I knew cactus could store a lot of water, but I had no idea how much! Did you know that a fully-grown saguaro cactus can soak up and store up to 200 gallons of water during a good downpour? And then they can store the water until the next rainfall (which in the desert might … More Cactus Sponge Experiment
This sensory bin was fairly easy to put together – it’s sand, rocks, popsicle stick cactuses and sand toys. To make the popsicle stick cactus, I grabbed some green popsicle sticks from a pack I already had and cut them into four pieces. Using my hot glue gun, I attached the cactus arms. I also made … More Desert Sensory Bin
When Desert Moms blog invited me to do a write up about our All About Cactus Week (coming soon!), I got excited about creating a playspace. Especially since I had already been thinking about doing Mabel’s first birthday party as a cactus theme – I figured anything I made/used for the theme week, I could … More DIY Light Up Cactus
I love sensory bottles. I think they are good at almost every age, but I especially love them for baby play. I’ve found it’s a way to include Mabel in our Theme Weeks that safely lets her explore the world. It gives her access to small items that I couldn’t otherwise give her. Sensory bottles are fun … More Cactus Sensory Bottle
This is one of the easiest, fastest ways to color rice and one of my favorites. HOWEVER – it’s not mouth-proof, so if you have a kiddo that likes to put stuff in their mouth, I recommend the food coloring + vinegar method. Then at least it’s all food-based ingredients. To use the paint method, … More Coloring Rice with Paint
So I wanted to start by saying that I can’t take credit for this idea (a lovely lady named Carsonna on the Making One Fun Facebook group inspired this project) but it’s been AWESOME. Ever since I saw the idea, I couldn’t stop thinking about doing it for Mabel, my 8 month old. I didn’t expect how … More Dollar Store Busy Board
Delightful. Magical. Simple. A plastic whisk (we used one similar to this) and some scarves led to dancing with rainbows at our house and it was gorgeous. All we did was tie the rainbow scarves to the whisk, then let Ava play. I did have to remind her a few times to lift the scarves … More Rainbow Whisk
I came across this idea during my random Instagram/Pinterest brainstorming session and knew I had to try it with Ava. Ava just turned two in June, but has always loved small motor activities, so I felt pretty confident that she would like it. Plus, it gives me happy flashbacks to summer camp and friendship bracelets, … More Fine Motor Bracelet Making
My little baby is already seven months. We have been together over half a year. Over 200 days. And so much has changed, even in the last month. Mabel is getting stronger every day – I think she is trying to keep up with her big sister. She rolls everywhere and has just started to … More Mabel’s 7 Month Update
There is an amazing place near us called Butterfly Wonderland, so I knew that I wanted to do a Butterfly week. I find butterflies to be pretty fascinating anyway, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar is such a classic that I was excited about the chance to dive deeper into it. I picked up a butterfly puppet for … More Butterfly Week
Noticing the Happy 