Too wet to go out? Too cold to play ball? Too sick for preschool? With a can of shaving cream or a bar of soap, here is lots of good fun that is funny:

Microwave Ivory Soap. Take a cue from our friend Wendy and put a quarter bar of Ivory soap in the microwave for 90 seconds. Ooze. Squish. Awesome. Great for preschoolers through adults. Though it is incredibly cool, Wendy cautions, “Be forewarned — it only takes about 5 minutes, so don’t plan your day around it or anything.” Do it yourself or click the picture to see the incredible results.

Squishy fun. For toddlers who can’t grasp the amazement of microwave science, spray a dollop of shaving cream into a bowl and let them go for it. Sensory nirvana. Details and more pictures at champuru.net.

Santa beard. Seasonal fun for all ages. Pant on a shaving cream beard and take pictures. Could this be your very clever holiday card?

I’ll be sharing a few foamy art projects in two weeks, in the meantime, what clean fun can you get into with shaving cream or soap?

[photos by wendolonia, champuru, and portraitsimple]

Inspired by the idea to turn a Pack ‘N Play into a ball pit, Rebeca from averageparent.com took it in a new direction. She takes an armful of her son’s stuffed animals and puts them into a cardboard box, or empty laundry basket, to create a cozy play area. He loves it, and it’s a good sensory activity as well. If she really wants to mix it up, she’ll push him around the room in his new seat.

Rebeca's son is very happy

Rebeca is a self-described “average mom living a busy life in the Midwest” but her site averageparent.com is stuffed full of above average goodies. She has a busy toddler (pictured above), a husband, and two spirited beagles who all keep her on her toes.

Thanks Rebeca for sharing this fun and EASY idea with us!

I used to see 3-year olds around town dressed in wild combinations of stripes, gingham, rainbow tights and superhero capes. I wondered when my baby would look that creative and charming.*

Then it dawned on me and I began to create wild combinations and increase the creativity in my infant’s wardrobe. If your baby is grabbing, he can help pick out his own clothes, just like a willful preschooler.

We start at the bottom and work up:

• Let the baby “choose” from two or three pairs of socks. The idea is that whichever ones he touches (grabbing or sucking is ok too), he wears. You might need to hold them close to his hand if he’s not flapping or waving his hands about.
• Now allow him to pick from two shirts.
• Let him pick pants, hats, and any other accessories.

Now you can brag that baby picked out his own clothes. Good mommy.

* Now that Holden is pushing six, he doesn’t like to be quite as wild in the fashion arena, he prefers sweats every day. Oh well.

In about ten minutes, you can make someone feel loved for Valentine’s Day. Here are five fresh ideas for you using stuff you probably have around the house:

1. Mix up a love potion

Follow the tasty (and fast) instructions from the lovely Marie at makeandtakes. Serve your love for breakfast, snack or dessert.

2. Turn your baby into a conversation heart

Got construction paper and a cute baby? Now you just need a sense of humor and your camera to make a funny conversation heart greeting. When creativity is failing, Love ya! works.

3. Make a video e-card

Produce a family-friendly video card to send to your folks. Or star in a sexy one to send to your partner. For their eyes only. [From Jalapenyo.com and OnFuego.com]

4. (Heart) someone or something

All you need is a Sharpie and a plain white tee to make your baby be the bearer of your message of love. See instructions.

5. Have sex or something like it

If you don’t have time for a full-on session of making whoopie, might we suggest the “5 minute fix” from Babyproofing Your Marriage? If that’s not to your liking, there are many other great sexy, fast, and easy ideas from Kristen Chase’s sexual resolution (like wear a thong, make a sexy mix tape, or give a massage).

Now, I really hope that someone is planning an eleven minute surprise that will knock your socks off!

Photos: delicious smoothie: Marie; Conversation heart: reader who wishes to remain nameless; Video ecards: Jalapenyo; Heart onesie: Thompson Tribune.

Because we don’t have time to learn everything about everything, it’s nice to find trustworthy moms who will do some of the work for you. When it comes to gadgets, the women at Cool Mom Tech have offered to step up as that source.

Founded by Liz and Kristen of Cool Mom Picks, who partnered with Beth Blecherman of TechMamas, Cool Mom Tech launched a couple months ago. Daily recommendations for high-tech products, gifts for geeks, and tools for the modern mama will save you time (though probably not money!)

Their raison d’être:

We’re sharing photos, managing money, finding design inspiration, texting our kids. As parents, we want items that keep us organized, keep us stylish, keep our kids safe, keep life fun. We want services and apps that make us think, “how did we ever live without that?” And we want to know what other moms think is cool–not some 22 year-old guy.

Get hooked (and get help!) by reading these two posts about how housebound parents can watch new release movies:  The futuristic world of streaming movies on demand and Putting an end to that whole “parents never get to see movies” thing.

photo: vanessa bertozzi from etsy

Do you want to squeeze in some exercise during your day? But also just want to lay around?

While lying on the floor, hold baby above you and rhythmically lower baby to your face, kiss baby’s face all over, and raise baby back up again… I used to like to say “kiss the baby” when I kissed his face so he could build vocabulary while I struggled to regain core strength.

Realize this may not be such a good game to play right after a meal or if your baby has reflux. Trust me.

Can you rummage through your house and find all the lady bugs…or all the elephants, or hearts? Using your child’s puzzles, toys and books, find all the examples you have of a single subject matter.

“It’s interesting to compare the ways different illustrators depict the same thing,” rookie mom Becky wrote to us in an email, “and I think it helps children to learn to see various examples of trains in all the different contexts.”

When I pointed out to baby Julian that three of his different stuffed animals are all frogs and lined them up sitting next to each other, he seemed both intrigued and amused.

A local-to-us rookie mom, Jen, told us “The monthly shot (now on 2nd kid, too) with the same toy in the same chair is still going strong at now 33 months. (No, we haven’t figured out when we’ll stop. Kindergarten? When she rolls her eyes & flips us off every month?)”

I asked her to show us what she’s got.  Here are photos from months 7, 10, 13, and 32.

It’s never too late to start, friends!

P.S. A did-do is something that you did, rather than a to-do!

It’s February! Time for romance (says Hallmark). We’re going to try to provide a little inspiration for prioritizing the sexy aspects of your life with romance and self-esteem boosting activities this month. Today, we kick off a series of guest posts from Shana of Ain’t No Mom Jeans.  (If you missed her series on sweatsuit alternatives, start here.) And now, I’ll let Shana take it away:

I’m always astounded by the number of extremely attractive moms who still wear jeans that are baggy in the bum. (Editor’s note: GUILTY!) I’m not sure if it’s a holdover from saggy-bum maternity pants, but seriously.  It’s really, really, really hard to feel sexy in saggy-bum jeans.  So apply the Hand-Grab rule:

• Put on your jeans.
• Recruit your most honest girlfriend to grab your bum.
• If she can grab a handful of jean (or anything close to a handful of jean), then your jeans are too saggy in the bum.  It’s time for new jeans.

If you absolutely hate tight jeans, then I suggest you try jeans with sophisticated bum styling like Hudson’s Signature Bootcut Jeans, True Religion Jeans, or William Rast Jeans.  These jeans have seams and/or pockets strategically located to make your bum look good, even when buying a size up.

Look for more sexy tips from Shana next week!

Too cheap for Shana’s jean suggestions? We think it’s ok to go to Old Navy for your first pair of post-partum jeans.

photo credit: shellular kellular on flickr

We got a great tip from a reader, Ghanimatrix, about how she squeezes in more me time. She says:

The best way for me to find “me time” is to either stay on top of chores so that nap time becomes leisure time, OR to go run an errand when my husband gets home and stop for a hot chocolate and space out before I head home.

I think she had me at hot chocolate.

While your baby is sleeping, pack up a bunch of toys in a duffle bag for her to discover and pull out of the bag when she wakes up. Julian always unpacked everything to the right so if I acted quickly enough, I could keep refilling from the left.

When you’ve tired of that, put her in the duffel bag and hit the road.

• Tangarang: Super-cute stuff to download and print, like the gift tags in the picture (picture is hers) and party favors.
• 2 craft projects: make a crown for the king of your castle and reuse formula cans to make a piggy bank.
• How to halve a bunch of grapes at once
• Our most popular post, How to Make Easy Kids Pants, has been updated with a video tutorial!

Happy Mother’s Day weekend, especially to the rookies!