Chocolate Isn't a Vegetable?

Make a volcano! For a great science experiment that will teach vocabulary and critical thinking, take a plastic cup and fill it with about ½ cup of baking soda and add a couple of drops of red food coloring. Explain to your child that volcanoes sometimes erupt, spewing lava and rocks. You can look at some great videos of volcanoes here and information about them here . Once you have looked at the volcano videos and talked about lava, rocks, and perhaps even earthquakes associated with volcanoes, begin the experiment. Tell your child that she will make the volcano erupt by pouring about ¼ cup of vinegar on the baking soda (make sure to place the cup with baking soda inside a small bowl to catch the “lava”). Explain to her that this is not real lava, which would be very hot! Next, explain that combining the baking soda and vinegar is a chemical reaction. For a simple explanation of this click here . Be prepared to make the volcano erupt again and again! Have fun!

A few weeks ago a couple of friends and I hosted a baby shower for a sweet friend, due with her first baby girl soon! We all provided food and my oldest made the beautiful, mod pink and brown cake. We also served Raspberry Sherbet pie , fruit, cookies, and delicious cheese dip. A diaper cake, several giant Onesie cupcakes ( tutorial here ), and baby sock cupcakes, served as decorations. We had a great time celebrating the Mommy-To-Be!

Today, create your own non-toxic finger paint. It is easy, inexpensive, and fun to make these! Check out a few recipes for finger paint here . Create a rainbow of colors and allow your little one to have fun creating colorful works of art! Model the letters of his first name for your child and have fun watching him create his own masterpiece!

Today, create a placemat that your little one can use to remember her morning routine. Complete instructions can be found here. Discuss with your child what items to include on the morning checklist. Then, take photographs of the actions or objects associated with the checklist item. For example, if "Make your Bed" is one of your items, show your child step-by-step how to make the bed the way you would like it to look (remembering that it will not look exactly like that when your little one does it). Place each photo on the placemat, before adding the clear contact paper. Taking photographs of what you would like your child's room to look like after he cleans his rooms is a great way to avoid the, "But I did clean my room!" battles. If the room does not look like the photograph, then it is not considered cleaned up! For babies, create a visual schedule by taking a photograph of your baby at different times of the day (breakfast, playtime, outside ...

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!

For our Fourth of July celebration this year, we created a melon basket. You can find a great tutorial describing how to make one of these here. The basket turned out to be a beautiful and functional centerpiece!

I saw this great Cozy Car Caddy tutorial over at homemade by jill and decided to adapt it for my little Polly Pocket fan. I used the techniques described in the Car Caddy tutorial. It was so much fun designing this purse/Polly Pocket hangout! The finished purse can be opened to reveal Polly's sleeping bag, envelope for clothes, and a balloon for two friends. This is a great quiet toy to take to church!