Announcing the Summer Virtual Book Club: Keep Reading This Summer!

Some of my favorite kid bloggers have teamed up to host the Summer Virtual Book Club.  Each month we'll choose a different author, read at least one of his or her books, and do an activity relating to the book.  We hope you'll join us!!  At the end of the month we'll have a link party where you can share your posts!  There are more than 15 blogs participating, so not only will your blog get great exposure, but you'll also get lots of ideas to keep your kids excited about reading this summer!

Did you guess who this month's author is?  Mo Willems! The link party will go live on June 18.  I can't wait to see what you share!

Winner of the My Memories Software!

Congratulations, Tanya M!  There was no email connected to your profile, so email me at loriesk@msn.com within 48 hours to claim your prize!  Thank you so much to those who entered!

Kid's Co-op: Fun with Ice!

There were so many fun ideas linked up last week!  Here are 3 fun ways to incorporate ice into your playtime this summer:

Slide Painting with Ice at Putti Prapancha

Glowing Ice at Train Up a Child

Ice Boats at Mama Mia's Heart 2 Heart

I can't wait to try these out with my kiddos this summer!  If you were featured and would like a button, you can find it on my button page.  I also pinned them to the Kid's Co-op Pinterest Board.


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What have you been up to this week?  Can't wait to see it! 

Golf Tee Porcupine for Father's Day

We used our painted golf tees to create this cute gift for Dad.  What father wouldn't love to have this little creature on his desk or nightstand?

I cut a styrofoam egg in half and my 3 year old painted it.

After it dried, I glued on some google eyes and he stuck in our decorated golf tees.

Our wild porcupine:

Our domesticated porcupine:

This would be sweet packaged with the book Just Me and My Dad.  Little Critter and his dad spend some special time together camping, fishing, and telling ghost stories. (I realize he's not technically a porcupine but close enough...)

If you wanted to do this for a fun book project and not a gift, A Porcupine Named Fluffy is an adorable book about how Fluffy the porcupine tries to live up to his name by making himself fluffy.  He tries to become a cloud, soaks in a bath, and covers himself with whipped cream.  Discouraged when none of these things work, he runs into a rhinoceros named Hippo.  They both find this so hilarious, that they become friends and stop minding their names.

Linking to Kids Get Crafty, Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday, Someday Crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts, It's Playtime!, Mom on Timeout, Kid's Co-op, Fun Sparks, Link it up Thursday, Bear Rabbit Bear, 733, Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, Shine On Friday, Sun Scholars, TGIF Link Party, Family Ever After, Tatertots & Jello, Sharing Saturday, Six Sisters' Stuff, Cheerios & Lattes, I Can Teach My Child, Sunday Showcase, I Heart Nap Time, Link & Learn

Painted Tees and Free Tags {Father's Day Gift Idea}

This Father's Day gift idea was simple enough for my toddler to help with and I think my husband's going to love it!  All you need are golf tees, paint, a sandwich bag, and one of the printables below.

We got multi-colored tees (because my daughter was the one who picked them out) but white or plain wood would do just as well. 

Decorate them with some acrylic paint.  Paint lots and lots of them! (We have another idea for them coming tomorrow!)

Let them dry.  (I'd put them on a cooling rack, so they don't stick to the paper.)

You might want to spray them with a clear coat of something to seal them, but I didn't bother with that.


Put your tees into a standard size sandwich bag.  Choose the printable Dad will like best (you can download it by clicking on the image.) Print it onto cardstock or heavy paper and cut it out.  Fold it in half and tuck the top of the bag into the fold. Put a staple on each side to keep it in place. Voila! A cheap, cute Father's Day present made with lots of love.

(The printables were made with MyMemories software.  You can still enter the giveaway to get your own!)

This would be really cute packaged with a special book to read together like Froggy's Day With Dad.  For Father's Day, Froggy spends the day making his dad feels special.  It begins with a breakfast of crunchy eggs and ends with a homemade present.  In between they have lots of fun miniature golfing (or at least Froggy does!)

Linking to Made by Little Hands, The Gunny Sack, Tip Junkie, Tip Toe Thru Tuesday, Tuesday Tots, ABC and 123, Kid's Co-op

Taking Care of Our Teeth

My son loved MAM pacifiers and bottles when he was small, so I was excited to try their line of oral care products for babies and toddlers.  My daughter tried the MAM First Brush, designed for ages 6 months and up.  She likes it because it's pink and I like it because it's small and easy for her to handle.  I also like how soft the bristles are, but my favorite feature is the the pink bristles on the brush that indicate the right amount of toothpaste for little ones. Did you know you're supposed to introduce toothpaste by age 2?  Both my kids like to put on their own toothpaste and of course want GLOBS of it on there, so this was a really nice visual for us.

This seemed like a good opportunity to read Bear's Loose Tooth.  Bear has a loose tooth and all his animal friends assure him that it's perfectly natural.  But they need to get that tooth out of there to make room for a new one to grow in!  Progressively larger animals try to get the tooth out for Bear.  When it's finally out, Bear gets a visit from a fairy who leaves him some blueberries in exchange for his tooth. 

We also did a quick craft.  I cut some yellow teeth from paper and my two year old "brushed" the tooth to make it white.  We used with a mixture of shaving cream and glue and an old toothbrush instead of a paint brush.

*I received some free samples of MAM oral care products in exchange for an honest review. (You can find MAM's facebook page here.)  Opinions are 100% mine.

Glow in the Dark Fireflies (& Kid's Co-op)

We (mostly I) made fun glow in the dark fireflies to go with Eric Carle's  The Very Lonely Firefly about a lonely firefly looking for other firefly friends.  At first mistaking lanterns, headlights, the eyes of animals, and even fireworks for other fireflies, the lonely firefly eventually finds his friends.

The only materials we used were black paper, glow stick bracelets, and tape.  I taped down two bracelets to form the head and body.

And then added two sets of wings.

I know the tape looks terrible but it doesn't show in the dark.

You could make a simple homemade neon sign by using the glow sticks to spell something out.  Or how about some fireworks for Memorial Day?

What have you been up to this week?  I'd love for you to share whatever kid-friendly projects you have and I'll pin some to the Kid's Co-op pinterest board!


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Linking to Fun Sparks, Sun Scholars, TGIF Link Party, Read Explore Learn, Sharing Saturday, Show and Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, Book Sharing Monday, Learning Laboratory