Farmer's Market - Create and Play Activity Book

My four year old told me the other day he wants to be a farmer when he grows up! This kid loves to make believe and pretend. Policeman, fireman, race car driver, garbage collector, doctor, mailman, and now farmer. It's always something new with this kid. When I came across Deanna Cook's new book Farmer's Market I was so excited to share it with my son. This book is full of goodies--games, crafts, field trip ideas, stickers . . . My four year old carefully looked through every single page and then we got to work creating this amazing farmers market.  

I can hardly call it work though. What I love so much about this book is that all the parts come as stickers or punch-out paper pieces so mom doesn't get stuck cutting everything and the projects come together flawlessly. The first project we tackled was the cash register.  It was great to have a special project for just the two of us to do together!

We then went to work on our farm. We created this amazing barn using dollar store poster board--Deanna's instructions made it ridiculously easy to put together. We made a field for our crops, tools to help us plant, and a tractor to help us plow.

Time to harvest some yummy veggies!

Getting the market ready to sell!

Woo-hoo! Customers!

Deanna has really thought of it all.  There are fruit and veggie paper punch-outs, labels for market goods, price tags, farmers market banner, price list, shopping list, business cards, money for the cash register, open/close sign, welcome sign, name tags, shopping bag labels . . . and I'm sure I forgot something! There's SO much in this little book!

The book is also full of activities like "what does a tractor do?" and "what do plants need to grow?" and "market math". You can design a dream market with stickers, go on a field trip to a farm and farmers market complete with scavenger hunt activities and so much more! When I say Deanna has thought of everything I mean she has thought of everything! This book is full of hands on learning and imaginative play!

If you have a little farmer in your family I just know they'll love this book as much as we did! Wouldn't it make a great gift pared with some cute kid sized gardening tools and seeds? Be sure to pick up your copy of Farmer's Market on Amazon. 

Want to win a copy? Head on over to our Facebook page to enter the giveaway. Simply leave a comment or like our post sharing this giveaway. That's it! Super simple.

DIY Toy Stethoscope (and a giveaway of the book Teddy Bear Doctor!)

One of the things I love most about being a mom is watching my kids play. I love to see them dress up and watch where their imaginations take them. Pretend play is such a magical and important part of childhood and learning.

Last month I hosted my four-year-olds preschool co-op group. We learned all about the letter V.  After talking about what words start with V and having vegetables for a snack the fun really started.  Each child was given a badge (I printed off these adorable ones from Kids Activities Blog) and a stethoscope and became a veterinarian for the morning.  We talked about what a veterinarian is and what a veterinarian does (I thought this clip from Sesame Street was perfect).  I set up part of the house to be a make-believe veterinarian clinic. We had a waiting room with chairs and an exam room stocked with bandages and medical instruments to take care of hurt animals.  We sorted all the sick animals (my children all donated their stuffed animals for the morning for us to use) and graphed them to see how many we had of each (to squeeze some math learning in there) and then the kids got to take turns caring for the animals.  I printed out these dramatic play veterinarian clinic printables for each little veterinarian to use.  They took temperatures, listened to heart beats, pulled splinters, gave shots, and wrapped up sore paws.

My group of four year olds had so much fun playing animal doctor!

Listening to a heart beat . . .



Filling out paper work . . .



This little puppy must have had a really sore paw.  I think he got every bandage in the room wrapped around it!



The kids loved having their own name badge and stethoscope to play with and take home. They were so simple to put together too. I picked up a pack of six headbands from the dollar store, cut 12 circles from felt and six hearts, and found some ribbon scraps from my stash.

I sandwiched the ribbon between two felt circles, glued them all together along with heart on the top circle.

The top of the ribbon got hot glued around the center of the headband. I also wrapped and glued the ends of the the headband with some felt so little ears were safe from getting poked.  I noticed that the kids preferred to keep the stethoscope around their neck though--they didn't really put it up to their ears.

All done and ready to play!



Just perfect for caring for any stuffed animal friend.

Here's the whole batch. These could make a fun party favor for a Doc McStuffins party or something similar.

And one more bit of important information . . .

I wanted to tell you about this absolutely adorable book I found at my library while searching for children's books about veterinarians. I really wish I had found it before I had all my preschool preparations done. It's called Teddy Bear Doctor.



I was blown away with how clever and thought out this book was. It is packed full of creative ideas that will help your child create their own make-believe vet practice. The book starts out with projects for your child to make a "pet vet kit". It teaches them how to make a thermometer, syringe, stethoscope, and lab coat using everyday household items. The book then walks them through creating a waiting room, exam room, and recovery room. And my most favorite part of the book is found in the back. There you will find stickers and removable pages to aid your child in creating all the projects in the book. There are also patient check-in forms, appointment cards, exam checklists, and prescription forms. This book has it all! And it is all oh-so-cute!

A copy of Teddy Bear Doctor paired with a new plush toy would make such a fun gift! It's only $4.79 on Amazon right now. For that price you might as well get two copies . . . or three!

***Giveaway Closed***
So how can you enter to win? Simply leave a comment here on the blog or on our Facebook page telling us who you would love to share this book with.
Giveaway ends May 7, 2016

Don't want to wait to win? Pick up a copy here.

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.

Felt Tool Set (Free Pattern Included)

Remember these . . .




If you've been hanging around Serving Pink Lemonade long enough you'll remember when I made my felt tool set years ago.  I made them for my oldest son when he was little but they're having a second go around now with my four year old.  This kid is my handy man.  He loves anything to do with tools, construction work, and trucks.  He loves this tool set and I love that I don't have to worry when he hammers the wall or saws my kitchen table because they're made out of felt and super soft.  It's a win-win!

Browsing around Pinterest I came across my pattern made into a quiet book page--which is so perfect because I don't think you can find a quieter set of tools.  This set would also make a fun homemade gift for a first or second birthday.

Find the instructions and template to make your own felt tools HERE.

And the toolbox?  HERE.



Happy crafting!

Craft Stick Catapult

These craft stick catapults are fun and simple to put together and are a great boredom buster for when you're stuck indoors.

My boys had so much fun playing with their little catapults!

They had a great time seeing how high and how far they could shoot their pom-poms.

Want to have a blast with your own catapults?  Follow the instructions below to make your own!

Gather your supplies: large craft sticks, rubber bands, bottle caps, pom-pom balls (for launching)

Stack seven craft sticks together and bind them at each end using a rubber band.

In the center of your bound sticks place a stick at the top and underneath, perpendicular to the others.  Bind together with rubber bands as shown below.

Bind the tip closed with another rubber band.

Glue the bottle cap 1/2 inch from the end of the stick.  You will need room for your finger to pull back the stick and launch the pom-pom balls.

Have fun with your new catapult!