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Kid Activities

60 Free Books For Kids By Mail

January 27, 2021 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

You can sign up for a program that will send 60 free books for kids by mail from the time of your child’s birth until their 5th birthday!

60 Free Books for your Child - Before their 5th Birthday

Getting 60 free books for kids by mail is made possible by Ms. Dolly Parton herself! As a fellow TN gal myself, I just love me some Dolly. 

Her love for reading and children was the inspiration for her Imagination Library. She started the library in 1995 & by 2016 she celebrated sending out 1 million free books out to children per month. Per month! 

This program is such a great outreach and it is free to any child regardless of income through the age of 5! 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

60 Free Books For Kids By Mail

Free Children's Books from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

So how does this program work to get 60 free books for kids by mail? Keep reading for all the details on how to grab these free books and my experience with the program. 

Let’s start with my experience. I learned of this program when my daughter was 2 and signed her up immediately. We enjoyed the books until she aged out of the program. 

My second child is now on his 3rd year with the Imagination Library. It is also interesting to note that I don’t think we have ever gotten a duplicate book, even with having had two kids in the program over the last few years. 

It is such a fun treat to go out to the mailbox and have the kids find something new to read waiting on them. And honestly in a world of bills & junk mail, I don’t mind seeing a new book in our mailbox either! 

Who Can Sign Up? 

Residents of the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland can sign their child up to receive free books! There is a link on the website to make sure that the program is in your area. 

What Age Should My Child Be To Receive Imagination Library Books? 

The ideal age would be as soon as the child is born. Dolly’s program starts at birth and continues until your child’s fifth birthday. 

If you are just learning of this program, you can still sign up any child that is under the age of 5. 

How Many & What Kind of Books Will My Child Receive? 

The number of books that your child receives in the mail will depend upon when you sign up for the Imagination Library program. If you sign up at the time of your child’s birth, your child would receive 60 free books by mail by the time they are 5. 

If you sign up later, your child will receive one book per month until they turn 5. 

We have received all types of books since signing up for the Imagination Library program. Some of the books are very well known and popular classics. And other times we have received books that I was not familiar with but that we have enjoyed as much or more than the more well known authors. 

Age Appropriate Content 

The monthly book is tailored to your child’s age which provides them with engaging content to listen to as you read. 

How Do the Free Books Arrive?

Each month you will receive one book per child wherever you receive mail. We are in the United States so our books are delivered by the United States Postal Service. 

Each book is wrapped in a plastic covering to keep it protected from weather elements and other damage during the shipping process. 

Most of the books that we have received have been paperback books filled with plenty of colorful pictures. 

Where Do I Sign up For 60 Free Kids Books by Mail? 

You can check to make sure that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is available where you live here. 

Assuming that the program is available in your area, you will fill out a short form and then should receive your child’s first book within 30 days. 

Value of the Imagination Library Books Sent to You for Free

I pulled a few of our books off the shelf that we got from Imagination Library and checked them on Amazon to see what their value is if you bought them.

Here are the books I checked:

  • Violet the Pilot
  • The Rabbit Listened
  • I Wonder
  • Police Officers on Patrol

The books ranged in price but were generally anywhere from $8.99-14.99. That means that even if every book that you got retails at $8.99, you would get a value of $540 in books if you signed your child up at birth. 

Wow! Such an awesome service to encourage literacy in our kids. 

Donating the Books When Done

This is not necessary as the books are yours to keep. However, whenever my children have outgrown the books that we have received, I love to donate them to schools, churches or other preschool programs. 

Donate to the Imagination Library

Speaking of donations, if you are looking to make a charitable donation this year the Imagination Library accepts monetary donations. 

The Dollywood Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 

Do you plan to sign up for 60 free books for kids by mail through the Imagination Library? 

Check Out these Educational Kid Sensory Bins you can do at Home!

  • Rose Petal Tea Bin
  • Sand & Ocean Bin
  • Edible Cereal Baking Bin
  • Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bin
  • Flower Garden & Planting Bin

Filed Under: Featured, Kid Activities, Play Tagged With: Children, Dolly Parton, Free Books, Imagination Library, kids

Sandy Beach and Ocean Sensory Bin

June 25, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Bring a day at the beach home with this fun play theme.

A sandy beach and ocean sensory bin is great for toddlers and preschool aged children.

Kinetic Sand & Ocean Foam Sensory Bins

This time last year we were enjoying a week on the beach for a family vacation. But since COVID cancelled our vacation this year, we have all been dreaming of the beach. 

So we brought the beach  to our backyard with this sandy beach and ocean sensory bin. This small world brings all your favorite parts of the beach to your home. Dig in the sand, let your dolls lay out and get some sun, and watch dolphins swim in the deep blue sea! 

Your kids will love this activity that transports them to a virtual vacation. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Sandy Beach and Ocean Sensory Bin

My kids love sensory bins. They are a great way to get the kids to step away from electronics and play the old fashioned way. 

Over the years, we have created lots of easy activities for toddlers and preschoolers to play with like a Vegetable Soup water table activity, cookie cereal no bake kit, and planting flowers and seeds.

So they totally knew what to expect when I said we were going to play with a sensory bin.

But this sandy beach and ocean sensory bin actually uses two different bins so that was a little different. One bin is for the beach and the other is for the ocean. 

I separated them for a couple of reasons but the main reason was just to protect the sand from possibly breaking down from the water. 

Here is what you need to do to create this day at the beach play activity.

Creating The Beach Play Scene

Sandy Beach Sensory Bin Materials:

  • Kinetic Beach Sand 
  • Bouncy Ball 
  • Small Dolls (Mini Barbies or even Wooden Dolls) 
  • Paper Umbrellas 
  • Tin Beach Bucket
  • Wooden Scoop Shovel
  • A couple of Pieces of Fabric for Beach Towels 

Sandy Kinetic Sand Beach with Dolls

Most of these items you probably have at home or can find something similar. 

I had to buy the beach Kinetic sand but everything else we already had from other toys or past sensory bins that we have done. 

The bouncy balls make great doll sized beach balls! 

Some of our Paw Patrol figurines even came along because Marshall wanted to go on our beach trip too!

Blue Ocean Foam Bin

The DIY ocean foam bin is made with just a couple of items that you probably have in your cleaning closet or pantry. 

Toddler Playing with DIY Sensory Ocean Foam

To Make the Foam:

Add the following to a medium plastic mixing bowl:

  • 1/3 cup of water
  • 1/3 cup of Blue Dawn Dish Soap
  • 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
  • A few drops of blue or teal food coloring

Using a hand mixer, mix, mix, mix until the foam is thick and foamy and large in volume. 

You can transfer the DIY ocean foam to a flatter sensory bin or just serve it up for play in the mixing bowl.

If you have some ocean animal figurines or boats, those are fun to add to the sea.

Playing With The Activity

The best thing about an invitation to play activity is that you put it together and give it to the kids. 

There is virtually no instruction needed. I typically just tell them what it is (here is a beach and an ocean) and then tell them that they can start playing. 

If the kids get stuck, I will try and give them an idea to get the creative juices flowing.

Some example for play prompts with this bin might be:

  • Take the dolls for a swim
  • Build the biggest sand castle 
  • Bury treasure in the Sand 

Digging In the Sand 

Using the shovel and bucket was a big portion of what my kids enjoyed. They dug in the sand, filled the bucket and tried to make sand castles. 

My 6 year old also spent some time playing pretend with the dolls on the beach. 

Playing with Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin

What Is Hiding in the Ocean 

The 2 year old really enjoyed the ocean foam bin. Probably because that was the messier of his two options! 

I prompted him to hide some of the objects in the ocean. He then used his shovel to find and fish out the items. 

An extra bin or bowl of fresh water is helpful to have around for this side of the bin. We used it to wash off toys and hands before going back to the sand side. 

Digging for Animals in the Ocean

Playing Together 

If you have 2 kids, you will like the sandy beach and ocean sensory bin because it encourages play time jointly but there are 2 separate bins. 

So the kids can play pretend together but they both have their own space to engage with the different materials. 

Helping to eliminate disagreements! We all need that right? 

Do your kids talk about their birthday year round? Celebrate their un-birthday with this idea.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Kid Activities, Play Tagged With: beach, invitation to play, ocean, sand, sensory bin

Weekly Summer Schedule for Kids

May 31, 2020 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

This themed weekly summer schedule for kids has activities for every day of the work week to keep children busy.

Weekly Summer Schedule for Kids

Summertime brings a more laid back schedule for a lot of us. No more packing lunches, homework and getting kids ready for school. 

But the dreaded “I’m bored” statement may start early and you will want to be prepared. 

I’m not saying you should plan every minute of every day. I actually think it is great for kids to be bored sometimes because it encourages them to get creative and find joy in something that they orchestrate. 

However, it helps me to have a general idea of something that I can direct the kids to do either while I’m working or that we can do together as a family. Something that I don’t have to think much about and that I can rattle off or set up quickly. 

And just like meal plans help in the dinner rush, a weekly summer schedule for kids is a great way to have some ideas up your sleeve to get kids up, active and having fun during the summer months. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Follow Me on Pinterest for More fun Ideas!

Weekly Summer Schedule for Kids

Make your days a little easier with a plan for the long days of summer. 

These theme days will help you create a weekly summer schedule for kids that is fun and active while keeping things simple for you. 

Merry Monday 

Kids got a case of the Monday’s? Make it a Merry Monday by doing something nice! Help a sibling with a task, write a letter or draw a picture for a nursing home, help a neighbor. 

Another fun way to be merry is to find something to celebrate! An unbirthday would be a great way to have fun on the cheap. Make a cake, sing Happy Birthday. Make birthday cards. You could even let the kids find a gift around the house to wrap up for each other!

Typical & Tidy Tuesday

Just like I don’t believe in planning every hour of my kid’s summer, I also think a “down” day is good for kids. 

This is just a day to chill. Entertain yourself, tidy your room, help with a chore around the house. 

If cleaning all day is not your kid’s idea of fun, you can also take a twist on the “typical.” Go back to the old school typical days of summer. 

Build a fort, play in a sprinkler or with the water hose, play outside, color a picture, or play hopscotch. Just good old traditional fun. 

Work Out/Water Wednesday

Wednesday is another that has 2 options depending on your mood or schedule. 

You can do all kinds of thing with this day! 

Ideas for Kid Work Out times:

Complete an episode of Cosmic Kids, take a bike ride, head to the park to play, take a nature walk or create an obstacle course for the kids to complete. 

Ideas for Water Wednesday: 

Go swimming, play in a sprinkler or splash pad, try this awesome slip N slide hack for young kids, make vegetable soup in your water table, or try out one of the best backyard water toys for kids. 

Try It Thursday

This day is all about trying out something new. 

Test out a new recipe, make a craft or complete an at home science experiment. 

Fun Friday 

After a long week, a fun day is a great way to end the week with a bang. 

Go on an outing to the zoo or a museum. Grab a special treat like ice cream or even just a candy bar at the gas station that the kid’s get to pick. 

Have a play date with a friend or take a trip to the playground.

Need More Kid Fun? 

Summer Activities to Do With Kids As a Working Mom 

Rose Petal Tea Sensory Bin

The Best Sports Toys for Toddlers

 

Filed Under: Featured, Kid Activities, Play

Pretend Birthday Party Invitation To Play

June 4, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Do your kids talk about their upcoming birthday for 364 days of the year? 

If so, they will love this pretend birthday party invitation to play where they can celebrate any day of the year. 

Play Pretend Birthday Party Invitation To Play

Things like sensory bins and invitations to play are things that probably never heard of until you had a child. 

And then you realized you were supposed to be doing these activities in order to encourage learning and development. Great, one more thing to worry about. 

The good news is that there are tons of ideas for playtime on Pinterest to make things easy. 

I actually really like dreaming up sensory bins for the kids & we have done things like Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal pies, Cookie Cereal Baking Bin, Vegetable Soup Water Table Play and Taste Safe Infant finger painting. 

But as much as I love coming up with ideas, my kids actually made up the pretend birthday party invitation to play.

They came up with this all on their own after a real birthday party last year. I got out some stuff today for them to do it again & they had just as much fun as the first time. 

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Pretend Birthday Party – Invitation To Play

The pretend birthday party invitation to play is so easy and requires very little prompts from the parent. After I provided the supplies, my kids played “birthday party” for 45 minutes straight! 

I will give you the materials that we used & then give you some play prompts if you need them. 

Pretend Birthday Party Materials:

  • Recycled Gift Bags (I use the ones that are on their last leg and not something I would reuse again at a Birthday Party) 
  • A few sheets of tissue paper
  • A roll of gift wrap (we used old Christmas paper but you could grab a roll at the Dollar Tree too)
  • Tape
  • Scissors (if Age Appropriate) 
  • Balloons (again if age appropriate)

I put those items out and tell my kids to play birthday party. 

Gift Wrap for Birthday Party Sensory Activity

How to Host a Pretend Birthday Party for Kids

To play birthday party, you first need to “shop” your toys for something to give. 

Next, you wrap that gift. My kids love to wrap with wrapping paper or arrange it in a gift bag. It is something that I usually do if we are going to a real party and apparently it seems super cool to the kids. 

Wrapping Pretend Gifts for Unbirthday

Now it is party time! 

Party TIme - Birthday Party Imaginative Play Time

Play Prompts for Party Time

If your kids are struggling to come up with something on their own or if you like to give more structured instructions, here are some play prompts that you can use during this activity. 

My kids did the following: 

  • Welcomed their pretend friends to their pretend party.
  • Dressed up in themed clothing (My son chose a hero party so my daughter wore a cape & he wore a fire fighter outfit)
  • Made a Birthday lunch, cake and ice cream in their play kitchen. 
  • Sang Happy Birthday before eating their cake.
  • The Birthday Boy/Girl opened their presents 
  • Pretended to play birthday games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey
  • Played toss the Balloon 

Balloon Toss - Birthday Party Game

Some more ideas:

  • Have the children make birthday cards with paper and crayons
  • Decorate the room with homemade decorations
  • Make a real cake together, complete with candles & celebrate with a yummy dessert. 

My kids played for almost an hour with this pretend birthday party invitation to play. I did interact some but for the most part they were able to entertain themselves with the activity which allowed me a little bit of time to get other things done. 

More Sensory Activities for Kids:

Rose Petal Princess Tea

Plant a Flower Garden Bin 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Kid Activities, Play

Rose Petal Tea Sensory Bin

May 24, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

A rose petal tea sensory bin is a great spring activity that can be done with common household items!

Rose Petal Princess Tea Party Sensory Bin for Toddlers and Princesses

Rose Petal Tea Party Sensory Bin for Toddlers and Princesses

The other day I saw a mom on a Facebook Support group that I’m on complain about sensory bins.

She didn’t want to have to go to 3 stores, spend $47 buying materials and then spend 29 minutes putting it all together only for her son to play with it for 3 minutes.

And I totally get that. Been there, done that. Nothing is more frustrating than spending time and money on something that your kids are done with in less than 5.

That is just one reason I lover this rose petal tea sensory bin. We used only things that we had at home and I even had the kids help me gather some of the supplies.

So it was cheap, involved a nature item and entertained the kids for more than 5 minutes. I felt like I was winning!

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Rose Petal Tea Sensory Bin

To create this activity, we just took a quick trip to the rose bush in the front yard. If you don’t have a rose bush (and don’t want to pick the neighbors) we have some other ideas so that you can still make this rose petal tea sensory bin.

Rose Petal Tea Sensory Bin with Easy Set Up for Toddlers

What You Need for Rose Petal Tea Activity

  • Clear Bin or Bowl – This is my favorite for sensory bins
  • Rose Petals – No roses in your yard? What about a blooming azalea? Wild Flowers? You could also use a package of rose petals from Dollar Tree
  • Water
  • Red/Pink Food Coloring
  • Plastic Tea Set & Misc. Spoons from your kitchen

Creating the Bin

Kids Sharing and Serving Rose Tea to Others

Usually when I do sensory bins, I gather the materials and set up the experience. I then introduce it to the kids and invite them to play.

But with this rose petal tea sensory bin, I wanted to change it up a bit. Since it is spring inspired and roses petals are the star of the show, some outdoor time seemed appropriate.

We went outside and spent time collecting petals and adding them to a bucket. I love my little rose bush so the kids were only allowed to collect the petals that had already fallen.

Once you have plenty of rose petals collected, add them to your bin with plenty of water and a few drops of food coloring.

Pouring Colored Water into Pretend Teapot

Place a tea set, kitchen utensils and even plastic cups from your kitchen if you don’t have a tea set into the bin.

Hand the beautiful pink rose petal tea sensory bin over to the kids and let their imaginations run.

Play for Varying Ages and Genders

Our rose petal tea sensory bin entertained both my 2 year old boy and 6 year old girl for a good period of time.

My older daughter made a “real” fancy tea party with her bin. She took orders, brewed the tea, added rose garnishes and served her creations.

The 2 year old just had fun splashing around and pouring from the teapot into the teacups and drinking the tea. I’d like to say he pretended to drink but he got a few real gulps in.

Thank goodness it was just water and food coloring. And of course after a quick Google search, I found out that all rose petals are edible. So if you use real petals, this is technically a taste safe activity (although I personally would not recommend it!).

Learning Activities with This Sensory Bin

Fine Motor Skills - Rose Petal Tea Pouring

I love sensory bins because not only are they fun, it is also a great way for kids to learn through play. 

Here are some things that the kiddos can learn while using this sensory bin:

  • Motor Skills – Pouring and scooping are great for developing those fine motor skills that they will need to .
  • Colors – You can talk about colors of the water, flowers, even the cups and tea pot.
  • Pretend – Developing the skills for the kids to be able to play pretend is so beneficial. 
  • Learning about Nature – You can discuss how the roses grow, bloom and then fall to the ground at the end of their life cycle. We played with this bin outside too which added to the nature aspect.
  • Sharing and Serving – Learning to share and serve others is something that I think is good for the soul! I loved watching them make “tea” and then let their brother or sister have the first “sip.”

Love this rose tea petal sensory bin? Here are some more to keep those kids busy!

Cookie Cereal Sensory Bin

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bin

Vegetable Soup Water Table Play

Planting Seeds, Growing Flowers Sensory Bin 

Filed Under: Featured, Kid Activities, Play

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