What is your baby’s nutrition worth to you?

Today’s guest post comes to us from Emma Claire at CookNovel who writes about baby food recipes so that you can make your baby food right at home.

When our children were little (today, at the time of this post they are 8, 6 and 3 respectively), we used the BEABA Babycook steam cooker/blender to make our baby food. We put the food in ice cube trays and put them in the freezer and pulled them out when we needed them.

Making food for our children without preservatives and all of the extras of store-bought food off of the shelf helped us feel good about what our children ate while growing at such critical stages in their brain development. Even to this day, we only buy Horizon brand organic milk with DHA labeled on the container.

The nutrition our children receive is one of the most important decisions a parent can make. We hope you can use some of these recipes for your own little ones. Thanks for the great article, Emma.

Enjoy.
– Will

5 Delicious wholesome homemade baby food recipes for your baby

When it comes to your baby, there’s no such thing as “trying too hard”, particularly when it comes to their food.

Cooking your baby’s food at home might take some extra time, which can be a problem for busy parents but there are several good reasons why you should consider homemade and wholesome baby food.

1. Since you’re the one that makes the food, you’ll know exactly what your baby is eating, down to the last ingredient. No preservatives, no colorants, no extra sugar. Just want you chose to eat.
2. It can be more affordable. This is not always the case but high-quality, organic, pre-packaged baby food tends to be pretty expensive. Luckily, making your own baby food can help you cut on the costs.
3. You can personalize your baby’s food based on what they like. This can help you gradually introduce new things in their diets, take out the foods they don’t like and eliminate any allergy risks.
4. You can share your food with your baby by making their food with similar ingredients as the one you used for your family’s dinner, saving time and money!

Now that you know why making your baby’s food at home is so convenient, it’s time to look at some of the most wholesome baby food recipes out there so you can make sure you’re giving your baby nothing but the best!

Delicious apple, oatmeal and pumpkin baby food

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Ingredients:

½ cup of unsweetened apple sauce.
½ cup of pumpkin, pureed.
1 ½ cup of cooked rolled oats. (Unsweetened)

Cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg to taste. (Remember not to use too much as to not to overwhelm your baby’s palate)

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Instructions:

Step 1: Mix the unsweetened applesauce, pureed pumpkin and the cooked oatmeal together.
Step 2: Gradually add the cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger and taste it. Add more spices if necessary.
Step 3: Stir everything until perfectly mixed and blend if necessary.

This recipe is fantastic for babies aged 6-8 months.

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Creamed peas and nuggets

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Ingredients:

4 cups of peas, preferably fresh.
1 cup of whole milk
2 tbsp. of flour
2 tbsp. of butter
Chicken

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Instructions:

Step 1: In a sauce pan, mix the flour with melted butter. Cook no longer than a minute.
Step 2: Add the milk and mix as you do it to prevent any lumps.
Step 3: Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add other spices if you feel it’s appropriate.
Step 4: Cook while stirring until the mix starts to thicken.
Step 5: Add the peas and cook them for about five minutes or until they’re heated through.
Step 6: Add chicken

Since this recipe has dairy consult with your pediatrician before introducing it to your baby’s diet.

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Squash and rice puree

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Ingredients:

1 cup of mashed butternut squash
½ cup of fresh water
¼ cup of rice of your choosing.
Yogurt (optional)

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Instructions:

Step 1: Using a blender or a food processor mix your mashed squash and the water. Slowly integrate the rice until perfectly blended.
Step 2: If your baby doesn’t like the consistency add more water to thin it or, if your baby can eat dairy, add yogurt to thicken it.

This recipe is perfect for babies 8 months old or more!

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Banana Avocado Baby Food

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Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana

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Instructions:

Step 1: Peel and de-pit your avocado
Step 2: Remove the avocado meat and mash it with a food masher or a fork.
Step 3: Peel your banana and mash it with a food masher or a fork.
Step 4: Blend everything together in a food processor or a blender until you reach the desired consistency.

This recipe is perfect for babies between 6 – 4 months and it doesn’t need to be cooked so you can make it in a pinch.

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Sweet potato soup

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Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of sweet potatoes, cooked.
1 tbsp. of flour
1 tbsp. of butter
1 ½ cups of chicken broth
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup of whole milk

You can use cinnamon instead or nutmeg or, if you prefer it, you can also use 1/8 of nutmeg and 1/8 of ginger for extra flavor.

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Instructions:

Step 1: Melt the butter and mix it with the flour in a saucepan. Mix until it acquires a caramel-like color.
Step 2: Slowly add the broth while mixing the entire way to prevent any lumps. Keep the soup simmering and slowly stir in the potatoes and whatever spices you chose.
Step 3: Cook for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Mix using a food processor or a blender (Top 5 best personal blenders for smoothies). Add the milk when you serve the baby food.

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Storing homemade baby food

If there’s a downside to homemade baby food is the fact that it doesn’t keep as long as pre-packed food.

There are two ways you can store baby food, in the freezer or the fridge.

Fridge

You can store your homemade baby food in the fridge for up to 48 hours, as long as you keep it in an airtight container.

Freezer

You can also freeze your baby food so it lasts from 1-3 months.

The best way of doing this is not adding liquids (such as milk or broth) to the food until it’s time to eat it:

• Puree the base of your baby food and freeze it in ice cube trays.
• Take out only the baby food cubes you’ll need. (1 cube is optimal for young babies)
• Thaw the pureed baby food and integrate the liquids
• Reheat and serve

What do you think of these recipes?

Do you know any others that you think need to be included in this list? Do you have any doubts? Questions? Suggestions? Want to let us know if your baby liked the food? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to share with your friends and family if you found this article useful.

Thanks for reading!

About the Guest Post Author

I’m Emma, founder of CookNovel blog, and I’m absolutely in love with food blogs. I’d like to share the interesting recipes, food tips and top lists of kitchen gadgets. I’m a foodie at heart but being the mother of 3 kids, it’s not always easy to keep up with fancy dinners… so I rely on the support of other blogging moms like me to help along the way.

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Develop a life-long passion in your children for art

Developing your child’s love for arts and crafts and appreciation for all things art and the creative outlet it provides is something that a parent must nurture in their child. Here are 5 tips on ways to help make that happen.

Arts and crafts are nice ways to help kids develop passion in creative things and also gain the facility to admire the finer details of life. From drawing and painting, or any other form of art project that involves applying creativity, in conjunction with out-of-the-box thinking can lend a hand to broaden a child’s mental stimulation along with making the child a more well rounded person. If you want your children to develop a complete and healthy personality, then it is of the utmost importance to increase their passion in arts and crafts at an early age and listed below are 5 tips to assist you in bringing your children closer to the world of arts and crafts.

1. Show your children that art can be fun

Children are more likely to have an interest in art if you’re making it look and sound fun. Instead of sending kids off to their room with a coloring book and some arts and crafts supplies like crayons, markers or pens, you can try to turn it right into a game or a fun activity. Make an effort to join your children in their art experiments and turn it into a group activity. During this activity, you can also bond with your children and give them some memories to cherish once they grow up. Also, another very powerful thing is never to pressure art upon your children or it’ll take away the entire fun and learning that comes from it. So be encouraging without being too pushy.

2. Target their interests

Taking tip #1 a little bit further, a good way of encouraging your kids into taking on art projects is through focusing on their passion and interests. For instance, if your kids are keen on watching superhero cartoons on TV, then you can begin their adventure into the world of art by way of beginning with a superhero mission. If the art work is based on something that your youngsters like or adore, then there are extra chances that they will enjoy it to a much higher degree. So, it is necessary that you base the creative endeavor on something your children are already interested in.

3. Invest in some quality arts and crafts supplies

Small children are naturally attracted towards new, glossy and colorful items. While arts and crafts supplies are naturally colorful, you can select the more interesting ones with pictures of cartoon characters or superheroes on the cover and go for construction paper and stationery in attractive shapes and colors. As such, art supplies are certain to be much more attractive to kids and they will be more willing to use these items. Also, never underestimate the importance of good quality when it comes to choosing arts and crafts supplies because a durable higher quality will always boost the performance of your budding artists.

4. Take your children along with you to buy arts and crafts supplies

Visiting a craft store with your children will help to expose your kids to all kinds of art supplies like crayons, paint brushes, poster paints, acrylic paints, glass and fabric paints, glitters, different types of paper, craft tools, things they can build and paint as well as draw on and much more. Let your kids choose the arts and crafts supplies that they prefer and this way they are going to always be interested in the art they will be creating in the very near future.

5. Decorate your home with the art you and your children have created

This is a guaranteed means to get kids “glued” to arts and crafts. Displaying the works of art that your kids have created on the mantle, the showcase, on the refrigerator or on the living room table is most likely the easiest way to encourage them. When your kids see their paintings decorating the home, they are going to no longer just feel happy but may even notice that what they have created is beautiful and has value.

With all of the technology of our iPads, iPhones, Kindles, Samsung Galaxy and other iOS and Android devices in our faces everyday, it is a worthwhile activity to turn them off for a little while and let our imaginations run free. I am sure you agree. As parents, and I know I am certainly guilty of it, I let my kids uses these devices much more than I should and this is a great opportunity to break away from these technological babysitters and focus on some quality time with our kids.

What about you? Do you agree that this is a great opportunity to bond with your own children? What kind of art projects have you done with your kids that have proven successful and a great memory in looking back on the activity? Leave us a comment below and let us know.

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Kids love crafts.

Children can often find themselves in deep concentration when they’re drawing, painting, cutting, pasting or gluing when working on any arts and crafts activity. Kids love using their hands. The sense of pleasure that kids get during the process of working on arts and crafts projects is an unmistakable sign that something larger is happening in their personal learning, growth and development. Why do you think this growth is happening?

There is something in the sense of accomplishment children get when they’re working on crafts or craft activities that involves their creativity and stimulates their imagination.

But there’s so a lot more to this picture than a sense of accomplishment.

The wonderful developmental benefits that kids can obtain through creative craft ideas make children’s crafts such a crucial a part of a child’s healthy development.

Below are some developmental skills that a child can learn by engaging in simple arts and crafts activities.

Social Skills:

Children receive feedback through observation and the modeling of their parents and teachers. In addition, interacting with different children also teaches appropriate social skills. Easy-to-do crafts for kids may also be an excellent way interact with a child through appropriate play and communication as an adult.

Fine Motor Skills Development

Creative and Visual Spatial Development

Creative development is one of the key benefits that crafts and art activities offer. Through the use of creative craft ideas for kids, the number of materials and simple task related instructions, their imagination and ability to make creative choices can develop. Children create an image of what they wish to create in their task. They can transfer this image through the use of their hands and the materials into their craft work. When developed appropriately, this important skill can help children with skills such as visualizing details, the recall of information through mental imagery, creation of living pictures and visualizing of goals. Good children crafts and activities resources with easy to implement craft ideas are a very powerful aspect for this kind of learning.

Linguistic Development

In addition to the above developmental advantages, easy craft ideas for children can also aid in the development of:

• Concentration and the of completion of tasks: Children’s crafts help with the development of the ability to pay attention and avoid distractions. Through the focus that is required to paint during craft activities, children learn how to focus on one activity at a time. They learn that, through focus, they are able to successfully complete the craft.

• 

  Planning skills: Arts and crafts for children help with the development of both visual and verbal planning skills. Visual spatial skill development assists children in mentally creating plans of what they want to achieve through their craft project.
• Persistence and seeing projects through to the end: Children learn the skill of perseverance when completing any activity or craft project. Choosing from one of many craft ideas and seeing the task through to completion irrespective of set backs is an important skill for kids to learn. Failure, triumph, something not turning out exactly as the project is supposed to, such as a painting that isn’t identical to the one the child wanted to paint, this skill, if developed early in life, it will help a child with their sense of dealing with adversity, accomplishment, school work during college years, project development and goal setting. Learning that not everyone gets a trophy for their the job that they have done, is an important, yet not always accessible skill to teach our children in the modern age of parenting.

• 

  Success and self worth: The participation in and completion of craft projects helps with one of the most essential aspects of healthy growth and development: the experience of self worth via achievement and success. Through the skills mentioned earlier, such as focus, patience, making plans, creative development and visual spatial development, kids learn what is needed to complete a project and to create their vision through the use of their hands and art tools. Praise and feedback are important elements here when your children are attempting any artistic and creative activity or craft project. Assisting children if they’re struggling with an aspect or completion of a task may also be necessary. Giving praise throughout the process and at the completion of the task helps the child to learn a sense of accomplishment related to the development and final touches for a project.

  

  Creative craft ideas for children are so valuable for healthy development. The absolute best part of all of these activities is that helping children with arts and craft activities may also be easy and rewarding for you, the parent or teacher. With creative and easy craft ideas for kids, easy to use materials and a sense of fun, you can even have a great time! Whether you’re a parent, instructor, grandparent or nanny, kid’s crafts and children’s activities are a remarkable way to connect with children and watch them grow and develop.

  For printable craft ideas for children and printable kids activities resources see:

  Printable craft ideas and activities for kids

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The joy of painting is best understood through the eye and hearts of children.

Painting opens up a world of color and communication for kids and is a fantastic means for them to create. These craft ideas demonstrate that there are many easy and exciting alternative options to utilizing a paintbrush for your kids to explore the world of art and expression.

String Painting

String painting is straightforward and is a smart way for youngsters to pattern paint. You simply wrap some string around a small wooden block (this may very well be a building block that your kids play with). A square or rectangle shape is best, however ensure that it’s large enough for the child to hold easily. To help in your kid’s learning, it’s best to have a number of completely different sizes handy. Prepare some paint and pour it into some old polystyrene trays or any tray that you can afford to use for lots of painting activities. Dip the block into the paint and press on the paper. Make any patters you like and use as many colors you like and viola, you’re finished!

Marble Painting

Marble painting is another method for children to have fun and also build their hand eye coordination skills while creating completely different patterns. Prepare some paint and put it in a container that has deep sides, such as an old baking tray or a shallow cardboard box. The top of a shoe box is a wonderful example, provided that it’s still sturdy and intact. Put some paper in the bottom of the tray with a small quantity of paint (you can use two or three different colors at a time). Drop a marble in the tray and let the kids move the marble backwards and forwards, sideways and so on, to create their very own work of art.

Finger Painting

Finger painting develops a child’s sensory skills as they feel and touch the paint. Put some paint on an old table and let the kids put their fingers in it and make their very own designs. If you don’t have an old table that you can use, then you may always put some plastic on the table and this will suffice.

Please keep in mind that you should use paints are easily washed off surfaces and fingers with hot soapy water and read the label on the paint you are using with your children to be sure. Once the children have completed their painting, put a piece of paper on top and peel it off. Put it somewhere to dry after which they have a print of their artwork work to display around the house.

Here are some other fast ideas and alternate options that your children might take pleasure in that may also be used for printing…

Cotton, Sponges and Cardboard

• Cotton ball painting can encourage kids to paint in a completely different way, which develops fantastic motor skills.
• Cotton wool has a completely different feel and texture to it.
• Paint rollers are fun to use on large rectangular areas. So this may be excellent for instance, if you’re planning on painting a cardboard fort or large surface areaa.
• Cotton reels and corks can be used for pattern painting.
• Sponges cut into different shapes might be a good way to recycle and you can use each their rough and smooth sides in painting. Some examples of shapes you can use are rectangles and circles and a diamond or star. You can also buy sponge shapes from a good toy or art supply store, or you can order them from educational supply magazines as well.
• Other ideas include the cardboard rolls inside household foil and plastic wrap or wrapping paper tubes after you’re finished with the wrapping paper, plastic forks or jar lids.

Just remember, its not out the outcome but the process and experience getting there. So let those artistic juices flow and the minds of your children will expand with a newfound appreciation for art.

What kind of household items do you use with your children when it it time for them to put down their technology devices like an iPad or turn off the TV? Please share your experience and thoughts with us.

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Beat the Summer heat with these great indoor, air conditioned, ideas of fun things to do with kids

With the Summer time sun rising higher in the sky each day, the temperatures outside are rising so much that you may often feel penned inside along with your youngsters. If you’re looking for some fun and interesting ideas of fun things to do with kids to keep your clan entertained without getting too hot this Summer season, listed below are five great activities to try!

1. Create a Family Recipe Book

A very enjoyable family venture that’s guaranteed to eat up a whole lot of time is to get the children involved in making and writing a household recipe book. Not only will this idea of fun things to do with kids be an entertaining solution to spend your afternoons through the summer season, but it may even teach your kids an vital skill they’ll undoubtedly use once they move off to college or the workforce. Not only that, by the end of the summer your kids could have a healthy listing of recipes they will use to make dinners for the entire family! No more slaving away over a scorching stove for mom and pop.

2. Indoor Camping

When it’s too hot to go camping outdoors (or the state park or outdoor campgrounds are just too far away) think about setting up indoors for a picnic and/or camp out. Give children a variety of materials, bed sheets, rope, cardboard containers, pieces of foam, or even an actual tent, and watch their imaginative instincts go wild as they build amazing forts of their very own. They will get a thrill out of reading spooky campfire tales with a flashlight while sitting inside their tents. Bonus points for setting up a picnic blanket with crackers, cheese, and apple slices!

3. Have an Indoor Treasure Hunt

Another great strategy to keep kids entertained in our list of ideas of fun things to do with kids without even leaving the house is to have a treasure hunt. Make a set of clues for every participant (download the printable template shown here), or have each player make a set of clues of their very own and then swap with the other treasure seekers. Consider utilizing rhyming clues for young children to make it more fun. Each clue should result in another clue, and so forth, until the treasure seeker arrives at the treasure. You can use envelopes to hold your clues, and provide a small value such as a toy or a piece candy to the person who solves the riddles and wins the treasure first!

4. Head to the Library

The Library is a good place to take the kids when it gets too hot outside for enjoying the outdoors in our air conditioned list of ideas of fun things to do with kids. Many libraries provide reading programs for children throughout the summer season that may be extremely helpful in instilling a lifelong love of reading in your kids. They will get to earn points and sometimes win prizes the more books they read. Additionally, many libraries offer story time for younger children as well. Beyond entertaining children for a couple of hours letting them roam and browse in the library, they often come home with hours of entertainment!

5. Visit the Discovery Children’s Museum in Reno

For yet one more educational alternative that may keep you cool is to take the family to the Discovery Museum in Reno, NV. Your children will learn a ton while getting to touch and feel in an interactive way that only a children’s museum can deliver. From climbing the spider net to learning about how water ways work from the lake to the ocean or in our case to Pyramid Lake, children will learn about how water makes it way through our community. That’s not all. There are many more exhibits that are changing all the time. Each visit will provide a new experience. You and your kids will love it while beating the heat.

What ideas do you have?

What ideas of fun things to do with kids do you do with your kids while beating the summer heat indoors where there is abundant air conditioning?

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Any loving father or mother enjoys seeing the fruits of their kid’s creative endeavors. From painting, to collages, to sculpture, we all wish to see kids experience as many artwork forms and creative outlets as they can. If you sometimes feel overwhelmed with the quantity of art work your child produces (and sometimes feel guilty whenever you worry whether or not it’s going to go with your current decor scheme), we’ve rounded up six fun kids craft ideasthat you and your youngsters can do together and that you’re going to not only want to display proudly in any room, it’ll have friends asking the place you bought the brand new artwork!

Fabric embroidery hoops

As the kids get older, they might grow out of their old tee-shirts, pajamas, pants, shorts and such garments. While most will go to thrift shops or younger brothers or sisters, there could also be a couple of which are too damaged and tattered to donate or too beloved to part with. Rather than take up an area in a drawer, clothes bin or closet, for this kids craft idea, get a bunch of embroidery hoops from a nearby craft retailer in a few sizes, and create fun and colorful cloth circles! Great for highlighting color and pattern, these cloth circles could possibly be hung in a child’s room, however they’re hip enough to create a graphic and “pop art” statement. Let the kids choose what articles of clothes they want to use, what graphics/designs to frame and how they end up arranged on the wall.

Silhouettes

A most conventional and darling craft, this is a fun method to showcase all of the members of your family without just utilizing pictures. We love how customizable this kids craft idea is: there are a number of totally different methods of creating the silhouettes (like slicing out pictures or tracing shadows) however you may also use all kinds of different supplies (fabric, cardboard, construction paper, wrapping paper, old magazines) to feature any pattern, color or texture you want! Check out this Apartment Therapy post for an excellent how-to. Framing your silhouettes in vintage frames makes for the perfect wall composition in a household room, entryway, staircase and more. Your kids will love this kids craft idea for sure.

Nature print paper

In what is perhaps the best kids craft idea to do, simply purchase a package of this neat Nature Print Paper and watch while the magic of the sun helps create beautiful nature-inspired artwork! Go out in your backyard, or plan a trip to a park or seashore to collect “art supplies” together with your little ones (just bear in mind to only collect from areas that are not environmentally sensitive and/or protected). Leaves, feathers, rocks, stones, anything can turn into part of this artwork composition. Once completed, these prints would look virtually professional matted, framed and hung on a wall in a collage. Do this a couple of times per year and have a rotating gallery as the seasons change!

Origami

Why stick with only two-dimensional artwork? Origami, the historic Japanese art of folding paper, is an enjoyable, educational and relatively mess-free kids craft idea and activity for both grown-ups and kids of many ages. Tons of books on the topic can be found to purchase, as well as through your public library, and do not forget about the plethora of online sources (we like Origami Resource Center and Origami Fun). So what can you do with these origami masterpieces as soon as they are created? Clear off a tabletop, fireplace mantle or windowsill and create a fun and colorful arrangement for everyone to see and enjoy. Add string and dangle a bunch of origami items from the ceiling for an impromptu mobile and art installation. Even promote recycling with your kids through the use of previous paper for the project!

Abstract canvas artwork

Do you remember that episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 where she took the kids to an art studio to create large-scale abstract canvas art pieces? Kate was ready to pick colors of acrylic paint that went together with her home’s color decor, and the kids got an entire array of tools to use to paint with, from brushes, to tin foil, to sponges, to tissue paper and more. Only your creativeness is your limit — let the kids go free and you’ll have complete art that matches the colors used to decorate your home that might rival these of a contemporary art museum! Tip: the bigger the canvas, the more like an actual piece of art it can come to feel like! Though the canvases can be your largest purchase, watch out for art store sales, and begin accumulating the tools to make this amazing piece of art now! Or search for comparable businesses that have packages just like the one within this episode and have them clean up the mess! Along with original artwork shops, there are locations online to search for offers on artwork supplies (we like Utrecht Art Supplies).

Graphic prints

This kids craft idea is all the rage for contemporary art lovers. Why spend tons of cash on them when you and your kids can produce them for as a very kid-friendly arts and crafts activity? Creating stamps is a time-honored kids craft mission, and there isn’t any reason why this artwork type can’t be transformed right into a hip project that you’re going to like to see on your walls in your home. There are tons of various and easy methods to make your own personal stamps (we love the great kids craft idea in this Apartment Therapy article and the traditional potato stamp suggested on ehow.com). Let kids select the colors and arrangements for the artwork that is fun, and feel free to recommend a couple of compositional adjustments for the art that can seem like a professional print created by a graphic designer.

So what do you think? Are these great kids craft ideas? Have you tried any of these before or will you try some in the future? Let us know below in the comment section.

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Is my Monster Wreath a Pinterest win or Pinterest fail?

Recently, I saw a pin on Pinterest from Baby Rabies that showcased a Tulle Monster Wreath tutorial.

Like all modern moms, I decided to try my hand at something I found on Pinterest to see how it might turn out and also thought it might be something fun to do with the kids. So, I took a shot at it.

While working on this craft project, I found that my kids (ages 6 yrs., 3 yrs., and 9 months) lost interest quickly. However, I was determined to make it work and kept at it. Overall, it took an hour or two to put together and it is something that we can now leave on our door during October, adding to our other festive decorations we have out front.

Here’s what some of my Facebook friends had to say about it:

[block_quote cite=’- Rebecca T.’] Turned out great! [/block_quote] [block_quote cite=’- Jenna K.’] Love this! [/block_quote] [block_quote cite=’- Anonymous’] It looks like a deformed Muppet, but I think it looks better than the original. [/block_quote]

So, what do you think? Is this a Pinterest win or a Pinterest fail? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment below.

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Kidgits Club “Dino Days” at Meadowood Mall on Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 11:00AM.

This Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 11:00AM until 12:00PM Meadowood Mall will host an event through Simon Mall’s Kidgit Club®. The event is called, “Dino Days”.

There will be many prehistoric activities:

• crafts
• Coloring
• Games
• A dino photo opportunity
• Pin the head on the dinosaur
• Decorate your own car sun visor
• Reassemble your own set of Dino bones
• Loads of Dinosaur coloring and activity sheets
• And a prize “Summer Fun Package” giveaway drawing that includes:
  • 4 sand pails
  • 4 sand shovels
  • 2 sand castle molds
  • And 2 sand sifters

Additionally, your kids can spin the wheel to select their choice of Dino Mask!

Come on out and enjoy the fun!

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July is here and the heat of the summer marches on. Here are some fun activities to inspire your summer.

Well, July is here and this Friday is July 4th… Independence Day. For us, here at Windy Pinwheel, the first half of the year really flew by. With the heat of the Summer in full swing, we thought we would share some great ideas for fun Summer activities found throughout the internet… well mostly Pinterest of some things to do this July 4th and beyond.

July 4th in Reno, Sparks and Lake Tahoe, Nevada

First, we would like you to take a look bring some previous articles that we published last year around this time discussing the many things there are to do in the area on the July 4th Independence Day holiday, here and if you’re interested in a day trip to Lake Tahoe, please take a look at our write-up about where to go from a local’s perspective.

A summer treat

Have you ever had a root beer float? How about a root beer float popsicle? Well, now you can make your own. Find out how at Raining Hot Coupons.

I’m finished swimming, where can I hang and dry my swimsuit?

With Summer comes the unavoidable time for swimming, spalshing, and water play. So, where do you dry your swimsuit? Have no fear, this DIY project will set your mind at ease and bring a decorative element to your towel rack for all things swim and water-related. Learn how to make this craft at A Turtle’s Life for Me.

July 4th activities

• Over at Sophie’s World find out about some adventurous ways to have a fourth of July picnic.
• What Rose Knows shares with us how to create a beautiful patriotic-themed basket for hosting any dining experience during the fourth.
• I Love to Create brings back the 70’s the American way with their version of a DIY tie-dye red, white and blue shirt.

We hope these activies and other ideas inspire you this summer to keep cool and have a wonderful Independence Day holiday.

What’s your favorite article we shared with you in this post? Share by leaving a comment below.

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For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

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