Today I will be focusing on hand print ideas. The kids are sure to enjoy these activities! Because of the personal nature of a hand print or tracing, this type of art also makes FANTASTIC gifts!
Hand print farm animals
Hand print Autumn tree
Hand trace card
This is great fun and also makes a beautiful card for Mother’s Day or for grandparents as a gift.
Hand print tree – gift idea for Father’s Day
From etsy.com
Hand trace fish
From blog.mpmschoolsupplies.com
From funhandprintart.blogspot.com
For more ideas feel free to look at my “activities for kids” board on Pinterest. Thanks to all the Pinterest users for sharing these great ideas!
With its silly horse-riding dance and addictive beat, Gangnam Style got us moving! Nothing is cuter than seeing my 4 year old trying to master the horse riding dance… she is a huge fan of the popular Gangnam Style video and the chubby singer PSY. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.
Korean hip-hop at its best with comical dancing – what fun!
Learn to do the horse-riding dance here.
Picture source.
Shiver me timbers!
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My daughter has an infatuation with playing pirates. There’s something about hunting for treasure that just gets her excited to the point that she actually jumps up and down with joy while starting every sentence with “arrrggghhhh” and ending with “me hearties”.
My handy mom made a pirate ship out of cardboard, sticky tape, glue and paint for her favourite (and only) grandchild. Looks fantastic to say the least!
Yesterday morning I agreed to play pirates AGAIN and partake in a treasure hunt. She would hide some booty (pirate talk for treasure, in case you landlubbers didn’t know), and then make a map for me. This keeps her busy for some time, so while I wait I get some gardening time in. I decided to de-poop the yard (thanks furry kids for the stinky presents). While I’m still busy with the poop-scoop, scooping the poop, my girl starts barraging me with “yo-ho-ho, MOM mom mommy mom… I’m done, yo-ho-ho, come mom, let’s play mom… mom mom mom, come mommy, please mommy”.
My brain actually goes numb when the non-stop “MOM MOM MOM MOM” floodgates open. I get a little flustered (I am pregnant after all, cut me some slack) and I declare very voluminously: “baby I’ll be there in a minute, I’m still busy pooping!!!!” (What I wanted to say is poop-scooping but my tongue and my brain decided to just conveniently skip that part.)
In my mind the entire neighbourhood comes to a standstill. Then I hear it… the neighbour’s young son laughing hysterically, screeching gleefully; “mommy mommy, did you hear that? The neighbour lady is busy pooping! Hahaha…”
Oh man. We just moved in, but maybe it’s a good time to move out.
*Facepalm*
Photo Quote Friday
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Every Friday I will post one of my favorite photographs that I’ve taken with a quote that I like.
Geeky eye candy at its best.
I came across this at Design Mom. It is available from Etsy.
“Quite original” I mused and spammed my blog with a second post for the day.
Every Thursday (yes I picked a random day of the week) I will post interesting ideas that I find on Pinterest. Specifically ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS.
We all need some fresh ideas every now and again. Spending creative time with your kids can be very rewarding, so let’s get those creative juices flowing!
Paint sealed inside a Ziploc bag and then taped to a glass door or window: mess free painting anytime.
Drop small blobs of liquid paint onto your paper, then blow with straws. After the paint has dried, add silly faces!
Originally from Creative crafts by Thelearningbus Cen
Bubble Wrap Painting. What fun!
Originally from Kiddo Fun by Jenn C
Parents, don’t forget to also have fun. Get in there and get colorfully dirty!
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. -Pablo Picasso
Most awkward moment
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This topic of course comes up in conversation on a regular basis when you are chatting with friends. Well in my case it does. Reflecting back on a moment in time when you wished the earth would swallow you whole right then and there. The beauty of this is that you can laugh about it afterwards and just hope that it never happens again.
I’ve had a bit of a lucky-unlucky streak in that department. Although my mishaps, even being few, were rather large.
These embarrassing moments are not kid related at all. It is pure adult mishap – at its finest. My little list includes passing gas in yoga class, calling my father to RSVP for his surprise party, stepping on a friend’s broken toe and more recently creating a situation at the supermarket resulting in 7 rogue pushcarts racing down a steep incline and actually shooting through the parking lot into parked vehicles. WOW. That was a big one. This happened yesterday. I still blush when I look in the mirror.
So, I am choosing to believe that these moments create character and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I also believe the pushcarts were out to get me, and hence will be avoiding them like the plague for a few weeks!
A simple prayer
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My little princess and I take turns saying our bedtime prayers after she is tucked in. She wanted to know how to pray… I explained that a prayer is an opportunity to say thank you for things that you are grateful for.
This is how it usually goes down:
“Dear God,
Thank you for my mommy and daddy.
Thank you for my whole family.
Thank you for all people, but not the bad ones.
Thank you for dogs.
Thank you for toys.
Thank you for curtains and air-cons and arms.
Thank you for coffee and faces.
Amen.”
The beauty and simplicity of childhood. What a way to see the world!
WHY? And other random incidents
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One of the amusing – sometimes tiring – and very often embarrassing things that my girl does is ask “WHY?” at inopportune moments. These moments seem to arise often at the grocery store. The latest incident happened while I was in the process of unpacking my groceries at the pay point. My little girl was sitting quietly smiling and waving at everybody in line, and then she suddenly asked out loud; “Mommy, why does that man have a nipple on his head?” After I caught my breathe (gasp – I went blood red), had a quick look in the direction where she’s looking at (right behind us) I was at a loss of words. The “nipple” was a large wart on the person in question’s forehead, but I thought discussing his wart might make his embarrassment worse. So I did something I’m not proud of. Instead of explaining what it was and answering seven more related questions that were bound to arise after the explanation, I bought her a lollipop and let her eat it right then and there.
That incident tops my list of memorable (or rather embarrassing) moments. Another memorable incident involves my husband, but luckily this time we were at home, so at least we could laugh about it. We were busy entertaining, and as soon as I got the chance (in the kitchen), I tried telling my husband about my day, but he was distracted and according to my standards not paying enough attention. So I poked him on the shoulder with my finger. It seems that he was actually paying attention and responded like flash lightning by grabbing my hand and biting it. We were playing of course but imagine our surprise when our little offspring runs from the room (a little bit panicked) screaming – “aaaaaaagggghhhhhhh Daddy is eating Mommy!” At least all the guests sitting in the living room thought it was very, very funny.
Back to the grocery store. This time we were waiting in line, and I guess my girl was getting bored. So my little love bug gave me a rather long, loving hug and declared “Mommy, I love how very soft and squishy you are!”
Yes, I am pregnant, but will definitely be visiting the gym soon after the baby pops.
Mall time. We were browsing through some new clothing at the kiddie section at my favourite store. My daughter was sitting in a push cart eating blueberries and drinking apple juice. She saw a dress she liked and became overly excited about it – darn Italian-use-your-hands-to-express-yourself-heritage – and dropped the blueberries on the floor. I only saw this after I had stepped on most of them and smeared them all over the white tiles. I gallantry tried to pick up the few un-squished ones, only to end up smearing my favourite beige pants with the delicious berry sludge. I grabbed my daughter and left in a hurry while she asked in her outside voice; “Mommy, why are we walking so very, very fast?!”
To get away from the scene of the crime!
Well that at least got me moving, my exercise quota for the day is filled.
Written
on 2012/10/05