We normally focus on things kids can make but making something for your child to play with and use is something special to share. These are some of our favorite parent and tot projects we have made in the past 2 years.With the exception of the firetruck ( which was well loved and recycled) everything  is still used years later!

Diaper Box Fire Truck ( above)

Alphabet Fishing Game

Custom Roadway Mat

Bleach Dyed Tee-Shirts

DIY  Framed Chalkboard

Friendship is something that should be cherished and making something special for a friend is a great way to show friends how much they mean to you. Shrinky dinks can be found at any large craft store or here Shrinky Dinks Craft Kit. They are fast and fun to watch shrink , these can be made into zipper pulls, key chains or necklaces.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some shrinky dink paper, black and green colored pencils, a hole punch, a brown grocery bag ( or parchment paper), a cookie sheet , scissors and some ribbon or chain.
2. Start by drawing some shamrocks- I can’t hide the fact it took me a while to get it right .
3. Next color it green.
4. Cut out
5. Punch a hole in it.
6. Place it on the paper bag on the cookie sheet and place in the oven ( follow the instructions given for the temp).
7. Watch the WHOLE time. It only takes a minutes or two.
8. Let cool.
9. Thread the ribbon through and give someone you care about some luck of the Irish!

I love using toilet paper rolls for crafts, it’s one thing that the vast majority of households have on hand at any given time. I love the 3D aspect of this craft and the fine motor work it demands for coloring the petals. It can also be used to teach patterns- or simply art done any way they choose! Toddlers can get in on the action by dipping the cut rolls into plates of paint instead of coloring the petals one by one! You may notice my son is absent, he was outside enjoying the sun and making houses for worms.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2-3 toilet paper rolls, a piece of heavier paper ( construction paper or card stock), some markers or paint, scissors and glue. 
2. Start by cutting your rolls into smaller pieces.
3. Cut vertically into the roll and fan it out to make petals.
4. Color the petals with markers, or paint. This takes patience , which makes this a great group project hand a group of kids a small number of flowers and have them each make the number they wish , so it’s not overwhelming.
5. Add glue and place the flowers on your paper- ours is pink and looks great in person but is washed out in the pictures.
6. Pop on the paper and let dry. We let it dry for 4-5 hours before moving it.

Books

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle is a story about a tiny seed who unlike the other seeds from his flower makes it against all odds to continue the cycle of life. I really enjoy this book and love how it shows all the obstacles along the way for a simple little seed. My son liked this book but didn’t make it all the way through, which I expected since it is a long book for a 2 year old.

The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jennifer Wojtowicz is one of those books that stays with you. Rink is a little boy who’s family is strange, Rink is no exception, with every full moon he sprouts flowers , from his head. At school he is an outsider and only when a new girl comes to school does he make a friend. He reaches out to her because she too is an outsider, not at school, in her own family. In the end the kindred spirits celebrate their uniqueness. This odd romantic story will warm your heart and serves as a great lesson about how we all feel different and like an outsider sometimes. The illustrations by Steve Adams will stun you, they were so vibrant and paired so perfectly with the story. Wonderful!

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Hand print crafts are always fun to do and usually don’t get recycled even by me ( I rarely keep crafts).  For St.Patrick’s Day make this simple craft with all ages of kids, from toddlers who can just do the painting to school age kids who are perfectly able to do it with little to no help.  With little ones you will be doing a lot of cutting , it’s tricky to cut out hands even when you are full grown, but for something that doesn’t get recycled it’s well worth it.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some white paper,a sheet of orange construction paper, a marker, some green paint, a paint brush or roller, some gold glitter glue, scissors, and glue.
2. Start by tracing your child’s hands 4 times.
3. Time to paint!
4. Add some gold glitter glue and let dry.
5. Cut out, I also cut out a stem from the extra around the hand prints. One of our hands didn’t survive, so our planned 4 leaf clover turned into a shamrock.
6. Add glue to the orange paper.
7. Add the stem and hands.  Let dry.

Need more St.Patrick’s Day Activities ?

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Together with  Memetales.com I have written  Alphabet Crafts an eBook filled with  the best of our letter of the week crafts, and  5 exclusive ones you can only see inside! .The crafts are complied in one easy to read A-Z format . Like all my posts there are easy step by step instructions with plenty of pictures to help make learning simple.   The crafts are included with fun tips, suggested materials and a list of  No Time For Flash Cards approved alphabet books. You get a whole alphabet of learning for only $8 !

* Right click on the Add Cart and View Cart buttons and they will open in a new window*

Memetales.com is not a blog, it’s a community based around creating, reading and sharing children’s books and all the experiences that books can provide for all of us. You can read books online ( my son loves the sound of the pages turning), you can contribute crafts that match up with the books ( you may recognize a few from us, I am a contributor on the site) and share your thoughts on the books and show off what you made after you read the book and created something yourself.  What I love about it is that it doesn’t encourage you to spend more time at the computer, instead the books are read and you are encouraged to go create, then come back to share and encourage others by sharing!  The mastermind behind Memetales is Maya who has taken her love of sharing books with her daughters into the digital age and created Memetales.com where we can all be a part of it.

Check it out!

Monday’s child is fair of face,

Tuesday’s child is full of grace,

Wednesday’s child is full of woe,

Thursday’s child has far to go,

Friday’s child is loving and giving,

Saturday’s child works hard for a living,

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day

Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Sorry, I don’t know who the original author is. This poem has led to discussions about the different days of the week and weekdays versus weekends so we’ve been reading various books about the days of the week. I’ve outlined a few of our favourites below. And although the subjects of these stories may not be about learning the days of the week, they do help to reinforce the different days and how as families we associate different events and feelings with each day.

Today Is Monday
illustrations by Eric Carle
published by Puffin
picture book (age 3-9)
You can’t go wrong with an Eric Carle book. Today is Monday is based on a song, not written by Eric Carle, but creatively interpreted by him. Each page shows an animal eating the food item talked about in the song and like the song, each page adds a new day (and food) item. The images include the colourful animal collages that Eric Carle is famous for. At the end you’ll also find the music and full lyrics for the original song. Kids will love the build-up of food eaten each day, similar to his Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar story.

Hairy Tuesday
written and illustrated by Uri Orlev
published by Monarch Books
picture book (age 4-8)
Harry hates Tuesdays. On Tuesday nights he has to get his hair washed and he hates getting his hair washed. He screams and fights and cries when his mom tries to wash his hair. His sister can’t stand the noise so one day she convinces Harry he should cut off all his hair. If he had no hair, he wouldn’t need to have it washed. But sitting at the Barber, Harry changes his mind. Maybe washing his hair isn’t so bad, especially if it means keeping his hair. This story rang so true with my son; he hates having his hair washed or at least he use to. We have a hair wash night in our house too. But like Harry, my son soon adjusted to the routine and now I can’t get him out of the tub. The story is written so true to a family scenario, especially the big sister trying to solve the problem in her own sort of way.

The Wednesday Surprise
written by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Donald Carrick
published by Clarion Books
picture book (age 4-9)
Every Wednesday the little girl’s Grandma would come to watch her after school. She loved spending time with her Grandma. They’d have dinner, do the dishes, read books together and maybe play a card game too. But the real reason the little girl loved Wednesday’s with her Grandma was the birthday surprise they were working on for her dad’s birthday. When the birthday arrives and the surprise is revealed, even the dad can’t hold back his tears in amazement. This book probably leans toward more of an advanced picture book due to the amount of words but my three-year-old still sat quietly listening to the entire story. I love the way the little girl and her Grandma spend their time together; that it becomes a weekly tradition. And the birthday surprise, something the little girl worked hard on, is a wonderful surprise for the characters in the book as well as the readers themselves.

Thirsty Thursday
written by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Helen Craig
published by Candlewick Press
picture book (3-5)
It was Thursday and the flowers on Bonnie Bumble’s farm were thirsty but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. When a little cloud blows by, Bonnie gets an idea. With a few loose feathers and the help of the cow, the sheep and the pig, Bonnie was able to get the little cloud to giggle and wriggle and jiggle and the rain came down. Kids will love the cute illustrations, especially when they need to turn the page to see the tower of animals. Phyllis’s words help give the flowers and clouds personality and bring them to life. And kids will get a chuckle out of Bonnie Bumble’s idea to make the rain come. Some other fun days of the week stories with Bonnie Bumble include Meow Monday, Turnover Tuesday, Windy Wednesday, Foggy Friday and Soggy Saturday.

I Love Saturday
I love Saturday
written by Patricia Reilly Giff, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
published by Puffin
picture book (3-7)
Every Saturday is the same for Katie. She visits friends, helps people out, and enjoys a snack or two. Saturday is her favourite day of the week, that is until Jessica Jeanne, the TV queen arrives. Now Katie doesn’t enjoy her usual Saturday activities because Jessica Jeanne seems to end up doing them before her. But Katie soon discovers doing her favourite things with a friend is more fun than doing them on your own. Most people have rituals they enjoy following, and Katie shows that kids are no different. And like most people, they don’t appreciate it when their routine is disturbed. Every Saturday is a great story about routine and being open to what seems like an unlikely friendship.

Sunday Potatoes, Monday Potatoes
written by Vicky Sheifman, illustrated by Louise August
published by Simon & Schuster
picture book (3-5)
This story opens on a view of a countryside and with each page turn it takes a step closer: a town, a street, a house, a family. The family was poor and all they had to eat was potatoes. The subsequent pages take you through the potatoes they eat on Monday all the way to the potatoes they eat on Sunday. The text is simple with a few words per page, on most pages. The illustrations have a very folk-art feel and fill the page with muted dark, pastel like colours. This book is great with taking you through each day of the week without coming across as a boring Day of the Week text book. The family starts to tire of their potato meals, until Saturday when they have Potato Pudding and there’s a nice recipe at the back of the book too.

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I like doing less structured activities in my Friday posts, not just because Friday is usually a free play all day kind of day for us but because as I have said before and will keep saying the vast majority of the day should be free play. Listen to them play, ask questions , look for learning opportunities but let them lead! This came out of our family obsession with the Canada Vs. USA Olympic Hockey game.  We took our son to the Olympics and we watched China VS Slovakia in women’s hockey and he is in love! He made this game up, I just polished it ( I added the tape for nets ).

1. Gather your materials. You will need some paper towel rolls, a ball, and some painter’s tape. You will also need an area that can be used as the ice. So anywhere with breakable things is not a good choice! We played outside on our porch, and in our foyer ( with breakables moved to the dining room first.)
2. Make your nets on the floor with the tape. If your child has more than a very very basic understanding of the game you can make creases, blue lines and a red center line too!
3. We kept our game incredibly simple. Get the puck into the goal. That was it. We played for what seemed like forever and I had to bribe him to go inside.
4. I like to use games like this to promote sportsmanship and was delighted to see my son get as excited when I got a goal as when he did!

Have fun and now that weather is getting nicer – get outside even if you are still in your PJs !

This craft was spur of the moment, I was sitting looking out at my backyard and decided to replicate our little cherry tree. While my son played with play dough I made this. He stopped playing and I offered him the option to make one but he just wanted to watch. I love how the Q-tips made perfect little buds and how rich the colors are. Young kids could easily do this if you made the tree for them , and older ones would have no problem doing the whole project independently.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some white paper, a brown marker , water colors, a tiny bit of water in a dish..or perhaps an old sippy cup that happens to be on the table….and q-tips.
2. Start by drawing the outline of a bare tree.
3. Dip your q-tip in the water and then get it nice and covered in paint.
4. Dab it on.
5. Add more colors.
6. Paint the bark if you want.
7. Let dry.

Chapter Book

I don’t often do chapter book reviews but this book is so good I recently re read it for fun !  So many great messages and with spring break coming up I thought I’d give a nod to an older book in hopes that some of you with older kids ( girls especially) would grab this for them.

Gaia Girls Enter the Earth by Lee Wells .  I couldn’t be more excited to share a book with my older readers. The story follows Elizabeth as she spends her summer on her parents small organic farm, learning that not all farming is as responsible as her family’s. But that’s not all Elizabeth meets someone magical and discovers she has a special power that can help her fight against the factory farms moving into her area. I love the magical aspect of this book, the author manages to make it work in a very down to earth way and it sucks the reader in. The strong environmental call to action in the book is wonderful, not only are the issues like factory farming explained but solutions and alternatives are as well. The girl power undertones are well done too, Elizabeth’s power isn’t exerted irresponsibly and she is conscientious about how to use it. I wish more books were this good.

You May Also Like

Japanese Cherry Tree Craft
Colorful Forrest
Q-Tip Dandelion

Numbers are a big deal around here right now. What we liked about math game was that even though we made it a little complicated, you could easily simplify it for even younger kids ( simply write numbers out and have them find the ones you call out)or more challenging for older more advanced mathematicians. (Have them find 2 at a time and add together).  Our goal for numbers right now is to work on counting things to discover the amount and match that amount with the numbers he already recognizes. If your child’s goal is different adjust as needed!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some different colored paper, a marker , scissors ( we actually ripped the paper) and some floor space.
2. Start by folding your paper in 4, so that 2 numbers will both be that color. This just makes it easier, I am using the colors as a clue to help my son but not give away the answer either.
3. Write numbers in one square and make the corresponding amount of drawings in the other.
4. Cut or rip apart.
5. Place either the papers with the numbers or the ones with the numbers around in a circle face up.
6. Fan out the others in your hand and invite your child to choose one by asking for the color. 
7. Hand it to them, if it’s a number ask them to identify it and find it’s match. For the lower numbers my son grabbed the right one immediately, for larger ones he would grab the matching colors then we would count them together to discover which was the correct match. I had to help him touch each star on the larger numbers so that he wouldn’t count them twice, this just takes time and good modeling so don’t get frustrated or worried if your child does hit, just lead by example.
8. We played the game 2 times once with the numbers in the circle , once with the stars in the circle – learning is hard work, so we had to pretend to be a clock after!

Books

Museum 123 by The Metropolitan Museum Of Art is another simple but beautiful counting book.  What I love about this book is that the number is not on the same page as the onbjects/images the child is being asked to count. Instead a simple question of how many is followed by a painting with the objects, and the next page has a large number. My son loved counting then flipping the page exclaiming ” I knew it , I said that number I was right!” My only complaint is that it only went to 10!

Construction Countdown by K.C Olson is a counting book that uses backhoes, dump trucks and cement mixers among other things to count. Before I even closed the book my son was signing for more. I read it 4 times since getting it out of the library today. A huge hit here!

Edited for 2010 : I wrote that review nearly 2 years ago. The other day at the library my son grabbed the book and begged to read it again. At 3 he still loved the book and I still give it a huge thumbs up!

One, Two, Three by Tom Slaughter is super simple, bold, bright and a great counting book!  These aren’t complex books, pictures matter because they should encourage the reader to want to count and connect the number they have counted with the number printed on the page.  I would happily recommend this book to families with babies through preschoolers , my 3 year old loved it and partly because he read all the pictures and numbers himself!

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