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?
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.
What’s Mila’s favorite part about spring, minus the flowers and nice weather? All the baby animals! This Farm Clean Up Sensory Play idea is a perfect way to talk about new baby animals AND have fun being messy too.
This interactive play was easy to set up and let her play for a long time. The best part… it’s completely edible too.
First, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Terra by Battat for gifting Mila these animals to play with. They have these big Bucket Sets full of different types of animals that are amazing. Terra by Battat sent us farm animals, marine animals, and a few other goodies that we love.
Their toys are super realistic and come in their own world. Mila has spent hours with both the buckets. The marine animals have became her favorite bath tub toys. I’ll be posting different ways we’re playing with them. You should still totally check Terra by Battat out though. Would make perfect Easter presents!
Anyways…
When I saw the country world bucket, I instantly thought of this fun sensory play. To further create this world, here’s what you’ll need:
The hardest part of this sensory play is the set up. It just takes a little time, but it’s worth it.
To set the scene, all you need to do is spread chocolate pudding in one part of your sensory tray. I also added some crushed kix cereal to make it look more realistic.
I also made sure to make the animals ‘muddy’ too. Honestly, I didn’t know if Mila would want to do that so it just made it a little more fun for me.
Then, I set up the cleaning area. This just consisted of a wash cloth, cleaning brush, and soapy water. It was nice doing the water in a bowl because Mila instantly thought it was a bathtub! Which works for me.
The next little area was where the animals dried off. I just used shredded paper and tissue paper.
After it was all ready for her, I just let her do whatever. When we do sensory set ups like this, I try not to give her too much direction. She immediately started cleaning off the animals.
It was so cute to listen to her too. She pretended she was a zookeeper and it was cleaning day.
After the first clean up was done, she made the animals muddy again and kept the process going. I loved watching how creative she was through it all.
I think this activity would have been even better outside with more space, but it worked well inside too.
The clean up for this activity was really easy too. All I did was recycle the paper. Then I just used water to clean everything else off. It was quick and simple!
I have a feeling we’ll definitely be doing this set up again in the near future. Until then, I can’t wait to show you the other fun activities we have planned with the marine world bucket. It was another hit with Mila.
Make sure to check out Terra by Battat and order realistic play animals that your kids will love.
What edible sensory play do you do with your kids? I would love to hear ideas.
What’s better than regular gold? Gold you can eat and you’ll love the taste of these Lucky Charms Dipped Oreos.
This simple recipe can easily be done for an after school snack or whenever you have a quick five minutes to make some magic. You can even enjoy it with yummy leprechaun milk, which your kids will love even more.
Mila and I have still not saw the leprechaun playing tricks in our house. Our Pete the Cat book told us the only day you can catch one is on St. Patrick’s Day so we’re getting all our leprechaun bait ready.
We’re working on our leprechaun trap to set out the night before St. Patrick’s Day too! Hopefully that’ll do the trick.
This little recipe here was supposed to be leprechaun bait, but Mila decided it would be better suited for little girls. So, she just ate them instead. I can’t say I blame her!
For another magically delicious treat, you’ll need:
Golden Oreos
Lucky Charms
White Chocolate
The first thing you need to do is melt your white chocolate. I used the microwaveable kind because it’s way easier and quicker for us. Just make sure you microwave in small increments and stir frequently.
After it’s all melted, dip your Golden Oreos in the white chocolate and set them on wax paper.
Before the chocolate is cooled, place Lucky Charms on them. I did it randomly and in between coating the Oreos. The chocolate seemed to cool off pretty quickly!
While you wait, you can make some leprechaun milk to enjoy with your Lucky Charms Dipped Oreos.
All you need to do is add some green food coloring to milk and enjoy!
Mila was very pleased with these and did not seem to want to share with the leprechaun in our house. It was a fun little snack that only took a few minutes to make.
What has been your favorite St. Patrick’s Day recipe I’ve shared so far?
If there’s one toy purchase I’m happy to have made, it’s this Wooden Rainbow Stacker. Not only is it colorful and meaningful to us, it’s a lot of fun for Mila to play with.
Packed with so many different ways to play, Mila spends hours with this toy.
I discovered this Wooden Rainbow Stacker in 2019. That was when I started buying more wooden toys instead of plastic ones. They’re so much better for our environment and they’ll last for generations.
When researching these toys, I found out so many different benefits to having kids just use their imaginations when playing. Since plain rainbow arches don’t give specific directions of how to play, kids can come up with their own ideas. Parents can also help guide play.
It’s also so beautiful. When Mila isn’t playing with it, it makes a perfect decoration in our playroom. Rainbows are so symbolic for us, so it has many purposes.
I figured I’d let you all know how we play with ours!
Learning Colors
When Mila was little, we used these arches to learn the different colors. It was nice that she could actually pick up the colors of the rainbow when she didn’t have the right words. We sang the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse rainbow song with this so many times to learn the colors. It was always a ton of fun.
As she grew older, I would have her find different objects that were the same color. She really liked this idea! It became a little scavenger hunt around the house for her.
We also would do matching or patterns with the arches too. Since there’s two of every color it made it fun to show her a combination, then she repeated!
Imaginative Play
Since these arches are so big, they make fabulous houses. Mila is always playing with her little dolls on these. I think it’s so cute to listen and see how her brain makes these wonderful play scenarios.
She also makes different shapes with them. It’s incredible to see what she comes up with and how she explains it.
One of my favorite times she used imaginative play is with her unicorns. They all raced through the different arches and even on top of them. It was like Mila came up with her own little world just out of this toy and her My Little Pony’s.
This is what’s so amazing about these plain play items; your child’s imagination will make them what they need to be at that time.
Stacking
Stacking is probably our favorite activity to do with this rainbow stacker now.
As I stated above, we LOVE to make different shapes with our rainbow. Mila loves to do ‘hearts.’ This is where we stack out rainbow like the picture below. We see how far they can balance until they all fall down.
It also is really cool (as an adult) to see how they fall too. It’s really satisfying to har the nose as they go down and just watching it too.
There are so many different shapes kids can make with this. While they’re figuring it out, they’re able to learn! It takes Mila a few times to stack up the shape just as she likes it, but she’s always proud of herself when she finally does it!
Extended Learning
Lately, Mila is at the age where she is learning how to spell her name and simple words. We use resin letters to balance her words on top of the rainbow.
We do little challenges of who can place the most letters on the rainbow arches or who can get their words to stay up the longest. It really helps Mila learn while she’s having fun. That’s really all that it’s about too!
I’m sure as she gets older there will be more and more ways to play with this stacker. It truly has been an investment in her future.
Do you have a rainbow stacker? What games does your kiddo like playing with it?
What’s more fun than reflecting on the last year? Going back to that year ten years down the road with a DIY NYE Time Capsule.
In my DIY Mini Cardboard Memory Book post, I shared that I was going to do something special with it. I’ve decided to make another new NYE tradition by doing a time capsule every year. We’re gong to fill it up with a lot of things that made the last year so special. Then, in ten years, we’ll open it up and walk down memory road.
Sometimes I can’t believe how fast time has went since Mila has been born. She is ALWAYS asking what she was like when she was a baby. I feel like she just was a baby and I blinked and there’s a little girl in front of me. Plus, this year has seemed like the fastest yet. She has grown so much and I want to treasure how little she is with what goes in our NYE time capsule. Hopefully she won’t be too embarrassed by her answers when she’s thirteen… let’s get real, she’ll be annoyed with everything then.
Almost everything was easy to put together and I found the worksheets online! Everything else is easy to make at home and it’ll bring up fun conversations amongst your family.
Here’s what we’ll be seeing on NYE 2031!
Year in Review Worksheets
I found the worksheets we used in our time capsule at @whimsicallywonderful on Instagram. Her printables are adorable (and free). I’m pretty sure I’ve shared them on the blog before. Anyways, I was planning on making our own sheets to write on, until I saw the ones I printed off.
Even though these sheets are girly, she also has ones with blues and greens in them. They’re so cute, just a different color scheme. You can find them at Whimsically Wonderful under the Whimsical Prints. It’s the last section on the page. Trust me, if you’re planning on doing a time capsule, these are such a great option!
I printed off:
My Magical Year
Top 5 Best Moments
My Feelings about 2021
There are more options on there too; like handprints and a letter to a future self.
Mila Drawings and Glitter Handprint
Mila loves to draw and always draws our family. Remember the person she drew and I got a tattoo of it earlier this year? So, I definitely asked her to do a drawing of all of us and labeled it too. I think this will be precious to see in ten years. Her drawing skills might be a little better then, but I think these will always be my favorite.
She also chose to do a glitter handprint. We made a little craft with her hand being the 0 in 2022. We traced it out, added glue, and then a bunch of glitter! It’s still drying after twelve hours, but I’ll make sure to update about it on one of my socials.
If it never dries, she also traced her hand on the back of the family drawing too!
A Letter from Mama to Mila
Letter writing is so therapeutic and if you’ve followed my story for a little while, you know I write a lot of them (you can search letters if you’re interested). I actually used to write letters to Jensen every day when I was pregnant with him up until Mila was born. So, it sort of makes sense that I would include a letter in here too.
Honestly, one of my biggest fears is something happening to me and her being without a mom. I want to make sure she knows how much she means to me and maybe I can throw some wisdom in there too. It sounds cheesy, but maybe it’s the last letter or words she would ever get to me. That thought alone makes it important to me to write about this year and how much her at three or in 2021 meant to me.
Again, we’re also going to be opening this up when she turns thirteen, I may need that extra support… I’m joking.
If you do do a time capsule, this would make a precious memory for your child.
Ribbon Height
On Mila’s papers, it asks to write her weight and height. Even though I can easily write that down, I want to be able to visually see it.
Although I’m not going to add bags of rice in her memory box, we collected her height in a ribbon. I just placed one end of the ribbon on her head and then cut it at her feet. Then, I made a little tag saying what the ribbon was for and connected it with a clip.
I love this idea because I can unravel it and actually see how tall she was.
Again, this is a super simple and easy idea you could do too! It wouldn’t even have to be a ribbon, yard or string work well too!
Pictures and Miscellaneous
Since we take thousands of pictures each year, we had to add a few in the time capsule.
The DIY Mini Cardboard Memory Book is snuggled tightly in there. I’m still obsessed with how it turned out. We’ll also be taking Instax pictures on NYE to add to the capsule as well. Maybe I’ll even let her take whatever pictures she wants. This way we can check out how her photography skills have changed too.
Some other items we’re adding are a New Years necklace, a craft, and maybe a toy or trinket. I haven’t totally nailed that last part down.
When we open it, I just want to be blasted back to 2021 and have this magical feeling.
As pretty as everything is out of the time capsule, it’s perfect inside too. We added a ‘Do NOT Open Until NYE 2031’ on the lid too. Just in case I need some motivation to wait!
Even though I bought a pretty jar for this time capsule, you can easily upcycle items you have around the house. I’m thinking mason jars, pringle cans, or even old tupperware containers you don’t know what to do with anymore. You could be as creative as you want to be and even make this a fun part of you time capsule too. For some reason, I’m thinking of a VHS or DVD case. It would have been so clever 30 and 20 years ago.
Anyways, I’m really happy to be starting this tradition with Mila and see how it evolve over the next few years. I hope you enjoyed it too and maybe want to start this with your family.
If you do this tradition or plan to, let me know what other things Mila and I should add.
New Years Eve is traditionally has drinks all around. If you have kids or don’t drink, you HAVE to try this Sparkling Cotton Candy Mocktail.
Not only is it pretty and tasty, it’s easy to make with only four ingredients. Trust me, when the ball drops into 2022, you’ll want to be holding this drink in your hand.
I’m always on the look out for fun things to make Mila. When I was browsing Instagram a few days ago, I came across this fun cotton candy drink from @hecticmomlifestyle. Instantly I knew Mila would love it.
So I went and bought everything to test for NYE. Spoiler alert: she and I both loved it so I had to share @hecticmomlifestyle’s recipe!
Here’s what you need to make your NYE sparkle:
Sparkling grape juice
Cotton candy
Marshmallow creme
Sugar sprinkles
This drink is simple to make and Mila was amazed by the magic behind it.
First, dip your glass and cover the rim with marshmallow creme. I’ll admit, I made a huge mess on this part and gave it a thick coating. Mila still loved it.
Then, layer sugar sprinkles on the marshmallow creme rim. I suggest using a small plate or bowl.
Here’s the fun and interactive part for kids… or adults… put some cotton candy in the cup. We put a decent amount in since Mila loves the flavor. That’s up to whoever is making it though!
Then, pour in the sparkling grape juice. Of course the cotton candy disappears and your juice will slightly change colors.
After, I garnished her cup with another piece of cotton candy and let her enjoy.
I ended up tasting this drink, before she ate the entire bag of cotton candy. It was surprisingly not overly sugary. If you’d want this mocktail to be a cocktail, I’d suggest using champagne instead of sparkling grape juice to get the same effect.
We’ll definitely be enjoying this drink on NYE. Stay tuned for some fun activities you can do with your child this year.
We love fun traditions in our house. Any time I can be transformed back into childhood, I’m all for it. Especially when I get to pass it on to Mila. One of my favorites crafts in elementary school were Tissue Paper Lanterns, so we made a Christmas themed one.
There are a ton of different skills in this DIY for Mila and now we have another tradition we can do every year.
Another part of this DIY that I love is it’s an upcycle project! Here’s what you’ll need:
Mason Jar or Recycled Glass Jar
Tissue Paper
Modge Podge or DIY Modge Podge (Glue and Water)
Paint or Foam Brush
To start off, I had Mila cut pieces of tissue paper into squares or smaller pieces. We’re always trying to work on scissor skills and she really enjoys it too. With a little help from me, we had more than enough pieces of tissue paper.
Then, we took our DIY modge podge to put it all together. To make DIY modge podge, just use regular, white glue and add water into it. It should mix into a modge podge consistency. You can see a picture of it down below too. It’s just a more watered down glue consistency that’s easy to spread with a paintbrush.
Mila and I worked in sections. We’d put paint on, then put a layer of tissue paper over top. After it was glued down, we put another thin layer of DIY modge podge on top.
After you fill in all the sections, just let it fully dry. It doesn’t take too long at all.
Once it’s dried, you can put a small candle in it and the light shines through beautifully. I absolutely loved how it turned out and it was easy to do with Mila. Hopefully we can keep making them every year with different patterned tissue paper. Just make sure to add the year on the lantern somewhere.
I ended up putting it as a centerpiece on our dining room table. It looks so cute and I love showcasing all her DIYs and crafts.
Do you ever make a craft over snd over again? If so, what do you make?
A new month means there’s new things to explore and discover. This month, we’re doing a Christmas Sensory Play. The most fun part of this sensory bin is everything is bought from the dollar store!
We love Christmas and all the joy it brings to us. I think Mila is mostly excited for snow and Santa to bring presents. To combine that happiness and interest, I thought this Christmas Sensory Play idea was the best of both worlds!
This sensory bin is filled with:
Different types of fake snow
Jingle bells
Chocolate Kisses
Santa stickers
Refrigerator organizer
As I said before, I got this entire bin at the dollar store! Everything was pretty cheap and easy to put together. All I did was dump the three different types of fake snow in the refrigerator organizer.
If I could give one fake snow suggestion, I’d tell everyone not to get the small foam balls. They get EVERYWHERE and stick to everything. We could have done with just the glitter snow and the medium sized foam balls. It would have worked just as well.
Anyways, then I hid chocolate kisses underneath so Mila could find surprises.
The next things I added were the jingle bells. I had a ton of different sized and colored bells. This is important for one of the activities that I’ll explain.
To make it a little more festive, I added five, felt Santa stickers. They’re so cute!
There’s seriously a ton of activities you can do with this Christmas Sensory Bin.
The first is just letting your child explore the sensory bin. There they can find the chocolate kisses, feel the different types of snow, or use their imaginations. Mila loves when I don’t give her directions and she just does whatever.
One activity that I directed her in was sorting the bells. You could have them sort by color or size. This provide a ton of different skills.
I also had her count the Santas too. There’s a ton of math that kids can do that will help!
In all, this Christmas Sensory Bin is festive and educational. Kids will love it and you’ll love that they’re learning and having fun.
Do you have any suggestions of Christmas play? I have a few, but I’m definitely up for more ideas. Also, what are you most excited for this Christmas season?
This year Mila has been much more vocal about what she’d like to receive under the tree this year. It’s been so nice to have that feedback and assurance of what she’d actually like from me and Santa!
Instead of keeping these big secrets to myself, I figured I’d share with you my Preschool Girl Gift Guide.
Accessories
Mila has been obsessed with necklaces and bracelets. No matter if she’s accessorizing for preschool or just wanting to pretend to be a princess, she has to have them on! We have a huge range of ‘nice’ accessories and play ones that we keep separate. I plan on getting her a few more for Christmas too!
Right now, our favorite Etsy store to get accessories from are Sloane and Daisy.
She has the most adorable bracelets and necklaces for any time of the year, seasonal ones, and PRINCESS ones. We are obsessed with the princess ones right now!
Make sure to check Sloane and Daisy out and use GREYSKIES15 for 15% off too!
Besides her preschool bracelets, we have a ton of different play bracelets too! It’s so much fun to watch her pretend to be a princess with them.
You can get these play bracelets from a ton of different places.
Amazon has a ton of different sets. My favorite one just for her to wear around the house are these. They’re cute, but if she loses them, it’s okay! We also love this princess set, to dress up with. Mila is obsessed with crowns and they’re cute too.
Clothes and Shoes
Mila is at the age where she thinks clothes are cool and always gets excited when she gets clothes in the mail! There are so many cute small shops and businesses that we love to shop from.
I usually try to link where we get Mila’s outfits in social media posts, but here are a few you should definitely check out if getting.
Adelynn Mae has the best holiday shirts, hair accessories, and buttons. You can use MILA10 for 10% off too!
Bailey’s Blossoms shop is full of boho outfits that every little girl needs!
Reverie Threads is another amazing shop that Mila and I shop from frequently. They have a wide range of outfits that are dressy and comfy for her.
Ten Little has the best fitting shoes for kids. They send you ways to measure your child’s feet and have the cutest styles too.
Stitch Fix is another option to get your little (or you) that you can continue getting throughout the year! There’s a ton of different styles that you can either keep or send back. We love getting out Stitch Fix box and if you follow this link, you can get $25 off your first fix and we’ll get $25 our next one too!
Pretend Play Items
The items Mila has asked for the most this year is pretend play items. Whether it’s baby dolls with accessories or something big like a doctor’s area, pretend play items are a hit!
First, I’d like to state that pretend play does not need to be expensive. There’s a ton of ways we use pretend play to get her engaged. I just splurged a little bit for Christmas this year to surprise her! Another big way I’ve saved in the past is by looking on Facebook Marketplace!
Anyways, here are some of the items Mila has asked for this year…
Hopefully with her wishlist, she’ll want to become a doctor one day!
Puzzles
Currently, Mila has been challenging herself with puzzles, matching games, and building blocks. I think she likes the brain work out!
Previously, I’ve shared different puzzles through Mila’s activity boxes. Some great puzzles you can get are name, alphabet, and number puzzles. They’re great for letter and number recognition. Mila also learns better when she can pick things up. I feel like when she actually can feel the letter, it helps her mentally grasp that information.
Another amazing business that Mila and I are working with is PicassoTiles.
They’re known for their magnetic building block tiles… their is so many different ways you can play and learn with these tiles.
We were able to get this Magnetic Face-Board Dress Up Puzzle Book, pictured above. Mila absolutely LOVED it! She played with this set for hours and loved following the cards to dress the characters up. She also went off script and made new outfits too. I loved how it gave us opportunities to talk about different cultures too.
PicassoTiles toys make great gifts for kids of all ages. Make sure to check them out!
Mila is just now getting into board games. She’s at an age where she can follow the rules and loves to win. We play them most weeknights and sometimes all weekend afternoons.
Although we love her Frozen board game, we have to add a few more to get a better mix.
My go to gifts for Mila since I’ve been pregnant are books! We love reading any time of the day.
Even though I could list a ton of different books, I’m only going to make one book box suggestion: Little Bookish Wardrobe.
Like Stitch Fix, a Little Bookish Wardrobe subscription can be a gift that continues throughout the year. This subscription is filled with books, and outfit, a craft, and either another craft or toy!
It’s such a great value and Mila loves getting her book box every month.
If you guys would like, I’ll do a holiday book recommendation list. This will be our favorite Christmas books that we’ve used for advent before. We might have to get a few more too!
This Preschool Girl Gift Guide is what works for our family. Of course other kids will have different interests, but this is a good starting point.
I can’t wait to see how magical this Christmas is! Now time to do some shopping. Fingers crossed everything gets here on time!
Let me know in the comments what other items would you add to this list? Do you have any other guides you’d like to see. I’m planning on a Mom Gift Guide and an Experience Gift Guide too.
Grey Skies & Rainbow Highs 