Pretend Play Medical Office with Printables

Excited to be working with b. toys to bring you this post.

Pretend play is not only fun but a great way for kids to learn about the world around them.  We recently got a new Wee Medical Kit from B. Toys (thanks B. Toys).  I knew exactly how I could put it to use for some  learning through play.  A pretend play medical office would be a great learning activity for the kids.  I set out to get them all setup for an afternoon of fun.

Patriotic Torn Paper Stars: easy and fun craft for the kids

This year I have been so unorganized when it comes to holidays and crafts/activities.  I once preplanned everything out and then just added things  as they came, but now, almost every thing is as it comes with really little preplanning.  And that is how the Patriotic Torn Paper Stars came to be.   

10 Ways to Play With Stackadoos Blocks

Excited to work with B. Toys to bring you this post.

So, if you follow along with us here, you know we love B. Toys!  I recently set out to put together a list of activities just for their Stackadoos.  So many fun ways to play with just one toy.  I hope you can find an idea or two to also enjoy.

Letter H Hide and Seek Game and Craft for Kids

So exciting to be taking part in All Done Monkeys 31 Days of ABCs again this year.  Last year we chose the letter L for Legos.This year we chose the letter H.  I had no idea what I wanted to do at first.  Then the idea of a Letter H Hide and Seek Game came to mind.  We also did a simple Letter H craft.  Head over to the  Landing Page  for the series to see more information and keep up with all the posts shared for each letter!  I can not wait to see all the great ideas this year.

Fine Motor Skills Toothpick Drop

My kids love to drop items in bottles and containers.  It is great for their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.  There are so many fun and easy ways for them to do this.  While out shopping at a store little brother noticed these bright colored toothpicks and requested to bring one home.  My mind went quickly to what will he do with it?  Fine motor skills practice would be perfect for this. The other great thing was it was a dollar! So the toothpicks came home with us.

Tablecloth Painting ~ process art

My kids love paint.  They love paint even more when it is messy. One morning I set them up with a large invitation to paint. Tablecloth painting was a hit with both of my older boys!  This is a fun process art project for kids of multiple ages (my kids are 5.5yr and 3yr).  I can see us doing this again.

Edible Apple Sensory Bin

If you follow along then you know I have been living, breathing, and dreaming apples, lol.  One activity keeps snowballing into another.  The kids are loving them so we just keep on having fun. As the mom to 3 kids  of all different ages, I have to try and come up with activities to suit them all.  Sometimes I can not and baby brother is the one that often gets left out and has to play something else.   Do not get me wrong! Baby brother still gets in on a lot of our play activities that older brother likes.  But today I set out to make him his own Edible Apple Sensory Bin to spoil him while big brothers were gone.

Sunflower Scented Rice Invitation to Play

We made Sunflower Playdough in the spring and I had hoped to set up a few more activities for the kids with the same scent.  Time got away from me and we never got around to it.  However, this day was the day to make it happen.  I made them some Sunflower Scented Rice and set them up an invitation to play.  

Pom Pom Drop Fine Motor Skills

Pom poms have so many uses and not just for crafting.  All of my kids have loved to drop small items down into bottles or containers. They just can not seem to get enough of it.  My kids are 1-5yr right now.  They all still enjoy doing this.  The oldest just because the little ones are doing it I think, but that is ok.  Pom Pom Drop is great for fine motor skills and it's just fun.

Apple Scented Bubbles for Outside Fall Play

Be sure to head over to All Things Kids today to see my post on DIY Scented Bubbles and Bubble Wands!!!  It is part of ATK bloggers Fall Series this month.  Do not miss out on all the other fun post shared in the series!

                                                   

Q-Tip Shape Paintings

We did q-tip or cotton swab paintings a few years ago for Valentine's Day.  The kids really enjoyed it but we have yet to try it again.  No better time than now, right.  I decided to set them up with some Q-tip Shape Paintings.  A fun way to go over our shapes and have fun painting too.  The kids really enjoyed getting the q-tips out again.

10 Language-Building Activities Kids Love

Super excited to have Katie and Stephanie here today to share with us.  I love this post and the views they share as  speech-language pathologists.  Thanks for sharing with us today! 


Hello, friends! We’re Katie of Let’s Grow Speech and Stephanie of Twodaloo, and we are so excited to be part of the 10 Things Kids Love Series here at Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails. As speech-language pathologists and mothers of young children, we are always thinking about ways to turn our kids’ activities into more language-rich experiences. We were thrilled to be able to put our heads together and come up with a list of 10 Language-Building Activities Kids Love just for you! We’ll each share our top five activities below along with how you can use easily use them to build speech and language skills at home.

 

Fine Motor Playdough Activity

We are big playdough fans here at my house.  The older boys never seem to grow tired of it and always enjoy new setups with it.  This day I set them up a classic fine motor playdough activity.  My toddler and preschool both loved it.  It was a great way to keep them busy too.

DIY Sand and Rock Box

Several years ago we made a Rock Box- A Construction Theme Sensory Bin.  My oldest just loves playing in this rock box.  We had to put it up for a while when little brother was younger but he is now old enough to play in it too.  Baby brother has to be watched closely if he plays with the older boys.  We also turned our crabby sand box into a ball pit a few years ago because of the younger boys.  Since we are still using the sand box as a ball pit I wanted to make a smaller sand bin the older boys could play in now.  I decided to make them a Sand and Rock box for playtime.  It was a big hit with both my 5yr and 3yr.

Transportation Sponge Painting

I found these fun transportation sponges at the dollar tree last year. I had a few ideas in mind for them when I bought them.  I was not sure which one I would end up trying.  The other day while needing to entertain my oldest tot, I decided to "sponge paint" with him. Transportation Sponge Painting proved to be a great way to spend some time with him and have fun.

Strawberry Ice Cream Dough Sensory Bin

My oldest wanted to try some Strawberry scented sensory play with summer and I told him we could.  We love fresh strawberries at my house.  Playing with strawberry scented Ice Cream Dough seemed like a must!  We set out to make a list of a few more strawberry inspired play ideas. Then we whipped up a batch of Strawberry ice cream dough for afternoon play.

Animal Color Pages for Kids

In trying to come up with a fun way to go over animals with my toddler and letters with my oldest, I decided to try animal coloring pages.  Coloring is something we can all do together. Having fun and learning is a plus at my house.  

Dinosaur Activities and Crafts for Kids

We love dinosaurs at my house!  I think lots of kids enjoy the large magical creatures.  We had a lot of fun taking part in Play, Craft, and Learn with Dinosaurs hosted by Craftulate this year.  I wanted to put together a fun and inspiring list of dinosaur activities to reference in the future.  Some of our favorite activities and some from other moms too.  Hope you can find a few activities to enjoy with the kids while over here.

PVC Tube Play Wall ~ 101 Kids Activities

I could not wait to open up this book.  The kids and I started flipping through the pages and we quickly found a few activities that we just had to try.  The PVC Tube Play Wall was at the top of my list to make for them.  I had a few ideas on how we could play with it and felt it was something that we would use over and over again.  I also liked that I could set this activity wall up for all my children ages 1yr, 3yr, and 5yr.  All of them would love it and it would keep them busy too.

                          

Random Animal Act of Kindness

This post brought to you by Sam’s Club. All opinions are 100% mine.

I recently found out about Beggin'® Poppers™  from Purina® available at Sam’s Club.  This is the cutest pet treat invention I have seen yet.  We do not have a dog of our own but my kids do have a furry friend in their lives that they adore!  Dino, the chihuahua, is a favorite attraction when we visit my parent's house.  The kids love giving him treats on our visits. He loves that the kids come over to give him treats.  Win, win!  I thought we would try a random Animal Act of Kindness and buy him one of these Beggin'® Party Poppers™.  The kids could shower Dino with lots of kindness, or treats.