Pom-Pom Clovers



For this St. Patrick's Day craft, I gathered up all the green pom-poms I could find in our craft drawer and we glued them onto paper. Then I took a green marker and drew clover leaves around the fuzzy pom-poms. LB(2) & I created the one above.

Book Page Wreath



A few months ago some friends and I got together and made some AWESEOME wreaths using pages from an old book! 
It was surprisingly very easy and turned out so cute! We followed the tutorial from The Shabby Creek Cottage. And my friend, Sarah, posted hers on her awesome blog: Confetti and Other Fun.


Clover Cookies without a cookie-cutter




Since we don't have any shamrock cookie cutters, I found a super simple way to make St. Patrick's Day Cookies over on everydayfoodstorage.net . They gave a whole recipe, but I just used a box of sugar cookie mix and put a few drops of green food coloring in it.


Then......

Roll the dough into balls and place them together by 3's (or 4's) on a cookie sheet




Use a cup, plate, lid, or anything else and flatten them.





Add a stem.



And bake!! 

The result: Clover Cookies sure to bring oodles of Good Luck!


HAPPY ST, PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Pretend Play: St. Patrick's Day Store



I found a bunch of green coins on super clearance after St. Patrick's Day last year. I didn't have a plan for them, but I just can't pass up a sweet deal when I see one.

I pulled out the coins, and we used the toys we collected in our Green Hunt activity and played "store." But not just any old store. No sir. When you have GREEN coins to spend, you can only buy GREEN toys! We called it our St. Patrick's Day Store.



I was the clerk first. I gave the boys a bowl of coins and set up all the toys on the couch. When they came to the couch I said, "Hello sir. Welcome to the St. Patrick's Day Store." They chose something to buy, and I told them how many coins it cost. They counted out the coins to me (good counting practice) and I said, "Thank you. Come again!" or "Have a Lucky day!"

The boys LOVED it---and I actually had a lot of fun too! We've played it a bunch of times since.


Green Hunt



A simple and easy St. Patrick's Day activity you could do with your little ones is to go on a Green Hunt!

We grabbed a big bucket (which also happened to be green) and searched through the house looking for things that were green!

Good color practice, and just plain fun.

Homemade Bath Salts


I made these awesome homemade bath salts several months ago in a mom-group I'm in.
I never knew making bath salts was so easy!

All you need is:

  • epsom salt (found in a pharmacy)
  • essential oil (in whatever scent you prefer, found at health food stores)
  • mason jar
Just place some epsom salt in a bowl and break out the clumps with a spoon. Place a few drops on essential oil in the salt and mix. Pour mixture into a mason jar and you're done!  And if you want to give it as a gift, you can add fabric under the lid and a ribbon around it.

I desperately wanted to use these lovely smelling salts to soak my old bones in a long and luxurious bath.....but wo is me: our little apartment doesn't have a bathtub!!!! Nevertheless, I did give it to a wonderful and deserving friend. 'Tis better to give than receive. :)

BIG FAT Rice Krispie KISS!





I saw this idea on pinterest to make a BIG FAT Hershey kiss out of rice krispie treats, by shaping them with a funnel and wrapping it up with tin-foil, like THIS.

A perfect combination of easy & brilliant.

However, I failed to find my funnel, which led to me shaping the hershey kiss by hand---which was really easy too! (When it got sticky, I just put some water on my hands). AND I was able to make my kiss even BIGGER than a funnel! And when it comes to both love and food, the bigger the better, I say.

We took it to Daddy today along with some other fun goodies, including THIS.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine for Daddy




Using the foam hearts from THIS game, we made a valentine craft to take to Daddy.

I folded pieces of cardstock and cut out big heart frames. 
The boys colored on them with crayons,
and then glued on the foam hearts.

Then we wrote their names on the hearts with a black marker (which I blemished out in the photo above). 

We took this to Daddy today, along with a balloon, cookies, a card from me, and THIS big fat KISS!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Pancake Surprise!


I woke up to a wonderful Valentine surprise from my 3 favorite boys: my sweet Husband, LM, & LB.
My husband had made heart pancakes for us all using THIS awesome pancake bottle we got from my parents for Christmas. (You could do something similar using THIS)
AND the boys had made me some lovely valentines! 

I was swiftly swept off my feet before the day even began! 


Happy Valentine's Day!


Heart Race

The boys and I played a fun game the other day in preparation for Valentine's Day.

It was a Heart Race!
It is fun as a family Valentine game, and would also be great for a Valentine's Day party!





We placed a bunch of little foam hearts (which I bought super cheap after Valentine's Day last year. You can also get some HERE.) in a bowl and placed it on one end of the house. 
We placed another empty bowl on the other end of the house.
The boys would scoop a spoon into the bowl and then carry those hearts to the other bowl.
Simple, and so much fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!


Check out a bunch of other fun and easy Valentine's Day Ideas for kids:

         


And these cute and easy valentine's day crafts!

  

(this post contains affiliate links)

Heart Tree


LB created the craft above.
I saw a really cute heart tree over on Putti Prapancha and wanted to do something similar.

To make this heart tree:
1. Cut out 2 hearts. One tall & slender for the trunk, and one big and fat for the top.
2. Glue the hearts on paper.
3. Place heart stickers on the tree like little apples. (or you can cut out a bunch of little hearts to glue on.)

Money doesn't grow on trees, but love sure does! haha.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Marshmallow Heart





LM created the heart above.
I found this idea on No Time for Flashcards.

1. Draw a heart on construction paper. (I also glued the construction paper to a piece of cardstock to give it more strength.)
2. Have the child put glue on the heart that you drew.
3. Have the child place the mini marshmallows on the glue.

And when you're all done, eat a couple marshmallows (or more)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Felt Heart Games


I have a lot of felt. 
A. LOT.

And almost every color you can dream of.
So I thought a good way to use a bit of my collection was to cut out a bunch of hearts for some Valentine Games. (P.S. you could do the same with paper hearts as well.)

So far, we've used the hearts like this:

1. We set out the big hearts on the floor and pulled the small hearts out of a bag. When we pulled out a color, the boys would go put their toes on the matching big heart. We played again and the boys had to put their noses on the matching heart. The possibilities are endless with how to touch the heart.

2. We set out all the hearts in a big circle and played musical hearts. When the music stopped they had to tell me what color the heart was that they were standing on.

3. We took turns hiding one of the hearts in the living room. 

Any more good ideas for heart games?

Happy Valentine's Day!

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