FREE App Friday!

If you have any little ones around (kids, students, grandbabies...) you MUST check this out!  I just downloaded ALL of them because... well, they're FREE!

Check them out at Smart Apps for Kids

What's your favorite app for kids?
XO!

4 Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

1260.  That is the number of hours your child's teacher spends with your little one in a school year.  Each of these hours is filled with patience, knowledge and love.  Even if your kid is driving them up a wall, a good teacher still loves and cares for the kiddo as if he/she is her own.  Let one of the most important people in your child's life this year know how much you appreciate everything they do to make your little one successful.

Teacher appreciation gifts can fit ANY budget.  One of the best gifts a teacher can get is a heartfelt note from the parents of one of their kiddos.

Here's what we did for Chloe's teachers this year.

On Monday, Chloe took a bouquet of flowers for her teachers to enjoy throughout the week.

Hy-Vee bouquet of Lillies: $4.99

Vase from the collection under the sink: FREE
Thank you card from the junk drawer: FREE

*Tip for Fresh Flowers:  For fresher flowers longer, fill the vase 1/2 with water.  Add 1 capful of Hydrogen Peroxide to kill any bacteria in the water.  Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to "feed" the flower.

On Tuesday, we set a goodie bag for each teacher.
A large container of Hand Sanitizer: $1.00
Fingernail polish removed: $1.00
Fun summer color of finger nail polish: $1.00
Cute nail file: $.50
Traced and cut out preschooler hand with "You deserve a hand for all you do!": FREE

On Thursday, some chocolate bars and mixed candy for a sweet treat for each teacher. 

A glass candle holder: $1.00

Mixed candy: $2.00

On Friday, an Easy Mug Cake mix to enjoy for each teacher.

A tupperwear container with a tight lid: $.50

1 box of Angel Food cake mix: $1.50

1 box of Chocolate cake mix: $1.00

A note with instructions: FREE

*Add 3 tablespoons of cake mix and 2 tablespoons of water to a microwave safe mug/bowl for 1 minute.  Top with icing, powered sugar or whipped cream. 

*To make this totally adorable bow: How About Orange 

Total spent for a week of spoiling: $9.75 per teacher.  A measly price to pay for the gratitude we feel toward both of her preschool teachers. 

How do you show your little one's teachers how much they mean to your family?

XO! 

Cleaning Vomit out of Carpet

I hate that I have this experience to share, but I suppose its a celebration that it took us over 4 years to have it.

This is how I felt at 3:00 this morning... but more disheveled.

Cleaning Vomit out of Carpet
*spoon
*paper towels
*baking soda or corn starch
*stain remover of your choice (here's mine)
*vacuum

Scrap as much of the vomit up using the spoon as you can.
Blot the remaining spot with paper towels to absorb as much liquid as you can.
Sprinkle baking soda or corn starch onto spot and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
Vacuum
Use stain remover for any remaining color.

Sorry you need this and I hope someone gets better soon!
XO!

Alphabet Easter Activity for Little Ones

This is a super fun way to practice letters with your toddler or preschooler! There are so many variations that can be done to satisfy your little one's development and what kiddo doesn't love Easter eggs?!

Start with a bag of plastic eggs.  I got this bag from Walmart, about $1.99.  48 eggs total.  We only need 26.

Based on your little one's letter recognition, you can do this a couple of ways.

• The first way is to write the uppercase letter and lowercase letter on the same colored egg.  This will help narrow the choices down for your kiddo, making them feel more successful (which is what this is ALL about).  
• The second way is to mix all of the egg pieces up and write the uppercase and lowercase letters on different colored pieces.  They will have to rely on the letter, rather than the color.  (You will have to cut the pieces apart if you choose this method.)

Using a sharpie, and your best writing, write an uppercase and lowercase for each letter.  Make sure to get the uppercase on the TOP egg and the lowercase on the BOTTOM egg. 

My daughter knows all of her letters so I opted for the mixed colored eggs.  This is will help her become more fluent with recognizing both uppercase and lowercase letters. 

Activities with your eggs:  (remember, your goal is to help your child feel successful so start small)

• Start with a few eggs (the letters in their name is a great start).  As your little one gets better, add a couple of eggs. 
• Hide the eggs and line them in ABC order as you find them.
• Put small objects that begin with that letter and guess what may be in it. 
• Have your little one sort objects by beginning sound and put in correct egg. 

Can you add any fun activities to the list? 

XO!

DIY Felt Board for Toddlers/Preschoolers

In Chloe's preschool class, the kiddos are encouraged to write books about anything that interests them.  As a way to help Chloe understand that things are drawn with different shapes, I created a felt board that she can manipulate into many different scenes using basic shapes.  (square, circle, rectangle, triangle)  As she grows, the possibilities of what she can create are endless by adding felt shapes as she wants.

Here's how to make your own.  I began with an easel we bought from Ikea last year for Christmas.  One side has a chalkboard that she loves to draw on, which is also great for her writing muscles since it's large enough that she has to reach up and pull down.  The other side is a white board that rarely gets used because of the lap-sized marker board she's always drawing on.  If you don't have an easel, a large frame would work just as well!

For an easel sized felt board, you will need 3/4 yards of fabric.  I chose black so any scenes created would "POP" out.  White or brown would have the same effect.  After cutting the felt to size, I used a clothespin to help hold it in place while I marked where I wanted to Velcro to be.  (If you are using a frame or do not care if the felt is permanent, hot glue the felt into place.  I wanted to be able to remove it should we need the marker board in the future.)

Mark where you want the Velcro to go, and sew on to secure.  I planned on using 4 pieces of Velcro - top corners and bottom corners - but once I started securing it to the frame, 6 peieces were needed to keep a taunt pull, plan accordingly. 

Once the Velcro is attached to your felt, stretch it onto the frame and mark for the companion Velcro piece. Because it was on the back of the frame and you can't see it, I hot glued the other piece of Velcro onto the wood.  

Continue as needed until you are satisfied with the tightness of the felt on the frame. 

Add whatever shapes or pieces will interest your little one! The benefit of this project is that you can customize it for you - if you don't have a lot of room, make it small, if they need help with spelling make letters that can easily be moved around, etc.  

What would you put on a felt board for your toddler or preschooler? 

XO!