Tissue Paper Projects, Crafts, and Activities for Kids

Do you save tissue paper when you receive a gift? Even if you don't reuse it for gift giving there are tons of crafts, projects, and activities for kids to create with tissue paper!

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Fine Motor Rainbow Ball Game

We love playful ways for our preschoolers to learn colors! Scarves in a ball create an irresistible fine motor game for kids! We made it even more interesting by adding all the colors of the rainbow into our play.

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Everyday Fine Motor Materials from A to Z

Fine motor skills are very important to early childhood activities! Working little hands and fingers through play is how kids strengthen muscles to get ready to write, type, draw, button coats, and much more. We've gathered a list of fine motor materials you already have around the house or classroom, one for each letter of the alphabet, and a fun activity to do with each one!

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Tips for Tiny Foot Rubs

This play idea is brought to you by Knoala – Raise Happier Kids. Knoala is a free app that offers activities for parents to enjoy with infants to preschoolers.

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Mirror Play for Babies

One of the simplest yet most enriching tools you can give your baby is a mirror. From social interaction to self recognition here's the when, how, and why of baby mirror play. 

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Repurposing Baby Items for Play Beyond the First Year

Parents spend so much money during their baby's first year. It's great to be able to reuse and repurpose baby toys and supplies into other learning activities for your children as they grow!

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What to Expect at Well Baby Visits

So much change occurs in your baby's first year. She will have frequent doctor check ups or well baby visits to keep tabs on her rapid development. You should also see these appointments as time for you to seek support from your baby's health care provider. The following is what you can expect at your baby's first pediatrician appointments.

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The Best Baby Food Recipe Books

Making my own baby food from the start is one of the most fulfilling choices I've made as a parent. I love saving money, knowing exactly what is in their food, and cooking creative recipes for them to try! I scoured the internet and our library until I found the best baby food recipe books!

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How to Plan a Meal Rotation for New Parents

Meals are one of the most loving gifts you can give to someone during a life changing event. Friends have brought us meals during the good times and the bad so from those experiences I've written my top tips for making meals for others to show your love and support. 

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Mom to Three: Two Here, One in My Heart

I'm a bereaved mother. It's a very important part of who I am but it doesn't define me. And yet when someone asks that seemingly innocent question, "How many children do you have?" I always pause before deciding what to say. This Mother's Day I'd like to answer it in a different way.

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Foot Print Bunny Craft

A foot print bunny craft can be made with a child of any age from infants on up. I love making simple hand and foot print crafts with each of my kids. It's fun to compare the size of the two rabbits!

 

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20 Ways Siblings Can Help with a New Baby

For this Fine Motor Fridays post, we highlight 20 ways a sibling can help with a new baby!

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Why We Don't Sleep Train or Cry It Out

Just now, I tried to put D down for bed, but he was restless.  He was tossing and turning and fussing in his bed, so I brought him back to ours.  We don't sleep train our babies and we never will.

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Sweet Potato Puree for Baby

We are waiting until D is six months old to start solids (in June) but we had these yummy, local grown, organic sweet potatoes from our CSA waiting to be used up!  I just had to prep a simple baby's first puree for him to freeze for next month.

Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes.  Pierce with a fork, then rinse again.  This way a bit of water gets in the tiny holes you just made to steam the potatoes from the inside out!

Wrap with foil and bake whole at 400 degrees for an hour.  Alternatively, you could peel and cube the sweet potatoes, but that was just too much work when you see how easy this way can be!

Let cool, then unwrap, cut in half lengthwise, and scrap out the yumminess!  The skin basically peeled right off at this point.

Blend in a blender or food processor with a bit of liquid of your choice.  I used 2 oz. of breast milk to get the four small sweet potatoes to the consistency that I wanted.  

Freeze in an ice cube tray for easy portioning and blending with other foods later.  Once frozen, I pop the cubes out and transfer to a Pyrex container for freezer storage but you can use freezer bags or any containers that you typically use to freeze your food.  (We've recently decide to swap out all of our plastic storage containers fpr Pyrex!)

I asked on our Facebook page if there was interest in me writing about the foods I made for D as he starts solids and the response was overwhelming!  With E, we used the Wholesome Baby Food website as our primary resource, but we also have several baby food recipe books that I'll be sharing with you.  Just like we did with E, when we start D on solids at 6 months, I will print out this chart to put on the fridge and introduce a different fruit/veggie every 3 days to check for allergies or sensitivities.  We skip baby cereal entirely at first, adding it later when the baby is ready for more complete meals.  

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Five Months Old: Haircut, Favorite Teethers

D turned 5 months old on Saturday.  He got his first haircut this weekend.

Maybe he won't be confused for a girl as much now.  E was around the same age when she had her first haircut, too.  Our babies have LOTS of hair (For 37 weeks, Violet, too).  

D is also teething so he's completely inconsolable at times.  Here are some teethers that we know and love:

Of course, Sophie the giraffe is a fan favorite.  She is a hand-me-down from E (so you know she's durable) and doubles as a toy.  She squeaks when you squeeze her.  Right now, D still has a bit of trouble getting her best chewy bits into his mouth (feet! ears! whole head!) but when I am assisting, he loves to munch on her.

We also recently ordered the Razbaby Razberry Teether.  I think D will like it more as he gets more teeth and gets bigger.  He uses it now because it easily hooks to a stroller or highchair with links, but I think he'll use it more in the future.  

But by far, D's favorite teether right now is the Tommee Tippee Chewther.  We actually ripped open the packaging before we had even paid for it at the store because he needed to gnaw on something!  It stays in his mouth well, comparable to a pacifier, but it looks like a mouth guard with textured surface.

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This post includes affiliate links, which means if you click and end up ordering, we get a small percentage back for recommending them to you.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

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The Wonder Weeks Giveaway

When my babies are uncharacteristically fussy it really throws me.  I am a creature of baby-led routine (as much as you can be during the first year of life) so when we are doing what we always do, but it no longer works, I start frantically trying to diagnosis the issue.  The problem during that non-verbal first year is the multiple variables.  Digestive issues?  Sleep regression?  Growth spurt?  Teething?  WHAT IS WRONG?!

When E was a baby I found the answer that coincided with her clingy, fussy phases: The Wonder Weeks.

The Wonder Weeks are 10 developmental leaps that occur in the first 20 months of life.  Written by Dutch authors Hetty van de Rijt and Frans X. Plooij, The Wonder Weeks book outlines these predictable periods of learning which result in different perceptions of the world.  They also come with mood changes, fussiness, and sleeping issues.  The good news is they are much easier to deal with if you anticipate and expect it.  You can remind yourself that it's normal, it's a good thing, and there is a reason why your baby needs you more right now.  I especially love how Dr. Frans says you should never let a baby cry it out.  Hold them close, mommas!

D is coming up on his 19 week mental leap (next week!) also known as the 4 month sleep regression.  Right now we are in the throes of sleepless neediness.  His baby brain is getting ready to understand the predictability of more complex events.  The Wonder Weeks will prepare us for this transition by providing an insight into D's development as well as suggesting games and activities we can do to enrich his learning.

They also make an app for Android and iPhone that won the Coolest App for Moms award in 2012!  Be sure to check it out!

The Wonder Weeks has generously offered to giveaway 3 copies of their eBook from iTunes for our readers!  (To the best of my knowledge, you must have an Apple product and iBooks to be able to win and read this prize.)

You can enter by signing up for The Wonder Weeks leap alarm.  Visit The Wonder Weeks website and enter your baby's due date (since the leaps are calculated by gestational age, not birthdays).  Then just come back here and log in with Rafflecopter to let us know you subscribed!  You can get additional entries by liking Still Playing School and The Wonder Weeks on Facebook, sharing the giveaway, etc.(see all the ways to enter below)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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The Wonder Weeks sent me a eBook copy for completing this review, but the opinions and enthusiasm are completely my own!

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2-3-4 Nap Schedule

We tried the 2-3-4 nap schedule with D yesterday, but it's still a bit too early, I think.  If you haven't heard of this, you just put your baby down for a nap 2 hours after they wake up, then put them down for their second nap 3 hours after they wake up from the first nap, and lastly, but then to bed 4 hours after they wake up from their last nap.

Right now, D is more of a 2-2-2-2 man.  Still LOTS of naps and frequently.

Did you do the 2-3-4 with your kids?  Did it work?  Do you remember at what age you started?  I know we used it with E, but I can't remember when!

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Infant Language Development: 3 Months Cooing and Babbling

Baby D is 3 months old.  In addition to cooing, he is also starting to babble.  Cooing is the vowel sounds: oooooooh, aaaaaaaah, while babbling is the introduction of some consonant sounds.  Lately we are hearing a lot more gaaaaaa, goooooooo, and maaaaaaaaa.

E is an amazing big sister (again!) so we've been coaching her on how to help D learn to talk with the following tips, which are helpful for siblings and adults alike.  Of course, we don't give E all the child development reasoning, but we do tell her she's an awesome big sister!

- E will tell me that D is crying when he makes any sounds.  I had to explain to her that sometimes what sounds like fussing is actually him just practicing his "words".

- When D makes some of his pre-linguistic sounds, we repeat the same sounds back to him.  We can also teach real words by saying some that start with the same sound.
D: "Maaaaaaaaaaa!"
E: "Maaaaaaa!  Yes, Momma!  Mommy is in the kitchen."
We know that he isn't asking for me yet, but I can step in then and wave to him.  This allows him to begin to recognize that the sounds he is making can be put together to mean something.  It's also great initial sound practice for E.  "D said gaaaaaaa.  What can we show him that starts with a /g/ sound?"

-  After D makes a sound, we answer, then we wait for him to respond.  This verbal back and forth sets the stage for the turn taking of conversations.  He is learning expressive and receptive language.  One study shows that 4 month old infants who have pre-linguistic turn taking with an adult have greater cognitive ability when they are 2 years old.

- E shows D objects around the house while telling him their names.  Adults can do this by carrying the baby to different rooms to take in new sights, but E needs to stick to bringing things to him.  "Look, baby D, this is Cowie!  Cowie is a cow.  Mooooooo!"

- Today she also showed him her sippy cup and signed "milk" to him!  I was so excited that she remembered the sign, but then she did the same sign for grape juice and duck, so obviously we need a refresher course on baby sign language.

Not only do these exercises allow my kids to interact while I may be occupied with other things, but we are also teaching D to use other sounds (instead of crying) to get our attention.

Here are some great sample infant sound recordings!

Before I know it, they really will be whispering secrets to each other!

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The Importance and Purpose of Infant Texture Play

Baby D is 11 weeks old today, which is the perfect age to engage in texture play time.

Luckily for him, he has an older sister who enjoys searching around the house for things to touch him.  We discussed stroking him gently in safe places such as his arms, legs, and occasionally his cheeks.  I also asked her to only do this when Momma or Daddy says it's allowed.

The sense of touch is the first sense to develop in the womb.  Interestingly, it will also be the last sense to diminish in our old age.

Because of this, it is the primary way that babies learn and socialize.  Kisses, hugs, and cuddles are all sensory ways that babies bond with their families, driven primarily by touch, but also incorporating smell, sight, and sound. (And with eventual open mouthed baby kisses even taste!)

Touch helps babies learn about the environment around them as well as who they are as an individual in space and time.

Giving D different textures to explore will also encourage him to start reaching for and grasping objects which is the next physical milestone on the horizon.

I am laying him down for tummy time on varying textures.  We've tried blankets in a variety of materials, different carpets and rugs, and some of E's interesting dress up clothes!  We also sandwich him between two fabrics to let him practice kicking.

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