You know all of those little tiny toys you find around the house? The ones you get from kids birthday party favors, or Easter baskets, or the school prize box?
The little rubber duckies from the duck themed baby shower, or the little dinosaur from the neighbors birthday party? Or what about the little spiders from the kids Halloween goodie bags? The plastic fish? Pony? Turtles? Gems? Shells? Rocks? Cars? Are you following me yet? Well, alone they’re just little nic-nacks,  sprinkled around the house, that can drive you insane! But put them all together in a portable container, and you’ve got a Nature Center! A Nature Center that you can take anywhere! That’s what my kids named it since our collection is made up mostly of little animals, shells, and all the things I mentioned above. But you can name your bin anything you want. This bin has been played with over and over again, inside the house, outside of the house, with water, with blocks, the possibilities are endless. And like everything else, setting up their “nature center” is always the most fun! My favorite part? Cleaning up! It’s so easy, because  everything goes in one bin!

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I Love fabric! I have a small drawer of fabric swatches that I purchase here and there for little projects or just because I like the design on the fabric. Sometimes I buy fabric and send a job over to my mom, like making little bags for the girls or making a pillow case for an old pillow. Sometimes I just take out all of my fabric just to look at it and I wish that I could do more with it! I’ve recently realized how easy it would be for me to actually try to learn instead of wishin! I can take a class or I can have my mom or even my mother- in- law teach me. My mom was a seamstress my whole life and it never dawned on me that I should have or even could have learned how to sew many years ago. Lately though the urge is greater than ever. Maybe because I have three beautiful daughters who constantly inspire me to be creative. It’s definitely on my list of goals for this year!  This is an old photo I found (not that old, maybe 2 years ago and wow our yard has changed since this photo!). The girls are just as crazy about fabric as I am! I have a bin of fabric  that my mom has given me through the years. I keep it in the playroom and every time they take it out it keeps them pretty busy and I’m always impressed with what they come up with!

We purchased this whiteboard for the girls over a year ago. You can find a similar one here. It’s the most played with item in our home. Every single one of us including my husband has used this board to draw or teach something to anyone whose willing to learn. Melina especially loves teaching her class with it. There is not one day that goes by (unless we are not home) that she does not sit in this corner and play school while using this whiteboard. She literally becomes a teacher. I seriously believe she is ready to teach kindergarten! It’s so cute to watch. I love her passion. She puts on her little high heal shoes, gets her teaching books out, her dry erase markers and she just teaches, teaches, teaches. Sometimes her sisters and I sit in on her class. Sometimes her dad does too! It always amazes me how she always has something prepared for us to do, whether its an art project or a new letter to  learn. I think she will make an amazing teacher one day, whether it’s a classroom full of children or a dining room filled with her own children. There is a seed inside of her and I can’t wait to see how it grows.

This year for Mother’s Day we took a nice long ride out to the Montauk Point Lighthouse. This is where the girls discovered and took home these beautiful rocks. My daughter Lia is always asking me if she could paint,  some days we have time for it but some days we just don’t or I just don’t feel like cleaning up the mess (which was the case on this day)! However, I was able to satisfy her urge by having her use plain water and a brush to paint onto these lovely rocks. I simply gave her a glass of water, some paint brushes and a paint roller and of course a bucket of rocks and she got right to work. She loved applying the water and watching it dry up and starting all over again. This kept her quite busy and I have to admit it kept me quite busy too. It was so relaxing and so fun to watch the effect of the water on the rocks. I left the rocks set up for the whole day. My 4 year old loved it and jumped right in as soon as she came home from pre-school and so did my 7 year old when she arrived home from school. It was definitely something they all enjoyed!

Playdough is a MUST in our house. The girls absolutely love it and so do I! I make sure to have some on hand and if I don’t, I simply go online and find a simple recipe. Below is a recipe I found at http://theimaginationtree.com. We have several accessories but they just love using household items like bowls and baking pans and utensils. They pretend they are Chef Giada (from the Food Network, Everyday Italian) and they create some wonderful dishes and desserts. When I’m in a really good mood I let them each have a little bowl of flour to play along with. This is definitely an activity that will keep them busy for the entire afternoon! Great summer activity to set up outside!

• 2 cups plain flour (all purpose)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right)
• food colouring (optional)
• few drops glycerine (optional- adds more shine!)

Method:

• Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl
• Add the boiling water
• Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough
• Add the food coloring and glycerine (both optional)
• Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. * This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency!*
• (If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right)