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| Puppets are a fantastic way to interact with your little one. you can sing, dance, share animal sounds, and practice a huge piece of creativity - pretend and imagination. |
| Many baby stores and book stores have a variety of puppets for all personalities. |
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| This is a gift for an adult to make with a young child. It’s a poem with a handprint and an optional photo of the baby/preschooler. |
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| Not all small flying creatures are pests. You and your kids will surely welcome these little paper love bugs into your home! |
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| Make this fun and colorful valentine wall print hanging with your children’s hands! A little paint, construction paper and crepe paper streamers, and you have a festive wall hanging for the holiday of love. |
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Salt dough is a really fun medium and you can make so many things
from it! Try these adorable salt dough heart magnets and pins to give as
gifts.
Be sure to check out our other ideas for Valentine's Day, including more Valentine's crafts.
What you'll need:
How to make it:
Tips:
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This thumbprint heart
bookmark is an easy craft perfect for school age children. Parents will
adore this, since the hearts are made using the child’s thumbprint.
What an excellent and easy gift to give for Valentine’s Day!
Supplies
Red and white cardstock or construction paper
Red stamp pad (or red paint) Hole Punch Length of ribbon (red, white, pink) Scissors Designer edge scissors Glue Click here for printables, patterns and Templates Instructions
1. Cut out two rectangles from the red and white cardstock, each 1.5 inches wide and 6 inches long.
2. Using your thumb, press it into the red stamp pad or paint. Then,
depress your thumb down on the white cardstock rectangle, at a slight
angle to form one half of the heart. Then, overlap the first thumbprint
with a second thumbprint to form the heart. See the photos below for
proper placement. Using paint can be a bit trickier. Practice on scrap
paper first.
3. Make four hearts down the center of the white rectangle.
4. Cut off the long edges of the white rectangle with decorator edge scissors.
5. Glue the white rectangle to the center of the red bookmark, to frame it. Allow to dry.
6. Use a hole punch to punch a hole near the top. Thread through some
ribbon and tie. Here I used velvet ribbon. I applied glue to the inside
of the ribbon and attached the other side to it, and allowed it to dry
with a clothespin holding it in place until dry.
This craft is reprinted courtesy of crafts-for-all-seasons.com and http://www.freekidscrafts.com.
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| SuppliesSkin Colored Construction Paper Red and Pink Construction Paper Pencil Scissors Glue Markers Click here for printables, patterns and Templates InstructionsFold a piece of skin colored construction paper in half. Place your hand on the folded paper with edge of your palm (near the pinky) lining up with the fold. Trace around your hand except for edge on the fold. Remove your hand and cut out. Open up. Cut hearts out of construction paper. Paste on palm. Write message "A Handful of Love" on the card and sign. |
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Bubble wrap is such a fun material for kids to craft with. This Valentine mobile is beautiful and lots of fun to make.
Supplies
White Red and Pink Construction Paper
Paint, White Red and Pink
Bubble wrap
Cord
Hole Punch
Scissors
Ribbon
Click here for printables, patterns and Templates Instructions
Put small quantities of each paint on paper plate in bands.
You can cut the bubble wrap in valentine shapes just a little larger
than you need or you can cut a square larger than the ultimate valentine
and press it into the paint.
Press the painted bubble wrap onto the construction paper. The
different color papers will make the paint look different. Let dry.
Cut out the finished Valentines in varying sizes. Use the picture as reference.
Punch a small hole in the top and bottom of each heart except for the smallest heart.
Thread the cord through the hearts to form the mobile creating a loop
at the top for hanging. We decided to tape to our door for a
decoration.
Create bows to decorate the hearts and glue on.
Hang up to brighten your day.
courtesy of www.freekidscrafts.com
Let kids of any age craft their own Valentine's Day greetings for classmates and friends with heart-shaped stamps made from potatoes.
 
Let kids of any age craft their own Valentine's Day greetings for classmates and friends with heart-shaped stamps made from potatoes.
What you'll need:
What to do:
1. To make heart-shaped stamp: On a cutting board, an adult should take a thin lengthwise slice off one potato. Opt for the flattest side and cut enough to give you a large surface area of potato flesh.
2. Let the child choose a heart-shaped cookie cutter, then center it to
fit on the potato and push down into flesh as if cutting dough to make
cookies.
3. Using a butter knife, kids can slice potato around cookie cutter about 1/4 to 1/2 inch down so that knife hits cookie cutter and stops it from cutting below shape. 4. Pull off excess and remove cookie cutter. Hint: You may want to notch top and bottom of potato to delineate top and bottom of heart shape. 5. Pat potato dry with paper towels. Use foam brush to apply a very thin layer of paint to heart-shaped stamp. 6. Position stamp over cards in desired place and press down, trying not to let potato slip. Hint: Practice a few times on a blank piece of paper, so that the child gets the hang and feel of the stamp. 7. Repeat in desired colors, and with different sized cookie cutters. 8. When paint is dry, about 30 minutes, play with different add-ons. Glue, stick, paint or attach your embellishments onto cards surface in desired place.
Courtesy of www.parentdish.com
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| Use a wooden spoon and a tin pie pan. Yes, it makes a ton of noise, however, normally doesn't last too long and is a complete joy! |
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| I am sure that every household with kids has plenty of milk jugs ready to be used for activities. Put a few pennies in a cleaned jug. The more pennies, the louder the sound. We found 6 six a good number :) |
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| Buy your favorite toxic free finger paint. Add a few dollops to a easy close, clear, plastic bag. - Best Part: It's reusable! You can also open it slightly, let it dry out, and it can be hung in the windows for decor. |
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| Let him use different utensils to try and move paint around the bag. |
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| Mix cheap shaving cream with some food coloring. Let the kiddos go crazy in the tub! |
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| Let the kids have the container, what's the worst that could happen, they may get shaving cream on them in the bath tub? :) |
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He loves playing with the cats and dog, however, he gets a little aggressive and over bearing for the pets. New Idea: attached some feathers and ribbon to a long stick and create a nonthreatening toy to interact with the pets.  |
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| All
kids like to push things around. I gave him the empty laundry basket to
push back to the bedroom to get loaded with clothes. He would push the
basket back to the top of the stairs (to the baby safety gate) and I
would carry it downstairs to the laundry room and return it to him at
the top of the stairs. He would take it back to the bedroom for another
load. |
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| Balloons are some of the cheapest fun!!! You can normally find a bag of 25 or 30 for $.99. We carry them around, drum on them, try to bat it back and forth, kicking it down the hall, and of course creating a static connection. |
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| Use a wooden spoon to try and keep the balloon from touching the ground. This helps to build hand-eye coordination. |
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| I have gotten many quiet moments from simply getting out his old Prince LionHeart seat. We got it out for a younger friend visiting and he realized he missed it. He would carry a handful of books over to it, sit down, and read quietly for several minutes. |
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| Check google or your local baby store for this seat! It is GREAT! Unlike the Bumbo seat, this bebePOD seat has wider leg holds to hold larger babies as well as active toddlers wanting their own space. |
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| Have your little friend become your little helper. He loves pushing the swifter around, when it's on. So why not have them help. It may not be productive but he does get a few dust bunnies. |
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| He was about to get in the tub one night and daddy turned on the big vac. He came RUNNING! So he spent a few minutes vacuuming and then we could continue with the bath routine. |
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| Found this online! It's a chore, NO, it's a game!!! Awesome! |
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| Finger painting with washable paint makes for a great activity. Make sure you are willing to give early bath time or do it right before bath time. Stripping kids down to their diapers or undies make for much easier clean up also. |
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| My one year old LOVES painting with the bingo dot makers. It's so easy to use and less of a mess! |
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| Make your own pinwheel and practice blowing on it to make it move. |
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| Click on the pinwheel to see a how to guide to create a homemade pinwheel! |
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| Allow your kids to be destructive and unroll one roll of toilet paper. - Pictures taken www.JenniKenney.com |
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| Once unrolled, have them tear up the toilet paper into smaller pieces. - Pictures taken www.JenniKenney.com |
| Have the children tear up the toilet paper into little bits (the smaller the better). Using a cheese grater, grate the bar of soap into a big bowl. Add the torn up toilet paper to the bowl. Add the warm water a little bit at a time while mixing the toilet paper and the soap together. You have added enough water when the mixture begins to feel like a thick cool whip. Do not make the mixture soupy. The more you play with it the fluffier it becomes. The kids have an absolute blast with it! |
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| This may not be the most productive way to eat for this young man but he is learning valuable skills. Not only is he understanding how a spoon may work but also the different textures on the teeth help provide various sensations. |
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| It sounds so simple, however, counting cars as they pass is very stimulating to a young person. It gives you a chance to communicate about speed, color, size and compare moving objects. Sometimes counting or pointing out other objects such animals or people practices finding less obvious objects. |
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| Allow your kiddo to play with a tightly closed bottle. Here he has some old, flat soda. But you could fill the bottles with water, dye it with food coloring and add glitter, confetti, or small items that the little ones can shake and make into a snow globe type toy. |
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| Now that it is coming into spring, practice opening and closing plastic Easter eggs. At first, your kiddo will need some assistance but frustration will lead to success. You can also fill some of the eggs with rice, beans, pennies, or other small objects to turn them into shakers. Just tape around the seal to help eliminate the chance your little one gets the small items in their mouths. |
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| Even if you are not a great musician, your kids don't care! Get your instruments out and let them explore with you as you practice a song, simple scale, cords, whatever! We set our large keyboard on the floor and let him press all the buttons, string the guitar with daddy's help and play mommy's viola with assistance (only plucking - definitely a little young to work with the bow). |
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| Rhythm sticks, or simple wooden spoons, make for great practice and entertainment. |
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| An old coffee can is a must to have in your house. Use it as a bongo drum, put some beans or rice in it and turn it into a shaker, or grab your rhythm sticks and enjoy. |
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| Spaghetti Face! |
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| If you're anything like me, I don't like to get to messy at meal time. Allow the kids to get messy when they eat. Spaghetti is a blast to play with and practice their dexterity and ability to grasp more difficult objects. It also helps with sensitivity and textile awareness. |
