meta-dad

DIY Dad – Make Your Own Plush Toys

What a great opportunity for you and your kid to create a custom plush toy! Consider this a “secret weapon” for those dreaded rainy afternoons or snowy winter mornings. This is a great opportunity for dads to see their kid’s imaginations in action.

Use this as an opportunity to stretch your kid’s storytelling ability (when they’re down with their little masterpiece, prod them for the character’s “back-story.” What planet is the plush character from, what do they eat, etc.) and their artistic flair. Sure it doesn’t look like much straight out of the box, but that’s the whole idea, the sky’s the limit!

Create your own plush monster or precious pal with Shawnimals 9-inch, DIY Plushform. Comes primed with a water-based solution so you can get to it with acrylics, oil paints and markers.

$20 (+ shipping) @ KIDRobot.Com

Dad’s Version of Kids’ Crafts and Activities

This past month I had a rare opportunity to slip into the shoes of “Mr. Mom” (sort of). With the birth of our third, my wife and I decided to divide and conquer. At work, I cashed in all my “chips” and coupled my paternity leave with some vacation time and overdue Comp time and took the entire month off. After breakfast, I would fill a bag with snacks, grab the two oldest boys and go on an “adventure,” leaving her with the newborn so she can feed and bond with him (and rest).

The adventure was anything from going to the beach and making a massive sand castle (on of the advantages to living in LA by the beach) to hitting one of the many area playgrounds or going to the museum. We would be back in the afternoon and they were officially spent for the day. A tired kid is a good thing (an exhausted kid is quite a different thing, as parents know).

So what is there to do for the rest of day, especially when they have built every house and tower with their Legos and colored every page in their coloring book? Like most parents, I turn to the web for ideas, feeding off of the boys current obsessions (firetrucks, race cars, and anything having to do with “good guys” and “bad guys”). For me, the emphasis is on fun and if they go off on a tangent and they’re playing “nice” and having a good time – so be it.

An example of one of these activities is the Firefighter Themed Crafts and Activities, the boys never get sick of this.

• The first thing the boys do is don their firefighter helmets and tall rubber boots (pants optional in our household).
• If I have the time I scoop up some of their favorite stuffed animals, dolls and action figures and scatter them throughout the yard (i.e. in bushes and trees, on the back deck, etc.), fill some water bottles or turn the hose on (real low) and “alert the firefighters” of various “emergencies.”
• When I’m feeling particularly artful, I will draw some fire on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and have them “put it out” with their water bottles or have them navigate through it to rescue their toys (of course having their toys drop and roll and so forth).
• When that starts to get tired, we break out the fire trucks (toys) and do miniature rescues with other toys.
• Come snack time, I make them a Firefighter Smoothie [generally strawberries, orange juice (fire colors), yogurt, a pinch of ground flax seed and a splash of milk - sorry I don't measure anything], you get the idea.

Related Links:
ChildFun.Com | Firefighter Crafts and Activities
ChildFun.Com | Doctor Crafts and Activies
ChildFun.Com | Police Crafts and Activities
KABOOSE | Fall Craft Ideas
Essortment.Com | Kids Craft Ideas

MUNNY White DIY Toy Car

Scholastic’s Parent Child Magazine’s 2007 TOP PICKS FOR TOYS PROMOTING LEARNING AND CREATIVITY featured our very own super cute mini MUNNY Mobile! Just like the original, you can draw, paint, use ketchup, or anything you can think of to decorate MUNNY.

Mini MUNNY fits into the 8-inch long car with real rolling wheels and comes blind packaged with 4 mystery accessories to deck out MUNNY’s ride. Also inside, a giant roadmap by iLovedust to color, treasure, eat off of or just plain enjoy!

(Via KidRobot.Com)

Happy Valentine’s Day

Dopamine makes us feel all fluttery and kissy and warm and fuzzy. it’s the chemical that makes you feel euphoric when you first fall in love; that head-over-heels feeling that you spend the rest of your relationship trying to recapture. that giddiness – the very beginning, when you realize it’s love.

Here’s a Valentine’s card to express your inner chemistry.

(Nasty Paper Cut Via Etsy.Com)

Poetic Babies Birth Announcements

Poetic Babies out of Chicago, will create a online video message for your family and friends: the story of the birth of your child as told by you. Their deluxe package includes video services as well as traditional printed announcements and photography. Check out the sample video – it is quite nice!

Kids Craft Ideas For Valentine’s Day

This year, the effort will be to concentrate on the fun of a family Valentine-making project, without driving all over town looking for supplies. Here is an afternoon of fun for the little ones all in one kit. The kit comes with:

• Thirty sheets of construction paper (15 red, 15 white)
• 24 white heart-shaped doilies
• 12 red heart doilies
• Textured tissue paper in red, white and pink
• 32 full-color floral hearts
• 63 red-foil heart stickers
• Over 100 tiny red-foil gummed hearts
• Colorful glitter
• Glue stick
• All packed in a handy storage box, along with patterns and child-tested tips

(Via HearthSong.Com)