With Grae and Sam being 5 years apart in age, you’d think that they’d be into completely different things, but I’m actually realizing that there are many projects and activities that we can do and tweak just slightly so that both munchkins enjoy them. These season sensory bottles are so much fun and definitely one of those projects that both kiddos got something out of. {Not to mention that they look super pretty sitting on a playroom shelf or window sill.}
This weekend we took our stash of Christmas books out and oh my word… Was Miss G ever excited. She’s been asking to take them out for ages now, so as soon as we did, she got straight to sorting, organizing, and reading them. {Gosh, I love her.}
It’s hard to believe, but we’re already amidst December, and in our house, December 1st means that all things Christmas are fair game. We’re doing a very low key Christmas this year {like really low key}, but low key doesn’t mean without tradition. Our fun little traditions are much too special anticipated to let go of, so this year we’ll simply pare down a little bit when needed. Like instead of 10 different types of homemade Christmas ornaments, maybe one or two will do…
Goodness… I’m pretty sure I put making these simple little sensory blocks on my to do list about 3 months ago. It’s ridiculous that it’s taken me this long to get to them given the fact that the entire project took about 10 minutes start to finish, but feel like that’s just my current state of life. Non-priority tasks aren’t happening as quickly as I’d like them to, but it is what it is. Either way, they’re made now, and I’m so happy with how they turned out! Sam loves them too, which is exactly what I’d hoped for. They’re sort of like a combination of a miniature sensory bottle {making them perfect for little hands} and these really fun little sensory blocks that I was highly considering buying online late one night {making them perfect for stacking and crashing}. They’re also part musical instrument, so multi-purpose indeed {hah – have I sold you on making a set for your bub yet??}
Oh my goodness, did Miss G ever have fun creating this colourful, sequinned, drippy cardboard cake! Perfect timing too, as her baby brother’s first birthday is just over a week away and she’s absolutely vibrating with excitement.
Fall has officially arrived here in Vancouver and it is absolutely beautiful. So today when Miss G suggested finishing off our day by going for a walk and park visit after school, she certainly didn’t have to convince me.
After making a super fun, soap-included funfetti sugar scrub for Miss G last week, we decided that this mama needed a sugar scrub of her own too! My little helper and I hit the kitchen with some basic ingredients from our pantry and came up with an amazing smelling scrub that involves two of my very favourite things – COFFEE and being pampered!
Well, I’m excited to say that we’ve officially made it a full 3 months home from the NICU without baby bubba getting sick! According to our nurses, the first 3 months {and especially the first 4 – 6 weeks} are the most critical as far as keeping little NICU babes healthy and bug-free, and I’m so glad we were successful. During those first 6 weeks, we really avoided taking Sam to public places as much as possible, and though we’ve loosened up quite a bit since then, we’re still all about the hand washing in this house. It’s such an easy thing to do and since it’s the best way to keep germs at bay, we’re going to keep on it. After all, we don’t want baby bubba getting sick now any more than we did in the first 3 months – having a sick baby is awful!
One of the things I absolutely love doing with kids come springtime is growing plants from seed. That being said, I’m most likely the worst gardener on the planet. Like really, really bad. Cactuses, succulents, and other kill-proof plants? Give them to me for a week or two and I can almost guarantee that they’ll be dead. It’s terrible.
A couple of days ago, Miss G and I had the absolute pleasure of having a morning out at Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. together. Besides it genuinely being one of our favourite kid-friendly restaurants in the city {I’ve written about it several times in the past – see here and here}, while there, we got to hang out with fellow blogging friends, sample the delicious brunch menu {yum!}, and learn all about dyeing Easter eggs naturally! Our kind of morning.
Several weeks ago, Mr. Sam and I had our first ever crafting session together {ha!!!} I’d whipped up a batch of our go-to homemade modelling clay to make little hand and footprint keepsakes, and when I had some leftover, I decided to cut out several egg shapes knowing that Easter would soon be on its way.
With Sam home from the NICU, one of the things we’re extra on top of now is hand washing. It’s the easiest way to keep germs at bay and help ensure our little preemie boy doesn’t come down with something during cold and flu season, which could be really awful for him. To make the constant hand washing a little more fun for Miss G, I’ve been switching up our soap every now and then by adding different essential oils to it, putting it in a bottle with a foaming pump, and once even adding a drop or two of pink colouring to it {you do what you gotta do, right?} Thankfully Grae’s really great about it all, even though I feel like I ask her to wash her hands about 100 times a day.
Several years ago, we discovered the beauty that is baking soda clay during one of our annual Christmas ornament crafting sessions. Since then, baking soda clay ornaments have become a regular occurrence in our house – and not only for Christmas either! We’ve used the homemade modelling clay for all kinds of projects, and this year we’re using it for two new ones – something spring-themed and something Easter themed {so stay tuned for those!} In the meantime, if you’ve not used it before, I’d highly recommend giving it a try. It requires only 3 very basic kitchen ingredients, it can be used for all sorts of projects, and it air dries in a couple of days time.
Each year about a week or so before Valentine’s Day, I set out a Valentine’s card creation station for Miss G. It changes a little bit year to year and the supplies have matured with her somewhat over the years {the valentine’s creative table she enjoyed at 2.5 can be seen here}, but overall the idea stays the same. It’s simply a collection of inviting supplies set out for her to use as she wishes – no expectations, no prescribed outcome.
For the last week and a bit, Miss G’s been having a total blast experimenting with all sorts of open-ended science activities and challenges…
{this post contains affiliate links}And it’s all because of this book – The Curious Kid’s Science Book by Asia Citro. We are big fans of her first book, 150+ Scree-Free Activities for Kids {which actually inspired us to create a taste-safe sensory play kit for a friend last year}, and this second book certainly does not disappoint! What I think I love most about it is that it really gets little ones into the scientific process {but in a totally organic and child-led way} – asking questions, testing different methods, making observations, making adjustments, re-experimenting, and coming to conclusions. What I also really love about it is that at 5 years old, Miss G is very capable of leading many of these explorations completely on her own, giving her a huge sense of pride and independence. Win!!
So, when I asked my good friend what her little guy was into a few days before his birthday party and she responded with, ‘He loves doing science experiments!’, there was no question what we’d put together for him. A DIY science kit it would be!
Luckily for us, Asia {the author of the book} has made this part extremely easy by providing a list of the most common materials needed to do the experiments in the book both on her blog and on page 28 of the book itself! And in case you’re wondering, most of what’s on the list is really easy to find either at a grocery store or at a dollar store.
Here’s what Asia recommends including:
We took a few liberties with our list, but included most everything {save the darn children’s safety googles that I waited too long to go out and find!} and also included one of Miss G’s favourite science tools – plastic pipettes. In the case where something came in a monstrous size bag that we felt was excessive for the size of our kit, we simply re-packaged the goods into smaller sets / bags and used some funky washi tape to pretty things up a little bit.
Next up, Miss G created a personalized book plate and stuck it just inside a copy of The Curious Kid’s Science Book.
Then we tied the book up with some baker’s twine and placed everything neatly into a pretty plastic bin.
As a finishing touch, we added a little label to the front of our kit, and it was done and ready to be given. ☺
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