Month: August 2020

DIY Colorful Pumpkins

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Fall…seems like it’s most people’s favorite time of year. I enjoy decorating for all the holidays but it’s not a secret I don’t really like the browns, tans, oranges that are the popular fall colors. I prefer bright and fun colors! There is NO reason that those colors can’t be on all my Halloween and fall decor!

It is hard to find colorful pumpkins so I decided to make my own. It was cheap and simple. I bought pumpkins at the dollar store and the acrylic paint I already had. I didn’t want them ALL the same so I got a few different sizes and shapes for the pumpkins.

There is two steps for the pumpkins. To start you want to wipe down your pumpkins with rubbing alcohol to get any stuff off. This helps the paint go on better. Trust me. I lay down a large plastic table cloth from the dollar store that I can use a few times for crafts then throw away.

For painting the pumpkins I found that acrylic paint works best. I did it with another paint first on a couple and they didn’t turn out as well. You will need to paint two coats on the pumpkins. That’s it! That’s all you do! Wipe with alcohol then paint! So simple.

You could use any colors you wanted – even if you didn’t want brighter colors. I am going to do larger pumpkins this year! Do you like fall colors or do you prefer brighter?

Simple Sensory Bin

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Millie is an active little girl! She likes to be ‘doing’. She loves sensory bin activities so I thought about adding a second layer of fun too with making her move around. I made a simple sensory bin with dried beans and alphabet letters from our alphabet puzzle. I put the bin on the floor in the corner and I put the puzzle part on the table with a step stool to get up.

Millie had a blast running to the bin, finding a letter, climbing up the step, finding where the letter went, jumping off the stool and doing it all again. I added an ABC print out too and she liked to match the letter on there and in the puzzle as well!

This was such a simple sensory activity. It works on fine and gross motor. Kids learn with their whole body while little and this is perfect for that. You can do it with other puzzles too!

Blueberry Spritzer Cocktail

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I love making cocktails. I love trying new things, new recipes, classic recipes, and making things up too! This one is so simple. You can use whatever liquor you want. I prefer bourbon or whiskey. But I think it would be really good with vodka too!

I used 1-2oz of liquor, 2-3 oz of blueberry juice then I topped it off with sparkling water! I had fresh peaches so that is what I garnished it with! I think trying it with raspberries would be so good too!

What is your favorite type of liquor for your cocktails?

Teaching Letter Recognition

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What a crazy world right now, right?! We decided to homeschool Millie for PreK3. I am thankful she is still so little that our decision wasn’t a huge one to make, but it was still one we really thought about before making. Staying at home full time I want to give her what she needs academically as well as everything else!

We work on our letters a lot! Each week we have a letter and number of the week! I try to find simple, hands on activities to help with her learning! This week our letter is T! This is a super easy activity to help with fine motor skills and learn about letter recognition.

She has a small table that she works and plays on. I took painters tape and taped a big T and a little t. I filled a bowl with some fun cereal for her to use (and let’s be honest- eat too). She takes the cereal and puts it over the tape letter. While she does this we sing and count the cereal, we discuss the T sounds, and what words begin with T! It is so simple, but she has so much fun. You can get a lot of language out of this simple activity.

If you don’t have painters tape you can just write a big T and little t on a piece of paper for them to do the same thing! Activities like this don’t need to be fancy or hard to do!

After she does her letters and we count all the cereal she eats it! That’s her favorite part! This activity takes minimal set up and minimal supplies! You can use other things besides cereal too! Coins, candy, stickers, the list goes on and on! The main focus is the letter and not the elaborate activity!