Step2

Step2 is jumping for joy that Easter is almost here! There are so many fun craft and recipe ideas to experiment with, with the kids. We found wonderful crafts through Pinterest that can be found on our Springtime pin board. Here are some of our favorite ideas for Easter this year:

Lightbulb Lambs: Oh my, these little lambs adorable! If you have any light bulbs that are burned out or some spare bulbs that you are willing to use, grab the paint, yarn, pom-poms, and bows to create these cute creatures. These can be the perfect decoration as a table setting during Easter dinner. *Disclaimer: The Lightbulb Lambs are not meant to be used as toys by children*

20 Ways to Decorate Eggs: A tradition in many families is to decorate eggs for Easter. We have heard of dying Easter eggs or painting them but Making the World Cuter showed us twenty ways to decorate eggs. Whoa, that is a lot of colorful eggs!

Easter Bunny Treats:  This recipe reminds us of making your own DIY Peeps! The recipe requires a lot of marshmallows but is very simple which means it will be a ton of fun for children of all ages! These festive treats will make a yummy desert.

  

Will you make any of these fun crafts for Easter? Have a Happy Easter!

Being a parent is a joy within itself. There are plenty of ups and downs that go on while raising a child but along the way there will be many laughs. As a parent, one will experience plenty of embarrassing moments. Here at Step2, we are parents too, which means we have plenty of embarrassing moments we would like to share with you.

Step2’s Embarrassing Parent Moments:

When my daughter was just a few weeks old, we stopped at a local coffee shop to warm up a bottle of milk. After I fed her, my husband picked her up out of my arms and to take her for diaper change. Before he could even grab the diaper bag, she passed gas that turned into a terrible blowout (a new type of blowout that I was unfamiliar with pre-kids). It must have been the way his hand was positioned, because it ricocheted out of the top of her pants (not having her in a onesie was parent fail #1 of this situation), hit my husband’s white shirt, then gushed onto the floor of the coffee shop. Between the mess and the smell, I was mortified. Looking back, it was kind of funny! – Ashley

Although I am not a parent, my mom has had plenty of embarrassing incidents. I was too young to remember this, but my mom often tells me of the one time I got lost in the mall as a toddler. At the time, I had an infatuation for Barney. We were in line waiting to meet Barney and I decided to make a run for it to go on a hunt for the purple dinosaur. During the time, this was a scary event for my mom; however, she did end up finding me hiding in a circular clothes rack in one of the department stores. Again, this situation was not funny at the time, but it is funny to joke about now that I am an adult and no longer a little trouble maker looking for Barney. – Nicole

A few weeks ago I had an appt to get an eye brow wax. It would NEVER be my intention to bring my boys back to the spa area BUT Daddy was busy and they can to come.  I knew it was going to be quick so I told them to be quiet and just sit and watch. Remember is spas how everyone has to whisper right? Well Ryan wanted to sit on my lap and Grizz wanted to good view so he shimmied right up to the table (he is eye level).  Grizz was asking all sorts of questions like “eye brows waxed?” Is that hot? Mommy does that hurt? All of a sudden Ryan passes gas rather loudly. He laughs, Grizz laughs and tries to take credit. I look at the esthetician and apologize for the behavior and also because we are in a really tiny room! It was hard to be quiet after that. – Sara S.

 My 20 month old has recently discovered the “fun” of pushing his little hands into my tummy fat.  I’m sure it feels like play dough to him.  Fun for him – embarrassing for me (name asked to be withheld – she can handle the embarrassment in front of her little one but not in sharing this with the Step2 world J)

Do you have any embarrassing parent moments that have happened to you lately?

 

This Sunday is St. Patrick’s Day, which means you and your little ones can spend time making crafts that relate to this green celebration even if you are not Irish! Step2 was inspired by cleverness of Second Chance to Dream, That What Che Said, and Mess for Less when it came to creating crafts for this shamrock holiday.

Wee-Leprechaun: The Leprechaun is an iconic symbol of St. Patrick’s Day. Help your kids make little leprechauns and let their imaginations run wild as they create them with paint, pipe cleaners, toilet paper tubes, markers, and glue. Sounds like a lucky party! If you are looking for a craft project with fewer materials, try making a leprechaun from construction paper, paper plates, and markers!

Fruit Loops Pot-O-Gold: At the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold. At the end of this rainbow is Fruit Loops! Grab a box of fruit loops, paper, and glue. Make a rainbow full of fun with this colorful cereal.

Shamrock Pretzel Bites:  Besides leprechauns, shamrocks are also a common symbol of St. Patrick’s Day.  An easy and yummy way to create them is with small pretzels, Hershey Kisses, and green M&Ms.  This treat is festive and delicious for the whole family!

Pot of Gold: To collect all the gold from a lucky day of crafts, it is important to create a pot of gold. The main materials for this project are cardboard buckets, green paint, glue, and paper grass.  You can even place your Shamrock Pretzel Bites or Wee-Leprechaun inside this pot and give it to a friend as a gift on St. Patrick’s Day. Being kind always brings good luck!

How will you be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with your children? May the luck of the Irish be with you all weekend .

Here at Step2, we understand and promote the importance of families spending time together. A great way for families to spend valuable time together is by partaking in hobbies everyone can enjoy. Sharenanny.com gave us some great ideas for kid friendly hobbies that may spark the interest of you and your little ones:

• Rock collecting: As we transition into spring, we may find many interesting objects on the ground that were once covered by snow or leaves. Try collecting interesting looking rocks with your kids when you decide to clean up the yard or go on a nature walk. Try putting similar color rocks into the same jar and see how many different jars of rocks your family ends up collecting!
• Photography: Many parents enjoy taking pictures of the children so they can reflect on the memories of their kids as they grow up. Teach children how to take pictures whether it is with your phone or digital camera (parent supervision is strongly recommended).   Have your children take pictures of things they find intriguing whether it is pictures of their toys or trying to take pictures of you, it can be a fun experience you can both enjoy.  A fun project you and your children can do together is taking a picture of each other each day for a certain amount of time and the make a flip book out the pictures and see how much both of you have changed. Check out this example of this an awesome flip book!
• Scrapbooking: While you are taking pictures, this is a perfect opportunity to take those pictures and decorate them and put the photos into albums. You can spark the artistic and creative side of your children by having them choose the placement of the pictures, coordinate the colors, and use different decorative embellishments.
• Playing Instruments:  ParentalGuide.org expresses the benefits of children that play instruments. It helps improves children’s cognitive and motor skills. Teaching children basic notes on the piano or having them bang their hands on a drum may be a noisy experience but you will have a blast making noise together.
• Cooking/Baking: This is an activity that children can do right along with their parents with their very own play kitchen. Teaching children different ways to prepare food will help aspiring little chefs to learn how to cook and bake from a young age.
• Exercising: Keeping children active is very important. By spending time together doing basic exercise moves, it can promote a healthy lifestyle and a entertaining way for both of your to work up a healthy sweat. Whether you are having a dance party or playing outside, both of you will have tons of fun staying in shape.

What hobbies do you share with your children?

 

President’s Day has been celebrated since 1800. 213 years later, the holiday still remains strong in our country’s history.  Increase your child’s knowledge of this day by reciting facts about on the historic holiday was created.

Here are some fun facts about President’s Day from KidsPlayandCreate.com:

• President’s Day began the year after the death of former President George Washington.
• George Washington’s birthday on February 22 became a day of remembrance to celebrate our nation’s first president.
• Each year more and more people celebrated George Washington’s birthday and in 1885 it became a holiday.
• George Washington became the first American citizen with a federal holiday.
• By 1885 the holiday expanded and the entire country was celebrating George Washington’s birthday.
• In 1968 Congress passed a bill called the uniform Monday Holiday Bill. The bill was passed to create  a 3 day weekends for workers and moved some holidays to Mondays.
• The bill combined George Washington’s birthday, which was February 22nd with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which was February 12th.
• In 1971 President’s Day  was moved to the third Monday in the month of February.

There are also fun activities that help children learn about this special day. PBSKids.org has an interactive application for kids to apply to become the President for a Day. It also includes facts about being the President such as how old you have to be to become President, the salary of the President, and some of the job tasks.  This fun job application will take you through a day as the president and provide facts about what other presidents did while they were in office!

 

Once you and your children are done being President for the day, you can become a tourist and take a virtual tour of the White House. During the tour you can visit different levels which include: the Rose Garden,  Kennedy Garden,  Diplomatic Room,  Oval Office,  library, kitchen, and Vermeil room (just to name a few). Each stop will include a historic fact.

 

By the end of President’s Day you and your children will be full of fun facts about this historic holiday. Share these awesome facts with friends, family, and teachers and celebrate the importance of America’s leaders! 

 

Valentine’s Day is a day to show your loved ones how much you appreciate them. Making festive crafts and foods can spread the love even further! We found tons of craft ideas from Sugar Bee Crafts, Family Your Way, Parenting.com, and Love From The Oven. Let’s check out some of the great ideas they had to offer:

Handprint Valentine Cards: Who said that finger painting could not turn into hand painting? Paint the palms of your little ones’ hands and have them press their hands against paper.  They can create hearts out of their hand prints. How cool! Find old scrapbook or construction paper to add more personality to the Valentine Cards

Sparkly Heart Garland: Under adult supervision, have your kids trace and cut out hearts from construction paper.  Instead of using the heart shaped cut outs for this decoration, you will use the heart outlines. Grab some tape and drop sequins or other types of embellishments on the tape and then put it on the heart outline. String the decorative heart outlines with yarn or ribbon and hang them all around the house. With all the hearts around the house, the whole family will really feel the love!

Calzone Hearts: When we think of Valentine’s Day, we probably think of chocolate and heart shaped candies, but this year, think outside of the box! Create or buy bread dough then let the kids help you roll out the dough and use heart shape cookie cutters. Place mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, and your choice of meats (or no meat) on the heart and place other heart of dough over the toppings. Press the two hearts together and bake all the calzone hearts. Yum!

Chocolate Covered Pretzels: The kids will love helping you make chocolate covered pretzels. Get a bag of pretzels, chocolate, and heart shaped sprinkles. Melt the chocolate and then dip half or the entire pretzel in the chocolate and then pour the sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still gooey. Let them dry for awhile and then dig into this sweet and salty treat!

Valentine’s Day is a time of cherishing the ones you love and what better way to do that than making crafts and food together. What recipes or crafts will you be making for this love filled holiday? Happy Valentine’s Day!