Toddler Tuesday- Pretend Flower Garden

Evelyn LOVES flowers. 

Whenever we leave the house she is constantly trying to pick a flower off some bush somewhere. 

Thanks to the genius who decided poisonous flowers like Lantana and Oleander were the best choice in Arizona landscaping, I am constantly bursting her little bubble saying "No, not that one! Put that down!".

 So, it was no surprise that her favorite activity at the Phoenix Children's Museum was the pretend flower gardens. If we would have let her she would have spent the entire time planting and arranging the colorful flowers. 

Perfect! Flowers that can be planted and replanted all day long with no worries of them being poisonous! 

For Evelyn's birthday I made her own personal Pretend Flower Garden. 

I bought: 

• 10 different bunches of colorful flowers (dollar store)
• Small plastic watering can (dollar store) 
• Small toy shovel set (dollar store) 
• 2 colorful planters (walmart) 
• 2 square foam blocks (walmart, same aisle as fake flowers) 
• Big clear plastic tub to hold everything (walmart)

All I did was super glue the foam blocks into the flower pots so she could push the fake flower into it and they stand straight up. (tried hot glue first but it didn't stay long) 

She loves it. Easy, cheap, and lot's of fun! 

Toddler Tuesday- fishing for colors activity

To start getting into a groove before I have get to start Home Schooling, I have started doing "school" with Evelyn during Zoë's morning nap time. I have been taking a topic and expanding on it throughout the week. This week is colors and here's the activity that Evelyn has been having fun doing this week. 

Fishing for Colors 

I cut out fish shapes from various colors of construction paper.
I then 'laminated' them with clear packing tape and put a paper clip on the edge. 

I took a small dowel rod (got a pack from Walmart for .97) and tied some string on one end and secured with hot glue. Then I took 2 small round magnets and hot glued them together with the other end of the string in between. 

This activity is great because they can practice identifying colors and helps develop good eye hand coordination. I ask Evelyn to tell me what color she pulls out and read the letters that spell the colors name. 


Do you have any great pre-school aged resources that you get activities and ideas from? 

Toddler Tuesday- fun breakfasts

So I decided I would start making up themes to some of the days of the week to help with blog post inspiration. Feel free to laugh at the silly titles. Since I am the mother of a toddler I thought I could share ideas and thoughts I have on this season I am in (and will hopefully be in for a while).

So first here's an easy idea I had to help make Evelyn's breakfast fun and special. She loved it. 

Since I know I like to hear what others make for meals to give me ideas....Here's a quick list of ideas (and recipes) for easy (and healthy) breakfasts that this toddler has approved. 

• Scrambled Eggs and whole wheat toast (with ketchup of coarse)
• Blueberry whole wheat pancakes and 100% maple syrup (freeze well)
• Yogurt, whole wheat toast and fresh fruit
• Fruit and yogurt smoothie (add a handful of fresh spinach, doesn't change the taste!)
• Omelet with spinach, tomato, and cheese (she picks out the tomatoes sometimes)
• Whole wheat french toast with 100% maple syrup
• Whole wheat crepes stuffed with berries and vanilla yogurt
• Plain oatmeal with frozen blueberries, sweetened with honey or syrup 

We usually have some kind of fresh fruit every morning and a glass of Orange Juice too.

Any ideas your toddlers love to eat, please share!