marker sniffers and toddler stickers

who knew desperate mothers could be so creative?! oh, wait! i DID know that!

i'm just starting to get through the buckets of tips i have either gotten through facebook, emails, or the ones i received on here.

marj's ideas of stickers worked splendidly today. kept him entertained, and sticker covered for well over 45 minutes! whoop-whoop holler holler!

the happy son after a good school day. (and equally as happy mommy!)

i can feel the continuing theme of toddler pleasers for months and years to come!

another great source was sent to me through email by carrie. it's an e-book version of the Preschool Activities in a Bag II. i was familiar with Preschool Activities in a Bag I, but never really got around to making any of the projects due to my children's ages. although most projects are for preschoolers (lots of shapes, letters, and numbers sorting), there were quite a few that i thought i could tweak to work for my little 2 year old.

these few we are planning on trying next week:

• clothes pins: lists a few projects that have your child clip and place the clothes pins on various objects (including canning lids and paper). and seeing as though i have a blue million clothes pins that i "intend" to some day put on my imaginary clothes line outside....i digress....


• pipe cleaners and straws: snip straws into smaller segments and have the child thread the pipe cleaner through the straws.

click here if you are interested in getting either of the Preschool Activities in a Bag I or II in e-book form. and while you are there, check out their other resources. downloading Science Experiments in a Bag as i type!

in other, but similarly crafty news, my children are marker sniffers.

and they have the colored undernoses to prove just how inviting the scents really are. my favorite is the coffee scented one.

my husband is 30 today, so they kids got their craft on by making mish-mosh cards. i learned that children can be very wasteful if not monitored with construction paper/printer paper and other art supplies, so when i organized our school room, i gave them their very own drawer full of scraps and bits of leftover paper, yarn, felt, and magazines that they can use up to their hearts desire, and they are NOT allowed to just decimate my other things unless it is a supervised craft project. if you have an empty box, drawer, tote, you can designate it as "kid friendly" and know that your other supplies are relatively safe from boredom ensued afternoons.

keep the tips coming!!