Three Ways to Get Cheep Sand Toys

I was at Target to buy a gift Girlygirl always likes to look the toys and it is cute to hear her say, "I save money. Not Mommy's money. OWN!" Anyways we went down the lisle with the summer stuff. I was shocked at the price of the toys. So when I got home I thought I'd let all you know what I do to keep sand toys cheep. I would say spend the money to get one nice shovel for each child. I have noticed that with shovels it make a big differences. Other than that here are a few things I do.

1. The Dollar Tree has great cheep sand buckets. At least last year the did they are big and come with a shovel. (the big kids broke them a lot) 2. Save your plastic food tubs; butter, peanut butter, sour cream, etc. are great. The size are fun to making castle (at least for me) 3. A few years ago I had a ton of formula scoops. Whenever I brought them every kid that the pack loved them. I wish I saved more but I trying to get my sitters to save theirs. If you start save your stuff now your kids will have fun all summer at the beach, park or in the back yard sand box.

Remember to play in the sand with the kids they will like it more even if you have nothing. What is your or your child's favorite sand toy?

Operation Playtime Day 6 of 12: Get outside

Today operation playtime is about outside play. This is something I have not been good at this winter. With there always being snow on the ground and how cold it is been it is not something I want to do. Also with my old job I didn't have much time to do anything fun. The last time we really played outside was Monday we made a snow man and Girlygirl played with some sand toys. Today we are going to go to see the husky dogs at the Arboretum. That will be fun and a great way to get out. I will add pictures later.

I am going to try to get outside more to play with Girlygirl. Remember to play with your kids today.

Back Yard Scavenger hunt

If you have read my 100 free things to do with kids post then you may have say that I said do  back yard/living room scavenger hunt. You do not need to have stuff to hide. Just make a list of this for your children to find. Maybe get them a bag to hold the stuff. For older kids you can have them draw and write about what  they find if you want. You can make it so the learn new stuff of just have fun. Here are some thought about what you can find.

• sticks-tell how many or how big
• flowers-name a color
• rocks
• toys you have
• water hose
• bird-tell the kind
• leafs-tell how many or what kind
• weeds
• animals-your pet or something that you see off ten in your backyard like a cat or bunny

That is all I can think of right now but you could add to the list if you have more ideas. This would be a great way to get your kids outside and moving. Here are a few great list that I found online.

• Earth day nature Hunt
• Camping Scavenger Hunt- Some will work for things in your back yard too

Happy hunting.