Halloween Busy Book

So, I'm a fan of busy books (or quiet books as they're known these days) because they are so fun with ENDLESS possibilities. Plus I had one as a child and I remember the fun I had with it. Recently I've been collecting ideas to make one, but haven't decided on quite what theme I want to do as of yet. However, I ran across some adorable halloween themed ones on Etsy which prompted me to want to do one for Tot only with some more age appropriate activities (the one I saw was more of a texture touch book).

Laundry days

Sometimes doing laundry can be fun. When your kiddlets get old enough to start helping with chores, most things seem easier. T is at the age where she LOVES helping Mommy, and sometimes that help is not so much help. So I'm always excited to find an activity she can help with.
We discovered a new one today that also helps her learn.

Matching socks from the laundry while I fold her clothes.

This keeps her busy for about as long as it takes to fold one basket, and it's done infrequent enough that it is still as fun and exciting by the tenth time as it was the first time.

Simple, helpful, fun, and she is developing cognitive and memory skills.

Win-win-win.

Magnet Fun

I'm not sure if it's a 2 year old thing, or just a quirk that Tot has, but she LOVES stickers. However, she doesn't love sticking them somewhere and leaving them there. She wants to stick, peel, stick elsewhere, peel again, stick again, etc etc etc...
Magnets seem a great solution to this, but there's not always a convenient spot, nor is there a great variety to be had like there are stickers.
Hence the magnetic paper solution!

You can find magnetic paper from Avery products in most any office supply store, I got mine at OfficeMax, but Walmart may carry it too. Once you have the magnetic paper, you can print directly on it from your color printer and simply cut the shapes out and enjoy.
However, Tot got these wonderful Christmas stickers in her Santa goodie bag and I wanted her to be able to play with them, so I tried out our first magnet game by using the stickers on the magnetic paper and then cutting them out.

It worked GREAT! Plus, there's very little waste on the magnetic paper, so I only used a little over half a sheet for this one toy.

She LOVES IT. It is the best of both worlds, and even though the little pieces do stick to the large background piece (also stuck to magnetic paper) I got her a dollar store cookie sheet, because the magnet is sort of weak and sticks much better to the metal.

It is a big hit with her, and she spent about a half hour of quiet concetrated play time right away so that is a hit for me as well!

Next is to figure out convenient and efficient storage for them. I'm thinking maybe just putting them in envelopes for now. Any suggestions?

Now I'm going to do Paper Dolls on magnetic paper so that she can play with and dress them! I can create a dollhouse for the background they could move around in, too. (I can even make her a play family by printing out pictures of us!) This should be great for church if I can find something besides the cookie sheet, a flat metal piece that would be more conveient to carry in my bag.

Fun With Family and Frugal Gifting

I admit I don't like winter. A BIG part of that is the cold. I hate being cold, and I hate being wet. So, snowball fighting is pretty much never on the fun scale for my want to do activities. However, the whole idea of just chucking things at each other for fun seems good. So I was ecstatic to come across the idea of using something besides SNOW to have a snowball fight.

The BEST suggestion was: ROLLED UP SOCKS. (Plus they're white, so it's almost authentic)
They're soft so no owies that icey snow could inflict, they're light so even misfires won't do too much damage, and they're readily available, especially on laundry day (and they would be nice and warm straight from the dryer mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). Other suggestions were newspaper, styrofoam, or tinfoil.

I'm really excited to try this out, and I'm sure my family will be amenable, so I'll either update or post again when it really happens.

Topic 2: Most people are trying to frugal up their Christmas this year, and I've found a few ideas that sounded like something really fun to recieve that I wanted to share with everyone searching for that great idea of their own.

In a card, include a sheet of origami paper and directions to make a simple project. The ideas for these can be printed out online through various sites that teach origami, or you can check out a library book and copy a page for your recipients to enjoy. You can make almost anything with origami, so it's simply a matter of finding a subject you like and sending it on!
How cute is this bear: from Origami-club.com which is simple enough for kids and beginners to fold!

Or if you want to be more challenging:  a rose from Origami.com



Speaking of libraries...need a gift for someone who has it all? Why not broaden their horizons with some suggestions of books to read from their local library? It would be more meaningful if you have read and enjoyed the book, but would hold interest for the recipient as well. If you're unsure what their local library carries, you can usually find the catalog online, or through Worldcat.org  If it's a younger person you're sending the gift to, include an application for their own library card (usually found on the library website)

Let's face it, everyone likes getting letters instead of bills and junk. Give yourself the gift of return for only the cost of a stamp. Include in your letter/card and self addressed stamped envelope in order to encourage their reply. All they'll have to do then is respond and drop it in a mailbox, eliminating several things that could delay or stop a return letter, like finding addresses, envelopes or postage. You could even include some stationary with prewritten questions if the person REALLY needed a nudge. Who knows, a friendship going stale could be just waiting to blossom!

Paper Modeling

Lately I've been looking into paper modeling. This is a super fun, cheap and fast way to some good times. It takes some patience and a little skill with scissors and paper folding, but most older children will be able to do the simpler projects. There are a multitude of sites that give you free patterns (including Disney buildings and characters which we'll visit later) but the following I did came from the super neat site of Illinois where you can build paper replicas of most of their historical downtown buildings. The site is here and you should definately go and try it!

First you will have to download the pdf files, and then simply print them out. They are full color and look realistic, but I only have a black and white laser printer at the moment, so my models are all greytoned, but still fantastic.

There are instructions and each piece is well labeled, so it's pretty simple. The model I did was 15 pages and cutting it out only took a few hours (probably less if I wasn't also juggling Tot's activities to keep her occupied over the few days I spent on the project).

After each piece is cut out, you fold and glue them together.

Once the building is complete, it is surprisingly sturdy.

That was the gardeners museum from the Illinois site.

And the other building which is only partially done at the moment.
Tot loves to carry them around and play with them. She calls them her castles. She isn't completely gentle with them, but she hasn't fallen on them either, and they're still in very good shape.

That pic is after a few days play. Still fun!
I'll be doing more of these in the future for sure!

Summer Sandbox

At the beginning of summer, I decided that Tot was old enough for a sandbox. I had wanted to get her one of the cute turtles, but a couple of things decided me against it. First, our yard is not really kid friendly and there are very few places that are flat. Second the turtles were much larger and more expensive than I wanted to go.
Walmart had a sale on storage bins and I was able to pick up these two really cheap, along with some play sand and sand toys from the dollar store, and I had a whole setup on the balcony for around $25

Sand box consists of under the bed storage container, large enough to sit in and play in, shallow enough to be easy access in and out for little legs.
Water box that is currently being used as a stool, since wet sand was apparantly not fun this year, was small enough to discourage sitting in or wading, but large enough to hold enough water for play and cleanup.
The tarp keeps the sun and weather off the plastic to lenghten it's life, and also acts as a sun/wind block for Tot.

All in all, it was a really good choice, and we've had a lot of fun with it!