FREE Small Photo Book (Great Tool to Help Little Hands Learn!)

Through Wednesday (Oct. 6, 2010), you can get a FREE purse photo book from Walgreens (4.5"x6" with 20 pages). Use it to show off your beautiful monkies, or it could even make a great item for teaching your baby. Include photos of loved ones so she can learn their names--especially those she doesn't see often. Or include photos of items around your house to teach the words for each item, their colors, ABCs or numbers. For instance, take photos of common objects found around your house such as a chair, lamp, toy, and dog. To get the book free, use the code FOREVER at checkout ($2.99 shipping applies).

Customize a Coloring Book

Little kids love to color (as evidenced by the scribbles on your walls). To help keep their creativity on paper, give them pictures that capture their interests. With all the coloring pages available online, it's easy to create the perfect, customized coloring book for your little one. Go with one whole theme (for instance, ABCs, or mix it up with some Little Mermaid, favorite animals and some shapes. Check out these links for some popular options for toddlers and preschoolers: 

• Learning themes (letters, numbers and shapes), Little People, Rescue Heroes,  dinosaurs and more
• Nick Jr. characters
• Disney, Playhouse Disney
• PBS Kids

You have several options for putting the coloring book together.Whichever option you take, start by printing out 20 pages or so, which gives your child options to choose from (sometimes they want that perfect subject to color!).

1. Punch three holes along the left side and put into a paper folder with brads. This makes for a book feel but with flexibility so it's easy to put into your bag (great for restaurants and waiting rooms). You can also have your child decorate the outside with stickers.
2. If you want durability, stick the pages into plastic sleeves in a 1/2-inch binder. This gives the option of either taking the pages out and coloring with crayons, OR leave them in the sleeves and color with dry-erase markers! 
3. Punch three holes along the left side of the pages. Then add a construction-paper front and back; pull pieces of yarn through each hole and tie. 
4. Of course, the simplest route is just to staple them all together along the left side. Maybe add a blank "cover" your child can decorate.

Build a Bear...or Not...for Fun

The weather has been unbearably hot, and recently we were looking for something inside to do--but we had to get out of the house. At the time, Build-A-Bear Workshop was having a good sale, so we headed to the mall for a bear-making session. Figured it'd be a treat for A, and with the sale, it wouldn't be too costly.

Once we got there, A was definitely more into the accessories than the actual animals. We looked at each animal option, and while she got excited about a couple for a few seconds, overall she just wanted to check the place out. We even tried to talk her into choosing one (which isn't normal for us!), but she was just enjoying the experience. So we watched a few being made, checked out the clothes, and pretended to talk on a cell phone or two, and off we went. Money still in our pockets. So needless to say, if you, too, have a 2 year old, you might consider heading to Build-A-Bear just for the atmosphere! If the child's any older, you'll probably have to buy something. ;) So if you want to make a purchase, print this $5 off $25 purchase coupon on redplum.com for some savings. Just choose the "gifts" category to access the coupon.

Put Your Child in His Favorite Show

The four of us took a trip to the library over the weekend. Thought A might be getting to the age to enjoy seeing all the books (she wants to read EVERYthing lately). We chose several and read a few. Then we also picked a few DVDs. She loves "Arthur," so we took one home. In the end commercials, there was one for Kideo, which puts your child's photo in an episode of certain kid shows. I checked out their site (not knowing if they were even still in business since this video came out). Come to find out, they don't only offer "Arthur" versions, but others as well. Here's a full list:

• Dora and Diego
• Precious Moments
• Spider-Man
• Arthur
• Care Bears
• Baby Genius
• Barney
• Gregory

I think most little kids would get a kick out of seeing themselves on TV. Could be a special treat. The Dora selection has one with a birthday theme, which could make a great gift. You can upload your child's photo on the website to get a preview. They're $29.99 each (must say, I was hoping for cheaper...yet I'm still considering one as a potential Christmas gift).

Free First Episodes of Nick and Disney Shows

CouponCravings.com has a post about free first episodes of various Nickelodeon and Disney Channel TV shows you can download from iTunes for a limited time (appears it's until Monday, June 14, 2010). Most are shows for older kids (such as Hannah Montana), but there is at least Dora the Explorer. Check it out, if you're interested.

Make Your Own Toddler Skee-Ball Game

I just saw this on an e-mail from Babycenter. It's a fun idea--and easy! Make a Skee-Ball game for your toddler. Just take an empty diaper box (or any cardboard box) and glue various containers to it, one above the other. You could use empty formula, coffee or oatmeal canisters. Make sure the hole isn't too small on each or your child may get frustrated. To add an educational element, you could assign amounts to certain spots (for instance, 1-4), which your kids then identify and even add up. If you make them different colors, they can aim for certain ones, or you can go over what they landed in.

Bowl Without the Alley...or Buying a Set of Pins

Your toddler or preschooler probably loves knocking things over. And you've probably seen (or maybe even have) one of those toy bowling sets. A bit pricey for what it is (in my opinion). However, you can easily make your own, and I bet your set will end up cuter than any you could buy. Plus, this can be an indoor or outdoor game; a great option for a warm spring day!

To make your own bowling set, start collecting empty 2-liter plastic bottles for the pins (to make a full set, you'll need a total of 10). Rinse them out well once the drink is gone. Then you can do any of several things to make up your set of pins. Here are some ideas:

• Leave the labels on if you like the "ad effect"!
• Remove the labels and have clear pins.
• Remove the labels and then have your child add decorations like stickers or foam shapes with adhesive backing.
• With clear pins, you can even put things inside for added drama (and, if you fill it up enough, an extra challenge for knocking them over). Try colored beads, pom-poms, colored sand, glitter, bells, colored tissue paper (for color and a textured look) and old buttons. Just be sure you the lid is on tightly so you don't have any accidents or give kids access to choking hazards.

Now all you need is a rubber ball to roll at them. Then let the kids have at it!

Top Items for Toddler Easter Baskets

Easter baskets are obviously lost on babies. They don't get either the concept or the stuff. Of course, that generally doesn't stop us from giving them one! If you're making one up, you can always include things like board books, a cuddly doll, a package of teething biscuits, a rattle, maybe a new pacifier or bottle. Even just some plastic eggs with Cheerios inside. A had lots of fun with the plastic eggs themselves last year.

Once they're toddlers, even if they don't really "get it," they at least know the basket is filled with fun stuff! Here are some idea of things to include:

• Hard-boiled eggs, plain or dyed (A loves these and they're better for her than candy eggs!) 
• Small books
• A stuffed bunny, duck or chick (maybe one that moves or makes noises)
• Plastic eggs filled with raisins, Raisinets or Craisins
• Small bag of fruit snacks
• Small package of Goldfish crackers
• A sweet treat (pastel marshmallows or a small piece of chocolate)
• A page of stickers

What have you included in Easter baskets for your toddlers? Leave a comment to let us know!

Homemade Scratch-n-Sniff Paintings -- Plus Learning About Fruits

Remember the water painting I mentioned awhile back? Well, I recently learned you can add a whole new dimension to it! If you mix 1 Tbsp. of Kool-aid in warm water, you can create a "paint" that then turns into a scratch-n-sniff work of art! The kids paint with it (which is obviously no longer clear but whatever color your flavor is), then let it dry for 24 hours. After that, they can scratch and sniff their paintings.

A potentially even better (or at least more educational) idea is to print out coloring sheets of various fruits and have your child paint each their appropriate color and scent! For instance, you could give them a strawberry to paint in the strawberry flavor, an orange with orange, etc. It teaches them about smell and colors.You can find some fruit page to print here (look in the bottom of the left column to additional pages) or here.

And don't discount the fun to be had by your little one when he gets to pour in the tablespoon of mix and then stir it up and watch the water change color!

Finding Gold the Toddler Way

Get your child in the St. Patrick's Day spirit while helping him learn colors and have fun (and a treat) at the same time. Use chocolate gold coins to represent the pot of gold. Get some rainbow-colored bowls or cups, then set a coin under all or just a few of them (when your child's not looking). Then ask your little leprechaun to pick up or find the blue bowl (or whatever color has a coin beneath). When he chooses the right one, he gets a treat!

If you'd rather not give your child chocolate, you could always use a golden cookie like a vanilla wafer as your coin (or even Cheerios for mini-coins). And of course you could hide the coins under anything, but the rainbow containers play on the theme of a pot of gold under the rainbow.

Science for Little Ones: Sid the Science Kid

Have you or your kids seen "Sid the Science Kid"? It's a fairly new (Sept. 2008) kids show on PBS from Jim Henson's production company; it's one of my favorites. It has great science lessons taught in ways little ones can understand and get excited about (I'd say Sid himself is in preschool). For instance, learn about weather, why it's important to brush your teeth, and why pancakes don't always turn out just right. You can then re-create the experiments at home. Plus, I want to go to the school Sid goes to! And have his room. So inviting and fun.

For a preview of the show and Sid's world, head to pbs.org's Sid page for episodes, games and activities.

Fun With a Tin Can, Balls and a Bathtub

Last night my husband and I went to a hockey game with friends, and Little Monkey stayed with my parents. When we picked her up, she had to show us her new game. My mom had put an old, clean, large tin can (a bit larger than a large coffee can, although that would work too) in an empty bathtub. Then she gave A a small basket filled with practice golf balls (basically look like small Wiffle balls). Oh the fun that was had trying to throw the balls into the can! Of course, you could certainly set this up anywhere, but there was something about the "tinking" sound of the balls hitting the bathtub that was extra entertaining. Plus, it helped contain them when they bounced around. And while any balls could be used, these don't bounce too much and are light so that they don't damage anything.

Just reminds us all to remember that the most fun can be had with the simplest things!