Step2

In the past, we have enjoyed providing our customers with fun DIY activities such as crafts and recipes for holidays. However, for this Memorial Day weekend, we decided to provide you with a festive way to celebrate using your child’s Step2 toys! Decorating your child’s playhouse or climber can be a fun way for you and your child to use your creativity while celebrating this patriotic time of year.

What you will need:

• Red, white, and blue construction paper (or poster board- that is what we used! We felt it was sturdier)
• Scissors
• Garland
• American flag(s)
• Stapler
• Tape

How to create the red, white and blue chain(s) [Adult supervision required for this step]: Cut the construction paper or poster board into strips, then take the strip and attach the two ends of the strip together to create a ring. Staple the two ends together.  Place the second strip of paper through the newly made loop. Again, join the ends of the strip together by stapling. Alternate between red, white, and blue strips to continue this process of creating a long chain.

Once you have completed the long chain, place the chain(s) on the desired playhouse or climber. If it is windy, you can tape parts of the chain onto the playhouse or climber. Place the American flag(s) in the ground around the climber or playhouse. Tape the garland near the doorway of the playhouse or in and throughout part the climber.

Decorating your Step2 playhouse or climber can make your backyard or home more festive as you celebrate this Memorial Day weekend! What are you doing to celebrate Memorial Day?

 

Happy Earth Day! Earth Day is an annual day where communities gather together worldwide to demonstrate support to protect the environment for plants, animals, and humans. To start off this important day and raise awareness, your family can help a global mosaic on Earthday.org.  All you have to do is upload a picture, preferably one that includes your face and a sign that says “The Face of Climate Change.” Check out what the global mosaic looks like so far at TheAdvocator.com.

In addition showing your support online, there are plenty of fun & creative ideas you can do with your kids to educate them about Earth Day. We were inspired by the ideas CreativeFamily.net , CarrotsAreOrgange.com , and B-InspiredMama.com had about this green celebration.

• Plant a Tree: If you have some room in your front or back yard, get the family together to help plant a tree! However, if you do not have the room, the National Arbor Day Foundation can plant a tree on your behalf.
• Earth Day Cookies: Create cookies that look like Earth but still taste like delicious delicacies. The kids will have a blast swirling around blue and write frosting to create the top layer on the cookie(which is meant to be the water and clouds of Earth) and then sprinkling green sprinkles (which is meant to be the land).  What a cool and yummy concept!
• Sort recyclables: Teach children about plastic, paper, and metal. This is a great sensory activity to teach children what each material feels like. Present examples of the materials such as a plastic soda bottle, a cereal box, and a can of fruit. Create and decorate different boxes for each material and have children sort through to place the correct recyclables in each box.
• Clean up the park or neighborhood: Take the kids on a nature stroll and bring plastic bags with you. While on your walk to the park or around the neighborhood, pick up any trash you see. With the trash you have collected, you and your children can sort through and put the different trash items in your decorated recyclables boxes.
• Create earth: Get crafty and let the kids create their own version of Earth. There is paint, small bouncy balls, sand, and glue involved in this activity so that means it is guaranteed fun!
• Make a family pledge: On behalf of Earth Day, have your family create a list of ways to help keep the Earth clean all year round. From recycling to picking up more trash to donating to nature organizations, there is always a way to help.

Celebrating and teaching your children about Earth Day will help them to pass the knowledge and passion about taking care of our planet to future generations. What activities do you have planned for Earth Day?

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!

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 .

 

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!

 

Winter time can be a beautiful time of year even if you do not live in a snowy area. Inspiring artistic creations that represent winter will teach children about this season and pass the time if you are waiting for the snow to melt!  AllKidsNetwork.com and MarthaStewart.com has some adorable ideas to spark creativity for winter crafts.

Snow Measuring Stick

Live in a place where it snows? Teach your kids to monitor the inches of snow by creating a snow measuring stick. This is a cool way to educate children on what inches are and get children curious about how much snow is falling each time it snows.

Whether you are watching the snowflakes accumulate on the ground or you wish to see snow fall, making a snow globe can fascinate your children and be a wonderful creation to make!

Snow Globe

Shaking snow globes that are bought during the holidays are fun and beautiful but what could be more exciting than making your own snow globe?! The ingredients to make this snow globe are easy to find in stores and all you need is a clear jar or bottle to contain the pretty decorations.

The next two crafts can be made whether you live in a hot or cold region and will be tons of fun for the kids to create and showcase around the house.

Styrofoam Penguin

Making masterpieces of animals that live in the arctic will be fun for the whole family. Also, it does not have to be just a penguin that the kids create; they can also create snowmen out of Styrofoam too. These pieces of artwork will be nice to display around the house to make it more festive even after the holidays are over.

Beyond constructing arctic animals, mythical creatures, snow globes, and snow measuring sticks, what does everyone need to keep their hands warm when it is cold? Mittens!

Mittens

This craft is simple and you can probably find these items already lying around the house if your children like doing artsy activities. Mittens are easy to make and each child can personalize their mittens by the color of the construction paper and paint their own unique design. This is another great decoration that can be hung around the house during winter. Also, if you are from a warmer region, you can teach your children why wearing mittens and gloves are important when you are in cold weather. This is great opportunity for those that do live in regions of colder climates to talk about the dangers of not wearing gloves or mittens.

Which winter time crafts are you planning on making with your children?