Best Toys for Toddlers

Back to Wish You a Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I know many of you are wondering where I dissapeared so I just wanted to post shortly that I'm more than fine just a little bit over-busy with a little bundle of joy that was born at the end of October! :) Baby girl's name is Izabela and she turned 2 months today, on Christmas. You can all imagine how much I'm enjoying a newborn! Specially all those face expressions when she's sleeping! She even laughs out loud in her sleep! :) A little bit more trouble I'm having in spending enough time with her big sister... But it will all come to place soon, I hope. :)

Anyways, I do plan to come back and start posting regulary (as possible) in January.... But until then.....

I wish you all Merry Christmas!

Hope you get to spend warm and fuzy day with your family and friends!

(Just don't eat too much! ;)

And see you around here in a New Year!

Just a quick update... All frozen here til September 1st!

2011-08-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Just posting to tell that I'll be away until September 1st. No posts, no updates, nothing will happen here, on Facebook or Twitter.... ;)

High paw from last Friday will be open until September 1st so you're free to add your links until then.

Need a break and this is it... ;)

Hope you all have great rest of the August!

And see you back here on September 1st!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-08-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw (and make sure to check the rest if you missed it before!):

Mixed up animals from the Seeds Network

Cool ice art by Mom to 2 Little Posh Divas

Baloon collage by Creatiivty My Passion

Hand art by Smiling Like Sunshine

REMINDER!

ONLY ONE DAY LEFT!

ENTER:

13 blogs - 13 giveaways - 13 winners 
13 boredom busters for your kids!

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Summer Play Inspiration - Play with seeds and tiny treasures

2011-08-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

This week, in our Wednesday's Share & Play day on Facebook, we invited everyone to share their ideas and posts about creative play with seeds and tiny treasures from nature! Here you'll find round up of these ideas along with links to inspiration post so you can have some buggy fun with your kids!

Creating impressions by Paint, Cut, Paste

Interesting things from nature by Paint, Cut, Paste

Lentil picture by Creatiivty My Passion

Medicine wand by Paint, Cut, Paste

Seed collage by The Seeds Network

a-maize-ing necklace by Paint, Cut, Paste

Creating nature bracelets for walk hunt by the Seeds Network

How to grow beans by Leptir Montessori Blog

(from same blog:

Pairs - plant and seeds

Sorting fruits by the number of seeds)

Sunflower wall hanging by Creatiivty My Passion

Paper plate sunflowers by the Seeds Network

Pinecone turkey by What I Live For

Pinecone fairies by Paint Cut Paste

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

rocks

twigs and branches

shells

flowers and plants

creating art outdoors

exploring bugs

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page! 

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play 

-

Fairies!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-08-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw (and make sure to check the rest if you missed it before!):

Fun with pool noodles by Mama Pea Pod

Nature shirts by Mommy Montage

Touch and feel ABCs by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Spinning spider web by Creatiivity My Passion

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event! CLOSED!

2011-08-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Winner is:

Jodie from The Parke Family!

We have gathered 13 kids friendly blogs to come up with simple crafty kits for children aged 2-6! Each and every of these blogs host their own giveaways and you're welcome to enter which ever you think your child would enjoy (or you can enter them all!). Link to participating blogs can be found at the bottom, right after you check (and enter) our giveaway!

As our giveaway for Trace & Color Thank You Card Kit couple weeks back has been quite successful, we've decided to put together another set and give it away to one lucky little winner! If you haven't seen our previous post about this cards, here is a little preview:

Directions I've given to my daughter to complete this project were very simple:

- use dark (black, blue, green) markers to trace the letters and images

- when tracing letters, draw lines from up to down and from left to right

- color images in which ever color you like!

Here is her hard at work:

And here are 3 finished cards:

Now onto a giveaway! 

We are giving away full set of Trace & Color Thank You Cards which includes all from the picture (set of 10 precut cards with envelopes, set of 12 felt tip pens and couple glitter glue pens for additional sparkle!):

To enter (mandatory!):

- tell us how old is your child (grandchild) and for which occasion you would use these cards! (Please leave your mail address if you don't have it enabled on your profile).

Bonus entries:

- Follow us via Google Friend Conect (1 entry)

- Subscribe by mail or follow us via RSS (1 entry each)

- Follow Best Toys for Toddlers on Facebook - leave your username (1 entry)

- Follow @BestToddlerToys on Twitter - leave your username (1 entry)

Open WORLDWIDE. Giveaway ends August 13th at 11:59pm. Winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on this blog as well as emailed. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Email address must be in at least one comment or visible on your profile to win. 

Good luck and visit the other giveaways in this awesome event: 

Win Toys for Tots! And Older Kids Too! ;)

2011-07-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Today's post will be a bit different than usual Win Toys for Tots! posts. Today, we would like to remind you that tomorrow morning will officially begin Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event with 13 participating kids friendly blogs! Each blog will offer a crafty kit for a lucky child! You can enter which ever interests you or you can enter them all!

List of participating blogs to look out at:

Summer Play Inspiration - Exploring Bugs

2011-07-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

This week, in our Wednesday's Share & Play day on Facebook, we invited everyone to share their ideas and posts about exploring bugs! Here you'll find round up of these ideas along with links to inspiration post so you can have some buggy fun with your kids!

Mini beasts hunt by NurtureStore

Backyard bug hunt by Go Explore Nature

Cicada exoskeleton science by Mama Smiles

Follow ant trail by Go Explore Nature

Bug's camuflage by Mama Smiles

Tadpol terrarium by Messy Kids

Growing ladybugs by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Growing butterflies by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Montessori Inspired Bug Learning my Living Montessori Now

Life circle of the butterfly by Living Montessori Now

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

rocks

twigs and branches

shells

flowers and plants

creating art outdoors

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page! 

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play 

-

Seeds & Tiny Treasures!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-07-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw (and make sure to check the rest if you missed it before!):

Art smock in a pinch tutorial by A Mama's Two Cents Worth

Desert island pretend play by Sun Hat & Wellie Boots

Laundry basket pirate boat by Jada Roo Can Do

DIY Frugal Water Table Fun by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Homemade Toys for Toddlers - Easy Book of Mazes Plus Extras

2011-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

As your toddler turns 3, he / she is ready to work on some simple mazes that will help with problem solving but also with writing skills - tracing the paths are great early exercises for writing. This post holds couple ideas how to have fun with mazes: creating reusable book of mazes (wipe and write books), links to simple mazes online, plus links to couple ideas how to make 3D mazes!

To create write and wipe book of mazes you will need:
- binder
- protective sheets
- dry erase markers
- printable mazes (links further down in this post)

Simply print mazes, place them inside protective sheets and into a binder and give child some dry erase markers to trace the paths. Wipe with clean cloth.

If you have a laminator, you could also laminate all the pages and turn them into book with some key rings like explained in the post at Ten Kids and a Dog.

Links to simple printable mazes online:

ZiggityZoom.com (scroll down)

ActivityVillage.co.uk (it's listed by themes)

dltk-kids.com

NorthPole.com

DisneyClips.com

Few other fun ideas with mazes from around the web:

Maze inside CD case from No Time for Flash Cards

CD case fimo mazes by Bloesem Kids

Pinball / marble maze from Irresistable Ideas for Play Based Learning

Marbe-lous Maze by FamilyFun.com

How you can save some money:

Use pages with mazes from kid's magazines, activity books and coloring books! Either cut them out and place them into protective sheets to make them reusable, or scan and print them before placing them into protective sheets! This will be great money saver if you have more than one kid! Than you can use same mazes to place into each of their Books of mazes!

Few easy activity book recommendations you can use and reuse as suggested in this post:

Great Online Resources: SenTeacher.org

2011-07-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this resource by pure luck looking for a way to create matching (memory) cards and finding loads of other resources I can use for learning fun with my toddler.

I ended creating very comprehensive set of animal matching cards and now I have set of domestic animals (adult), domestic animals - babies and wild animals. I plan to create bug set and sea animals as well. But you can use this site to create matching photo cards of just about anything - food, plants, veggies, landmarks, seasons, etc.

Other resources I also used with my toddler are:

- letter mash

- graphs

- handwriting worksheets

But they have so much more! Visit SenTeacher.org and check them yourself! And, if you can, stop back and share what you found the most useful! :)

Win Toys for Tots!

2011-07-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

Here is our pick of open giveaways for this week (we listed info about the toy / book, blog running the giveaway and end date):

Alphabet Matcher and Word Bulider games hosted by Simple (8/06)

Wisheroo Park giveaway hosted by Mommy Katie (7/29)

Little Five Stars Children Books (winners pick) hosted by Mama's Passions (8/08)

Early Learning Card Games hosted by Life with Two Boys (7/30)

Little Artist Cover hosted by Mama's Passions (8/02)

Schleicht Cat Scenery Pack hosted by Mom's Focus on Cyber World (8/04)

Don't forget!

We'll start with Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event on August 1st! We have 13 blogs participating in this event and each and every one of them is preparing fun packs for your kids you can win!

Each of these blogs has tons of ideas for kid's activities, games and crafts on their blogs so check them, follow them and come back on August 1st to enter giveaways for a chance to win these craft packs! :)

PS. If you want to join us and throw away your own Crafty Kits 4 Kids kit for event, add link to your blog in the linky and you'll get a mail! Only couple hours left to join us! :)

Summer Play Inspiration - Creating Art Outdoors

2011-07-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

You can bring art outside during the summer!

Even if it's simple coloring or drawing, changing the space in which art takes place will make it all new and exciting for kids! This week, in our Wednesday's Share & Play day on Facebook, we invited everyone to share their ideas and posts about making art outside! After all, we should take advantage of beautiful weather and try out some more messy art forms outside of our living areas! (Less stressful for parents too! ;) We had great response and tons of ideas were shared and this post will present them all so you can recreate them with your own kids! :)

Setting Up Art Area Outside

Messy summer fun by The Ramblings and Adventures of a S.A.H.M.

Pretend play: art colony by Strašilo

Creating family portraits by Paint Cut Paste

Birdhouse painting by Paint Cut Paste

Painting outdoors

Painting on windows (and cleaning them!) by hands on: as we grow

Sun prints by Paint Cut Paste

Splat painting with balls by Putti Prapancha

Slide painting with balls by Putti Prapancha

Spray painting for toddlers by Sun Hats & Wellie Boots

Spray painting on fabric by Putti Prapancha

Splat art by Putti Prapancha

Painting seashells by Paint Cut Paste

Sidewalk & Chalk

Homemade sidewalk paint by hands on: as we grow

Sidewalk storytelling by Strašilo

Sidewalk paint in squeezing bottles by Putti Prapancha

Creating Sculptures Outside

Balancing Firewood Sculptures by hands on: as we grow

Forest model by Paint Cut Paste

Weaving by Sun Hats & Wellie Boots

Sand casting at the beach by Paint Cut Paste

Mosaic tile by Sun Hats & Wellie Boots

Garden mosaic stepping stone by Paint Cut Paste

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

rocks

twigs and branches

shells

flowers and plants

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page!

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play

Exploring:

Bugs and Tiny Creatures Outside!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-07-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw (and make sure to check the rest if you missed it before!):

Monster shootout from What I live for

Easy handprint fish from Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Sculptures and geometry with packing peanuts by Creatiivty My Passion

Repurposing dry play doh for mosaics by Putti Prapacha

And some great reading recommendations:

Conflict resolution tips by mom

12 fun stamping ideas

And a reminder.... We're still open for applications if you want to join our Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway event! Click on button to learn more:

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event - Applications - Join us!

2011-07-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

We are organizing giveaway event that will take place all over the web in between August 1st - 13th! Event has been named Crafty Kits 4 Kids because this is exactly what every participating blog will give away - craft kits kids can use at home to help us parents get rid of their "I'm bored!" routine! :)

If you want to join us and host a giveaway, there are few things to keep in mind:

- all of the craft kits should be made by you (bloggers) - get into your stash of crafty things and put together a little package that can be put together into finished craft!

- all the giveaways should be international and every blogger is responsible for shipping the prize

What you should do RIGHT NOW?

1. Link your blog in linky down bellow

2. Contact me through mail on besttoddlertoys@yahoo.com and you'll get few guidelines how it will all go down so we have unified approach on all participating blogs

Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event will take place between August 1st - 13th.

Winners should be drawn on August 14th!

Join us and link up! :)

(It might take some time for link to appear!)

Win Toys for Tots!

2011-07-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here you'll find a links to open giveaways for toys (and books) for toddlers and preschool aged kids. We'll try to list giveaways that are both age appropriate and with low entries so you have bigger chance to win!

Here is our pick of open giveaways for this week (we listed info about the toy / book, blog running the giveaway and end date):

Discovery Bay Games hosted by Beautifully Bella Faith (7/24)

Crayon wallet hosted by Magical Memories (7/26)

Busy bugs Learning Set hosted by Children Teaching Mama (7/25)

Powercape hosted by Life With 2 Boys (7/28)

Play doh flip & serve breakfast set hosted by Have Sippy Willy Travel (7/27)

Mealtime book hosted by Toddler Tales by Mommy (7/22)

Team Umizoomi - preschool math kit hosted by Simple (7/29)

Have fun and good luck! :)

Summer Play Inspiration - Play with Flowers and Plants

2011-07-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

This week's Share & Play on our Facebook page (every Wednesday with a new theme) brought lots of wonderful ideas how to use and reuse natural finds like flowers, plants and parts of plants for fun and learning playtime to lives of our tots! Here are collected all the links to these posts and we surely hope you'll have lots of fun recreating these activities with your toddlers at home!

Flowers

Flower art box by The Artful Parent

Suggestions and guide to Drying Flowers by PlanetPals.com

Dandelion picking by Hands on: as we grow

Creating butterflies garden by Sun Hat & Wellie Boots

Sorting flowers by Leptir Montessori Blog

Color walk by Living Montessori Now

Plants

Making art from nature finds by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Fun art by Putti Prapancha

Woodland people by Red Ted Art

also check:

Leaf family by Putti Prapancha

Natural faces from Putti Prapancha

Using plants in recreating desert by Playful Learners

Making sunflower print and natural dye by Sun Hats & Wellie Boots

Growing beans by Leptir Montessori Blog

Fun with sunflower seeds by Leptir Montessori Blog

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

rocks

twigs and branches

shells

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page!

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play - Making Art Outdoors!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-07-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw (and make sure to check the rest if you missed it before!):

Toilet paper roll zoo animals by Red Ted Art

Rainbow fish by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Styrofoam plate mosaics by Mommy Labs

Sidewalk chalk storytelling time by Strašilo

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Homemade Toys for Toddlers - Recycle Dry Markers to New Icy Watercolors!

2011-07-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

I know you have dry markers around somewhere! Well, if you have kids, you surely have plenty of these! Somehow, no matter how often I repeat: "Close your markers when you're done, they will get dry!", my girl seams to forget to do it almost every time! :) So, I've decided to reuse some of our felt tip markers to make some watercolors! And freeze them for additional fun! It's summer after all!

What you'll need:
- old dry markers
- plastic cups (one for each color)
- popsicle sticks (one for each color)
- water
- freezer! ;)
- later on, I realized I'll need precision knife too... read it down...

What you do is:
- take apart markers and get the inserts with color
- pour water in each of the plastic cups
- cut the marker insert open with precision knife (it will help color to blend with water faster, we tried with plastic wrap on and it took ages!)
- place insert in cu with water and stir
- do it all over again with all the other markers you intended for this purpose
- you'll end up with something like this:

CAUTION: I've used some really cheap markers we received as a gift and they were not washable! If you have markers that are not washable, make sure to protect working surface as well as your own hands! I got stained with color all over my hands and now I have multicolor nails! ;)

After you're done with mixing colors, place them on the tray or directly in a freezer (if you don't have enough spare space like I usually don't!). After approximately 1 - 1,5 hours add popsicle sticks in each of the cups (or wait until water is half frozen).

I have left them over the night in our freezer and here is how they turned out:

As you can see, it's leaving really soft, watercolor like lines. Now, the biggest problem with these might be... will you have enough paper for all the artwork your kids will make with these new "old" art supplies?!

Here is one of ours finished... think it will be wonderful for wrapping paper or some background scrapbooking! ;)

Win Toys for Tots! And winner!

2011-07-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

And last thing we need to do is pronounce a winner for a giveaway that ended yesterday.

Winner of the Trace and Color Thanks You Card set is:

Congratulations Lauralee! Hope your kids will have fun tracing and coloring these thank you cards! :)

Summer Play Inspiration - Play with Shells

2011-07-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Again this week we had another Share & Play on our Facebook page Wednesday fun sharing day and the theme was summer fun playing with shells - so, if you have some laying around your home or you're planning to go to the vacation this year somewhere near beach, hope these will come handy! As usual, many wonderful ideas were shared and today, we'll share these ideas with all of you here so you can take a look and recreate some of these ideas at home with your own toddlers:

Shells in fairy garden by Nurture Store

Adding shells to nature baskets by Nurture Store

Lots of fun ideas with shells over at PlanetPals.com

Painting shells at Paint Cut Paste

Shell garland from Paint Cut Paste

Beach treasure mobile also from Paint Cut Paste

Creating fish pool with shells over at Creatiivity My Passion

Using shells as counters (and other Montessori ideas) by Living Montessori Now

Land art by Smiling Like Sunshine

And check

Ocean in the bag by Seeds Network

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

rocks

twigs and branches

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page!

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play - Leaves, Plants & Flowers!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-07-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

There are some week's when it's really hard to pick just few play ideas suggested by our linky contributors and this was surely one of those! If I could feature as many as I wanted, this would be one really, really long post! And, at the end, I ended up with 7 ideas to feature! Wow! :)

From the last week's High paw (and make sure to check the rest if you missed it before!):

Balloon sprinkler pinata by Jada Roo Can Do

Outdoor kitchen by The Imagination Tree

Scarf catchers by Zella Said Purple

Making art in the rain by Local Fun for Kids

Playdoh dress up by Inspiration Surrounds Creativity Abounds

Pre-sew activities by age by Putti Prapancha 

Importance of sensory play by Mommy Labs

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Great Online Resources: 1+1+1=1

2011-07-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

If you're new to the concept of spending time with your toddlers trying to implement some fun ways to learn basic motor skills, letters or simply don't know where to begin, 1+1+1=1 is a great starting point!

Site that started out as a homeschool blog, over last couple years has grown to really comprehensive, well organized resource for both toddlers and preschoolers. Run by Carisa who is a former teacher, this blog shares pretty much everything needed to get going - from ideas for tot tools, planning time with tots, printable packs specially put together to match toddler's abilities and comprehension and so much more.

Inside this blog is also weekly post with linky - TOT SCHOOL - where parents of other tots can join the fun and enjoy the benefits of sharing ideas and resources with other parents who also happen to have and teach tiny tots.

For the end of this short overview, I would like to quote Clarisa: "Tot School is fun. If it becomes un-fun, something is wrong! I personally do not believe in forcing early learning, I only believe inexposing. Some of my "best" ideas are rejected by my tot :), she knows best when it comes to Tot School!"

Win Toys for Tots!

2011-07-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here you'll find a links to open giveaways for toys (and books) for toddlers and preschool aged kids. We'll try to list giveaways that are both age appropriate and with low entries so you have bigger chance to win!

Here is our pick of open giveaways for this week(we listed info about the toy / book, blog running the giveaway and end date):

Hoot Owl Hoot game hosted by Code Name: Mama (7/23)

Flightless Goose book hosted by Living at the Whitehead's Zoo (7/7)

101 Offline Activities You Can Do With Your Child book at Bless Their Hearts Mom (7/15)

Bob Books hosted by Mom to 2 Posh Little Divas (7/21)

Wooden Matching Game hosted by Milk n' Honey Learn and Grow (7/8)

Animal Alphabet Blocks hosted by Beautifully BellaFaith (7/11)

Build a Dream Playhouse hosted by Cake Mom (7/12)

Piggy Wiggy hosted by Every Day Products & More (7/18)

Animal Alphabet Match Up Game hosted by Stuff Parents Need (7/11)

Enter our giveaway here:

Trace % Color Thank You Cards Kit

(set of 10 cards with envelopes,

set of felt tip pens

and couple glitter glue pens)

Ends 7/9 WORLDWIDE

Summer Play Inspiration - Play with Twigs and Branches

2011-07-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

This week's topic for Share & Play on our Facebook page was summer fun playing with twigs and branches - something you can find everywhere in the nature, making this medium available and cheap for crafts and arts. Many wonderful ideas were shared and today, we'll share these ideas with all of you here so you can take a look and recreate some of these ideas at home with your own toddlers:

Stick men by Red Ted Art

Creating pictures with leaves and sticks by Putti Prapancha

Tin can forest by Hands on: as we grow

Twig vases by Paint Cut Paste

Driftwood mobiles by Paint Cut Paste (3 versions!)

Organic art by Living Montessori Now

Bird Nests by Seeds Idea Network

Gratitude tree by Nurture Store

Fairy Loom by Paint Cut Paste

Fairy garden by Nurture Store

Additional ideas by Rachele from Messy Kids who says: " Branches always become swords in our household. I personally prefer painting with them :) Also roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over a campfire."

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

rocks

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page!

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play - Shells!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-07-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw:

Spin Salad Art Patriotic Garland by Adventures of the Smith Family

Wacky Wigs tutorial from Jellyfish Jelly

Water balloon painting by My Oatmeal Kisses

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Homemade Toys for Toddlers - Write and Wipe Book of Shape Monsters

2011-06-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

Most of the kids like monsters, specially if they are cute and harmless! :) This simple mini book is created for those toddlers (mine included) and it's meant to assist them in recognizing simple shapes in fun and easy way.

Here are the samples of few shape monsters my daughter did when she was 2 year old:

I've just created 2 more of these books to be sent out as gifts and here is how they look put together:

What you'll need to make these simple write & wipe monster books:

- printable (linked just bellow)

- 3 sheets of paper

- printer

- laminator and laminating pouches

- hole puncher

- page binding rings or pipe cleaners (I was out of page binding rings)

Simply print out, laminate, cut out pages, punch holes on the top and bind together using metal rings or pipe cleaners. Give your child dry erase marker to make their own shape monsters! In process, teach them each of the shapes! ;) Mixing learning and fun! :)

Book of Shape Monsters

Speaking of laminators, the best and my personal favorite laminator is currently 64% OFF on Amazon! It's reduced from $80.49 to ONLY $29.24! If you thought of getting yourself one, this is the time! :) Click on the image to check details on Amazon:

Parents = Toy Experts. Meet Michelle from A Mommy's Adventures

2011-06-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

This week we're hosting another teacher turned stay at home mom. For our previous interviews, you might want to dive in into our archives and collect tips and ideas to help you out with your own toddlers!

Share a story about Michelle.

Here is a funny story about me and how expectations can really change your taste for something!!

When I was teaching one very generous mother brought in bagels for all the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. I was SO excited because I love bagels! I was even more excited because this mom was extra sweet and got all different types of cream cheese and I love bagels with specialty cream cheese even more. Of course my favorite type of cream cheese is Strawberry Cream Cheese which caught my eye right away. I spread the yummy pink cream cheese all over my Cinnamon Raisin Bagel and brought it up to my classroom to enjoy it. After I had everything set up for the day I finally sat down to take a bite of my favorite bagel combination a yummy Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Strawberry Cream Cheese...and it was HORRIBLE! Instead of sweet strawberry cream cheese my mouth was filled with an unexpected salty taste. To my surprise I had covered my bagel in Lox Cream Cheese, which would have been delicious (well maybe not on a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel) if that is what I had been prepared for, but instead surprised me! At first I thought the cream cheese had gone bad, until I realized what it really was. My 4th graders and all of my friends had a great big laugh at my bagel fiasco that day. In fact whenever I get a bagel my husband will still tease me about it. So there is a completely random story about ME :0)

What things you learned as an elementary teacher helped you with your own kids the most?

As an elementary school teacher I learned that all children are different and learn at their own pace and in their own ways. As a mother I try to give each of my children opportunities to learn and explore so that they can discover new things in the way that best suits them. I also learned to be patient, if at first they don't succeed try and try again. This was helpful in everything from feeding and trying first foods to learning colors and numbers to now even beginning to read. Learning is a process that takes time and exposure and should be fun!

Share with us how you came up with an idea for StART. And why you picked co-relation between story and art?

I LOVE doing art projects with children and I love reading books. I came up with the idea for stART when I noticed that many of the projects or activities we were doing were related to a book that we were reading or have read. So it kind of just came naturally.

Keeping kids, specially younger, focused on a project can be tempting sometimes. Any tips how to make crafting successful, fun and completed with toddlers?

I find that the fewer expectations that I have for the completed project the more successful it is. When working with toddlers more open-ended projects that focus on a process rather than a product are often the most fun and rewarding. Giving your toddler more control over their project and understanding that they may have a much different plan than you originally set out is important to keep in mind. I love setting out paint and brushes and letting them create, or glue and collage materials and seeing what happens. If you use washable paints, markers and glue then you really don't have to worry because the mess with be able to be cleaned up with some water and soap!

What are you kids favorite toys? Or books?

My kids favorite toys are Duplos, both Emily and Juliette could spend hours building a creating with their huge collection of Duplos. They often create a structure with their Grandpa and will keep it together for the week and use it to play with their Little People (another favorite toy). Emily really likes her doll house and as she has gotten older likes setting up the rooms and making up stories with the dolls. Juliette loves to play Perfection and Zingo. Both of these games were purchased for Emily, but Juliette constantly asks to play them, and she really does play them!

Wow, trying to think of our favorite books, there are so many I could go on forever. Emily really loves to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Go Dog Go!, The Giving Tree and most recently any of the books in the Little Critter Series. Juliette loves word books. She likes to point to the pictures and say what they are. She also likes the board books by Karen Katz, such as Where is Baby's Belly Button.

Thanks Michelle for great tips!

Make sure to stop by A Mommy's Adventures blog and join in the StART project! :)

Win Toys for Tots! And winners!

2011-06-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Here you'll find a links to open giveaways for toys (and books) for toddlers and preschool aged kids. We'll try to list giveaways that are both age appropriate and with low entries so you have bigger chance to win!

Here is our pick of open giveaways for this week(we listed info about the toy / book, blog running the giveaway and end date):

Hoot Owl Hoot game hosted by Code Name: Mama (7/23)

Snowball's Antartic Adventures hosted by Just Children's Books (6/30)

Anamalz hosted by Momma in Flip Flops2 (7/8)

Alphabeastes hosted by Momma in Flip Flops2 (7/9)

ABC book of choice hosted by Two 2 Read (6/30)

What does cow say? book hosted by Brimful Curiosities (7/5)

Wizard, Pirate and Princes things to make and do book hosted by Chestnut Grove Academy (7/1)

Enter our giveaway here:

Trace % Color Thank You Cards Kit

(set of 10 cards with envelopes,

set of felt tip pens

and couple glitter glue pens)

Ends 7/9 WORLDWIDE

And last thing we need to do is pronounce couple winners for giveaways that ended yesterday.

Winner of the Handmade Felt Crown from Felted Kitten store is:

Amber!

Winner of the Monogram Tiny Tote from Willowdesign store is:

David (only dad who entered! :)

Congratulations to our winners! Check your mails and please respond with mailing address! :)

Artsy & Crafty Tots - Trace & Color Thank You Cards Giveaway! CLOSED!

2011-06-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

As a parent to a tiny tot, I'm always looking for ideas and resources for easy and simple craft and art activities that wouldn't be too hard to finish up for her and where she would feel satisfaction of the completed work. As a parent, I'm aware that toddlers don't have much patience for long projects so I try to keep it simple and easy for her. With time, as she grows up, she'll be able to participate in more complicated and challenging activities but for now, it's more important that she does things (arts and crafts) than the perfection of final result. :)

With this though on my mind, I've created serial of trace & color thank you cards that can be used for any occasions - from birthday to Thanksgiving. Simple design of images lets her use her own scribbles and doodles in the way she likes it. Here is a little preview of the cards:

Directions I've gave her to complete this project were very simple:

- use dark (black, blue, green) markers to trace the letters and images

- when tracing letters, draw lines from up to down and from left to right

- color images in which ever color you like!

Here is her hard at work:

And here are 3 finished cards:

Notice that hearts on the left picture became balloons? And that she fully colored right card in all the colors she had at hand? Kind of like patchwork! ;) With each card she became more confident when she drew her lines and it shows!

Now onto a giveaway!

We are giving away full set of Trace & Color Thank You Cards which includes all from the picture (set of 10 precut cards with envelopes, set of 12 washable felt tip pens and couple glitter glue pens for additional sparkle!):

Market value of this Trace & Color Thank You Cards Kit would be approximately around $20 but finished work of your toddlers will be PRICELESS to whom ever card will be intended! :)

To enter (mandatory!):

- tell us how old is your child (grandchild) and for which occasion you would use these cards! (Please leave your mail address if you don't have it enabled on your profile).

Bonus entries:

- Follow us via Google Friend Conect (1 entry)

- Subscribe by mail or follow us via RSS (1 entry each)

- Follow Best Toys for Toddlers on Facebook - leave your username (1 entry)

- Share this giveaway on your FB wall and leave us a link of the post(1 entry)

- Follow @BestToddlerToys on Twitter - leave your username (1 entry)

- Share following on Twitter. Come back here and leave us link to your tweet (once a day - 1 entry):

Artsy&Crafty Tots-Trace & Color Thank You Cards #giveaway @BestToddlerToys http://tinyurl.com/64nap2r #thankyou #ece #thanksgiving #contest #win

Open WORLDWIDE. Giveaway ends July 9th at 11:59pm. Winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on this blog as well as emailed. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Email address must be in at least one comment or visible on your profile to win. 

Good Luck and Enjoy Playing with Your Tots! :)

Summer Play Inspiration - Play with Rocks

2011-06-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

This week's topic for Share & Play on our Facebook page was summer fun playing with rocks. There were many great suggestions how to turn this everyday, everywhere available natural item in creative ways to make playtime with toddlers more interesting and fun. Today, we'll share these ideas with all of you here so you can take a look and recreate some of these ideas at home with your own toddlers!

Painting rocks can turn them to:

Little works of art (suggested by Planetpals.com)

Nursery rhyme prompts (idea shared by Red Ted Art)

Ghost stones (shared by Red Ted Art)

Pet stones (idea shared by Paint Cut Paste)

Little ladybugs (shared by Mom to 2 Posh Divas)

Blarney stones for St.Patric's day (shared by Paint Cut Paste)

Stones turned little gifts, usable objects or everyday treasures ideas:

Tissue rock paperweight (idea by Planetpals.com)

Stone plant markers (idea by Red Ted Art)

Thumbprint rock magnets (shared by Paint Cut Paste)

Rock picture holders (idea by Paint Cut Paste)

For more summer play inspiration check out earlier round up posts with play ideas with natural mediums:

water

sand and dirt

And, join us next Wednesday on our Facebook page!

We'll have new topic:

Share & Play - Twigs & Branches!

HIGH PAW - Show us your best!

2011-06-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

High paw for Toddlers in our lives! :)

Add your posts, articles, etc. about any activities you would like to share with others! It could be about games, activities, toys, books, etc. Only one rule: It has to be age appropriate for toddlers! 

Each week, we'll pick couple of last week's additions to linky and feature it here! We'll also share most (if not all!) with our followers on Facebook and Twitter!

From the last week's High paw:

Ladybug clock by Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Toilet art by Messy Kids

Woodland people by Red Ted Art

Mud paintings by Camp Slop

Now, show us what you did last week with your toddlers! :)

PS. It would be great if you could use our button on your site or post and help us bring more parents to share here with us!

Homemade Toys for Toddlers - Mini Traffic Signs

2011-06-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

Most of the toddlers love playing with little cars, trucks, trains and other vehicles. Either it's a free play or incorporated into another activity (like building a city scene or such), they love things that move! And to make things more realistic and slowly introduce learning meaning of traffic signs to them, you might consider purchasing them a set of toy traffic signs to accompany their vehicles and mats. If you want, you can make them! Not hard at all! And really inexpensive! :) Here is a little tutorial to guide you through all the steps!

DIY Toy Tutorial

Mini Traffic Signs

What you'll need (supplies):
- 1 piece of white cardstock
- 1 piece of plain printer paper
- 40-50 toothpicks
- craft glue (or any other multipurpose glue)
- glue gun and glue sticks
- 40-50 smallest coins you can find around

Step 1.

Print out a set of traffic signs from online on cardstock and cut it out! I've used this printable but you can use which ever suits you. Just spend a minute or two on Google search.

Step 2:

Use craft glue to glue cut out sign to paper and place toothpick in between cardstock and plain paper. Press hard for glue to spread and stick to toothpick. We don't want toothpick to fall out.

Cut out each of the signs once more and give additional pressure to the paper and cardstock to make sure they are glued right around toothpick. You should get something like this:

Step 3:

Prepare glue gun. While you're waiting for a gun to become ready, take scissors and cut out spikes from toothpicks (bottom part) - we need them as flat on the bottom as possible. Then put small coins on flat surface (I've used cutting board from kitchen so I wouldn't damage my table) and put as much glue to the surface to form a sphere (like on the picture bellow). Give it few seconds, then place traffic sign at the middle of the coin. Hold it as straight as you can until you see that glue changed color (became blurred). At that point, you can place it aside and continue with next sign. After a while, I managed to get into a roll of putting together 4 signs at the same time. It just needs a bit of practice. :)

If you don't have glue gun, or don't want to use it for this project, alternative could be to use cut out styrofoam cubes and stick and glue traffic signs in the middle of them. But since these traffic signs are really very light, I wanted to make base heavier and more stabile.

Finished set of traffic signs:

All ready to regulate that traffic jam that is about to happen on our play pretend streets! :)

Would you be making one for your tots? Or you have some alternative? We would love to hear all ideas!

Great Online Resources: Making Learning Fun

2011-06-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

There are so many resources online I visit on regular basis each time I need ideas or finished resources to print and use with my toddler. One of such valuable and often visited resources is surely Making Learning Fun!

This site is packed up with loads of free ideas and printables, including:

- alphabet pages - dot-to-dot pages, abc cards, tracing pages, coloring pages, letter assessment pages, etc.

- math pages - lacing cards, and so many great math ideas (our favorites are highway cards)

- trace and color pages

- scissor practice pages

- roll and color pages

- felt board patterns

- cut and paste crafts

- color by number pages

This is only small bit of what Making Learning Fun has to offer! Make sure to bookmark this valuable resource to visit often! :)

Get Your Tot a Shopping Tote - Quick Giveaway! CLOSED!

2011-06-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Toddlers love to play pretend grocery store and they love to follow you around when you're shopping? I know they do! My girl does that too! :)

We have a reusable canvas tiny tote to give away to one of the lucky tots thanks to our sponsor Willowdesign store on Zazzle!

DISCOUNT CODE:

And it's on sale right now! You can purchase any of the bags from Willowdesign store and use code SUNLOVINSALE to gain 40% OFF any of the bags from the store! Ends this Sunday!

Now for a giveaway!

You can win one of the monogram tiny tote for your toddler customized with child's first name initial! And you pick the color from available (See here!)

To enter (mandatory!):

- tell us who would get this tote and which color you would pick! (Please leave your mail address if you don't have it enabled on your profile).

Bonus entries:

- Like Willowdesign on Facebook (2 entries)

- Follow us via Google Friend Conect (1 entry)

- Subscribe by mail or follow us via RSS (1 entry each)

- Follow Best Toys for Toddlers on Facebook - leave your username (1 entry)

- Share this giveaway on your FB wall and leave us a link of the post(1 entry)

- Follow @BestToddlerToys on Twitter - leave your username (1 entry)

- Share following on Twitter. Come back here and leave us link to your tweet (once a day - 1 entry):

Toddler Tiny Tote with Monogram #giveaway at @BestToddlerToys http://tinyurl.com/3co9ok5 #pretendplay #ece #toddlers #contest #zazzle #win

Open for US only. Giveaway ends June 25th at 11:59pm. Winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on this blog as well as emailed. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Email address must be in at least one comment or visible on your profile to win. 

Good Luck and Enjoy Playing with Your Tots! :)

Win Toys for Tots!

2011-06-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here you'll find a links to open giveaways for toys (and books) for toddlers and preschool aged kids. We'll try to list giveaways that are both age appropriate and with low entries so you have bigger chance to win!

Here is our pick of open giveaways for this week(we listed info about the toy / book, blog running the giveaway and end date):

Step 2 Pin Pals Bowling Set hosted by Frugality is Free (7/18)

Pet Cakes hosted by Annies Home (6/27)

Best Pals hosted by Giveaway Blogdom (6/30)

Thomas the Tank Mega Blocks Set hosted by Giveaway Blogdom (7/2)

Chalk Mat hosted by The Handmade Expo

Veggie Tales DVD hosted by Between the Lines (6/30)

Organic cotton toy hosted by Wee Share (7/1)

Big View Bug Jars and Early Science Explorers Set hosted by the Bragging Mommy (6/29)

John Bush Children's Book hosted by Story Time Under the Stars (6/30)

Being Smart Books hosted by Frugal Family Tree (6/24)

Super Blake and Cavity Moster book hosted by Layers of Learning (7/6)

What Does Cow Say? book hosted by Brimful Curiosities (7/5)

Enter our giveaway here:

Handmade Felt Crown

from Felted Kitten

(6/25 Worldwide)

And last thing we need to do is draw a winner for Dora's Little Library that ended yesterday night.

Congratulations! Hope your grandkids will love their new books, Janet! :) You'll get mail shortly, please respond with mailing address! :)