Preschool Sensory Play Activities: How it all got started!

Sensory Messy Play and Preschool Activities

We've had many great years teaching messy play and preschool classes for The Play Connection and hope the future will send even more blessings our way. Here are our top sensory and messy play preschool activities from 2013. What a blast from the past!

This post contains affiliate links.

Here is a listing of our top posts of 2013. Many offer great ideas for fun, preschool activities, clip art, and lots of fun for kids! Enjoy!

1. Christmas Eye Candy: Photos of Christmas Trees in Snow Clipart
2. Angie's Homemade Artisan Bread Recipe
3. New Year Preschool Party Ideas and Activities for Kids
4. Lots of Snowmen and Marshmallows Christmas Crafts and Activities for Kids
5. Fun for Kids with Phineas and Ferb Printables
6. Lots of photos of Bread Clipart
7. Cute Valentine Clipart and Free Printables for Kids Classroom Valentines
8. 9 New Year Activities for Kids with games for kids too
9. Marshmallows: Fun for kids SENSORY game great for preschoolers
10. The Tooth Fairy Sagas: Free Toothfairy clipart and true Mommy Drama
11. Activities for Kids: Make your own snow for Sensory play fun for kids
12. Birthday Party games for Kids and Moms on a budget
13. Our new Series Made the cut! Creative Country Sayings and Inspirational Quotes

Memories from 2008 - 2012.

Here's my favorite Homeschool Lesson from 2013.

Primary and Complementary Color Homeschool Art and Science Lesson.

Jake's Journey in Homeschool Art Lessons and Projects for Kids

(Pre K to Elementary)

There are many Homeschool Lessons in this series, so make sure you click the labels under each post. (Still Life, Water Coloring for Kids, Weaving, Self-Portrait activities, Building Models for Science, Christmas Gingerbread House how to diy, Color Theory Lessons, Primary Colors, and even some History  along the way - it's art to me how we've designed our lives throughout the years. I hope you will follow along on the journey.)

We published a Kitchen Kids Cookbook with mix and make recipes for kids. We helped fund raise for Santa's Elves of Indy, we started Homeschooling through INCA (Indiana Connections Academy,) and we moved to a house in the country. 

2013 holds many dreams as we look forward to gardening, raising chickens, goats, and hopefully bunnies and alpacas, get that YA novel published, and share a few of the many stage plays and skits for kids I've written over the years. Bring it! I am excited to get started :-) 

What does your future hold? Leave a comment and let us know.

Follow us on Pinterest (Kids Creative Chaos and Pin it! Online Scavenger Hunt for Pre school Curriculum) and Google +  Can't find us on Twitter? Check the right sidebar for a link we're @playconnection. 


Recommended Reading:

Fun with Messy Play: Ideas and Activities for Children with Special Needs

Play Out: How to develop your outside space for learning and play

Free Martin Luther King Day stage play for kids "Dreamkeepers" 15 minute Classroom Skit

Free script for Martin Luther King Day: a great elementary class room stage play

Do you need a quick skit for your elementary class to learn about Martin Luther King Jr.? This MLK play, Dreamkeepers, is approximately 15 minutes and teaches about the famous speech "I Have a Dream".  Follow the links for the printable MLK script for kids. Enjoy!

Martin 'Luther King Play Skit Script for Kids for MLK Day.

Scroll down for Free Play Script Printable for Kids. We also have a Martin Luther King Day Activity for Kids.

MLK Clipart

15 Minute Classroom Plays

Seasonal Celebrations

 Volume 1

All skits are based on a monthly theme with lessons in language, social studies, art and science sprinkled throughout the pages. It's 'Edutainment'. Make a paper handrpint dreamcatcher craft to go along with your lesson.


Enjoy a free copy of the first script in the series: 


In Google Drive: Martin Luther King stage play skit for Kids. 


Volume One:  
"Dreamkeepers" (MLK Day Play for Children)
"Hide and Seek Hearts" (Valentine's Day Play for Kids)
"Rainbow Stew" (St. Patrick's Day Skit for Elementary).


Recommended Reading:

Free Martin Luther King Printable Posters

I Have a Dream (Book and CD)

Barack Obama Activity for Preschool

US Presidents Lesson

Kitchen Kids: Christmas Cranberry Muffins Recipe

Kids Can Cook this Easy Holiday Cranberry Muffin Recipe

Make mom breakfast in bed for the holidays or Mother's Day with our Kitchen Kids Cranberry Muffin Recipe from "Kids Creative Chaos Cooks Cookbook" full of recipes to mix and make with minimal adult supervision.

Holiday Cranberry Muffin Recipe. Easy for kids to make.

You need:

English Muffins
1 Can of Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Cinnamon 
Brown Sugar

How to make:
Toast Muffins in toaster or toaster oven.
Open the cranberry sauce and slide it out of the can.
Slice into thin circles.
Place cranberry slices on muffins.
Sprinkle with brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.
Place in toaster oven or on a cookie sheet in a warm oven at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.
Serve warm.

Recommended Reading:

Easy-To-Do Holiday Crafts From Everyday Household Items!: Including Crafts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and Every Day of the Year!

Holiday Games for Parties

Top 10 Reasons to Hate Juice Packs, Recycle Plastic Bottles

Recycle Plastic Bottles for Lunch

Recycle Kid's Trash to Ease Mommy Woes. Hate Juice Packs? We're always looking for new ways to recycle plastic bottles. The juice pack mess really sparked this idea. How do you teach your kids to recycle? Enjoy!

How do you teach your kids to recycle? 

Ways to Recycle Plastic Bottles

Here are 10 reasons to hate juice packs:

1.  Straw wrappers. Everywhere.
2.  "Mommy, I can't get a straw in here!" (But they want to, try really hard, and squeeze juice everywhere.)
3.  Little dots of juice turned dirt magnets on the carpet. Everywhere.
4.  One box takes up a lot of fridge room and only lasts one day. Expensive, considering.
5.  Pouches in landfills. Everywhere.
6.  Half-full pouch tossed in trash because kids too lazy too squeeze out last drop.
7.  "I don't like Kiwi Strawberry." "I don't like lemonade." "Wah!" (Complaints)
8.  "Look, it's a volcano!" Everywhere.
9.  Added sugar.
10. Instant Balloon toys, need I say more?


Solution:
Recycle mini-soda bottles, fill with healthy drinks of your choice or even Kool-aid. Saves money, the environment, and Mommy headaches. 

Reuse Plastic Bottles: Kid's choose their favorite flavor and reseal for later.


Store recycled mini-plastic bottles in the bottom of fridge door for easy access: 
Allows for preschooler independence!

Of course, water bottles work too; maybe try it for lazy grown-ups or portion control.

Recommended Reading:

Uses for Plastic Bottles

Recycle!: A Handbook for Kids by Gail Gibbons* 

Recycle a Bottle into a Valentine Card Holder

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products. *We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here.Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Heart Shaped Pizza without Yeast

Homemade Heart Shaped Pizza

Looking for Homemade Pizza Ideas? Want to Make Pizza without yeast? This Heart Shaped Pizza is simple and super easy to make with kids. No oven needed. You can microwave it or bake it on the stovetop! We cook ours on the grill. Enjoy!

Post contains affiliate links.

Homemade Heart Shaped Pizza without Yeast.

So how do you make a pizza without yeast? It is easy, and you can make a gluten free pizza too! Grab you kitchen shears and some tortillas!

How to Make Heart Shaped Pizza without Yeast or Oven

Supplies Needed:

Flour or Corn Tortillas (for gluten free version)

Cooking Spray

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (we used Colby)

Parmesan Sprinkles

Kitchen Shears

Paper Plates

This is so easy, it makes the perfect activity for a kid's birthday party! See pictures above to follow these simple steps.

• Fold your tortilla in half, then cut out half a heart.
• Spoon pizza sauce (you can use spaghetti sauce) on your tortilla
• Sprinkle on Parmesan Cheese.
• Add toppings like Pepperoni, Green Peppers, or Pineapple.
• Sprinkle on Shredded Cheese.
• Spray grill or skillet with Cooking Spray.
• Heat grill or skillet on high heat.
• Place Heart Shaped Tortilla Pizza on Grill until Cheese melts.

*You can also microwave the pizza just until cheese melts. This takes less than 1 minute, so watch it closely.

Make pizza on the stove top.

Recommended:

Valentine Party Ideas for Tweens

Edible Art Recipes

Heart Shaped Pan


Pin it!

Fall Back-to-School Party Ideas

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Healthy4School #CollectiveBias

Fall Party Printable: Fun Ideas to Fight Colds 

Traditionally, back to school time is August or September, but now that many schools have moved to a year around calendar, back to school time can happen in the fall, winter, and spring. After a busy back to school season, we enjoyed a nice fall break. Fall break in October often means heading back to a school full of colds and flu. That's never fun! We wanted to prep for the back to school cold season and say goodbye to summer, so we had a fall theme back-to-school party. Scroll down to find some fun ideas to decorate and host a fall party. Enjoy!

Turkey Snack Cup Kids Craft: Easy Thanksgiving Craft

Make a Snack Cup placeholder Kids Craft for your Thanksgiving Table. 

This easy turkey craft is fun for kids, and they can reuse the cup at snack time. These make fun placeholders for Thanksgiving when you write their name on the "feathers".

Turkey Placeholder Cup for Thanksgiving Kids' Snacks.

I saw this on the Disney Family Fun Page using feathers. I thought we'd give it a try with Popsicle sticks from the dollar store. We went on a shopping spree with only a few dollars to spend to get supplies. When I saw the sticks, I decided that they would have to do. That's the best advice I give, 'Go with the flow'. We'll recycle and use the sticks in other projects. 

Supplies:

Leaves or Construction Paper
Hot Glue
Paper Cups
Craft Sticks
Markers
Popcorn

Glue sticks to front of the cup in a fan or tail pattern. Hot Glue works best.

Draw a face and gobbler on the construction paper.


 

Glue to the front of the cup itself or onto another stick.

Amanda, age 2, drew this face by herself!

She told me where to glue each stick.

Turkey Snack Craft for place setting.

Sam's, 'girl turkey', a thing of beauty.

Fill with popcorn and serve pre-turkey to keep tiny tummys occupied!

Recommended Reading:

Easy-To-Do Holiday Crafts From Everyday Household Items!: Including Crafts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and Every Day of the Year!*

Turkey Cup Craft

T is for Turkey: A True Thanksgiving Story*











ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Easy Donut Recipe? Santa's Doughnut Maker Mistake

Easy Donut Recipe? 

In 2010, Santa brought the little one a doughnut maker.  She asked for a cupcake maker, but it was the hot item and hard to find that year.

Mommy was tired after all of the Christmas doings, so Daddy was in charge of making the doughnuts. I never even saw one. I heard, "They were so good!"  Mommy has been very busy.  Mommy experienced the Easy Bake Oven with the teenager.  It took Mommy over a year to make the doughnuts.

As a kid, I had a Holly Hobbie, Old-fashioned,  Easy Bake Oven.  What fun I had baking cookies and cakes on the floor of my bedroom...  Wait that seems like an odd memory, true, but odd.  I have no memory of my mother helping with this endeavor.  I do remember my Dad eating the results. As a matter of fact, I remember my Dad eating teenager's Easy Bake Cookies and Cakes.

Remember how the cookies tasted baked in your Holly Hobbie Easy Bake Oven.

I also had a Baby Alive growing up.  You mixed the baby food  and she pooped and peed.  I liked her food.  I thought. "It was so good!"  Easy Bake and Super Doughnut Factory food tastes exactly like Baby Alive food. My, how my tastes have changed. And, for those of you who read my post on doll collecting, yes, somewhere, I have both of these items.  (Hoarder, Hoarder, Hoarder)

This year (2011), my son wanted a doughnut maker.  He knew exactly which one he wanted. Grandpa took us shopping and when we explained that we needed to leave the toy aisle and find the small appliance aisle both Daddy and Grandpa were perplexed. My son is very practical.  He also asked Grandpa for a new, winter coat. So, he got this one.

Mommy has been ridden with guilt. Knowing she should make the little one's doughnuts but not wanting to make the doughnuts. So, I had a brilliant idea.  We'd have a doughnut maker bake-off. Doesn't that sound like fun?

What I learned from said Doughnut Maker Bake-off:

Good ideas- aren't always. The genius idea to rid the house of Easy-Bake and Super Doughnut Maker packets would be more genius if I secretly tossed them. Easy-Bake is a Misnomer. Super Doughnut is a Misnomer.  

What's Super about it?  Doughnuts are tiny.  You mix them in a tiny bowl with a tiny spoon, put them in a "machine" that squeezes  supposedly squeezes them back out into a tiny muffin tray. We are not elfs, we are humans. The extra step is not easy, super, or fun. It works better if you use the tiny spoon to place the batter in the tiny muffin tray. Then you add the filling.  HA ha ha ha ha. Finally you stick it into the microwave for 45 seconds. Voila! Easy.  

Mommy taught the teenager how to use the microwave with her Easy-Bake supplies when she kept getting the pans stuck in her oven. I should have invented the 'Super Easy Cake Maker', I would be swimming in the dough. Yep, dough.

If you put something off for an entire year forget the guilt; I'm sure you had a good reason. Someone's got to clean this thing! I've made my last Easy-Bake or Kiddie Baker item ever.

It might be possible to persuade me into feeding Baby Alive.  Thank goodness the little one doesn't like dolls, especially babies. I've changed enough diapers in my life. After she ate microscopic, microwaved, mini-doughnuts made from year old ingredients, we grabbed a box of cake, followed the recipe for cake-like cookies, spooned them into the practical doughnut maker, popped them out after two minutes, and coated them with powdered sugar. Now that was easy.

Daddy ate the doughnuts. None of these doughnuts are fat-fried, I guess that's a plus. Here are some of our other Easy doughnut/fun food recipe attempts that really work!

Refrigerator Biscuit Doughnuts (Powdered Sugar Recipe)

How to make maple glaze

Valentine Pretzels

Cinnamon Donut Recipe (These were made in donut maker. They are good and beautiful)

Recommended Reading:

Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home

Pin-it Online Scavenger Hunt 4/16/12

Be the first to know the new search words by subscribing to our emails >>>

And the Winner is (4/9)...  Jennifer O. Send address info to the hollyjollyone@yahoo.com  Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. I am on it but wait to mail several prizes at once :-)

Remember to Win it you must leave a comment on this blog post after completion of the hunt. Below this post is a divider bar on the left side you will see the words "Tell us your two cents" click here to leave a comment. Any comment will do :-)


We have several pinners but less than 10 are entered in the drawing each week!!!  


Leave a comment on Pinterest to be added as a collaborative pinner under the purple tack.

Most pinned (28 repins) pinned by Salina K. from the blog Momto2PoshLilDivas.com Homemade Bouncing Balls.

My favorite pin pinned  by Taryn Scruggs (9 repins) from the blog Noodle-head.com Pom-Pom Valentine Window.  

This week's keyword search topics are:

Arbor Day Crafts
Kid Science ~ Corn Starch
Things to do with Paper Plates
Recycled Lamp Shades

Tweet