Fun With Perspectives – What is This?

Almost 2 years ago now, I shared a post on looking at things from different perspectives. It was a fun post so let’s do this again! 🙂

Looking at things from different perspectives can be a little hard to explain to a child. But here is a way that might help them understand that things look differently depending on how you look at them. And it can be a lot of fun! It’s also a good reminder to us adults, that the way kids see things is different from the way adults see them. Sit down on the floor in your in kitchen and take a look around. Can you see what is on top of the countertop? Do the doors on your cupboards look bigger? What if you need a drink of water, but the faucet is waaaaay above your head? I think you understand what I’m talking about. 😉 So let’s have some fun with the perspective of being really close up to something when you can’t see the whole thing and compare it to the perspective of seeing the whole object. See if your kids (and you!) can guess what each close up picture is before you scroll on to the answer that reveals what you’re looking at. Here we go!

#1.) What is this?

Answer: If you said swiss cheese, you are right!

#2.) What is this?

Answer: It’s a playground ball!

#3.) What do you think this one is?

Answer: Surprise! It’s a toad!

#4.) Can you guess what this is?

Answer: It’s a dandelion! If you said, “flower”, that is right too.

#5.) Ok, what does this look like?

Answer: It’s a little turtle! So cute! 🙂

#6.) What is this? (I bet you will get this one right!)

Answer: A piece of Lego!

#7.) What is this a picture of? (If you need a hint, this one is outside.)

Answer: A tree!

#8.) What is this purple thing?

Answer: An ice cube tray!

#9.) Can you guess this one?

Answer: Yes, it’s a dog! (And his name is Rusty!)

#10.) This is the last one and so its a bit harder. What do you think this is?

Answer: It’s peanut butter and jelly!

Did you guess some of them right or did we fool you? You can use your camera on your cell phone for taking pictures to have handy to entertain the kids when you need a little something more! Just show the kids the zoomed in version of the picture and after they guess what it is, show them the original picture. I hope you enjoyed our little game today! 🙂

Ideas for Reusing a Plastic Bottle

Hello, again! I was enjoying a drink of Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai beverage when I had a brainstorm. Why not reuse this nice bottle? I thought I’d share some fun ideas for reusing a plastic bottle with you. 🙂 First, enjoy the drink inside! Lol

Carefully remove the plastic film label from the bottle. It came off fairly easily.

Wash with soap and water and dry. You can let it air dry but it may dry with some water spots left behind so I dried mine with a paper towel.

Now to refill it…you can make your own drink and pour it inside. It makes it handy to take a drink with you if you have to leave home for a bit. (Mmm! Chocolate milk!)

It can be refilled with some smallish size snacks for on the go.

How about storing some small pieces of Lego or other toys?

You can use it for saving your coins or change.

I was surprised at just how much fits into this bottle. Maybe you made rice or macaroni for a meal and and you have some left over in the bottom of the box…storing it in a bottle will keep it fresher than in a box. The bottle could be filled with water and with the lid on it would be easy to carry it to water houseplants without the worry of spilling any water. The ideas are many, but maybe this will get your brain cells firing on some great ways to reuse a plastic bottle. 🙂 Reduce, reuse and recycle!

Another New (to me) Kind of Crayons

As you might know if you’ve been following my blog for a while, I like to keep an eye out for new kinds of Crayola crayons. Today I found another kind that I haven’t seen before and I had to get some. 😉 They are the Crayola Bold & Bright Construction Paper Crayons. (Love the box!)

Take a peek inside the box…

Here’s the lineup:

And a closer look at those amazing colors!

Here’s the description from the Crayola website: “Crayola Bold & Bright Construction Paper Crayons make coloring on colored craft paper a breeze! Kids will love finally seeing their works of art pop, no matter what backdrop they choose. This set of art tools features 24 vibrant, creamy crayons in both primary and secondary colors. Bold and bright tones give children a rainbow of hues to choose from. Unique formula produces extra bold results, these crayons appear on construction paper, paper bags, cardboard, and more! Pair with a pack of Crayola Construction Paper (sold separately) for a great bundled gift for kids. Safe and nontoxic, ideal for ages 3 and up.”

Just to compare the Construction Paper crayons to the Classic crayons, take a look at these. (Sorry, some of my Classic crayons are well loved and used!) Classic on the top row and Construction Paper on the bottom row…matching up the crayon colors with the same name.

Here is a comparison sample of those 6 crayon pairs on a piece of blue construction paper.

I’m not sure if the picture shows the difference very well or not, but the Construction Paper crayons have great color and a smooth feel when you use them. I’m a new fan of the Construction Paper crayons and look forward to spending some quality time with them! 😉

The New Lego Minifigures Have Arrived in Stores!

Back near the end of April, I shared with you that Lego would be releasing another series of minifigures called Disney 100. They can now be found in stores near us and I’m guessing in stores near you too!

I like to collect minifigures, so I’ve already gotten a few to add to my collection. I found these at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. In case you’ve never bought a minifigure pack before, they come in separate pieces and you build the character.

Just for fun, I’ll share the ones I’ve gotten so far:

The Queen…

Cruella de Vil and a Dalmatian puppy…

From the movie Coco…I haven’t seen this movie, but I’m guessing this is Ernesto de la Cruz?

Mickey Mouse…

And Robin Hood.

If you are a Lego fan, I hope you can find some of these close to you! They are also available from some stores by shopping online. Enjoy! 🙂

A Different Use for Fidget Poppers

Hello again! Wow, this is a really busy time of year here and I have missed sharing ideas with you! But here’s a really fun idea of something different to do with those fidget poppers. (Yes, the ones the kids love popping, but get on mom and dad’s nerves after a while.) The poppers are available in lots of stores, but I found this cool one at a Barnes & Noble bookstore…on clearance.

For this project, you will also need some regular size M&M candies and some chocolate. I used the chocolate melting wafers but you could also use chocolate chips and add a bit of coconut oil when melting. But I’m getting ahead of myself! Start by washing the popper and then pushing all “bumps” in the same direction.

Place 1 M&M candy in each “hole”.

Place some chocolate…I used the wafers…in a microwave safe bowl and microwave according to the package directions until they are completely melted.

Pour the melted chocolate over the M&M’s in the popper, spreading it to cover and fill the whole popper.

Place in the refrigerator until the chocolate has hardened. Once the chocolate is solid again, begin removing the entire piece of chocolate by pulling gently around the edge of the popper until the chocolate is loose around the entire popper edge. Turn the popper over onto a plate and carefully pull the chocolate out of the popper.

How cool is that?! 🙂 Now you can break the candy into strips along the lines left by the popper mold.

I also broke the strips into pieces of 1 or 2 candies. That’s all there is to it!

Wash the popper again and it’s ready for some more popping! 😉 And you can enjoy a yummy treat while popping! 😉

More Funny Jokes & Riddles

This cold and dreary day is depressing, but we will make ourselves laugh by telling some jokes and riddles! 😉

#1.) What is gray, has a tail and a trunk?

Answer: A whale on vacation!

#2.) What do you get if you cross a fish and a Harley?

Answer: A motor pike!

#3.) What do you call an annoying bear?

Answer: Un-bear-able!

#4.) What is a rabbit’s favorite game?

Answer: Hopscotch!

#5.) What happened when witches adopted a friendly dog?

Answer: He went from wags to witches!

#6.) What dog always knows what time it is?

Answer: A watchdog!

#7.) Why did the frog go to the dr.?

Answer: Because he felt jumpy!

#8.) What big reptiles ate lemons?

Answer: Dino-sours!

I hope you are grinning after reading those jokes and riddles! Now go try them out on someone else! 🙂

Silly Fun With Wiggly Eyes

I had a streak of orneriness the other day and decided it would be fun to stick some wiggly eyes around the house and wait for someone to notice them. 😉 What are wiggly eyes? The cute little plastic eyes where the black part of the eye moves around. They are black and white but can also be colored.

I put a small piece of double-sided tape on the back of each eye. A word of caution…be careful not to stick them on anything valuable in case the tape would leave some sticky residue behind or tear paper.

This is what my husband saw when he wanted to fry some eggs. (Yes, he thought it was funny. He’s a good egg.) 😉

It’s not every day that the coffee pot looks back at you!

Here are a few other places that I put wiggly eyes…

In the fruit crisper drawer in the refrigerator…

On a potted plant…

Inside a bathroom cupboard…

On my hubby’s hat…

On an insulated cup…

On the bathroom scale…

And on the piano. (I didn’t use any tape for this one. I just laid the wiggly eyes on so they would stay in place.)

Did any of those pictures make you grin? 😉 It’s a simple and inexpensive way to have some fun. Who knew a pack of wiggly eyes could be so fun? 🙂 Give it a try yourself!

Mini Picket Fence Craft

The calendar says it’s officially Spring (even though it doesn’t feel like it outside where we live) so it’s time to do some Spring crafts for kids! Today we made a mini picket fence that is really so cute! This could be a great Mother’s Day gift for a child to make with some assistance from an adult.

You will need 7 craft sticks, some craft glue, some miniature flowers and a butterfly or bug puffy sticker or button.

You can use the craft sticks as they are or they would look really cute painted white. Start with 2 sticks and place 2 dots of glue on each stick at the same place on the 2 sticks.

Slide the 2 sticks apart and place another craft stick horizontally across the top and one across the bottom onto the glue dots. Try to keep the sticks straight so they form an even rectangle.

Allow the glue time to dry before moving to the next step. Once the glue is dry and your fence can be moved without the sticks moving, turn it over. Place 3 dots of glue in even spots across the top and 3 dots across the bottom stick.

Lay 3 craft sticks vertically on the dots of glue, as shown in the following picture.

Allow the glue to dry again until all the sticks will stay in place. (For a quicker project, you could use a glue gun, but craft glue is safer for younger children.) Once the fence is dry, turn in back over so the front side is up and decorate it by gluing on miniature flowers and a butterfly.

You can add a magnet to the back for hanging. Or add a piece of twine by gluing each end of the twine to the top sides of the back of the fence.

Or glue both ends of the twine to the backside of the middle vertical stick.

That’s it! Now you have a cute mini picket fence to display around your house and make you think of warm Spring days! 🙂