5 Summer Reading Picks

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If you’re looking for some books to read this summer, these 5 Summer Reading Picks are a great start.

Each book was picked by a mermaid-loving four year old!

With school out, it’s important to keep kids reading and learning. Switching up books and ‘shelfies’ can help keep them interested and excited to read!

Mila has accumulated a TON of books in her four years. She has a few favorite picks — but it can get redundant reading them 1000 times. To help keep things fresh, I love to show her themed books and have her pick out her top picks.

I laid out ‘summer’ books that included zoos, weather, and other ocean animals. Of course, she was instantly drawn to the mermaid ones!

Here’s all of Mila’s picks:

The Little Mermaid

This was my book when I was a kid, but Mila is in love with it!

It’s the classic tale with beautiful images. Since Mila knows the story, she likes to pretend to ‘read’ to me. I love seeing what letters and words she is beginning to recognize too. If your kiddo loves “The Littler Mermaid” the movie, you’ll love the book too.

You can find the original book or the the Little Golden Book one.

How to Catch a Mermaid

This is one of Mila’s favorite series! She loves the story and trying to figure out how the characters are going to catch the mermaid next. I love the rhyming and how it gets her brain thinking. Mila always finds new things in the pictures too. The last time she read it, she pointed out a big fish I had never saw!

This series has how to catch a unicorn, leprechaun, and the Easter Bunny too! It’s a series I’ll always recommend for any occasion you need.

If you’re interested in this book or series, check them out!

That’s Not My Mermaid

The “That’s Not My” series has been a staple in our home since Mila was a baby. They let kids feel different textures and understand what the words mean. Plus, there’s a hiding mouse that kids love to seek too.

Mila absolutely loves the mermaid one in the series. It’s one she has by her bed all summer long. She loves reading this one to me and showing me she remembers all the words.

Get “That’s Not My Mermaid” here.

The Rainbow Fish

Last year, “The Rainbow Fish” was Mill’s favorite summer book. It’s a great story about sharing and being mindful of others. We made the cutest paper craft (pictured above) and Mila recognizes thee cover image any where she sees it.

The bright colors are so perfect and I love this classic tale. This will be one boo I always have on hand.

You can purchase “The Rainbow Fish” through this link.

Stuck in the Middle of Knowhere

Mila got this book earlier this year when Our Generation Dolls gifted us a few dolls and accessories. She saw the book and we’ve been reading it in chunks since! It’s a fun story of Coral and her passion for surfing.

The doll that came with this book is adorable too. Mila is constantly playing with her and her friends. I’d totally recommend them to anyone looking for a good doll!

Reading is such an important way to learn and imagine. It makes me so proud Mila can pick out her favorites and enjoy our time reading together. We’ll never get this time back, so we’re making every second count!

We can’t wait to show you more summer activities and fun that we’ll be having this year! Stay tuned.

What are some summer inspired books you’d recommend? We’d love to read them.

Strawberry Handprint Pot

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If you love strawberries and want a cute pot to grow them in, you’ll have to make this Strawberry Handprint Pot!

These pots are a great way to watch plants grow, but also perfect for kids to get involved too.

I’ve said it a ton before, but Mila and I are obsessed with plants. We probably have 200 houseplants. Then in the summer, we have fruits, veggies, and herbs. My front porch looks like a jungle.

Last year, strawberries were our favorite to grow. Mila would literally eat them from the plant. It was so fun to check every morning.

To make strawberry picking more fun this year, we made this Strawberry Handprint Pot.

Here’s what you’ll need to make yours:

  • Green Paint
  • Red Paint
  • Black Paint
  • Pot
  • Brush
  • Strawberry Plant
  • Potting Soil

This handprint art is actually pretty easy to do.

Just paint (or have your kiddo paint) the majority of their hand with red paint. Then the top part with green.

Press firmly on the pot. We were able to get two handprints per paint!

Once it’s dried, add the seeds on to the strawberries. I just made little hearts in black. I thought it looked cute!

When those are dry, plant your strawberry plant and you’re good to grow.

Like all our crafts, I think this turned out so cute. I know this pot will have strawberries in it for years to come!

Looking for more strawberry fun? Check out some of these recipes and crafts we’ve done in the past!

Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite! Or a recipe/craft we should try next.

DIY Bug Catcher

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If you’re looking for a fun way to get your kids outside and interested in bugs, make this DIY Bug Catcher.

The best part, I reused everything to make this!

Mila is slowly getting interested in bugs. She can tell you all about the butterflies life cycle and can identify different bugs too! Mostly, she’s excited about catching lightening bugs this year.

Even though I know she can, I don’t think she’ll want to use her hands. Cue another light bulb parenting moment…

We decided to make a DIY Bug Catcher so we can see lightening bugs and whatever else she catches. Like I said before, we got to reuse items to make it too!

Here’s all that it took to make this:

  • Parmesan Cheese Bottle
  • Stickers
  • Pipe Cleaner
  • Googly Eyes
  • Hot Glue
  • Tulle

First, take the label off and clean the Parmesan cheese container. I don’t think the bugs would mind the cheesy smell, but it needed washed out.

After, I hot glued tulle on the smaller hole side. This way the bugs can get fresh air!

I then put stickers that said, “Mila’s Bug Catcher” on it. When I was done with that, I let her put whatever stickers on there.

While she was decorating her bug catcher, I made the bug face top. I just used the colored googly eyes Mila told me to use and a pipe cleaner for the antennas. All I did was use a little hot glue and it worked perfectly.

Once you’re finished, twist the lid on and your DIY Bug Catcher is complete!

I’ll make sure to update with our bug catching adventures. Which bugs did you like catching as a kid? Let me know in the comments.

Boozy Baja Blast Recipe

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If you crave Mountain Dew Baja Blast, but like a little kick to your drink, you’ll love this Boozy Baja Blast Recipe! With only three ingredients, this will be another summer favorite!

Plus, you have to grab a cute cup from DIY With The Wears for all your drinks too.

Lately, all I’ve wanted to drink is Mountain Dew Baja Blast. It’s just so refreshing and tasty. I love to get it during the summer when I go to Taco Bell.

But, I wanted it without going to Taco Bell. I knew I had to find a way to make it at home.

With only two ingredients for the regular DIY Baja Blast, it was super easy. Since I do enjoy a boozy drink or two in the summer, I decided to add a third ingredient too.

Here’s all you’ll need:

  • Mountain Dew
  • Blue Powerade
  • Key Lime Vodka
  • Ice

First, fill your cup up with ice. I swear certain drinks just taste better ice cold.

When mixing the Mountain Dew and Blue Powerade together, try to make it 75% Mountain Dew and 25% Powerade. This is the most perfect mixture and tastes just like Baja Blast.

Then add a shot of your vodka to top it all off.

It’s an easy drink to make and tastes so good. I love that I get one of my favorite drive through drinks at home!

Let me know in the comments what your favorite summer drink is and make sure to check out some others below:

Kids Floral Arrangement Activity

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If your child is interested in flowers and putting them together, they’ll love this Kids Floral Arrangement Activity.

With a few supplies, kids will make different arrangements for a long time!

Mila is obsessed with flowers. When she sees them at the store, we have to buy a bouquet… or two. I’m usually fine with it. We smell them and love bringing life into our home.

One day, Mila told me she couldn’t wait until our flowers were done growing so she could make her own bouquet.

Cue the light bulb moment!

I thought about all the fake flowers we had recently bought and that she could do just that. Over and over again.

Here’s all Mila used to make her Kids Floral Arrangement.

  • Fake flowers
  • Colander
  • Vase
  • Wire cutters

To start off, I only had the flowers to prep! Since they’re usually bundled all together, I wanted to cut them. There’s wires underneath fake flowers, so I just snipped them all with wire cutters.

Then I put them on a plate for Mila to choose what she wanted.

I did ask her to plan and put the flowers in a colander. This way she could work on her motor function skills. It was fun to watch her plan and be creative with the flowers. She especially loved the fake butterflies!

After she had it all planned, I told her to put them in the vase. She again, fluffed them and put them exactly how she wanted.

In the vase, I added crinkle filler paper so the flowers stayed upright.

Now we have a bouquet of flowers that will never die on our kitchen table. She is so proud of what she made and I love that we can do this activity again and again.

Here’s to all my seasonal floral arrangements being made by Mila!

Do you like getting fresh flowers or are you more into plants?

DIY Flower Book

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With spring flowers here, we’re ready to learn about as many of them as we can! To do that, we created a DIY Flower Book.

Although we only started off with one flower, I’ll make sure to update our other flower pages.

Since Mila picks flowers all the time, we had to press and keep them for a while. I thought it’d be cool to see everything in a book for us to review and go over at the end of summer.

All we had to do is start with a base. Here’s the supplies we used:

  • Cardboard
  • Scrapbook
  • Modge Podge
  • Pipe cleaner
  • Paper
  • Stickers
  • Flowers

For the actual book, I ended up using cardboard from a brownie box. It was easy to cut and I liked how it was thin cardboard too. Then, I used modge podge to paste scrapbook paper on to the cardboard pieces.

After it was dried, I used stickers to write “Mila’s Flower Book.” Then I hole punched the top corner to connect the book with a pipe cleaner.

For the inside flower pages, I just used computer paper. You could definitely do thick card stock paper or other scrapbook paper too. I’ll probably use others with some of the other flowers.

I figured we’d start with tulips since the ones we picked are starting to die.

All we did was dry the flowers, have her draw them, me draw them, and we went over the letters in tulip. It was a fun learning experience for her!

We can’t wait to get started on the other flowers. I think dandelions will be next and some of my Mother’s Day flowers too.

What’s your favorite flower that we should study? Let me know in the comments.

Flower Potion/Soup | Kid Activity

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Looking for a fun sensory activity your child can do outside? Try this Flower Potion/Soup.

Not only does it get your kid independently playing outside, it’s a fun sensory experience for them too.

Flowers are Mila and my favorite part of spring! All the pretty flowers make me smile and she loves to pick them. We try to incorporate them in a lot of play activities.

Another element Mila is obsessed with is water! I learned early on in parenting that water calmed Mila down. No matter if it was a lot or just a little.

This kid activity is a perfect mix of the two!

Everything you need is either in your backyard or your kitchen:

  • Flowers
  • Jars
  • Water
  • Big Bowl
  • Sticks
  • Water Dispenser

This activity is really child led. I did ask Mila to collect different flowers that were in our yard. Then I set up the potion/soup station.

I let her know that was her mixing bowl and she could add whatever in there.

She really took over after that!

Mila pretended she was a witch making potions the entire time. She let us know what the potions would do and who they were for. As always, I love hearing from her creative mind.

What’s your favorite spring kid’s activity? Let me know in the comments.

DIY Fingerprint Flower Jar

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Mother’s Day is almost here and we’re busy making DIY’s for all the special moms in our lives. If you’re looking for an easy one, this DIY Fingerprint Flower Jar is just right for you.

We love making presents for our loved ones. It makes gift giving more personal and shows how hard we worked on it too. Mila is always so proud when she sees something she made up in someone’s house. She’ll get a huge smile.

Since she loves to pick flowers and put them in vases, I thought this would be a perfect gift for the loved ones in our family!

There’s not a bunch of supplies you need for this DIY gift. We had everything already at home and were able to reuse an old olive jar!

  • Jar
  • Paint
  • Modge podge

All you need to do is get an area prepped for paint. Then I showed Mila what I meant by finger painting flowers on a jar. I just did it on the brown paper that I prepped the area in. This way she could see she was allowed to use her fingers as a paint brush.

Then I let her go!

She did a few alone, but then she felt better when I held it up and twisted it for her. I don’t think she wanted to smudge the flowers she already had done!

Once they’re finished making flowers, coat the jar in modge podge. I just did a thin layer so the flowers don’t go off in the future. This step isn’t required, but if you want that added protection, I’d suggest it!

To finish it up, you could add letter beads like I did or a yarn bow too.

We filled ours up with flowers, but you could add your loved ones favorite candy or even a tea light candle too. Either way, this jar is something special and easy a mom in your life will really love!

If you’re looking for more Mother’s Day DIY’s, check out these ones Mila and I have done. Let me know which one is your favorite in the comments.

DIY Frida Flower Crown

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Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you’re looking for a crafty way to celebrate the day and one of their most favorite painters, try this DIY Frida Flower Crown.

Not only will you learn a little more about Mexico, it’s a lot of fun to pretend play!

Mila and I LOVE Frida Kahlo. I even have a tattoo of her on my arm. She’s a feminist icon who went through so much during her life. Her beauty and pain shine through her work. She has inspired Mila and me in so many ways.

On Cinco de Mayo, we like to honor Mexican culture and our favorite girl with fun crafts.

Last year’s is still hanging up!

Since we’re in a pretend play kick, I made Mila a Frida inspired flower crown and gave her a unibrow. Here’s all we used to make this iconic crown.

  • Scrapbook Paper
  • Paper Flowers
  • Staples
  • Hot Glue

First, I cut the base of the crown out of green, floral scrapbook paper. I had to staple to pieces together to fit Mila’s head.

Then, I used paper flowers that was in a floral garland from Mila’s birthday party. I then attached them to the crown with hot glue and fluffed them up. You could make your own paper flowers or use fake flowers too!

After it was all connected, I used eyeliner to thicken her eyebrows and bring them together.

It was such an easy DIY! I showed Mila pictures of Frida and had her do different poses. Then, she drew a self portrait of herself.

Not only was it fun to do, it was a great way for Mila to learn more about a Mexican icon.

How do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Let me know in the comments.

Then check out last year’s Frida craft we did.

DIY Floral Handprint Art

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If you’re looking for a memorable and easy craft for Mother’s Day, you’ll love this DIY Floral Handprint Art.

Not only was it simple to make, my four year old helped me through it all.

If you haven’t noticed by my last few posts on social media, we’re in a hand art phase. I think it’s a mix of wanting to preserve how little she is and they’re easy to do!

I’ve had this floating frame in my house for about a year. In my head I pictured it with pressed flowers all around. Then, the past few days I thought it’d be a perfect Mother’s Day gift to myself.

So, with Mila’s help and flowers from Josh, we created something beautiful.

For this DIY Floral Handprint Art, you’ll need:

*You can find this frame here.*

First, clean off your frame. I like to do this so I don’t noticed smudges after everything is finished. Plus, it’s nice to work with a clear area.

Then, paint your child’s hand. Mila picked pink, of course and I thought it looked beautiful. When it’s painted, firmly press your child’s hand on the inside pane of glass. If there’s a few missing space, you can repaint their hand and redo the process!

Next, let your child put the pressed flowers where they’d like.

When they have their final spot, clasp the second glass pane to keep the handprint and flowers safe.

On the outside, I decided to paint the word love and the year on the corner. “Love” was purely decorative, but the date is something I do on all of our projects!

Then you’re all finished.

I truly think this DIY Floral Handprint Art would be a lovely piece for moms, grandmas, and every other mother figure in your child’s life.

What’s your tips on pressing or drying flowers? I’d love to hear different ways… especially with Mila’s love of flower picking.