Easy Water Play

Hey there friends,

I don't know about you, but around here it is that great part of the year when we still have some great weather a head of us, but I am out. of. ideas! Don't get me wrong, I love themed play ideas and activities, but at this point I just need something easy to get Abbey out into the backyard and kept busy.

It doesn't get any easier than water play. Grab a few large plastic containers or bowls (the bigger the better, otherwise you're refilling every 2 minutes!), a cup or two, some bath toys, whatever. Fill 'em up, put 'em outside, and let the littles go at it.

 Abbey stays busy with this little set up, and it takes no planning whatsoever. She finds things that sink and things that float, she scoops and pours, and her favorite thing is "painting" the deck. I threw an $.88 paint brush in with her toys and it was the best addition ever!

Keep on playing, little girl!

What are you doing to enjoy the nice weather you have left? We've still got trips to the zoo and all sorts of good things planned!

What are your go to easy play ideas?

Be blessed!

Heather

Letter Hop

Hello friends!

I'm taking a break from the Toddler Boxes this week. No worries...more are coming! With all the beautiful weather we've been having, I wanted to share a super easy outdoor game to play with your kiddos. I call it Letter Hop!

Start by writing all the letters of the alphabet on the ground using chalk. We used our driveway, but the sidewalk is good too. You could probably even use any flat space at your local playground as well. Then, all you do is call out letters for your kids to find. Abbey knows all of her letters, and LOVES to play letter games, so this is perfect for her.  She loves to jump on the letters I ask her to find.

There are lots of ways to personalize this game to keep your kids interested. Ask for the letter sound instead of the letter, or have early spellers spell out words. Tons of options!

Another bonus? You can get your kids moving! Have them hop, skip and jump to different letters.

Ta-Daaaa!!

p.s. Can we talk about those pigtails for a second? They're pretty much my favorite thing right now!

Now...on to more fun. It's Kid's Co-Op time! Link up your fun stuff, and check out all the goodies! Remember, if you link up here, your link will show up at over 60 different blogs!

Printable Valentine FREEBIE!!

Hi friends!

I have a present for you today! With everyone getting ready for Valentine's Day parties at school, I thought I would whip a little something together for you.

Each valentine is 3x2, perfect for passing to friends. I made them using this fantastic digital scrapbooking kit by Amy Stoffel.

Isn't it gorgeous?! I loooove it! You can buy it HERE

(She's also the brilliant mind behind my blogwear!)

I've got a printable page with 3 of each valentine ready for you. I would recommend printing it on cardstock.

You can download them HERE

Enjoy!

Fall Leaf Art

I love that Abbey is at the age that we can start doing arts and crafts together. I love it even more when said arts and crafts are free! Our neighborhood is absolutely loaded with all sorts of pretty leaves right now, so I decided to take advantage and do some leaf art.

See? Isn't that pretty? How cute are those little baby maple leaves?!

This project could NOT be any easier. 

We picked up some leaves on our way home from the park. It gave Abbey a nice distraction since she was not happy about going home. Bonus!

We started out with some glue. Abbey spread some glue onto her paper, and then I went back and made sure there was a decent amount there so the leaves would stick.

Once the glue was on, Abbey got full creative freedom!

Can you tell she doesn't like getting her hands messy? haha!

And here it is....easy peasy!

How's that for a proud face?!

Paint Chip Matching Game

I have seen about a bajillion versions of this super simple game. We're headed up north next weekend with some family, and I wanted to come up with some fun little games that Abbey can play with her cousin, who is a year and a half older than her. We are on a seriously shoestring budget, so when I remembered this game, I knew I just had to make it! I already had clothespins, so this game was completely FREE! Woot!

 Head to the local hardware store and grab some paint chips. I used some from Behr, because I like that they were nice and wide, and I only had to grab one of each color. If you're using skinny paint chips, you'll probably want 2 of each, but it's your call.

I trimmed the rounded edges off of the paint chips, and most of the words. Some colors had really long names, so they didn't all get trimmed away...oh well! I trimmed what was left into a wide strip and a narrow strip. The narrow strip got trimmed into individual colors. These pieces were hot glued onto the clothespins.

Now it's time to play! Abbey LOVES matching all the colors! She still has a hard time pinching the clothespins, but that will improve in no time. Fine motor practice...bonus!

This game could not have been any easier to put together. And nothing beats free fun!