Toddler / Preschooler First Embroidery Project

My daughter sees me embroidering frequently, and she loves when I let her help, holding her hands to guide the needle where I want it, and letting her puuuuuuuull the thread taught on her own. I made this fun box activity with that in mind, after having seen it mentioned on many a preschool blog.

I used some rubbery shelf liner from Dollar Tree, an extra embroidery hoop, yarn, and a blunt yarn needle. I threaded the needle and knotted the two ends of the yarn together so it wouldn't come unthreaded. Soon I'll teach her to thread it herself, so she can switch colors on her own.

It was so sweet to watch my little one diligently working away at her embroidery, curled up in a corner of the family room. She even took the hoop to bed with her at nap time. It won't be long before she'll be ready for a sharp needle and some Aida cloth. Then the real fun begins!

(Do warn your child that if s/he pulls too hard, the backing can rip. Meg only had to do it once to figure that out the hard way.)





Other activities in the series:
Color Matching with Gift Bows
Magnetic Colored Popsicle Sticks
Magnetic Pom Pom Balls
Erasers and Suction Cups Activity
Paint Chip Matching Game
Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Eggs
Animal Matching Game
Pool Noodle Art
Button Snake Toy
Memory Matching Toy
Ribbons in a Bottle Toy
Clothespin Clipping Toy
Pom Pom Push Toy
Pipe Cleaner Poking Toy
Fun Boxes

Color-Matching with Gift Bows - More Birthday Week Fun

Another birthday-related activity that's been popping up in Meg's fun boxes is this gift bow sort.

I used some miniature gift bows I'd gotten at an after-Christmas sale last year and matching leftover paint chips. I always try to use paint chips I have on hand rather than nicking them from the home improvement store, though the time I went to Home Depot just for paint chips for a fun box activity, I walked out $40 poorer, because I can't resist home improvement projects! Anyway, Meg matches the bows to the paint chips for the activity. The bright, sparkly bows are irresistibly festive.

Other activities in the series:
Magnetic Colored Popsicle Sticks
Magnetic Pom Pom Balls
Erasers and Suction Cups Activity
Paint Chip Matching Game
Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Eggs
Animal Matching Game
Pool Noodle Art
Button Snake Toy
Memory Matching Toy
Ribbons in a Bottle Toy
Clothespin Clipping Toy
Pom Pom Push Toy
Pipe Cleaner Poking Toy
Fun Boxes

Birthday Play - Making cakes with play dough

Margaret's birthday is next week, and the promises of festivities have been hanging in the air around here. The other day when Meg was playing play dough, she started making "happy birthdays" for her doll, which I came to understand were in fact birthday cakes. This prompted a bit of extension on my part. I found some birthday confetti, birthday candles, and gems at Dollar Tree, dug into my cupboards for some extra cupcake wrappers (Who am I kidding? They're all extras. I'm never going to use these things!), and made up a batch of fresh play dough in cakey colors.

Meggie dug right in with zeal!

We made cupcakes:

Big cakes:

Giant cake balls:

And had a party:

"Blowing out" the candles

The birthday girl

I used just a touch less oil than usual to make the dough, so it would have a slightly crumbly texture like real cake. I also didn't mix the color completely, again for realism.

Removing the goodies made for a great fine motor activity.

Everything stores compactly, making it a great fun box activity, too.

Magnetic Colored Popsicle / Craft Sticks

Margaret was such a fan of her magnetic pom pom balls, I've been dreaming up other magnet activities for her fun boxes. Raiding her craft bins again, I stumbled upon some colored Popsicle sticks. Once again, I cut up promotional ad magnets into squares and hot glued them onto each end of the sticks.

She loves using them to make pictures and patterns on her "lap magnet board" (Dollar Tree cookie sheet).

Other activities in the series:
Magnetic Pom Pom Balls
Erasers and Suction Cups Activity
Paint Chip Matching Game
Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Eggs
Animal Matching Game
Pool Noodle Art
Button Snake Toy
Memory Matching Toy
Ribbons in a Bottle Toy
Clothespin Clipping Toy
Pom Pom Push Toy
Pipe Cleaner Poking Toy
Fun Boxes

Magnetic Pom Pom Balls

My girl loves pom pom balls. She sorts them, pretends to cook with them, crafts with them, and stuffs all her purses full of them "just in case." I'm forever picking up packets of pom pom balls from Dollar Tree and Target's Dollar Spot to supplement her addiction.

For some busy box fun, I made a magnetic pom pom ball activity. I just hot glued a magnet to the back of each ball and provided a Dollar Tree cookie sheet to play on.

On the heavier Target balls, I used store-bought button magnets.

For the lighter dollar store balls, I cut up promotional ad magnets (you know, the kind people leave on your door or that come on your phone book) into squares and glued them on.

Margaret loves using these to make rainbows and stripes and other patterns.




Other activities in the series:
Erasers and Suction Cups Activity
Paint Chip Matching Game
Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Eggs
Animal Matching Game
Pool Noodle Art
Button Snake Toy
Memory Matching Toy
Ribbons in a Bottle Toy
Clothespin Clipping Toy
Pom Pom Push Toy
Pipe Cleaner Poking Toy
Fun Boxes