From the category archives:

Preschooler

2-minute puppet theater

May 15, 2012

Did you know that you might have a puppet theater in your child’s room already? Materials needed: Crib Sheet Dolls or stuffed animals Preschooler with a repertoire of songs Any combination of parent, baby, and toddler to serve as audience +++ We’re assembling a huge list of DIY projects for parents. Browse them all on [...]

How to make a long wait fun

April 18, 2012

The following is an excerpt from our new book Stuff Every Mom Should Know. We’re giving you little tastes of the book all week in hopes you will buy one to keep in your purse for just such situations. And one for the car. Increasingly we all have smart phones loaded with apps, videos, and [...]

Makin’ it: Kickass Blanket Fort

April 16, 2012

I am one lucky mother. Tomorrow, I’m expecting an appliance delivery which means one important thing: we get HUGE BOXES to create forts. As a kid, I could just about live in a refrigerator box with small windows cut out. The following guidelines to build a totally sweet indoor fort (for those of you not [...]

Easy plastic egg snake for every age

April 13, 2012

If you have a pile of plastic eggs in your house (I do) and a bit of wire or plastic cord or even dental floss, you can make a “snake” like this. Our eggs all had holes in them already, and I hope yours do too. Big kids can do the stringing. Babies can do [...]

Activity #158: Get on the dance floor at Baby Loves Disco

April 2, 2012

Last week, Heather and I had the pleasure of teaming up with Baby Loves Disco, the providers of kid-friendly dance parties around the country. They had a 10-day mini-tour in the Bay Area and we hit two of the parties in partnership with our hyperlocal blog, 510families.com for East Bay parents. When our first babes [...]

5 homemade busy bags for preschoolers

March 21, 2012

It’s my pleasure to introduce Steph from Modern Parents Messy Kids as our guest contributor today! Thanks so much to Heather and Whitney for having me today, it’s such an honor to be here sharing with all of you! Recently over at Modern Parents Messy Kids, we’ve embarked on a small little adventure we’re calling [...]

Another Q-tip tip: fixing owies

March 8, 2012

Add a tool to any project and my kids will be more interested. Sand in the entryway? They are happy to sick the dustbuster on it. Batter needs stirring? Let’s plug in the electric mixer. A spray bottle of water is the preferred method for watering plants, a straw makes milk taste better, and using [...]

Makin’ it: Super simple LEGO table

February 20, 2012

We’re excited to share our first guest post for Makin’ it this week (or, as she strongly prefers, “Making it”) from longtime reader, Laura Case. She is the mom of twin boys and a talented photographer blogging her adventures at jonandlaura.blogspot.com. Oh, and she better look us up when she comes to town next month! [...]

Makin’ it: Custom letter art

February 6, 2012

In a college photography class, Sue Tenerowicz was introduced to letter art. Her assignment that was to go out in the world and find letters that the world created. Then spell something. She says, “A simple idea, but the concept stuck with me.” “I’ve always used words in pictures to send a special message. Sometimes, [...]

Use scissors to get kids cooking

February 1, 2012

Reprinted from the wayback machine cuz I’m super busy today. Holden and I used to cook together a lot. Before his little brother Milo joined our family, Holden would stand by my side at the kitchen sink and crack eggs, stir with a whisk, or rip greens for a salad. Unfortunately, I must confess, I [...]

Publish your own I Spy book

January 16, 2012

We are big fans of the I Spy books, starting with the board book versions I bought when Julian was a baby. We play “I Spy” with regular books, too, and now we’ve graduated into Where’s Waldo? territory. When Julian was four, he and I did a little photo shoot with big plans — still [...]

A preschooler’s dictionary of terms according to Scarlett

January 4, 2012

Scarlett is four-and-a-half today, and one of my favorite things about her is the way she speaks. She has the voice of a chipmunk, for one — loud and high-pitched — but in a charming way, and two, she has a knack for inventing words that make so much sense to the rest of us [...]

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