Mini-confession here: I am slightly obsessed over printables, specificallykids' printable activities. Ok, not really obsessed-obsessed, but more like I-am-a-HUGE-fan-obsessed. You see, we've had a lot of sickness going on in our household over the past 3 months or so. (It's a really long story. I'll spare you the details, but we've been through lots of probiotics, Emergen-C, and other stuff. I'm pretty sure we're on the up-swing now.) Basically, what I'm saying is that we've had a rough season, as far as our health is concerned. (We're getting better, though). There have been so many days where I was sick or everybody was sick and I needed a quick activity to keep the boys entertained while I laid on the couch and blew my nose. I had days where Mac was quarantined in his room and was in need of a quiet activity to keep him entertained while he recovered from another cold. During these moments, I have realized that printable kids activities are a mom's best resource. It's been so nice to print out an activity on a sheet of paper and allow it to entertain my boys. Amazing...and oh-so-easy.
So, today I bring you yet another printable kids' activity. I know...I've been making a lot of these lately, but there's just so much to like about them. 1. They're FREE. 2. The kids are enthusiastic about a new activity 3. When they're done, you can toss it in the recycling bin (easy clean up) and 4. It's EASY! Seriously, what is there not to like about printable kids' activities?
Yesterday, we printed and cut out these fun little animal rings and spent quite a while playing with them. Today, at lunch Cheese sat in his high chair and played with one of the rings while I made his lunch. (This is actually a pretty amazing accomplishment, due to the fact that he assumes he will immediately be fed once he is seated in the high chair. #foodie - oh wait...can you use hashtags on a blog? Just Kidding.) So anyway, these rings have been a big hit in our house and have been unintentionally dispersed throughout the rest of the house, because the boys have played with them continuously. If your kids are anything like mine, they will love them.
So, are you ready to print out your own set of animal rings? Here you go:
I recommend printing these rings on card stock. After printing, cut the rings out and tape the ends together to make each ring.
Please keep in mind that you are always more than welcome to use these as much as you like for personal use. You are also free to feature and pin these too, but link to this page, instead of linking to the PDF. :)
Over the past couple of weeks, I have taken note of several comments, spanning multiple social media platforms, about the anticipation of Spring. Now that the Holidays are over, it seems the whimsical winter wonderland desires have faded, and everybody is ready for Spring. Are you with me? Is anybody else ready for Spring?
I am definitely ready for Spring. In fact, to be quite honest, I dread this time of year. It's so uninspiring, cold, and well...boring. Lately, I've found myself day dreaming about the Spring Season - the activities, the weather, the clothes, so much so that I've even been doodling about it. So, if you're in the same Post-Holiday/Pre-Spring Funk that I've been in, perhaps this will cheer you up and maybe even give you a little inspiration.
I have a fun, Spring-inspired wallpaper for iPads, iPad minis, and yes, even Android tablets. (We don't discriminate in this household. We use both Android and Mac devices.) Download this wallpaper and remind yourself: Don't despair! Spring is coming. It's just around the corner.
I have a funny story to share with you guys. I didn't grow up believing in Santa and Joel was still pretty little when he decided that Santa wasn't real. Because we grew up in Christian households, there was never much of an emphasis on Santa. When we had kids, Joel and I decided to not tell our kids about Santa, mostly because we want the real emphasis of Christmas to be about the birth of Jesus. So anyway, Mac is currently 4, almost 5 years old, and has heard about Santa from preschool and also TV. A couple of months ago, he asked us if Santa was real. We told him no, but that some people like to pretend that he is (and not to tell everybody that Santa isn't real). He's a pretty logical kid, so he accepted this answer and changed the subject. Fast forward to the beginning of December. My dad took the boys to the mall for the morning and a man dressed as Santa said hello to Mac. Mac then turned to my dad and said, "Well, I guess Santa IS real." My dad was speechless. Ha ha! What a funny kid. So now Mac is convinced that Santa is real because he saw him in real life. We've decided not to fight it. He can believe in Santa if he wants. In honor of Mac's Santa realization, I have a fun letter to Santa as a printable today. Be sure to check out the previous ones if you haven't yet. We have the Cute Christmas Tree, Hanging Ornaments, Peace Love and Joy, Peace on Earth, Let It Snow, The Polar Bear, Ho Ho Ho, and Celebrate Jesus. Remember to check back everyday until December 23rd for a new and free printable.
So here's the printable for Day 9 - a letter to Santa.
As always, you are free to use this printable as much as you would like for your own personal use, as well as your blog, as long as you link back here for credit.
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I have a fun little project for you guys today - a miniature Jack-in-the-box paper Christmas craft. So fun and cute! This little Jack-in-the-box is easy enough for little ones with scissor skills, but still fun for adults as well. Plus, there's a free printable to help you make this cute little guy. What more could you ask for?
Simple instructions are included on the printable, but I've included more detailed instructions on this post, as well. It's not required, but I would recommend printing out the Jack-in-the-box on card stock to make it more sturdy.
Cut out and fold Jack on the dotted lines, accordion style. Make sure to start the fold underneath Jack. The first fold needs to be folded behind him.
When folding the box, fold inward at each dotted line.
Next tape the two tabs underneath both green squares together.
Add a strip of tape to the bottom tab of the folded Jack, and tape to the bottom of the inside of the box.
Then add a strip of tape to the small tab on the side of the red box and fold inward. Tape to the inside of the box.
Finally, add one more tape strip to secure the bottom two tabs underneath the box.
Fun, right? Mac begged me for days to make this. He and I both made a Jack-in-the-box. And then he stole mine. He really did.
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Hey friends. I'm on a small break because I had surgery yesterday. So today my husband, Joel, has a fun activity to share with you guys. Didn't know he was so crafty, right? Yeah, he is. He's pretty cool like that. Well...maybe not crafty...more like...resourceful. (I don't think guys like to be considered crafty.) So check out his post below:
Boys love cars. I still like playing with Hot Wheels. I'm not sure if that makes me wierd, but if it does, I'm cool with it. Both Mac and Cheese like to play with cars. It really does start young.
Those cool car playsets make it even more fun by giving the play context and allowing for more imaginative interaction. I love those things, but they are so expensive and they get old quickly.
Another (slightly wierd and nerdy) thing that I'm into is "print-and-play games". These are board/card/miniature games that you just download in PDF form, print it, cut it and start playing!
So, I decided to merge these ideas to make a fun, flexible and inexpensive (^_^) way to get your car on, do a fun craft with your kiddos and save some $$$!
Supplies:
- our custom PDF: SoHeresMyLife.com Printable car town
- cardstock to print it on (regular paper works, but not as well)
- scissors (an Exacto knife and a cutting board are handy, too)
- some sort of glue (glue sticks or spray glue work best)
- medium to large cardboard box
Once you have the PDF printed out on cardstock, cut the road pieces out. Don't leave any white around the edges.
Then, cut the buildings out. Cut along the black lines. Don't cut on the gray dotted lines.
With the buildings cut out, fold along those gray dotted lines. Lightly dragging an Exacto knife along the dotted line to score it will help your folds be easier and straighter, but it's not required.
Apply a light amount of glue to each of the 4 smaller blank panels, then fold the building together. Each should take less than a minute to dry and be pretty solid.
Next, we need to make panels out of the cardboard box to glue our roads to. It's not necessary to cut every panel of your box off. What I did is separate each side of my box, then cut the top panel off of each side, leaving the bottom one. This allows you to have some larger panels for bigger pieces and smaller panels for interconnecting pieces.
Take your road pieces and arrange them on one of the big panels. Try to make a fun looking arrangement that has road pieces ending along the edges so that you can connect various panels together to make a larger city map. You can trim down the straight road pieces as needed to make them fit well. I recommend only cutting straight roads that end along the edges. If you keep to this, it will help your panels to line up a little better.
Once you have planned your arrangement, it's time to glue the pieces on-by-one. Make sure that the glue on the bottom of each piece goes all the way to the edges so that they won't peel up and get dog-eared. Be careful to place each road piece so that there aren't gaps between them and line up the white lines just to keep things tidy and lined up. Repeat with each of the large and small panels.
The best thing about this project is that you don't have to have everything put together before your kiddos start playing. If you're careful to not use too much glue when gluing roads and buildings, you're ready to play in less than 2 minutes after assembling a piece. In fact, you can assemble a few panels, let the kids play, then do a couple more some other day. Also, feel free to print as many additional pages of road pieces or buildings as you need to create the layout you have in mind.
You could also add a set of plastic road signs & various city props. We picked up a small set of these from a dollar store near our house. This adds to the immersive experience. With the town all set up, this should keep your kiddo entertained for quite a while. Show them how to rearrange the panels and change the layout, also.
With a modular playset like this, it's easy to pick up quickly and doesn't take up much room when stored. Now that I have this all set up, though, I'm going to go play with it for a while before Mac gets back from hanging out with his grandpa. :)
One more link for the Printable Road Maps, in case you missed it earlier.
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