Looking for a creative birthday gift for a budding artist? Check out the Little Crayon Roll-Up from A.B. Baby Boutique.

Available in six fun and funky fabrics, the roll-up comes with 10 crayons and has room for 36. Each crayon slides individually into crayon pockets (great for fine motor skill development). Two larger pockets are perfect for a glue stick, scissors or other small items.

Have a little more money to spend? Pick up a Little Artist Gift Set which includes a crayon roll-up and a matching apron. The apron ties at the neck and has two front pockets. Both items are machine washable (the apron is stain-treated).

Find these items and more at the A.B. Baby Boutique - www.abbabyboutique.com

It’s easy to pop in a DVD when you need to get dinner made or fold another load of clothes without “help” from your toddler. And if you’re like me, you’ve noticed it’s rare that you will find a DVD that doesn’t just require your child to sit on the couch.

Tot-a-doodle-do has created entire kits that include education DVDs and a fun hands-on activity for your kids. We got the Animal set which included the 30 minute DVD and a craft kit with everything we needed to make animal masks. Read the rest »

The Newspaper Tree
This one is really easy. All you need is newspaper and a paper towel roll.

For younger children: Roll up the newspaper and insert it into paper towel tube. Have children tear the newspaper to make leaves. (In the photo the tree with ripped leaves is on the left.)

For children who can use scissors: Roll up the newspaper and insert it into the paper towel tube. Have children cut the newspaper to make leaves. You can fold the leaves like an accordion for a cool effect (pictured right). Read the rest »

Keep Old Magazines on Hand
Trying to clean out some of that clutter in ‘07 and don’t know what to do with all of your old magazines? Save them in your children’s creativity corner and bring them out for an indoor “scavenger hunt” while learning what makes your child “tick.”

Ask your child to find pictures of his favorite foods, favorite activities, favorite places or even favorite colors and glue them to construction paper.

Create one about you so that your child can get to know you a little bit better as well.

You can also have your child cut small shapes of different colors and textures and sort them into Ziploc bags for creating mosaics. If your child has trouble using scissors, have them show you the objects that they would like to cut out for their collage OR teach them to tear around the object. Not only is this a great bonding activity on a rainy day, but your child will also develop her sorting and fine motor skills along the way.

Puppet gloves: Reenact your favorite storybook or song. Using a glove, construction paper, glue, markers, yarn (etc.) make a face (from the story/song) for each finger. Your child will love acting out their favorite story/song.

Handprint: Make a handprint (or footprint) of your child using Plaster of Paris. When dries, let them paint it. Hang it up or give it to someone special.

Valentine’s Day Heart: Cut a large heart out of paper. Punch holes out along the edge of the heart. Let your child lace the heart with ribbon or string. Then, in the center of the heart make a picture for someone you love.

Modern art: Take several tubes of colored glue (any craft store) and drizzle one at a time onto a piece of paper. Let dry and hang up your masterpiece. Read the rest »

Entertaining your baby doesn’t have to be expensive or require batteries. Here are a few ideas for simple and fun activities for Clever Parents and their babies.

1. Edible Art. Place a large piece of wax paper in front of your toddler. Put some chocolate syrup or pudding on the wax paper. Allow her to create designs (letters or numbers) while enjoying a special treat. If you let it dry, you can hang the masterpiece.

2. Peek-a-boo. Place a small toy under a blanket and play peek-a-boo. Your baby will love watching it disappear.

3. Make a megaphone. Use an empty paper towel roll and have your toddler decorate it. She will love speaking through this homemade megaphone.

Running With Scissors Activity: Michelangelo Painting

Materials:

• Information on Michelangelo - use the Internet for info or check out one of these great kid-friendly books Michelangelo (Famous Children’s Series) by Tony Hart - starting at $4.36 Amazon.com or Michelangelo (Gettting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia - starting at $3.78 at Amazon.com - or take a field trip to the local library for FREE! Read the rest »