Little Artists...

We have recently begun to explore the fun and creative past time of art creation.

Starting with a recommendation from a friend who was taking her children to an art class called Mucky Pups at around 14 months of age we decided to give it a go!

Below you will see the girls very first art class project - which I think this Mommy will proudly displayed on my fridge forever!

We now also brave getting down and arty (or should that be dirty!) at home.

Some of the projects we undertake with our toddlers are:-

• Hand Prints - We make a cut out of my hand and then dip their hands into it and make hand print patterns on my hand shapes.
• Finger Painting Fun.
• Bubble painting - This one can be a bit messy but you get dishwashing detergent add your non toxic child friendly paint (Crayola do a great line of this) to a plastic cup then Mommy's or Daddy's blow through a straw until it is bubbling over and then the kids take the bubbles and make patterns on their paper.
• Using different objects to create patterns and textures - Items such as toy cars, spatulas, paper towel rolls, straws, sponges etc...

Painting is a great way for kids to learn important skills such as:-

• Exploring Creativity
• Development of fine motor skills.
• Improvement of Self Esteem through accomplishment of task.
• Having FUN!!

It really is a great bonding activity for you to do with your kids and from my personal experience their attention level is captured longer than with other activities.

Do other people have ideas they wish to share with us on their kids painting activities and things we could all try? As always we would love to hear your feedback.

Happy Play Times :-)

Repurposed Baby Goods for Toddler Fun

In this post I am going to share a quick tip of something my girls love, that cost us little to begin with (we bought my favorite Ikea!) therefore has little resale value and we have repurposed it into a fun toddler activity.

It not only keeps toddlers happy but keeps Moms and Dads fit doing the pulling :-) and hey we can all use a little extra exercise right?

What is it you ask?

The baby bathtub....

See the below picture of the girls enjoying the fun!

(Annabelle & Scarlett enjoy playing in their old baby bathtub)

All we did was get an old towel along with their baby bath put them inside and pull the towel around the house to make a Boat? Car? Spaceship? you get the point leave it up to your imagination what you want it to be.

The outcome is the same squeals of delight from your little one having great fun playing a game with Mom or Dad.

I personally use the boat and sing "Row, Row, Row your Boat" while Daddy likes to think he is taking them in a race car.

We will be sharing some other repurposed baby goods for toddler toys in upcoming posts so please keep an eye out.

Do you have any suggestions of things you have done with baby products to amuse your toddlers for fun? Please share we would love to hear.

Happy Play Times :-)

Weekend Watching - Water Play and Music

My children LOVE water play and they LOVE music!

So when I came across this weekend watching clip I could not resist.

We will be trying out some of the ideas during one our afternoon water play sessions this weekend.

Perhaps if the weather is right where you are you may want to give it a go?

We can compare notes on how the children found it.

To get you started with how to incorporate water play and music play together see the You Tube video from Child's Play Music.



Happy Play Times :-)

We Are Back

Wow it has been a while since we have been here. Feels good to be back.

I am looking forward to stocking up this BLOG again with lots of great fun, happy children’s play ideas!

In fact we already have a lot of posts ready to go that we will be uploading.

The favorite Friday Fun Facts will be back and our weekend watching segments will resume.

So where have we been? It may not be what you might expect. And it wasn’t exactly taking a step away from BLOGGING but enhancing it.

We have been spending several months setting up and launching the new business that connects brands and Mom BLOGGERS over at Building BLOG Bridges. If you would like to learn more please click here and if you own your own BLOG see how you can be rewarded through our Building BLOG Bridges Brigade.

But the fact that I got into this new business venture through my passion for BLOGGING, the connections it makes and the information that can be shared I felt a strong desire and calling to come back to the start of it all and revive Happy Play Happy Children.

My twin girls are now almost 18 months old (can you believe it!!) many of you out there I am sure can relate about how time flies when raising your children.

And as these months have been passing the need for fun, games, play, engagement and development grows and grows and so we have a lot to share.  Boy do I love getting down and being a kid again with them it brings the girls and I so much joy.

So I hope our old readers will forgive our absence and join in the fun again and I look forward to finding and getting to know new people on this BLOGGING journey.

Happy Play Times :-)

Show and Tell with Your Pre Schoolers

Some of you may have children that already do this who are of school age. Others like me may just remember the fun it was to do at school as you took something or someone of great love to school and told everyone about it.

Children between 3-6 love this activity and it is great for building confidence, learning to communicate and developing a deeper understanding in the world around them.

But does it just need to be done in the classroom? No you can be a captive audience for your little one at home and have them pick various objects to conduct show and tell for Mum’s, Dad’s, grandparents, the postman ;-)

It’s a perfect indoor activity for those cooler months coming up in the Northern Hemisphere and the scorchers to occur in the Southern Hemisphere.

Weekend Watching - Thanksgiving Day Activities & Games : Turkey Stories for Thanksgiving Games

Learn about a fun way to implement play and games into your Thanksgiving holiday this year!

Also if you are looking for more ideas You Tube is full of great fun and creative games to get your children into the holiday spirit and have loads of fun.

Happy Play Times :-)

Friday Fun Facts - Thanksgiving Edition

It would be a miss of us to not celebrate Thanksgiving for our loyal and lovely US friends in this weeks Friday Fun Facts with the big celebration next Thursday November 22nd.

So please enjoy! 

- Yummy turkey which is  the traditional fare eaten on thanksgiving (by 91% of the US Population) was Benjamin Franklin's choice of national bird for the USA.

- If you are in California then guess what your state is the largest consumers of turkey.

- Green bean casserlle must be pretty popular too as 40 million of them are served on Thanksgiving day.

- In 1939, 40 & 41 the date was changed by Franklin Roosevelt to change the date to the 3rd Thursday in November to boost the economy and extend the christmas season - didn't really work out to well as only half the states followed suit.

- The west coast of the US like to consume crab for thanksgiving as this is the beginning of the crab season.

- The first thanksgiving lasted 3 days!

And I believe the tradition is to share what you are thankful for so I am extremely thankful for all the support, encouragement and loyalty from our Happy Play Happy Children readers I truly appreciate and value your support and time to this endeavor.

Happy Play Times :-)