Kids Haus

Smallabe Holiday Gift Guide

I feel fortunate to have been asked to participate in creating a holiday gift guide for one of my favorite online shops, Smallable. The challenge was to narrow down their incredible selection to only 8 gifts that would be fun for the little ones. I gravitated toward activity-driven gifts mostly because I really enjoyed watching my girls immerse themselves in their new projects or activities for several days or weeks after everything has wound down. Now for the best part: from December 7-21,  Smallable is offering 20% off of Kids Haus gift guide items using the code NOELKIDSHAUS at checkout. So, go ahead and take a closer look at a few of my favorite things and I hope you're enjoying the holiday season so far...

Petite Picasso

I wish I could have gotten better photographs of this awesome art tube that Donna from Petite Picasso graciously sent Bean for Christmas but the girls were too anxious to break into the paint tubes and markers without further ado. When I first received it, I had assumed that it was an empty art tube to store our larger masterpieces. Upon opening, I was thrilled to find an entire set of markers, colored pencils, paints, brushes, crayons, eraser, sharpener all rolled up inside the nicely compartmentalized plastic case. Needless to say, our art tube is already jammed with past & present works and it's sitting pretty in the corner of the girls' room. She even had the tube customized with Bean's name on the outside which made the whole surprise extra special. I wrote about Donna's business, Petite Picasso, back in December but if you missed it, you'll have to read about her beautifully customized books for your child's art. Thanks again, Donna!

eensies

The week got off to a slow start with only 3 out of 5 posts that I intended to write, though I'm sure you can all understand what it's like to bounce back from a holiday hangover. I have managed to clean out 2 garbage bags of toys and miscellany from the girls' room and playroom though (shhhh!). A wise tip: refrain from dumping bags off to your local Goodwill for a few weeks just in case something is discovered missing. Why do I know this? It happened tonight! Thankfully, the bag was sitting in my garage and I was able to recover it without blowing my cover.

So, since I fell short with my posts this week, here's a special one for a Saturday night since I'm hunkered down at home with a chest cold. I was delighted to discover a new-to-me blog, eensies, after Rebecca left a comment on my Organize post. Rebecca and Brett are elementary school teachers and decided to write a blog after so many parents have asked them over the years, “what should we be doing at home?” From what I've read so far, their blog has been very enjoyable and inspring at times. Their post on "Independent Reading" was timely for me since Bean is immersed in reading. It's hard to refrain from correcting her pronunciation or blurting out the word when she stumbles but I manage to bite my tongue.

Great Gift: Crayon Rocks

I hope you all had a great weekend. We had fantastic autumn weather and I had the girls on a crafting binge all weekend. We also received our custom stamp and I'll upload pictures as soon as I recharge my camera. I wish you could have seen Bean's face when I gave it to her. She was so enamored with the idea of taking one of her drawings and turning into a stamp and actually asked if we could sell it to our friends, J & H, because I think she sees me selling my artwork and it's something she wants to do too. Very cute. 

Anyhow, can we talk about Crayon Rocks? They could almost be the "perfect" gift. The rainbow of colors first grab your attention but the rounded pebble shape is what makes them truly unique and tempting to pick up and play with. Created by a special needs teacher to aid with proper gripping techniques, crayon rocks are designed to strengthen the tripod grip muscles which makes them perfect for children with motor disabilities, as well as for every day, fun activities. They're eco-friendly, made of soy wax and tinted with natural mineral powders, so like me, you may want to buy a few for stocking stuffers and birthday presents.

Pretend Play

What child doesn't love to pretend play? Honestly, the best thing I ever did was move my girls' wooden toy oven in the room right next to our kitchen. It's loaded with wooden fruits and veggie, utensils, pots & pans and mini oven mitts (of course). It has saved many of my dinners from becoming disasters by being the best distraction for Clara. Plan Toys has got to have the best array of wooden toys and that little grocery cart might be coming home with me.

Making Easter Eggs

Well, we just made Easter eggs and I thought I'd write a mini-post about them because they turned out better than I had imagined and we had so much fun making them. We started with hard-boiled eggs (of course) and opened the package of traditional egg coloring tablets that you can buy. We added a tablespoon of olive oil (though I'm sure any oil will do) to the colored water bath. The oil makes a beautiful marbled pattern on the eggs. Ms. Bean dipped the eggs into several colors to see what would happen. That was the best part -- the element of surprise! I think they're almost too beautiful to hide in the yard now...*wink*

Project: Toothpick Sculpture

Ms. Bean brought this fantastic toothpick and marshmallow sculpture home from school a couple of weeks ago and I just loved it's organic shape. It's a fun and easy project that can be done at home with a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks. Any shape, size or structure is aloud -- creativity at it's best! Unfortunately, because of it's edible nature, the one pictured to the right was nibbled on until it's structural integrity broke down (we had to bid farewell to it). So, the one on the left was a replacement model that we made at home. Obviously, there should be an age requirement due to the sharp toothpicks  -- so I will defer to you to make the call as to whether it's age appropriate for your child. Instructions are simple: connect the toothpicks to the marshmallows to build the structure of your child's imagination.

DIY: Chart it!

Over the last couple of years, we've created several crazy charts to inspire Ms. Bean to accomplish various things...potty training, teeth brushing or sleeping in her own bed. You name it and we have probably charted it! And it works! So when I saw my friend Jana's chart that she illustrated for her daughter, I loved it! A picture to inspire the task is a great idea and something that you could do together. When Britta has accumulated 20 stickers or stamps, she gets to choose a reward. (Jana's got some great crafty projects and I'm trying to convince her to share a few of them with KidsHaus someday).

Secret Weapon: Yoga

Because it's winter and there's a major decline in outdoor activities, it can be a recipe for hyper or bored children. I've got a secret weapon and 9 times out of 10 it works like a charm...kids yoga! Before you imagine me instructing my daughter how to do downward dog, I'm happy to report that GAIAM has produced several well-made kids' yoga DVDs that keep my daughter utterly entranced. We even bought her a yoga mat. Let me tell you how cute and satisfying it is to see your child doing yoga -- there's something about it.

 

Laptop Lunch Bento Box

I recently purchased this Laptop Lunch Bento Box for Ms. Bean to take to school. I was becoming alarmed at how many plastic baggies we were going through and I was feeling guilty each time I had to throw one away. I could have washed them out but, seriously, one has to prioritize and the baggy just didn't make the cut. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this little box went over with Ms. Bean. It might be the teeny little container that can hold an Andes mint but I really think there was something about the separate, brightly colored containers that perked her interest. For the first time, she's having fun helping me make her lunch in the morning. She likes to make sure each container has something in it and, to my surprise, she's been eating everything.

Baby Ugg Boots

On a whim, about 6 weeks ago, I splurged on these Ugg Boo Baby Booties for the Mini. The weather was starting to turn and finding a matching pair of socks every morning was starting to wear on me. Hands down, these have become the best $50 I've spent in a long time. The mini wears them every day and even she asks to put them on, "boo" -- I even use them as slippers in the morning. They're incredibly easy to slip on and slip off her tiny feet (bonus: no socks necessary!). Plus, there's nothing better than soft, warm baby feet after they've been toasting in a woolly booty.