Things I Do All Day - A Mom Blog

Alternative Thanksgiving Celebration Ideas During a Pandemic

November 15, 2020 by KT Leave a Comment

Ideas How to Celebrate Thanksgiving in 2020 during covid and a global pandemic

Thanksgiving 2020 may look quite different to a lot of different families this year, but it doesn’t have to be boring!

We usually go to visit family in another state, but with travel restrictions we are just going to stay in as a family of four! This is the first Thanksgiving my youngest will probably remember so I also want to make it memorable and fun!

There’s still so many fun and different ways to celebrate Thanksgiving during a Global Pandemic, and here a few different ideas to help inspire you if you are looking for a few alternatives during COVID:

Thanksgiving Brunch

If you are switching it up and staying home this year, why not switch up everything. Stay in your pajamas with your loved one(s) and go all out for Thanksgiving…. breakfast! Make delicious breakfast foods, stay in pajamas all day and watch holiday movies! Sounds like a cozy and fun 2020 Thanksgiving!

Outdoor Thanksgiving

If you can’t imagine a Thanksgiving without certain family members and friends, enjoy a Thanksgiving outside on the deck or even a picnic in a park!

This is a great solution if you live in a warmer state or we get a really nice day! (Fingers crossed!)

Thanksgiving Tailgate

I actually love the idea of a Thanksgiving Tailgate because it mixes family, food, football, and fun!

Meet up in someone’s driveway, a parking lot, or wherever you can and set up tailgating tent, set up TV’s to watch the game, grill a turkey, and play tailgating games! There’s so many different things you can do with tailgating Thanksgiving!

Maybe even bring out some heaters too!

Taco Thanksgiving

I was chatting with my mom on the phone the other day and my husband overheard our conversation about Turkeys in our area selling out already. I just said “well, I may just do a whole chicken or something completely different instead.”

My husband told me afterward when he was little, one year it was just him and his dad for Thanksgiving, and they had tacos. He said it was such a fun Thanksgiving– and obviously very memorable!

Takeout Thanksgiving

If making a Thanksgiving dinner is not for you, but eating it is, you may want to order a Thanksgiving dinner from a local restaurant.

You are also supporting a local restaurant during a very bad year for them so it’s a win-win all around!

Video Chat with Family

If seeing family in person this holiday is not an option, video chatting with family may be a great alternative! Before, during, or after Thanksgiving dinner, do a family video call and enjoy the company of family and friends from afar!

Thanksgiving Hike

One of my friends in New England actually does a Thanksgiving Hike with her kids in the morning, and 2020 may be a perfect year to start this tradition!

Find a perfect spot near you and go for a hike by yourself, with a loved one, or with your family!

Fancy Thanksgiving Dinner

I think a fancy dinner is such a fun idea for a little family if you want to a traditional Thanksgiving and it’s a great way to show it’s a special day!

Grab some fancy plates, glasses, napkins, centerpieces, etc. and make Thanksgiving stand out! Get into fancy cloths and enjoy a fancy dinner!

And a fancy dinner, doesn’t need to be expensive. Head to the Dollar Store and get some fun dishes and accessories to make it fancy– a young child won’t know it’s not really expensive!

Donate to Someone in Need

Give thanks this Thanksgiving by giving to someone in need. Deliver a meal to a family member, friend, neighbor, or even a complete stranger.

You can also donate canned goods and supplies to the local food pantry if you’d rather.

What are you doing for this 2020 Thanksgiving in the age of Covid? Any other ideas that I may have missed?

Super Easy Slime Recipe for Beginners

October 27, 2020 by KT Leave a Comment

DIY Easy Slime Recipe for Kids and Beginners with No Borax

Are you looking to make an easy slime recipe for the first time?

For some reason, slime was one of those kid activities that I put off for a long time. I think I always assumed making slime would be REALLY messy.

Well, I think I did every other child activity known to man during the pandemic except for slime, so we gave it a whirl.

Well— now I know why slime is so popular!

It was a lot less messy than I expected (much better than playdough, cloud dough, etc!) and it was really fun to play with!

It was a hit! Even my husband was playing with it!

The nice thing about slime was that it was pretty easy to make AND you can throw it in a ziploc and keep it and play with it for awhile!

There’s also so much you can do with slime and there’s so many different recipes and variations!

However, for a slime first-timer, I’d recommend this basic slime recipe that is perfect for slime beginners:

Basic Slime Ingredients Needed:

8 ounces of white school glue (or 2 small glue bottles)
1 Tablespoon of Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons of contact saline solution
Few drops of food coloring of your choice

How to Make Super Easy Slime for Beginners:

Pour 8 ounces of white school glue in a bowl.

Then add a few drops of food coloring of your choice and mix. The more drops, the darker the color.

Then add the baking soda in and mix.

Finally add in the 2 tbsp of saline solution and mix. It may be easier to use your hands at this point. If it’s still pretty sticky, add in some more saline solution. (And use less saline solution if you like sticky slime– which I don’t!)

And now play!

Enjoy!

Make Your Own Puzzle Activity

August 23, 2020 by KT Leave a Comment

Make your own puzzle, an easy kid activity for all ages!

I felt like I’ve done every single kid activity known to man in the last few months.

I’ve totally run out of both energy and ideas, and haven’t felt much motivation to share anything we’ve really done either. I’m just completely exhausted at the end of the day, and don’t want to focus on anything kid-related.

However, I felt a little inspired today and thought I’d share a new kid activity we did!

My 5-year old and my Dad are pen pals and they send mail back and forth to eachother to keep in touch. (It’s really cute and a recommended activity if you can do it.)

Anyway, my Dad will send little silly drawings and things along, and today he made a homemade puzzle.

Here’s the Curious George Puzzle that my Dad made and sent the boys:

My son loved it! First, he tried to do the puzzle and the secondly, he instantly wanted to do a puzzle back!

So, hoorah! Something new we haven’t done!

It was actually really cute. I mean, you can do a puzzle so many different ways.

My husband came over when he was doing it and was like …. oh get some cardboard for the backing, and trace it and yayayayayaya.

But he’s five and I don’t really feel like getting all fancy.

There’s so many better ways to do what I did, and more pinterest-y stuff out there, but I like to keep it simple.

Here’s what I did. I took an old calendar, and took the cover picture (because it’s already harder) and had my son cut it up however he wanted!

He just really did squares and nothing too complicated but it was cute noneless!

You could use any picture you want, and if you don’t save your old calendars like me, you could use any pictures already on harder surfaces (like the pictures on a cereal box!)

You could even take pictures from magazines, or anything you find laying around the house.

You could even print something out from the computer and then glue it to cardboard!

I also found after that Crayola has a free puzzle template for drawing your own puzzle! Just print out the template and have them make a drawing and then cut out the puzzle! Super cute!

There’s so many different ways you could make a puzzle and you can easily adjust it to fit any age!

Hope you have fun with this one and hang in there!

Easy Toy Washing Station for Toddlers

April 11, 2020 by KT Leave a Comment

easy toy washing station for toddler activity

A Toy Washing Station is such an easy activity for toddlers and young kids!

First off, what little ones doesn’t love playing in water, especially when they don’t have to get clean!

A Toy Washing Station activity is also great because THE TOYS GET CLEAN.

The KIDS ARE PLAYING AND CLEANING!

It can get a little messy, but I’ll forgive it because it’s productive play.

You can also do it outside if you can or just throw them and the toys in the bath tub if you want to play and clean toys with less mess.

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy if you have any questions.

Easy Toy Washing Station for Kids

Here’s what you’ll need to do an indoor toy washing station:

One long storage bin
Two small plastic bins
Dish Soap
Water
Sponges or Cleaning Brushes
Towels or tablecloth
Toys to clean

Put the tablecloth or towel down and then place big, long tupperware bin on top of it. Then add the two small plastic bins inside the bin.

Put regular water in one, and place soapy water in the other bin with a few drops of dish soap. Make sure to fill the water in the bins no more than half way full.

Find toys for the kids to wash. Put them in the soapy bin with the sponges. Have them clean and have fun washing their toys.

When they are clean have them rinse them in the regular water bin, and then put them on a towel to dry.

You can do a theme like “washing animals” or “car wash” and have all cars in the bucket. I just did a mixture of toys to see what they liked the best.

You can also do what toy gets played with most to get rid of some germs!

My kids had fun with this one, but I do prefer just to throw them in the bath with their toys because it’s less messy and there’s zero set up or clean up.

However, they always get a kick out of stations and it’s something fun for my young kids to do!

Have you done a toy washing station before? How did your kids like it?

7 Easy Indoor Activities to Do with Toddlers

April 8, 2020 by KT Leave a Comment

Looking for some super easy indoor activities to keep your toddlers busy and entertained!

Here are some ideas of simple yet fun things to do with your toddlers when you are stuck indoors!

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy if you have any questions.

Make a Crib Fort

Easy Blanket Crib Fort for Babies and Toddlers

Forts are a go-to favorite of mine and we make so many forts, mainly in the living room with pillows, blankets and cushions.

However, my two year old is fazing out the nap (wahh) and I needed the break during the afternoon stretch so a Crib Fort was invented.

I took a large comforter and threw it over the crib and my 2 and 4 year old LOVED it.

The Crib Fort was a hit.

They played in the crib under the blankets for over an hour.

I sat my butt in the rocker and rested. It was seriously the best and my kids had so much fun!

Make sure the blanket you pick is a big one because throw blankets may be a tad small and consistently fall off.

I did a full comforter and it was great. Depending on the blanket, it may get dark so you can add some flashlights or glow sticks to add to the activity as well!

Forts are great, but the crib fort was a new twist and a big hit with my boys!

Make and Play with Snow

The winter (or anytime really) can be long with little ones, especially when you can’t get outside.

When my youngest was really little is was so hard to get outside when it snowed when it was just me, and my older toddler was so anxious to play in it.

Sometimes it’s too cold to go out, it takes too long to get ready, or just too hard in general, that I’ve brought the snow inside.

I’ve scooped up snow from my deck, put it in a big container, and threw down some towels underneath. Viola— instant easy activity!

If you don’t have snow currently, or never get snow, you can totally make it.

I’ve made this recipe with my boys. Warning– it’s totally messy, but a big hit! Who needs real snow right?

Water Play in the Bath Tub

Getting an impromtu bath and water play can be a fun and easy way to break up the day.

I feel like my kids love getting in the bath when they don’t have to get clean, ha.

Sometimes I’ll even throw real toys (like legos) in the tub for them to play with. That’s so silly mom.

PLUS, throwing toys in the bath tub with the kids gets the toys clean so it’s a win win during flu season. And Ex

Big Box Play

Boxes are always a hit in my house. It’s like an extra perk of getting all those online orders 😉

There’s SO much to do with a box! I usually just put it down and see where the imagination goes!

When my son was really little, I would just put him in there with crayons and he was contained and having fun!

Sometimes I’ll participate or grab supplies, but usually I’ll have my kids lead the way when it comes to box play!

Playdough

Playdough is one of those activities that I always pull out when I need an extra few minutes to cook dinner, wash dinner, or just need a minute of quietness.

I usually opt for the easy option of store-bought play-doh with some tools to go with it, however, you can also make play dough too.

I’ve had a few Pinterest fails when it came to homemade playdough, but I know many people make it with no problems! Even better, you get an activity making it and then an activity with playing with it!

I just hope you have a little more luck with finding a great homemade play dough recipe– mine always comes out too sticky and messy! (I’ll link when I find a good one though!)

Play dough is such a fun and easy activity for indoor play. Make sure to tuck it away and use it on days you really need it to make play dough more fun.

Fun with Magnets

There’s so many different things you can do with magnets!

We have so much fun experimenting with them! We will use our fridge or baking pan as a base and see what will stick to it!

We use magnetic tiles a lot and it’s such a fun toy because it’s a magnet and a block!

My kids can play with Magnetic tiles for hours. It is probably the best investment toy in my house. They are a little pricey, but we’ve gotten soo may hours of play out of our magnetic tiles!

The best part is that the kids will usually play with these with little help from mom. Sometimes I’ll play and make things with them, but other times, they can play for quite awhile with them by themselves!

I’ll even put them on the fridge and have them play with magna-tiles while cooking dinner!

Magna-tiles can get a little pricey, we actually don’t have any of the original brand, but we do have a few knocks that work just as well!

picasso magnetic tiles for fun building activity for toddlers

We have Picasso tiles and PlayMags and another random brand. I like the PlayMags a tad better if they are the same price, but Picasso tiles and other brands are fine too!

The different brands also work fine together, I think as long as they look like they will work together, they will.

Magnetic tiles are also great to experiment with other magnetic to see what sticks to what!

Have a Picnic Indoors!

Can’t get outside? Have a picnic indoors!

My boys love to throw the blanket down in the kitchen and eat our snacks and/or lunch on it!

It such a great way to combine mealtime and playtime!

My boys love playing picnic and will usually initiate it too! They’ll grab a blanket and start thinking of ideas for food and things for our picnic!

It’s a super cute activity– and practical too!

Who needs to go outside when you have a picnic anywhere!

Dance Party!

There’s no better way to get all that energy out with a Dance Party!

My kids love when I turn on the music and just dance! It’s such a simple activity too and a great way to burn some energy!

Just turn on some music of your choice and have fun! You can also add some balloons, glow sticks, dance mats, etc. to make it extra fun!

Silly Obstacle Course

On days that you can’t simply get outside and there’s A LOT of energy to get out and a dance party won’t cut it, try making an indoor obstacle course.

Lay some pillows on the ground for them to jump over, a tunnel to go through, silly rope to go under, etc.

Some times I’ll tape construction paper shapes to the ground that they need to jump to and from, and it’s a hit with my 2.5 year old.

It’s great to get energy out when we can’t get outside!

I hope you find a few ideas to keep your kids busy while stuck inside! Enjoy!

Silly Things for Toddlers and Kids to Paint With

March 24, 2020 by KT Leave a Comment

Silly Household Items for Painting with Toddlers and Kids

Looking for some silly everyday household things for toddlers and kids to paint with?

Look no further… Here are some things other than a paintbrush that you can use to paint with.

As an added bonus, most things you have laying around the house anyway!

Simply bring out the paper, paint, and a tablecloth perhaps to limit mess, and just find some of these super silly items to paint with.

I like to do one (two at most) silly items at a time so it will keep their interest. I usually have paintbrushes on hand for later because believe it or not, paintbrushes are still my kids preferred method of painting.

However, it is so fun to mix it up and get extra creative!

Here’s a few silly things you can paint with at home with toddlers and kids:

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy if you have any questions.

Q Tips

Grab those Q Tips out of the medicine closet and add them to any kid painting activity for an easy substitute for a paint brush!

Q Tips are great for getting those little dots on paper and little kids love painting with Q Tips for something different!

Cotton Balls

Cotton Balls is a great paintbrush alternative and great for young kids! Put a cotton ball on clothespin and get stamping those cotton balls!

Easy, peasy!

Cookie Cutters

Cookie Cutters are fun to paint with and a great way to make all different shapes with paint!

You can use whatever cookie cutters you have on and dip them into the paint to make whatever designs you want! So easy and fun!

If you don’t have cookie cutters but do have kids, I recommend getting some. We love baking with our cookie cutters too, but it’s fun to get other uses out of them too!

Feathers & Leaves

Feathers, leaves, or anything in nature with a silly shape is great to paint with!

Using feathers didn’t keep my kids attention for too long but they did get a cute giggle out of it!

Dinosaurs

Grab those dinosaur toys and get them stomping through the paint to make dinosaur tracks!

Our dinosaurs make more like paint globs, but it was still fun to do something different!

And dinosaurs are a great size for those little toddler hands for painting!

Painting with Bows

Painting with Wrapping Bows for a fun paint project

Take bows from wrapping paper and dip them into paint to big marks onto paper and a silly design!

You could use different sizes to see the difference is size and shape or just use one at a time!

Caps and Covers

Find leftover caps and covers from the recycling pile or where ever you can to use with paint!

Caps and covers are great to paint with and make super fun circle designs on paper!

Best of all, you use what you have and you can toss that leftover pouch cap or whatever after!

Painting with Legos

Painting with Legos was probably the biggest hit, and they cleaned pretty easily too!

We used our first builders building blocks but you can use whatever legos or blocks you want!

Painting with Toilet Paper Rolls

Use leftover toilet paper rolls to paint with too! They will also give you a circular shape or you can use tape to make a new shape, like a heart!

Toilet Paper Rolls make great stampers, or you can just paint the roll like what my two year old did.

A Few More Ideas

Here are a few silly ideas that we haven’t tested but my toddler and preschooler will paint with soon!

Monster Trucks and Cars: Drive those trucks right through the paint!
Potatoes/Apples/Etc: Cut the produce with a design and stamp them into the paint!
Yarn or Ribbon: Make silly lines and designs with the yarn!
Forks: Get those silly fork shapes onto paper!
Sponge: Cut your dish sponge into fun shapes to make a paint stamper!
Wine Corks: Put those leftover wine corks to good use and have the kids stamp with them!
Dice: If you have dice to spare, try using dice in your paint!
Cardboard Shapes: Cut out the cardboard to make even more shapes and designs! Layer them for extra fun!

What other household or common items that you’ve painted with before?