This post is sponsored by Fisher Price Toys. Grab them at your local Walmart! All opinions are my own.

Somehow Ryder has turned into a little man. It’s like he went from a newborn baby to a toddler overnight. I blinked. Now he’s a walking and talking toddler. He has his own thoughts and ideas and loves to let you know them.

Has this happened to anyone else? Your baby has gone from an ittle squish to a chattering toddler?

I know it has. It happens to us all. Even if it’s your first child or third. They just keep growing, no matter how hard we will them to stay little.

Although I complain about my babies growing to fast I still enjoy each new stage. Going from the squirmy newborn to the rolly polly baby to the tottling toddler. Every stage brings new joys and milestones.

Some of my favorite milestones are when they find their hands, when they are almost crawling but can’t quite figure it out yet and when they learn how to play independently. It may seem backwards that I cringe when I think about my babies growing up but I also love to watch them play by themselves.

But I love to watch their imagination blossom and watch them figure out how things work. Sometimes you get that little whimper that means “I can’t do this mom.” And the next second they have it all figured out and are on to the next thing.

I just love that.

That’s why I love putting educational and sensory developing toys in the kids Easter baskets. Instead of a basket of sugary candy, we incorporate age appropriate toys that encourage learning. This year Ryder’s Easter basket has some super fun Fisher Price goodies that are perfect for my on the go toddler.

Easter basket ideas for toddlers

• Rock A Stack – Each of the kids have had one of these stack sets. They are great for hand/eye coordination early on and then work great for problem solving later. I love watching the kids stack the different color rings on the tower.
• Laugh N Learn Sweet Manners Tea Set – Is there anything cuter than a mini tea party with your toddler? The answer of course is no. Ryley and I had many a tiny tea party with this set. It’s perfect for teaching shapes and patterns.
• Fisher Price Chatter Phone – Kids pick up early how to use phones. Ryder has been grabbing for mine since he was about 6 months. This chatter phone is a nice alternative for little ones.
• Fisher Price Babys 1st Blocks – I love watching little dimpled hands try to maneuver the blocks into their proper spot. The 1st blocks toy helps with hand/eye coordination, shape matching and color recognition. 
• Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Storybook Rhymes – Ryder loves this storybook. We turn it on and he starts to hum the songs that the book plays. I enjoy watching him learn new songs since music is important at this age.

Besides the toys you can also add:

• Sippy cups
• Outfits
• Favorite snacks
• Books
• Dvds

These are just a few Easter basket ideas for toddlers. Feel free to add something special of your own to your little one’s Easter basket.

The post Easter basket ideas for toddlers appeared first on mom makes dinner.

The post Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial appeared first on mom makes dinner.

After college, I wasn’t very sure what I wanted to do. However, I knew I was good with kids. That led me to a job working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Man oh man did I LOVE working with that population of kiddos! One valuable lesson I took away from my time in the field was the importance of understanding how sensory experiences effect us all differently.

Even without sensory processing issue, most of us have textures we just hate. For me, I can’t stand avocado  I’m fine with it in guac, but I sure don’t want a big old slice of it on a sandwich. We learn, develop, and grow through experiencing a wide variety of sensory inputs.

Over time, many of us learn which kinds of inputs we enjoy (warm water in the form of a bubble bath) and which we want to avoid (loud noises). Its important to expose our kiddos to a wide variety of sensory inputs from an early age. You’ll quickly learn which your kids like, which they hate, and which can have calming or overstimulating effects on them. This information can be used in a variety of ways, including helping create a calm environment when you’re kiddos are overstimulated.

One of my favorite things to play with back in the day were water beads. They are round, marble sized squishy beads that are often used in centerpieces and as vase fillers. They feel wet, cold, and squishy all at the same time. They even bounce. You can get them from a variety of places on line as well as Michael’s and Joann’s. I got a big old container from Michael’s for around $5 with a 40% off coupon.

The great thing about water beads is you can use them purely for sensory input or as medium to explore other topics. I filled a large tuperware box with the entire container of water beads. I then added shapes from our shape sorter. This let us explore both the texture of the beads as well as talk about shapes.

Emma was very timid at first. She loves all things involving being wet, so I was hoping she’d get on board. With a little coaxing from Dad she dove right in. Emma played for a good thirty minutes before we had to clean up for nap time.

During the play, we talked about all the sensations she was experiencing  We also talked about the different shapes and used the shapes as cups to scoop up the beads. She’s only 22 months old so our shape talk was secondary to letting her play. But you could easily adjust this activity with age to have the kiddo receptively or expressively identify the shapes.

The possibilities with water beads are really endless. You can put in different animals and have your kiddo find them and make animal noises. You could have your kiddo guess how far a water bead will bounce and then evaluate their predictions. The sky is really the limit when it comes to different ways to use these beads!

You should be watching your kiddos at all times when playing with water beads. These suckers can easily be mistaken for candy. They defiantly shouldn’t be eaten! Also, keep track of where the beads roll off to during play. I know our cats were pretty interested in what we were up to. I doubt they would be good for pets to eat. When you’re done playing, throw them back in the container and top it off with a little water. They last forever!

I think providing your kiddos with different sensory experiences is both fun and rewarding. There are so many creative ways to use so many different materials. We recently busted out the shaving cream. Emma was not a fan. I’d love to hear what your favorite sensory play materials are!

The post Water Bead Sensory Play appeared first on mom makes dinner.

Want to make your own? You’ll need:
A plain t-shirt
1/8 yard of fabric {for toddlers…you’ll need more for a bigger kiddo}
Rotary cutter/mat
Disappearing ink pen
Iron/ironing board
Heart template

This project requires some ironing. Ick. But you don’t have to pin, so be sure to take the time to iron.

Start out by ironing the shirt to and fabric to have good materials to work with.

For a toddler, cut your fabric into two strips measuring 2 inches by 22ish inches {half of whatever your length of fabric happens to be}. You’ll need to do three strips for a bigger kiddo.

Fold a strip in half, right sides together, hot dog style. Sew up the long side using your presser foot as  your seam allowance.

Turn your tube and press well, hiding the seam. Repeat for the second tube.

Now, its time to ruffle. There’s all sorts of ruffling methods out there. If you have a favorite, use that. If not, use mine!

Set your stitch length to the longest you can and your tension to the tightest {for me this is a 0}. This will help your fabric ruffle up all on its own. While you sew, hold the thread right next to the spool with a bit of pressure. This will make the fabric ruffle like crazy without having to pull infuriating strings!

So, for this project, you’ll want to sew a ruffling stitch right down the middle of both your fabric strips. Make sure you tuck in all of the ends so you don’t end up with a fraying mess after the wash.

If you’re the free handing type, draw a heart onto your shirt using your disappearing ink pen. If you’re like me and that idea scares you, make a template and trace it.

Starting at the bottom of the heart, sew the ruffle to the shirt. Back stitch to start. Follow the pen marking. Go slow and turn often. Leave your needle down and lift your presser foot adjusting as needed.

At the top of the heart, back stitch. Then, add the second ruffle. Be sure that you overlap the two ruffles so there’s no gap. When you get to the bottom of the heart, overlap and back stitch.

Ta-da! You’re set.

Want to make a matching hair clip? Come on over to Covered in Mod Podge and I’ll show you how!

Have a blast dressing up your little ones for Valentine’s Day. I just melt over toddlers all dressed up in pink and ruffles!

The post Simple Valentine’s Day Toddler Shirt appeared first on mom makes dinner.