My daughters and I have been seeing these chalk mosaics all over the place. Every time we take a walk around our neighborhood, a new one pops up on someone’s driveway.
Today, we decided to give it a try. Let me tell you what, it is not as easy as you would think. Maybe, unlike me, you never thought it was easy. I can not tell you how much painters tape I went through to create this little mosaic for my daughters to color in. I really hope my husband didn’t need that tape for another project … there’s none left!
While it didn’t come out exactly the way I envisioned, perfection was never the goal. Having fun was, and we really did have a great time creating this mosaic.
Have you tried creating one? If so, comment down below and let me know how it turned out.
*Adult supervision is required*
The weather is becoming nicer, (thank goodness guys, being quarantined with children when it is cold outside is not ok) and we have been enjoying all that Spring has to offer. We’ve been riding bikes, going for long walks, and searching for rainbows on rainy days.
I think seeing a rainbow is one of my daughters’ favorite things. It is always such big deal, even though they have seen over a dozen. There’s a magical quality to a rainbow that even adults enjoy.
We won’t be seeing any rainbows in the sky today, so we thought we would make some to put in the house. We searched on Pinterest this morning and found an adorable rainbow coffee filter craft and just had to try it out. We love a good coffee filter craft.
What I love about this craft is we had all the materials needed to complete it in the house already. We didn’t have to order a single thing! I love when that happens. Scroll down to see how we made them.
Materials
Coffee filter
Markers
Spray bottle filled with water
Scissors
Googly eyes
How To
First, you will need to flatten out your coffee filter. And FYI, coffee filters DO NO like to lay flat, so do the best you can. Now you can start coloring your coffee filters. Go around in a circle in rainbow order.
Now it is time to spray your coffee filter and watch as the colors blend together. My girls love this part! Make sure to protect the table underneath the coffee filter.
Set them aside to dry and start working on your cloud. We cut ours free hand and hoped for the best. We glued on some googly eyes, drew on a smiley face and they were good to go.
Check on your coffee filters and see if they are dry. If they are, cut them in half to form your rainbow. Glue the cloud to the coffee filter rainbow and you are all done!
Comment down below if you gave this a try. I’d love to hear how they turned out.
*Adult supervision is required*
Today I didn’t feel like cleaning up a major mess, but I really wanted to do a Memorial Day craft with my daughters to go along with some of the lessons they are learning in school. Virtual school that is.
I decided on a no mess painting project. It didn’t end up being “no mess” the way we did it, but don’t worry, I eventually realized why paint splattered out onto my wood table. The table I said we could paint on without a table covering because it was a NO MESS project. Way to go mom!
To be honest, I wasn’t sure my daughters would like this project. We haven’t done a no mess painting project since they were five. They are eight now. Would they think it was babyish or would they love it? Turns out, they still love it!
Materials
Gallon Size Zip Lock Bag (This is where I went wrong. We used a plastic sleeve and I forgot to seal it!)
Paint
Tape
Poster Board
How To
Draw a picture on your poster board (cut to fit the zip lock bag) and add globs of paint within the lines. Carefully insert the poster board into the zip lock bag. SEAL the bag well.
You can place this on a table and let your little one get to work. All they need to do is squish the paint through the bag with their fingers. My daughters love when I tape these to our sliding door. For some reason it is even more fun if they get to stand while painting.
If you do not want to draw a picture, you can simply cut a poster board to fit into a zip lock bag, place globs of paint onto the poster board, carefully insert it into the ziplock bag, and let them squish the paint around. They can trace shapes into the paint or letters. Whatever they would like. Either way, it is a fun and easy project.
Comment down below if you give this a try. Can’t wait to read about what your little ones created.
*Adult supervision is required*
It’s that time of year when my husband and daughters begin planting our vegetable garden in the backyard. While I enjoy having a garden, I do not participate in planting the vegetables. I do not have a “green thumb,” and so I stay a safe distance away while they get their hands dirty and work their magic.
That said, I am not totally useless. Every year my daughters and I work together to make garden art. It may not be gardening, but it goes in the garden, so I guess I am helping after all, right? I like to think so.
This year we decided to make ladybug rocks. It was such a beautiful day out today so we decided to set up outside and paint our rocks while enjoying the beautiful weather.
We can not wait for the garden to be planted so we can find the perfect spot for our ladybugs. Do you put garden art in your garden? Comment down below.
*Adult supervision is required*
Living during such uncertain times can be especially difficult for children. We can’t give them a definite answer on when they will be returning to school, or when they will be able to have a play date. The best we can do is try to create some sort of structure to help ease their anxiety. I certainly do not have all of the answers. There have been plenty of days where nothing has worked to keep the peace, but I would love to share what has worked for my family over these past few weeks of us being quarantined.
FAMILY MEETING
Once we learned that schools were closing, my husband and I held a family meeting. We explained to our daughters that while they would be attending school online, they would still be in communication with their teachers and friends, and would be expected to complete their assignments. We spoke about the changes to their daily routine, and allowed them to participate in creating their own schedule. This gave my daughters a sense of control, and ultimately helped ensure that they stayed on task. One thing that surprised me was how willing they were to accept this new reality. They didn’t question us. They just went along with this new norm.
DAILY SCHEDULE
To help ease our daughters’ anxiety during this time, we worked together with them to create a daily schedule. Once they adjusted to their new schedule, they were able to infer what was coming next which really helped them stay relaxed. Having this small bit of certainty during these confusing times helped immemsely.
We have two types of schedules in our home. We have a magnetic daily schedule, and a more detailed schedule that is type up. The magnetic schedule posted below shows what a typical weekend looks like in our home. When our daughters complete a task, they move the magnet over to the “done” side of the board. This helps keep them on track.
Our daily weekday schedule is very detailed. I write exactly which assignments need to be completed each day. This ensures that all assignments are turned in by the end of the day. Below is a sample without the added details.
- Get dressed & brush teeth and hair
- Breakfast
- Homeschool
- Indoor/outdoor play
- Homeschool
- Lunch
- Homeschool
- Indoor/ outdoor play
- FaceTime with friends
- Family time
- Dinner
- Family walk
- Shower & brush teeth
- Reading
- Bed time
MENU
I don’t know about your children, but my daughters want to eat all day long. Figuring out what to feed them for breakfast, lunch, and snack was becoming a full time job. This encouraged me to create a menu. Each morning my daughters select what they would like to eat off of our menu, and that is what is prepared for them that day. Not constantly having to figure out what to feed them throughout the day has reduced my stress and allows my daughters to feel in control of what they are eating. Planning ahead of time allows me to prepare their snacks in the morning so they can just grab and go throughout the day. For us, dinner has never been an issue. They eat whatever is prepared. I decided not to include that on the menu.
I’M BORED JAR
Do your children constantly approach you because they have no idea how to occupy themselves? Mine do! They are always telling me they are bored. I was running out of ideas on how to entertain them. Finally, we created a list of all the activities they enjoy participating in. We wrote their ideas down on slips of paper and put them in a mason jar. This jar was a lifesaver! There was no longer a need for them to approach me for ideas. Here is a list of what we have in our jar.
- Read a book
- Research a place you would like to visit
- Puzzle
- Painting
- Swingset
- Trampoline
- Call a friend
- Barbies
- Board game
- Practice ventriloquy
- Play with puppy
- Baking
- Pretend play
- Piano
- Clean your bedroom
- Basement
- Play dress up
- Make an obstacle course
- Crossword puzzle
There you have it! I hope you are able to use some of these ideas in your home. I would love to hear what you have been doing to get through this quarantine. I am always looking for ways to make our day run more smoothly.