Favorite Toy: GeoTrax

We would be lost around here without our GeoTrax these days.  It's the perfect toy for those days that my energy levels are low and I can't think beyond what I'm fixing for dinner. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has those days.



For those of you curious about what age range this toy works for, I would say 18 months-6 years.  We gave a good GeoTrax starter kit to Caden when he was almost 3.  Caden loved playing with his cousin's tracks starting at 2 1/2 years old. He loved them greatly until he was about 4 and then stopped playing with them for a month or two until Porter started showing interest in them.  At 18 months, Porter can piece the tracks together all by himself (well, mostly... he struggles with the bridges).  I was even impressed when he made a closed circle the other day!  What a great thing for a young mind!  And I'm guessing that most children are done with GeoTrax by age 6.  By then they are into more motorized toys and legos.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

Whenever asked if I would purchase these or the wooden Thomas the Train sets.  I say GeoTrax, hands down!  They are easy to snap together and they stay together.  When Caden was young, we had two different Thomas sets and there was endless frustrations over the bridge and how easily it would be knocked down by the dog, or by Caden stepping out of his sacred train circle.  The trains wouldn't ever stay together and the magnets seemed hard for him to figure out.  The GeoTrax are easy to use and Porter has little to no frustration, even with how young he is.  Plus, we found investing into two different track systems was silly so why no just start with the real deal.  Just like Thomas, the GeoTrax system has both motorized and manual trains so the child can pick which one they're comfortable with.

I highly recommend these for any young mind that likes to tinker.  These days, Porter goes straight down to play with them first thing in the morning and they will keep him busy for hours.  I'm not even kidding.  HOURS! I recommend trying to find a used set as these things are pricey.  The starter kit that we gave Caden was found on Craigslist and included about $300 worth of tracks, buildings and trains for $125.  The boys always seem to receive pieces to add to their collections for birthdays and Christmas.

I will say that storing these is kind of a nightmare.  I haven't found the perfect solution yet.  The tracks aren't so bad, but it's the big buildings and bridges that take up space.  Currently, they are stored in a big toy bucket which means there's usually a dumping party involved when we play with them.  If you have any storage ideas, please share.

|It probably looks like I was paid to write this by GeoTrax, but I wasn't paid a dime.  I just love these things so much right now.|

Shaving Cream Eggs

I love coloring Easter eggs and I also love finding new and inventive ways of playing around with textures so I enjoyed this activity just as much as my children.  I think Caden (4 yo) loved getting messy and playing around with colors.  Porter (18 mo) played around with his shaving cream a little, but mostly enjoyed watching us.

SUPPLIES:

• Vinegar


• Food Coloring


• Shaving Cream


• Hard Boiled Eggs

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dip the eggs in vinegar to help the colors stick and brighten.


2. Put a little (or a lot) of shaving cream on a plate and add various dots of food coloring around the shaving cream.


3. Mix the colors as little as much as you like (we used a craft stick to mix it).


4. Roll your egg around in the color and set aside.


5. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight and rinse with water in the morning.  Voila!

Caden's shaving cream turned into almost a solid color and I worried it would make the eggs looks gross, but I was wrong.  His eggs are by far my favorite.  I was way too careful choosing my colors.



After we were all done with the eggs, Caden had a lot of fun playing around with the shaving cream.  Porter was a little unsure of it after I told him we couldn't eat it, so then he rubbed a little on his tummy.  The food coloring slightly stained their hands, but it was gone after bath time.

Note: I'm not sure these are okay to eat, but they sure are pretty.  We used expired eggs so I don't feel too bad about not eating them.

Sponge Rainbow

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow and this is a fun and simple activity to do with your toddlers.

SUPPLIES:

1. Paint (I used finger paint because it was easy to squeeze out of the bottle onto the sponge)


2. Sponge


3. Paper

Before we dived into making the art on paper, I showed Caden (4 yo) a few pictures of rainbows.  We've seen them a few times before in real life, but I wasn't sure if he remembered what they were exactly.  I asked him what colors he saw in the rainbow.  It was fun to see him realize that the colors in a rainbow were the same colors on the sponge laying before him.  Then I placed his sponge on his paper and let him make his interpretation of a rainbow.

Once he was finished with his painting, you can see him beaming with pride.  "Mom, I made a rainbow!"



It sure is, and a beautiful rainbow at that!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that the weather is treating you well.  It's been in the 70s all week here and has been fun to be outdoors so much.  And don't forget to make some green food for tomorrow.  Your kids will love it!

Talking About Emotions With Toddlers

I've had these rubber stamps for years.  I think my Aunt Paula bought me this set for my 10th birthday.  I used to have this obsession with collecting stamps.  I guess it was the start of my crafting days, huh?!  Caden (4 yo) loves playing with them and making all sorts of funny faces.  I thought it would be a great to use in learning about emotions too.  I asked him to make a silly guy, a serious guy (he wanted to do a scary guy instead), and a happy guy, etc.  It was fun to see what he came up with and I would ask him why he choose a certain mouth or eyes. He is starting to take notice of certain traits and it's fun to talk about them.



If you are looking for a stamp set like this one, I think this is the same set with different packaging.

Craft Stick Puzzle

My 4 year old, Caden, takes a lot of pride in creating something all by himself.  He's been showing great interest in drawing and even though I'm pretty biased, I think he's really good at it.  He's only 4 and he draws things that are so imaginative and wonderful.  One of my favorite drawings is all blue, but if you look real closely, you can see the robot he drew in all blue too.

When he draws something, it's a great opportunity for me to ask him about it.  What is this a picture of?  Oh, a basketball and a hoop.  Do you like basketball?  What do you like about it?  And we can go on and on.

I told you how much we love coloring around here lately.  Here is another spin we put on coloring that we had fun with.  We made a puzzle out of craft sticks.  It's super easy.  All you do is line up a bunch of craft sticks, put tape on the back side.  Let your toddler color away on the front side.  Once they are done, remove the tape and put the puzzle together.



Porter, my 16 month old even had fun helping me put it together.  He loves puzzles!  And this one isn't so frustrating since the pieces can fit anywhere.

Handprint Valentines

Kids hands grow so fast so when I saw these handprint valentines, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to document my kids little hands. We used a little finger paint and had a lot of fun making these.



Porter was a little more difficult in getting his hand prints.  He didn't want to sit still for too long.



After we were done getting their handprints, I let them have at it with the fingerpaint.  It was a great way to teach what happens when colors are mixed.  Caden definitely knows that blue and red makes purple now.  This is what both boys looks like before getting in the bath.



In case you can't tell, Caden was busy trying to morph himself into a superhero.  I think Porter followed his lead with the body paint idea.  Needless to say, the bath was purple.  It was a blast and Caden keeps asking when we're going to do it again.

Today you are You, that is truer than true!

Most play times or projects just don't work out as planned.  It's one of the great things about having kids.  They take projects where we'd never even dream of.  And sometimes, they even reject the invitations we set up.  A couple weeks ago, I thought I had a great idea that the boys would both love, but it turns out I was wrong.

I put a little paint on a paper plate, cut a few tips off our pines trees in the backyard, and thought the boys would be happy as clams stamping their papers.  From the get go, Caden wanted nothing to do with it.  Porter seemed to at least want to try.





But after a couple tries, he scrunched his nose and pushed the paint away.

In the meantime, Caden stuffed his pants with art supplies.




It's a great reminder that we are who we are and we'll like what we'll like.  I'm not here to change that as a mother.  I'm only here to inspire, teach and love.  Failed projects will come, and invitations to create will be turned away, but I will love them no matter what.

I hope you have a great weekend!  xo

Simple Play: Pom Poms in a Jar

Dinner time around here hasn't gotten any better than the last time I talked about it.  It seems like there's a tipping point when things quickly go from serene and happy to absolutely disastrous.  If I wait too long to prepare a meal, I have both kids wrapped around my feet crying for attention while I'm trying to whip up a meal over the stove.  If I prepare dinner too early, my husband misses out on a family dinner.  I don't know what the answer is as I feel like having dinner as a family daily is very important.



Porter (16 mo.) is very happy here placing pom poms into a plastic jar while sitting in his booster seat.  It kept him busy for a good half hour.  I need to be better about reserving these activities for dinner time preparation.

How about you?  Do you love dinner time or dread it?

Winter Window Play

Some of the simplest things can be the most entertaining for my children.  One of their favorite pass times in the cool temperatures is to make window art. 

It's also one of mine because the clean up is so easy.

I'm over at All for the Boys taking about another winter activity.... playing with snow inside.  I can't say the clean up is this easy, but the activity is a blast.  Go on over and check it out!  And while you're at it, peek around her blog.  She has endless activities for boys.