We are a few months in to our home preschool journey, and are always looking for new tools for learning at home. When I had the opportunity to review the new Amazon Fire HD Kids Edition Tablet I knew it could be a great fit for our family. Today I’m sharing four ways you can use the tablet to help your kids learn, play, and grow as well as how the Kids Edition Tablet works for us. Read on to find out more and learn how to get a FREE year of Amazon Free Time for your family. (more…)
The Advent season is one of my favorite times of the year, as we celebrate the awaited arrival of Jesus. My goal this year is to involve the whole family in our Advent traditions to make the joy of Christmas real and full for our kids. We will be using a Jesse Tree and the Jesus Storybook Bible each day starting November 30th, along with a fun activity each day. I’ve joined with a group of other Kid Blogger Network bloggers to bring you a special Storybook Advent series to help you incorporate books and kid activities in to your holiday celebration, as well as a Christmas Read and Play series all about our favorite holiday books. I’m sharing a quick and fun way to bring the Christmas story to life with your kids using The Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story along with a children’s nativity set and a few extra friends.
Holiday traditions can be full of joy and meaning, and are different for every family. You may bring in traditions from your own childhood as well as from your spouse’s family of origin, and combine them to make new ones for your own children. As I shared in this post about Ways to Simplify the Holiday Season, we make a list of all the things we want to experience during the holidays at the beginning so we make sure to prioritize and not get caught up in the busyness. Today I’m sharing ten of our favorite Christmas traditions with you, and I’d love to hear about your own in the comments section. Don’t forget to check out the links at the bottom of this post to find more Festive Family Fun ideas from the Festive Family bloggers. Our MASSIVE Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway ends tonight (11/17) at midnight, so be sure to enter at the bottom of this post. (more…)
Toddlers are fun all year round, but especially during the holidays. They can be a handful, but fill my heart with joy as well. Their eyes aglow with wonder at the lights on the tree, singing carols with the words all wrong, throwing a fit during that visit with Santa, caring more about the gift wrap than the present itself… all of it makes for a special holiday season. If you are looking to be strategic with your toddler gift giving this year by choosing gifts that will grow with your child and benefit them throughout the year, I’ve got the list for the best gifts for toddlers with options for every budget. With an 18 month old and 3 year old in our house, we are not looking to pile a bunch of stuff under the tree, but want to give our kids meaningful, useful gifts they’ll love. At this age you get to choose the gifts you want them to have rather than the latest toy they’re obsessed with, because they don’t really know any better. Read on to find our ideas and share your own in the comments section.
Looking for a sweet keepsake ornament to make with your kids that captures a bit of who they are right now but requires zero craft skills? You’ve come to the right place. My DIY Time Capsule Christmas Ornaments are super easy, get the kids involved, cost almost nothing, and will be a precious memento for years to come. Read on to find out how to make your own. You’ll find festive kid activities from the Festive Family bloggers at the bottom of this post as well as the entry form for our MASSIVE Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway with over $1800 in prizes. Don’t forget to enter!
Holiday shopping doesn’t have to be stressful. I’ve chosen my favorite items from each of our fabulous Festive Family Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway sponsors to help you knock out your shopping quickly and easily, and hopefully on budget. To read more about each brand, check out the full Gift Guide event here. At the bottom of this post you’ll find not only our HUGE $1800+ giveaway to win prizes from each of these sponsors, but also Gifts for the Season posts from the Festive Family bloggers.
Around our house, Christmas is a time for crafting. I’ve had my fair share of craft fails so I thought I’d share 15 easy Christmas crafts that are really and truly doable. I’ve made several of the ones on this list and plan to do a few more this year. All of these projects are frugal and can be done while you watch a favorite Christmas movie. Pick a project, turn on Elf, and get to crafting. Don’t forget to check out the other Creative Christmas posts from the Festive Family bloggers at the bottom of this post, and enter our HUGE Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway.
Holiday shopping for kids can be a daunting task. With millions of options, how do you find the best gift for your child that they will love and treasure? I’ve teamed up with a group of fabulous Kid Blogger Network folks to bring you real reviews of items from your kid’s wishlist. Peg and Plum is an Etsy shop focused on making high quality peg dolls perfect for imaginative play. Nativity sets for Christmas, Thanksgiving sets for the kids’ table, wedding and birthday cake toppers, custom sets made to look like your family, favorite characters, community helpers, and just about any type of peg doll you can imagine are available at Peg and Plum. Read on to find out what we thought about the peg dolls and enter to win a set of your own.
In the rush to Christmas, sometimes the Thanksgiving holiday gets overlooked. I love Thanksgiving, and think it is about so much more than stuffing our bellies and shopping for Black Friday deals. Teaching kids about gratitude, and practicing an attitude of thankfulness ourselves is key to living a life of peace and contentment. The more thankful I am for my life, the better I am at living it. For the second year in a row we’ve created a very simple Thankful Tree for the month of November to help us focus on gratitude. Read on to find out how we make it as well as to find ideas for Thankful Traditions from the other Festive Family bloggers. Don’t forget to enter the big holiday gift guide giveaway at the end of this post.
If a child lives in your home, the chances are good you have a collection of their art stashed in an ever growing pile. My kids love to color and paint and create, and their masterpieces start to really add up. I love their little creations, but I’m not trying to end up on Hoarders. You just can’t keep everything, right? I came up with a way to keep pieces of their paintings without hoarding and creating something lovely and decorative at the same time. I shared a garland we made for the Bear’s room here, and this time we decided to make a DIY holiday garland and love how it turned out. Read on to find out how to make one of your own.
You’ll need a collection of drawings or paintings. This project works best with toddler and preschool art because it is typically a little more “abstract”. If letting your kids paint intimidates you, read about how we finger paint without stress here.
Materials:
or other shape punch
Strategically punch out shapes from the paintings. You may have to cut pieces to get the look you want. I try to get a good mix of colors. After you get a pile punched, line them out how you want them to hang. I did mine about 4 inches apart. This will help you measure the string you need. I always leave a little extra when i cut the string in case I need more. Punch holes in the shapes and then let your child string them on your garland. This is great fine motor skill practice. If your child is older they can help with the punching as well.
Let them thread all of the shapes on to the string. We had a lot of fun with it. They were so excited to be making something with their artwork.
After the kids were done stringing the shapes on to the twine, I went back and knotted each piece in to place. Now it is ready to hang and decorate our home for Christmas.
Don’t forget to visit our Festive Family Holiday Gift Guide & Giveaway for prizes and more holiday fun. Read more about how we simplify the holiday season here. How do you make the holidays special for your kids?
Follow Becca Eby ~ Bare Feet on the Dashboard’s board Festive Family Holiday on Pinterest.
