One Simple Thing - Wednesday - Glue Pictures and Montessori Style Letters

Glue pictures are fun to create and make wonderful, artsy decorations for your home!
Begin by encouraging your child to draw pictures using a thin stream of Elmer's glue (I always stock up on glue at back-to-school sales) on construction paper or left-over pieces of cardboard. When the glue is completely dry, use liquid tempera paint and a paint brush to paint over the glue pictures. This is a great sensory experience that also helps your child practice hand-eye coordination. You can also use this technique to create Montessori-style letter cards. Draw glue letters on cardboard rectangles and have your child trace each letter with his or her fingers. Have fun!

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One Simple Thing - Make Ice Cream! No Ice Cream Maker Needed!

You can make amazingly creative ice cream with your little one by doing the following (the original recipe can be found here ): Whip 2 cups of chilled, heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, mix one can of sweetened condensed milk with any mix-ins you like. We stirred in 1/4 cup Nutella and 1 tsp espresso powder for an amazingly rich Nutella ice cream. Later, we used chocolate chips and vanilla extract to make Stracciatella ice cream (shown below). Fold the condensed milk/mix-ins mixture into the whipped cream. Transfer this mixture to a plastic container and cover with a tight-fitting lid or aluminum foil. Freeze for 6 hours. Voila! Perfectly creamy ice cream! No ice cream maker needed! This was such a fun and creative project for the kids! They had so much fun making pineapple ice cream (adding 1 can of crushed pineapple) and chocolate (adding a chopped up chocolate bar and chocola...

Tile Coaster Tutorial

Tile coasters are easy and fun to put together and make wonderful gifts! Best of all, they are inexpensive and functional ! Here's what you'll need: Modge Podge (available at craft stores) 12x12 scrapbooking paper (scrap paper is fine too, you'll need 4x4 squares) 4x4 tiles (13 cents and up at home improvement stores) foam brush felt pads (any size, four per tile, found at Home Depot, Lowes etc.) clear acrylic spray Cut as many 4x4 pieces of scrapbooking paper as tiles. Using the foam brush, cover each tile with a thin layer of Modge Podge. Quickly press the paper unto the tile. Let the Modge Podge/paper dry for 15 minutes. Next, apply a thin layer of Modge Podge over the entire surface of the tile and paper. Let dry, then repeat. Finally, spray each tile with a thin layer of clear acrylic to seal. Add the felt pad to four corners of each tile and...Voila -water-resistant coasters that can be customized to match any season or decor!

One Simple Thing - Monday - Greeting Cards

It's never to early to teach our little ones about kindness! Today, create a card for a neighbor, friend, or relative! Fold a piece of paper in half and ask your child to tell you what message to include in the card. Write his message word for word. Allow him to "write" his own message as well, if he seems interested. Then, decorate with crayons, stickers, markers etc. until the card looks beautiful to both of you. Talk about how happy the person will be to receive your card and discuss other ways to "be a sunshine" (by baking cookies for a shut-in, providing dinner to a family with a new baby etc.). Babies can make greeting cards too - just paint those little hands and press them on the card for great handprint art!

Chocolate Isn't a Vegetable?

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