Preschooler Picture Chore/Daily To Do List

Lil man is in a helping/do it myself stage. So, I decided to make him a chore chart. Since he can't read yet I wanted pictures. I looked all over the internet and couldn't find what I wanted. So, I got out my camera and took pictures of his world to make it more personal for him.

After I took the pictures I edited them and added text. I printed them out on our printer and then laminated them. It's the first step. I'm trying to decide what I want to do next. I am still short the "say your prayer" pic but, will have that soon. I would love to hear any suggestions.

Super Goop

I really like the book, The Preschooler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner. The activities, crafts, and recipes are simple and non-expensive. They aren't time consuming either. It's very mom friendly. We recently made the Super Goop found on p.211

You can place it in a freezer bag for no mess play. It's fun to squish. Little fingers love it. This would also be quiet enough for church. I'm always in need of quiet toy inspiration.

You can also use it for tracing letters and shapes.

Super Goop:

2 cups water

1/2 cup cornstarch

Food coloring

Boil water in saucepan. Add cornstarch and food coloring and stir until smooth. Let it cool and have fun!

Sun Hat

Boy has it been sunny lately. Little man and I have been visiting the park almost daily. We walk or I ride my bike pulling him in the trailor. I'm going to be BUFF by the end of this summer. I can't believe how much weight that thing adds to the bike. Well, the park is great but has one drawback. No shade at all! They have these lovely, huge shade trees all throughout the park but nowhere on the playground. I don't want my little one to get sunburned. Me that's a different story. I need some color. Anyway, he has a baseball cap but, that doesn't protect his ears. So, I took a trip to the Outlet Mall. They wanted $10.50 for a tiny hat! I came home frustrated and not willing to give that much for a HAT. So, I searched online for a tutorial. Gotta love the internet and other moms who want to protect their little kid's beanies. I ended up making my very first, very own pattern. That was crazy in itself.

You too can make your own pattern. For this project you need a circle for the top, a rectangle for the middle, and bigger circle for the rim.

First, measure around your child's head (circumference). Take that number and divide it by 3.14. This will give you the size circle you need for the top. Make sure to add 1-2 inches for seam allowance. You don't want it to be too tight.

Second, take that circle and make a second one that is 2.5 inches bigger around the perimeter. It will be a smaller circle inside the bigger circle. The bigger circle = the rim of the hat when you cut out the smaller circle.

To make the middle, I made a 4 inch wide rectangle that was long enough to go around lil man's head with 1-2 inches of seam allowance.

Then, sew all the pieces together. I worked from top to bottom. You can also make this hat reversible by making 2 of the hats and sewing them at the edges wrong sides together. I used leftover fabric from making him a backpack so, it didn't cost anything.

View from the top

Modeling his new hat. I love it. Now his little noggin and little ears are all safe and snug from that bright sun.

Happy Sewing!

~Tabitha~

Water Bottle Bowling

Another fun Toddler project for my little man. He is really into balls and throwing. So, I came up with an idea to make him a bowling game. We normally don't buy bottled water but, what better way to recycle and reuse and entertain a child all in one.

For this project you will need: 1. Water Bottles. I used 5. You can use as many as you want but, I didn't want to store more. Make sure to let them completely air dry before you start. 2. 1/4 cup or less of Epsom Salt or sand or beans. You just need something to give the bottle a little weight. 3. Food Coloring to dye the salt or whatever you use. This is optional. 4. Labels to wrap around the bottle. I wanted to make this educational as well as fun. So, I measured the circumference of the bottle. I made my labels 9 inches long and 2 inches wide. I made each label a different color. Then, I put a different shape on each label and a number inside of the shape. So, this will help with colors, shapes, and numbers all in one.

To Assemble:
Measure out your Epsom Salt into a bowl. Add whatever color of food coloring you want. Mix it up. Pour it into the bottle using a funnel. I used a piece of paper folded into a funnel. It worked well. Don't put the lid on until the salt is dry again.

Attach your labels with craft glue or whatever works best for you. I then put clear contact paper over them to make it harder for little hands to rip off the label.

Last glue your lid on. Make sure it is nice and tight. I can't even imagine how bad that mess would be.

Here's the finished project. I think they turned out pretty cute. Lil guy found them first thing this morning and has been having a blast. This project costed cents. I had everything on hand except for the water bottles. I saw a little bowling set at Wal-Mart for $5 but it didn't have numbers or shapes. The pins were just different colors. The best thing about this project is it's completely customizable. You could do letters or animals too.

Happy Bowling!

~Tabitha~

*Project for personal use only, please.

Tiny Tot Belt

My poor little boy has no bum. Poor kid can't help it. Yesterday, I think his pants fell down 3 times. I've had enough. I went into town today and bought supplies to make him a big boy belt. So, if you have a child that suffers from the same problem here's how to make the solution:

Supplies: Decorative Ribbon, 1yard of cording (measure your child's waist to determine how much you need), and 2 D rings (you'll want them bigger than the cording so you can pull it through to tighten the belt)

Step 1: Pin your ribbon to the cording on both sides and then sew in place.

Step 2: Place your D rings together on one end. Make sure to fold the end of your cording under so it will have a finished end. It was a beast to sew through this thickness.

Step 3: Fold the other end in the opposite direction and sew it the same way.

Here is the finished product.

My cute little model just couldn't wait to try it out.

Up close, rear view.

This is such a versatile project. You can use different colors of cording with or without ribbon for decoration. I also have an idea for using one belt but adding velcro so, you can change the ribbon for different outfits. I'm going to try that next.

*Please use this for personal use only. Please do not use my pictures.

Portable Place Mat

When we go out to eat I don't like to put my son's food on the restaurant's table. He throws plates and napkins so, that doesn't work either. So, I thought it would be nice to have something to throw in the diaper bag for when we are out and about. We also have a portable high chair. We don't have a big house so, to save space we just bought one of the chairs that you put in an existing kitchen chair. It takes up no space. It folds up when we go places. It is wonderful. I don't like restaurant high chairs either. They rarely get cleaned and they always feel greasy. So, now we take our chair and our mat. The mat was fairly easy to make. I had some leftover Car fabric from making his backpack. I bought iron on vinyl. I have heard great things about it. Plus it's wipeable. It is wonderful. It is hard to find though. I ended up getting mine at Hancock Fabrics. It is 6.99 a yard. Expensive. I also bought double folded bias tape. Just cut out 2 rectangles of fabric and 2 rectangles of the vinyl the same size. Iron on the vinyl to the fabric per instructions. Then, pin your bias tape around the edges. Sew it on and you're done. Now, you have a cute little custom mat for your little one to eat off of.