Kids Co-op Link up (#9 for me)

 
<center> <a href="http://tamingthegoblin.blogspot.com/"></font></p> <p> <font color="#808080" face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/FkLk8.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" /></a> </font></p> <p> <font color="#808080" face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></center> Its that time again: Time to link up your great ideas and browse through some of the other great ideas linked up. And here is what I will be linking up:

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Butterfly play scape
(Goblin is 31 months)

Goblin and I have been watching 5 caterpillars grow. Soon they will form chrysalis and then they will emerge as beautiful butterflies. He has taken quite an interest, asking to see them several times a day. This inspired me to make Goblin a butterfly play scape this week.

I spent my one hour commute home last night cutting out lots of tiny paper butterflies. I got the pictures from Google Images (typed in butterflies), and printed them out on a colour printer. I glued most of them to the top of clothes pegs. This took ages but I realised that it was worth it because there are lots of things I can do with these butterflies, including matching games; counting games; and hide and seek. If you have any other ideas please leave me a comment, I'd love some more options. 

I also scattered some smaller butterflies around the plastic mat like confetti. 

On my way home from work I walk up a lane lined with Cow Parsley. The other day I saw how tall it was growing and thought Goblin would like that it is taller than him. So I took a few cuttings. I used a big plastic waste paper bin as a vase and filled it with a bit of water to keep the Cow parsley stems fresh over night. I pegged the butterflies to the Cow parsley. I also pegged a few butterflies to the curtains, the shelves, and all around the room so Goblin could randomly find them through out the day.

 

The main sensory tray contained some twigs (picked on my walk home from the train). I have some plastic butterflies from Amazon that I used as stocking fillers for Goblin last Christmas. I balanced these on the twigs, as well as in the 'land' and 'water' areas of the tray. The land area had some 'texture' made of green tea - its been sitting unused in my larder for two years, - and some dried lavender. The tea and lavender combined to make a great smell. This, as well as the Cow parsley and the Freesias I 'floated' in the waterbeads made the butterfly play scape a very smelly sensory experience (in a good way).

I was so inspired by the butterfly theme I even made Goblin a butterfly fruit snack to go with the play scape.

While I remember, there are butterfly crafts in the ebook Small Hands Creating Hope, which can be sent to anyone donating $15 or more to the Amerian Cancer Society. Find out all about it at MamaSmiles.

So you've seen what we've been up to, lets see what everyone else has been up to - To the linky!

Welcome to The Kid's Co-op! Each week we get together we'll ask YOU to share your favorite kid's activities. We'd love to see a plethora of ideas geared for toddlers to pre-teens. We are looking for activities that are family oriented, fun, unique and educational. Please share your favorite project or blog post below. We will be sharing our favorite post from our own blogs too! {Co-hosted by: The Kid's Co-op Group, Let's Lasso the Moon & Nurture Store} PS: By linking up you agree that your post and photos are Pinterest friendly. We will be showcasing ideas on our group Pinterest Board. Are following the Kid's Co-op on Facebook? Let's connect!

1. Ricotta blueberry pancakes	2. Favourite summer books	3. Indoor picnic	4. Making bubble wands
5. Hopscotch Fun with positive + negative numbers	6. Straw-printed dandelions	7. Paper Airplane Races	8. Mixed Berry Scones
9. My First Sensory Bin	10. Stack and Play Foam Bowls	11. Shredded Paper Play	12. If Elephants Wore Pants
13. Giant Crossword Puzzle	14. Handprint Garden Markers	15. Ice Letter Hunt-Preschool to Middle School	16. 3 Little Pigs Retelling
17. Popsicle Stick Catapults	18. Making Clay Coins	19. Learning with Pinkalicious!	20. Caterpillar Observation Area
21. The Salamander Room Activities	22. 3 ways to weave	23. Rain painting & other outdoor play	24. Rainbow rice, how we play
25. Bird Feeder made by toddler	26. Lion Prowl from Rainbows Within Reach	27. LOTS of Zoo Animal Activities	28. Montessori-Inspired Beach Activities
29. LOTS & LOTS of Caterpillar-Butterfly Activities	30. Paint from your Pantry - Easy & Fun	31. S is for Superhero	32. Pre-writing activity - painting with water over chalkboard letters
33. Rainbow spagetti sensory tub	34. Creating an ice-rink in the living room	35. Toddler Busy Bag: Build-a-Ghost Shape	36. Jubilee Numbers
37. 100 Things You Can Buy from The Dollar Tree and Use in Play with over 100 play ideas	38. Paint the Sky with a mirror	39. Pretend Play- Cupcakes and Birthday Wishes	40. Hand-made card prints
41. Russia - Individual apple sharlotka	42. Playschool Fun: Mother's Day/Weather/Outside!	43. Pre K - Robot Unit	44. Child's Play 101 - Sensory Bins
45. Pool Noodle Backyard Obstacle Course	46. Tot School - Robot Theme	47. Kindergarten: Enroll or Wait?	48. Lego Math Games
49. Newspaper Art	50. Glitter Goop	51. Large Scale Fingerpainting	52. Counting By Fives and Tens Charts and Worksheets
53. Quick Paper Hand Puppets	54. Monster Crayon Roll	55. Book Cover Place Mats	56. Storytelling 101
57. Toddler fine art	58. Fantastic Educational IPad App	59. Chores for Preschoolers	60. Sensory Bottles
61. Butterfly play scape	62. Exploring pointillism and Seurat	63. Making Predictable Books For Young Children	64. Paper vs Foil vs Cellephane. The Great Paint Off!
65. 16 Ways to Enjoy Outdoor Dining with the Kids	66. van Gogh's	67. Outdoor Cooking Creations	68. Busy Bags
69. Top Ten Art Supplies	70. Magnetic Letter Trays	71. Pretending to read	72. Rainbow Dyed Pasta
73. Chicka-Chicka Boom boom tree	74. Flubber Slime Baskets	75. Bits and Bobs Box: LLJournal	76. Baby Bath Bubble Solution: LLJournal
77. matching game quiet book page	78. Ice Sculptures	79. Penguins	80. Invitation to Draw
81. 5 Playful Tools for Calm Kids	82. Tadpole Fishing Sensory Tub	83. Letter Collages	84. Nursery Rhymes Prop Basket
85. Waterbeads Alphabet Soup	86. Sun Prints	87. Chicka Chicka Boom Tot Bag	88. Circle Printing
89. MOMS Give 25 Tips to Get Kids Sleeping Better	90. Cookie Cutter Stamped Card for Cancer	91. Kid Made Father's Day Crock Pot Dinner	92. Baby Burp Cloths and 30 More DIY Baby Gifts
93. Making and Using Colourful Rice	94. Road Trip Reading Baskets	95. Sweet Foot Lovin' For Mother's Day	96. CD plant protectors
97. Curate a Post-it Note Art Gallery	98. Top 5 Baby Shower Gifts	99. Toddler Box: Matching	100. Getting Arty with George Rodrigue
101. Ganes w Sticks and Stone (tribal)	102. How to safely paint trees (celebrate)	103. Create some land art	104. Simplicity Parenting Carnival Next Week
105. Star Center piece for memorial Day	106. Toddler fun- wipe box with toys	107. Art Within Reach	108. Family Popsicle Stick Puppets
109. Keitha's Story Themed Lunches	110. Shape and Feel McDuff Sensory Collage	111. Bike Painting	112. Creature Camouflage
113. Explore Plant Roots	114. Plant Structures Sensory Bin	115. Pizza Flower & Dough Recipe	116. Book Review: I Am a Bunny
117. Paper Roll Flowers	118. Magic Motivators: Sticks	119. Painting on a Wax Bag with Pudding	120. Free What's in the Bible? Flashcards
121. Straw Blown Flowers	122. Garden Xylophone	123. Dandelion parachutes	124. How to Make a Writing Center Your Child Will Love
125. Filtering	126. Splat paintings	127. Lettuce Stamped Painting	128. Tips for Library Visits with Young Children
129. JELLO PLaydough & Cookies!	130. My	131. A miniature rock pool	132. Water Wall/ ball Run
133. Drawing with Light	134. Using a Visual Schedule	135. Painting with Petroleum Jelly!	136. wheely fun painting
137. Police Officer Crafts	138. Frozen Watercolor Paintings	139. Snail Fun	140. Marble, Golf Ball and Magnet painting
141. Playdough Recipes...Over 30 Recipes	142. Dicovery Bottles- TONS OF THEM!!!!	143. Sensory Bags	144. Cardboard castle fit for a knight
145. Alphabet Order Game	146. Alligator Fun math	147. Wood Working With Kids	148. DIY Fake Vegetable Garden
149. Ball Bounce Painting	150. Pipe Cleaner Rings	151. Octonauts Game	152. Fruit Smoothie Popsicles
153. I Heart Pears	154. Baking Soda Clay Candy	155. Spray Shapes and Patterns	156. More Boy Parties
157. Seedling Experiment	158. Pirate Week	159. Peg out the alphabet	160. Sheep Shearing on the Farm
161. Rising 3rd graders summer reading list	162. Goofy Goop	163. Train Fun for Kids	164. DIY Sand Combs
165. Toddler Busy Boxes	166. creativeplayhouse	167. Make a lion paper 'fortune-teller'	168. TODDLER OLYMPICS!
169. Eating Healthy & Exercising {Toddler/PK}	170. DIY Hungry Caterpillar Dice Game	171. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Art Project	172. Mud Pie Kitchen Engages Young and Old
173. Homemade Baby Instruments	174. First post in our new musical appreciation series: CATS	175. confetti eggs	176. Fun learning dice-Tutorial
177. Kid Wash	178. Make an Airport and Airplanes	179. Homemade puffy paint	180. Water Bead Ice Play
181. Rain, Rain Go Away … Or Not

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