A Day of DIY Lion Activities for Kids

As the proverb says, March (or Spring) will go "In like a lion, and out like a lamb" or "In like a lamb and out like a lion." 

Our March definitely went "Out like a Lion" so because we have some lion lovers in the house, we were trapped inside due to weather and sickness, and we had THE PERFECT book for such a thing, we had a day of "Lion Lessons".

THE BOOK

We read the book (multiple times) by Jon Agee which has seven steps to becoming a lion and then we proceeded to try them out for ourselves and added a few more.

TAIL MAKING

A $2.88 bundle of yarn allowed us to make lion tails and manes for our little lion cubs. For the tails we just cut off 10 or so strands a few feet long and then loosely braided them and added some extra pieces at the bottom. Kids can tuck the end into their pants or pants pocket and it stays in pretty well. 

MANE MAKING

For the mane we cut 15 small pieces (roughly 3 inches long each) and then tied them together with another small piece to form a "puff". We used that same piece of thread to tie the "puff" to an elastic headband. Once all the "puffs" were on the headband they can put it around their head and have a mane.

MUST HAVE PAWS

The kids got these slippers for Christmas and I have enjoyed watching them run around in them about as much as they have enjoyed using them. So funny and they love to use them to dress up as lions both on their hands and their feet. 

POUNCING PRACTICE

No, they didn't pounce on these two. These two watched the kids jump/pounce into a giant pile of blankets and pillows from a VERY safe distance.  

THE ARTWORK

We traced circles on art paper using dessert plates and then let the kids use washable paint and plastic forks to make manes around the circles which then became lions. Walmart has lion sun catchers for a dollar that you can use with paint or markers. Since we did these activities during springtime we had to throw a lion Easter Egg into the mix. 

THE EATS

This is the only picture I have from a lion party we had earlier in the year. Easy to make and the kiddos love it. You'll need two box cake mixes. Chocolate cupcakes for the mane and whatever flavor you choose for the face which is a circular cake pan.

LION DEN

We build a giant blanket and pillow fort under the kitchen table to be used as a lions den and they played happily in there for well over an hour. 

LION ROAR

It goes without saying that the Lion Roar was practiced All. Day. Long.

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How to Make Your Own Easter Egg "People"

Random fact about Megan and I, we worked at a Dinosaur Museum for years and had to blow out the insides of eggs frequently (hundreds of eggs each no joke) for kids to make their own dinosaur eggs. We never thought that skill would come in handy but boy were we wrong. Enter having our own kids and Easter.

So, to get a blown out egg you simply use a push pin to poke a hole in the top and bottom of an egg. Then you put your mouth on one end and blow all the egg out. Rinse, and your egg is ready. 

With this project you could probably get away with using regular eggs that you crack and use and then rinse out but we blew ours out and then took off the tops in order to make little containers to plant seeds in.

Anyhow. Get your eggshells however you like and make sure the openings are big enough to put dirt inside.

Put a few spoonfuls of dirt into each egg. 

Place a few grass seeds in each egg.

Cover the seeds with a spoonful or two more of dirt.

Place in a sunlit area and keep moist. We have been using a spray bottle to water ours.

We are waiting for ours to grow grass before we draw faces on the eggs with marker but in hindsight that might have been a better idea before we planted anything inside of them. 

Wait for your grass to grow and make "hair" on your little egg friends.  

We'll add more photos once we get something to grow. :) Fingers crossed as the kiddos are pretty excited about seeing something come out of those eggs.

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Unique Easter Egg Decorating

When we saw this idea on KSL Studio 5, (I believe they got it from @hello_wonderful on Instagram) we knew we had to try it because our kids are obsessed with showers mainly to use the shower squeegee while in there. 

All you need is paint (we used washable finger paint), a shower squeegee, poster board or pieces of cardstock paper, and a place to make a mess. We used a $1 dollar table cloth that we could fold up and throw out as soon as we were done.

On large pieces of poster board we made several egg shapes and cut them out.

Then we set up our work area with paints, squeegee and table cloth.

Let the kids choose what colors of paint they want on their egg and put little dots on the egg. Have someone hold the top of the egg and then let the kids drag the squeegee across the paint until all of the white paper is covered.

You can experiment with mixing colors to make other colors (blue and yellow dots make a blue egg etc.) or just play with different colors. 

Once the eggs have dried you can make a banner or let the kids color them with markers or whatever else your heart desires. 

Happy painting. 

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How To Host A Leprechaun Party

The kiddos are just starting to understand what a Leprechaun is so we had a Leprechaun party to search for Leprechaun Gold, build a Leprechaun Village, and snack on green treats. Fingers crossed we have a visit to our village sometime from a  sneaky little leprechaun leaving treats.

I made a quick trip to the dollar store for a few themed St Patty's Day items. Gold coins, mini green hats, stickers, and some sparkly green shamrocks. I also picked up a rainbow of paint swatches.

Then I pulled out random things from my house and crafty stash. Popsicle sticks, yarn, clothes pins, cookie cutters, green and gold paint, and a footprint stamp I use for baby showers. 

Finally, I keep a box of just random stuff. Used hot chocolate cans, baby food jar lids. Just weird random stuff so when the time comes for the kids or myself to create something we have a box of go to building stuff. Saves money and makes you be creative.

We laid out our goods and got to work. We built a village fit for any Leprechaun and had so much fun doing it. We pulled it off the kitchen table and put it on the floor out of the way where the kids can play with it for a week or so until its time to move on to the next holiday.

For our party snacks we put some Wiltons Green Melting Chocolate on the kids favorite pretzels and added some green sprinkles.

When we were done village building we headed outside to search for leprechaun gold. We hid pieces of gold and the kids put it in little "Lucky" sacks we made with glue and glitter. Easy easy.

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Moab with Kids

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park

Our little family recently returned from Moab, Utah. We were craving warmer weather, sun on our skin, and a 3 hour drive with a toddler (yeah....not so much the latter). We hit Arches National Park , Dead Horse Point State Park , and Canyonlands National Park. It was a fun family filled vacation, I am sure we will be visiting again where we may have to try out some jeeping or white water rafting. 

Here are a few tips that I learned on our trip: 

We went in March the weather was right on point before the desert climate starts to heat up on those lovely red rocks usually reaching the 100+ degrees. 

We have the National Parks Pass which got us into Arches National Park and Canyon Lands National Park.....not essential but we didn't have to wait in the 30 minute line to get into the park. 

We didn't bring a pack for our toddler (which I don't know how much she would have ridden in it...she loved walking along the trails) but I wish we would have had the option for it especially on the long hikes and especially especially for  when she conked out on dad's shoulder half way onto the trail. 

We had so many comments from people telling us that they wish they would have started traveling with their littles when they were small....so get out there! Don't let your kids keep you from traveling!! 

You have very limited options of dining in Moab, it is your typical outfitter town so instead of hitting the select few chain restaurants hit the local restaurants. We went to Paradox Pizza....big thumbs up!! Thank you Yelp. 

We always try to get a souvenir on our trips (usually it is a Christmas tree ornament....if I can find one that matches my tree) and lets be honest it's always fun to do the touristy things like walk main and check out all the neat shops.

Make it an easy trip by packing light, especially when it was only a two day trip this will make you want to travel more often if it wasn't a pain in the butt to get ready for. We took 1 suitcase for all 3 of us (you can probably tell with all my wardrobe changes).

Take enough photos, whether that be on your phone or camera, looking back on my pictures I wish we would have brought our tripod...we have 1 family shot. You can get some breathtaking images along the red rocks with the snow crested La Sal Mountain range in the backdrop. 

The drive wasn't that bad, we made sure to load up the iPod,  had 1 or 2 new toys for the toddler which easily held her attention for awhile, and packed our cooler with drinks and snacks. 

Of course remember all the essentials, sunblock, hats, hiking shoes, snacks, packs, jackets, cameras, sunglasses, long sleeves for babies/toddlers for sun protection, plenty of water. It's not the end of the world if you forget these, there are markets along main. 

When we got back to the hotel we crashed but I wish we would have headed back out to the Arches to catch the sunset on the red rocks and stars coming out.

Hit up the Moab Information Center on main street, where you can load up on maps and ask questions.

North Window Arch, Arches National Park 

Double Arch, Arches National Park

Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park

Dead Horse Point Park overlook 

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