Celena Kinsey

It’s week 20 of our toddler activity bins and they’re all G themed for our alphabet adventures! This week was a hit for my toddler, though not always for the ways I expect and isn’t that just parenthood all summed up. Also while I make these for my toddler, I know what she can and can’t handle in a bin. Please make sure these bins can be handled by your child (and you are constantly supervising) because there are small parts! This week we have: 1. Garden Dig- I don’t do this often but moon dough is a MAGICAL sensory base. You mix 8 cups of flour ( I always have old flour) with 1 cup of oil and I like to add cocoa powder to make it look like dirt. It’s moldable, fun, and just so addictive to kids. Now while it’s magic there’s 2 things you need to know: 1. Raw flour can harbor bacteria and there’s no evidence that heating it in the oven actually kills it so if you do this MAKE SURE YOU WASH HANDS immediately after and wash any toys used. Because of this, I dont recommend it for kids who still taste things and instead recommend you use crushed cereal. I have been using this base for 5+ years and feel comfortable with it, but every parent needs to use their own discretion. Also 2. THIS IS MESSY. It Is so messy and so fun for kids, but if the mess will stress you out- take it outside! 2. Garbage Bins- This is just a fun activity for my toddler who is usually obsessed with putting tiny things inside of her trash cans. You can get the large trash can from the dollar tree! 3. Golf Tee- I thought this would be a great fine motor bin for my toddler and while marbles and small gems were easier for her to balance (and she LOVED that)- ping pong balls were not the best choice. My toddler loved hammering this though (just watch your floors!). My toddler also loved bouncing the ping pong balls all around😂. #toddlersensory #toddlerlife #toddleractivities #toddlerplay #kidstoys #kidsactivities #asmrsound #asmrsounds

I’m back with another round of toddler book favorites that are both interactive and just really enjoyable to read 100 times (all toddler parents feel me on this). Also last time I shared the cook in a book series, we SOLD THEM OUT, so if you still haven’t grabbed them- they’re amazing. Books in this video: 1. Cook in a Book series 2. There’s a….. In Your Book series (Monster, Alien, Dragon, Elf, Witch- they have so many) 3. Tap the Magic Tree and Plant the Tiny Seed 4. Shine a Light Book series 5. Find Fergus 6. The Wide Mouthed Frog 7. All the books by Sandra Boynton (we love the Pookie series) If you want a list of these books and some other toddler favorites, comment “toddler books” below and I’ll send them your way! #books #toddlermusthaves #musthaves #kidsbooks #booksforkids #booksfortoddlers

Ok this is the easiest craft, all you need are river rocks, acrylic paint, posca paint pens for details, and a sealer!!! I still have rocks left, what should i paint next? #rockpainting #easycraft #momcreator #crafts #paintedrocks #painttok

It’s week 18 of our toddler activity bins and if you haven’t noticed, it’s all F themed! Over the next year our family is doing an alphabet adventure challenge where we go on outings and do fun activities every 2 weeks based all around our letter and this week it’s all about the letter F. Here’s ideas you can do with your little ones to make learning letters a fun and interactive experience for them and I’ll make sure to share ideas for each letter (every other week 😅). Also while I make these for my two year old, I know what she can and can’t handle in a bin. Please make sure these bins can be handled by your child (and you are constantly supervising) because there are small parts! This week we have: 1. Fish Bin- We’re working on counting and 1-1 correspondence with this bin and while I used rice and pasta to make a coral reef type sensory base- you can use anything, even water! 2. Fairies & Flowers- My kids love making their own fairy garden (I buy a lot of this from the dollar tree). Then I thought it would be fun to include a little flower garden that my toddler can plant. 3. Farm Stamps- These stamps are from Melissa and Doug and I thought we could use them to work on matching and decorate some coloring pages with. Sheets are free and theyre in my 🔗 🌲 #toddlermom #toddlersensory #sensoryactivities #toddleractivities #LearnOnTikTok #prek

It’s week 19 of our toddler activity bins and there’s no real theme for this, but I just chose things I thought my 2 year old would be interested in. Also while I make these for my toddler, I know what she can and can’t handle in a bin. Please make sure these bins can be handled by your child (and you are constantly supervising) because there are small parts! This week we have: 1. Construct a Puzzle- Hiding puzzle pieces in aluminum foil and then having my toddler unwrap them is a game we’ve played many times and it NEVER gets old. If you don’t like the idea of using foil, you can use tissue paper! I just save our foil sheets and reuse them over and over for this. 2. Trash Sort- My toddler LOVES to put items into little bins and she also loves the trash truck so I thought we’d do a fun color sorting activity. Older kids can actually sort trash vs recyclables but since my toddler has no idea what those concepts are, I just kept the activity to sorting 2 colors. I used shredded paper for my sensory base but I think my toddler would have preferred rice and she also interacted with the bin MORE after I put tiny figurines she could actually put into her truck (mini brands). 3. Craft bin- these are 3 really easy spring crafts toddlers can do and while my toddler always asks for crafts- she didn’t want to craft a lot this week. But if you need easy spring crafts in a pinch, these are perfect for kids! Craft 1 is to work on fine motor skills and trace lines on an egg with stamps, small toys or stickers. Craft 2 is filling in a rainbow with strips of paper. Older kids can cut the paper themselves or kids can rip them! The last craft is to add crushed tissue paper flowers to a branch which is fantastic fine motor work! #toddlermom #sensory #sensoryplay #toddlerbins #ideasforkids #activity #asmr

Ok we’re going back to NYC at the end of the month and I need to know where else we need to eat! #dayinthelife #momvlog #travelvlog #nycfood #nycvlog #nyceats

This week we have: 1. Popsicle Making- This is a fun and simple way to start working on patterns, and following pictures! Plus my toddler LOVES to do pretend play with food/ store so this is right up her alley. You can continue on with the rainbow theme and use rainbow foam but I had foam left over from our D week bin that I wanted to use. 2. Rainbow Bin- you can use any filler with this but I thought it would be fun to fill our pots with gold AND work on a simple color matching too. You could do this whole bin with pom poms if you wanted to and just work on the color matching, or you can even work on counting and have kids add a specific amount of pom poms to each color of the rainbow. 3. Bee bin- this is a small world play bin but my only bee items were rainbow so I just went with it. You dont need to buy toys for this, you can just print out bees OR use insect figurines and then have kids fill up “hives” with yellow pom poms. You can also use a bee bin as a fun way to work on life cycles. I included some “worksheets” too because we use this bins during my oldest’s homeschooling lessons and my toddler always wants to do worksheets too. #asmr #asmrsounds #toddlermom #toddleractivities #sensory #sensoryplayideas

It’s week 21 of our toddler activity bins and I think the first two might be a top all time favorite which I really didn’t expect. That’s why I love sensory play because kids are always keeping you on your toes and watching them interact with this is always so cool. Please make sure these bins can be handled by your child (and you are constantly supervising) because there are small parts! Also I always model how to use the bins or what I think my toddler could do with it to give her ideas before playing, and then she takes it from there. This week we have: 1. Muffin Tin Match- This is an amazing bin because you can match the animals, you can hide them in the muffin tins, you can fill the muffin tins with rice, you can hide the animals in the rice. The possibilities are truly endless and my toddler LOVED this bin. Also peep her telling me to keep the rice in the bin LOL. BTW you dont have to use these jungle counters, you can use pom poms or anything you have at home that has a matching element. 2. Cookie Monster Feeding- So I took cardboard and made chocolate chip cookies. On one side I wrote the numbers and on the opposite side I added the chips that matched that number. While this is too advanced for my toddler, I knew she would just feed her Cookie Monster (we’re obsessed), I wanted to show how you could add a learning element to this for prek aged kids. You can have them feed Cookie Monster a specific number or you can have them count from 1-10 and feed Cookie Monster the numbers in order. 3. Magnetic Tile Puzzle- I traced some magnetic tiles on paper so they made shapes and then added a cookie sheet so the tiles would stick to it. Then I gave my toddler the sheets to do as puzzles but as you can see by the short time she utilized the bin- she’s just not interested in puzzles right now and that’s totally ok! We can try it again in a few weeks. #toddler #asmr #asmrsounds #sensory #toddleractivities #toddlertok

The water pump is a game changer! #sensoryplayideas #sensoryactivities #watertable #ideasforkids #outdoorlife #hotwheels

It’s week 22 of our toddler activity bins and they’re all H themed for our alphabet adventures! This week was a mixed bag and we might even have our first bin fail LOL. Also while I make these for my toddler, I know what she can and can’t handle in a bin. Please make sure these bins can be handled by your child (and you are constantly supervising) because there are small parts! This week we have: 1. Build a Hamburger- This idea was inspired by a build a burger toy we had at a restaurant where she loved following the little cards to make her own burger. This week she loved the felt, she loved making the play food, she did not want to follow the cards. That’s totally ok and you can use them as a way to play restaurant with your toddler or siblings can join in too! 2. Hot Cocoa Bin- you can use ANYTHING for the base as long as it’s kind of brown. Traditionally you use Cocoa Puffs but I didn’t feel like buying a bag just for this activity, so I found some old beans that worked. Honestly kids just love scooping and pouring into cups. No idea why, its just magical for some kids. 3. Hair Salon- I provided different items for my toddler to use to make hair but uh she said NOPE and only liked this bin when I let her cut the yarn herself. You can totally let your kiddos have a cutting bin and cut the fillers to make their own hairstyles but my toddler is a little TOO small for independent scissor use so this bin will go in the “couple of years” pile. #toddlers #toddlersensory #toddleractivities #toddleractivity #toddlerdevelopment #finemotorskills #finemotoractivity #sensoryplay #sensoryplayideas #sensory #dollartreediy #asmr #asmrvideo #alphabetchallenge

It’s week 24 of our toddler activity bins and everything this week is I themed for our alphabet adventure!Also while I make these for my toddler, I know what she can and can’t handle in a bin. Please make sure these bins can be handled by your child (and you are constantly supervising) because there are small parts! This week we have: 1. Ice cream sensory- I swear the food bins are always magical for toddlers. I added brown, white, and pink pom poms to make Neapolitan ice cream then threw in some cups and cones. I also added sprinkles which was a huge hit. To extend play, have dolls or stuffed animals near the bin so your toddler can serve them! 2. Icy Sensory- make snow out of baking soda and water for this fun ice themed sensory bin. I go the ice cubes from Michaels and then added in little arctic animals. Kids can just have a small world adventure or build their arctic animals homes. 3. Insect bin: I used kinetic sand and beans as a base and set up a scavenger hunt for my toddler to completely ignore. I also added a little house for her to put her bugs in since she’s into that 😂. #toddlers #toddlersensory #toddleractivities #toddleractivity  #sensoryplay #sensoryplayideas #sensory #dollartreediy #asmr #asmrvideo

It’s week 2 of my series scratch vs store where I make popular store-bought snacks at home and see if it’s actually worth it. This week’s snack is perfect for our alphabet adventures because we’re currently on letter G so what better snack to try and make but goldfish! Here’s what you’ll need: * Block of sharp cheddar cheese * 1 C flour * 1/2 tsp Paprika * 1/4 tsp Onion powder * 1/4 tsp Garlic powder * 1/4 tsp Salt * 6 Tbs Butter (cut into cubes) * 1.5 Tbs water 1. Preheat over to 350 F 2. Add the cheese, flour, spices and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine. 3. Add the butter and pulse until small pebbles start to form. 4. Add your water and pulse until a ball forms (first start with just 1 Tbs and slowly add more if you need it) 5. Take the ball out and place it on a floured surface- now you can wrap it and refrigerate for 30 minutes to make it easier to work with or just cut it in half and get started! 6. Roll out the dough and make sure it’s pretty flat (as long as I had flour on hand this wasn’t bad but the dough is a little sticky). 7. Take a fish cookie cutter and make fish (this.takes.forever.) 8. You’ll have to combine the dough scraps and re roll it out a couple of times 9. Place each fish on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a skewer to make eyes 10. Bake for 10-14 minutes (until the edges are golden) just keep an eye on these because they’re easy to burn and the thinner they are the faster they’ll cook. 11. Repeat these steps until you’re out of dough! 12. Let the fish cool down COMPLETELY 13. Store in an airtight container for 5-6 days. I’d rate this a 9/ 10 -Ingredients: 10/10 (it’s all basically pantry staples and are relatively inexpensive to acquire!) -Ease of recipe:8/10 To make the dough itself it’s incredibly easy as long as you have a food processor! To make the fish….that takes forever. Turn on an audiobook and just zone out the world lol. -Taste: 9/10 They’re super good! Do they taste like store-bought ones, no not quite. I feel like these have way more flavor (probably because of the spices) and they’re oddly addictive. My husband and oldest ate the entire first sheet pan of these. My toddler might take more convincing but she’s picky so it’s fine. Overall- these are worth a try! They are a commitment to make (like it took me a good 1.5 hours),but something is oddly satisfying about making these fish. What snack should I try next? #homemade #homemadefood #snacks #Recipe #foodforkids #goldfish #homemadegoldfish #recipes