Our last day of school is today! Woohoo! We are so excited for our summer schedule, but I also know that means a big switch in our normal routine. Just like many kids, we thrive on routines. I find it to be important for us to create a good routine to follow in the summer to help our days flow well. Yes, we have a lot more free time, but I still like to have a plan for the day. When you’ve got all the kids home for the summer and it’s so hot out, it’s so temping to resort to more screen … [Read more...]
The Importance of Play in Early Childhood
The early years are a time filled with play and non-stop learning. While we all know that children learn during play, it is fascinating to understand just how much brain development occurs during play and how it is really the medium through which young children learn everything. Here is a reminder of just some of the benefits, so that next time you start a fun activity with your children or watch them as they play in the garden, you can be reassured that what they are doing has amazing … [Read more...]
Fire Safety Activities for Kids
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. Fire Safety Week is October 7th-13th this year. I have to be totally honest we’ve never done fire safety week at our house before. Before now I would have not known what to do in an emergency situation. I feel like we should’ve addressed this sooner, especially since the house behind us had a bad fire recently. Since this was a new topic for me I approached it like all themes. I listed out what I wanted the kids to learn and then put … [Read more...]
How to Teach Phone Numbers
All children need to learn their phone number. If there's an emergency, they need to know how to dial 911. If they need to call their parents, they need to know their mom or dad's phone number. It's not always easy knowing how to teach phone numbers, but I think this hands-on activity is a great one! Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure for details. Here's what you need for this activity: paper plates (I used this one) glue stick double-sided tape … [Read more...]
Visual Routine Cards for Before and After School
We start school this week, which means it's back to routines! It can be challenging getting back in the swing of things and can make for stressful mornings rushing out the door. In order to alleviate that, I decided to make visual routine cards for before and after school activities. These would be great to use with children in kindergarten up through 5th grade. In my free printable, I included simple activities that happen in a morning and afternoon routine, such as brushing teeth and making … [Read more...]
Road Trip Binders for Kids
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure for details. We just got home from an epic road trip! My husband and I took our three boys on a 20 hour road trip down to Florida. I was a little bit nervous about the trip, which is why I put together the road trip binders for my kids. It turned out to be an amazing resource to help the road trip go by more quickly! I shared what was in them over on Instagram and many of you wanted me to share about it on a blog post, so I … [Read more...]
Tot on the Pot – Simple Potty Training Solution
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Tot on the Pot. I received free product and compensation in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions expressed are 100% mine. This post contains affiliate links. Just hearing the words potty training can set parents into panic mode! I totally get it! I have potty trained three boys and each time I felt overwhelming. It takes time, effort, and lots of patience! But I recently discovered something to ease the worries and frustrations with … [Read more...]
1 Tip to Wean Your Child from Breastfeeding
I absolutely loved breastfeeding my children! It created such a special bond with my boys. I was so blessed to be able to feed them this way as babies and toddlers. I know that it's not always possible for every mother to do this, so I feel very fortunate. I nursed my oldest boy until he was 20 months old, my second-born until he was 16 months, and my youngest boy until 24 months. In fact, I just weaned my youngest two weeks ago. Today I want to share with you 1 tip I used to wean him from … [Read more...]
Our Summer 2016 Routine
We are in full summer mode and that means our routine has switched up! With the kids out of school and us spending a lot of time outside, that means my blogging routine is slowing down. So if you notice that I'm not posting as often, it's because I'm pretty busy at home with the kids! The time goes by so quickly with the children, so I want to make the most of this time! Today I thought I'd share what our summer routine looks like. We have a pretty slow morning routine. My youngest (Lincoln) … [Read more...]
The Most Important Thing to Teach Toddlers
Call me crazy, but I actually love the toddler age! Yes, there are days where I want to pull my hair out or close my bedroom door, but I love watching my children grow during these monumental years. The toddler years are such a time of incredible growth and learning. If you think about it, they learn so much from the time they are 12 months old up to 36 months old! As I've been playing with my toddler lately, I had a thought come to mind. And I believe it's such an important one, which is why I … [Read more...]