An Engaging & Quiet Toy for Toddlers

An educational toy that engages children and is nice and quiet? Sounds fantastic, right!? This is it!

Our friends had this toy at their house and my son loved it - they sent him one for our house right after we left. Then we bought it as a Christmas gift for another friend. This set has numbers, but they also have a version with letters and one with shapes. Kids take apart the eggs and then matches them back up. I was actually surprised how long my son would sit and play with this toy. He also will use the eggs in his toy kitchen sometimes. :-)

Reasons we love this toy, it allows Parker to:

• Work on number and color skills

• Practice fine motor skillls pulling the eggs apart and putting them together again

• Pratice matching

• Play independently

• Be engaged

Plus it is quiet and doesn't take up a ton space!

I would definitely recommend the matching eggs for any parent looking for an educational, engaging, and quiet toy.

Click Here to Purchase on Amazon

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job! You got this!

Link: https://amzn.to/3Sauzmk

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please know, I am super thankful for your support in purchasing through these links.

10 Tips for Organizing Your Bedroom

This week, my husband and I really cleaned and got some things organized in our bedroom. It is amazing what a difference it makes in how you feel being in the room when it is clean and organized. Plus, we got our little one involved because we needed more time than just the length of his nap. We all had more fun because Parker was involved and enjoyed helping!

Note: we did work on the majority of the cleaning (and some organizing) in one day, but I had been working on getting some things organized for several days because it is not realistic to spend a whole day on an organization project when kids are home.

10 Tips:

1. Start with clearing/ de-cluttering your surfaces

We had let things pile up on our dressers, wardrobe, and night tables. It made the room look so messy and unorganized. So I started with decluttering those surfaces and dusting them off and this immediately made the whole room look so much cleaner!

2. Get rid of things you do not need

One of the reasons we had so much stuff out is that our drawers and closets were too full, and a lot of it was stuff we really do not wear or use. So once we freed up some space, we were able to put things we wanted to keep where they are supposed to go.

My tip for getting rid of things: I like to go through things multiple times. So I will do a round of getting things. Then the next day or a couple of days later look again for things I can get rid of. I almost always decide to get rid of more this way. I also recommend not hanging on to things just because someone gave them to you if you are not using them. I had been keeping some items that I never use for over a decade because they were a gift. But they are taking up space and not being used, so I am donating them in hopes someone else can use them. Rarely do people check in on their gifts (especially if they were given some time ago).

This is mostly just my stuff, my husband took his out to the car before I could take a picture. We made quite the Goodwill donation.

That being said, I am all for keeping things you want or have a sentimental attachment to. More on that further down the list.

3. Throw things away

I found magazines that were a couple of months old, receipts, greeting cards (with no sentimental value), and boxes of items that I was holding on to thinking I might use them at some point. It felt nice to throw all of that stuff away.

4. Use under-bed space

Storage is super limited in my house, so maximizing all of the space is very helpful! We keep suitcases under the bed in our guest room. Once we have the budget for it, I plan to purchase a rolling container for our master to put seasonal clothes in, which will then free up some space in the closet.

5. Buy storage for sentimental items

I have had a bunch of photos, mementos, and Parker's baby things sitting around our bedroom for over a year because I had nowhere to put them. I FINALLY went to T.J. Maxx and bought some decorative cardboard storage boxes. Click here to see similar ones, though I recommend looking at your local T.J. Maxx because they are a way better deal there. This cleared up a lot of clutter! And they are much safer stored in a box in the closet.

6. Use baskets to contain random items and for pillows

We already had some small baskets in our room, but I cleaned them out so we could better use them. There was a bunch of stuff that I didn't want to keep anymore in them, so I could put some of the clutter I did want to keep in those baskets. Now I keep the items I want, but it looks so much neater without all the stuff on the nightstand and dresser.

Getting a large basket for pillows and blankets is a great way to neatly store bedding when it's not on your bed. Currently, we just pile ours up on the chair in our room, but a basket may be my next purchase.

7. Make your bed daily

This makes the room look so much more put together! Check out my post 10 Reasons to Make the Bed for more on why this new habit is making life better in my house.

8. Get a nightstand with usable storage space

There was so much clutter on my nightstand. I have a nightstand with storage, so I cleaned out the drawers to make them more usable. In the future, I plan to buy little containers to organize the inside of the drawers more. But just cleaning it out and making zones within the drawer helped a lot, and without spending a dime!

9. Have a hamper and trash can to minimize clothes and trash being out

Get a hamper to make sure your clothes end up in the hamper and not on the floor. My husband and I both have our own hamper on our own side of the room to make sure there is plenty of space in the hamper for our dirty clothes.

Have a trash can in your room so any bedroom trash ends up in the can and not in the nightstand table or dresser.

10. Organize in sections of the room

One of the reasons I felt our room had gotten so messy and unorganized is that it was overwhelming to think about doing it all at once. Pick one zone or space of your room and start there - you do not need to do it all in one day.

Bonus: Get your little ones involved!

Since Parker is not yet at an age where we can send him to clean his own room on his own, we had him help in our room. And he had fun with it! He helped us throw trash away. I also gave him a duster and showed him how to dust. So then he was going between our bedside tables (and the windows because he likes looking out) to dust the bedside tables and the windows. Though we might have to go behind him again with the duster, I hope that it sets a good foundation for cleaning up later. And he had fun while we cleaned! We did have some books and other small toys in the room to entertain him, but he really didn't use them much because he liked helping us.

Before:

After:

I hope this list inspires you to start organizing. Both my husband and I just felt better once it was clean and organized. Now the hard part begins, maintaining it. :-)

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job. You got this!

Sources:

• The Spruce

• Parachute Home

5 Educational Presidents' Day Activities

Are your kids out of school or daycare on President's Day or just looking for a fun educational activity?

Check out these five educational activities that are perfect for President's day!

Activity One - Adjustable for all Ages!

President's day is a great opportunity to read a themed book on President's Day. Luckily, they make books for all ages about presidents. I recommend checking out your local library to see what they have! Need some ideas?

For little ones:

• My Little Golden Book About George Washington by Lori H. Houran

• P is for President by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

• If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier and Avril Lynne

For early-elementary:

• What is the President's Job by Allison Singer

• Ellie May on President's Day by Hillary Homzie and Jeffrey Ebbeler

• Madame President by Lane Smith

For older-elementary:

• Who was Theodore Roosevelt? By Michael Burgan

• Action Presidents #1: George Washington by Fred Van Lente (graphic novel format)

• The President's Stuck in the Bathtub by Susan Katz (poems)

For older kids or more advanced readers:

• Grover Cleveland, Again!: A Treasury of American Presidents by Ken Burns

• Never Caught, The story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington's Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away by Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve

• Andrew Jackson (The Making of America Series #2) by teri Kanefield

Activity Two

Put on a puppet or finger puppet show. Have your children create puppets using paper bags, construction paper, felt, coins (they have the president's face on them) and any other materials you have around - let your children be creative! Then you can have them act out the book from activity one or use this list of fun facts. Once your kids have created the puppets and practiced their show, they can perform the show for the whole family!

What a great opportunity to combine the benefits of art and encouraging creativity with learning about history and civics.

Activity Three

Write a letter to President Biden. What a great way to teach children to get involved in our democracy!

Step 1: Discuss how government works and topics that matter to your children.

Step 2: Discuss what to include in the letter - encourage your kids to share their ideas and ask questions in their letters.

Step 3: Let them write the letter.

Step 4: Address the envelope

Step 5: Mail it!

I love this activity because it teaches about democracy and civic engagement. But it also teaches how to write a letter and address an envelope!

Activity Four

Play a game of hangman using presidents' names. A fun way to learn the presidents' names and learn how to spell them!

Activity Five

Build Abe Lincoln's log cabin. You can use a variety of different materials to let your kids build the log cabin that Abe Lincoln was built in. Ideas:

• blocks

• legos

• pretzels

• popsicle stick

Your kids can work on the STEM skills and creativity while having fun building Abe's log cabin!

Enjoy learning and playing with your children while learning about presidents and civics!

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job! You got this!

Sources:

• Best Childrens Books

• We are Teachers (find more President's activities))

• What Do We Do All Day

• Kidsactivities.net