I Spy Bottle and Games

How many of you grew up loving the “Where’s Waldo?” books by Martin Handford or the “I Spy” books by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick? My brothers, sisters and I adored them and now, L enjoys reading them too! The I SPY BOTTLE is very similar in principal and so much fun! It’s a fully contained game…no pieces to lose or to pick up! We take our bottle with us to restaurants on occasion and always on long car trips. The I SPY BOTTLE would be great fun in a classroom too! Be sure to scroll down, after the “how to” I’ve shared a few ideas of games to play.

Materials needed:

  • clear bottle with a wide mouth
  • rice
  • electrical tape
  • lots of small objects

First, remove the label from your bottle and clean and dry it completely. Goo Gone always works great for removing any stickiness and label residue! Fill the bottle a little over halfway with white rice.

Next, drop your objects in. We used beads, a bouncy ball, a plastic ring, spoon, animal figures, a marble, dice, a stamp, buttons, a clothespin, a rubber band, a paperclip, a toy car, keys, a wine cork, and although pictured is a crayon, I switched it out with a paintbrush. I was afraid the crayon would melt if left in the car!

 

Once the rice and objects are inside the bottle, use electrical tape to seal the lid closed. You could always use super glue, but I was afraid a time would come that we’d want one of the objects locked inside!

Now, time to shake your bottle up and play!!!

 

 

 

Different ways to play:

  • Call out the color of an object…”I spy something green!”…and have the other person find it.
  • Call out the function of an object…”I spy something that makes art!”…”A paintbrush!”
  • Things that rhyme. “I spy something that rhymes with ‘moon.'”…”Spoon!”
  • If your children can read, you could make little cards that go along with the I SPY BOTTLE too. How perfect would that be for a long car ride? Easy entertainment! Enjoy!!!

 

 

DIY Planetarium for Kids

Have your kids ever daydreamed about going to the moon? To Mars or the Milky Way? By making a PLANETARIUM FOR KIDS you can take them to outer space without even leaving your house!

 

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Last week L and I turned our dining room into a PLANETARIUM complete with the all the planets of our solar system, constellations, “telescopes,” MOON DOUGH!, Glow-in-the-Dark Glitter Bottles, Sprinkle Star Sugar Cookies and more! Once you get going on this project the possibilities are endless…your kids will be entertained, playing and learning for days on end!

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First, start by making the planets in our solar system. Find a good picture of the solar system, in a book or online, and talk about the planets. Depending on the age of your kids, you can keep the research brief or stretch it out, talking about the facts and properties of each planet. (I included Pluto when teaching L about our solar system…it was always my favorite planet and last I heard, it was back in the solar system!) Next, cut out circles of construction paper to resemble the sun and each planet. Have your lil one color them!

 

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Tape your planets to the underside of a table! Depending on what your child is interested in, feel free to add the moon (made out of tin foil), some constellations…anything you all think is important and fun! Having a good time learning about outer space is the most important part here, so if your lil one wants stars all over in random places, go with it! Why not!? Among our randomly placed stars we included the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia.

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Hang some foil stars from the sides of your table for a lil extra pizzaz as well. This was WB’s favorite part!

 

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Throw a blanket and some pillows under the table, grab a flashlight and get ready to star gaze! “It’s a real campout!” L exclaimed.

 

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Having a flashlight is a must! You can put some SENSORY BAGS (click here) over the flashlight to change colors.

 

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Make some sparkle bottles as well! The GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOTTLES (DIY here) were a lot of fun with this activity! How many stars can you count? Can you see any constellations in the bottle?

 

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Make a “TELESCOPE” too!

 

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Materials needed: 

  • paper towel tube (or paper rolled up)
  • clear plastic (sandwich bag works well)
  • star stickers
  • rubber bands

 

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Cut the plastic sandwich bag into a small square. Stick some star stickers on top. Place the plastic over the cardboard tube and secure it with two small rubber bands. Looking out the window or at a light with the “telescope,” your child will see stars! Maybe even a constellation!

 

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You can also do the reverse…punch some holes out of construction paper (best if they are in the form of a constellation), and shine the flashlight through! The stars will appear upon the wall!

 

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Getting hungry? Make some SPRINKLE STAR SUGAR COOKIES (recipe here) with your kids! It’s a quick and easy sugar cookie recipe and perhaps you’ll find more constellations as you snack!

 

 

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Another fun mess to make as you’re exploring outer space is MOON DOUGH! (recipe here) One of our favorites…the silky powder can be molded into shapes and forms and only includes 2 ingredients!

 

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Have fun with this one!!! What else will you all come up with as you venture out, past our atmosphere???

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Sensory Bottles, Sparkle Bottles, Glow-in-the-Dark Bottles, and an Ocean in a Bottle

We love SENSORY BOTTLES at Our Beautifully Messy House and have been experimenting with them for years! There are so many things to do with sensory bottles and sparkle bottles…some people use them as “time-out bottles” to help calm down their toddlers when they’re having a meltdown. We like to play with our SPARKLE BOTTLES outside in the summertime, pulling them around in wagons, burying them in dirt…and inside in the play areas of our house. (Okay, I admit…that’s every room of our house!) We take SENSORY BOTTLES with us on long car rides for simple, quiet entertainment. The kids love to bounce them around in the bathtub as well! The GLOW IN THE DARK BOTTLE is great for helping kids wind down at night and drift off to sleep. So much fun and so many possibilities!!!

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I find the best, smoothest and cheapest bottles to use (esp. if you don’t drink soda regularly and have a collection already) are the soda water bottles. Just look in the water or beverage aisle of your grocery store, seeking out the cheapest option…usually only $2-$3 for a pack of 6. Instead of dumping the soda water down the drain, entertain your kids with the fun “Raisins + Soda Water Experiment” while you’re mixing up the SENSORY BOTTLES.

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SPARKLE BOTTLES

Materials needed:

  • empty plastic bottle
  • Elmer’s glitter glue
  • glitter, sequins, and/or beads
  • water
  • superglue

 

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First, put a small pot of water on to boil. When you add the water to the bottle you will want it to be hot, but not boiling. I like to bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes to cool.

Meanwhile, add the Elmer’s glitter glue to the empty bottle…enough to fill the bottom inch or so of the bottle. Next, add some glitter, sequins and/or beads.

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When the water is ready, carefully pour it into the bottle as well. I like to use a measuring cup or a funnel to make this step easier. Once the bottle is filled, use superglue to secure the lid. Now it’s time to shake, shake, shake!!! Shake the bottle for a few minutes, until all the glue melts into the hot water. You shouldn’t see any globs or streaks of glue once the bottle is complete. While the bottle is warm, the glitter and sequins will fall very quickly to the bottom. Once it cools down completely over the next hour or two, the glitter will fall much slower. So relaxing… I’d like to put myself in “time-out” with one of these bottles, wouldn’t you?

 

 

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GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOTTLES

Materials needed:

  • empty plastic bottle
  • Elmer’s glitter glue
  • glitter paint
  • glow-in-the-dark paint
  • glitter, sequins, and/or beads
  • glow-in-the-dark stars
  • water
  • superglue

 

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First, put a small pot of water on to boil. When you add the water to the bottle you will want it to be hot, but not boiling. I like to bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes to cool.

Meanwhile, add the Elmer’s glitter glue to the empty bottle…enough to fill the bottom inch or so of the bottle. Next, add a squirt of glitter paint and a squirt of glow-in-the-dark paint. Add some glitter, sequins and/or beads.

 

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When the water is ready, carefully pour it into the bottle as well. I like to use a measuring cup or a funnel to make this step easier. Once the bottle is filled, screw the lid on tightly, but don’t superglue it yet. Now it’s time to shake, shake, shake!!! Shake the bottle for a few minutes, until all the glue melts into the hot water. You shouldn’t see any globs or streaks of glue once the bottle is complete. The bottle will be a milky color compared to the SPARKLE BOTTLES because of the glow-in-the-dark paints. Once the bottle is shaken and cooled a bit, add the glow-in-the-dark stars and superglue the lid in place. I guarantee your little one will be excited to go to bed tonight with a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOTTLE in hand!!!

 

 

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OCEAN IN A BOTTLE

Materials needed:

  • empty plastic bottle
  • oil (vegetable oil or baby oil)
  • water
  • food coloring
  • superglue

 

 

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First, fill the bottle about 1/3 of the way full with water. Add a few drops of food coloring and screw the lid on tight. Shake the bottle a bit until the food coloring is evenly dispersed throughout the water. Next, fill the bottle the rest of the way with oil…using a funnel is best. Superglue the lid onto the bottle. Complete!

 

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Have fun swishing the bottle from side to side or shaking it all up, just to watch the bubbles of oil pop while the water settles at the bottom and the oil at the top. This is a great time to talk to your kids about the density of liquids as well! It may be a bit over their heads if they’re really young, but you’ll be surprised at what they will comprehend and remember! Basically, the water weighs more (has a higher density) thank the oil and will sink below it in the bottle, no matter how much you shake your OCEAN IN A BOTTLE and attempt to mix the two together. So cool!!!

 

DIY Thumbprint Necklace

All the thumbprint ornaments and Christmas decorations I’ve seen lately have led me to think about making a smaller version for a necklace. I love anything that helps me savor and preserve these precious years and moments with my little ones. So, I started researching ideas for thumbprint necklaces. There are lots for sale out there for nearly $150-$200…yikes! But there are also some DIYs out there. We tried a few styles and techniques this week…some were okay, others didn’t work out at all, but this one was nearly perfect! Simple and sweet! We modified it a little to make the THUMBPRINT NECKLACE work for us and I just love how they turned out!

I made one using my thumbprint for L to hang around her neck and we made one using L and WB’s thumbprints for myself. (Pssst…we also made a little keepsake for Daddy to keep in his pocket too! L can’t wait to give it to him for Christmas this week!)

Materials needed:

  • Sculpey, silver (oven-bake clay)
  • wax paper
  • hardback book
  • tiny heart cookie cutter
  • letter stamps (optional, though leather printing kits work great!)
  • toothpick
  • crayons

First, roll and knead the clay until it becomes soft. Finish by rolling it into a ball.

With wax paper underneath the ball and wax paper on top, flatten the ball using a hardback book. Board books work great for these little project…flattens the clay evenly and quickly.

 

 

Next, using the cookie cutter, cut out a teeny, tiny heart.

On the backside you can print a name, date or initials using the letter stamps. Of course you could print the word “love” or skip this step altogether.

 

Carefully flip the clay over and on the opposite side press your thumbprint onto the heart. With little thumbs, you can carefully press one on each half of the heart as I did with L and WB’s.

 

Next, poke a hole in the heart with a toothpick. You can place the hole in the middle of the heart, though we chose to put ours to the side. Notice I left one heart without a hole…that’s the one we’ll give to my husband to keep in his pocket.

Now to bake! Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or foil) and bake the thumbprint hearts for 10 to 15 min. When they come out of the oven, wait a few minutes for them to cool. Sculpey typically hardens completely upon cooling.

Once the hearts have cooled, you can gently rub a crayon over the thumbprints to make them more visible. I tried using a gold crayon first, but on the silver clay black definitely shows up best! If you made this necklace using white or pearly-colored clay, I think any color would shine through. We may try that next time!

 

 

Of course, you can also leave the thumbprint as is, without rubbing crayon over top. Just as sweet if you ask me!

Finish your necklace by adding a jump ring or some wire (as we did) and a chain. L and I are pretty smitten with our new creations! So much love!

 

 

DIY Peppermint Play Dough

While you escape to the bathtub to enjoy your Candy Cane Sugar Scrub you need something to occupy the kids, right? So, here’s my recipe for PEPPERMINT PLAY DOUGH!

This play dough takes only a few minutes to make, but stored in a gallon-sized bag or an air-tight container, it’ll keep for nearly a year! Whenever L has friends or cousins over I love whipping up a batch of play dough…it keeps them happy and busy for at least an hour and I can split the dough in half and send the other kid home with some. This recipe makes plenty for 2 or 3 kids to play with!

A tip to keep your kids entertained playing with play dough for longer: Start off with plain play dough. Let them play 15 or 20 minutes, then throw some glitter into the mix. Once their attention starts to drift, add some colorful beads or buttons. Add some measuring cups and kitchen utensils, some lil plastic dinosaurs or army men. Just don’t give them everything at once, instead add to the play dough in intervals…works every time!

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups + 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 2 Tbsp cream of tartar
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1.5 cups boiling water
  • food coloring
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp peppermint oil

First, put the water on to boil. Add about 10 drops of red food coloring to the water. As the water is heating up, mix 2 cups of flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl. Then add and mix the vegetable oil into the flour mixture. Once the water is boiling, add it to the bowl and mix with a spatula. The dough will be a sticky mess while warm. Mix it as best you can, then let it cool off. After a few minutes cooling off, sprinkle your working surface with some of the remaining flour. Dump the play dough onto the flour, adding more flour to the top, and knead the dough. Continue working with the dough, adding a bit of flour as needed, til the dough is not sticky anymore and you’ve reached the desired consistency. Once the play dough is made, fold in the peppermint oil to make a fun smelling PEPPERMINT PLAY DOUGH! Enjoy!

 

 

Candy Cane Sugar Scrub

As I was brainstorming the other day, thinking about switching out the honeysuckle oil in my Semisoft Honeysuckle Soap with peppermint oil, it occurred to me that I could try making something new altogether…a sugar scrub! Even better, a peppermint CANDY CANE SUGAR SCRUB! I had never made a sugar scrub before, but I figured it couldn’t be too hard and I was right…this one is easy peasy! What a beautiful, fun, tasty-smelling gift to give to friends this holiday season!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil (you could also use coconut or almond oil)
  • 1 tsp peppermint oil
  • red food coloring
  • candy cane (optional)

Materials needed:

  • 2 jars
  • spoons
  • fork
  • rolling pin
  • freezer bag
  • mixing bowls
  • thin cardboard (old cereal box…optional)
  • scissors

First, put the 2 cups of sugar in a large bowl and slowing add the olive oil while mixing with a fork. The texture of the sugar scrub should be similar to wet sand.

Next, add the peppermint oil and mix thoroughly.

Once the sugar scrub smells like a delicious candy cane, divide the sugar scrub and put half of the mixture into a separate bowl. Add about 10 drops of red food coloring to one of the bowls and mix thoroughly.

Place your candy cane into a freezer bag (either the gallon or quart-size). Crush it finely with a rolling pin. Add the candy cane dust to the red sugar scrub mixture.

 

Now you have to decide how you’d like your sugar scrub to look in the jar…either a layered, candy cane effect or a peppermint candy swirl.

To make the layered jar, it’s pretty self-explanatory…just spoon some white sugar scrub in the jar, pat it down and spoon some of the red sugar scrub on top. Pat that layer down and repeat until the jar is full!

To maker a peppermint swirl, it takes a little more time, but is still rather easy. First, cut the cereal box-cardboard into three equally sized strips. Make sure they all fit across, inside the jar.

 

Next, cut about half an inch off the top of one strip. Cut a full inch off another strip. The shortest strip should be the height of the jar, not any shorter.

Now, with the middle sized strip and the tallest strip, make a vertical cut up the middle of the cardboard, leaving the top half-inch uncut. Place the shortest strip of cardboard inside the jar. Next, slide the mid-sized strip down on top of the shortest one. Follow with the tallest strip. Arrange the cardboard, so the jar is equally divided.

Next, carefully fill each section using a small spoon. Baby spoons work great, but if you don’t have one you could always roll some paper into a funnel-shape and use that.

Once the jar is filled and you’ve gently pressed down on the sugar scrub, very carefully removed the cardboard pieces one at a time. Voila! A peppermint swirl!

L and I took a shower together this morning to try out our new CANDY CANE SUGAR SCRUB creation…amazing! And fun! The sugar gently exfoliates the skin, leaving it nice and smooth. This sugar scrub smells good enough to eat!

Enjoy some pampering amidst all the craziness this holiday season!

DIY Semisoft Honeysuckle Soap

I have to start by telling you that I’m not a fan of smelly soaps, smelly candles. I don’t even own perfume. This honeysuckle soap is perfect though…its mild smell reminds me of childhood summers, playing outside in the woods, drinking the lil drops of honeysuckle nectar pretending it was a real treat. Just about everyone I give this soap to has asked for the recipe. It’s just that good!

Ingredients:

  • 1 bar of unscented, white soap (my favorite to use is Dove for sensitive skin)
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp honeysuckle oil (I buy mine at the Handworks Gallery in Winchester, Va.)
  • 4 drops red food coloring
  • 10 drops yellow food coloring

Tools needed:

  • blender
  • cutting board and knife
  • cooking spray
  • paper towel
  • 12 little jars and lids
  • hot glue gun and glue (optional, to secure lids)

First, put the water on to boil. While waiting for the water to boil, cut your bar of soap up into small pieces.

Place the soap into your blender. (Have the lil kids help with that step!) Pour in the boiling (or nearly boiling) water. Add the honeysuckle oil and food coloring.

 

 

Blend for 15-30 seconds. Your blender will fill to the top with foamy, lotion-like soap.

 

Prepare your jars with a quick spray of cooking oil. Follow by wiping the spray around the inside of the jar briefly with a paper towel.

Carefully pour the soap concoction into each little jar. Set the jars aside for a few hours before putting the lids on. The soap will firm up a bit, but will continue to have a creamy, semi-soft texture. (Most canning jars come with the lids in two pieces. Just use a hot glue gun to secure the lids together if you like. Don’t use super-glue or crazy glue!!! I made that mistake once and all the soap ended up smelling like toxic glue! Ick!)

Stick a little label on the lid; tie a ribbon or string around the jar and you have the perfect “anytime gift.” Enjoy!

 

Sensory Bottles for Baby

I’ve made sensory bottles for L before, filled with colored water, glue and glitter or colored water and oil, but I don’t know why we never made SENSORY BOTTLES FOR BABIES until now. Babies and toddlers both love them!

 

The water-filled bottles are fun to look at, but too heavy for WB to really handle safely. Making these SENSORY BOTTLES FOR BABIES was a terrific tactile activity for L, and WB seems to love shaking and playing with the bottles. Not only are they fun to play with around the house and in the car, but sensory bottles make great bath toys too!

 

 

Materials needed:

  • small, plastic bottles with lids
  • any of the following: pom-poms, feathers, sequins, straws, ribbon, cereal, dyed rice, etc.
  • glue

Making the bottles is pretty self-explanatory… Remove the label from the bottle. Fill with small, colorful items. Glue the lid shut.

As always, never leave infants unattended with toys, especially if it includes small items. You can never be too safe! Enjoy!!!

 

 

Have you seen our DIY Baby Play Area yet??? These bottles would be a great addition!

Low Fat Nutella-Banana Bread (Gluten Free)

Today I decided to incorporate Nutella into my favorite low fat banana bread recipe that I came up with years ago…and the results were amazing! Chocolatey, gooey Nutella mixed with sweet banana bread and the fat content works out to be only 2.5-3 grams per serving! This recipe made 12 muffins and one large loaf of bread.

Most people would probably mix the wet and dry ingredients separately and then combine, but I usually mix the wet ingredients then add the dry on top…mix the dry together a bit with a fork and then mix deeper, incorporating the wet ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

  • 5 ripe bananas
  • 1/3 cup applesauce
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour (I use all purpose Gluten Free flour)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1-2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4-1/2 cup water
  • 3/4 cup – 1 cup Nutella

**If you want to “half” the recipe, you can use 2 bananas, 1 egg and 1 eggwhite.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

First, mash the bananas in a large bowl (L’s favorite part!). Add the applesauce, eggs and vanilla and mix together.

On top of the wet ingredients, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. With a fork, mix the dry ingredients a bit. Add water. Mix deeper with a fork, hand-held beater, or electric mixer…beat until all is combined.

Spoon Nutella into an oven-safe bowl and melt in the oven for a few minutes. Carefully remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a fork. Spoon in about 1/3 of the banana bread batter into the bowl with the Nutella and mix gently with the fork.

For muffins, I like to use silicone muffin cups…been using the same ones for years. No spraying or buttering necessary. Fill each muffin cup about halfway with the banana batter. Then add a spoonful of the Nutella mixture on each muffin. Top each one off with another spoonful of banana batter. Swirl each muffin gently with a toothpick.

 

 

Bake for 23-25 min. The “clean knife” testing method doesn’t work too well with this recipe because the Nutella will always be a little gooey. I knew ours were done when the tops of each muffin had turned golden brown.

To bake in a loaf pan, grease first with butter. Again fill about halfway with banana bread batter, then add Nutella mixture and finish off with more banana batter. Swirl with a knife. Bake for 40-50 min.

 

 

Yummmm!!! Enjoy!!!

 

Reclaiming Quiet-Time

Over the past few months the afternoons have brought upon a lot of change in our house. L essentially dropped her afternoon nap when she turned 2…she took about one or two a month. We stuck to routine and put her in her crib everyday for at least an hour. Most day’s L bounced around for the entire hour and a few days she’d bounce herself to sleep. Then came the change out of her crib (so WB could use it) and into a “big girl bed.”

 

For a month or two she stayed in her “big girl bed” or at least in her room playing quietly for an hour, but then she learned how to open her door. We put a child lock on the door and it took her about 5 minutes to learn how to take that off. For a week or two “quiet time” became the very worst hour of the day, every day. I would spend the hour marching L back up the stairs and into her room…I tried threatening to take toys away. I tried rewarding her with stickers or special activities to follow quiet time. I tried holding the door shut so she’d think it was locked. None of it worked and none of it seemed like the right thing to do. We’d have a great day all day, but when quiet time came it’d end with us both in tears and doubly-stressed out. So I took a step back and I thought about it…and I came up with a plan.

I realized that naps were definitely long gone. L really does fine without a nap and it results in an earlier bedtime…7 PM and both girls are sound asleep. (Yay for this exhausted mom at the end of the day!) I also realized that really the #1 reason L wanted out of her room was that she just wanted to be with me. If I’m trying to hold the door closed or lock her in there and she’s just miserable, what’s the point? And if it makes me miserable on the other side of the door and/or wakes her sleeping sister up, truly what’s the point? Quiet time is to give us all a break. A mental break if nothing else.

So I came up with some new rules and some new activities to keep L occupied while I clean dishes, reply to emails, read the paper, fold laundry…whatever I need to do for 30 quiet minutes. If I keep an open-door-policy with L, so she can go in and out of her room, up and down the stairs, there are no more arguments and she tends to stay in her room longer! I’ve also come up with a number of ACTIVITY BAGS to keep her quietly occupied.

The following are some of L’s “quiet time activity bags.” You can make your own just by going through your drawers, recycling basket, and your craft supplies and look for safe materials that will keep a little one entertained. I give L an activity bag a few days a week, rotating them so they always seem new to her. On days when she’s already happy playing with blocks or coloring, I just let her keep to herself while I get my own chores done.

Paper bag, 2 paper cups, egg carton, sheet of felt, poof balls, googlie eyes, feathers, straw, buckeyes

Paper bag, snack container full of beads, shoe lace (for stringing beads), pipe cleaners, silicone muffin cups, painted buckeye, hopping frog toy

Shoe box, cardboard tubes, cotton balls, tissue paper, Little People, colored craft sticks

Paper bag, I Spy book, straw, pipe cleaners, feather, spools, slinky

foam floor puzzle/mats, Water Wow book, Magna Doodle

The following two activities take a little more prep time, but it’s a fun surprise to keep your kid occupied!

Tea Party set-up: cardboard box, blanket, tea set, empty honey bottle, pretend cupcake, poof balls and spoon, napkins

Teepee…everything’s better in a teepee (DIY No Sew Teepee)

Notice all the bags include lots of creative possibilities. Beads can be strung on a shoelace or on pipe cleaners, feathers can be put into straws; cotton balls can be blown across the floor with a straw; things can be sorted or dumped from cup to cup; the cardboard box under the tea party can be flipped over and become a rocket ship! For more ideas, check out the Imagination Box too! Like always, you know your child, make sure anything you leave in your child’s room is SAFE for them to play with unattended or semi-unattended! (I still turn the video monitor on when I leave L with beads in her room!)

What do you think? Do you have this problem in your house? Has quiet time and nap time become a disaster? What do you all do to make it through the afternoon with a toddler who won’t nap?