DIY: Toddler Crafts Part 5

As we are nearing the end of the month I thought it was time to throw out some new toddler DIY activities!  I hope you enjoy them I have spent a lot of time scouring the Internet for some great new ideas we haven't used before.  Please feel free to submit any of your ideas that you may have for future blogs.

Rainbow Bubble Snake

Housingaforest.com

It's fun, it's easy and it's bubbles, Liam will love it!










Ingredients:
Empty Water Bottle
Duct Tape or Rubber Band
Sock
Dish Soap
Food Coloring

Directions:
Start by cutting the bottom of the water bottle off.  Next slide the sock over the bottom of the bottle. You can  use duct tape or a rubber band to secure the sock. Pour some dish soap into a shallow container with a little bit of water and gently mix.  Dip the sock covered bubble blower into the solution and gently blow.  If you want to add some color you can drop the food coloring onto the sock. 
Please remind your kids to blow air out not suck air in!  If your child sucks in, they will be eating bubbles.  Please be careful when doing this with your kids.  My kids had a blast playing with these bubble snakes.  We did not have any trouble with the kids inhaling, but I have had a few readers mention that their younger kids needed continual reminders.  The fun will quickly end if the bubbles are inhaled!

Liquid Sidewalk Chalk

Domesticcharm.blogspot.com

Sidewalk Chalk is so fun and messy for outside play, this looks like a great one to try.







Ingredients:
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Cornstarch
Muffin Tin
Food Coloring


Directions:
Mix the water and cornstarch and then pour into a muffin tin or small cups.  Add food coloring to make the colors.  Now paint.

 Homemade Lava Lamp

slsmithphotograpy.com

I LOVE lava Lamps, so this is one I definitely want to try











 
Ingredients:
Empty Water Bottle
Food Coloring
Vegetable Oil
Water
Alka Seltzer


Directions:
Fill each bottle about 2/3 with the oil.  Fill the rest of the way with water leaving about an inch of air to the top.  Add 10 drops of food coloring.  Break the Alka Seltzer into 4 pieces.  Drop the pieces in one at a time.  *Wait until the bubbles stop before adding in another piece or it will start to get cloudy.  

Pasta & Beads Bracelets

Kiwicrate.com

Yay, we can finally use our Kool-Aid Dyed Pasta for fun :)










Ingredients:
Pipe Cleaners
Pasta
Pony Beads

Directions:
Start off with a loop fastened at the bottom of the pipe cleaner there is an end to catch the beads as you work.  Bead the pipe cleaners to make their bracelets! This activity also works on fine motor skills too: fitting the beads on the pipe cleaners.  Once you are about 3/4 of the way up the pipe cleaner, take the end of the pipe cleaner through the hole to latch them together and weave the excess pipe cleaner through the last bead.

If you would like to see the past DIY activities that we have completed together, check them out here:

Penguin Activity Game

Kool-Aid Dyed Pasta

Cardboard Owls

Alphabet Train

Make Your Own Rainstorm

Orange Sugar Scrub

Meditation Bottle

The Mind of a Toddler: February 2014 Timeouts Reign Supreme

I try to keep track of some of the random Liam moments that go on in my life throughout the month!  It is great to compile them once a month to look back and laugh about all of the things that stood out with my son.  In case you don't know my son is 3 years old and a constant source of entertainment.  Here are some of the random things that came from him mind for the past month.  Enjoy!  And please feel free to comment on the moments you have experienced with your toddler(s) as well!

Just this weekend Liam put me in timeout.  I was overjoyed by this because it meant I had to go to my room...  Unfortunately my timeout was not quite the same as Liam's time out.  When Liam puts me in timeout I need to go to my room and sit on the floor..   Then Liam comes and sits on my lap and then he is not quite comfortable and if I try to get up I get told to stay in timeout...  He then goes to gets a blanket comes back to my lap and covers us up with a blanket.  I can't say that it was quite how I imagined it would go but it was definitely wonderful all the same.

Just now as I was writing Liam came out for the 20th time in his nightly routine of trying to make bedtime stretch out for as long as possible with any concocted excuse that he could come up with.  So when he asked me what I was doing I told him I was writing.  He suggested that I write about ducks...  so now I will have to find a reason to write about ducks int he near future so that I can show him the ducks that I wrote about haha.  No idea why he wants me to write about ducks....

Liam has been noticeably sweet about sharing with food this month.  The other day we were having some cheesecake and I got us two spoons and we ate half of it and put it back in the fridge.  The next day Liam went into the fridge got the cheesecake out and then went and got two spoons and gave me one and told me it was my spoon for cheesecake haha.  How nice of him to want to share something so delicious with mommy :)

Liam knelt on a block and his knee was hurt. I did the normal kissing it better routine, but apparently that wasn't enough. Instead I had a request to get the bubbles out and blow bubbles onto his knee. I of course obliged and it seemed to do the trick. Haha where does he get these ideas?

 Liam likes to play a game with Kiri (our dog) where he has one of her treats and then he runs through the house while she chases him. He was just playing this game and ran into my room and went for a slide across the floor and hit his head on my dresser. I of course saw and heard the while thing, so when Liam came to me and told me "Kiri did it" I had to try really hard not to laugh. He is very adamant that it is Kiri's fault still haha.  He ended up blaming Kiri for over a week for this incident.

Liam and I were getting ready to go for a walk when I noticed he had two container from the fridge. He was trying to bring along some ground hamburger and some sausage links. At least they were already cooked ha ha! Haha you know you live with a man when....  You never know when you might get hungry and need a snack

Earlier this month I was just reading a bedroom stalling list from a 2 year old's point of view giving pointers to other toddlers and Liam DEFINITELY picked this one up and uses it EVERY naptime and bedtime:
LESSON FIVE: BOOK NEGOTIATION
When it comes to selecting books for bedtime stories, try standing frozen in front of your bookshelf, unable to make a decision. You can also attempt to renegotiate your allotted number of books. If your parent says you can have two, ask for three. If they say three, ask for four. The important thing is to never be satisfied. Lastly, pick the longest book possible or if you are feeling extra daring, pick the book with 100 “look and see” flaps. Those things take FOREVER.
We actually have different shelves with different sizes and types of books now, depending on how long the rest of bedtime has taken, Liam is told that he may select any book from a certain shelf or shelves based on time. Luckily he is ok with this because he still has choices and rarely tries to negotiate outside of that. But the number is still a constant battle. If someone else is over reading to him (ie. auntie Shayna) he always goes for a longer book or one with lots of flaps so that he can have more of her time reading to him. I let him do this since it doesn't happen often and I think it's cute.

When Liam wants to go to the park he always tells me he wants to swing up into the sky.  He tells everyone about swinging up into the sky.  However when we go to the park he spends a total amount of 5 minutes or less on the swing and refuses to swing anymore...  I never know why he uses the swing as his reason... maybe he is just always disappointed when he gets on the swing and never actually makes it up into the sky....  Or maybe it's just easier to talk about than a sandbox or the slide...  Hmm....

I guess there were a lot of timeouts issues this month!  Liam had a dryer sheet balled up into a fist in one hand and then he was hitting his other hand which was opened saying "time out! Time out hand. No hitting!" Does it make me a bad parent if I burst out laughing haha. Never a dull moment.

From earlier this month: I get out of the shower and Liam says to me "Yay mom, you're done taking a shower!" I say "Yes I am" He then says "I eated a cookie". I ask him "Was it yummy?" He says "YES!" I ask "Did you just eat one?" He says "I eated three", happily showing me how many on his fingers..... Note to self, place the cookies higher and teach Liam more past tense words haha. I love the unabashed honesty of a 3 year old.

Liam likes to postpone bedtime for as long as possible and is always finding new reasons to stay up and get me to come into his bedroom, one night it was to keep adding pillows. By the end he had 5 pillows stacked up and was laying on top of them while wearing a knit winter hat, so I had to take a picture since it was so hilarious. As he was winding down to actually go to sleep he wanted me to put all but one pillow away and I did and said goodnight and left the room. I was in the kitchen and heard Liam crying, so I walked back to see what was wrong. All he says is "picture" through his tears. That's right my child is crying because I didn't take a picture of him with the one pillow haha, so I will have to upload them since he posed so cutely with a huge grin on his face. Gotta love parenthood.

 Liam loves getting a cakepop on our occasional Starbucks stops (ok so maybe they are more like once a week).  One day we went and got one and I handed him back his delicious treat and he said "oh boy oh boy oh boy" in glee!  Needless to say I still have yet to regret getting him one based on his happy reaction to it :)

 Liam hurt his hand, so he came up to me showed me his hand saying "Here mom, ow-wee" So I say "Oh No!" And kissed it. Then he happily bounces off to resume playing haha. The joys of motherhood

And it all started on the first day of this month: Liam and I were playing and he told me to go to timeout. At lunch I ate a carrot off of his plate and he told me to go to timeout again. We were watching Despicable Me 2 and we always talk about wanting chip hats... I told Liam I wanted a Chip Hat and he said "No I want one, timeout!" Somehow I think this has backfired on me......

If you would like to check out previous editions of The Mind of Toddler click the links:

Random Toddler Moments: January 2014

Random Toddler Moments: December 2013

Taking Credit Where Credit is Due

Breakfast Helper

Cake Pop

Airplane ride

Being silly with Mommy!

Swing time

All of the pillow

The picture he cried for me to take haha

Impish One

Weird Things For Sale on Amazon Part 4

I figured it was about that time again for some more weird things for sale on Amazon.  In this edition we will visit the realms of weirdness in pets and in social graces.  Enjoy!

Catnip Bubbles:
 This features a 4 oz bottle that claims to be organic and safe for your cat.  Real catnip is supposedly used int he formula to keep the cats interested. 

Top Reviews:
"My cat loves these bubbles. All I have to say is "Do you want bubbles?" and she comes running out from wherever she may be hiding. She meows and pounces on the bubbles. I am giving them a rating of 4 though because they smell horrible. If they drip on anything white it will turn green, but can easily be cleaned with some water and a sponge!!!!" -Jeanette Ferraro 
*I don't know if I would want something that turned things green and smelled awful....

"I wanted a safe bubble product for my year old cats. I researched the various "pet" bubbles and decided on this one based on product size, cost, and reviews. I received in timely manner in a well packaged box with clear plastic covering the entire bottle. Naturally I smelled the product and did detect a slight spicy scent but a bit of a cleaning product smell as well. The bubble wand is standard as pictured. The bubbles produced are sized from 1" to about 3" in diameter. Just the right size for kitties to play with. They last a substantial amount of time without bursting and do not leave behind any residue that I have detected. I use them on an outside wood porch. Compared to store brand bubbles these are a bit pricey but find these are some of the best bubbles I have ever purchased and worth the price. Also, the ad states the size is 4 oz. but the bottle states it is 5 oz. I think this one bottle will last throughout the summer and fall season being used for a few minutes each day. My kitties loved playing with these and sometimes required hitting the bubble a couple of times before they burst. My one complaint is that this product is distributed by United Pet Group, Inc. in Ohio but the bottle states this product is made in China. I consider this product worth the cost and would definitely make a repeat purchase but will research for a product made in the USA first." -IslandSandy
*I thought it was great to get a more scientific approach. 

You can purchase the bubbles at:Catnip Bubbles

Subtle Butt
I am still laughing just thinking about this one.  Subtle Butt is the name of a product for disposable gas neutralizers.  They are advertised and thin and discrete, self-adhesive to clothing, and come in a 5-pack.  They are also affectionately called fart pads or fart filters.  They claim to effectively filter the odor caused by flatulence. 

Top Reviews:
"I can finally pass gas in peace. I am sick of being judged for my gastrointestinal quirks.  4/5 stars only because these only last about 3-4 hours until I fart them up too much." -J Mason
*Hahahaha, they must be those SBDFs

"I guess they work, but there should be some warnings or instructions that go along with these.  First, they are less effective OUTSIDE your pants.  Second, they are not safe for insertion." -Armedes
*Hahaha I don't even want to know why they tried insertion...

You can check them out yourself at: Subtle Butt disposable neutralizers

Happy Man Bottle Stopper
Now we come to the happy man bottle stopper.  What is the first thing you think of when you think of a happy man?  If you thought of him as horny.... you are right!  That is exactly what this is supposed to be...  although I could debate that if he is happy he wouldn't be much use here and should instead be called the Horny Man Bottle Stopper, but that may have offended people....  He is advertised to be suitable for most types of bottles.   On a plus side you also get to see his little red butt cheeks when he is in use.  The arms and legs sticking out appear to be handy when trying to get him unstuck from the bottle.  Amazon claims that he is ready to "tear that drink open" that's right it says that, I couldn't make that part up if I wanted to haha.


"Okay, bought this as a little birthday gift to go along with some bottles of wine. Functionally, this guy deserves a one star because he is too small to create a seal in most wine bottles, but since everyone thought he was so funny I gave him two. I think the makers of this product need to either enhance his package or use a more rubbery material that can create a seal. Needs more girth."  -Kat
*I think that Kat just called the happy man out on this one haha.

"This little guy is a pervert, but darn, he's cute... And fun! Makes guests laugh when they come over! We enjoy it." -Natalie S. Gregg
*It's ok to be a pervert as long as you are cute ;)

If you want your own perverted little bottle stopper for those times that you need to tear open a drink you can go purchase yours at: Happy Man Bottle Stopper

I Like It Sloppy and Weird Hooded Dog T-shirt
Oh man...  there are so many things wrong with this one.  First of all I get the sloppy part because of course it is a dog and they can be sloppy, but where does the "weird" part come in.  Is it weird to the owner or weird to the dog, or maybe a little bit of both.  Now if that wasn't enough this is a Hoodie T-shirt.  That would be awful even on a human.  Why in the heck are you going to put a hoodie on your dog?   To complete the hoodie ensemble, it does have a pocket although located on the back of the dog, it advertises that this is a good place to put a treat.  Now this is where things could get really funny, depending on your dog and if they can reach the pocket, to see them trying to maneuver around to get the treat out of their pocket, almost as good as chasing their own tail haha.  Although there are not yet any reviews on this product I couldn't help but share it because of the endless possibilities that you could come up with in your mind.  It comes in a variety of sizes as well as colors and even provides the correct way to measure your dog to tell whether you need a terrier or huskier size ;) 

If you want to get one for your dog, or maybe even a small child you can go check it out at:
Warning Sloppy Hooded T

Maybe You Touched Your Genitals: Hand Sanitizer

I thought it would be great to end on a high note with this very pertinent issue with hand sanitizer and valid real world reasons why people may need to use it.  It is advertised as the "#1 after-genital contact hand sanitizer"  In case you aren't one to touch yourself very often, you may find some of the other products are most suitable for you, other offers in the same product line are as follows: Bitch Slap Those Germs, Cleaner Than Shit (Which comes with a warning to use extra if you actually do see shit), Ew., I Love My Penis (This has a warning to not actually apply to your penis area) and You Nasty (advertising that "You ain't the shit if you smell like it"). 

Top Reviews:
"We were extremely pleased with the effectiveness with which this product removed ball smell and general funk from our hands.  My partner however experienced severe burning sensation in the mouth and throat, left eye and a possibly unrelated rash so the burning was probably karma related.  But I would still advise anyone using this product to only use on you hands!" -1waitingfold
*Natural Selection: Before modern medicine this would have already been taken care of...

"I just don't know what to think about this product. This hand-sanitizer appears to be self-aware. It refuses to dispense itself to me unless I touch my genitals before hand. It just will not come out of the container unless I touch them. Now, mind you, I'm not the kind of person who's squeamish about genitals. Given the right situation, I'll touch more than my share. But I really do not see the need to do so just because I want clean hands! I have free will and I choose not to handle my tallywacker before cleaning my hands!  Strangely enough, you don't have to touch your own genitals to get the product to work." -Rich Meyer
*I don't think I really need to say anything here on this one....

If you are having problems washing your hands after touching your genitals, this could be the perfect product for you, check it out: Maybe Touched Your Genitals Soap


In case you missed the previous editions you can find them here:
Weird Things For Sale on Amazon Part 3

Weird Things For Sale on Amazon Part 2

Weird Things For Sale on Amazon Part 1

Bubble Eating

Yes my son apparently likes to gobble up bubbles now haha.  He got to have a visit from his good friend Chloe, and together bubbles are always a great time.  My house seems to be known as "the bubble house" to Chloe.  :) I love this child so much!  he also started piano lessons today!  Here is the awesome video and a picture of him at the piano!  Hope everyone had an amazing day!

Liam and Balloons

Liam LOVES balloons!  I think he first discovered this before he was even a year old.  I actually would buy him more balloons, but I don't want him to get hurt by popping them and he always gets so depressed when they last less than a minute before they are popped.

As he is getting older the balloons will last slightly longer.  The other day when we made a trip tot he dollar star for some more stickers for potty rewards.  I came across a mega bag of balloons and bought them.  They have been work 20 times or more than the dollar I paid for them.  We (meaning mommy) blew a bunch of balloons up and had them spread all over the living room floor.  Liam carries balloons all over with him.  He even brought a couple into the bathroom sink and was washing them.  It is always great to have the simple things that overjoy your child the most.  Children teach us early on that it TRULY IS the little things that count!  

I wanted to share some of the hilarious photos and videos of him playing.  Enjoy!

Balloon Party at Liam's!

 

Bubbles & Balloons

 
Balloon Fun!

Getting out the soap

Balloon Washing

Water!