We had a blast today at the park playing with our homemade Marshmallow Shooters!

They are very easy to make with some basic supplies.  Here is all that you need to make two shooters:

Supplies:

• Plastic cup – I used a Glad disposable food storage cup. The tops had cracked but I couldn’t bear to throw away the little cups because I just knew a fun project like this would come along. I like these cups because they are sturdy. I’ve also used regular disposable drinking cups for this and that is fine but they aren’t as sturdy.
• Balloon
• Marshmallows (mini works best)
• Scissors

Step 1: Cut off the bottom of your cup.  This was the hardest part of the whole project because I had to stab the bottom of the cup with my scissors to get a hole started so I could make the cut.  This step is for adults only.

Step 2: Cut about 1/2 inch off the top of the balloon.  Tie a knot as you usually would.

Step 3: Slide the open end of the balloon over the open end of the cup.

Step 4: Put some marshmallows in the opening.

Step 5: Pull back the balloon by the knot and release.

Step 6: Watch the marshmallows go flying!

Both of my kids had so much fun with this.  It was easy to load and easy to launch.  My son experimented with different size marshmallows and different numbers of marshmallows.  He says that the jumbo marshmallows are too heavy to travel very far.  The mini marshmallows travel the farthest.  While it is fun to load up the cup with lots of mini marshmallows, they won’t travel very far.

He says that 2 mini marshmallows at a time is his favorite way to shoot it.

You can adjust the height and distance that the marshmallows travel by where you aim the cup and how far back you pull the balloon.  Here is the farthest that my son was able to shoot a marshmallow.  Impressive!

We also tried shooting little craft pom poms instead of marshmallows.  They are lighter and seemed to travel a little farther.

But marshmallows are just fun and much tastier than pom poms!

Best part of this is that she designed them all.

She has had a lot of balloons in her room for her 4th birthday.

She has made some balloon drawings on some of those.

And one of the balloon drawings she made had faces on it and I got an idea to further extend it. So I cut facial features from craft foam in various shapes. Here is the lot I cut…

Then invited putti and told her my idea about turning some the balloons into people by adding facial features.

She loved it and started going through the parts I had cut. She did ask me to cut eye balls, teeth that I had missed out. Then she was all set. She applied some school glue to the craft foam…

And glued them on the balloon, it was kinda slippery, but soon she got a hold of it.

This is her first balloon friend.

The white glue dries clear so don’t worry.

Here it is after it dried.

These are some of the other balloon people she created…

These balloon friends have encouraged lots of pretend play too. We have had lots of pretend birthdays with each of her new friend getting a party hat/ crown.

Don’t they all look cute ?

You could use the craft foam with a sticky back too, makes it much easier, no need for glue. And I think this can be a fun activity for kids and adults at any party.

This Post was written by Roopa, mother of a beautiful 4yr girl and the author of the blog Putti Prapancha, which literally means ‘Putti’s World’ She shares fun artsy ideas and simple crafts for kids that she and her daughter ‘Putti’ enjoy doing together. Most of her ideas dont require a trip to the craft store, they use everyday material to create art. You can find her on facebook, google+, twitter . 

I thought about getting some soft wood that is used for whittling so I could show Nicholas how to carve. However, the tools used for whittling are sharp so he would only be able to watch me instead of actually participating himself.

Instead, I decided to use Ivory soap for our medium. It is softer than firm butter so you can easily cut through it with a plastic knife or appetizer spreader so it is safe for Nicholas to use without cutting himself.

You can start your carving by drawing a design on the soap with a marker or just scratching into the surface with your knife. Then you just start cutting. It is amazingly easy to cut into Ivory soap. Other soaps won’t work as well because they are too firm.

Once you cut the rough shape of your design, then you can use a plastic spoon or fork or some plastic pumpkin carving tools to smooth out, round out, or make further details on your creation.

Nicholas is very proud of his hand carved arrowhead. He said he enjoys carving and wishes Mommy had bought more Ivory soap so we could do some more carving today.

Soap carving with Ivory soap is incredibly easy and even young kids can do it!

We had soap shavings all over the table though so be prepared for a little clean up after you are done. But it’s soap so we have a very clean table now!

I love making cut-out sugar cookies with my kids during the holidays, but let’s be honest…it makes a huge mess and takes a long time!  If you’re looking for a quick way to make Halloween cookies with your kids, check out these adorable Candy Corn Sugar Cookies! 

No cookie cutters, no rolling out the dough…so these can be done lickety-split.

You will need:

*Your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe

*red & yellow food color

*loaf pan

Prepare your cookie dough as per your recipe for cut out cookies (not drop cookies).

Divide your dough into thirds.  Color 1/3 yellow, 1/3 orange (use color mixing chart on your food coloring drops box), and leave the last 1/3 plain.

Line a loaf pan with plastic cling wrap or wax paper.  Press yellow dough into bottom of pan, followed by orange & white dough.  Press firmly.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight for best results.

We didn’t do a very good job of splitting our dough evenly into thirds…but it turned out cute anyway!

When the dough is firm, turn loaf pan upside down & remove your dough.  Look at those layers!

Using a sharp knife, cut your dough into 1/4 inch slices. 

Cut each slice into triangles.  Discard (or eat!) the ends that are rounded if it bothers you.

Spread out triangles onto a cookies sheet & bake according to your recipe’s directions.  Be sure to pull them out before they get browned on the top…the colors will not be very vibrant if they bake too long!  I learned the hard way with my first batch…

I love how easy these cookies are to shape, and you don’t have to flour the counter, roll out the dough, use cookie cutters, re-roll your dough, and repeat the whole process fifty times. 

Allow to cool & enjoy!

Lacing cards improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills in preschoolers

I love lacing cards.

They are an easy activity to take with you to keep children busy in the car.  There aren’t many parts to them, they don’t take batteries, and they are completely silent.

But lacing cards aren’t only a good thing for Mommy.

Lacing cards are also a great educational and developmental toy for preschoolers. As children grasp the tip of the ribbon, they are building their pincer grip which is crucial for writing skills.  They also learn patterns and develop hand-eye coordination through the act of lacing or weaving.  Finally, it is also a lesson in patience as they ever so slowly work their way across the lacing card with their ribbon.

There are a lot of super cute lacing card sets in stores but I made one from an inexpensive kitchen sink mat that I got at the dollar store and some random ribbon pieces that weren’t being used

I simply cut some strips of ribbon slightly longer than my mat.  You could also use strips of cardstock instead of ribbon (if your child isn’t as destructive as mine).  I also put a strip of tape around the tip of each ribbon just to make it a little sturdier for gripping.

Then I let my preschooler go to town with it.

I asked her to lace the card by repeating the pattern the pattern I created at the top of the card.

But then I let her play with the ribbons and card on her own to discover and explore different designs and patterns that she could make.

Lacing cards are fun but so good for preschool development too.

But don’t think that you have to get fancy with the $1 sink mat.  You can make lacing cards with just cardstock, a hole punch, and some old shoe laces!  Use different colors of cardstock and cut out different shapes, animals, fruit, or just anything that would make it more fun for your child.

We carved our pumpkin & put it on the porch to greet visitors.
After a few weeks, our pumpkin, who Reese named Rotty, began to get a little mushy.  We got a tray for Rotty to sit on so he wouldn’t rot directly onto the porch. We made a journal to record our daily findings. We got to work!

September 12
Friday, 6:00pm
“Rotty is turning soft like a sponge. It’s got black mold. It’s getting eaten by a bug & looks black and not so good.”

Each day, Mom recorded Reese’s observations. I drew the outline of Rotty & Reese colored in the mold spots & mushy parts.  If you have an older child, let them do the recording & drawing.

September 13

September 14

Sunday, 7:15pm

“It’s rotten. It looks kind of ashy. His mouth is getting all rotten. I see a spider on the pumpkin. There is more mold today. I see bugs. They must be looking for food in Rotty. He feels soft.”

September 15
Monday, 6:30pm
“He’s rotten & smells like a dirt pile. His face is all gooey. You can see where I stuck my finger in. Look at all the pumpkin juice! The back is falling & tipping over. I wish Rotty would stay a little bit longer. His color is black & orange.”

September 17
Wednesday, 7:15pm
“He is rotten. He is smaller because he’s going down. Inside there’s a lot of mold! It smells like pumpkin to me…and dirt. I don’t see any bugs today. There’s a soft part on his head.”

September 21
Sunday, 7:15pm
“He’s so small! Not big & bumpy. You can still see where I put my finger. He’s decomposing. Part is soft from decomposing, but part is hard because it dried up. There’s a fly on him. He must eat the pumpkin. The back is sinking fast!”

September 22

Monday, 7:30pm
“He’s not like that anymore…not full. He looks like rotten eggs. He’s all brownish. Look inside…mold! He is small. I see a Junebug in there…it’s laying in Rotty. I see a fruit fly inside…lots of fruit flies!”

September 26
Friday, 3:00pm
“He’s not big & tall. He feels hairy. He’s dry. It’s called evaporate. Our guess was wrong. I thought he would turn into goo. We see fruit fly larva from Larva Land. No, really, they came from fruit flies.”

This was a GREAT experiment to do together. It was Reese’s first chance at long term observation, and our record book helped keep track of the changes each time we looked. I had to put a note on Rotty that said “Please excuse our science experiment!” because I was afraid our dear UPS lady would think we’re nuts!

.

Go on a color hunt through your house.  Seek out items that are all the same color.  This is a great clean-up activity.

Play with paint.  Tinkerlab blew the paint around the page with straws with her kids.  My three years olds loved this activity.

Make a stamping “wheel” with an old packing tape roll and foam stickers.

Dye pasta with food coloring and rubbing alcohol.  Kids love to make dimensional collages with the colored pasta.

Practice picking up pom-poms with tongs and play a matching game putting them into muffin tins (via Crayon Freckles).

.

Create a batch of fizzing sidewalk paint.  Enjoy watching your sidewalk bubble as you spray it off with vinegar.

Have fun “cooking” in an outdoor-mud-kitchen.  Pepperpaints had fun making muffins with her girls.

Oobleck is a mixture of cornstarch and water.  It has a consistency that is both solid and liquid, and can make great prints (via The Imagination Tree)

Goop.  We have a favorite recipe, and Mossy does too!  We love slimy goop!

Home Adventurer had fun emptying out expired items from her fridge and with some food dye had fun creating potions with her kids.

.
Get physical.  Our boys just love using bands to help contain them and provide resistance as they run.  Great activity for developing team skills.

Hopscotch is a long-time favorite activity.  Here are easy to follow instructions on how to make your own hopscotch rug.

Stretchies are also great for independent exercise and stretches.  The girls at Making Stuff had fun with these homemade stretchy bands.

This is on our to-do list.  Make a giant bubble for your kids to play in – it looks like so much fun! (via Play at Home Mom)

Have leftover chewed on pool noodles?  Give them new life this fall/winter and use them as bats in a game of balloon batting.
.

Like this post but are looking for activities for other age groups of kids? Check out our other age sets:

Activities for One Year Olds

Activities for Two Year Olds

Activities for Three Year Olds

Activities for Four Year Olds

Activities for Five Year Olds

.

.

We kept several branches and the trunk of the tree we cut down in a dry place (our garage) for several months to let the wood completely dry out  – I also needed time to decide what we were going to create.  Then we cut slices out of the branches – ranging from one inch wide to 4 inches tall.  We also cut some larger blocks from the thicker trunk (it was a small tree).

.

.

We are anticipating some major life changes and I am trying to prepare for the Winter as much as possible now, so even though these blocks are going to be the kids Christmas present, I let my son help.  He loved dusting off the branches and wiping them with polyurethane.  We gave the blocks two coats with the hopes that these will be outside “toys” and I wanted them to be able to withstand the elements.

.
Our tree blocks are boxed up, ready and waiting for Christmas!  I love being prepared.   Cerra in their Seven Intentions encourages us to, “Return to something secure and familiar. Ground yourself. From there, you can forge new territory”.  I think these blocks will help do that for our kids.  They will learn to build and create with items rescued from their environment, their own backyard.  Thanks Cerra for inspiring us!
.

I’m curious to know: In your busy everyday life, how do you strive for balance? To be grounded in who you are?

By replying you will be entered to win one of two prizes! First Prize: $150 to a Local Spa, plus $50 Gift Certificate to the Cerra Boutique.Second Prize: One of Five $100 Gift Certificate to the Cerra Boutique.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cerra. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Contest Rules.

It’s been really, really hot here. I’m talking about 110 degree highs every day!

It’s hot enough to melt crayons in my van. Unfortunately, I know this from personal experience. We decided to see how well they would melt outside and experiment with an art project while we were at it. I am going to show you the art of crayon melting and how to have fun with it.

Each child placed some wax paper on a white poster board. Then they decorated their wax paper with bits of broken crayons that are too small to draw with anymore.

Nicholas made an outline of a house with some grass and the sun shining up above.

Once the crayons were placed and a little glitter was added (everything is better with glitter, right?) then the children covered their work with another piece of wax paper. They had to add a few sticks around the edges to keep the top sheet of wax paper from blowing away.

Then we let the sun do it’s work.

Some of the crayons melted rather quickly. Others took a little longer.

It was fun to watch them all ooze and change the look of the art work being created right before our eyes. It was like “living art”.

Being two years old, Rachel is compelled to touch everything. So of course she had to touch her art work as she saw it moving around on the page. I love letting them be free to test what will happen when they do something new instead of holding them back so they don’t “mess” up their art work. Art is about the process. It is about the act of creating.

By experimenting, Rachel came up with a whole new twist to our living art project. Instead of just letting the sun have all the melting fun, we decided to use sticks to draw and design with the melted crayons through the wax paper.

I think it turned out beautiful and the blends of colors are much more vibrant than they would have been if Rachel had just let them melt where they had originally been placed.

Nicholas liked blending his crayons with a stick.  He decided that his picture which started out as a house now looked like a volcano – grass on the bottom, blue mountain, red/orange/yellow lava.

Another example of the beauty of living art that changes it design and focus and outcome as the process unfolds.