put on your smock and roll up your sleeves, cause it’s craft time

This blog’s content has been rather pathetic lately, to put it mildly. Since we’ve returned from Thailand almost a month ago, I feel like life has just been busier - with good stuff, thankfully, but it means that by the time I actually have time to blog, I’m too wiped out to really have blog-worthy thoughts. I know there are seasons when I just have blogger’s block, so I’m attributing it to that. And pregnancy. And cross-cultural stuff. And dealing-with-a-two-and-a-half-year-old stuff.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been finding good stuff on the internet lately. I’ve especially been looking up craft and activity ideas for Chickpea, because although crayons and play-doh are her best friends, she’s only interested in coloring books and using cookie cutters for so long. And sometimes, well, I just run out of ideas for her.  Although she is having a ball doing at-home “preschool,” thanks to Cheryl’s curriculum.

Chickpea really has her mama’s panache for right-brained activities, and even though she’s only two-and-a-half, it seems clear that logic and numbers aren’t her forte. She knows all her letters (almost in order) and can sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” from memory, but she still counts “1, 2, 8!” when she jumps into the pool.

So without further adieu, here are some of the links I’ve enjoyed lately…

kinderart - specifically the preschool/littles stuff

ideas for toddler crafts - simple ideas, but they do the trick

activities for toddlers - includes recipes for some craft supplies

dover printables - samples from their coloring books

coloring pages - semi-decent Bible printables

coloring book fun - my favorite site for tons of printables

making leaf prints - I want to try this if we get decent leaves around here

here’s a good leaf printable for various fall-themed crafts

tons of toilet paper roll craft ideas - this is where we got the moose template pictured

jan brett - very cute printables and activities

toddler activities - not well-organized, but lots of ideas

alphabet activities - Chickpea’s a bit young for some of these, but they look good

preschool lessons & activities - I think maybe Cheryl passed this one on to me?

preschool activities - I haven’t explored this site much, but it looks good

letter of the week - ignore the dorky photo of the kids

simply charlotte mason - even though Chickpea’s too young for official school, this site has a great bookfinder for great living books. I really dig Charlotte Mason’s style.

Not for Chick to out-do me, here are some craft resources I’m psyched about:

making silhouettes

homemade sugar scrub

drying oranges and apples

homemade veggie wash

craft clip art & templates - from the goddess of all things crafty, Martha

And finally… There are new photos on our Flickr site. Let me know if you need the link!