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Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin

July 29, 2018 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

It may still be 9,000 degrees outside, but that is not stopping me from dreaming of Fall. This fun apple cinnamon oatmeal sensory bin presents kids with an open invitation to play with Fall inspired items.

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Sensory bins are great for their educational benefits. But do you know why I really love them? They are usually very quick to set up (as a mom, you need that right?). The bins can usually be made with things you have on hand or with just a couple of small purchases. And the absolute best part is that they entertain! It will keep your little one busy while you do something on your long To Do List.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin Contents

I found most of these things at home or at the Dollar Tree. Sensory bins are also great because you don’t have to have exactly what I used. Just use this as a guide and get creative with what you have at home.

In our apple cinnamon oatmeal sensory bin you will find:

Container – I use a dish bucket from the Dollar Tree for most of my sensory activities.

Oatmeal

Play Apples

Various measuring cups / funnels

Play spoon, bowl, skillet (From my daughter’s Play kitchen)

Shovel/Strainer/Rake (These were Dollar Tree sand toys that I threw in)

Apple Cutting board (from Dollar Tree)

Sprinkle of Cinnamon & Allspice

Magnet Letters

Plastic Tablecloth

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin Set Up

Setting up this sensory bin is as easy as (apple) pie. Forgive me, I hang out with a 4 year old and an 8 month old all day! It really is simple and will give you time to do some work or maybe relax for a few minutes. Of course, with all sensory bins, you should gauge your child’s maturity and provide proper supervision.

Spread out a big plastic tablecloth or towel if you are doing this inside. I love using plastic tablecloths for all types of messy play activities. Grab your bucket and dump some oatmeal in. If this is killing your OCD perfectionist self, I understand. I would rather someone tell me to add 57.2 ounces than to tell me to “dump” something. I promise, it will be fine. Just dump some in. It doesn’t need to be precise. We are going for quick and easy with this sensory bin.

Sprinkle a little cinnamon and allspice in with your oats. Just enough so that you can smell the spices which will add to the sensory experience for your kids. Mix the oats and spices together. Remember to have them smell and describe it while playing!

Stick the apples, measuring utensils, and other items in with the oatmeal and present it to your kids. My girl made apple pies, dug around in the mixture, and let the oatmeal fall through the funnel.

I also wrote out the word “apple” on a piece of paper. She then matched the magnet letters to the letters that I had written for some alphabet recognition practice.

I hope your toddler or preschooler will enjoy this fall inspired apple cinnamon oatmeal sensory play activity! If you have a baby, check out this 10 second setup baby sensory activity. Do your kids love sensory bins?

More Fun Apple Items:

Easy Dress Up Station

July 16, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Are dress up clothes taking over your house? I have enough issues with regular laundry to then pile on top a bunch of princess costumes, my house was becoming a wreck quickly. I wanted to create an area in our play room that would be fun to play and use but that would also create some organization for all of the stuff! This easy dress up station was just the right fit for our little princess.

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By creating some order to our princess mess, I found that my daughter is actually playing with this stuff! Before she either couldn’t find her stuff because it was wherever she dropped it or I had shoved it in the bottom of the closet in an attempt to clean up. Now that she can easily see her pretty dresses and jewels, she usually becomes Belle or Sophia once or twice a week!

And if LOL Surprise Dolls are also becoming tiny little residents in your home, check out this LOL Organizer.

What you Need for the Easy Dress Up Station:

Adjustable Garment Rack

Princess Wall Art

Wood Wall Clear Knob Organizer – I got mine at Hobby Lobby and can’t find the exact same thing. These are really pretty and these are reasonably priced and would be cute.

Lots of Princess dresses, play jewelry and little girl high heels.

Setting Up the Easy Dress Up Station

The adjustable garment rack took less than 15 minutes to put together and that was the first thing that I did. Once that was ready, my daughter helped me hang up all of her princess dresses. The dress up area isn’t just limited to princess costumes. She can dress up as a chef, vet, or a girly super hero.

I stored extra dress up clothes and play shoes at the bottom of the rack. (Don’t mind that missing Elsa from the blue shoe! Hey, they still work!)

Next, I had my daughter stand in front of where the mirror would go. I did this because I wanted it to be a “kid friendly” mirror. (not hung so high that she wouldn’t even be able to see her face)! We hung the mirror so that she could see her full princess ball gown in all it’s glory.

The princess wall art was hung level with the top of the mirror. The hooks went right under the art so that she could easily reach her purses and jewels.

I set our vanity next to the easy dress up station so that she can move right on to hair and make up once she gets dressed. I love that this area provides a fun play area for kids to use their imagination. Plus it helps to get the princess dress mess off my floor.

If your pretend play costumes are causing chaos, I hope you try this super easy dress up station solution for your playroom! Once your playroom is in order, check out this bathtub toy organizer hack so that you can see the bottom of your tub again!

Red, White And Blue Toddler Trail Mix

July 4, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Looking for a healthy treat for your toddler on this 4th of July? I love trail mix snacks because they are super easy to put together and very versatile. It is a great way to use up things in your pantry. Am I the only one that finds exact 7 pieces of cereal in a box? Like seriously, eat it or throw it away! Anyway, this red, white and blue toddler trail mix is a cute way to celebrate patriotic holidays with your little one!

(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.)

Red, White and Blue Toddler Trail Mix

For this red, white and blue toddler trail mix , I used some of our favorite snacks that are always in our pantry. My 4 year old even joined in to help me put it all together. It is a great activity for a younger child to help with because you don’t even need to measure.

Ingredients

Since it is July 4th, a patriotic theme was on my mind. I wanted to select red, white and blue things for this mix that would be appealing to young kids.

The Red

Dried Strawberries

Dried Cranberries

The White

Greek Yogurt Covered Craisins

Cheerios (Frosted Cheerios would be even more fun!)

The Blue

Dried Blueberries

Star Shaped Blueberry Puffs (I didn’t have these but they would be a great addition since they are in a fun Star Shape)

Of course use your judgement and don’t feed your babies something that they are not ready for at the stage that they are in. I picked out things that my 8 month old could eat and allowed my 4 year old to eat as she pleased.

Red, White & Blue Toddler Trail Mix Assembly

Trail mix is the best to make because you literally just dump everything together. I used about 1 cup of cereal and about a 1/2 a cup of the other items. To be honest, I didn’t measure. I just grabbed handfuls of things but if you want to measure, that is the ratio that I would use.

My little helper assisting in the process. Check out the cute little photo bomb. He was wanting to help but was satisfied by a few Cheerios instead.

Here she is snacking on her red, white and blue toddler trail mix.

If you are looking for other healthy ideas for your kids, check out this No Sugar Added Georgia Peach Oatmeal. It has a great texture for kids that hate mushy oats and is naturally sweet.

What is your favorite, healthy 4th of July snack?

American Flag Graham Cracker Treat for Kids

July 4, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Happy 4th of July! Today I am bringing you a last minute patriotic snack that you can make for your kids (or have them help with). The American flag graham cracker treat is ultra simple and you probably have everything that you need on hand to make this fun and mostly healthy treat.

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One of my new goals this year is to do things. For whatever reason, I have a bad habit of making beautiful Pinterest boards, loads of lists and tons of projects in my mind but then I don’t do them. So this year, I am doing. Even if it isn’t perfect. It might not be Pinterest “worthy,” heck, it might even be a complete fail. But I am making it happen. You know what? My kids are loving it and so am I. It feels good to start and finish something. Even if it is a just a graham cracker that looks like a flag.

American Flag Graham Cracker Treat

You only need a couple of ingredients to make this easy American flag graham cracker snack. I used organic graham crackers, cream cheese, strawberries, blueberries and strawberry jelly.

American Flag Graham Cracker Assembly:

Ya’ll, this is so easy. Just take a graham cracker and spread slightly softened cream cheese across the entire cracker.

Next, place your blueberries in the top left corner. Spread a couple of lines of strawberry jelly across the flag to create some stripes. See how mine are not perfect? Not Pinterest worthy. Not award winning. Just do.

My kids didn’t care that it wasn’t meticulously drawn out. It was fun and holiday themed. It was a tasty treat that was out of the norm and that is what they like.

Add the sliced strawberries onto the strawberry jelly to complete the American flag graham cracker treat.

You can really adapt this idea to whatever you have on hand!

Use toast instead of a graham cracker.

Vanilla icing in place of the cream cheese.

Dried cranberries instead of strawberries. Or Red M&M’s if you are a fun mom! The icing and M&M combo sounds like something I may need to eat! Sorry Kids.

I hope you love this Red, White & Blue American flag graham cracker snack. What is your favorite American food to eat or make on this holiday?

LOL Doll Storage Solution

June 30, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Who would have thought that a tiny little doll with microscopic shoes and accessories would take the little girl world by storm? My 4 year old is completely obsessed with LOL dolls. She walks around with the collector’s guide telling anyone that will listen about all the dolls that she wants. As her collection grows, so does the mess. I wanted an easy LOL doll storage solution that would organize all those small pieces but still be easy for her to access.

(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.)

LOL Doll Storage Solution

My first thought was to use a hanging toiletry bag with clear pockets. I still think it would be a good idea, especially to hold a lot of the dolls. I may end up trying it if our collection continues to grow. My daughter has requested “all the LOL dolls” for her birthday. I’m not facilitating that request but if I know her grandfather, I may have more LOL dolls than I want very soon!

We usually set the dolls up on her play table or the kitchen table for play time. When trying to come up with an LOL doll storage solution, I decided that we needed something that would work well on top of a table. Something with lots of compartments is important because of all the tiny pieces.

I spend what feels like hours per week looking for a lost LOL doll shoe that is smaller than my pinkie fingernail. Desperation was setting in for an LOL doll storage solution that would keep all of the stuff in one place.

LOL Dolls Tackle Box Style

I bought 2 different boxes to see what worked best for our stash of dolls. Here is how it went!

Larger Tackle Box Organizer

The larger box worked better with the regular size LOL dolls. I liked that the interior plastic inserts can be removed so you can make some larger compartments for the dolls and you can keep smaller ones available for shoes, clothes and accessories.

Smaller Tackle Box Organizer

The Smaller Tackle box came in a set of 3. These are a lot smaller than the larger ones and work best with the LOL little sisters and accessories.

Hope this helps you reclaim your house from the tiny army of LOL dolls that has overtaken it. If you have a ceramic tile tub that toys have also taken over, check out my post on how to fix that.

How do you organize your kid’s LOL doll stash?