DIY Lifesize Cardboard Gingerbread House

Posted in activities for kids, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

So, I was helping my aunt get organized for a yard sale, and she had some extra boxes from her recent move. She asked if I needed them for anything. I took one look at the big box and thought: gee, that would make an awesome gingerbread house!

And maybe that wouldn’t be everyone’s first thought, but, hey, I mean the thing was already the right color…

So, I took it home, and I sculpted the box into a gingerbread house with some packing tape and a box cutter.

DIY Lifesize Cardboard Gingerbread House

I made the roof by cutting off two of the top flaps and taping those to the remaining two flaps that were still attached, as you can see in the photo above. Taped them together to form the ridge of the roof.

I then cut out a door and three windows (1 big arch in the back to match the door and 2 small circles on the sides) with the box cutter.

I taped down the flaps on the bottom, too, to secure the floor, being careful not to remove too much for the windows and such, to not compromise the structure. I mean, I only expect it to last the season, but it still has to hold up to the excitement of a 1-1/2 and 3-1/2 year old.

DIY Lifesize Cardboard Gingerbread House

I took the scraps from the door and carved two gingerbread men for their house. I decorated them with glue and glitter.

Because there’s always room for glitter.

DIY Lifesize Cardboard Gingerbread House

Here you can see my girls decorating the gingerbread house.

I made some candy canes, peppermint candies, and gumdrops out of construction paper ahead of time. I made the peppermints by adding a red star to a white circle (close enough), and cut arch shapes from a few colors to represent the gum drops (or spice drops).

And I cut a few waves to represent snow (icing) stuck to the end of the shingles, to give the roof some character.

My girls and I then glued everything on together, and they decorated the house with markers as well.

They drew on the outside walls, the inside walls, the roof, the edges of the windows, the floor, and even on the little gingerbread men.

They decorated it, played in it, dragged it around the house, then decorated it some more.

It was a big hit.

DIY Lifesize Cardboard Gingerbread House

Above you can see the two of them inside the house, decorating it with markers.

To make it yourself, you’ll need:

large cardboard box
packing tape
box cutter
construction paper
glue / glue sticks
markers

And before I go, one more photo, showing the little candy cane heart on the back of the house :)

DIY Lifesize Cardboard Gingerbread House

And don’t forget to check out these other Christmas crafts:

Felt Fashion Christmas Tree

Easy Christmas Craft: Paper Cone Christmas Trees

Easy Christmas Craft: Toilet Paper Roll Ornament Painting

Crystal Snowmen

Roaming Rosie Signature

29Nov2013

Modern Moose Clocks

Posted in wanderings in the world & web by Rosemary Lynn

I looooove this owl clock!

Of course, I love most things owl. But the shape and the colors are so simple but sleek and unique that I just can’t stop looking at it. I’m mesmerized.

The 3D, handcrafted wood clocks are made by Modern Moose, and they have other gems, like this robot and sock monkey:

You can find the Owl Clock and others at The Grommet!

14Nov2013

More Dirt Soup

Posted in activities for kids by Rosemary Lynn

dirt soup

I love the fall.

And now that it’s November, fall seems to have finally reached Florida. (Most days.)

So we’re spending a lot more time outdoors, which is a great boon to my outdoorsy kids.

As I’ve mentioned previously, in Dirt Soup: In Contact With Creation, my girls love digging in the dirt and mixing various things with water, all while explaining, in great detail, the flavors of their soup-like creations.

Today was a nice day. It called for soup.

And, above, you see a quick snapshot of my daughter in her fort (spaceship), next to her soupy creation and some gigantic rocks from the garden that were gifts we were bringing home from China.

Which is also why, incidentally, I usually let her tell me what we’re doing. Her imagination astounds me. Reminds me of how boring adults can be.

13Nov2013

Blustery Day Water Play

Posted in activities for kids by Rosemary Lynn

Blustery Day Water Play

Some days it’s just too cold and windy and blustery to play outside.

But we needed something to keep busy, and we’d already blown up the small pool the night before when we didn’t realize the sun wouldn’t be showing it’s face today.

So: water play.

We moved the pool indoors to the dining room. I filled two large plastic bowls with water, and placed them inside the pool. Then collected as many measuring cups and spoons and general gadgets (whisks, funnels, mesh strainers) as I could find, and tossed them in the pool, too.

Then, I let the girls have at it.

Blustery Day Water Play

It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

I had to refill the large bowls a couple of times since most of the water ended up in the bottom of the pool anyway, but that’s the reason I had them wear swimsuits.

I kept towels nearby to clean up spills that splashed onto the dining room floor and also to wrap them in when they’d had enough. But they spent so much time measuring and scooping and experimenting with the water to make setting it all up more than worthwhile. We’ll be doing this again.

This activity can also easily be done in the bathtub if you don’t have a little, blow-up or plastic pool. Or, if it’s a nice day outside, them you can just provide the bowls and tools spread out across the grass or a patio.

Either way, a fun yet educational (and basically free) way to keep your little ones entertained!

10Nov2013

Free Kid Activity: Developing Fine Motor Skills with Crayons

Posted in activities for kids by Rosemary Lynn

free activities for kids developing fine motor skills with crayons

This is another one of those activities that just kind of happened on its own.

My kids were coloring on the kitchen floor, and, for whatever reason, my daughter decided to go into the pantry and take out the bundt pan. Then both of my girls started filling the hole in the center with crayons.

I realized this was good for developing their fine motor skills (and keeping them busy while I was otherwise engaged in the kitchen), so I encouraged it.

They would insert the crayons into the hole, and once it was full, I’d show them they could pick it up, move the crayons, and start again.

You could use just about any small or skinny object for this: pipe cleaners (maybe cut shorter), pom poms, small toys or balls. Heck, you could even pretend it’s a volcano, and use small dinosaur toys. Let your kids get creative and pick what they want to use. Or compile a bunch of small toys and let them experiment to discover what will fit.

9Nov2013

Turkey Treasure Buckets

Posted in activities for kids, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Turkey Treasure Buckets | Great Thanksgiving Activity for Kids!

This November, in the spirit of Thanksgiving and Autumn, one of the projects we did was to make these Turkey Treasure Buckets.

My girls LOVE being outside.

They’d sleep out there if I let them.

Anyway, I wanted a project that would involve nature. So we made some turkey buckets to collect autumn leaves.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a ton of beautiful, colored leaves where we live in Florida. Our backyard pretty much has a bunch of brown Live Oak leaves. And some sticks, and some mulch, and some grass…

So, nature: yes. Beautiful fall colors: not so much.

I feel bad, too, because we we just in Georgia a couple of weeks ago and we collected a ton of fantastically bright fallen leaves. But I didn’t think to bring any home with us.

So, we improvised. Used what we had.

And the kids had a blast.

Turkey Treasure Buckets | Great Thanksgiving Activity for Kids!

We started with some copper-colored mini buckets from the bargain section of Target and a handful of clothespins.

We painted the clothespins with a variety of colors and sprinkled sequins over the wet paint to represent the turkey’s feathers. It was messy, but fun. My girls love painting.

And we only did one side. You could do both if you prefer.

I cut a quick face out of construction paper while they were painting, and they helped me glue on the eyes, beaks, and waddel. Then I hot glued the faces to the buckets. This was a sure way to keep them securely attached, but with an easy way to remove them later to reuse the buckets for another project.

Then, they clipped on the clothespin “feathers.”

Voila!

Turkey Treasure Buckets | Great Thanksgiving Activity for Kids!

Here’s a picture of my baby searching the backyard for treasures.

The clothes pins are a little heavy, but my girls wanted as many as possible. You could always use less if the weight is problem for you.

And here’s one of the buckets, filled with leaves and sticks.

They had so much fun with this. And they played with the buckets over and over, filling them with all kinds of treasures, including tiny toys.

And I had a blast watching them and helping them seek out fun discoveries in the backyard. It’s so great to spend some outdoors with my girls. I’m sooooooo happy that the coolness of fall is finally showing its face in Florida!

2Nov2013

Momism #8: Crusty

Posted in momisms by Rosemary Lynn

Sandwich crusts, pizza crusts, crusty pieces of unidentifiable charcoal-y chunks of something that fell off the food that was grilled… this is the fate of moms.

Not a particularly terrible fate, however, if you’re a carb lover like me. (And a fan of burnt chicken skin, but, really, that’s another story.)

Either way, I find many a crust entering my life nowadays. :)

17Oct2013

Letter L: Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids

Posted in activities for kids, alphabet activities, free worksheets & printables by Rosemary Lynn

Free Letter L Printables

If you’re new to our Alphabet Activities, please read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities first!

Here are all of the free printable PDFs for the Letter L. They are for home and classroom use, please don’t sell them. Click on each title to print or download them: