General Conference Quiet bags

I have seen all sorts of ideas around the internet and on Pinterest gearing up for General Conference.  My boys are already excited because we get to watch it on the "big screen" (we recently got a projector and it is their favorite way to watch shows.)  I decided, among other things, to make some Quiet Bags for the boys.  I put a small picture (cut out from a previous conference Ensign) of each member of the First Presidency/12 apostles and then attached it to a different bag or treat.  Whenever that man speaks then they get to open that bag. 

I tried to make these bags something they can do on their own so that my husband and I can enjoy the speakers.  I still have a few more bags to come up with but here is what I have so far:

Collage bag: I gathered old copies of the Ensign and Friend, construction paper, scissors, glue stick.  The boys can create a collage out of the pictures they find in the magazines.

Easter Books: 'Tis the season!  Plus, the boys haven't looked at these in a year so they will be new and exciting again.

Decorate a "guy": Popsicle stick people (found at Hobby Lobby) and markers.  I used these last year and they were a big hit.  The pack came with girls and boys.  My boys were not happy about having  a "girl"... so we colored them to look like the dress was super hero cape instead.  Problem solved.

Puzzles and lacing cards:  I ordered a picture of the First Presidency and one of the Apostles and cut them into a puzzle.  Lacing cards are from last year.

Snacks!: We don't often get a lot of snack-y type food so it's always a special treat!

Notepads and new twistable crayons: My boys love to draw... hopefully these new crayons should keep them interested for a while!

Lego game:  This is a little game I came up with.  My boys love love love legos.  I made little cards with different scripture stories or church things (temple, tithing, etc).  They can either work together to build what is on the card or they can build it individually and the others have to guess what it is.

Conference Packet worksheets:  These are all over blogs and Pinterest!  Sugardoodle always has a ton!

Fishing:  I have a paper clip attached to little pictures of each of the First presidency and apostles.  The boys can go fishing for them with our magnetic fishing pole.  I'm sure they'll come up with some rules of their own.

In addition to the quiet bags we're going to try something new--an idea I found on The Redheaded Hostess.  Each boy will get a stack of post-its.  When they hear something from one of the speakers they can draw or write what they heard and then stick the post-it on that man's picture.  Hopefully it gets them to listen a little bit!

Do you have any secrets to making General Conference more enjoyable for your family?  Please share!

Oatmeal Canister Drum

My son loves Little Golden Books.  For whatever reason if the book has a golden spine it's listed among his favorites.  Whenever he picks out a book for me to read to him it's a golden one.

The other day we read The Boy With a Drum and afterward my son told me that he would like a drum.

I  wasn't about to go out and buy one for him but I told him that the next time we had an empty oatmeal canister we would make a drum together. 

After a few weeks we had an empty oatmeal container and I excitingly showed my son.  The look on his face was one of disappointment.  This "trash" was not what he had in mind at all.  But then we got out the scissors and markers, peeled off the wrapper, cut it down to size, colored it, punched some holes in the sides, added a strap, and hunted down some pencils to use for sticks, and I had one boy who was so proud of the drum he had made. 

He has had a great time playing with his new toy.

And so pleased that he made it himself.

And now my daughter wants one too.  It looks like we'll be eating a lot more oatmeal.  Good thing we like it so much.

Exploring Magnetism

I've seen a lot of ideas over the years for discovery bottles and have always thought my kids would love them but I guess I've never had enough gumption to make some up.  When I ran across this idea from Pre-school Play I couldn't pass it up though.  It looked like too much fun! (And there are many more great ideas over there.)


I gathered up an empty tennis ball canister, some cut up pipe cleaners, scissors, and a couple strong magnets from off the fridge.

My kids had a great time maneuvering their magnets around the bottle to pick up the pipe cleaners.

After a while they took off the lid and discovered there was more fun to be had.

They took turns using their magnets to maneuver the pipe cleaners up the side of the jar and out.

It was easier said than done but after discovering the right technique they got quite good at it.  The pipe cleaners were then sorted into colors and they had a great time seeing which color was in the lead.

I don't think we'll get tired of this one for a long time.

St. Patrick's Day Gift Tags

Remember these little pots of gold from last year?

Stefanie over at Anna and Blue Paperie has the cutest little St. Patrick's Day gift tags that added the perfect touch to my pots of gold.

And I used the "kiss me" one too.  It made for a perfect St. Patrick's Day surprise for the hubby.

Find these printables and so much more here.

One Fish, Two Fish

Like Amy, we also celebrated Dr. Seuss.  We love to get out our duplos and create a "Seuss-ville".  This year's creation was lots of fun!

A few years ago we made a "cat-in-the-hat-pizza" and it has now become a tradition!  So easy and so much fun!

And in honor of the Yink who likes to drink pink ink we had a little "pink ink" of our own--or perhaps it was just strawberry milk ;)

We ended the evening with a special treat of "red fish" a la One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  All of the boys thought that it was pretty special.

We capped the night with a reading of everyone's favorite Dr. Seuss books.  

We included a new read this year, "The Boy on Fairfield Street". It is the story of how a boy named Ted became Dr. Seuss.  It was really interesting to my 7-year-old but still a little long.  The younger boys couldn't get into.  I thought it was great! It was fun to learn more about this wonderful author and celebrate his work.

Celebrating Dr. Seuss

Did you remember to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd?  

We had so much fun at our house.  We're always looking for an excuse to have a party.

We started off the day by making some Thing 1 and Thing 2 hand prints.

 Of course we spent most of our afternoon reading, because . . . 

You're never to old,

To wacky, to wild,

To pick up a book,

And read to a child.

 My kids had a blast making their own wacky Seussville out of Lego's.

 And for dinner?  Green eggs and ham!  (And some baked oatmeal with vanilla yogurt.) To make my eggs green I threw them in the blender with some spinach and then scrambled them up in a frying pan.

My kids were thrilled with their green eggs and ham dinner and were completely oblivious to the spinach in the eggs.  They licked their plates clean!

After dinner we read a few more Dr. Seuss books before bed.

Today is gone.

Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one.

Every day,  from here to there, funny things are everywhere!

How did you celebrate?