Tag Archives: toddlers

13 Toddler Friendly Halloween Crafts

Now that Ellie is at the age where she enjoys crafting, coloring and really, anything she can make a mess with, I’ve been trying to dig deep into my ex-childcare teacher bag of tricks for more things for her to do. Thankfully we have the internet these days and finding ideas is a million times easier than it was back when I was working as a toddler and preschool teacher.

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought we would focus on some toddler friendly crafts that Ellie and I can do together as well as a few that allow Joey to join in the fun too!

Here are 13 Toddler Friendly Halloween Crafts from around the web that we are hoping to find the time to create between now and October 31st!

13 Toddler Friendly Halloween Crafts

1. Frankenstein Handprints Crafted from MomDot.

2. Egg Carton and Tissue Paper Ghost by Chrysa at Jinxy Kids.

3. Paper Plate Pumpkins by Danielle at Simmworks Family Blog.

4. Build a Jack-o-Lantern from Sara at Mom Endeavors

5. Halloween Ghost Foot Print Crafts from Danyelle at Real Moms of Vegas.

6. Halloween Monster Cups from Mariah at Formula Mom.

7. Pumpkin Votive Holder by Annemarie from Celeb Baby Laundy.

8. Spider Handprint Halloween Craft by Arena at The Nerds Wife.

9. Yarn Wrap Mummies by Laura from Lalymom.

10. Monster Mobiles from Jackie at Happy Hooligans

11. Halloween Painted Pumpkins from Danielle at Simmworks Family Blog/Formula Mom.

12. Candy Corn Banner from Bonnie at The Pin Junkie.

13. Pumpkin Halloween Decorations from Rebecca at Here Come The Girls.

There you have it, 13 Toddle Friendly Halloween Crafts for you and your kiddos to work on from now until Halloween!

Do you have a toddler friendly craft that you would like us to check out? Please, leave a link below!

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Potty Training Update

Anne Younger Leave a comment

As I have mentioned multiple times over the last few months, we have been working hard to get Alexander to make the move from Pull-Ups to underwear.
Potty training this time around has been an absolute nightmare!

And then this weekend, something magical happened.
I realized we were running extremely low on Pull-Ups and our diaper fund was pretty much exhausted.
At that moment I made the decision.
Since we would be spending the next 3 days mainly at home, Alexander was finally going to hang out in underwear for the entire day forcing him to either pee down his leg or use the potty.
Thankfully, he opted (for the most part) to use the potty!

Saturday went pretty darn good after he threw a fit for over 15 minutes that he didn’t want to wear underwear and wanted his Pull-Up.
But I, as the mom, am one smart cookie.
I had the Zack conveniently stash all of the Pull-Ups where the toddler couldn’t find them and told him they were all gone and all we had left were nighttime ones.
Apparently lying to your 3 and a half year old does get you somewhere!
Within minutes he was rocking some awesome Buzz Lightyear undies.
We survived Saturday and he only had one accident in his undies.
Sunday was another good day but Monday proved to be even better!

Monday morning, Alexander was hanging out in nothing but his undies and wanted to wear his new Iron Man costume.
I explained to him that he could wear it but he had to be really careful and not pee in it because mommy couldn’t wash it if he did.
Now, he absolutely cherishes this costume.
This again was another tool that worked for us because the minute he had to go potty he came running for help to get the costume off and into the bathroom.
Afterwards he told me, “Iron Man pees on the potty”!

That evening he successfully used the potty while we were visiting his Gramma and Bumpa and then he even pooped on the potty that night!!!

This brings us to today, Tuesday.
We had a slow start after he injured himself last night and mommy thought snuggling was a little more important this morning.
He woke up looking like this after a face plant to the kitchen floor last night.

Needless to say the morning started out a little rocky, including poopy underpants.
But as the day went on things began to look up.
The Alex and I took Alexander out to lunch.
He successfully used the kids size urinal.

Then this afternoon, he went in the potty all by himself and peed without any assistance or being prompted to do so.
And a few hours later, he let us know he had to poop and did it on the potty!!!

This evening on the other hand has been a little rough but I contribute that to his being extremely over tired due to the lack of a nap.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is a S-U-C-C-E-S-S!!!!

**Update: As I hit Publish on this post, Alexander was in the bathroom once again, unassisted going pee in the potty like a big boy!!

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Home Preschool Update

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Earlier this week I posted about our potty training issue and how it has hindered Alexander from starting preschool this fall but that we had decided to do our own preschool program at home for him.

I chatted with a few homeschooling moms on a few message boards and I can’t say that I was well received. Many of the chastised me for even thinking of sending my 3 1/2 year old to preschool and that I shouldn’t be worried about how he is developing yet because he’s only 3 1/2.

Personally, I think otherwise. By this age, my 2 other children could count to at least 10, knew their letters, shapes and colors. My little Alexander counts to 2 and well, that’s about it. He talks….A LOT but his speech is hard to understand unless you’re like me and 100% fluent in toddler.

So, we are going to proceed with our home preschool program. I will be holding preschool with Alexander 2 days one week and 3 days the next. We are kicking class off on the 6th of September and that week we will do class on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00-11:00 just like he would have done had he been able to go to the class we had enrolled him in. The following week we will have class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each week will have a theme and our daily activities will be planned around that theme. I plan to include art, music, math, science, small and large motor skill activities, and circle time with a story each day.

For me, I see all of this as more of a structured play time for the two of us together while he is learning new things. I have been busy planning our first month of “classes” and am looking forward to it all.

I will be posting updates of our Home Preschool Journey and let everyone know how it is going!

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K’NEX Roary the Racing Car Sets Review

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Alexander loves blocks and race cars.
Last weekend he was over by my parents and sat on my dad’s lap for 3 hours straight watching a Nascar race.
His eyes were glued to the TV.
When I picked him up later that night, he had successfully learned the phrases….”Boogity! Boogity! Boogity!” and “Let’s go racing boys!”
Now, every time he sees a race car he repeats these lines over and over and over again.
Especially now that he has the K’NEX Roary the Racing Car Maxi Building Set.
This set is for children ages 3 and up and contains 18 pieces and is easy for a toddler/preschooler to manipulate and assemble.

My little Alexander is a huge fan of this set and has already asked that we get the others. (This is what I get for leaving the Roary the Racing Car page open on my computer).

Another great thing about these building sets is that all of the Roary the Racing Car sets include an adapter that lets kids use their car on many popular toy train tracks, an image above details how this works.

You can find the K’NEX Roary the Racing Car sets at Toys R’ Us.

Disclaimer: This product review was based on using a complimentary product provided by K’Nex. K’Nex does not represent or warrant the accuracy of any statements or product claims made here, nor does it endorse any opinions expressed withing this blogsite. The opinoins stated from me are 100% mine and they are my true thoughts on the product.

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Enough Mommy! Enough!

Anne Younger Leave a comment

These are the things my toddler says to me.

Sure, he looks so sweet and innocent because he is unbelievably adorable

But please,

DO.NOT.LET.THAT.FOOL.YOU.

This adorable boy child of mine is FAR from innocent.
His latest BAD habit is that he absolutely does NOT want to nap.
The minute you put him in his bed, the guilt trip begins…
“NO! Mommy, don’t weave me! Please mommy, no go.”
He says this to me and his bottom lip is quivering and the tears are streaming down his face.

Apparently, he doesn’t know who he is dealing with.
I’ve been down this rode with 2 other kids.
I am not mush.

So, I give him a book and tell him to lay down.
And then, then I lie to him.

Me: “Can you lay down and read this for Mommy while Mommy goes potty? When Mommy is done in the bathroom I’ll come back to see you.”
Toddler: “Otay Mommy, I read, you go pee. Come back see me after?”
Me: “Yes. Mommy will be back.”

Yes.
I lied to my 2 year old.
The best part, he actually believed me that I was coming back and laid there reading his book until he fell asleep!

Then there are the moments that he’s being so sweet and innocent.
For example, after his nap today he wanted to help me work.
He came into our office/den area with me, grabbed the Alex’s chair, put it right next to mine at my desk, climbed up in it and turned to me and said, “Mommy, I help you work. I help you.”
His idea of work…..play with everything on my desk and then ask to watch Bobby (AKA: Spongebob) on my computer.
So, thanks to the help of Windows 7, I did the smart thing.
I moved the stuff I was working on to the right side of my screen and open up an episode of Spongebob on the left side.
As the show started, I began to sing the theme song.
That’s when the toddler planted his hand across my mouth, look at me and said,
“Enough mommy! ENOUGH!”

Yes, this is my life with my sweet and innocent toddler.