Last Minute Valentine Odds & Ends

With Valentine's Day coming tomorrow, I decided to just dump the rest of my Valentine related photos today.

Buddy working very seriously on a valentine for his little sister's mailbox.

First attempt at a wire hanger, yarn wrapped heart. Kind of a craft fail. Next attempt will involve hot glue.

Jellybean painting a wood, heart-shaped wand her favorite color. This kid loves to paint.

An extra little Valentine's treat for Buddy's pre-school class. Trying to satisfy everyone: Gluten-free, nut-free and friendly for the kid who's mother won't let her eat sweets (I hope).

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Learning the Joy of Giving: Valentine's Mailboxes

Now that it is past the Christmas season, I've wanted to keep the momentum going on teaching the kids about giving. With Valentine's coming up, I remembered some Valentine's mailboxes that I saw in a blog post a couple of years ago. I don't remember exactly where I read about it, so I can't give proper credit, but the author picked up $1 mailboxes at Target for each of her kids and had them give valentines to each other using the boxes.
I thought this was such a sweet idea. Last Spring, I noticed some of those cute mailboxes in the Target dollar section and grabbed a couple. So glad that I did. I brought them out and showed them to the kids last week. I asked them if they would like to decorate them and make drawings/notes/valentines throughout the next little while to put in each other's mailboxes. Their reaction was awesome. They were so excited to get started.

On Saturday, we went out hunting for some decorations for the mailboxes. We settled on stickers. Buddy chose alphabet stickers (surprise!) and Jellybean chose hearts and butterflies. Before nap time, I let the kids decorate their boxes to their liking and then we set them on a table between their rooms.

During naps, I grabbed a couple of valentines and put one in each of their mailboxes with a starburst. They were so incredibly excited to get their first delivery.

I want to make it a fun experience for them to give and receive. Mostly, I want them to think about giving something small to each other, though D and I will likely put small things in there as time goes by. I'm planning to let them stay on the table throughout the next couple of months. Of course, if we really enjoy it, we may keep using the boxes throughout the year.

Jellybean made her first card for Buddy today while he was at preschool. She couldn't wait to tell him that she had left something in his mailbox. He loved getting something from her. I could tell that she was a little sad that she didn't get anything in her mailbox today. I'll have to get with Buddy tomorrow and see if we can fix that...

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Artsy Play Wednesday

Toddler Gift Giving- Salt Dough

Today is Grandma B's birthday. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) The family celebrated the occasion this last Sunday.  I couldn't be there because of a horrible head cold that just wouldn't go away.  I was sad at missing the get together, but I had fun helping my kids make a gift for their grandmother.

We love working with play dough in our house. My kids also really enjoy creating gifts for people. Personally, I love seeing them experience the joy of making something for someone else and then the joy of giving their creation away.

 I put together a batch of salt dough and got out some cookie cutters and letter stamps.  Both Jellybean and Buddy enjoyed playing with the dough. If left to her own devices, Jellybean just rips dough apart in tiny pieces (she also kept licking the dough), so I helped her cut out some fish. Under her instruction, there had to be a mama, a dada and a baby fish.  I also rolled out a circle so she could do a hand impression.

Buddy lives for Halloween and was very attracted to the pumpkin and ghost cookie cutters. He also molded together a "monster box." Apparently, Grandma knew immediately that it was from him due to the "ABC" stamped on the outside (his other obsession is with the alphabet).

After the salt dough was baked and cooled, I got out some markers and let them color their creations.

Salt Dough Recipe:

-1 cup of flour
-1 cup of salt
-Half a cup of water
-Mix it together and knead it
-When ready to cook, put on a baking sheet in the oven at 200 degrees F for 2-3 hours
-When cool, paint or decorate. You may wish to varnish or cover with gloopy glue when dry.

When researching salt dough recipes, I came across a great resource for play dough recipes: The Imagination Tree. The post has over a dozen recipes/ideas for using play dough. It also talks about the benefits of working with play dough and how the medium of play dough encourages imaginative play. It's worth a read.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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