Digital Reflections

It's Easter and Spring time

the birds are singing, the weather is warming, its time to celebrate spring in all its glory. for us that means a lot of time outside and a lot of crafting for spring and for easter..

here are a few of the things we have done so far.  Using Mindy Teressawa's Hunny Bunny kit from DesignerDigitals  I created these little pennants for our Easter banner over the fireplace.  Using Making Memory Eyelets really made the threading of the ribbon easy...  

 

We also made these matching cards for the preschoolers, and actually I found that my older kids like to play with these too... It is so easy when you can go somewhere like DesignerDigitals and get seasonal items to print off on your home computer for your kids arts and crafts and school too..these were made simply by printing out these cute Egg Pebbles on cardstock and then using my 2 5/8 inch punch. 

Another decoration - and gifts for the kids teachers are these little lanterns.. I found them at our local craft and hobby store on sale and then added the images from Katie Pertiet - vintage spring greetings which are adorable by them selves - you can totally make cute little easter cards with them.

We made these littl easter chick puppets and the little kids really loved them. I created the chicks using several items from designerdigitals and then we taped them to the sticks, I found them on our dining room table by days end sticking out of one of the flower arrangements, I guess my little guy thought that was as good a place as any to put them.

Also on the dining room table is our Easter Egg tree.  We loved the one we saw in the Pottery Barn catalog, but instead of just buying that one, it was a lot more fun to make one of our own.

Again for the little kids we made this fun little tic tac toe set..

And the kids are handing out these pencil toppers on cute spring pencils for their friends.  Our schools dont allow us to remotely celebrate ANYTHING, nor are we allowed to send in edible treats (store bought or handmade) and as much as it bothers me, I am still trying to teach my children that we love our neighbors as ourselves, that we do for others what we would like done to us.....so we are thinking outside the box and honestly it is so much more fun spending the time crafting with the kids than running into target and buying up treats to hand out.

Here are some books we added to our bookshelf recently.

We have a lot of nature ideas for this time of year too. So please staye tunded for those in the next few days. And tomorrow being April Fools day - we have a lot of fun planned..

In the meantime, if you are looking for more Easter ideas for your kids be sure to check out the following:

The crafty crow

Martha Stewart's kids Easter crafts 

Spell Outloud
 
 
 
 

Spring Break Boredom Busters

 Having kids at home for Spring Break can prove to be challenging if you havent prepared for them.  One thing we do is try to plan our time so its constructive and filled with fun hands on activities...We dont overschedule because one of the things my kids do really enjoy is just being kids, so I am always open -first to their suggestions and second to being spontaneous...

But incase you are stressed or looking for ideas to keep your little ones (and big ones) entertained here are a few ideas for you....

Arts and crafts:
*make a pet rock
*potato painting
*finger knitting - check out this blog post.. imagine childhood
*salt clay:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cooking oil
Food coloring
mix wet add to dry -mix both and let kids sculpt something and cook 300degrees 1-2 hours
*give the kids watercolors and paper and let them go outside and paint what they see (fun if you can get a cheal frame (ikea) or some canvas and then hang their paintings
*place a box or bin in the kitchen and collect items that would usually be trash during the week - such as papertowel rolls, glass jars, egg cartons, food boxes, junk mail, etc... then add some basic craft items - like yarn, glue, etc. and let them have a fun craft time
*tie dye tshirts
*shrinky dinks - or do you remember melting plastic spoons and forks
*spaghetti art - its messy its fun - cook pasta - put out paperplates of paint - hang LARGE paper across a fence or hanging from a tree - they throw the pasta at the paper - its makes cool designs, patterns, its fun - but messy (did i say that already)lol
*get large (butcher paper) and take a light and shine it on the child standing in front of paper and trace their shadow - then the kids can color and decorate their selves
*make goo - using baking soda and water - we like to stick our army men in them or just play in the 'quick sand'
*paper mache eggs - any easter crafts would be fun...
favorite kids craft blog::: crafty crow

nature:
*let kids plant some veggies or flowers from seedlings or sprouts - they can make a chart and watch it as they grow
*go geocaching - or go trail blazing (something we like to do) mark a path going out on some trail or in nature in general with ribbons - etc. have the kids mark in a nature journal the coordinates using a compass and then let them find their way back using their coordinates and see how close they get to finding their ribbons, etc. - its fun
*take pinecones and coat in peanut butter and roll in bird seed let the kids hang it from tree branches
*give the kids disposable cameras and take a nature or neighborhood walk, its fun to see what gets their attention and what is at their eye level - they can make a little photo journal with the developed pics
*get magnifying glasses for the kids and take them in the back yard, let them do a macro discovery day - and find all the things on and under the ground, its great when they move rocks or leaves, or find snails or rollypollys...
*make birdfeeders (you can buy little kits from a home store) the kids paint them, and build them (may only require glue or possibly nails - which your oldest should be able to do with supervision)
*make a fort/teepee/hut
*make boats and go to a creek or pond and see how they float -check out this blog post
unschool me
*pack a picninc - have each child responsible for one item to add to the picnic basket (making sure they count how many people and how many items -its a great counting reinforcement) then go somewhere new to enjoy the picnic, or just the backyard :o)
*visit a science center or arboretum

literary/drama
*go to story time at the library - check their activities

*visit a firestation, postoffice, polica station, etc... then when you go home have the kids dress the part or make puppets or invite neighbor friends over for some role playing
*read them their favorite story then let them dress up and reinact the story
*get a book on cd and let them listen to it (while you tend to the baby) and then let them make puppets and act out the story with their puppets
*pick an era and do a day in the life (requires some prep time and thought - but its soo fun)
*play hide and seek - check out this blog post  teach mama with the kids favorite things - print out the kids favorite cartoon or toy - printing off several of them for each kid then hide them (easy for the younger and harder for the oldest) then either outside weather permitting or inside have a hide and seek party
*go to the zoo and have the kids pick out their favorite animal then come home and make paper plate masks or paper bag puppets


just because:
bake bread
make homeade icecream
make cards and deliver to a childrens hospital
rake a neighbors yard
have tea time
deliver cookies to a friend

Getting back to it...

Finding my way, its a daily challenge... but with some new ideas, with a new blog coming soon and some exciting changes just around the corner, I thought I should just interupt this silence with a psa to say..stay tuned...