1. Gather your materials. We are using a blank note card because it’s the only card stock I have on hand, some markers, scissors, double stick tape ( not required) and contact paper.
2. Start by having your child draw what ever they want on the card stock. I am going to warn you that if you have a toddler who flips out about things ( if you do you know what I mean) warn them well ahead of time that you will be cutting their picture.
3. I cut the main picture out ( this is the front)then cut a 2nd piece to frame it and write the message on it.
4. I had my son draw on the 2nd piece once it was cut to show you that this is also great fine motor practice to have your child write in an small contained space. You can choose to do a mix of both ways or which ever suits your child.
5. Add your message ( this is the back)
6. If you want use some double stick tape to hold the inner picture on the frame backing.
7. Laminate or cover with contact paper, and it’s ready for dad!

1. Gather your materials. We went for a leisurely walk around Home Depot and grabbed all the free leaflets with their logo on them. We also used an old jar, glue, water , scissors and a paint brush.
2. Start by clipping out the logo from the leaflets. We also decided on green as the background color so we clipped out big pieces of green as well.
3. Mix 3:1 ( glue to water), mix well.
4. Brush a thin layer on and lay down your back ground color.
5. Add more glue mix
6. Add your logos
7. Add more glue mix.
8. Let dry.
9. Fill with pencils, frequently used screw drivers or even things like screws or nails.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 sheets of foam(one black one white, paper will do but foam will look better), a fine tip marker, scissors some tin foil, glue, magnets or magnetic strips and a picture.
2. Start by writing out the alphabet or you can write out “Happy Father’s Day” remember to make each letter individual so it looks like a keyboard. I didn’t bother because I knew my son would not be able to put it in order and I wanted him to do it since he loves to glue.
3. Cut the letters out. If your child is too young for tiny pieces, do 3 rows of keys instead of cutting each out.
4. Make a space bar and cut out.
5. I tapes off the upper half of the black foam so that my son had a physical line not to cross with the glue.
6. Glue the letters on. With little guys you can spread the glue, it doesn’t dry completely clear there will be a reflection so if your child is able to carefully put glue under each key , try. If not it’s no biggie!
7. While they do that cut a frame from the other piece of foam. Mine is black but I should have done it with the white, I have 2/3 of a sheet left over after the letters.
8. Cover it with the tin foil. The best way is to put the foil over the frame, then cut out the middle, leaving some extra to squeeze around the frame. This was actually sorta tricky, I got all consumed by this and my son was gluing his hands together .Ooops.
9. Take off the tape when your child is done gluing and glue their picture on.
10. Add the foil frame- use lots of glue for this.
11. Let dry
12. Add some magnetic strips or my favorite use those free marketing magnets companies send you!

“Molly and her Dad” by Jan Ormerod was a great find. Molly doesn’t see her dad often because he lives a plane ride away and when he comes to take care of her things aren’t perfect at first. There are so many little things about this book I like. I like that there are details like baby photos of Molly and both her parents together, I like that Molly tells her dad how he is doing things wrong and doesn’t warm up to him immediately and I like how he doesn’t get mad. I think this is a pretty realistic portrayal of children’s emotions when spending time with a parent they don’t see often but still have a great relationship with.

** As promised I have re worked this craft for the iphone… here it is!

“Daddy’s Song” by Leslea Newman was a bog 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!

“My Daddy” by Susan Paradis . This book is a look at daddy from a little boy’s worshiping point of view. We see all the things his dad can do, and how the little boy wants to do these things too. In many of the illustrations we see the daddy doing something like mowing the lawn and the son is watching with a toy mower. This book was just ok for me, there was nothing wrong with it , it just didn’t move me the way some of the others have.

“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.

” The 10 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.

“My Daddy and Me” by Amy E. Skalansky is a simple cute book with a repetitive text, and illustrations of various daddy and child pairs. There isn’t much to this book but it still left me with a happy feeling reading it and my son enjoyed it too.