Tag Archives: kid gifts

Kid Gifts: Target Art Supplies

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Likes, Party!, Projects, Shop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

GiftsArt supplies are one of my favorite gifts for kids.  I try to keep a supply on hand for birthday gifts and moments of desperation.  These Kid Made Modern art supplies by Todd Oldham for Target occupy a large section in our emergency party box.  The quality is great and I love the Kid Made Modern packaging and smart, thoughtful art kits.  This Construction Zone block of paper has lots of great colors and patterns and different weights of paper.  The Mini Colored Pencils are perfect for little hands and the colors are beautiful.  I recently added these paper tapes from the Target office section to our arsenal.  The tapes come in packs of four and are $4 per pack.  My kids can spend hours tearing and sticking paper tape (exhibit A here).  It is good to be prepared.

The Magic Garden

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Party!, Projects, Shop

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

MagicGarden1MagicGarden2MagicGarden3Do you remember these?  We used to get smaller versions when we were kids, but I’d never seen one quite so elaborate until I found this at Pearl River.  This Mystical Garden by Toysmith has cardboard trees, grass and a mountain to assemble before the mystery liquid is poured into the base.  (This assembly is best done by an adult).  Our crystals formed within the hour and were done growing within 10 hours.  The mountain really looked like it was growing snow and the trees bloomed cherry blossoms.  Kids should not touch the crystals or liquid, but these are pretty amazing to watch grow on a shelf.  The small price tag makes this Mystical Garden a fun party favor or add-on gift for kids.  Magic.

Animals! (or Why I Love Shleich)

22 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in Likes, Party!, Projects, Shop

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

I had forgotten how much Ada loved these Schleich animals when she was Josie’s age.  I am convinced the (very) anatomically correct creatures helped her learn animal names as some of her first words.  I like to rotate the girls’ toys and found our bag of animals at the bottom of the toy bin yesterday.  Josie spotted them immediately upon waking and was so excited.  She spent the day asking which was which and carefully putting each back on the table.  I could see connections being made between the animal photos in her books and the three-dimensional plastic versions.  (Oh the poor second child…I am sure I did this much earlier for Ada).  We usually get our animals from our friend Henry and they are one of our favorite gifts for kids.  We even made a giant ice cube full of animals for Ada’s birthday last year.  The animal iceberg floated around the pool and slowly melted to reveal new members of the menagerie.To make your own Animal Iceberg you will need:

*Plastic Animals

*Large Freezer-safe Bowl

1. Fill bowl about 1/4 full with water.

2. Place a few of the animals in water and put bowl in freezer.

3. Wait about an hour and repeat.  Freezing in layers will allow for animals to be uncovered at different times as the ice melts.

4. Float iceberg in a pool, kiddie pool, or just place outside in the sun and let your child watch the treasure emerge.

*Food coloring could be added in small amounts if you want to make some stripes.  Just be sure not to use too much with light colored animals.

Felt Alphabet Magnets

11 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in Likes, Projects, Shop

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I made these felt letters for Ada when she was just learning her alphabet.  They have strong magnets sewn inside so they can be stuck on the fridge.  Spelling out the letters of a child’s name also makes a nice gift.  You will need:

*Felt.  We used various colors of wool felt from Woolfeltcentral.com

*Embroidery Floss in contrasting color

*Stuffing

*Two or three Magnets per letter.  We used Tiny Mighties

*Glue

*Paper to make the patterns

1. Type out the alphabet in a simple font and enlarge to desired size.  Our letters are 3″ tall.  Print letters and cut out.

2.Lay paper letter pattern on top of felt and carefully cut along edges of paper to make the letter.  *You will need two- front and back for each letter.

3. Glue magnets onto the inside of the back half of the letter. Space out and use more for longer letters such as ‘M’ and fewer magnets for simple letters like ‘I’.  The magnets will be stitched inside the felt, so you don’t need much glue.

4. Place a little stuffing on top of magnets, between the two felt letter halves.  You can adjust stuffing position as you sew, and the stuffing will help prevent the strong magnets from sticking to each other.

5. Blanket stitch the two letter halves together, making sure the magnets are in the back and the face of the letter is not backwards.  Push any stray stuffing inside as you sew.

6. Allow glue to dry and then put them on the fridge!

If you aren’t feeling crafty you can buy some similar magnets here on Etsy.