Okay, so I admit it – we’re a bit play dough kit obsessed over here. We can’t help it. Play dough is something that we play with on a daily basis and having pre-made kits filled with dough and interesting loose parts makes it really easy to delve into the fun – everything that’s needed is right there in a container waiting to be taken out! It also means that Grae can easily help herself to a kit and have a fun activity pre-prepared for independent play times, which I love.
Oh my goodness… It feels like Gracen and I have been waiting for this week’s instalment of our preschool book club forever! Shortly after sharing our magnetic polka dot sensory bag inspired by Press Here {one of our favourites}, Herve Tullet’s publicist contacted us and asked if we’d be interested in checking out his newest book, Mix It Up! Ummm.. YES?! {And stay tuned until the end of the post, because we’re also giving away a copy to one of our lovely readers!}
When Gracen gets invited to a birthday party, she’s usually excited about two things – actually going to the party of course, and coming up with a fun gift to bring along! This gift was for a friend who was celebrating her 7th birthday this time around, so Miss G knew she wanted something ‘big girlish’. We brainstormed ideas throughout the week {a hair dressing kit and a card making kit were other options in the running – two of G’s favourite things}, but in the end we decided on a little chef’s baking kit since our friend enjoys baking with her mama just as Grae and I enjoy baking together.
I’m pretty sure Gracen’s obsession with Frozen has reached an all-time high recently. She’s always really enjoyed the movie, but since removing the YouTube app from her iPad a while back, I’m fairly certain she’s spent at least a portion of her allotted screen time watching it every single day. Of course, when your start your day with a dose of Frozen, it translates into into a whole lot of Elsa dress-up, many Anna hairdo requests, non-stop ‘Let It Go’, and daily reenactments of the ‘do you want to build a snowman?’ scene {accompanied by plenty of door knocking}. Welcome to our world.
With Halloween behind us, Miss G and I removed the spider wreath from our door this morning and replaced it with the beautiful poppy-covered one she made last year in honour of Remembrance Day. We also set out a very simple bouquet of cupcake liner poppies that were inspired by the ones on our wreath.
{this post contains affiliate links}While Halloween may be over for most, today Miss G and I celebrated once again with the wonderful mamas and munchkins of our play school co-op. Now, while she very easily could have worn the mermaid costume I made just a couple of days back, I couldn’t help but make Grae another one… A paper bag princess costume based on one of my favourite Robert Munsch books, The Paper Bag Princess!
Grae and I absolutely love putting together fun play kits as gifts, especially when they involve sensory play materials. While we’ve made a very simple homemade play dough kit previously, time around we decided to make the birthday boy a colourful kit filled with a rainbow of play dough and a bunch of fun tools and loose parts to up its play possibilities.
While Miss G may have decided that she wanted to dress-up like a mermaid months ago, in true Jen fashion, I started the costume last night – the night before Halloween {like I did last year, and the year before that}. Honestly – I wanted to start it weeks ago, but I just didn’t have any clue how I was going to pull it off. I’d scoured the internet for clever ideas, but the combination of Miss G needing to be able to walk down flights upon flights of stairs while trick-or-treating and my not having a sewing machine really didn’t turn up any viable options.
You know those projects that seem to sit on your to do list for ages and ages without actually getting done? That’s these cute little wooden cherries! In fact, if I’m being completely truthful, they’re almost a year in the making… Oy.
Yay! Another week means another instalment of preschool book club with our online friends, which Miss G and I both just love.
Last year Gracen and I created our first ever showcase of gratefulness with a giant thankful tree. I loved having a visual representation of all of the things she felt thankful for and the process of creating the tree together provided the perfect opportunity for us to discuss just how much we have to be grateful for. This year, we decided to switch things up a little bit. We once again created fall leaves {but this time using real leaves as stamps} and then turned them into a beautiful garland of thanks.
Today before starting on our stamped leaf garland of thanks, Miss G and I did a classic kid project – leaf rubbings! Although we’ve tried rubbings once before while still in Canada, Grae was only 2 then and the process was still a little tricky for her. At 4 though? She rocked it!
{this post contains affiliate links}Today, as we seem to do quite frequently lately, we reached for our copy of 101 Kids Activities That are the Bestest, Funnest Ever! during the little pocket of time we have between quiet play and my tutoring commitments. Gracen flipped through the pages, picked a project, and we made an awesome little catapult out of some large craft sticks and a disposable spoon.
Have I mentioned that Grae and I love putting together homemade gifts? Because we do. We love it so much in fact, that despite the fact that we had actually already purchased a gift for today’s party, we decided we would make something instead – just yesterday afternoon! Today’s birthday boy is a car lover through and through, so we used that for our inspiration. He also {like many of our international friends} is often on the go, so we decided to make him a portable car play kit so that he has a fun and easy way to take his beloved toys with him – whether it be to a restaurant, on an airplane, or over to a friend’s house.
{this post contains affiliate links}When Miss G was gifted The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds last spring, we immediately fell in love. The story is about a little girl named Vashti whose paper is blank at the end of art class. After telling her teacher that she ‘just CAN’T draw!’, the teacher uses subtle and clever encouragement to get Vashti to step out of her comfort zone. Vashti starts by just making a mark, but that one mark ends up becoming something beautiful as Vashti lets go and gains confidence. In the end, not only does Vashti become a confident artist, but she also helps others who are feeling insecure with their ability to create art. Pretty awesome storyline, right?