade Compass
If there's one thing my older son adores (besides birds), it is maps. Mapping and geography are passions of his so I knew he would love to learn how to make a homemade compass for the super simple summer science camp we are doing with Coffee Cups and Crayons (see below for the activities so far). I...
Math Art with a Möbius Strip
Have you ever made a Möbius strip? We've made simple ones before as part of our creative math learning explorations but a little blurb in a math games book inspired my 9 year old math whiz to take the Möbius strip to the next level. In case you don't know what a Möbius strip is, it's a one-sided...
Solar Oven S'mores {Summer Science Camp}
Welcome to week 2 of DIY summer science camp. Just like last week there is a slight element of failure, but that's all part of the process, right? That's what I tell myself anyway. Whenever we go on vacation and have access to some sort of yard, we make s'mores. I know you can make them in...
How Failure Teaches Kids to Think Like Scientists
This inaugural summer science camp post was supposed to show you how to do a simple science project with your kids: how to lift an ice cube with a string. It has all the great characteristics of an easy experiment: it's quick, there are no fancy materials, there is a not-too-obvious explanation, etc. However... it turned into...
How to Make a Balloon Yo-Yo Stress Reliever
A standard Yo-Yo can be tricky for kids, and nearly impossible for really young kids to learn. These easy-to-make balloon yo-yos on the other hand, are loads of fun and will cause lots of laughter (and maybe a little mayhem). Since we are apartment dwellers, one of the main themes of my blog has been keeping kids busy...
Game of the Month: Ani-gram-it
Ani-gram-it is a tile game for kids and families from na2ure that combines science learning, the natural world, and play. (Disclosure: na2ure sent me a set of game cards for review purposes. All opinions are my own.) Ani-gram-it is a great game for kids who love animals and classification. I'm used to saying no to review...
Star Wars Craft: Clone Trooper Paper Dolls
How do you get a non-crafty 5 year old boy to start creating? In case the answer isn't totally obvious, you make a Star Wars craft, of course! In this case, we made Star Wars paper dolls. Or, to be more specific: an army of Clone Trooper paper dolls. This is an easy craft and simple ideas...
Circus Coloring Page (Free Printable for Kids)
This circus coloring page from children's book author and illustrator, Melanie Hope Greenberg, is her latest contribution to our monthly series of free, printable coloring sheets. This illustration features a summer city parade of clowns, elephants and ball-balancing seals will surely bring a few smiles. Summer is a fun time to take your kids to...
The REAL Summer Bucket List
I'm as inclined to faux nostalgia as the next mom trying to give her kids the perfect childhood summer experience. It's so tempting to make a shiny, happy summer bucket list. But let's be real, as much as we all look forward to summer, sometimes it's not all it's cracked up to be. So don't...
My Shapes Book Math Art Project (Child-Made)
We are back with another awesome book art project! Last month we explored storytelling with pop-up books and today we are playing around with math art and geometry while creating a "my shapes book." Making a shape book is a lovely hands-on, artsy way to learn about shapes, alongside our other recommended shape activities. If you saw...
