Birthday Extravaganza

Today is my son's 3rd birthday, but we had his party last Saturday. In honor of his birthday I will share the party festivities. It was a cowboy themed party which included a layer cake, straw pit, badge decorating, and horse rides.

I made the birthday cake which was box chocolate and vanilla with matching icing out of a can. I made the bottom chocolate in a 9x13 pan, and then cut it into a square instead of rectangle. The second layer was vanilla made in two 8" round pans. The 3rd tier was the slice of chocolate I cut off the rectangle bottom. I covered it all with icing, and  tried to make some design that resembled a handkerchief. The cake topper was a cowboy riding his trusty stead that was my husband's as a kid.

I bought some straw bales from a former student which served as our straw pit. We put down a tarp and spread out the straw bales. We threw $1.50 worth of pennies in it, and had all the kids dive in and find them.

My husband traced a star pattern on 1/4 mdf board and cut them out with a band saw.  We hot glued pins on the back. Once the party started the kids decorated them with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Paint would have taken too long to dry. They wore the badges with their cowboy hats and bandannas.

We ended the party with horse rides. A former student of mine was raised with horses, and I knew the family very well. I called the mother of my former student and asked if she could bring one of her horses to our house in town to give short rides. She was very nice, and agreed. Her horse was such a prince, and all the kids were able to give him treats and ride him.

It was a great party, and I know all the kids loved it. My sons want to get a horse now. I keep telling them to ask their grandparents.

Birdfeeder

Our porch is prime real estate for bird's nests. My giant of a husband is tall enough to reach the nests to relocate them. Last year it was too late and a Robin already had eggs in it. We waited for the babies to leave the nest before the relocation process. My sons loved to watch the Robins on the porch. It was neat to see the eggs hatch, and the Robins feeding their babies. However, it was a mess. This year we put some blocks in the places that the birds would normally build their nests. The boys were not happy about the blocks because then they couldn't watch the birds on our porch. A birdfeeder outside our window seems like a great solution.

I kept an empty paper towel holder and cut it in half. I looped a cord through the roll and tied it. The boys used plastic butter knives to spread peanut butter on their halves. I only gave them approximately half of teaspoon of peanut butter on a separate plate in case of contamination to the jar. Then they rolled the peanut butter paper towel holder in birdseed, but spooning it
on the roll worked best in some places. We had left over birdseed from the birdseed scavenger hunt activity in a previous post. The boys hung their birdfeeders from a shepherd hook outside our living room window.

Using butter knives is a great way to teach safety skills and the proper use of a knife. The boys also worked on their dexterity skills trying to spread the peanut butter on the empty roll.

Bubble Birthday Wrapping Paper

My sons 3rd birthday is this Friday. His brother and sister picked out gifts for him, and I thought it would be pretty cool if his gifts were wrapped in paper that they made. It's also a fun crafting time activity.

I covered the dining room floor with an old table cloth, and then I covered the table with white paper. I then put a little bubble mix in a bowl with a few drops of food coloring. I had 4 colors, so each boy got two colors. They sat at the table and blew bubbles that were aimed at the white paper. When the bubbles popped they decorated the white paper. I had to move the paper around so the bubbles could reach all of it.

The boys loved this activity. They practiced their aiming, and tried predicting how the bubbles would fall. They tried mixing some of the colors to see what would happen. They also tried overlapping the bubbles to see what it would make. I compared their blowing to the wind outside, and the bubbles to dandelion fluff. When the dandelion fluff lands it's a new plant, unfortunately.

Hint: After the paper dries the edges may curl, so you can press it under some books to make it easier for wrapping. It would also probably be easier outside.

Earth Day Scavenger Hunt

Happy Earth Day! We celebrated by going on a scavenger hunt in our yard. The boys hunted for things found in nature to use in a craft. I had planned to go to a park for the scavenger hunt, but it was a little chilly this morning. We made quick work of it in our yard.

I made a list of items for them to find in the yard. My list was written and drawn. The list consisted of grass, leaves, flowers, sticks, bark, rocks, and sand. The boys added sand to the list. We collected everything from the yard, and we talked about picking things that could hurt us. I wasn't too worried about things from the yard. We put our collection on paper, and brought it inside to
make a collage. The boys glued everything to their paper. I used the hot glue gun for the sticks and bark. Otherwise, a glue stick holds everything pretty well.

This activity is great to help explain Earth Day to toddlers. Everything we collected was made by the Earth. If we hurt the Earth then we won't have these things; throwing our trash on the Earth hurts it. My 4-year old said that the brown leaves are dead, which led to a discussion about what's alive and dead and why.

Hint: Instead of taking bark from a tree, put paper on the bark and shade it with a pencil. Press the leaves and flowers between the pages of a heavy book before gluing in a collage to prevent wilting.

Bridge Building

Building with blocks and legos has always been very popular with my boys, so I took it a step further. Instead of building up, I wanted them to build across, which is how bridge building came about. Tinker toys would have a similar concept, but not as fun. Eating makes everything more fun.

I had the boys use toothpicks and 1 baggie of fruit snacks to put together a bridge. I showed them how to make it by putting together triangles. They just kept adding triangles. My 4-year old could have followed a pattern. If I do this again I will make one for him. My 2-year old lost interest after about 10 minutes and thought it was more fun to eat the fruit snacks like hors d'oeuvres using the toothpicks. This craft can go right into snack time, so make sure hands are washed and the table is clean.

I liked this activity because they were building, but they had to use some self control because if they ate all the fruit snacks the fun was over. My 2-year didn't gobble them up all at once because I told him he wasn't getting any more. After the bridge was made they started using their imagination to think of other 3D objects to build like robots. They also practiced their shapes. STEM: eat your heart out. (Science Technology Engineering Math)

Hint: marshmallows will work instead of fruit snacks.

Cottonball Seedlings

Above: Getting the hang
 of the squirt bottle.
Below: the germinated seed

I wanted to plant seeds with my sons, but it's too early to plant outside. We could start seeds inside with soil in egg cartons or pots, but then I would have to worry about my sons spilling the soil everywhere. Instead, I opted for the cottonball method, which is no mess and really easy.

I gave the boys a plate and told them to count out 10 cottonballs to put on the plate. I gave them a squirt bottle to spray the cottonballs. Getting the hang of the squirt bottle was tricky. My 2 year old squirted himself in the face a couple of times. After all the fun with the squirt bottle, they put the semi wet cottonballs in plastic baggies and added 10 cucumber seeds. We taped the seed baggies to south facing windows. After about 3 days the seeds started germinating.

The boys check the baggies everyday to see if they need more water. They touch the cottonballs to see if any are dried out, and give the bags a spritz from the squirt bottle. We talked about the seeds needing water like we need water. We also talked about naming the seeds because they are alive just like us.

My 4 year old son held up a pickle at the dinner table and told my husband, "this is what is growing in the window." I'm proud he made the connection that cucumbers are pickles, and that we grow our food from seeds.

Birdseed Scavenger Hunt

With the start of spring, and all the birds chirping, many people are out filling their feeders with birdseed. Instead, I brought some birdseed in the house for the boys to make birdseed scavenger hunts. I first saw this in a middle school classroom where students were enjoying it. I then saw it in the dentist waiting room.

I took some clean empty plastic bottles with lids (peanut butter jar and water bottle), and had the boys put some toys in them. They had to be little toys. For example, a lego man and a lincoln log. I had them count out 10 toys to put in the jars. We then put a paper funnel on the top of the jar for the boys to put spoonfuls of birdseed in. They filled the jars 3/4 of the way full. I put the lid on tight. Now
they move the birdseed around the jar to try to find the object. For older kids I would have put a list of what to find inside, but pictures work great for little kids too.

This was really good for the boys to learn spacial skills. They had to fit toys through an opening in a jar, so we got a few things stuck. I'm just glad we didn't have to cut open a jar to free any toys. I little lion was close to loosing his leg. They also improved their dexterity by scooping spoonfuls of birdseed into a paper funnel. It made a mess, but it allowed them to use the little Dirt Devil to clean it up.

Hint: use birdseed without corn, it will be less dusty.