Deluxe Fort Kit

My kids love building forts.  Like every. single. day.  They never get tired of it.  I even had to put a ban on fort building a little while back because their forts were getting massive and out of hand and messy.  I know I'm such a party-pooper mom!

Several years ago for Christmas Jeanine gifted our family some fort kits that she put together with sheets, clothes pins, and glow sticks.  These kits have been the best!  I mean really awesome.  With the rate that my kids build forts these kits have been a life saver.  It's so nice to have a bunch of large sheets that the kids can do whatever they want with and then when they're done they can just fold them up and put them back it the fort bag--and I don't have to worry about having to wash the sheets because they're going to go on someones bed the next day.

Not too long ago I was chatting with some moms and fort building came up.  The fact that building forts creates a mess of blankets and sheets is never fun for a mom.  I shared with them about our fort kits and they all loved the idea.




A few months ago I spied these cute sheets at Target for an incredible price and thought, "Those look like really cute fort building sheets." I grabbed a couple sets and made some fort kits for my sister-in-law and her family for Christmas this last year.  I love that the sheets come in their own little bag--it's perfect for packing and storing all the fort kit supplies.

I sewed some ribbon onto the sheets at each corner and then also at the center points of each edge.  This way the sheets can be tied to chairs, bed posts, railings--whatever's convenient for making your fort.  I used a lit match to seal the ends of each of the ribbons so they won't fray.

Sheets complete with ribbons for tying, clothes pins for connecting blankets/sheets together (sometimes my kids like to clip them to the inside "roof" of their fort and pretend they're bats) and glow sticks for lighting up a dark fort = the perfect combination.

I also created some little tags to attach to the fort kit bags to give the kit a finished look.

Do you have fort builders at your house?

I love to hear about the messiest fort your kids have made!

Feel free to copy and print my fort kit tags below.

Lima Bean Sensory Play

My two year old loves to help in the kitchen.  He loves to pour and mix.  With the weather getting colder I've been trying to think up some more indoor activities to keep us happy and busy inside.  I remembered this activity I used to do with my daughter when she was much younger and thought my two year old would love it now too.

A $1 bag of dry lima beans is the perfect medium for playing with indoors.  Much cleaner than sand or water!  I pour the entire bag into a large bowl and my two year old can mix and pour and play!  I always lay out a blanket and the rule is that the lima beans have to stay on the blanket.  The last thing I want is a bunch of beans all over the house.

When we're done we store the beans in a zip lock bag to play with another day.

If you choose to do this activity with your toddler make sure that they're mature enough to not stick small objects in their mouth.

Is your weather getting colder?  What do you do to stay busy indoors with your small children?

Spring Break Science

Last week was our spring break.  Since our weather is still very cold we had to create some indoor fun.  Between watching movies, arts and crafts, and playing games we kept pretty busy.  One of our afternoons we filled doing science experiments.  Not all the experiments worked out perfectly but we still had fun.

Yellow + Blue = Green

This is a good one to start with since it takes several hours to see the results.  Fill one cup with yellow water and another with blue.  Place a paper towel going from the colored cups into an empty one.  It's fun to see the water creep up the paper towel and change into green in the empty cup.  The results are much better than what I have shown.  I just never got around to taking a final picture.  Eventually the water level in all three cups will become even.

Balloon Rocket

My kids loved this one.  String a straw onto a long piece of yarn.  Tie the yarn between two chairs.  Blow up a balloon and hold the end closed.  Tape the balloon to the straw and then let it go.  It's fun to predict how far the balloon will fly with different amounts of air in it.

Glitter Volcano

Add 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda into a tall vase along with a few drops of red food coloring and some glitter.  Pour some vinegar into the vase and watch what happens.  Try it again with something besides glitter.  Predict what you think will happen.

Density Rainbow

Add sugar and food dye to four cups as indicated below.  Pour three tablespoons of water into each cup.  Stir until dissolved.

In an empty cup use a spoon to carefully layer the water.  Start with blue, then green, yellow, and finally red.  If you layer carefully enough the colors should remain separated.  Why does this happen?  By using different amounts of sugar in each glass the concentration was different for each color.  The most dense solution sinks to the bottom and the least dense sits on top. Ours didn't turn out nearly as good as this one, but we got the idea.

Baking Soda Bombs

Place 1.5 tablespoons of baking soda into a paper towel and wrap up.  In a ziploc bag add 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup water.  Place the paper towel bundle into the bag, zip, and shake.  Stand back and watch the bag inflate.  The bag is supposed to pop, but ours never did.

Inflating Balloons

In a water bottle or jar add 1/2-1 cup of vinegar.  Use a funnel to pour 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda into a balloon.  Stretch the balloon end over the bottle, being careful to not let any of the baking soda get into the bottle.  Lift the balloon up and shake the baking soda into the jar.  Watch as the balloon fills with gas and inflates.  This experiment is a popular one at our house.  I never get tired of the look on my kids faces as they watch the balloons fill up on their own.

Have you done any science experiments with your kids that were successful?  Please share!

Teddy Bear Summer Party

Is everyone having a fun summer?

Ours has been great so far.  Swimming lessons, play dates, bowling, movies, shopping, splash park, library, playgrounds, reading, children's museums.  And schools only been out a week and a half!  

I've been trying to keep my kids happy and busy and doing some fun stuff we don't normally do.  My two older kids play great together and are always coming up with all kinds of creative ways to entertain themselves but my daughter isn't used to being home all day and the, "Mom, I'm bored" has occasionally popped up just like I thought it would.

To solve this problem I decided that we would have occasional parties this summer.

Here's how they work:
* The parties are low key. Just the kids and me.
* My kids are in charge of the parties.  They get to do all the planning.  (Just like our letter parties.)  It's the perfect thing to suggest they do when "bored".
* I'm happy to help in anyway asked but try to keep my ideas to myself and let the kids use their own creativity and original ideas.  They get to do what they think is fun.

Our first party was a teddy bear party.  Every time I heard "I'm bored" I suggested to my kids that they go work on planning their party, to which I always got an excited response of "Oh yeah!" and happily they went to work.  It's worked well so far.  After a week an a half of planning we celebrated on Friday with our teddy bears.

 My daughter worked all week making invitations for those that were invited.  I thought we'd have a room full of teddy bears but I guess only the select few who received invitations got to come.  Fine with me.  The kids are in charge.

We started off with a gummy bear snack.

Then it was time to play teddy bear games.  Games such as duck-duck-goose and tag, but with a teddy bear twist.

We then played hide and seek. 

Those sneaky teddy bears found some good hiding spots.

 More treats . . .

And then a little teddy bear art on the computer.

I think these kids had a few more activities up their sleeves but were exhausted at this point and ready to relax.  They changed their plans and watched a show while cuddling with their bears instead. 

It was a fun afternoon and so rewarding that they planned it all themselves.

After envying their cousins Spy Party it looks like that's what we'll be planning next.  I can't wait to see what my two cute kids come up with for that one.  Should be fun!

Cup Towers

We recently had our spring break.  I was looking forward to letting the boys run around outside for hours on end--and then it rained!  It rained so much that even when it got to be nice outside it was still muddy.  I needed something fun to do indoors!  I found this idea on Pinterest awhile back and pinned it for a day when we needed something to do.  Unfortunately we couldn't find our Nerf darts so we improvised and used bouncy balls instead!

We started with one brother building the tower and then the other knocking it down.  The boys really got into it and made up all kinds of rules (how many throws you get, how to earn "bonus points", etc)

This game was a definite keeper!  The boys had just as much fun building different towers as they did knocking them over!  Plus, it kept them happy and busy for a long time--bonus for me!

Exploring Magnetism

I've seen a lot of ideas over the years for discovery bottles and have always thought my kids would love them but I guess I've never had enough gumption to make some up.  When I ran across this idea from Pre-school Play I couldn't pass it up though.  It looked like too much fun! (And there are many more great ideas over there.)


I gathered up an empty tennis ball canister, some cut up pipe cleaners, scissors, and a couple strong magnets from off the fridge.

My kids had a great time maneuvering their magnets around the bottle to pick up the pipe cleaners.

After a while they took off the lid and discovered there was more fun to be had.

They took turns using their magnets to maneuver the pipe cleaners up the side of the jar and out.

It was easier said than done but after discovering the right technique they got quite good at it.  The pipe cleaners were then sorted into colors and they had a great time seeing which color was in the lead.

I don't think we'll get tired of this one for a long time.

Read-a-thon

This week is our mid-winter school break.  Do you have that where you live?  I'd never heard of it until we moved here, but then again I grew up in California, Texas, and Florida and I guess you don't need those kinds of things in sunny climates.  So, while I wish we were taking a vacation down to Florida to soak up some sun, we're instead staying snugly warm at home and having a read-a-thon this week.  My kids and I have a goal to read all the picture books on this bookshelf together before the week is over.  

It's been keeping us busy and it's given us a chance to read some of our less loved books--they need to be read too after all.  Wish us luck as we work toward finishing our goal!

Jazzing up January

January's just days away.  Can you believe it?

A few years ago I learned from a friend what she does to make dull, boring January more fun for her and her kids.

It's called

Jazzing Up January

21 little envelopes sealed tightly for each weekday in January.

And everyday you get to open one up for a fun, simple, doable-each-day activity.

Fun, huh?

Something to look forward to each day . . .

Never knowing what the surprise might be . . .

And I've been wanting to do this for the last two years and just haven't been able to pull it together in time.  But when I thought of it the other day I realized that if I don't do it this year my daughter will soon be off to school and we'll miss our chance.

So I came up with my list, tucked each activity in an envelope and now I'm ready for years to come.

Here's how we'll be spending our January:

1. Make snowflakes and hang them from the ceiling.

 

2. Read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

3. Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows.

4. Make tracks in the snow with your snow boots.

5. Read Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner.

6. Read The Mitten by Jan Brett.

7. Make a snowman snack using donut holes.

8. Have a bubble bath.

9. Have a teddy bear picnic.

10. Order pizza for dinner.

11. Watch Frosty the Snowman.

12. Have a puppet show.

13. Make a winter collage using old magazines.

14. Build a snowman.

15. Make snow angles.

16. Read books by the fire.

17. Watch a movie and eat popcorn.

18. Paint with water and q-tips on construction paper.

19. Go sledding.

20. Play pin the carrot on the snowman.

21. Make cookies.

22. Build a fort.

I hope you join me and 

Have fun!

Stop and taste the hot chocolate

There are so many great ideas out there floating around to do with your kids.  So many that you can never really do them all.  Want to know the best thing I've done in a long time with my boys?  On my son's birthday we mixed up a big batch of hot chocolate for our after school snack.  Nothing fancy just hot chocolate with one big marshmallow each.  And we topped it off with a few graham crackers on the side.  It was perfect for our special rainy day.

  What simple fun have you had lately?