Zoo Journal

For Emily's birthday, we splurged on a family membership to our local zoo. Since we plan to make many trips there throughout the year, I thought it would be fun for her to keep a zoo journal filled with sketches of all the animals she sees!

It was a beautiful day, so most of the animals were out for us to see and sketch! She started by drawing these handsome penguins.

And look at this sweet lorikeet! He kept thinking Emily had food.

Emily's favorite part is the river otter exhibit! They are so playful and fun to watch!

She is very proud of her zoo journal, and showed everyone who would look at it!

I'm looking forward to seeing how her drawings evolve over the course of the year, plus I love how this simple activity encouraged her to closely observe each animal. We had a great time!!

Rainy Day Fun -- Reusable Art Mat

Emily wanted to draw with sidewalk chalk this afternoon, but Clara was taking a nap so I didn't want one child outside while the other was indoors. So we compromised using a shower curtain liner as a reusable art mat. It worked beautifully!

The vinyl shower curtain liner was only $1 from Big Lots, and sidewalk chalk was from the dollar store. This was so inexpensive, but so much fun! It would be a fabulous rainy day activity!

After experimenting with the sidewalk chalk, we tried these watercolor markers from Dick Blick. (Also very inexpensive, I've mentioned these before here.)

Plenty of space for scribbling, creativity, and artistic expression!

The mat was almost completely covered in doodles when we were done. We couldn't resist a silly photo....

When the kids are done drawing on their mat, throw it in the washing machine (cold, gentle cycle, line dry) and reuse it! The chalk and watercolor marker comes right off!

Frugal Wall Organizer

Oh, the stuffed animals and where to put them! Do you have this problem in your house? I try to limit the number of stuffed animals that are out at any given time, and we have boxes full of them in the basement that we rotate through again and again. I'm not sure how we accumulated so many..?

This wall organizer works well to keep the stuffed animals off of the floor when she's not playing with them, and it was super-easy (and VERY inexpensive) to make. I used an old pillow case, pockets cut out from old jeans, a stick from our backyard, some twine, and a little fabric glue to put it all together. No sewing!

Emily helped glue the pockets on. If the kids are doing this project, be sure to use fabric glue that is non-toxic and water soluble when wet. Once the glue dries, it makes a permanent bond.

2 Simple (and Frugal) Solutions

Tired of always pouring juice for your kids? Want to encourage your kids to have more independence? Try placing a beverage dispenser in your refrigerator with pre-watered down juice. Emily was so proud of herself for pouring her own juice today!

Remember the self-serve snack tray I posted about previously? This is the new and improved version -- on a lazy susan! Now Emily can even reach the items in the back!

Yummmm!

A lazy susan and a beverage dispenser is far cheaper than a new fridge!

Happy Mother's Day!