Hours of Entertainment with Sticky Mosaics

We received product in exchange for this post, but all opinions are my own. Affiliate links may be included.

As you all know by now, Charlie loves all things artsy. There are a few things that we can pull out that will actually entertain him for an extended period of time. We’re always on the lookout for more of these types of activities.

Sticky Mosaics from Orb Factory have proved to be one of these activities that can truly entertain him for hours. Charlie will sit down at the table and really focus on what he is doing. We love projects like this that calm him down and focus.

 

Tissue Paper Pumpkin

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Easy crafts are perfect for our house. This pumpkin is a fun and easy craft that’s perfect for fall. Charlie loves making crafts and I love being able to use them to decorate the house. This is now hanging on our door!

Rainy Day Ideas for Kids in Myrtle Beach

If you’re in the Myrtle Beach area on vacation with kids and it’s raining, it may seem like a nightmare at first! Oh no! You can’t go to the beach, the pool, walk the boardwalks, or play mini golf!

But… there are plenty of things you can do on rainy days in Myrtle Beach!

Children’s Museum of South Carolina

The Children’s Museum of South Carolina is an interactive playground for the mind! Come touch, explore, and play while learning about your world through the interactive exhibits and programs at the Children’s Museum of South Carolina. We serve our state and local communities, as well as visitors to Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand area.

Admission:

• 0-23 months: FREE
• 2+: $8

Road Trip Activities & Tips for Little Ones

Tomorrow morning we’ll be driving to Surfside Beach in South Carolina for our family vacation! From our house, it’s about a 9 hour drive straight through. With the boys, we expect it to take about 12 due to stops. For a 3 year old and a 10 month old, that’s a really long and boring drive. For the parents, it’s not much better. We’ll have the dvd player with us, but want other ways of keeping the boys happy along the way.

Alphabet Magnets from Baby Food Jar Lids

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With an 8 month old, we go through quite a few jars of baby food. I have a lot of great plans for the jars, but not so many for the lids. Then I thought of a great little craft that is *gasp* educational too!

Summer Bucket List with Printable

This summer is going to be much different from every other year. This is my first summer as a stay-at-home mommy. I decided we’ll make a bucket list for the summer. I could only imagine what kind of things Charlie would come up with for us to do, but he didn’t get too wild this year. I also want to make sure there’s some things on here for everyone to do, but not necessarily everyone together.

I’m sharing my free printable for you to create your own summer bucket list. Gather the kids or the hubby and have everyone toss out ideas. Have fun with it and get creative!

Hippo Haven at Adventure Aquarium

We received complimentary tickets for our visit. All opinions are my own.

This is the first and only aquarium we have visited as a family. I had been leery about taking Charlie because any aquarium we choose to visit is about an hour from us and I didn’t want to drive, pay, and then him hate it or get bored/tired after 30 minutes of walking around.

Adventure Aquarium was amazing. This is truly an aquarium catered to children (though I loved everything about it as well). When we walked in, Charlie immediately wanted to run everywhere and see everything. After explaining to him we weren’t in a hurry and had plenty of time, he slowed down a bit so we could enjoy everything.

This week, June 15-22, is Hippo Haven week! Monday through Friday, join in on the search for the “hippo booty” in Hippo Haven Twitter Treasure Hunt for the chance to win your choice of a behind-the-scenes Hippo Experience for four or a Family Explorer Annual Pass. Follow @AdventureAqua on Twitter to find out the daily clue! Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22 Backyardigans Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua get in on the fun with live appearances 11-3 daily in the Rotunda. You can visit Hippo Haven for Talks and Feeds every day at 10:30, 11:30, 1:30 and 2:30.

Paper Plate Sun Catcher

If you’re looking for an easy and affordable craft, this is it. Sun catchers are great for any age.

You’ll need:

• paper plate
• clear contact paper or clear packing tape
• scissors
• tissue paper
• hole punch
• yarn or ribbon
• crayons, markers, stickers (optional)

Kiwi Crate Free Trial

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I’m excited to share that Kiwi Crate is offering a limited Kiwi Crate Free Trial. From now until June 10th, they are offering my readers an opportunity to try a sample-size project, Rad Rockets, from one of our popular crates! Just pay $3.95 for shipping.

Kiwi Crate Free Trial (Limited Time Only)

Kiwi Crate is an award-winning, monthly subscription service for kids ages 3-8. Each month, your little one will receive multiple arts, crafts, and science activities – delivered right to your door.

Sand Play Dough

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When we went to the Turkey Hill Experience, Charlie found something that we had to tear him away from. He called it “Ice Cream Play Dough”. It was basically a sand-like play dough with an ice cream set. He sat there and played for a good 30 minutes (on and off of us dragging him away). I told him that Mommy could make him “Ice Cream Play Dough” at home.

Two weeks later, I finally made the poor boy his “Ice Cream Play Dough”. It was super easy and I love easy things that make my boy happy!

Plumpton Park Zoo

Almost Wordless Wednesday- we went to the Plumpton Park Zoo on Monday. It’s an awesome small zoo that’s about 10 minutes from our house. We have a membership, so it’s a regular on our activities list.

We love that this zoo is small enough that Charlie can run ahead of us (in all his excitement to feed the animals) and we don’t worry.

We had to take a short video of the Siamang Apes at the Zoo. They were doing a call of some sort. Their throats puff up like bullfrogs. It was really neat and Charlie (as you can hear) kept asking what they were saying.

 

Ninja Party Fun & Games

Like any birthday, there was plenty of fun and games. Charlie is really into playing any kind of game right now. When I asked him what kind of games he wanted to play at his party, he said “racing game”. So we had a piñata, a “racing game”, a decorate your own ninja headband, decorate a ninja cookie, and “Sensei Says”.

Piñata

I received this dragon piñata from Oriental Trading for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

The Dragon Piñata from Oriental Trading was a hit, of course! The kids loved it and everyone loved watching them take a whack at it. I had read a few reviews that people said they couldn’t fit much candy in this dragon piñata, but I have no idea what they’re talking about. We fit PLENTY of candy in this; you just need to shake it around so it spreads out throughout the dragon’s body. I will say this is not an easy piñata to break. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. I think it’s somewhere in-between: I hate a piñata that can’t take a whack, but even when the 11 year old got ahold of it to knock it open, we still needed to tear it apart to really open it up.

DIY Paint-n-Fly Glider by J-Color

I received product to facilitate this review. Opinions expressed are my own.

It’s finally that time of year where we can get outside and play! Charlie wants to do a craft every day and the Pain-n-Fly Glider is perfect.

The really awesome part about the Paint-n-Fly glider is that kids can put it together, paint it, fly it, peel the paint off, then REPAINT it however they’d like! With kids, this is a great idea because we all know how quickly they can change their mind about something.

2014 Summer Movie Express

Regal has just announced the lineup for 2014’s Summer Movie Express.

Movie lovers of any age will enjoy this great selection of films during the 9-week festival. Participating Regal Cinemas, United Artists and Edwards Theatres will offer selected PG rated movies for only $1 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m.

Valentine's Day Cards

We made super simple cards for Valentine's Day!

You need some paint, a toilet paper roll, tape, and cardstock.

Push the middle in and tape along the outside to hold your heart roll in place