Father's Day Gift Wrap

Father's Day is just around the corner, and today I am sharing a DIY gift idea that kids will love making for their dads. 

First, fill a paper bag with all of dad's favorite treats.  Then, secure the top of the bag with a custom designed tie that you can download here.

Cute, right?

What little one wouldn't be proud to present this cute gift to his/her father this Sunday?  Happy Father's Day!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Printable Summer Checklist {2014}

A summer checklist is a great way to get everyone in the family excited about summer, and it is a perfect antidote to summer boredom because there is always a new activity or adventure on the list.  We create a summer checklist annually, and I am so excited to be able to share our 2014 Summer Checklist with you today.

To print out your own 8X10 copy, right click on the picture above, save it to your computer, and print.  This checklist is for personal use only.  Please do not reprint without written permission from me.

I have also provided some helpful links below: 

1) Celebrate Canada Day or the 4th of July
2) Watch fireworks or attend a parade
3) Have a teddy bear picnic
4) Go to a splash pad or swim in a pool
5) Host a "half sleepover"
6) Go to a farmer's market
7) Visit the library and read a book outside
8) Make homemade bubbles
9) Go fishing or hiking
10) Have family movie night outside
11) Paint rocks or make patio stones
12) Pick out a toy or treat at the dollar store
13) Plant something and watch it grow
14) Visit a wildlife park, farm or zoo
15) Grill a pizza
16) Create a simple backyard water park
17) Play baseball, soccer or street hockey
18) Make ice cream or go to an ice cream stand
19) Go for a bike ride
20) Decorate a cake or bake cookies
21) Spend time at a cottage, beach or park
22) Do a science experiment
23) Play a board game
24) Go Geo-caching
25) Draw with sidewalk chalk
26) Play mini golf
27) See a play or perform a play
28) Have a lemonade stand
29) Try a new food
30) Have a Superhero day
31) Camp in the backyard or living room
32) Have a PJ day
33) Put on a puppet show
34) Make a summer reading list
35) Fly a kite
36) Have a dance party in the living room
37) Go on a scavenger hunt
38) Make moon sand or play dough
39) Have pancakes for supper
40) Do a good deed or raise money for charity
41) Visit a new city or town
42) Visit a museum or theme park
43) Roast marshmallows and make s'mores
44) Write and mail a letter or postcard
45) Run in a race
46) Craft a boat and float it down a river
47) _______________________________
48) _______________________________
49) _______________________________
50) HAVE ICE CREAM FOR SUPPER!

We always have 50 items on our summer checklist, but if you want to keep things simple for your family, you can just select your 25 favorite activities.

Once you have finalized your list, put it on the fridge or in a cheap dollar store frame.  Then, every time you do something on the list, "check" it off by putting a sticker over the number.  {A dry erase marker would work well too.}

As you can see, “have ice cream for supper” is the last item on the list.  We always save it until the end.  It’s a great way to celebrate the end of summer, spend time together, and reminisce about all the fun that was had.

I hope you enjoy having a summer checklist as much as we do.  Make sure to click on the links above for more details, recipes and tutorials.  Have fun! 

  

♥
Gina Bell (aka East CoastMommy)

Alphabet Crafts - Letter S

My 4 year old and I are continuing to craft our way through the alphabet, and yesterday afternoon we had some fun with the letter S. We made a Snake puppet, and we did some letter S printing practice.

To make your own snake puppet:

1) Cut a 2 inch strip of construction paper or card stock (for the snake's body). 

2) Draw and cut out a simple head and tail.

3) Fold the body like an accordion.
2) Glue a googly eye onto the head, and draw the rest of the snake's face.
3) Glue the head and tail onto the body, and allow to dry completely.
4) Attach stir sticks or craft sticks to the head and tail of the snake (using tape).

Cute, right? After our craft, we did a little printing practice. If you want to practice printing the letter S with your little one, you can right-click on the picture below, save it to your computer, and print it.

Looking for more "Letter S" crafts for Preschoolers? 

You can make a "Letter S Snake" by: colouring an S, and adding googly eyes, gluing on a paper tongue, and adding some circle stickers.

You can also make a snowman craft by gluing circles and a hat onto a piece of blue paper and then adding details (and the letters of the child's name) with markers or crayons.

Crafting a popsicle stick snowflake is another simple letter S craft that is great for Preschoolers working on their fine motor skills. An adult can use hot glue and popsicle sticks to make a snowflake, and the child can add stickers to make the snowflake glitter.

And... how cute is this shark craft? Draw a shark on a piece of paper, colour the shark, glue on blue construction paper "water", and blue on a couple of googly eyes.

Fun, right? Next up... the Letter "T"!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Find more alphabet crafts here.

Alphabet Crafts - Letter R

My 4 year old and I are continuing to "craft our way through the alphabet", and this morning we had some fun with the Letter R. We made a Rabbit puppet, and we did some letter R printing practice.

To make your own rabbit puppet:

1)  Print the rabbit template that you can download here.
2)  Color the rabbit, and add a nose and mouth.
3)  Glue on some googly eyes.
4)  Tape a craft stick to the back, and add a pom pom tail if desired.

Cute, right? After our craft we did a little letter R printing practice. If you want to practice printing the letter R with your little one, you can right-click on the picture below, save it to your computer, and print it.

Looking for more Letter R crafts. Check out this adorable "R is for Rabbit" craft.

Or you could decorate a letter R with crayons and stickers.

And this "R is for Rocket" craft is sweet and a wonderful way to practice name recognition.

Fun, right?  Next up... the letter S!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

No-Sew Doctor Lab Coat

My boys love to engage in pretend play, and recently they decided to set up a teddy bear clinic in our living room.  We needed a quick doctor lab coat costume, so I came up with this simple no-sew version.

Isn't it cute?  I started with an inexpensive (adult) white t-shirt.

Then, I used a sharpie to draw a red cross onto the t-shirt.

Finally, I used sharp fabric scissors to cut straight up the middle of the shirt.

My boys had a great time playing "doctor" with all of their stuffed animals.  Such a great way to spend an afternoon, don't you think?  Would your little ones love this "no-sew" doctor lab coat?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Alphabet Crafts - Letter Q

My 4 year old and I are continuing our "craft our way through the alphabet" adventure, and this afternoon we had some fun with the Letter Q. We made a Queen's Crown for my little guy's stuffed bear, and we did some letter Q printing practice.

To make the Queen's Crown craft:

1)  Download the crown template here, print it onto a piece of card stock, and cut it out.
2)  Cut strips of paper that can be used as a headband.
3)  Decorate the crown.  {My little guy used jewel stickers that I got at the dollar store, but you can decorate it any way you want.
4)  Use the strips of paper to form a headband, add the crown to the front, and tape in place.

Cute, right? After our craft we did a little letter Q printing practice. If you want to practice printing the letter Q with your little one, you can right-click on the picture below, save it to your computer, and print it.

And, if you are looking for more Letter Q crafts, check out this adorable "quilt" craft. Start with a picture of the child's head, and then glue on squares of scrap paper to make a quilt. 

You can also decorate a letter Q with crayons and stickers. Painting it with a Q-tip would also be fun.

And, how sweet is this "Q is for Queen" craft. I love how this Q is transformed into a queen using paper, crayons, googly eyes, and jewel stickers from the dollar store. So cute!

Fun, right? Next up... the letter R.

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

PS (Check out more alphabet crafts here.)

Alphabet Crafts - Letter P

My 4 year old and I are continuing to "craft our way through the alphabet", and today we had some fun with the Letter P. We made a Paper Pirate Ship, and we did some letter P printing practice.

To make the Pirate Ship Craft:

1)  Download the free pirate ship template that you can find here.
2)  Color the pieces.

3)  Cut out the pieces.

4)  Glue the pieces and three craft sticks in place. 

5)  Glue on some Cheerio "windows".

That's it!  Isn't it a cute little craft? 

After our craft, we did a little printing practice. If you want to practice printing the letter P with your little one, you can right-click on the picture below, save it to your computer, and print it.

And if you are looking for more letter P crafts:

Why not try making this polka dot popsicle from a piece of heavy paper, a craft stick, and some stickers?

And use the leftover stickers to make a polka dot P.

This letter P pig is adorable too.

And a paper plate, some yellow tissue paper, and round paper circles make a perfect pepperoni pizza.

Fun, right?  Next up... the letter Q.

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

PS (You can find more alphabet crafts here.)