Rain Art - quick and easy!

It doesn't rain very often in Vegas, but when it does I try to take advantage of it! We spent our morning splashing in small mud puddles and digging for worms in our "garden" so it was time to head indoors for a craft.

We colored the paper with washable markers:
Then put them outside to watch the rain distort the drawings. Of course being Vegas the rain wasn't the type I'm used to being from Seattle! I ended up giving them water bottles to help the process along.

Easy Cleaning Paint Project!

I may be a bit of a neat freak at times, but after the twins going through the whole learning the joys of squishy paint, I've decided to save some time and put my Under 1 in the bath tub! She loved it and I was able to give her a bath straight afterwards minus the "Please don't touch the walls" chant as we run down the hall to the bathroom.

*Being Under 1 she of course was more then happy to taste test all the colors. I had a wet wash towel on hand to get to her mouth before her hand did...it was successful most of the time!

I used regular washable tempura paint by Crayola, we use it for just about everything. I started with her in the tub so she could see me put the paint in front of her. At first she looked at me like I was nuts, then she dove right in! Being washable paint it was extremely easy to wash off the walls, tile, and anything else she touched.

Letter H Playdate and Valentines Day Craft - Part 2

We enjoyed making the hand print hearts so much that we did a couple more to hang on our craft wall! For the glitter heart my youngest daughters hand were too small to show real definition so I just did the twins hands.

HOW TO: Trace your childs hands into the heart shape shown in the picture. Use glue, I used regular Elmers School Glue for this, and thinly spread over the fingers. Put the paper on a cookie sheet and let them dump the glitter onto the paper. My girls LOVED this part! No need to be careful here, let it go all over! Once dried, tap the paper onto the cookie sheet to get any access glitter off. Pour the unused glitter back into the container.

I've whited out my kids names on the photos but wanted you to see where I placed their names so you can choose where to place yours. This craft was easy too. Basically the same as the Letter H page but I used decorative cutting sheers to make the pink heart stand out a bit.

Either of these would be great for grandparents or moms!

Letter H Playdate and Valentines Day Craft

We actually made this craft during a Letter of the Week playdate but I hung them up during February as well. We made different heart hand print crafts to give to the grandparents, I'll post those next.

Using red washable tempura paint, paint the palms of your childs hands. I do one at a time to cut down on the mess.

Place their hands as seen in the photo. Outline the prints with a red marker or a glitter pen.

Please visit my blog Playdates and Playgroups for more ideas to present this to your playgroup!

Create Paper Lanterns

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with an easy craft with your kids!

Use regular construction paper. Let your child decorate the lantern with stickers, glitter glue, crayons, and pens. When using loose glitter, I put a cookie sheet under the sheet then let them spread washable glue over the paper with popsicle sticks. I let them pour their own glitter then we shake it out while still on the cookie sheet after its dried. I still have a never ending supply of rainbow glitter in my carpet, but I'm sure this helps!

Since my girls LOVE glitter and glitter glue we had to let our paper dry for 24 hours. Fold the paper length wise in half. If your kids are ready to use safety scissors then let them cut slits in the paper. I sit with them, never leave a child unattended with scissors, to make sure they're keeping on track. I like their projects to look like a kid made them so there are several diagonal cuts here and there.

The girls had a blast and we have them on our fireplace mantel. Enjoy!

Handprint Tulips

Handprint Flowers

These are super easy and fun to do! All 3 of my daughters were able to fit their hands on the paper - doubt that will happen next year!

TOILET PAPER ROLL BINOCULARS

This is a super easy craft and the kids go buggy over it! I've been collecting toilet paper rolls since December - needless to say, we have a ton. So its time to start working with them. BeBe and Gigi had finished putting on and taking off most of their princess dresses so it was time to sit down to a craft.

Today we are working on The Letter B so I thought it'd be fun to go on a Bug Safari!

Supplies:

• 2 toilet paper rolls (or one paper towel roll cut in half)
• Crayons, markers, glitter, stickers, jewels - whatever your little one likes to decorate with
• Hole Punch
• Yarn
• Tape

Set up your little one with the 2 rolls and let them decorate! *If using glitter I suggest placing a baking sheet underneath to help the containment of glitter...which I'm positive I'll have glitter in my carpet for many, many years regardless!

Once they are satisfied with their artwork, tape the rolls together. Punch a hole into the outside of the tubes and tie your yarn to make a necklace.

Now the fun starts, hide several plastic bugs in your home or backyard and have them find them! Definitely count how many your hiding - I've found lizards in my playroom in odd places weeks after this game.