All of the Sparkle, None of the Mess

I love glitter. All things that sparkle are pretty awesome in my book.
That being said, I HATE cleaning up glitter messes. It seems like no matter what I do, there is always glitter left behind. My daughter uses glitter once and I'll be finding it in strange places for the rest of the year. I don't know how, but it seems to travel. And multiply.
Enter Melissa and Doug Mess Free Glitter.
I have to admit, I was skeptical as to how well this would work. My daughter got 2 packages, one to make stickers and one to make pictures. Amazingly, it worked, well...amazingly. She was able to make the projects with very little parental assistance and just like the name states, there was no mess from the glitter. I'm very impressed and we will definitely be buying these as gifts in the near future! The sets are fairly inexpensive, especially considering the time children will sit quietly making their projects. I found them at Target, but I'm sure they're anywhere Melissa and Doug products are sold.

Leo's Pad

I'm not crazy about my 4 year old spending tons of time playing on my iPad. Even I have to admit though, there are times when it's a nice distraction and mommy needs to get something done without my little helper. However, for daughter, it's hard to find any app that will keep her entertained for any length of time. Then I found Leo's Pad. I was lucky enough to get to try it out for free in exchange for reviewing it, however my opinions are all my own.
It's a cute app. The graphics are really well done. A young Leonardo DaVinci guides kids through the activities, which while educational, are also a lot of fun. You can check it out for yourself on the Kidaptive website and I have a promo code for you to receive 20% off if you decide to buy! Just enter TRYLEO at checkout!
The pic below is my daughter playing with one of the many activities on Leo's Pad.

Free Comic Book Day - Saturday May 3rd

Years ago my son and I accidentally walked into a comic store on Free Comic Book Day. We had been eating lunch at a restaurant across the street when my son spotted the store. I told him that after lunch we could head over and take a look. As it turned out they had a rack of comic books that they were giving away for free! The guy explained that it was a day that lots of stores participated in and that only certain comic books were free. If you'd like to read about it, you can click here. If you'd like to find a participating location near you, here is the store locator.

Kids Bowl Free

I'm not a bowler. I'm not good at bowling and I don't generally think of it when I'm looking for ideas of things to do with the kids. That being said, there are a whole lot of bowling allies around the US that are trying to change that kind of thinking in people like me. There's a program called Kids Bowl Free and there are lots of participating locations. Registration is free and every child registered can bowl 2 free games each day all summer long! There are also some low cost family packages that you can tie in if you wish, but there is no cost and no obligation of any kind for the kids program. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in checking out, click here to find a participating location near you.

Lego Love

My kids love Legos. There have got to be several million of them in the boys' room. My husband saved all his Lego sets from when he was a kid and my children have been receiving sets for years. They build them according to the directions as soon as they open a new set, but after the initial set is built they look for new inspiration. They've been receiving this free magazine from Lego for a couple years now and all love it. Click here to order a free subscription for your kiddos!

Upcoming: September 28th is Free National Park Enterance Day!

A few days back I posted about Saturday, September 28 being a day when you could receive free admittance to museums around the country. Apparently, it's a big day for free entry! In addition to free museum admission you can gain admittance to national parks for free as well! To read the how's and the whys, click here. To find a participating national park near you, click here.

September 28: Free Museum Admission Day!

If you're looking for something fun and educational to do with your kiddos, Saturday September 28th museums all over the U.S. are offering free admission! You have to have the tickets, which you can request here. Your tickets will arrive via email. To find a participating museum near you, click here.

Easy, Great Smelling Bath Paint!

I've been messing around with different ways to entertain my daughter in the tub because she has recently decided that the 10 tons of bath toys she owns are not enough reason to happily hop in the tub for bath time. I bought some shaving cream from the local dollar store, mixed in a few spoons of Kool-Aid mix (Which BTW I received money back for buying using Ibotta this week!)I mixed it up with a plastic fork, and then let my daughter use the fork as a paint brush of sorts to mush the fantastic smelling "paint" all over the sides of the tub. Not only did she have fun helping me mix up the ingredients but she got in the bath happily, with no arguments! It washed away easily and left no traces of the red Kool-Aid behind.

**I originally found this recipe on this blog, Growing A Jeweled Rose. I didn't take it quite as far as she did, and my daughter was quite happy with only one color of paint. Though admittedly, I never let on that there was an option to have more colors either, lol. This blog also has lots of other cool ideas for kiddos! It's definitely on my reading list!!