Yesterday was a busy day. Our toddler had an appointment and then we headed to a local play place so she could run off some energy. In the afternoon, we wanted to come up with a quick craft that she could have fun with.
Materials Needed
White Paper (Two Pieces)
Construction Paper (Can be any color)
Scissors
Glue
We started by cutting out the parts needed to make the bunny. We cut out a big circle, a smaller circle, and two ears from the construction paper our little one picked. Next, we cut a fluffy bunny tail from one of the sheets of white paper. You can use scrap white paper for the tail if you have any. We always keep paper scraps around to cut down on waste.
Next, we let our little one put together the bunny. We put glue from a bottle on the paper, but a preschool aged child could use a glue stick instead. We have not introduced the glue stick concept to our two year old yet, so we do not have any around the house.
The end result is a very simple, but super cute, bunny!
When a parent gets sick, it can be difficult for the whole household. When a parent has a chronic illness or disability, it is something that the whole household has to adapt to. It can be very frustrating and lonely at times. Today, we want to share a few tips for those who may be struggling to balance life with a chronic illness and parenthood.
Your children do not need a perfect parent, they need you! Each and every one of us have different abilities and talents. Comparing yourself to other parents, especially those without health struggles, will always leave you disappointed. I have learned to embrace both my limitations and my strengths.
You are allowed to have a bad day. You are allowed to give yourself rest when you need it. If you need to order delivery for dinner, skip the laundry, or let the dusting wait a day, then you should do that without guilt. Your health is more important than a spotless house. Do not be afraid to use your support system. I am blessed to have a mother who is always willing to give me a little break when my chronic illnesses are causing me extra problems.
It can be super helpful to know that you are not alone! Since not everyone has time to go to an in person support group, Facebook groups can be very helpful as well!
We hope these tips are useful. If you are living with a chronic illness, we’d love to hear from you! How do you balance your life? How do you take time to care for yourself? What is your biggest challenge right now?
Spring is officially here! Today we are enjoying some chilly, but not freezing weather, and are thrilled to be able to retire our winter related crafts! We will be back with new ideas next winter, but now it is time to move on. This paper chick craft is simple to prepare for and is great fine motor skill practice!
Materials Needed
White construction or computer paper
Yellow construction paper
Orange construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Googly Eyes
Getting ready to make this little chick is super easy. Start by cutting out squares from the yellow paper. Children who are younger or have issues with fine motor skills will need bigger squares, but if you have a preschooler or kindergartner, smaller squares will work well. You will also need to cut a triangle for the beak and two feet from the orange paper.
After the cutting is done, put glue in an oval shape onto the white paper. If you are feeling brave, you can also draw an oval and let your little one put glue inside.
Next, let your little one put on the yellow squares one at a time.
After all the glue is covered, add the beak, legs, and eyes!
After it dries, it will make the perfect spring time fridge art!
Our toddler loves to paint, but some days we do not have the time or energy to clean up a big painting mess. We love using a mess free method!
Materials
White Paper
Brown Construction Paper
A Marker
Scissors
Green Paint
Glue
A Plastic Gallon Size Sandwich Bag
We started by folding up the white paper to fit in the plastic bag and then put green paint on the paper. After that, we put the paper into the bag.
We gave the bag to our toddler and let her move around the paint. This is a great sensory experience for little ones! The green shape will be the turtle’s shell. The turtle could come out in pretty much any shape or simply take up the whole paper, but that is just part of the fun!
While we waited on the paint to dry, we cut out four “legs” and a “head” for the turtle. We also used a market to give the turtle eyes.
Once everything was completely dry, we helped our toddler glue on the arms and the head.
We recently enjoyed a wonderful eight day stay at Walt Disney World. We stayed at Pop Century for the second time. We had a blast and were not in the room much, but we want to share a little about the resort with you! This is not a sponsored post nor were we asked to write it, we just love sharing our travel experiences!
This was our first Disney World trip as a family of three, so we were looking for a resort that would be very interesting for a small child. We looked at a variety of resorts, but decided on Pop Century because the price was something we could easily afford and we knew from our previous stay that it was very nice. The rooms had been refurbished since our last stay, so they were new to us.
Overall, we really enjoyed the new room design. We loved the hard wood floors because we all have allergies that can be sometime bothered by older carpet. The decor was fun but simple. The only thing we did not love was the glass doors on the bathtub. We know it is probably more sanitary and saves the hassle of changing shower curtains, but they did make it just a bit challenging to bath a wiggly toddler. We absolutely loved the room as a whole though.
Our toddler wakes up super early, so we got to enjoy walking around the resort several times. All of the buildings really captured the Disney spirit as well as the decade that each building represented. We tried to get some pictures of our toddler in front of some of the cool decorations, but she just was not feeling photogenic.
Before we stay at any hotel, Mr. Not So Crafty checks out the nearby food options. One of the biggest differences between a Value hotel and the Moderate and Deluxe hotels is that the value hotels do not have restaurants. They simply have food courts. The food court at Pop Century has a very large selection of foods, so we did not really miss having a restaurant. They have a lot of allergy friendly options as well, but you must speak to a chef for safety, and that can mean that you have a wait a bit longer for your food, but allergy safe food is worth waiting for!
We highly enjoyed our stay! Pop Century offers affordable lodging while offering all the perks of staying on Disney property. We will be visiting again!
Spring and Saint Patrick’s Day are both coming up fast. In honor of both of those things, our most recently learning art activity is a paper rainbow made of circles! This activity not only is a great way to work on colors, but it is also is an excellent way to work on fine motor skills.
Materials Needed
Construction Paper (Light blue, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and white)
Scissors
Glue
The prep work on this one takes a bit longer than most of what we do on this blog, but it is still pretty easy. Start by cutting out small circles from all but the white and light blue paper. The light blue paper will be the background. The white paper will need to be cut into four bigger circles.
Next, draw lines for your little one to place the colors. The lines we drew were just a bit too close together. If we were doing it again, we’d leave a little more space.
After you draw the lines, put glue on one line at a time and hand your little one the colors. Name each color for your little one as they work. This process will take a little bit of time, but it is wonderful fine motor skills and our little one had fun with it.
After all the colors are glued on, let your little one glue the white circles on the bottom of the rainbow.
It is officially March! In North East Ohio, that may or may not start to bring warm weather, but it also brings St. Patrick’s Day. Unless you enjoy green beer, it is a holiday that often gets overlooked. We have gathered a few great ways to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day that are perfect for families with small children!
We recently published an adorable leprechaun hat craft. For an assortment of printables and other fun things, head over to Heart and Mind Homeschool. They have compiled a wonderful list with so many options!
This is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition that has really caught on in recent years. Our toddler is still a bit young for this one, but it looks like so much fun! There is even a book about catching a leprechaun. Visit Mommy Needs Cookies to see the book and a fun trap!
You can help others celebrate by handing out little gifts. These cute little pots of gold would make perfect gifts for teachers, medical professionals, or friends!
We would love to hear from you! How do you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day? Do you go all out or is it a holiday that does not appeal much to you?
