• today was the first day of our WATER WEEK and after lots of experiments to help us learn about the states and properties of h2o (check our stories for some of the fun), we read a little Aboriginal story about a greedy froggie named Tiddalik. . Tiddalik was thirsty one day and instead of just getting a normal sized drink at the billabong, he drank the entire thing. and then a stream, river and LAKE. when all the plants turned brown and the other critters were hot and thirsty, they realized they needed to do something to get Tiddalik to spit the water out...like make him giggle! all the animals took turns performing their best comedic acts but it was the good ol’ duck-billed platypus that eventually saved the day and made that silly frog open his mouth hole and return the water. (K would like to point out that this means all the poor animals were drinking his vom...better than nothing i guess? 🤷🏻‍♀️😂🤢) . i found this cute little directed drawing activity on Pinterest and we practiced following directions and drawing simple shapes to make our own little Tiddaliks. doesn’t Kinley’s look like it belongs in Equestria (My Little Pony-land, just in case you didn’t know 🤪😂)? 😍🐸🌈 holler if you need the link! . happy monday!! . . . #directeddrawing #frogs #kidart #kiddrawing #raisingkinley #homeschoolers #folktales #smockson #kidsactivities
    today was the first day of our WATER WEEK and after lots of experiments to help us learn about the states and properties of h2o (check our stories for some of the fun), we read a little Aboriginal story about a greedy froggie named Tiddalik. . Tiddalik was thirsty one day and instead of just getting a normal sized drink at the billabong, he drank the entire thing. and then a stream, river and LAKE. when all the plants turned brown and the other critters were hot and thirsty, they realized they needed to do something to get Tiddalik to spit the water out...like make him giggle! all the animals took turns performing their best comedic acts but it was the good ol’ duck-billed platypus that eventually saved the day and made that silly frog open his mouth hole and return the water. (K would like to point out that this means all the poor animals were drinking his vom...better than nothing i guess? 🤷🏻‍♀️😂🤢) . i found this cute little directed drawing activity on Pinterest and we practiced following directions and drawing simple shapes to make our own little Tiddaliks. doesn’t Kinley’s look like it belongs in Equestria (My Little Pony-land, just in case you didn’t know 🤪😂)? 😍🐸🌈 holler if you need the link! . happy monday!! . . . #directeddrawing #frogs #kidart #kiddrawing #raisingkinley #homeschoolers #folktales #smockson #kidsactivities
  • we are currently obsessed with three art supplies: ▪️ @crayola neon oil pastels ▪️ @hp photo paper ▪️ @discountschoolsupply liquid watercolors so when @paperkite_kids tagged us the other day in a project using all THREE at once we couldn’t wait to get on it! . drawing with velvety smooth oil pastels on photo paper alone is a treat — that texture combo is so dang good 😍😍 but the sweet resist that normally happens when you attack oil pastel art with watercolors is totally amped up by the photo paper creating an awesome surface tension STEAMy moment, too! (we used pipettes instead of paintbrushes for this one so we could really see what happened 😍👍🏼) . if you’ve recently come across a giant stash of photo paper and want some other ideas for getting creative with it, head to my story highlights! i’ll round all of our faves up for ya 😘😁 . . . #processart #steamkids #steamed #oilpastels #raisingkinley #smockson #getcreativewith #resistart #artmatters #homeschoolers #artscience #kidsactivities #earlychildhoodeducation
    we are currently obsessed with three art supplies: ▪️ @crayola neon oil pastels ▪️ @hp photo paper ▪️ @discountschoolsupply liquid watercolors so when @paperkite_kids tagged us the other day in a project using all THREE at once we couldn’t wait to get on it! . drawing with velvety smooth oil pastels on photo paper alone is a treat — that texture combo is so dang good 😍😍 but the sweet resist that normally happens when you attack oil pastel art with watercolors is totally amped up by the photo paper creating an awesome surface tension STEAMy moment, too! (we used pipettes instead of paintbrushes for this one so we could really see what happened 😍👍🏼) . if you’ve recently come across a giant stash of photo paper and want some other ideas for getting creative with it, head to my story highlights! i’ll round all of our faves up for ya 😘😁 . . . #processart #steamkids #steamed #oilpastels #raisingkinley #smockson #getcreativewith #resistart #artmatters #homeschoolers #artscience #kidsactivities #earlychildhoodeducation
  • sometime last night we clicked over to FIVE THOUSAND followers and i just wanted to interrupt my happy dance to send out a big ol’ ginormous THANK YOU to all of you guys for the thousands of snort laughs, millions of smiles, bazillions of rays of sunshine and unmeasurable love you’ve poured into my bucket over the last couple of years! 💕🌈 . you guys ARE my mom/dad/parent/teacher/friend squad and i don’t know what i would do without you, your support, your unending inspiration and all of these incredible connections! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! . if you ever have a question or need help with anything or would even like to work on a project with us, just holler! i’m always happy to help 😘💕 (speaking of which i got tons of questions about this little caterpuppet yesterday so i’ll pop some quick how-to pics in my stories for ya or if you’d like the link to the video i learned how from, i’ll zip the link right over to ya! 💕🐛🙌🏼) . happy saturday!! . . . #5000followers #raisingkinley #instamilestone #happydance #thankyousomuch #instabuddies #instacrew #happycreativelife #kidsactivities #milestone #5000
    sometime last night we clicked over to FIVE THOUSAND followers and i just wanted to interrupt my happy dance to send out a big ol’ ginormous THANK YOU to all of you guys for the thousands of snort laughs, millions of smiles, bazillions of rays of sunshine and unmeasurable love you’ve poured into my bucket over the last couple of years! 💕🌈 . you guys ARE my mom/dad/parent/teacher/friend squad and i don’t know what i would do without you, your support, your unending inspiration and all of these incredible connections! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! . if you ever have a question or need help with anything or would even like to work on a project with us, just holler! i’m always happy to help 😘💕 (speaking of which i got tons of questions about this little caterpuppet yesterday so i’ll pop some quick how-to pics in my stories for ya or if you’d like the link to the video i learned how from, i’ll zip the link right over to ya! 💕🐛🙌🏼) . happy saturday!! . . . #5000followers #raisingkinley #instamilestone #happydance #thankyousomuch #instabuddies #instacrew #happycreativelife #kidsactivities #milestone #5000
  • photo paper + bleeding tissue paper = 😍😍😍😍 . no more feeling sad when it’s time to take that vibrant gorgeous bleeding tissue off with this stuff — the color soaks in brilliantly! . we tried adding salt on top but it just had this weird reaction with the paper and kind of ate through it...it might have something to do with the fact that all we have in the house is sea salt? or maybe salt and photo paper just aren’t friends 🤷🏻‍♀️ if you try it and have better results, holler! . happy FINALLY weekend, buddies!! . . (we used @paconcorp bleeding tissue paper and @hp photo paper for this one 👌🏼💕🌈😁) . #processart #raisingkinley #smockson #happycreativelife #creativefamily #gomakestuff #kidsactivities #thekidsplay #rainbowcolors
    photo paper + bleeding tissue paper = 😍😍😍😍 . no more feeling sad when it’s time to take that vibrant gorgeous bleeding tissue off with this stuff — the color soaks in brilliantly! . we tried adding salt on top but it just had this weird reaction with the paper and kind of ate through it...it might have something to do with the fact that all we have in the house is sea salt? or maybe salt and photo paper just aren’t friends 🤷🏻‍♀️ if you try it and have better results, holler! . happy FINALLY weekend, buddies!! . . (we used @paconcorp bleeding tissue paper and @hp photo paper for this one 👌🏼💕🌈😁) . #processart #raisingkinley #smockson #happycreativelife #creativefamily #gomakestuff #kidsactivities #thekidsplay #rainbowcolors
  • just look at that happy little face! 💕🦋 . the plan was to make butterfly suncatchers yesterday, but after a quick lesson about monarch butterfly migration we thought sparkly finger puppets that we could actually practice migration with would be way more fun! wanna make some, too? . you’ll need: ▫️cellophane and/or tissue paper ▫️laminating pouches + laminator | @scotchproducts ▫️pipe cleaners | @kidmademodern ▫️hole punch . 1. open up a pouch and fill it up with cellophane & tissue paper. 2. close up that pouch full of pretty and send it through the laminator (make sure none of the goodies are hanging out the sides — that might cause a serious lamination disaster! 🤪) 3. trace or draw a butterfly shape with sharpie on the laminated sheet and cut it out (i drew my own, but if you need one @make_it_your_own_ has a great template!) 4. put that cut-out butterfly inside ANOTHER laminating pouch (when you cut it out the first time it splits apart because of the layers of pretty between the two sides of the pouch so you’ve gotta seal them together. this took some trial & error to figure out 💕🦋) 5. cut it out again leaving a little border of plastic so it doesn’t come apart again, ya know? 6. fold in half and push hard so you get a nice crease, punch a little hole and thread your pipe cleaner ring part through. . and that’s it! you’re ready to migrate and pollinate and even get your butterfly dance party on! 😁🙌🏼🦋💜 . . . #butterflyart #playoutside #fingerpuppets #craftsforkids #kidcrafts #kidscrafts101 #homeschoolers #learningfun #raisingkinley #playtolearn #kidsactivities #smockson
    just look at that happy little face! 💕🦋 . the plan was to make butterfly suncatchers yesterday, but after a quick lesson about monarch butterfly migration we thought sparkly finger puppets that we could actually practice migration with would be way more fun! wanna make some, too? . you’ll need: ▫️cellophane and/or tissue paper ▫️laminating pouches + laminator | @scotchproducts ▫️pipe cleaners | @kidmademodern ▫️hole punch . 1. open up a pouch and fill it up with cellophane & tissue paper. 2. close up that pouch full of pretty and send it through the laminator (make sure none of the goodies are hanging out the sides — that might cause a serious lamination disaster! 🤪) 3. trace or draw a butterfly shape with sharpie on the laminated sheet and cut it out (i drew my own, but if you need one @make_it_your_own_ has a great template!) 4. put that cut-out butterfly inside ANOTHER laminating pouch (when you cut it out the first time it splits apart because of the layers of pretty between the two sides of the pouch so you’ve gotta seal them together. this took some trial & error to figure out 💕🦋) 5. cut it out again leaving a little border of plastic so it doesn’t come apart again, ya know? 6. fold in half and push hard so you get a nice crease, punch a little hole and thread your pipe cleaner ring part through. . and that’s it! you’re ready to migrate and pollinate and even get your butterfly dance party on! 😁🙌🏼🦋💜 . . . #butterflyart #playoutside #fingerpuppets #craftsforkids #kidcrafts #kidscrafts101 #homeschoolers #learningfun #raisingkinley #playtolearn #kidsactivities #smockson
  • it’s a caterpillar! it’s a butterfly! it’s BOTH!! (it’s also simple, easy and so much fun you won’t be able to stop at one!🐛🦋💕😁) . these @_theartdream cater-flies were the perfect project for our weekly art play date with Grammie yesterday! before we went, i threw: ▫️9 cardstock butterflies and circles (cut & traced from John’s free printable template) ▫️tempera sticks | @michaelsstores ▫️hot glue gun ▫️googly eyes in our traveling art bag and we got started as soon as we got there! Grammie was even more excited than we were 🤩🦋😁 . color the fronts and backs of each piece & fold them all in half, then hot glue the wings and eyeballs on and cut little smiles and just like that those little guys are all set to metamorphosize on repeat 🤪😁 aren’t they sweet?! 😍😍 . . . #raisingkinley #theartdream #butterflyart #kidscrafts #kidscrafts101 #smockson #homeschoolers #learningfun #artscience #scienceisfun #playtolearn
    it’s a caterpillar! it’s a butterfly! it’s BOTH!! (it’s also simple, easy and so much fun you won’t be able to stop at one!🐛🦋💕😁) . these @_theartdream cater-flies were the perfect project for our weekly art play date with Grammie yesterday! before we went, i threw: ▫️9 cardstock butterflies and circles (cut & traced from John’s free printable template) ▫️tempera sticks | @michaelsstores ▫️hot glue gun ▫️googly eyes in our traveling art bag and we got started as soon as we got there! Grammie was even more excited than we were 🤩🦋😁 . color the fronts and backs of each piece & fold them all in half, then hot glue the wings and eyeballs on and cut little smiles and just like that those little guys are all set to metamorphosize on repeat 🤪😁 aren’t they sweet?! 😍😍 . . . #raisingkinley #theartdream #butterflyart #kidscrafts #kidscrafts101 #smockson #homeschoolers #learningfun #artscience #scienceisfun #playtolearn
  • alphabet locks: the no-fail, always fun, favorite way to get our letter on! . one side of each @lakeshorelearning lock has the uppercase letter, the other side has a picture that starts with with same letter and the keys all have lowercase letters on them. match the key to the lock, turn it and if it opens, you’re right! . we started out doing the uppercase letter side and now that K’s got those down, we’ve moved on to the picture/letter sound side. we could do this activity every single day and Kinley would still be excited about it — she even hunts them down and plays with them when school is over sometimes! . i’ve promised a couple of my fellow #schoolathome instamomma’s that i’d share more of our fave learning stuff and these babies just had to be first 😍😁 just holler if you ever spot anything in our stories or in the background that you’d like a closer look at — i’m happy to help! 😘💕 . . . #homeschoolers #funwithkids #learningisfun #raisingkinley #earlychildhoodeducation #learningletters #littlelearners #favoritethings
    alphabet locks: the no-fail, always fun, favorite way to get our letter on! . one side of each @lakeshorelearning lock has the uppercase letter, the other side has a picture that starts with with same letter and the keys all have lowercase letters on them. match the key to the lock, turn it and if it opens, you’re right! . we started out doing the uppercase letter side and now that K’s got those down, we’ve moved on to the picture/letter sound side. we could do this activity every single day and Kinley would still be excited about it — she even hunts them down and plays with them when school is over sometimes! . i’ve promised a couple of my fellow #schoolathome instamomma’s that i’d share more of our fave learning stuff and these babies just had to be first 😍😁 just holler if you ever spot anything in our stories or in the background that you’d like a closer look at — i’m happy to help! 😘💕 . . . #homeschoolers #funwithkids #learningisfun #raisingkinley #earlychildhoodeducation #learningletters #littlelearners #favoritethings
  • WE SERIOUSLY LOVE THIS BOOK!! i won a ginormous stack of book treasure from @quartokids a few weeks ago and this gem just happened to be the first one i cracked open. it’s got everything you could possibly need for a kindergarten/first grade bee unit — ▫️experiments ▫️art projects ▫️games (the Game of Life was one of K’s fave things from the entire week. the whole goal is the be the first bee to zoom through your life cycle and head out of the hive first — super cute!) ▫️songs & poems ▫️clean, simple and easy to understand graphics and words . from types of bees to pollination, hives to saving our fuzzy little friends, all the thinking and research is done for ya! we had an absolute blast with our bee week thanks to What On Earth?: Bees & i’ve gotten about a bazillion message questions about it, so i just wanted to post this awesome book right here for anyone thinking about a bee week of their own. check your library, hit up amazon — you NEED this one! . i’ll put all of our fun from last week in my stories highlights just in case you could use some extra ideas 💕🐝👊🏼 oooh and bonus, i did a little research and this is just one in a series of books, so if you like Bees, look for Wind, Water, Robots and Trees 😍 they’ve all got a spot on my wishlist, that’s for sure!! . . . #bees🐝 #nonfiction #kidsbooks #homeschooling #kidlitpicks_nonfiction #kidlit #schoolathome #learningisfun #kidsbookstagram #raisingkinley #earlychildhoodeducation #iheartbooks
    WE SERIOUSLY LOVE THIS BOOK!! i won a ginormous stack of book treasure from @quartokids a few weeks ago and this gem just happened to be the first one i cracked open. it’s got everything you could possibly need for a kindergarten/first grade bee unit — ▫️experiments ▫️art projects ▫️games (the Game of Life was one of K’s fave things from the entire week. the whole goal is the be the first bee to zoom through your life cycle and head out of the hive first — super cute!) ▫️songs & poems ▫️clean, simple and easy to understand graphics and words . from types of bees to pollination, hives to saving our fuzzy little friends, all the thinking and research is done for ya! we had an absolute blast with our bee week thanks to What On Earth?: Bees & i’ve gotten about a bazillion message questions about it, so i just wanted to post this awesome book right here for anyone thinking about a bee week of their own. check your library, hit up amazon — you NEED this one! . i’ll put all of our fun from last week in my stories highlights just in case you could use some extra ideas 💕🐝👊🏼 oooh and bonus, i did a little research and this is just one in a series of books, so if you like Bees, look for Wind, Water, Robots and Trees 😍 they’ve all got a spot on my wishlist, that’s for sure!! . . . #bees🐝 #nonfiction #kidsbooks #homeschooling #kidlitpicks_nonfiction #kidlit #schoolathome #learningisfun #kidsbookstagram #raisingkinley #earlychildhoodeducation #iheartbooks
  • they not be the spin art mini butterflies we were originally going for, but our flutter of splattered-instead photo paper butterflies turned out just as cool! 😁💕🦋 . i cut out what seemed like a bazillion of these little guys and busted out the salad spinner today, but no cigar. no matter how fast we worked that thang, those drops were staying put. oh well, nothing makes K smile harder than getting full control of the liquid watercolor stash — #smockson for #splatterfest 😎😂 . we are all set up for spin art butterflies attempt #2️⃣ (@make_it_your_own_ style) today — wish us luck!! 😁🙌🏼 . . . #butterflyart #photopaper #liquidwatercolors #artforkids #kidsactivities #earlychildhoodeducation #funwithkids #messyart #abeautifulmess #splatter #homeschoolers #raisingkinley
    they not be the spin art mini butterflies we were originally going for, but our flutter of splattered-instead photo paper butterflies turned out just as cool! 😁💕🦋 . i cut out what seemed like a bazillion of these little guys and busted out the salad spinner today, but no cigar. no matter how fast we worked that thang, those drops were staying put. oh well, nothing makes K smile harder than getting full control of the liquid watercolor stash — #smockson for #splatterfest 😎😂 . we are all set up for spin art butterflies attempt #2️⃣ (@make_it_your_own_ style) today — wish us luck!! 😁🙌🏼 . . . #butterflyart #photopaper #liquidwatercolors #artforkids #kidsactivities #earlychildhoodeducation #funwithkids #messyart #abeautifulmess #splatter #homeschoolers #raisingkinley
  • any guesses what next week’s theme is gonna be? 😉💕🦋 . k and i spent the day helping daddy with a garage sale, trimming lilacs, bike riding and sweating in the hammock and finished it with some chalk scene fun! i couldn’t believe she actually cooperated with this! 😱 maybe it was my early mother’s day present 🤔😂 swipe all the way to the end for a throwback to last year’s chalk backdrop 🏙 . have you got a favorite? i think the fairy princess is mine 😍😁💕🧚🏻‍♀️ . . #getcreativewith #sidewalkchalk #chalkart #letthemplay #letthekidsplay #kidsactivities #raisingkinley #smockson #playoutside #funwithkids #sunshinyday
    any guesses what next week’s theme is gonna be? 😉💕🦋 . k and i spent the day helping daddy with a garage sale, trimming lilacs, bike riding and sweating in the hammock and finished it with some chalk scene fun! i couldn’t believe she actually cooperated with this! 😱 maybe it was my early mother’s day present 🤔😂 swipe all the way to the end for a throwback to last year’s chalk backdrop 🏙 . have you got a favorite? i think the fairy princess is mine 😍😁💕🧚🏻‍♀️ . . #getcreativewith #sidewalkchalk #chalkart #letthemplay #letthekidsplay #kidsactivities #raisingkinley #smockson #playoutside #funwithkids #sunshinyday
  • paper plate bees have been on my list since my old daycare days and yesterday those bee dreams of mine FINALLY came true! YAY!! and just when i thought bees couldn’t get any cooler, Kin’s showed up with rainbow wings 😍💕🐝🌈😁 . all you need to make a buzzy plate buddy of your own is: ▫️two paper plates (one for the bod and one for the wings + head + stinger) ▫️four pipe cleaners, cut in half | (we used the sparkly ones from our trusty @kidmademodern craft kit) ▫️2 brads ▫️tempera sticks (or any coloring/painting supply, really) | @michaelsstores . Kin loves that their wings can really wiggle and i love that they look like real actual bumblebees 💕🐝 such a fun one to end our mega-rad bee unit 😁 . happy weekend, y’all!! . . . #smockson #homeschoolart #steamkids #paperplate #raisingkinley #bees🐝 #🐝 #kidscrafts #kindergartenart #schoolathome
    paper plate bees have been on my list since my old daycare days and yesterday those bee dreams of mine FINALLY came true! YAY!! and just when i thought bees couldn’t get any cooler, Kin’s showed up with rainbow wings 😍💕🐝🌈😁 . all you need to make a buzzy plate buddy of your own is: ▫️two paper plates (one for the bod and one for the wings + head + stinger) ▫️four pipe cleaners, cut in half | (we used the sparkly ones from our trusty @kidmademodern craft kit) ▫️2 brads ▫️tempera sticks (or any coloring/painting supply, really) | @michaelsstores . Kin loves that their wings can really wiggle and i love that they look like real actual bumblebees 💕🐝 such a fun one to end our mega-rad bee unit 😁 . happy weekend, y’all!! . . . #smockson #homeschoolart #steamkids #paperplate #raisingkinley #bees🐝 #🐝 #kidscrafts #kindergartenart #schoolathome
  • as luck would hive it, @marshallelementaryart posted the most beeutiful bubble wrap bee project the other day and we just had to squeeze it in this week! . we did the printing yesterday and i cut out the hexagons and stuck them on bigger colored paper hexagons while K was eating her lunch. we actually got to use them today during our lesson about why bees use hexagons for their cells instead of any other shape (those critters are seriously fascinating!) and Kin loved being able to fit them together and try her hand at hive construction 😉😁💕🐝 . what a perfect STEAMy activity!! i seriously don’t know what i did before all of this insta-piration 😍🙌🏼 . . . #steamkids #scienceart #smartkids #beelove #beesofinstagram #beehive #learningisfun #schoolathome #raisingkinley #smockson #littlescientist #savethebees #bubblewrap #earlylearning101 #littlelearners
    as luck would hive it, @marshallelementaryart posted the most beeutiful bubble wrap bee project the other day and we just had to squeeze it in this week! . we did the printing yesterday and i cut out the hexagons and stuck them on bigger colored paper hexagons while K was eating her lunch. we actually got to use them today during our lesson about why bees use hexagons for their cells instead of any other shape (those critters are seriously fascinating!) and Kin loved being able to fit them together and try her hand at hive construction 😉😁💕🐝 . what a perfect STEAMy activity!! i seriously don’t know what i did before all of this insta-piration 😍🙌🏼 . . . #steamkids #scienceart #smartkids #beelove #beesofinstagram #beehive #learningisfun #schoolathome #raisingkinley #smockson #littlescientist #savethebees #bubblewrap #earlylearning101 #littlelearners
  • All these royal portraits need now are some ornate golden frames, right?! Introducing Queen Yellow and Queen Elizabeeth Honeybottom, the fairest, kindest, egg-laying, hive-ruling bee ladies this side of the Mississippi 😉😁 . We’ve learned so much about our buzzy friends already this week (did you know only lady bees have stingers?! 👍🏼) but K is the most fascinated with queens so we absolutely had to get our portrait on. Plus, any excuse to bust out the glitter tote and sequin jar is a good one in our book 😉😉 . Aren’t they cute? We’ve got a couple more bee ideas up our sleeves — check our stories today for the giant hit of a pollination experiment we took for a spin! 😁🙌🏼🐝💕 . . . #beesofinstagram #queenbee #portraitart #raisingkinley #smockson #beeutiful #kidart #earlychildhoodeducation #beetheme #ece #homeschoolart #schoolathome
    All these royal portraits need now are some ornate golden frames, right?! Introducing Queen Yellow and Queen Elizabeeth Honeybottom, the fairest, kindest, egg-laying, hive-ruling bee ladies this side of the Mississippi 😉😁 . We’ve learned so much about our buzzy friends already this week (did you know only lady bees have stingers?! 👍🏼) but K is the most fascinated with queens so we absolutely had to get our portrait on. Plus, any excuse to bust out the glitter tote and sequin jar is a good one in our book 😉😉 . Aren’t they cute? We’ve got a couple more bee ideas up our sleeves — check our stories today for the giant hit of a pollination experiment we took for a spin! 😁🙌🏼🐝💕 . . . #beesofinstagram #queenbee #portraitart #raisingkinley #smockson #beeutiful #kidart #earlychildhoodeducation #beetheme #ece #homeschoolart #schoolathome
  • I’ve made this gardening bin for Kinley at least five times but it’s always the one she begs for when she sees me switching the sensory stuff 😍🌸🐝😁 I thought I’d share what’s inside in case you’ve got a little flower-planting enthusiast on your hands, too! . The goods: ▫️”dirt” (small pasta dyed brown) ▫️silk flowers ▫️homemade egg carton cup bees ▫️small terra cotta pots ▫️seed packets with dried lima bean “seeds” inside ▫️yellow pom-pom pollen ▫️square silicon ice tray “hive” | @ikeausa ▫️big tweezers, for some extra pollen collecting fine motor practice | @learningresources . There are endless ways to play with this one, which is why it’s such a big giant hit with K I think, but her fave is to scoop dirt in the pots, plant seeds, wave her magic wand and plop in the flowers, put pollen pom-poms on the flowers and then have the bees come collect it all and take it back to the hive. . She’s also spent hours making bee candy and brownies in the silicon tray using the dirt for the chocolate and the pollen for the decorations. Sometimes the flowers are poisonous and she’s gotta quick whip up a pollen potion to save all the poor bee friends...lots of room for imagination! . Have you tried a bin like this one? Do you have any ideas to spice it up when/if she gets bored with it? I’d love any suggestions! 💕🐝🌸 . . . #beesknees #gardenlife #littlegardener #raisingkinley #letthekidsplay #letkidsbekids #playtolearn #sensoryplay #smallworld #sensorybin #earlylearning101 #earlylearning #ece #homeschooling
    I’ve made this gardening bin for Kinley at least five times but it’s always the one she begs for when she sees me switching the sensory stuff 😍🌸🐝😁 I thought I’d share what’s inside in case you’ve got a little flower-planting enthusiast on your hands, too! . The goods: ▫️”dirt” (small pasta dyed brown) ▫️silk flowers ▫️homemade egg carton cup bees ▫️small terra cotta pots ▫️seed packets with dried lima bean “seeds” inside ▫️yellow pom-pom pollen ▫️square silicon ice tray “hive” | @ikeausa ▫️big tweezers, for some extra pollen collecting fine motor practice | @learningresources . There are endless ways to play with this one, which is why it’s such a big giant hit with K I think, but her fave is to scoop dirt in the pots, plant seeds, wave her magic wand and plop in the flowers, put pollen pom-poms on the flowers and then have the bees come collect it all and take it back to the hive. . She’s also spent hours making bee candy and brownies in the silicon tray using the dirt for the chocolate and the pollen for the decorations. Sometimes the flowers are poisonous and she’s gotta quick whip up a pollen potion to save all the poor bee friends...lots of room for imagination! . Have you tried a bin like this one? Do you have any ideas to spice it up when/if she gets bored with it? I’d love any suggestions! 💕🐝🌸 . . . #beesknees #gardenlife #littlegardener #raisingkinley #letthekidsplay #letkidsbekids #playtolearn #sensoryplay #smallworld #sensorybin #earlylearning101 #earlylearning #ece #homeschooling
  • These little yarn-wrapped beauts were the perfect way to wrap up our fun-filled Flower Week! . When Kinley spotted this idea over on the beautiful @colourful_minds_kids page, she insisted we drop everything and get to wrapping! We put our own little twist on them by making petals out of some of our photo paper art and I think we are gonna glue them to a canvas so Grammie can hang them up in her office...yes you read that correctly, ANOTHER flower present for Mother’s Day! 😁😍😂 The ones that inspired us were stuck on skewers and planted in gorgeously decorated cup pots — you’ll have to go check them out! . If you are making any gorgeous flower art for Mother’s Day or any other kind of art really this week, make sure you tag it #smockson because one of my Instabesties, Sue from @reaching_happy, is hosting my art challenge baby and I know she’d LOVE to see what you are whipping up! . . . #flowerart #creativekids #mothersdaygift #smockson #raisingkinley #yarnart #mixedmediaart #homeschooling #homeschoolart #kidscrafts #artforkids #artmatters
    These little yarn-wrapped beauts were the perfect way to wrap up our fun-filled Flower Week! . When Kinley spotted this idea over on the beautiful @colourful_minds_kids page, she insisted we drop everything and get to wrapping! We put our own little twist on them by making petals out of some of our photo paper art and I think we are gonna glue them to a canvas so Grammie can hang them up in her office...yes you read that correctly, ANOTHER flower present for Mother’s Day! 😁😍😂 The ones that inspired us were stuck on skewers and planted in gorgeously decorated cup pots — you’ll have to go check them out! . If you are making any gorgeous flower art for Mother’s Day or any other kind of art really this week, make sure you tag it #smockson because one of my Instabesties, Sue from @reaching_happy, is hosting my art challenge baby and I know she’d LOVE to see what you are whipping up! . . . #flowerart #creativekids #mothersdaygift #smockson #raisingkinley #yarnart #mixedmediaart #homeschooling #homeschoolart #kidscrafts #artforkids #artmatters
  • A week wouldn’t be complete without some photo paper art from Kinley and Cara would it?! 🤪 We are 100% bonafide ADDICTS at this point. Last week Shelly @creatingcreatives tried making a photo paper puddle print with the leftovers from the oil and water experiment her and her little Z-man had been working on in her instastories and I knew we HAD to give that a try!! . We tried and failed a few times but came up with two ways that produced total winners and we can’t decide which method was our fave...I’ll just tell ya about both and YOU can decide when you give it a try 😁🙌🏼💕 . You’ll need: ▫️vegetable oil ▫️liquid watercolors | @discountschoolsupply ▫️photo paper | @hp (Their’s is the first photo paper we’ve tried that doesn’t curl up when it gets all covered in paint so 👍🏼😍👍🏼The marbled looking curled up ones were made with Canon photo paper.) . METHOD 1: Use pipettes or eyedroppers to squirt little dots of diluted liquid watercolors and vegetable oil all over your tray. Squish photo paper on top and lift up to reveal the magical pastel-ish marbled kind of prints like the first photo! -or- METHOD 2: Put some vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe it all over your tray. Drop undiluted liquid watercolors on the greased up tray straight from the bottle or using pipettes and then squish your photo paper on top. Lift up to reveal the vibrant kind of jellyfish/galaxy-ish prints in the second photo. . Kinley and I only stopped making prints when we had filled up every last single inch of art drying space we had available 🤪 SO FUN!! Thanks a bazillion for the inspo, Shelly!! . Hopefully you’ve got sunshiny weather for your weekend, but if not I thought I’d share. This would be the perfect way to occupy some bored little artists! 😁🙌🏼💕 . . . #processart #oilandwater #steamkidschallenge #steamkids #smockson #playtolearn #scienceiscool #scienceisfun #homeschoolscience #raisingkinley #kidscreate #boredombuster #creatingcreatives #homeschoolers
    A week wouldn’t be complete without some photo paper art from Kinley and Cara would it?! 🤪 We are 100% bonafide ADDICTS at this point. Last week Shelly @creatingcreatives tried making a photo paper puddle print with the leftovers from the oil and water experiment her and her little Z-man had been working on in her instastories and I knew we HAD to give that a try!! . We tried and failed a few times but came up with two ways that produced total winners and we can’t decide which method was our fave...I’ll just tell ya about both and YOU can decide when you give it a try 😁🙌🏼💕 . You’ll need: ▫️vegetable oil ▫️liquid watercolors | @discountschoolsupply ▫️photo paper | @hp (Their’s is the first photo paper we’ve tried that doesn’t curl up when it gets all covered in paint so 👍🏼😍👍🏼The marbled looking curled up ones were made with Canon photo paper.) . METHOD 1: Use pipettes or eyedroppers to squirt little dots of diluted liquid watercolors and vegetable oil all over your tray. Squish photo paper on top and lift up to reveal the magical pastel-ish marbled kind of prints like the first photo! -or- METHOD 2: Put some vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe it all over your tray. Drop undiluted liquid watercolors on the greased up tray straight from the bottle or using pipettes and then squish your photo paper on top. Lift up to reveal the vibrant kind of jellyfish/galaxy-ish prints in the second photo. . Kinley and I only stopped making prints when we had filled up every last single inch of art drying space we had available 🤪 SO FUN!! Thanks a bazillion for the inspo, Shelly!! . Hopefully you’ve got sunshiny weather for your weekend, but if not I thought I’d share. This would be the perfect way to occupy some bored little artists! 😁🙌🏼💕 . . . #processart #oilandwater #steamkidschallenge #steamkids #smockson #playtolearn #scienceiscool #scienceisfun #homeschoolscience #raisingkinley #kidscreate #boredombuster #creatingcreatives #homeschoolers