mitten math

Another fabulous freebie from the Hybrid Kid! Click here to link through.

Snow Painting

This is a cheap and easy time killer if you're LUCKY enough to live where the snow never melts. (ok, it's not that bad here - we haven't seen the grass in a month, but it could always be worse!)
I mixed up some colored water - just food coloring with the instruction to PLEASE not get their clothes dirty - in condiment and squirt bottles.

Then I send the kiddos outside and let them loose. Ok, ok - I played, too.

The kids liked the water in condiment bottles better, but I preferred them to have the squirt bottles. The water came out too fast in the condiment bottles for my liking - wasn't as easy for them to have control, especially when Jacob was trying to write his name, and also - they ran out much quicker, which meant more trips for me inside to refill.

Snowman Counting

Using the snowman above (click on it to get to the printable link), Ramblings of a Crazy Woman had a fun snowman counting game. I put 4 snowmen on each page, printed out 2 pages (well, 3 but the snowmen weren't big enough to have more than 8 buttons) and drew faces and a different number of buttons on each snowman. Then I made a simple construction paper hat with the corresponding numerals and let the Joshua match them up.

donut snowmen

Might be fun for a lazy Sunday breakfast tomorrow. Details.

"Real Snow"-cones

Sorry, you're out of luck for this one if you live somewhere that's warm and sunny all year round! We got about a foot of snow yesterday, which my 2 year old loves to run outside (in bare feet and pj's!) and eat. All day long. To keep his trips to a minimum, we've started making snow cones - packed snow in cup sprinkled with Torani flavored syrups we had in the cupboard. Pretty good and Josh's toes stay warm.

Any other ideas for flavoring the snow?!

winter bird feeders

I thought for a minute about giving the birds outside the burned popcorn from yesterdays garland before I decided against it. Then I saw all these this morning.

My favorite to make have always been the peanut butter on pine cones rolled in birdseed
but maybe we'll try something different this year.

Click on photo to get to original source/directions.

*Prints for Rudolph

foot*print for head

hand*prints for antlers

finger*prints for eyes

thumb*print for nose

Holiday Memory Game

Here's a simple Memory game for you to print out for the holidays! I made it using DJ Inkers clipart (love DJ Inkers!). Click on the link below (or pic above) and it should take you to a pdf file (let me know if it doesn't). Print 2 copies on cardstock, or glue to cardstock (I did this b/c I didn't have white cardstock), cut, and you've got a simple memory game for your little ones. There are just 8 cards, but sometimes that's plenty. If you have a child who is still too young for Memory, try having them match the cards. You'd be surprised how much they like this! Enjoy!

*Holiday Memory Game*

snowman boxes

How cute? Grab some take out boxes, have your kids art them up, and stick some homemade yummies inside.

Directions here.

Ice Cream Snowballs

I forgot to take a picture! (the horror)

We rolled vanilla ice cream into small balls, and then rolled those in shredded coconut. Stuck them on a plate, put them in the deep freeze to harden, and viola - ice cream snowballs. It was extra fun to stick a toothpick in between and make a snowman.

Christmas & Winter books

I just realized in the middle of dinner that I forgot to put up a Christmas and winter bookshelf! Whoops! It's at the top of the page, just like last time. Please make sure to click on "next" in the bottom right corner to see all of the wonderful books that our kids are loving (there are over 20... sorry, we love to read)!

And as always, please let us know if you have any favorites that aren't listed.

snowflake ornament

Materials: craft sticks, white paint, glue, sequins, pipe-cleaner

Paint sticks white. Let dry.

Glue sticks together in desired shape.

Glue sequins to sticks.

Glue looped pipe-cleaner to back for hanger.

stained glass

This might be a little too "classroomy" for some, but my kids loved doing it, and they turned out pretty cute! Plus, if you're a teacher, it's super easy and not that messy! (yes, I did this in my classroom when I was teaching... hey! I was a teacher long before I was a mother!)

*Draw a picture on white paper and trace with a black sharpie*

(Kylie drew a picture in pencil and I traced it for her)

*Color picture with crayons*

*Rub baby oil over entire picture. Let dry. Hang in window.*

Meringue Snowmen

Somehow, even though the high never reached freezing yesterday, a lot of our fresh new snow melted, leaving icky ice everywhere. We didn't get outside to make a snowman, just to throw snowballs. We're making these meringue snowmen today. I don't think the boys will mind that they're not the real deal.


Directions.

Like Meringues? Try this recipe, too. Once you make them, it's easy to create your own recipes - mint, chocolate, lemon, whatever you want.