Toddler crafts - Week in Review

It's that time again!!  Here's what we were up to this week!

Star Princess wand

Sweet Girl said her doll needed a magic wand, so I went to my go-to site for crafts (No Time For Flashcards) and found this super cute and super easy magic wand.  I didn't have a dowel handy, so I used a chopstick.  And I also used sticky-backed jewels instead of glue because I knew Sweet Girl would want to play with it right away!  She loved it and kept waving it around, saying "make a wish" (I wished she would stay this precious forever!!).

Sponge shape painting

Super easy craft!  Just cut a sponge up into different shapes.

Shape collage

I saw this neat idea at Let's Explore where you cut up different shapes and have your kiddos make shape collages.  We are all out of glue at our house (eek...I know!), so I decided to cut our shapes out of sticky foam.  I put the stickers in a serving dish and set them out on Sweet Girl's little table.  She literally did this activity all day!  She would put a few on, go play, come back and do some more, etc.  I love how she grouped the different shapes together!  I think I'll definitely make this a routine activity at our house and maybe just switch the type of "stickers" out.  I know the Dollar Tree has lots of foam sticker choices.  Hmmmm...must go shopping!

Here are all the cut up shapes in the serving dish (dish is from the Dollar Tree).  The empty middle part was for the "trash" since she had to peel off the backs of the foam stickers. 

Triangle shape fish

I saw this here and thought it would be fun to do since we were talking about shapes this week.  It was WAY too complicated for Sweet Girl and I ended up doing the majority of it (minus the two random triangles and the pen markings).  Regardless, we got to talk a lot about triangles and size. 

D is for....dinosaur tracks

This was really fun and definitely much more age appropriate for Sweet Girl.  We pretended the brown paint was mud and the blue paint was water and made dinosaur tracks.  Afterwards, she had a little practical life lesson and got to wash them off in the sink (i.e. play with water as I washed them off!!).

D is for....shape dinosaur

This is from Now I Know My ABCs over at Totally Tots.  It was perfect for our week since we "built" our dinosaur out of all different shapes.  Sweet Girl insisted the four legs HAD to be together!! 

I'm linking up at ABC and 123 this week.

Learning Toys

I try to rotate Sweet Girl's toys out on a regular basis to keep the toys exciting and new.  We have lots of toys in our playroom, but most of them are in baskets or bins, so I try to pull out some everyday and put them at her level.  I've found that she isn't quite old enough to "decide" what she wants to play with and needs direction and suggestions.  I also keep a few learning toys in a small basket in our family room.  Here are the most popular toys this week:

Wedgits

Do you own these?  If not, you should put them on your kiddo's birthday list!!  They simply are amazing blocks.  Everyone in our household loves them (mom and dad included!!)

They make great accessories too!! 

Melissa and Doug Magnetic Dolls

These are really cute and great for fine-motor coordination.  Sweet Girl really loves these!

Dora book with playmat and figurines

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but my daughter LOVES everything Dora!  This book and playset is amazing and was only $5.99 at TJ Maxx.  It comes with this huge playmat and all the figurines from the series.  This provides hours of fun and entertainment for Sweet Girl.....it's great for imaginative play.  She usually carries Dora and Boots around in a little basket all day.  (And yes, I do frequently wash her Dora pajamas....I know it looks like she has them on in every picture).

Alphabet flashcards

These are from the dollar section at Target.  Sweet Girl pulled them out so we did some letter A activities. 

Here we were playing a little memory game. 

And here are some shots of our tot trays in action this week:

Balancing marbles on the pegs was by far the biggest hit this week!!  She has probably done this 50 times already!!  And it really does take a lot of concentration.  Look at that face!!

(P.S. They have this exact pegboard/peg set at the Dollar Tree...I was just there yesterday)

Balancing the marbles

Sorting fruit into flower cups

Matching up the foam ABC letters with the letter cards

And here is my FAVORITE shot of the week:

 

Fun Activities and Valentine's Day goodies

I wanted to share several activities I am planning on using with our Tot Trays this week.  All you need is a printer and some of your toddler's toys!!!

Color matching

I printed off these Valentine Counting Cards on cardstock and laminated them to make them durable for little toddler paws.

Then I went on a hunt to find toys that coordinated with the hearts.

And tada...now I have a color matching game.

Or you could always pick up some of the large conversation hearts to use instead of the objects...and these are yummy!!  This bag is from the Dollar Tree (my FAVORITE store).

I also plan on using the heart cards for a mini-memory game with Sweet Girl.  We tried a full game of "Memory" the other day where you had to match pairs, but that was a little too involved for her.  Instead, I plan on showing her three different colored hearts, then turn them over and ask her "Where is the pink heart?".  I think she'll enjoy it!!

And last, but not least.....here is why I LOVE the Dollar Tree!!  I snagged some great goodies and plan on using them for our Valentine's Day activities next month!!

Heart magnets, heart boxes, pink coins and heart picks

Head on out to the Dollar Store, pick up some supplies and join us in the fun!!