Lil' Chef's Pizza Playdate

Calling all Little Chefs! Its time to make it the way YOU want it...and eat some toppings along the way.

These are easy to prepair for your kids and fun for them to make. We used english muffins for this playdate but you can also buy biscuits in the frigeration section of the grocery store (Pilsbury Dough in the container kind) and let the kids roll them out. I washed our Playdough rolling pins and let the kids use those to roll out the dough!

Have enough containers for each kiddo and come to the realization that double dipping is not only allowed but accepted between toddlers.

Rain Art

It doesn't rain very often in Vegas, but when it does I try to take advantage of it! We spent our morning splashing in small mud puddles and digging for worms in our "garden" so it was time to head indoors for a craft.

We colored the paper with washable markers:

Then put them outside to watch the rain distort the drawings. Of course being Vegas the rain wasn't the type I'm used to being from Seattle! I ended up giving them water bottles to help the process along.

Lil Chef's baking Rainbow & Tie Dye Cupcakes!

These cupcakes take some time to put together, but they are Well Worth the effort! The more you have set up to go, the easier it is to have fun with your kids while baking.

Step 1:
Get all your ingredients and cookware together
Step 2:
Pre-measure your liquids for easy pouring by your child. I have my girls crack the eggs for me too. A girlfriend of mine has boy twins who is far more brave then I ever planned on being...she had me showing the girls how to crack eggs at 18months. Always have a wet rag nearby to clean up raw eggs on your childs hands or take them directly to the sink for washing.

Step 3:
Although not healthy, I do let my girls lick the beaters. You can squash any fears of salmonella by just using egg whites if you so choose.

Step 4:
Die your cake mix. Although I used White Cake mix, the batter is more of an off white. This does effect how you create vibrant colors. I followed the directions on the box of food coloring and it worked great. I was fearful the cupcakes would have that food dye flavor, but they didn't!


Step 5:
Line your muffin tins with the paper inserts. I decided against it for this batch and I didn't get the rainbow effect on the outside of the cupcake. With the paper inserts you can see the color layers, even the paper you peel off looks cool!

Step 6:
Begin layering your colors in reverse: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Keeping in mind you'll have 6 layers, try to keep them as thin as possible. I used a plastic spoon to help spread it out.

Step 7:
Cook as directed on the box. Let fully cool.

Step 8:
Using white cake frosting in separate bowls create as many colors as you'd like to offer your child to decorate with. Or you can use all white to signify a fluffy cloud.

Of course colors is what this is all about so I offered the twins 5 colors!

I cut one in half to show the effect.

For the left over batter I mixed them in the muffin tins to see if I could get a tie dye effect, I think they turned out great!

This is a time consuming baking craft, but I think it was well worth it and we had fun the entire time. Plus if you get bored layering it all, just mix them together and have tie dye cupcakes instead!

We made these before St. Patricks Day to cook rainbows. We learned the ASL sign for each color and how to sign rainbow itself. The girls also learned what happens when you combine colors as they slathered on the colored frostings - at the end they were eating brown/black cupcakes!

I have to admit, I go a bit crazy for Spring. The weather here in Vegas is Perfect! We bought these plain white lanterns at Michael's, they have little battery operated lights inside with an extra light bulb. Target sells them as well.

I was able to get all 3 girls hand prints onto this but was unable to get a photo showing it. I really can't do every one's hand prints on regular paper anymore so I find other things to put them on!

I used regular washable tempura paint by Crayola and painted on the stem and leave myself. Since I'm hanging this in the playhouse outside I also dabbed glow in the dark paint all around so it looks like stars once turned off. The girls LOVE it on and off!

None of this is water proof so I do take it in every night for fear rain will ruin this keepsake.

How to Paint with your baby!

I may be a bit of a neat freak at times, but after the twins going through the whole learning the joys of squishy paint, I've decided to save some time and put my Under 1 in the bath tub! She loved it and I was able to give her a bath straight afterwards minus the "Please don't touch the walls" chant as we run down the hall to the bathroom.

*Being Under 1 she of course was more then happy to taste test all the colors. I had a wet wash towel on hand to get to her mouth before her hand did...it was successful most of the time!

I used regular washable tempura paint by Crayola, we use it for just about everything. I started with her in the tub so she could see me put the paint in front of her. At first she looked at me like I was nuts, then she dove right in! Being washable paint it was extremely easy to wash off the walls, tile, and anything else she touched.

Chinese New Year Paper Lanterns

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with an easy craft with your kids!

Use regular construction paper. Let your child decorate the lantern with stickers, glitter glue, crayons, and pens. When using loose glitter, I put a cookie sheet under the sheet then let them spread washable glue over the paper with popsicle sticks. I let them pour their own glitter then we shake it out while still on the cookie sheet after its dried. I still have a never ending supply of rainbow glitter in my carpet, but I'm sure this helps!

Since my girls LOVE glitter and glitter glue we had to let our paper dry for 24 hours. Fold the paper length wise in half. If your kids are ready to use safety scissors then let them cut slits in the paper. I sit with them, never leave a child unattended with scissors, to make sure they're keeping on track. I like their projects to look like a kid made them so there are several diagonal cuts here and there.

The girls had a blast and we have them on our fireplace mantel. Enjoy!

Letter H Playdate and Valentines Day Craft - Part 2

We enjoyed making the hand print hearts so much that we did a couple more to hang on our craft wall! For the glitter heart my youngest daughters hand were too small to show real definition so I just did the twins hands.

HOW TO: Trace your childs hands into the heart shape shown in the picture. Use glue, I used regular Elmers School Glue for this, and thinly spread over the fingers. Put the paper on a cookie sheet and let them dump the glitter onto the paper. My girls LOVED this part! No need to be careful here, let it go all over! Once dried, tap the paper onto the cookie sheet to get any access glitter off. Pour the unused glitter back into the container.

I've whited out my kids names on the photos but wanted you to see where I placed their names so you can choose where to place yours. This craft was easy too. Basically the same as the Letter H page but I used decorative cutting sheers to make the pink heart stand out a bit.

Either of these would be great for grandparents or moms!

Letter H Playdate and Valentines Day Craft

We actually made this craft during a Letter of the Week playdate but I hung them up during February as well. We made different heart hand print crafts to give to the grandparents, I'll post those next.

Using red washable tempura paint, paint the palms of your childs hands. I do one at a time to cut down on the mess.

Place their hands as seen in the photo. Outline the prints with a red marker or a glitter pen.

Please visit my blog Playdates and Playgroups for more ideas to present this to your playgroup!

Handprint Flowers

I'm not including instructions since its mainly just look at the pict and copy or improve on it!














Handprint Flowers

These are super easy and fun to do! All 3 of my daughters were able to fit their hands on the paper - doubt that will happen next year!

Toilet Paper Roll Binoculars

This is a super easy craft and the kids go buggy over it! I've been collecting toilet paper rolls since December - needless to say, we have a ton. So its time to start working with them. BeBe and Gigi had finished putting on and taking off most of their princess dresses so it was time to sit down to a craft.

Today we are working on The Letter B so I thought it'd be fun to go on a Bug Safari!

Supplies:

• 2 toilet paper rolls (or one paper towel roll cut in half)
• Crayons, markers, glitter, stickers, jewels - whatever your little one likes to decorate with
• Hole Punch
• Yarn
• Tape

Set up your little one with the 2 rolls and let them decorate! *If using glitter I suggest placing a baking sheet underneath to help the containment of glitter...which I'm positive I'll have glitter in my carpet for many, many years regardless!

Once they are satisfied with their artwork, tape the rolls together. Punch a hole into the outside of the tubes and tie your yarn to make a necklace.

Now the fun starts, hide several plastic bugs in your home or backyard and have them find them! Definitely count how many your hiding - I've found lizards in my playroom in odd places weeks after this game.

Crepe Paper Windsock

Supplies Needed:

• Construction paper - size depends on what size you want your wind sock
  
• *You can use foam sheets or printer paper depending on how durable you'd like your wind sock to be.


• Crepe paper cut into 12" or longer lengths - as many colors as you'd like


• Scissors


• Stapler or tape


• Hole Punch


• Yarn


• Materials for decorating (foam stickers, glitter glue, gems, markers, etc...)

Instructions:

Have your child(ren) decorate the paper with the materials you collected for decorating. When your little one is finished decorating have them choose their crepe paper colors or sequence as you roll the sheet lengthwise into a cylinder. Using the tape or stapler, secure it to hold the cylendar shape.

Punch 4 holes of equal distance apart from the top, near the edge. Tie a piece of yarn to each hole. Join the pieces of yarn in the middle and tie a knot. This will be a great handle as your little one runs about to see the crepe flowing behind them. Once thier finished they can help you find a great place to hang it.

On the opposit end, staple or tape the crepe paper to the bottom. When using tape, I let my 3 year olds put the crepe paper on then I tape it down.

This can also be done with toilet paper rolls!

Once your windsock is blowing in the wind, this is a great time discuss weather and wind with your little explorer.