MICKEY MUSIC MAKER

When we decided to go to Disney, my husband and I planned on telling my son at his 3rd Birthday party (it just happens to appropriately be Mickey-themed this year).  Unfortunately, we made the mistake of talking to my mother about it while he was in the room and now he asks "Are we going to Disney?" constantly.  I needed to figure out a way to help him get through the next three months without driving us completely insane.  I thought about it for a while and decided that we would make a Disney related project or activity each week to keep him excited but not upset that we can't go right this minute.  I also decided to make a "Countdown to Disney World" chart that will start the first day of October. Here's the first of our Disney-themed projects! A MICKEY MOUSE MUSIC MAKER. It was so simple to make and Colton loved marching around the room making his "music" and singing.

WHAT YOU NEED:
*Paper towel roll
*Construction paper
*Scissors
*Hot Glue
*Rice
*Parchment Paper
*2 rubber bands

WHAT YOU DO:

First take a piece of black construction paper and glue or tape one edge down the length of the paper towel roll.  Once the construction paper is attached to the roll, wrap the paper around the roll and secure with more glue.

Once the roll is covered in the black construction paper, cut two circles out of parchment paper.  Place some hot glue around the rim on one end of the paper towel roll. Attach one parchment paper circle and fit it snuggly on the end and at a rubber band for extra secureness. Once you get one end finished, fill the tube about 1/3 full of rice.  Repeat the steps with the parchment paper and rubber band to the other end to close. 

Now it's time to decorate!! I chose to cut out mini sized Mickey heads from different colored construction paper and attach to the tube with a glue stick.  You could also use gems, feathers, glitter, etc.  The best part about this project is the ability to be creative!

 

My son really loved this music maker and plays with it a lot! (More than I thought he would...because lets be honest....at 2 years-old they lose interest quickly) But he loves to "make music" and march to the Hot Dog Dance on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! This project was so simple to make and only requires items that most people already have around the house! What mom doesn't love that?

ST. PATTY'S DAY TODDLER ART

With St. Patty's Day coming up and rainbows being one of the common images of the holiday, I figured this would be a great chance to work with my son on his colors.  Building a rainbow picture is good way to go over the different colors and also to teach him to follow directions. I love doing activities together that keep him busy and not just sitting on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And the best part about doing these activities, is that he has fun and learns new things every day!

In order for Colton to make the rainbow, I had to draw an arc on the paper first so he had an idea of where to glue the pieces of paper to.  He's only two and a half so I was pretty impressed that he knew without much instruction that I wanted him to glue the pieces of paper on top of the line. I placed some glue on the drawn line so he would just have to attach the paper.

We started with red and proceeded through the rest of the rainbow.  I just took different colored construction paper and ripped small pieces for him to glue. (I know there is no purple but he ran out of room) When he finished a color, I would draw another arc under the previous color and he would glue the next row.  He picked up on this very quickly, at times he would try to stick the paper in other spots on the paper too, but because there was no glue there he quickly realized where the paper pieces were supposed to go. He's my little smarty pants!

 



After he was finished making his rainbow, he wanted to draw something with his markers. So I gave him a piece of construction paper and some green markers.

 

He colored mommy another pretty picture and so I added a green shamrock to his drawing and laminated it to hang on the refrigerator. I love my little guy's art!

COFFEE FILTER SHAMROCKS

For Valentine's Day, my son absolutely LOVED making the coffee filter hearts. (You can see the post here. ) So, I figured I would let him make shamrocks the same way for St. Patrick's Day! Colton loves any excuse to play with markers and I love any excuse to get him to sit still. Not to mention that these shamrocks turned out super cute!

 

 

What You Need:

*Coffee filters

*Washable Markers (in different shades of green and yellow)

*Dropper or medicine syringe

*Water

*Cookie sheet (an old one)

*Towel

What You Do:

First, I gathered up all the materials for the craft so that once Colton was busy working I wouldn't have to run and grab anything. I placed a towel down to protect my table and placed the cookie sheet on top, then I got Colton into his "Big Boy Paint Shirt" as we call it.  I gave him some markers and a coffee filter and he began to color it (and himself).

 

Once he got several coffee filters colored, I gave him a bowl of water and a dropper.  He immediately remembered what to do from the Valentine's hearts.  He dripped water on the filters and loved watching the colors run together.  He was having so much fun that I didn't want to tell him we were finished. I placed all the filters on paper towels to dry completely.

 

 

Once, the filters were completely dry, I used a shamrock shape cookie cutter (I found mine at Michael's) to trace the shape onto the filters and cut them out.

I really think these shamrocks came out cute.  I will use them in a decoration (I will make a separate post soon) and also in St. Patty's Day cards for the family since they love handmade ones from Colton!  And the best part about this activity is that he had fun making them!



COFFEE FILTER VALENTINE HEART

There is nothing that I love more than spending time doing activities with my son! He loves exploring new items, textures, and concepts through hands on play. And the things that he has learned from them are amazing! Not to mention that I have gotten some really cute keepsakes in the process!

For Valentine's Day this year, I wanted to have Colton make cards for his grandparents and I wanted to go beyond the normal, give him some paper and crayons and let him color one. So I decided to come up with something that he could do that was different and fun!  Last year, I saw something on Pinterest about coffee filter art projects for toddlers.  I searched through my boards and couldn't find the pin (possibly because I have thousands of pins), but I thought how hard could it be to figure it out myself.  And they turned out awesome!

 

What You Need:
*Coffee filters
*Washable markers
*Dropper or medicine syringe
*Water
*Cookie sheet (I kept an old brown one for a craft tray)
*Towel

What You Do:

Once I got all the supplies together, I told Colton that we were going to paint with markers and he needed to put on his "Big Boy Paint Shirt" (which is just an old shirt of my husband's).  I placed the cookie sheet on an old towel. I gave Colton some markers and a coffee filter and told him to color it pretty colors. He was really excited for this part because he loves coloring with markers and not just crayons.

 

Once he colored the filter, I gave him a small bowl of water and an unused medicine syringe. I showed him how to drop water onto the filter. He thought it was so cool that the color spread out when the water was dropped on it.

Then he wanted to add more marker to the wet filter.  This entertained him for a good half hour which is amazing that anything could make him sit still that long.



After he had enough, I placed them on the towel to let the filters dry completely. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, I traced hearts onto the filters and cut them out.

That's how easy these were for my son and I to make.  Now you have these cute tie-dye hearts to use in several projects.  And the best part, using different colors or shapes can make this project perfect for any occasion.  Below you will find pictures of a few things Colton and I made using these hearts.

 

 

 Valentine's Day Cards

(Colton colored inside to add an even more personal touch)

 

 

Hands and Heart Picture

(I traced Colton's hands and added one of his tie-dyed hearts)

 

 

I love how this coffee filter tie-dye activity can be used for anything. I think I will have Colton make green shamrocks for St. Patty's Day!

HALLOWEEN QUIET BOOK PAGES

When I started to make this Quiet Book for my son, my original idea was to make a book that he can play with anytime. But as Halloween is approaching, I decided that I would like to make pages for all of the holidays that I could add and take out accordingly.  So I have been coming up with tons of ideas for Halloween/Autumn pages for Colt's Quiet Book. Last night, I completed my first two Halloween pages and here they are.

CREATE A JACK-O-LANTERN PAGE
(The face pieces are stored in the fabric pouch.
This is a felt board page.)

PUMPKIN PATCH PAGE
(Pick and place pumpkins in the pumpkin
patch using velcro)

*Please, if you use my pages for inspiration for your own Quiet Book, please give me credit by linking my blog to your post. Thanks!

QUIET BOOK - PART TWO

I have been so busy with birthdays, relatives visiting, and completing tons of Halloween crafts and decorating that I have been neglecting my Quiet Book pages. I recently completed a few pages and figured that I would sit down and post them since it has been a while.

Here are my new pages:

SKIING PAGE
(The skier slides up and down the slope)

TIC TAC SCORE PAGE
(My hubby is obsessed with sports and he wants
my son to be too, so I thought that using footballs and
baseballs would be a cute spin on the traditional game.

FRUIT MATCH PAGE
(Match the fruit using the ribbons with velcro to
connect them.)

HANG THE LAUNDRY PAGE
(Hang the clothes on the line using the mini clothes
pins. Clothing pieces store in the laundry basket.)

**Again I do ask that if you choose to copy any of my pages for personal use, that you give credit where credit is due and link back to my page. I work hard to come up with ideas and to make my pages look great, and while I don't mind if people use my pages for inspiration, please don't pass the ideas off as your own. 

AUTUMN TREE PICTURE

I love having different activities for my son to do during the week so that he's learning and playing at the same time.  And to be honest it gives me a chance to have him sit still for a few minutes so that I can do the dishes, vacuum or get a load of laundry done. I also love that I always have something he created to hang on my fridge. :) I want to give him something to make that had to do with Autumn so I thought what says Fall better than a tree with different colored leaves?!

All I did was take a piece of brown construction paper and cut out the shape of a tree trunk and branches. I glued them onto a piece of white construction paper so that the bare tree was already on the paper.  Then I just took some strips of red, orange, yellow, and green construction paper and ripped them into little squares for the leaves.

I just took a glue stick and place a little glue on each piece of colored paper and let him stick the "leaves" onto the tree.  He loved decorating the tree. 

I think he did an awesome job and the cutest part is that he placed a lot of the leaves down by the bottom of the tree or down below the branches so it looks like falling leaves. 

Lastly, as I do with all of Colton's art work, I wrote his name, age, and date on the back and laminated it.  Now I have an adorable fall picture for our fridge :)