I Spy Bags

I've been collecting little toys, beads, and buttons, and stuff to make an I Spy Bag for quite a while now. After finding a bunch of little stuff at the free yard sale we went to the other week, and a bunch of cute buttons at a regular yard sale, I decided I had enough to make two! Now each of my boys can have one.

Bag number one:

Back view:

I took a picture of all the little things to find before I put them in. I plan on printing out the picture and attaching it somehow to the bag.

Bag number 2:

My Joann's didn't have any poly pellets to fill the bags, but I found a bag of tiny plastic bead-like things meant to put in a vase. They work just great!

Silly Faces Tin

I saw this idea on A Girl and a Glue Gun. She made a bunch of different fun things using tins, you should check them all out! I thought this looked like a lot of fun. So I found a nearly gone tin of Altoids and made my own.

I drew a bunch of silly facial features and hair with Sharpies on some sheets of magnets that I had.

The rest of the magnets are random food and stuff I found in a little baggie at a free yard sale we went to last weekend. Since I had the rest of the stuff on hand, it was basically a free project! This should be some more fun portable entertainment to take on our trip!

More Finger Puppets

This week I made finger puppets of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.

Complete with a (very colorful :) ) straw house,

A house made of sticks,

And a nice brick house,

To keep out the big bad wolf.

Finger Puppet Holder

The finger puppets I made needed a home, something to carry them in. This is what I came up with. A little bag with a handle to carry it.

Open it up, and the inside has a little pocket to hold the finger puppets, and a clear pocket to hold papers to help tell the story.

So, Goldilocks can eat the porridge,

Sit in the chairs,

And be discovered sleeping by the bears:

I drew the pictures for the different scenes of the story and my 4 year old helped me color them. They all slip in the clear plastic pocket and are easy to slip in and out. I put a piece of cardboard  inside the sides of the bag to give it some stability. Now we are all set for some portable story telling!

Once Upon a Time...

... There were three bears.
A Daddy bear,

A Mommy bear,

And a baby bear.

They all lived together in a cottage in the woods.

One morning, they went for a walk in the woods while their porridge cooled off. A little girl named Goldilocks came and knocked on their door.

...And they all lived happily ever after.

I've been wanting to make some finger puppets for a while now, and thought they would be especially fun on our long plane ride across the country later this month. I have a few more planned, so stay tuned!

Gone Fishin'

I am the chorister for the primary children at church. I made these fish for a singing time game. We are learning the song, "Come, Follow Me" and talked about how Jesus told his disciples to be "fishers of men." Each number on the fish corresponded to a different way to sing (loud, soft, while facing backwards...). They really enjoyed this activity, I might bring it back again next week!

I also knew that my boys would enjoy playing with these fish. My 18 month old is starting to learn his colors and imitates us when we count things, so there are lots of teaching opportunities for him.

My 4 year old loves to pretend play with the fish and of course use the magnet to catch the fish. They both have had fun with them already!

I made the fish out of two layers of felt sewn together. I sewed a paper clip into the mouth (I saw the idea for that from Shannon Makes Stuff).

Because Even Little Boys Need a Baby Doll

 This was a quick little project. The doll looks a little miss-proportioned, almost like a sumo wrestler or something. But it is cute and cuddly.

I got the basic pattern/tutorial from Soozs. I used flannel as opposed to felt, so had to turn the body inside out. I still might make it a hat like the tutorial shows, or a change of clothes for it.