Stroller Organization

Hook shopping bags to the stroller with toy plastic links
By Ash@ Dornfe$t on travel/going out

The Mama figured out a way to ease the schlep factor while shopping with a stroller:
We have a ton of thoselinks that hook on to toys and car seatsfloating around our house. I was out running errands with a friend and we made multiple stops. The basket of my stroller was already filled with our giant diaper bag, so I took one of the links and hung my reuseable bags from it, then hung the whole thing from the stroller's handlebar. It kept things neat and they were high enough that I didn't them as we walked.
One caution: heavy shopping bags can cause the stroller to tip backwards (we've all done it, haven't we?) so be sure to keep a hand on the stroller at all times.

Leave Batteries out of the toys!!

Found this cool and interesting tip...

Leave the batteries out of toys to double the fun
By Ash@ Dornfe$t on fun/toys

Tracy, I don't know how long it will be till the kids are onto this, but it's brilliant.
At our house we get double duty out of our toys. When introducing a new toy we try to use it without batteries first... Then after using it that way for several weeks or months we add batteries for an almost new toy with all new experiences! This is especially good when your children are really young - it helps to develop their imagination in a world that is so "electronic crazy."

This brings back memories of my kids' loud toddler toys. The worst was an older version of the vTech Sort n' Go car (I don't know how it sounds now). We were so happy when the batteries ran out. Why we didn't take them out I'll never know.

Make New Crayons

Don’t Throw Out that Old Muffin Tin: Make New Crayons

Written by Tara Benwell

Published on September 18th, 20082 CommentsPosted in Arts and Crafts, Environment

The crayon craft we did today started as a research project. I was looking for a way to recycle or reuse a very old muffin tin. Not only did I find a craft for reusing my worn tray, I was able to make use of our collection of broken crayons. My kids enjoyed the fun and learned that it was an earth friendly activity, each in their own age appropriate way.

How to Make Crayon Doodlers (Recommended for Age 3+)
Peel the paper off of old broken crayons (This may sound tedious but I found it to be a great stress reliever!)
Preheat oven to 300
Help your children separate the broken crayons into fun colour combos in muffin trays
Turn heat off and place muffin tin in the oven
Bake for about ten minutes (or until liquid forms)
Place tray in the freezer for about half an hour
Take out of freezer until doodlers reach room temperature
Flip tin over and bang out doodlers (onto a soft surface such as your hand or lap-not a counter)
Get colouring!
But, you may need to experiment a little. . .

In my first attempt to make crayon doodlers I used instructions that left out the freezer part and suggested lining the muffin tray with tinfoil. This didn’t really work, because some of the wax got out and coated the bottom. Instead of throwing out the muffin tin, I will reuse it next time. A sturdy multicoloured muffin crayon such as this would have been great for doodling in the car.

The tinfoil failure was my daughter’s favourite part, though, because we reused it to make silver rings for her treasure box (where she keeps all things chokable away from her brother). Speaking of chokable, these homemade crayon doodlers are not safe for toddlers. They crack quite easily and pieces can break off. I learned the hard way because my son thought they were frisbees and flew a few through the air. For stronger crayons, fill the tins to at least half. Some moms complain that the colours all run together, but I found that if you remove the tray as gently as possible (or try using contrasting colour combos such as bright green and red) they work fine.
I found some other great ways to use broken crayons here. I especially liked the crayon leaf art suggested by a blog reader:

“When I was a kid, my mom and I would ‘grate’ the broken crayons. We would then place a pretty leaf on a sheet of wax paper, sprinkle our ‘rainbow’ of shaved crayons all over it, place the 2nd sheet on top, then take a warm iron and iron the wax paper sheets together. The crayons made a colorful background for the leaf placed between the sheets of waxpaper.”

By the way, the crayon paper I peeled off would have made great confetti for the homemade pinata we made for my husband’s birthday, which was filled with birthday messages from friends and family. I’ll save the colourful paper for our next fridge collage! What else could be done with these papers?

Inexpensive School Organizer

Inexpensive School Organizer Dealing with school clutter? A 3-ring binder works wonders for keeping important art, schoolwork and certificates organized. This is one was made by a little girl in 1st grade. The family had one for every year. They keep only keep what fits in the binder - and the kids can help choose what stays and what goes.