stART ~ Not A Box

Welcome to stART!  I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.  I have also included a list of all the blogs that participate in stART. 

I love the book Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis!  I love how it inspires children be able to use their imaginations and creativity to do or be anything that they want.  The simple line drawings are perfect for the suspense of the story.  We love guessing what his box is and what he will do next.  One thing is for sure, this is NOT a box!

To go along with Not a Box we got creative with two large boxes that I had.  Pushed the table out of the way and put down a table cloth.  Then I gave them paint, stamps , foam rollers and paint brushes and let them create to their hearts content.

This was one of the best projects we have ever done, I think they would have painted all day if we had more boxes. 

Clean up was CRAZY but totally worth it, here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the house looked like afterwards :)

Cooking with Kids ~ Banana Bread

We had some Banana’s that were really ripe so that meant BANANA BREAD!!

      Juliette is getting really good at stirring and mixing when we cook together.  The best part is mashing the bananas in Ziploc baggies.

Then squeezing it out into the bowl, I snip the bottom corner so they can easily squish it all out.

Dumping in chocolate chips makes them very happy too :)

Our Banana Bread

• 1 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1/4 cup applesauce

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 3 mashed overripe bananas

• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, applesauce and mashed bananas until well blended.

3. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Add chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

For more great ideas for cooking with kids check out Watcha Making Wednesdays at The Ramblings and Adventures of a S.A.H.M.

Muffin Tin Monday

It has been awhile since we had a Muffin Tin anyday, so when the girls asked if we could have a Muffin Tin Monday, I couldn’t say no!

I made them an extra special lunch with a yummy Banana Strawberry Smoothie.  They also had some Honey Wheat Pretzels, Avocado slices and Turkey and Cheese Roll-ups

  I think that this picture says it all…two very excited little girls!

stART~ Snow Day

Welcome to stART!  I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.  I have also included a list of all the blogs that participate in stART. 

Emily took the book Snow Day, by Lynn Plourde out on Library Day and we really enjoyed reading it together.  Even though we have not had any snow yet the girls can’t wait for it to come.  This book is written to tell the story of a snow day from the moment a child rubs the sleep out of their eyes to when they snuggle up to a good book at the end of a fun day in the snow to get ready for bed.  It is written in a poetic form that is fun to read and flows really well as the story of this special snow day unfolds.  

For our art project we talked about some of the things we can’t wait to do once it finally (hopefully at least once!) snows here.  After discussing our favorite things to do in the snow the girls were given a piece of paper, crayons and oil pastels to draw a picture of their favorite thing about the snow. 

When they were all finished we added the snow!  The girls used white paint that was mixed with glue and a q-tip to dot or spread the glue onto the paper. 

Finally they added the sparkling finishing touch…GLITTER!

Emily making snow angels in the snow

Juliette going sledding ( she drew this picture all by herself )

Pattern Block Pictures

Emily and Juliette always ask to use our wooden pattern blocks, but then get frustrated when the pieces will not stay still for them to work with.  They slide all over the table and the girls end up walking away from them after a few minutes.  So, when I was cleaning out a cabinet and found a roll of  rubber drawer liners I immediately thought of the pattern blocks.  I had a long piece so I cut it in half and gave each of the girls a mat to work on. 

The pieces stuck to the drawer liner and the girls had so much fun making all different designs with the pattern blocks. 

After more than half an hour this turned into…

  …a beautiful flower with a butterfly and sun.  Emily couldn’t wait to show me her masterpiece.

stART ~ The Snow Lambs

 

Welcome to stART!  I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.  I have also included a list of all the blogs that participate in stART. 

This week we  read The Snow Lambs, by Debi Gliori.  This is a story about a Sam and his sheepdog Bess.  While they are counting their sheep the Bess goes missing.  A snow storm is coming and Sam is worried about his dog.  Find out what Bess was up too for the wonderful ending to this story.  I loved how after the first couple of pages you can see two stories through the illustrations, what is happening with Sam and what Bess is doing.

We made some Snowflakes to go along with this book.  We used some q-tips, glue and glitter.  Both Juliette had fun creating their unique snowflakes by gluing the q-tips onto blue construction paper.   When they were all finished we sprinkled iridescent glitter over the q-tips.  I love how they sparkle!

Emily did her snowflake all by herself.  She  was able to break her q-tips to the size that she needed by folding them in half.

  I gave Juliette a pile of q-tips of all different sizes.  She wanted me to start her so I put glue lines for the big q-tips and she covered them with the q-tips then added the smaller ones herself.

Totally Tots

I am excited to announce that I am one of the new contributing writers for Totally Tots this year.  I will be writing the Little Hands-on ABC’s and 123’s feature.  I will focus on ABC and 123 hands-on activities that moms can do with their tots. 

So, stop on over to check out my first post of the new year and find out what Juliette is “spying!!!”

stART ~ Pinkalicious

Welcome to stART!  I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too. All I ask is that you link back to A Mommy’s Adventures somewhere in your post by either adding my button or a text link, so that others can see all the other great projects that everyone shares too! The linky will be open all week.  Be sure to stop by and visit the different links…every week there are so many different and fun book and craft ideas!

Check out the  stART tab in my navigation bar where you can find our past stART projects.  All the books that we have read and did a stART project for are listed in alphabetical order.  I have also included a list of all the blogs that participate in stART. 

Emily received Pinkalicious, by Elizabeth Kahn for Christmas and both girls have not been able to put it down.  They look through the book and retell the story to each other when I am not available to read it to them.  So I thought this would be the perfect book for our first stART project of the new year!

We had fun with pink and created a pink cupcake collage with pink Easter Basket filler, pink dot markers, pink pom poms, pink sequins, pink buttons and pink pipe cleaners.  Emily and Juliette loved helping me find and think of different pink things that they could use for their projects.

First, I cut our a pink cupcake shape from some craft foam.  Then I gave the girls glue and our collection of pink collage materials and let them go to work.

Emily chose the markers to start with and Juliette went right for the do-a-dot markers.    

Both of the girls enjoyed gluing on the collage material to decorate their Pinkalicious Cupcakes. 

To finish them off we sprinkled them with white glitter for a perfect sparkle!

Emily’s Pinkalicious Cupcake

  Juliette’s Pinkalicious Cupcake

Product Review: Moon Dough Push n’ Pop Breakfast Set

I was so excited when I was contacted by Team Mom to review the new improved Moon Dough Formula.  Emily and Juliette have enjoyed playing with Moon Dough at their friend’s house, however after seeing what a huge mess it made did not want it in our house.   I have to say I am so glad I gave this set a chance because the girls had SO much fun making all kinds of yummy breakfast treats with it.

  The Moon Dough Push n’ Pop Breakfast Set came with 2 colors of moon dough (which can be mixed together for a cool tie die effect or completely blended to make a new color), a play mat,  a twisty mold and 3 Push n’ Pop molds.

 Juliette was able to use the new Push n’ Pop molds to easily make pancakes, waffles or toast.  Emily and I loved using the twisty mold to make the different toppings.  The moon dough molds really well and pops right out.  Emily was able to do it all by herself and they really looked great.

The new moon dough formula was better than the one that the girls had played with at a friends house, although it did crumble a little bit, it was easy to get it back together and did not stick to their clothes at all.  I also loved that it does not dry up.  It is also Wheat-free and Hypo-allergenic.  The girls were able to make their  breakfast creations and play with them for hours without worrying about putting them away.

There is also a Push n' Pop Sea Creatures set available that looks really cute.  Sso if you want something that your child will have hours of fun creating with, with minimal mess I definitely recommend these Moon Dough Push n’ Pop Sets!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Team Mom and Moon Dough for providing us with this Moon Dough Push N Pop Breakfast Set free of charge to facilitate my review. This review is 100% my own opinion of this  Moon Dough Set and was not influenced in any way by the company.