What you will need:

• 1/3 Cup of Flour
• 1/4 Cup of Water
• 1 packet of Gelatin
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Corn Syrup
• 2 Cups of Bird Seed

Supplies:

• Drinking Straw
• Cookie cutters
• Mixing bowl and Spoon
• Mat or Foil to put your seed on
• Cookie sheet (optional)

How to make your own birdseed dough:

1. Put 2 cups of bird seed in a bowl

2. Add 1/3 Cup of flour

3. Next put in 1 1/2 Tablespoons of corn syrup

4. Then add 1 pouch of gelatin

5. Last add your 1/4 of water

Now mix well until all your ingredients are incorporated nicely and it looks something like this:

Tip: Your mixture will be a bit sticky, but that’s okay!

Now the fun part!

The next step is to pat out your dough, this dough is too sticky to roll. Grab a mat or some foil and lay it on the table with a bit of cooking spray or oil on it to keep it from sticking. Once it’s on the mat, you can pat it out flat with your hands until it is about 1/2 inch thick.

Next, use your cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the dough. While your seed dough is still in the cookie cutter, slide it off the mat and onto a baking sheet.  Just press you dough back together so you can cut more.

This recipe makes about 12-15 bird seed feeders.

Before you bake the feeders, use a drinking straw to make a hole in each one so you can hang them when they cool.

Now its time to bake them! Put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes (it depends on how big and thick yours turn out). You will know they are done when they are hard.

Tip: You can let the bird feeders air dry, but you need to let them sit over night until they are hard. (This can be a long wait for little ones.)

When your feeders are completely cooled (about 30 minutes), you can tie string to them so you can hang them in the trees for the birds to eat!

Now you’re ready to hang! We hung some right outside the window so that we could watch the birds enjoy their new treats.

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With a set of paints, a box of markers, a pair of scissors, and a bit of imagination, it’s easy to give a simple, ordinary egg carton a whole new life.  From critters to games to science experiments to costumes, get ready for hours of fun and entertainment with just a handful of simple household supplies.

EGG CARTON CRAFTS and ACTIVITIES

A few favorites from BonBon Break:

ANIMALS

INSECTS

FLOWERS

VEHICLES

GAMES & ACTIVITIES

PRINTMAKING

FUNCTIONAL PROJECTS

COSTUME IDEAS

Fairy Crown from Mom to Two Posh Lil Divas (pin it)

EXPERIMENTS

IMAGINATIVE PLAY CRAFTS

FINE MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Find all of these great projects and MANY, MANY MORE on our Egg Carton Crafts and Activities Pinboard:

Follow Bonbon Break’s board Egg Carton Crafts & Activities on Pinterest.

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Here are some great art supplies to have on hand for impromptu projects of all kinds (click to buy now using our affiliate links to Amazon  —  no extra charge to you and a little perk for us):

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With Martin Luther King Jr. Day coming right up, it can be tricky to explain the meaning behind MLK Day to your little ones. Talking about diversity can be a good way to approach the topic for younger kids.  What better way to talk about diversity than with play dough! It is something all kids can identify with, and it provides a great way for them to learn though play.

Playdough Recipe

• 3 Cups Flour
• 3/4 Cup Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar (you can find this cheapest in the bulk spices)
• 3 Tablespoons of Oil
• 3 Cups water

1) Start by mixing your flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and water in a medium saucepan.

2) Whisk your ingredients together until your mixture is smooth and clump free.

4) Cook your playdough in the saucepan over medium heat, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon or a spatula.

5) Mix until it takes on a dough-like consistency.

5) When it looks done remove from the pan on to your counter top and let cool until its easy to handle.

6) When it is cool enough to work with knead your playdough for an extra smooth consistency.

7) Let your playdough cool completely before children handle it and before you add in your colors.

What I did:

I decided to make to rainbow of colored playdough (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) all colors that they would know. We started with plain white playdough and talked about what it looked like, how it felt, smelled, etc. (see above for the playdough recipe)

Tip: For extra sensory for younger kids you can add a scent to you playdough (ex. peppermint) and/or a texture (ex. cornmeal) to help grasp that it smells and feels the same.

Then we divided it into 6 sections, to each section I added a color of the rainbow to it and we mixed it in and watched that playdough take on that color. We did this until all 6 sections were a different color.

Next we talked about the playdough again. We discussed that even though they were now different colors, were they any different? Nope, it was still playdough and it still looked, felt, and smelled the same.

We went even further now mixing our colored playdoughs together, getting even more colors. Did this change it? Nope! It was still the same playdough just a different color.

Then we talked about how people can be like playdough. How everyone is different but we are all still people and were all still made up the same even if our color is different from someone else.

Just like the playdough, our skin color can be different, but what we are made of is all the same.

Working with younger children, I have learned that some topics can be tricky to discuss or explain. With the help and visual of the playdough,  younger kids can really get and idea of the word “diversity” and we can all look different but, on the inside, we are all made up of the same ingredients.

Enjoy!

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As a nanny, I’ve helped further early childhood education in the home by incorporating preschool lessons into our daily craft and play times. Here are five fun and educational activities preschoolers love.

Chalk Races

This is one of my favorite games and also a great refresher in the summertime when kids are out of school. Plus, you can adapt this game to help preschoolers learn shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and size.

To start, use chalk to draw shapes (or letters/numbers) randomly in your play area. Let your kids be involved in setting up the game whether it’s drawing or coloring in the shapes.

Once you’ve drawn 5-10 items, start the game by calling out a shape (or letter/number) and racing to it. Take turns calling our shapes and running together.

Increase the difficulty by adding more items or adding colors or size. For example, you’d say “run to the biggest square” or “run to the orange A.”

Cutting and Pasting

Preschoolers love hands-on activities, which is great for developing fine motor skills. I’m always scouring Pinterest for cutting and pasting activities that correspond to what kids are learning in school.

I love anything printable because it requires virtually no setup time, and I can use the activity as a way to distract older kids while I put little ones down for a nap or clean up lunch. Also, it’s a good activity to settle them down before we eat or have story time.

Here are some of my favorite printable cut and paste worksheets:

• Shape Mix-Up from Education.com
• Number Matching from Craftionary
• Seasons from Craftionary
• Summer/Winter Clothing Sort via From ABCs to ACTs
• Build a Robot Education.com

Flashcard Swat

If you dread flashcards, this game may be for you. Get a fly swatter and flash cards (typically letters and numbers for preschoolers). Together, you and your child can spread some of the flashcards out on the floor. Usually, I start with 5-10 cards and work from there so that kids don’t get frustrated or overwhelmed before they’ve given the game a chance.

Call out a letter/number and your child has to use the fly swatter to hit the corresponding card. As your child gets better at finding cards, add 1-3 more cards.

This game is great for learning upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and sight words.

Painting

Kids love to get messy, and painting is a fun way to let them be creative and messy while developing fine motor skills and learning colors. (Nanny tip: let kids paint on puppy pads because it’ll soak up all the excess liquid.)

As you setup your paints, make sure your children have primary colors (red, blue and yellow) as well as black and white. Show them how to mix colors to make purple, pink, orange, green, etc. Then, give kids the space they need to mix colors and paint their masterpieces so they can explore and learn freely.

To boost their learning and bond together, I recommend painting with them (when you can). Occasionally, ask them to help you mix a color (I find that they retain information better when solving a problem than reciting what you’ve just told them). For instance, you could say, “I need to make green for my tree. Do you remember how to make green? Could you help me?”

Cooking

While cooking with a preschooler poses a lot of challenges, I believe it’s incredibly worthwhile for children to be active in the kitchen from a young age. Plus, preschoolers love to be helpful and do what you are doing, so they’ll be onboard with joining you.

Try not to expect too much from your 4 or 5-year-old. They won’t do a good job mixing or measuring, and they’ll probably make a mess. But they will get better, so be patient and give them opportunities to succeed.

Playdough is one of my favorite things to make with a preschooler. They can help measure out ingredients and (if closely supervised) might be able to help stir on the stove depending on how well they follow instructions. Plus, they’ll be excited to play with their creation once it cools, so it’s two activities in one!

Here’s my favorite playdough recipe from Modern Parents Messy Kids.

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If you are looking for some new ways to inspire movement for your children, turn to your toy box for inspiration. You can repurpose toys for exciting, active fun. To get your imagination going, here are three simple activities you can do with your LEGO collection!

Materials

Don’t worry—you don’t need anything fancy for these activities. You just need the following:

• A pile of LEGOs
• A safe space for active play
• A stopwatch or timer (for game three)
• Masking Tape (for game three)

Get your construction bricks out, and you’re ready to encourage active play. These activities are fun, so jump in and join your child. You’ll both enjoy yourselves and be active while playing.

Game 1: The Shuffle Build

Did you ever have to do a shuffle run in gym class? We’re going to recreate that experience, except we’ll make it better because this shuffle build isn’t all about running. It’s about building and creating. The exercise is just a bonus!

Set Up

You’ll need a long hallway, or an open stretch of space outside to play. Take 20 random LEGO pieces and spread them out along your play area. Space them out about five feet apart if possible (if not, make the distance shorter as needed to fit your space).

The Play

Have your child start at one end of the hall. Instruct him or her to run to the first LEGO piece and bring it back to the starting line. The child should carefully set the piece down, and then run and get the next piece.

When they bring the second piece back to the starting line, the goal is to connect the piece to the first. Play continues until all 20 pieces are connected.

What did your child build? Reward the run with some free build time.

Game 2: The Boot Camp Build

This game combines basic core muscle exercises with building fun. You get to take turns playing drill sergeant for this activity!

Set Up

Place your LEGOs in the middle of an open space. You’ll want to make sure there’s plenty of room for moving all around them.

The Play

The sarge instructs the builder to complete five reps of a named exercise. Once completed successfully, your child takes a piece of his or her choice and starts a build. Then, the builder and the sergeant switch roles. Continue until all pieces are connected.

Exercises that work well include jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, wall push-ups, and squats.

Game 3: The Build and Race

The goal of this game is simple. Build a vehicle with LEGOs and run from the building station to the finish line.

Set up

You’ll need a building area and a finish line. Place the LEGOs in the building area (a table works well!). For the finish line, use masking tape to mark a line on the ground.

The Play

The first builder takes his or her spot at the building table. The timer starts the stopwatch and yells, “Build!” The builder uses his or her imagination to create a vehicle out of the available LEGOs.

Once the construction part is finished, the builder starts running. He or she tries to get across the finish line with the best time possible. Switch roles and play again.

This post was written by Lisa Tanner exclusively for BonBon Break Media LLC.

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First, we decided what sort of look we wanted and I sketched a rough shape with a pen.  I cut out the pieces and we all scooped the pumpkin seeds. The chickens and ducks at my house were delighted to get all the pumpkin guts and pieces of the shell.

My husband used pushpins to attach tiny LED lights on a string around the inside of the rim. This was the hardest part because they kept falling back out! My son poked guide holes into each window with a toothpick. He then used twigs to make window frames, pushing them into the guide holes.

I cut a sheer mesh bag I had in half and we used pushpins to attach them as “curtains” in the lower windows. my son hot glued the lid of the pumpkin and pushed dried moss all over it for a roof.

The boys found a milkweed pod and split in half, then they glued the halves under the lower windows as garden boxes.

After we hot glued some moss on, we glued in some tiny fake flowers. We worked together to make a popsicle stick door, then my son hot glued moss on and glued the door in place.

We tried to leave some small gaps in the door for the lights to shine through.

The last couple of days, the pumpkin fairy house keeps moving mysteriously to different locations around our property. My sons are having a great time locating it each time and reporting back with glee. We may just have to make this an annual tradition!

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Pro: It is something that entertains the kids but takes up almost no space. You basically only need a little container of chalk, some kind of eraser, and, you know, a wall. It’s good for the clutter problem that all the other kid things seem to cause.

Pro: This is related to the previous point, but it helps reduce the craft crap. My kids can draw and colour and explore their creativity, but there is no expectation for me to “keep” their work. It’s better for the environment than using paper after paper after paper, but much better for ME, too.

Pro: These days, you can get chalkboard paint in any colour. That means that when my kids stop using the wall as a chalkboard, we can wipe it off with a wet cloth and it is instantly just a regular wall. There will be no embarrassing evidence of my ridiculous failed optimism (“I thought they’d use it! But it was a huge waste!”) because it’s not “blackboard black” or worse, that green colour from my elementary school memories. It’s actually “Amazon Soil,” which is kind of a cross between chocolate brown and a delightful plum.

Pro: Look! They love it.

In this picture, you can see my oldest daughter teaching her little sister and their friend how to read. Great, right? (You can ALSO see why they chose that particular activity: it was too messy in there to do anything else. Don’t feel bad for them, though. Who do you think made that mess?)

Possible Con: Before I got the chalkboard wall, several people warned me that I would hate all the dust it caused. Well, for a variety of reasons, I have not found this to be the case for us. I do want to mention it, though, because if it was in a room with carpet, or if it was in a room that was regularly used by adults, or if I had the personality type to hate chalk dust getting on my kids’ clothes, I can see how this issue would be a deal-breaker. But for us, I find it’s not difficult to sweep up once in a while and it’s also not difficult to ignore for long periods of time. So this possible con hasn’t been an issue for us, though it could easily be for others!

Con: Chalk is not a food. My big kids have difficulty remembering to put the chalk away, so inevitably the baby finds it on the ground and sucks on it. Anyone with a baby is familiar with the question, “What are you chewing on now?” The answer in my house is almost always: “chalk.”

Con: It seems that, “Yes, you can draw on the wall, but only THAT wall, and only with chalk” is a bit too confusing for my toddler.

In case it’s difficult to see, I’ll just tell you that every single one of these pictures is a DIFFERENT place in the house where she has drawn on the walls, my magazine, the countertop, or her sister. Also, she has used crayon, pen, pencil, marker and chalk, because she likes to experiment with different mediums.

I should also add that this isn’t even close to all the places where she’s done this.

In the end, despite all of the cons, we have decided that we definitely like the chalkboard wall, and we are learning to live with the crayon on all the rest of the walls. And, slowly but surely, we are teaching R that she may draw “only on paper!” and not on walls or magazines or sisters.  I may have some trouble convincing her not to draw on ALL the papers … I’ve had to write a note on G’s homework several times already, and there have been a few close calls with some important documents that I left lying around for too long (like, five minutes).

Oh well.

It’s the price I’m willing to pay for my cool Amazon Soil chalkboard wall, and she’ll grow out of it, right? RIGHT?

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It’s September!  Which means it’s time for a little apple fun with kids as they begin to welcome fall!  Apples can be so much fun to use with kids of varying ages for activities.  From taste testing and graphing or making applesauce there are a variety of ways to learn and explore with them too.  You can bake an apple pie or paint stars with your apple cores.  You might want to consider sneaking a little apple fun into our sight words and toddler activities.

Here’s a fun apple activity that’s easy to make with kids and helps to encourage their math skills! Create  your own Apple Counting Game with items from around the house!  For directions on how to make your own and a free printable visit The Educators’ Spin On It

ABOUT THE EDUCATORS’ SPIN ON IT: Kim Vij is an early childhood educator and mom of three. She shares her “Educator’s Spin” on parenting issues and how to make everyday moments into learning opportunities at The Educators’ Spin On It and award winning Pinterest Boards.

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Sunny days mean picnics and cook-outs outdoors, but what special meal is complete without dessert?

Grab some supplies and let the kids make ice cream in a can after they eat! It’s simple to do and perfect for summer.

You probably already have everything you need…

ABOUT Megan Sheakoski:

Megan is the creator of Coffee Cups and Crayons, a blog that shares fun and useful ideas for modern parents. She is a coffee lover who loves playing, learning, and crafting with her kids. She believes that acts of kindness {and really good coffee!} can change the world.

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Supplies:

• A clean and empty egg carton (styrofoam cartons work best because they are so light, but our cardboard one worked fine as well)

• Pen or pencil

• Scissors

• Paint (optional)

• Coin (penny or dime)

• Adhesive tape

Begin by drawing your glider shape on the inside of the egg carton lid. You don’t need to be an artist to do this. Simply draw the peak of a triangle at the center top of the lid. Next, draw the tops of the wings diagonally across to the side of the lid and all the way up the sides of the lid. It is essential that the wings go up the side of the lid so that you end up with a bend in the wings – it’s this little bit of design genius that will make your glider really fly.

Next, simply cut out your glider shape and paint or decorate any way you like. The final step is to attach a small coin to the nose of the glider using adhesive tape. This will help to stabilize your glider during flight. The coin needs to be attached to the top of the glider. The top of the glider is the side where the wings bend upwards. That’s it! You’re done!

To fly your glider, hold it by the tail and point it slightly upwards as you throw it. Why not make more than one and have competitions to see who can fly their glider the furthest? You could even test out other designs. For example, cut two small slits in the back of each wing approximately an inch apart. Now bend that section of the wing up and see how this affects the glider’s flight. What happens if you make the tail longer, or the wings narrower? Have fun experimenting!

ABOUT NESS: Ness lives with her family in Sydney, Australia. She is the creator of One Perfect Day  where she shares creative ways for kids to play and learn, conversations about parenting, family recipes and everything in-between. You can follow along with the fun on, or.

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Kids’ sports … UGH.

• 7:00 am at a soccer field in chilly November rain? Um, no thanks.
• 5:00 pm tennis lessons in 100+ degree heat? Pass.
• Frigid ice-hockey rinks with practice start times that range anywhere from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm? Are you kidding me??

And this is all before kids even get to the competitive leagues where they practice three times a week AND then need to be driven — by you, of course — to another STATE on weekends to play.

Look, we all know kids need exercise for good health and to prevent obesity. And we are more than happy to let them work up a sweat while we grab an hour of peace in return … even if that means sitting in a car with a carafe of coffee (and our iPads) in our laps.

But really. Can’t we do better?

An hour is too short for a productive grocery run. But it’s still a precious lot of time to waste when there is so much we have to do.

So in the name of fighting obesity AND getting stuff done, here are a few new sports we’d REALLY love to sign the kids up for:

Track and Lot

Drop-in weekend clinics for all ages. Coaches are stationed at your local supermarket parking lot from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Saturdays and Sundays for hour-long practices focused on cross-lot wind sprints, cart hurdles and increasing players’ agility through an ever-changing vehicular obstacle course.

Competitive Weeding

At this neighborhood-wide sporting event, participants are divided into teams and set loose to collect the most weeds from all flagged yards. The team with the largest collection of weeds will be declared the winner, thereby earning a five-minute head start at the next week’s event.

Target Relay

Parents should come prepared each week with a Target shopping list of at least 10 … oh, who are we kidding? … make that 20 items. Teams of two will relay-race from the in-store Starbucks out into the aisles to retrieve each item, while parents sip lattes and goof around on their phones. Bonus points will be awarded to the team that successfully uses coupons and checks out without adult assistance.

Fold n’ Stack

Similar in nature to Cup Races, this event involves folding laundry, then shifting and re-shifting the piles to achieve the tallest, most stable stack that can successfully be carried upstairs without incident. Each stack must be grouped by clothing owner.

These sports may not secure your child a spot at his or her top choice college but then again, soccer probably won’t either!

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ABOUT NORINE & JESSICA: Science of Parenthood was created by writer Norine Dworkin-McDaniel and illustrator/web developer Jessica Ziegler.

Once upon a time, Norine met Jessica at one of those “it stays in Vegas” holiday parties — which actually sounds a lot more salacious than it actually was. A little while later, Jessica had a kid. Then Norine had a kid. Then Norine began developing a series of science-y/parent-y ain’t-that-the-truth-isms. Then Jessica came in and scribbled all over them. And Science of Parenthood was born. Norine and Jessica are not Nobel Prize-winning scientists … though they play them on the blog. Fortunately, Norine and Jessica are both married to their own adorable geeks, who explain all this science-y stuff to them at those times when recalling the laws of thermodynamics on three hours of sleep is simply too tall an order.

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With all of the recent discussions about Food Allergies in the Classroom, I try to make sure to create fun Holiday inspired items that my daughter can give to her classmates.  For Valentine’s and St. Patrick’s Day I created hair clips that would work any time of year.  This time I decided mason jar crafts were the perfect solution.  I created an adorable Playdough Easter Bunny that required minimal supplies and is a low cost gift idea.

To create the Easter Bunny you’ll need pink and white foam, tulle, a mason jar and an adorable cottontail.  The white of the ears are 6″ tall and the pink is 4″.  I simply tied the tulle around the outside of the jar and held the ears in place.  You could hot glue the ears to the top of the mason jar, but I’m all about re-using mason jars.  The finishing touch is the cottontail that I found in the dollar section of Target.  A large cotton ball or pom pom would work as well.  I couldn’t resist those bunny tails though.  They came on an alligator clip so I just clipped it to the end of the tulle.

I used the Playdough Recipe from our Playroom, but chose to keep it the natural color so that my bunny is white. I did apply Katie’s tip to add in a scent and added in a tablespoon of lemon juice, which my daughter loved.  She kept telling me, “It smells like Spring, Mommy.”  That’s most likely because of my love for Luscious Lemon Recipes for the Spring.

ABOUT JENNY: Jenny is a wife, mother and reading specialist in a low income city school district.  She is also the the founder of thenymelrosefamily.com – a lifestyle website sharing crafts, recipes, diy and party planning projects perfect for those looking for something quick and easy.  With two girls under the age of five, Jenny’s projects are toddler friendly and the perfect opportunity to create a special moment with your family.

Follow Jenny via Google+ // Facebook // Pinterest // Twitter // Instagram // Youtube

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