Books and Giggles
Inside: This sun suncatcher craft for kids has an element of sensory play to it. Plus, it looks bright and pretty in your window! These cute sun crafts are sure to add a little sunshine to your windows. Even better, children can continue to play with them even after they’re on display. To make your…
Inside: This chicken craft for preschool makes fun scissors practice and goes along with the much-loved book Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton is a charming board book that you won’t mind reading over and over. (And you will read it over and over because toddlers and preschoolers LOVE it!) You…
This process art Father’s Day Card from a toddler is fun for kids and a sweet gift for a sentimental dad. To get the layers of colors without everything mixing, we made this in stages. My 6-year-old twins were the guinea pigs for this project. They had fun pretending to be toddlers. UPDATE: They would…
We’ve all been there. Your child goes to pick out a book for you to read aloud, and you cringe. Not that one again, you think. You’re sure you’ve already read it 97 times. Why do kids want the same books over and over? Is it meant to drive you crazy? It sure feels like…
The notable children’s book If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson is a sweet story that teaches kids about kindness. To go along with the book, you may like to do a special kindness activity. This one is perfect for spring. (Or even late winter.) (Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services…
Nothing brightens up a dreary winter window like a suncatcher. Heart-shaped Valentine suncatchers are even more cheerful, especially when kids help to make them. I’ve rounded up 18 gorgeous examples, made with a variety of methods. There’s something for every age child and every taste. When I created my own Valentine suncatcher, I did a…
If your toddler or young preschooler loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, I have a fun, educational toddler Christmas activity for you. It will help them learn about numbers and one-to-one correspondence. It will also introduce them to Christmas and winter themes. (Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,…
Open-ended toys make great gifts! They often can outlast other toys with more bells and whistles. You can’t always tell on Christmas day which toys will be the winners. Sometimes the toys that allow open-ended play are what get played with the most over the long haul. Toys that only do one thing can get boring quickly. That’s because kids…
Today I’m sharing a fun and simple set of fine motor skill activities. You can do it with toddlers, preschoolers, or elementary aged kids. All you really need are dried beans from your pantry. Montessori-Inspired Toddler Activity My kids all attended a Montessori preschool. One of the earliest activities they learned there was spooning beans….
Books about storms can help calm children’s anxieties. Here we’re sharing the ten best books we found about rainstorms, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. Rumble, crash, boom! Thunderstorms can be scary for little kids. If your child is afraid of thunder, being calm and empathetic can help. So can reading books about storms. Storm Season Here in Texas,…
Realizing you can skip pages or parts of pages when you read aloud to your little kids is liberating, even if you do feel a little deceitful about it. There’s really no reason to feel guilty. In our house, we did plenty of book shortening until the kids got old enough to catch on to…
My twins love scissors! They can spend a really long time cutting, taping, and gluing. We started working on scissors skills when they were about two. I wish I’d had this awesome tutorial on how to hold scissors. It would have been so much more fun! Once they learned the proper grip, we had them…
You know when your kid finds a book that they want you to read over and over? Recently, one of my 5-year-old twins latched onto the book Tiptoe Joe by Ginger Foglesong Gibson. I totally haven’t minded. When a book opens with a cute rhyme like “Tiptoe fast, tiptoe slow. Say hello to Tiptoe Joe” across three…
My (beautiful, strong-willed) kids like to decide for themselves which clothes to wear. I’m okay with this most of the time, as long as they are seasonally appropriate. The problem for us here in the South is that the season doesn’t always predict what is appropriate. We can get a 70 degree day in January, followed by a…