Archive for the ‘Father’s Day’ Category

Need a craft to make for Dad?  Here is a illustrated list of what we have for you!  I hope you find something to have fun making and fun giving to Dad this Sunday.

Dad Canvas Print

Home Depot Inspired Pencil Holder

Footprint Key Chain and Poem

Blackberry Picture Frame

iPhone Picture Frame

Children’s Artwork Bookmark

My husband doesn’t often read my blog , so hopefully these next few weeks are too busy at work and he skips this post since I hope to surprise him with this on Father’s Day.  I wanted to make him something he could carry with him, but not be embarrassed to, or look unprofessional. This little key chain is well, little and won’t clutter up his office.

1. Gather your materials. You will need, your child’s footprint, shrinky dinks, a colored pencil, a key chain , hole punch, scissors , some card stock, double sided tape,  and a pen or marker.
2. Start by tracing your child’s foot on the shrinky dink plastic . As you can see I am tracing my child’s footprint which he did at school for a tee-shirt. I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise so I did this while they were out together at a baseball game. My 3 year old has loose lips lately.
3. Cut out the foot and punch a hole in it. You may want to make the hole a little bigger than a plain hole punch size, I had to carefully strtch ours when the shrinky dink was still hot to make our key chain fit.
4. Shrink!  Follow the directions on the shrinky dink package carefully.
5. While it’s cooling write out a poem like the one  below on the card stock, back it with some fun paper, tape the two together.
6. Punch a hole and thread the key chain through both.

The Poem

My Footprint is small but getting bigger everyday,
I am learning how to be big by watching you work, love and play.
Remember when your days are long and you can’t walk another mile,
That this little footprint makes it all worthwhile.

I stole then adapted  this idea from this awesome silhouette my son made for me at preschool. Wanting to make it a little different I decided to add some letter recognition into it and make a canvas with the word Dad on it instead. What’s great is that it works for all ages, babies can finger paint, older children can add more than just “Dad” .

1. Gather your materials. You will need a canvas, some vinyl letters, paint brush ( if you want little guys to cover a lot give them a big brush), paint and if you want a frame to display it.
2. Start by placing the vinyl letters on the blank canvas.
3. I placed the colors my son chose in a ice cube tray to make it easy for him to paint.
4. Next start painting!
5. Right after I took that picture above my son’s brush lifted off a letter – luckily we were able to move the letters and save the project, learn from my mistake use a sponge brush ( which we switched to) to avoid disaster.
6. Let dry.
7. Remove the letters carefully after the paint is fully dry.
8. Give your child’s dad a true masterpiece!

Daddy Song

I love my daddy
He’s really smart
He’s got big muscles and a bigger heart
When I get all cranky and I pout
He gives me hugs and never shouts!

Books About Dad

Daddy Hugs 1 2 3 by Karen Katz is a cute little counting book for toddlers. I gave it to my husband two years ago for his first father’s day and my son hated it. However in the years since it’s become a favorite and nothing beats a board book for when toddlers get to that destructo stage. Also like Katz’s “Mommy Hugs” book it grows with your child. Now at 2.5 my son likes to find the number on the page and read it to us before we read him the text.

The Ten Best Things About My Dad by Christine Loomis didn’t leave much of an impression with me until I hit #8, which says ” When I am sad he hugs me close . He never says “Don’t cry”. That page won me over, and made this book stand out for me. I love that it’s promoting sensitivity in both the dad and little boy! I think anything that shows such care is worth a look.

Dad’s Bald Head by Paul Many made all of us laugh when I read it during a family lunch last weekend. My husband shaves his head so , so much of this book was familiar to all of us.The story is about a dad who decides to shave his head and his son who isn’t so sure about this new development. It’s sweet, funny and realistic about how kids do and don’t transition to our changes. My favorite part was the passionate kiss the mom plants on her husband after he shaves his head. Not just because I thought it was sweet, it is nice to see parents having romantic though appropriate moments in children’s books. I want my son to see I love my husband and I show it in all different ways.

I am titling this post Daddy Craft Day but really anyone can have fun doing these, I usually buy craft kids for my husband and son to enjoy together because they come with instructions and I can leave and not bother them more than taking a few pictures! My son loves to create and my husband likes to make concrete things so kits like these are perfect!  This was a gift from a dear friend for my son’s 3rd birthday and I saved it for a weekend daddy project.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a craft kit- they are using Creativity for Kids Set of 3 Fast Car Race Cars which is not recommended for kids under 3, and honestly I would not allow my child to do without close supervision until at least 6. There are many small pieces. Also newspaper to cover your tables , water and a damp cloth to wipe up spills.
2. Let them dive in. They painted.
3. Then we took him out of the house for a few hours, because waiting for the paint to dry was torture for a 3 year old.
4. When dry they added the stickers that came with it.
5. They they raced them- well they still are racing them days later.  My mom came into town and my son very proudly explained that he made these with his dad, NOT his mom. So even if you aren’t the parent or caregiver that normally does creative things , grab a kit and sit down and enjoy the fun that comes from making something with your child.  From my family room , I heard my son say to his dad “Daddy I like doing things with you.”  That is all that needs to be said!

Books About Dad

Daddy’s Song by Leslea Newman was a big hit with my son. The book is a lullaby that a father sings to his daughter before bed. It’s whimsical and at times down right funny. The illustrations by Karen Ritz keep up with the whimsy and make it all seem like a silly dream. Then the end of the book brings us all back to reality with the most important message, that even if all these silly things did happen and turned the little girls world topsy turvy, that her dad would be there and still love her. Big thumbs up from us for this sweet but not sappy book!

Piglet and Papa by Margaret Wild. I was so happy to discover that this author wrote a daddy book to compliment “Piglet and Mama” which I reviewed and loved for Mother’s Day. Papa pig and piglet are playing and piglet thinks she may have made her daddy very angry and worries about his love for her. The other farm animals help by reassuring piglet and finally she finds Papa pig and the other animals were right he does love her more than anyone in the whole world.

A Father Like That by Charlotte Zolotow touched my heart. I have always been lucky to have a dad who was involved and present in my life, but this book is about the opposite. A little boy is telling his mom about what he wants in a dad, because he doesn’t have one. The book covers so many things dads do or don’t do, and while the dream dad isn’t perfect he is fair, loving and kind. I was tearing up as the book neared the end because I was wondering how the mom who was hearing all of this was going to react. Throughout the list of things the dad would do there were things for his mom too, mostly her being able to take a break and rest. Which made me feel sad that a little boy would have to worry about his mom, but I am sure that is all too common. The end pushed me over the edge, and my son who was drifting off to sleep while I was reading popped up and wiped my tears which made me cry harder because he was taking care of me. It ends with his mama saying that even though he may never have a father like that , that one day he can be a father like that. Great book for all families.

” Father’s Day “ by Anne and Lizzy Rockwell. I really liked this book, it is about a class full of students writing stories about their dads at school and ending with a party where they present the books to their fathers. What I enjoyed was the diversity of this book , it covered all different kinds of dads and children and all the things they most enjoy doing together. My son was rather attached to the dad and son playing soccer , and I had a mean craving for chocolate after reading the page with a dad and daughter making fudge! A wonderful activity after reading this book would be to write your own story!