Creative Family Fun

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Holidays

Sponge-Printed Valentines

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When thinking about Valentines, I can’t forget to include our favorite Valentine’s book, Max’s Valentine by Rosemary Wells.

It’s a simple book, in very typical Max and Ruby style. But, year in and year out, this is our most requested Valentine book at our house.

So, I knew we had to do a Valentine’s craft based on our favorite book.

I cut out several hearts from sturdy paper (such as card stock) and got out a few supplies.

Since Ruby used an awful lot of glitter in this book, we made sure we had quite a bit on hand.

We used sponges instead of paintbrushes. I used a clothes pin to help the girls hold on to the sponges.

After setting up everything, I stepped back and let the girls do what they wanted.

The painting was such an amazingly nice and neat process, but then came the glitter! And boy did we use the glitter!

You’ve got to make sure everything is well glittered, right?

After attaching a few bits of tissue paper, the girls were done. Now we’ve got some nice and sparkly Valentines inspired by Max and Ruby.

What is your kid’s favorite Valentine’s book?

Love Banners

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We had a lot of fun marble painting, then turned it into a beautiful Valentine’s garland.

I will confess that this craft took us a couple of days. One day we did the marble painting and another day we did the cutting, sewing, and letter writing.

But the results… they were worth it!

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I’ve read about marble painting ideas on several of my favorite blogs and have been wanting to let the girls try it.

I found a cardboard box and a few large beads, since we didn’t have any marbles. I squirted a bit of red and pink paint on the paper and showed the girls how to move the box around and watch the marbles “paint.”

They had a lot of fun and loved working together. We ended up with four different paintings!

The paintings are so pretty and there are so many things you can do with them.

Use them as wrapping paper, note cards, or even a background for scrapbooking.

But, we were wanting to make a Valentine’s Day decoration with them.

What were we going to do? A garland, of course!

I found a heart-shaped cookie cutter and started tracing.

I used the cookie cutter so that the hearts would all be a uniform size. Then the cutting began.

While I cut, Lizzie practiced her writing. I had her write the word “love” a few times until she felt comfortable, then handed her a Sharpie.

She worked hard to write the letters on all of our cut-out hearts.

For the final step, we took a large, sharp needle and some thick thread. I sewed through both sides of each heart to string together each of the letters in the word “love”.

I did the sewing myself on these garlands, but a child could definitely do this part. Lizzie just chose not to. Use your discretion with your child’s abilities.

Now we have about a dozen love banners that are the perfect size to slide into an envelope and surprise some of our family and friends!

Heart-Stamped Valentines

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Yes, you can make a pretty Valentines using an empty toilet paper roll!We turned ours into stamps to make these pretty heart note cards.

We’ve explored cardboard roll stamping before and had a lot of fun, so I knew the girls would love making these Valentines.

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Supplies Needed

Empty cardboard tubes
Card stock
Red and pink paint

In order to prep for this projects, I squished and folded my cardboard tubes until they looked like a heart. To keep the point at the bottom, I found it helpful to staple the point near the middle of the tube.

Once our stamps were ready, I gave each girl a piece of white card stock and poured a bit of paint onto a couple of plastic lids.The girls got to work stamping. They took their work very seriously!

When we were done, we had a couple of very pretty heart pictures.But, as pretty as they were, they were destined to be note cards. I cut each piece of card stock in half and then folded each in half.

Now we’ve got four pretty Valentines ready to go!

This is a simple art project that is easy enough for a toddler and fun enough that your older kids will enjoy it. It’s a fun one for a multi-aged group.

Are you looking for more preschool art projects?  Check out Three to Five: Playful Preschool. Get over 25 activities, 10 printables, and links to even more play-based preschool activities in this new e-book. Purchase it here.

https://www.creativefamilyfun.net/2014/05/three-to-five-playful-preschool.html
 

Christmas Word Games

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Do you remember playing Mad Libs as a kid? I do and I loved it!

So, when I was thinking about what you get you, my readers, for Christmas, I thought it would be fun to make up a couple of my own.

They’re simple stories written at a level that preschoolers are easily able to participate. They’ve been preschooler tested and approved and even my toddler loved them.

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And, now they’re ready to you and your kids to have fun with!

They’re a fun last minute Christmas game and also perfect for entertaining the kids while waiting for that big Christmas dinner.

Print off as many as you like! Set them at the kid’s table. Enjoy them during a family night. Have your older kids help the younger ones play. Enjoy!

 

The links below the pictures will take you to the printable. All you need to do it print it out and grab a pencil and your kids. I hope they provide you with a lot of fun!

Please feel free to share, but please do not post the links to the documents directly on your page. You may link to this post though!

Creative Christmas Countdown: Helping Others

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Thank you so much for joining me on Day 17 of the Creative Christmas Countdown. The ideas already shared have been wonderful!

Today, I have a little story that I hope will inspire you.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl with a very big heart. She loved everyone and always enjoyed helping others.

One day close to Christmastime, her mommy and daddy told her about a very important organization that helped make sure every little boy and little girl had a great Christmas. She wanted to help.

So, her mommy and daddy helped her count her money and took her to a store.

There she found the most beautiful Sleeping Beauty doll and knew that would make another little girls very happy.

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She bought that doll and her mommy and daddy drove her to a big cardboard box labeled “Toys for Tots,” and she dropped that pretty doll in it. She was smiling the entire time and talking constantly about that little girl “who we didn’t even know” that was going to get that doll for Christmas.

It is a memory that has stuck with her for over a year now and one that I hope becomes a yearly habit for the little girl.

My little girl was 3 the first year we took her shopping and through simple explanations was able to grasp what she was shopping for.

She loved the experience and my husband and I were very, very proud of the size of her heart.

I took the girls shopping again this year and they were excited to pick out toys.

Lizzie understood what we were shopping for, although AJ is still a bit too young to understand. We picked out four gifts, one from each person in our family.

We picked out a princess wand, a tea set, Duplos and a football.

The next step was donating them. I drove the girls over to our bank and we walked in and found a box overflowing with toys. It was wonderful to see!

We dropped the toys off and talked all the way home about the happy little boys and girls who would be getting some pretty cool toys under their tree.

I learned a very valuable lesson during this process as well. Never ever underestimate the power of a little kids heart. They understand far more than we give them credit for.

Unfortunately, the deadline has already passed for Toys for Tots donations, but if you are interested in your kids having this experience, you can start shopping next November.

Toys for Tots is not the only way you can teach your children about giving. Here are some ideas for giving all year long.

Check with your local food shelf. They will accept donations all year long. Take your children grocery shopping for the food shelf then drop off the items.

Your church is also a great resource. Donations and gifts of time are always welcome.

Check with your local Ronald McDonald House. Oftentimes they need and will accept donations of household goods and personal care items.

Next Christmas, choose an angel from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. Help your child shop for their angel. Or volunteer together as a family to ring the bell at the Salvation Army kettles.

Make an effort to give back over the holidays and all year long. The rewards are amazing!

Do you volunteer or give to charity as a family? I would love to hear your experiences!