Activities for kids

Sensory Gift Ideas

December 4, 2018

A sweet friend of mine contacted me with the idea of putting together a guide for kids who struggle with Sensory Processing Disorder or other sensory issues and I thought it was an awesome idea! I can not take one bit of credit for this one because she picked all of these sensory gift ideas out after learning and going through her own experiences with one of her sons and OT. I absolutely love the idea of buying children any of these items rather than a toy that will clutter the playroom even more than it already is. Many of these would benefit any child. I absolutely love some of these ideas for my kids!

How Imaginative Play Helps Children Thrive in Real Life

November 21, 2018

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PlayWithPlaymobil #CollectiveBias

Easy Activities For Toddlers When They’re Sick

October 23, 2017

We have all been super sick for the last couple of weeks. One by one, we have all caught it and it doesn’t seem to want to go away. Unfortunately, this is the worst timing for sickness because Hampton’s birthday is tomorrow and we have the boy’s party this weekend. I’m also doing it solo this week, so theres that. Send lots of prayers over our way, friends! One thing I like to do when the kids are tired of resting but still obviously feel bad is think of easy activities for toddlers that won’t make them over do it.

Rainy Day Activity with Shape Mags

June 8, 2017

We received product in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.

Front Porch Sittin’

January 23, 2017

Our weekend was once again, filled with rainy days. We are all getting the cabin fever over here. We have also been sick since Thursday and are still trying to get over whatever we’ve had. I’m hoping it is just a bad cold virus and not the flu. Little Sophie has been just pitiful. She had a fever four days in a row and just laid around on me all weekend. She is normally so bubbly that it made me really sad to see her like that. I am praying we are all on the upswing of this now.

Eggo® Breakfast Sandwich Recipe and Before School Activity

August 25, 2016

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EggoBTSTarget #CollectiveBias

Hampton started “school” yesterday – well, technically, Mother’s Morning Out – and he loved it! While we are still trying to get used to a new morning routine, one thing is for sure – I have to make him a good and filling breakfast. My kids wake up so hungry and immediately ask for food every morning. Making them a satisfying breakfast is essential to how we will start our day. No one likes a grumpy toddler, so we try to avoid that. My latest favorite thing to fix them for breakfast is an Eggo® Breakfast Sandwich!

Springtime Activities for Toddlers

April 27, 2016

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #allEssentials #CollectiveBias

I have a love/hate relationship with Spring. I love it because the days are warmer which means getting back outside with my kids, porch swings, sweet tea, sunny days, etc. I hate it because I have the worst allergies. I never had an issue with them until about three years ago. They have been horrible ever since. I’ve always heard that you can’t live in the south forever without developing allergies at some point. I guess there is a lot of truth to that. I’ve been reading a lot about them and one of the tips I see repeated over and over (aside from staying indoors, which is not an option for me) is to change your clothes, wash them and wash your body as soon as you go inside to rid yourself of all the pollen.

Between playing in the dirt, getting messy in the kitchen, and all of the pollen, I do a lot of laundry. Since having my youngest daughter, I have had to do at least a load nearly every day. It’s just a reminder of how much fun we have! After all, they are only little once so why not let kids be kids? I recently received the brand new all® Fresh Clean Essentials™ laundry detergent from Amazon.com and it has been wonderful! It is sulfate free and preserves the color of clothes while giving them a deep and powerful clean without the harshness.

Spring means springtime activities with the kiddos and we have already been outside every day for the last few weeks now thanks to unseasonably warm weather this March. Here are a few of our favorite activities!

Springtime Activities:

Park Days

Playing on our Water Table

Zoo Days

Picnic

Sensory Bins

Blowing Bubbles

Playing Ball: Soccer, Basketball, golf, etc.

Wagon Rides

Feeding the Ducks

Visiting a Farm

Picking Wildflowers

Some of our favorite sensory bins are filled with dry beans and dry rice. I like to hide little toys throughout the bin for the kids to dig around in to find! If you’re in the mood to get really messy, try jello, play dough, dirt, sand, etc.

How to Create a Sensory Bin:

Grab a plastic box or bin

Fill it with dry beans or rice

Hide toys of different shapes, sizes and textures throughout so your toddler can feel around for them.

What springtime activities do you enjoy as a family? Have you tried the new sulfate-free all® Fresh Clean Essentials™ detergent?

The Cutest Date Ever + Smoothie King Challenge

January 14, 2016

Before I had Sophie-Rae, I didn’t think my love for her would ever be the way it was with Hampton. He was my everything. He was my best little buddy and my favorite cuddle bug. He was my little helper and favorite play date. I just couldn’t picture how this would all change and expand to a second child. After having SR, I quickly realized (the first moment I laid eyes on her) that my love grew so much in one incredible moment to fit them both into that mold. While I do tote them both around everywhere with me, Hamp continues to be my #1 play-date buddy…until his sister catches up!

Kid Friendly Minion Craft + Movie Night

December 10, 2015

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MinionsAtTarget #CollectiveBias

My son and nephew love the minions, so on Tuesday, I made sure to run to Target and buy the new Minions movie Blu-Ray/DVD pack and to my surprise, it came with a $5 Target gift card! Talk about a score. Happy son and happy mom. I call that a win-win!

I also picked up a few supplies so that we could make a minion craft to get the boys excited for their movie night! They loved helping me make these cute little popsicle minions and I must admit, I loved it too. It was the perfect kid-friendly craft to get them in the mood for the movie and we had so much fun making memories.

Here is all you need for this simple, fun Popsicle Minion Craft:

-popsicle sticks
-glue
-yellow and blue paint
-black permanent marker
-googly eyes (varied sizes)
-black cotton balls (for the hair)
-optional: Santa hats

I thought it would be fun to add little Santa hats to a couple of the minions since the boys are getting so excited for Christmas. They loved them!

Directions:

I prepped the popsicle sticks the night before so the paint would be good and dry by the time the boys got a hold of them. If you have older children who can handle paint, you can definitely let them do that part, but for my 2-year-old, I thought I’d better go ahead and paint them myself.

Once the paint is dry, glue the googly eyes on the popsicle stick and draw a smile and belt with your black marker. Then, you can glue hair or the Santa hat on, or leave it bald-headed. It is totally up to you! We made a mixture.

This craft is so simple and perfect to do with the kids, although I do recommend being present and helping younger kids. Target, once again delivered big time! I was able to pick up all of my craft supplies, Minions movie and even scored the gift card all in one stop! The metal Minions Blu-ray and DVD deluxe pack is a Target exclusive and includes 40 minutes of bonus content. While I was there, I also perused the toy section to get some Christmas ideas and noticed they had so many minion toys that were perfect for gifts for the kids! They also have all kinds of minion apparel, books, etc.

We ended the evening with popcorn and the movie which was adorable and hilarious! The boys loved it and I did too! It was such a fun day and I’m so thankful for the time we got to spend together as a family.

Have you purchased the new Minions movie at Target?

Travel Activity Bucket for Kids

July 27, 2015

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TwizzlersSummer #CollectiveBias

We are officially 14 days away from our cruise! We are actually leaving a couple of days earlier to visit my grandmother in Florida where I will be spending my birthday! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this week long vacation. It is so needed.

I have been sort of dreading making the 7 hour drive to my grandmother’s house with our two babies. Mostly Hampton, because we can’t keep him still. I’m so scared he will be miserable that long in the car. After thinking about it, I decided to put together a travel activity bucket to keep him busy while we are on the road.

My friend and I ran to Walmart after our lunch date last week and grabbed some fun things I thought would keep Hamp busy in the car. In addition to a coloring book, stickers, and games, I also thought it would be fun to add one of our favorite family snacks – Twizzlers Twists. I also threw in some rainbow twists for fun!

Here is what to put in an activity bucket for your summer road trips:

Coloring Book – This will keep them busy for a while. All kids love to color!

Games – We love to play all sorts of games in the car. Including some little hand held games for your toddler will help keep him occupied.

Snacks – I threw in one of my favorite snacks that we can all enjoy as a family! Twizzlers Twists have been my road trip choice for years and I can’t wait to share that tradition with my son. Snacks are always a great thing to have on hand with children. They get hungry and it’s not fun when you aren’t prepared for that.

Books – My son loves to read, and for that I am thankful. Reading books can keep him occupied for a few minutes at a time and they can also be educational, so it’s a win/win!

Your bucket doesn’t have to be complicated. Just think of things that will keep your child occupied and try to get several different things so that when they get bored with one, they can easily move on to another. Having an activity bucket will also help limit their screen time, which is something badly needed this day in time! Don’t forget to sing songs and make pit stops so the kids can stretch their legs for a bit. That will also help break up the trip.

Twizzlers Twists remind me of my childhood summers. We used to eat them all the time. I remember always stopping on our road trips to grab some snacks and they would always be my go-to.

What would you include in your activity bucket? Twizzlers Twists remind me of my childhood, do they bring back memories for you, too?