ToddleBits

Moving...Care to Join Me?

2008-09-10T00:32:00.001-04:00

Does your blog-life resemble your real life?

In real life, I move alot. Probably from growing up as an Air Force brat.

I get antsy. Gotta keep movin'.

Anyways, I've started blogging elsewhere. Not very much, but enough to know that I don't want to keep two blogs. My new blog will still include any activities that I do with the kiddos, but it's a little more personal in nature. I feel more free to post about whatever the heck I want and not just kiddie stuff.

So, if you want me, I'll be over here.

Rainy Day Paint Treatment

2008-08-18T10:39:00.004-04:00

Don't you just love seeing ink on paper being splattered by heavy drops of rain? We decided to do some painting on a rainy day and let the summer showers put the finishing touches on Little Bit's artwork.

Using our customary pallet of primary colors (I like for Little Bit to see how they mix into other colors) she dipped, dabbed, and swirled the paint around the paper.

Here is the picture before we let the rain do its thing.

It was a good rain; not too strong, but heavy enough to be able to see immediate results. I put the paper on a flat cookie sheet so that I wouldn't have to peel a soaking wet piece of paper off of the concrete and risk tearing it.

It took a few hours to dry, but I thought the outcome was really cool. The water changed the tone of some of the colors, and the yellow ended up much more vibrant.

I love projects like these because I get to show Little Bit how flexible art is.

This activity was inspired by the book Science Arts. What are some other treatments we could do to a painted piece of work?

Soliciting Votes

2008-08-16T22:06:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to pop in for a sec and ask y'all to go vote for Choosing My Own in the 5 Minutes for Mom Summer Photo Contest. She's an awesome blogger with some of the cutest kiddos I've ever seen, and her photos are always soooo good!

So, go on now.

Go vote.

Thanks. :)

Many, Many Thanks!

2008-08-15T14:53:00.002-04:00

I've been slack in my blogging lately and have let some important things go unmentioned for a while. Please allow me to redeem myself.

First off, I am the ever-so-grateful recipient of two awards!

Jenny, at Daily Dose of Motherhood, has honored me with the Arte Y Pico award.

I have no idea how to pronounce it, but it sounds really cool, doesn't it? Makes me feel sort of cultured! Thanks, Jenny!

Also, Melissa at Chasing Cheerios passed the Brillante Weblog award on to me.

You ladies really know how to brighten a lowly ol' blogger's day! I can't tell you how grateful I am that you thought of me. I happily accept them with many thanks.

I shall now pass them on to a few other ladies whose posts I always find myself eagerly awaiting:

Speaking of being a lucky gal...I won something! I'm not the type to enter blog contests just to enter, because I know I won't win. But if there's something I'd actually like to have, I'll usually jump through whatever hoops are necessary, even though I'm still pretty sure I won't win. But, wuddu-ya-know? I won a nifty embroidery pack from Needle N' Thread! My package arrived a few days ago, complete with embroidery floss, tea towel, stitching book, and needle. And, if I can get past the fact that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to stitchery, I might actually do something with it.

If you're into that sort of thing, go check out Needle N' Thread. She has lots of tips, projects, and giveaways related to stitching. Thanks, Mary!

And thanks to all of you who pop in every now and then to see what we're up to over here!

Through a Child's Eyes

2008-08-14T13:22:00.001-04:00

The other day Little Bit was so excited to show me the kangaroo she found on our back patio. Do you see it?

Tape Collage

2008-08-13T13:22:00.001-04:00

Ordinarily, we all wake up together (i.e. a certain little toddler wakes up and makes sure that the whole house knows she's a wake) and we eat breakfast together then continue on about our day. This morning, however, I was able to get Little Bit downstairs before she woke up Bitty Baby. We went ahead and ate breakfast, but that meant that when Bitty Baby did wake up, I had to find something for the toddler to do while I fed the baby.

I remembered seeing a tape collage activity in this book and decided it was just the quick, non-messy activity that I needed. I grabbed all the different types of paint around the house that I could find and tore up some pieces. Then I grabbed a sheet of construction paper and set Little Bit up at the table.

Some of the tape was a little tricky for her to work with, but I think it just made for a more interesting piece. She enjoyed handling the sticky material and seemed very deliberate in deciding where to place each piece of tape.

When she was finished she wanted me to take a picture of her "artwork" but couldn't quite figure out how to hold the paper so that I could actually see it.

I showed her how to hold the paper with both hands in front of her and told her to smile. This strained, contorted face is her trying to smile big for the camera.

She kills me.

Freshly Squeezed Orange Popsicles

2008-07-28T23:53:00.001-04:00

Go get some oranges and a few fun containers and make a delicious summer treat.

A few days ago, after juicing some oranges using Little Bit's juicer, I started thinking about how yummy it would be to freeze some OJ and make popsicles.

Then....I got this in the mail...

and, lo and behold, there was a whole article on making your own popsicle molds. While we didn't cast our own molds out of silicone, we did follow the mag's suggestion to use shot glasses (or other containers with interesting shapes) for freezing the juice.

We started from scratch and let Little Bit do some juicin'!

Then she did much of the pouring as well. Undoubtedly this was her favorite part...she loves to pour.

Next, I secured the popsicle sticks in place by taping toothpicks on either side of the sticks and then securing them to the glasses.

After just a couple of hours in the freezer (i.e. one toddler nap) they were ready for consumption.

Here you can see the two different shapes we got.

"Tasty."

I'll have to agree with her. They were quite tasty! We only used orange juice in our popsicles, but you could easily change it up by adding yogurt or combining different fruit juices.

Have fun and let me know if you try it...I'd love to see what cool shapes others can find!

Window Shopping

2008-07-27T23:57:00.001-04:00

Have you ever started out somewhere and then ended up someplace completely different and have no idea how you got there? That is how I found this:

Sadly, I am in love with this lunchbox. Sad for two reasons:

1) My husband says I can't have it.

2) When I imagine buying this lunchbox I envision the teachers and other parents of Little Bit's daycare (she starts in August) "ooohing" and "ahhhing" over such a find...and I never thought I would be that person.

I've also been looking at patterns on Etsy. Is this not the sweetest little bunny you've ever seen?

I'm hesitant to buy the pattern because it doesn't have step-by-step pictures and I just don't think I'm ready for that yet.

And then there are these shoes, which I found poking around this store after reading about it here.

Now nine months old, I know Bitty Baby is going to be walking soon and I think these adorable shoes would be perfect for her first steps. (And just a note, if you like these check out the link- they're having a sale right now).

And lastly, I came across this old schoolhouse desk on Craigslist today. It makes me want to use the word, "darling." What a darling desk! Not a word I'd typically use, but a fitting adjective I think.

But what would I do with it? I have no idea. Maybe I could arrange it in our playroom somewhere and Little Bit could eat her snack there. Or maybe it could just stand alone as an example of beautiful craftsmanship.

Most likely I will pass on all of these items, but it's still fun to poke around and see what's out there. What kinds of things do you "window shop" for?

Not Quite the Beach

2008-07-25T15:25:00.002-04:00

We had big plans to go to the beach by our house today. Imagine our surprise when we got there and saw a sign that read, "Swimming Area Closed" posted by the Health Department. Yikes! Nothing like a little pollution in the water to spoil your plans.

No biggie...we just moved our party to the clubhouse pool!

Aren't they just adorable. I think they are going to grow up to be best friends and it just warms my heart when they get all lovie with each other. :)

I wish I could have gotten more photos from the pool, but I really wanted to put the camera down and enjoy the cool water.

Look at that form. She's a natural!

After the pool we headed down to the ice cream parlor by the beach, as was originally planned. It's an old-fashioned joint and I just love it.

The ice cream was a perfect end to a fun afternoon. We were barely out of the parking lot before this little girl was sacked out in the backseat.

Success!

My First Doll

2008-07-21T23:39:00.003-04:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I got a sewing machine for my birthday and in my excitement I promised pictures of my creations. Well, it turns out I was both ambitious and naive.

The first thing I made was an incredibly unimpressive "pin cushion." It's basically a felt pillow with a sloppily stitched heart applique. I was too embarrassed to post a picture of it so I avoided mentioning my new sewing hobby again and hoped you all would forget I ever wrote about it.

Since the pin cushion, I've done a practice run of a headband for Little Bit following these instructions, and I've sewn a valance for the girls' room. Sadly, none of these projects were bloggable. It was very discouraging.

But then, I was inspired by the Wee Wonderfuls "Archie" pattern and decided to give this little guy a go. My godson's first birthday party was coming up and this doll seemed like he'd make a good buddy. Despite MANY imperfections, including one leg sewn on backwards, he actually came out kind of cute.

Photo courtesy of my husband who was able to capture the doll's good side from this funny angle. Thanks Sweetie!

I was sad to see him go, but I think he'll get lots of snuggles in his new home. I'm really looking forward to making a couple more for the girls. In another week or so. :)

Glass Jars

2008-07-20T23:44:00.003-04:00

We've been really missing our Unplugged Projects lately, so this week I wanted to make sure we did an activity incorporating the theme: glass.

We've acquired an impressive collection of glass jars over the past few months so I decided to take a few jars of varying sizes and show Little Bit how cool it is that they all make different sounds. I aligned them by tone from lowest to highest and tapped a few of the jars with the spoon to demonstrate. Then I handed the spoon over and let her go at it.

She tapped the sides and the rims for a few minutes,

then thought it would be more fun to make "chocolate milk" by stirring the spoon around in the jar.

Apparently the chocolate milk was very tasty.

So she poured some from jar to jar

and shared with her sister. She's usually very thoughtful like that. :)

Not quite what I had in mind, but I always enjoy watching her play pretend and I'm glad she was able to adapt my little project in a way that she could have fun with. To see more Unplugged Projects using this week's glass theme, visit Unplug Your Kids.

Rainy Season

2008-07-14T00:22:00.002-04:00

Here in Florida, Summer brings afternoon thunderstorms that dissipate as quickly as they come. The showers are often a refreshing intermission to the overwhelming heat. Little Bit is developing her own appreciation for our weather.

Here are the words to one of her favorite poems from this book:

Brooms

On stormy days

When the wind is high,

Tall tress are brooms

Sweeping the sky.

They swish their branches

In buckets of rain

And swash and sweep it

Blue again.

-Dorothy Aldis

Links for Michie

2008-07-12T00:07:00.003-04:00

For those of you who don't know, Michie (Seeking Imperfection) does a regular Thursday post appropriately titled, "Thursday List" wherein she provides fabulous links to check out. She always has the best finds! This Thursday, being a good blogger short on time, she opened it up to her readers to offer links for her to check out...fun, huh!

So, Michie, and anyone else who is interested, here are some links that are hanging around in my Delicious toolbar:

These first few are all related to turning your old clothes into baby/toddler clothes.

t-shirt to shorts (found via craft magazine)
men's shirt to dress
t-shirt into romper

While you're on Craftster checking out the toddler dress, go ahead and see what these insanely creative people did with their Cozy Coupes.

You can find a great resource for lots of homemade fun here, and I just came across this blog that has lots of toddler activities incorporating ~~garbage~~ recyclables.

Here's a great idea for some garden accessories that actually seems easy enough for me to do.

And finally, a project to help you get rid of any old cereal boxes that are hanging around (or am I the only one that has this problem?).

Enjoy!

Summer is in Full Swing

2008-07-04T01:11:00.002-04:00

Seems like most of my posts lately begin with some sort of explanation for why I haven't been posting. This time, rather than make excuses, I'll just post a few pics of what we've been doing around here.

We went to the park with Daddy, which we really need to do more often. Little Bit spent much of the time flashing her Pull-Ups to everyone while hanging on this bar. Hanging is her new favorite thing. She hangs on EVERYTHING: the kitchen table, Bitty Baby's Jumparoo, the handle for the oven door. If she can wrap her hands around it, you can be pretty sure that very soon her knees will be pulled up to her tummy and she'll be dangling in full delight.

She actually doesn't like looking at the camera, so sweet little shots like this are few and far between. Such a shame.

Bitty Baby spent most of her time on the infant swing before deciding to hang out with me. I was sitting on a bench in the shade complaining about the heat. I wasn't dressed for the park because we were supposed to be going to a museum...with air conditioning...but that's a story for another time.

While we sat watching Little Bit play, this way-to-friendly squirrel came by for a visit. I was slightly paranoid that he would jump off of the tree and climb all over me, so I tried shooing him away. At which point he moved back up the tree a few feet and proceeded to tell me where I could go. I swear he was totally cursing me out.

A few days later we were invited to a horse show close to our house to watch my aunt show her baby...horse that is. We all had a great time.

Bitty Baby sat on her first real horse...

and Grandma helped Little Bit show off her latest freezer paper stenciled shirt.

We even got some behind the scenes action before it was my aunt's turn to ride.

I would say that fun was had by all, but these two tweens, my nieces, were pretty bored until they were given a "job" to do.

Ask a kid to take some shots and they suddenly perk right up!

Turn Any Shoes Into Tap Shoes

2008-06-23T22:43:00.002-04:00

Here's an idea I've been wanting to try since seeing it in a Martha Stewart Good Things for Kids magazine. Little Bit, obviously bored, was actually asking me to do a "project." I was supposed to be enjoying some much needed personal time, but Daddy-O was "indisposed" at the moment, so I just needed something quick and easy that she could do for a few minutes until he could come and take back over watching her.

I grabbed some pieces of yarn and taped baby food jar lids onto the middle of the yarn. Next, I wrapped the yarn up around Little Bit's shoes and tied them at the top.

Then she shuffled around and doh-see-dohed and listened to the sound of her feet clacking against the concrete patio.

She always loves to dance, so this spur of the moment activity was a no-brainer. It would probably also be fun to experiment with different sounds. Or, perhaps strapping bells to her wrists and letting her go all out as her own percussion section!

Another Hiatus

2008-06-19T23:14:00.003-04:00

I know, my presence here has been sporadic. Here's what's been going on...

I have a new friend. Her name is Helen.

Is it strange to name a sewing machine? For some reason I had her named before I even had her in my car when leaving Joann's.

I just got her yesterday and prior to that I had spent most of my down time researching machines and visiting sewing shops. I finally decided on Helen (a Husqvarna Emerald 116) because she seemed like a good little machine for a newbie. She's not as fancy as many of the machines out there, but she seems pretty durable and she's nice and quiet...I think we're going to get along famously!

For my first project, I sewed a pint sized headband for Little Bit following these instructions. I'm not showing a picture yet because it was my "practice run." But I promise I'll show you a final version soon!

Another new addition to our family is this little guy:

He came free with Daddy-O's new MacBook and was my prize for letting him buy it. Of course my response to this was, "What am I going to do with that?"

Hah!

There's a ton of stuff I can do with it! I added our photos from Little Bit's birthday party to show my mom. I can keep it with me throughout the day and check my Google Reader and Email without having to leave the kiddos and go to my computer. And, I can download podcasts!

Yes, I said podcasts. Another thing I raised my eyebrow at when I first heard about them. But here I am, listening to CraftSanity, Grammar Girl, Material Mama, and Broadway Bullet.

Podcasts are wonderful to listening to while working on a project. In fact, I wish I'd had the Touch earlier so that I could listen to my podcasts while making new hair clips for the girls. Well, I say the girls, but in reality Bitty Baby is the only one who wears them without immediately pulling them out.

Aside from the aforementioned activities, projects with the little ones have been few and far between. Due to an unexpected chain of events, Daddy-O has been home all week and will be around for a couple more. With him being home, we tend to fill our days with either running errands or simply enjoying family time together.

I did manage to squeeze in a mixed media collage today with Little Bit and her cousins, but I ended up joining in rather than taking pictures! I'll see if I can paint you a picture with words: fabric scraps, yarn, glue, old children's books, buttons, and glitter. Lots of glitter.

I'll probably spend the next few nights getting better acquainted with Helen, but I can't wait to come back and show you what I made. Hopefully I'll end up with something blogworthy!

The Birthday Bash

2008-06-16T00:07:00.003-04:00

No Unplugged Project this week. We were so busy getting ready for Little Bit's party, we just didn't have much time left over for other stuff.

The party was great. The kids had a blast. And Little Bit LOVED having everybody over at our house.

Of course, we forgot to buy eggs, so the cake didn't get baked until about 45 minutes before the party started. In all of our last-minute preparations, we forgot to hang the Birthday Banner. And the ice cream balls came out looking like this

But, with all the fun, none of that really seemed to matter. Here are some of the highlights:

The sand bucket cake was a big hit!

As was the slip and slide.

Yes, we let the kids play with squirt guns. I know, very questionable parenting.

I love this one with the two little heinies. They're reloading their squirters in the pool.

We forgot to teach her how to blow out a candle before hand, but she worked it out (with my mom's help).

And, of course, presents. Here she is sporting her freezer paper stenciled birthday shirt while she opens a card.

The party really could not have gone any better. There were about 8 kids at the party (half 3 and under and half 8 and over) and everybody got along. I was afraid of the big kids taking over, but it wasn't even an issue.

Even with all the fun, these parties are a lot of work! I'm so glad they only have one birthday party a year. Now I'm in the clear until Bitty Baby's first birthday in October. Hmmm....4 months away? That might be enough time to recover from this one.

A Story About A Little Flower

2008-06-11T23:10:00.002-04:00

Back in April, we planted seeds as a way to connect with nature in honor of Earth Day.

We watered everyday.

Often more than once.

The stalks grew quite tall.

Then, one sunny day, a little bud popped up and bloomed into a beautiful, vibrant, flower!

The end.

Comments Disabled

2008-06-10T21:59:00.005-04:00

I'm doing a bit of an experiment for myself and this blog. It has occurred to me recently that every couple weeks or so I start feeling totally burned out on the whole blogging thing. Here's how it usually goes:

Oh, this was a good post! Lots of comments! People like me!

Oops, what happened? Nobody commented today. What did I do wrong?

Oh, goody! Some more comments on this one!

Look. Some new people commenting! I wonder who they are? I'll go check out their blog, too!

Oh, no. Where did everybody go? Nobody likes me. This sucks.

The comments turn blogging into a complete roller coaster ride. And I know, for a lot of people, the comments are where it's at. It's where most of their blogging satisfaction comes from. But for some reason, for me, I think the comments are draining. Not only do I get my panties all bunched up over how many comments I got on a particular post, but then I want to go around and comment back on everybody's blogs. And if I just don't have time to get to everybody's (because I take care of a baby and a toddler who rarely take naps at the same time and who both demand 100% of my attention all through the day), then I get my panties all bunched up over that, too.

So, you see. Much of my blogging woes have to do with the comments. And since that's the case, I'm going to experiment with disabling comments for a while and see how that affects my approach to blogging. If anybody still wants to get a hold of me, you can shoot me an email. It's on the left sidebar under "About."

I'll still visit everyone and try to leave comments as I am able. It might not be as often, but be sure that I am reading. :) Let's see how it goes!

This Weekend's Birthday Bash

2008-06-10T14:17:00.003-04:00

I've mentioned that Little Bit's birthday is coming up. Well, it's this weekend.

GASP!

She'll be TWO!

Anyway's, I didn't want anything big, but somehow I still managed to create a bunch of work for myself. In addition to the usual house-cleaning and other pre-party prep-work, I've added a few other things on my list of things to do.

Here's the rundown of our party preparations:

-Beach ball invitations- done

-Felt flag banner- mostly done...just have to cut slits to run a ribbon/cord through.

I decided to do the flag banner after seeing a post at Our Green Nest. I loved how festive and cheery all the colors are. And, since it's pretty generic, we can use it again for birthday celebrations down the road (assuming the felt holds up).

- Freezer paper stencil T-shirt with beach image.

You can read about freezer paper stenciling here.

- Sand Bucket cake.

I did a practice run of the cake and it was super-easy and quite tasty. I think I'm going to add a layer of bananas in with the pudding. Yummy!

- Beach ball ice cream scoops on a stick, from Martha Stewart.

OK. So not really beach balls, per se. But I think a ball of ice cream with colorful sprinkles (center) is close enough.

- Favors- plastic beach buckets filled with travel sunscreen, sunglasses, beach stickers, goldfish crackers, and SPF 30 lip balm.

- Sandbox- need to buy a bunch of play sand and fill plastic pool.

- Slip-n-slide- can easily be set up at the last minute.

Hmmmm. Anything else?

Oh, yeah.

- Take dog to groomer.

- Relax.

I really wanted this to be a small get together, but due to some family politics, I think there are going to be a few more people than I had planned.

As long as Little Bit enjoys herself it will be a good party. :)

Sticky Project in Pictures

2008-06-08T22:57:00.003-04:00

Busy weekend.

Very tired.

Unplugged Project: Sticky

Tissue paper on sticky side of contact paper.

"Can I stick it here?"

"I want to try!"

Two artists at work.

Viola!

Found this at The Artful Parent. Go there. Also check out other sticky projects here.

Off topic: Very behind in my blog reading. Hope to get caught up this week!

Easy and Delicious Homemade Ice Cream

2008-06-06T07:44:00.002-04:00

I recently tried out this recipe for homemade ice cream with Little Bit and I could not believe how EASY it was, nor how tasty it turned out for being so incredibly simple to make. Your kids will love making the ice cream as much as they enjoy eating it.

First grab:

One gallon-sized resealable plastic bag
One resealable sandwich bag
Kosher salt (or ice cream salt)
Half & half
Vanilla extract
Sugar

Fill half of the large bag with ice and add 1/2 cup of salt.

Then pour 1 cup half and half, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract into the little bag.

Now put the little bag into the big bag...Make sure both bags are sealed tight!

And shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake your bootie off. Shake for about 5 minutes.

Little Bit had a hard time shaking the bag. It was just a smidge too heavy for her. :)

After shaking for a few minutes, check the consistency of the cream mixture. Once it's nice and thick, you can scoop it out and enjoy!

This ice cream was so good. You could easily change it up by using different flavored extracts. I'm thinking a little almond extract would be yummy!

Bloggy Business: Meme of Fives and an Award

2008-06-05T13:58:00.003-04:00

First of all, I was tagged by Maureen, Toddler Mom, for the Meme of Fives.

How it works:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
I had just completed my Master's Degree and was searching, and searching, and searching, for a job I didn't want in a career that I had no interest in pursuing.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1. Clean house (perpetually on my list)
2. Sew some felt
3. Upload the day's photos
4. Post to my blog
5. Try to maintain my sanity

What are five snacks you enjoy?
(Lately it's been:)
1. Yogurt
2. Granola
(before it was:)
3. Ice cream
4. cookies
5. frosting

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Hire someone to clean my house.
2. Travel extensively.
3. Hire a private instructor to teach me to sing and dance like a Broadway star.
4. Take classes...all kinds.
5. Blog about being a billionaire.
(These are all completely self-centered. I'm sure I would do a ton of philanthropic stuff, too.)

What are five of your bad habits?
(all of my habits are disgusting...fair warning)
1. Picking my ears
2. Picking my nose
3. Scratching my head
4. Plucking my chin hairs with my fingernails, especially while driving
5. I think four bad habits is more than enough

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. Missouri
4. Virginia
5. Germany
(The first four were in the last 5 years or so, the last one was when I was a kid)

What are five jobs you've had?
(in no particular order)
1. Card stuffer (Hallmark)
2. Graduate TA
3. Shallow water life guard
4. Exceptional Student Teacher's Aid (one-on-one)
5. Compensation Analyst

Five people I tag:
1. Somebody who can't think of anything to write about.
2. Somebody who has something in common with me based on my answers.
3. Somebody who has never been tagged and would like to be.
4. Somebody who cares for at least one toddler on a daily basis.
5. Somebody who puffy hearts Memes.

And...I was awarded an award! My first bloggy award!

I have the marvelous CC from If I Only Had Super Powers to thank for my award. Thank you, CC! My gratitude overfloweth.

I am passing this award on to:

My Sweet Life because Kelsey is going to help me improve my picture taking skills. She is a very talented lady who not only takes inspiring photos with touching and humorous stories, but also gives great photography tips on Fridays.

Bits and Pieces because Jenny is a lovely gal who openly shares her home and family in a way that makes you feel like you've been pals forever.

Here you go ladies....this is for you!

The Sweet Taste Of Summer

2008-06-03T22:39:00.002-04:00

For more WW fun, click here.

Tuesday's Toddler Tornado #4: Lookie Bottles and Bags

2008-06-02T23:17:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago we made this little "lookie bottle" to try to help keep Little Bit quiet at church. It's a plastic soda, er, I mean water bottle filled with rice and tiny toys such as novelty erasers, Legos, jacks, and unused party supplies.

As much as we tried to show her how much more fun it would be to play with this bottle than to talk loudly during the sermon, she had no interest in it. So, it just kind of got tossed in the playroom and was forgotten about.

Until...

She found it on her own a few days ago and became totally engrossed in finding all of the tiny toys that were hiding between and behind the rice.

Perhaps our approach in church, triggered by desperation, was slightly mishandled. On her own, Little Bit was captivated by this toy for a good 20-30 minutes. That's long enough to take a shower, so in my book, this toy is a keeper!

Just a note if you decide to make a lookie bottle (this is just what we call it, you can make-up your own name) for very young children, don't forget to glue the top on so that you don't have to worry about the tiny toys falling out and getting swallowed.

Alternatively, you don't even have to make your own. I came across these "Eye Spy" bags while Pouncing at Etsy (if you've never Pounced you're missing out!). Same concept, but so much cuter! The seller's name is Ainsley and Oswald and she has several of these bags in different motifs.

Photo from Ainsley and Oswald's Etsy Shop.

Do you have any tips for parents of babies and toddlers, or even preschoolers? Parenting lessons you'd like to pass on? Snack ideas your just itching to share? Or a product you think every Mommy and Daddy of little ones should know about? Post your link here every Tuesday and check to see what others are doing!