Valentine's Day Q-Tip Painting Printables (Love to Learn Linky #26)

My 3 year old daughter really enjoyed the Christmas themed q-tip printables I made, so I decided to make some for Valentine's Day. Painting with q-tips is a different and fun way of painting, and it's great for fine motor skills!

Love is in the air! These Free Q-Tip Printables include giraffes, ladybugs and fish couples. Perfect way to celebrate the holiday!

Just print these sheets, grab some q-tips and paint, and you have a quick & fun activity for your preschooler!

Click here to Download the Valentine's Day Q-Tip Printables

Check out some more awesome Valentine's Day art activities from the Love to Learn Linky:

Easy Printed Giant Valentine's Card by One Time Through

Valentine Sculpture for Kids by Left Brain Craft Brain

Secret Message Valentine Painting by A Little Pinch of Perfect

Tissue Bleed Valentine Hearts by Powerful Mothering

Valentine's Day Wreath Craft Alphabet Activity by Mom Inspired Life

Confetti, Beads and Button Hearts by Dabbling Momma

Paper Towel Stained Glass Hearts by Simple Fun for Kids

Fingerprint Heart Relief Canvas by The Mad House

Valentine's Day Alien by JDaniel4's Mom

Valentine's Stamp Art for Toddlers by Danya Banya

Simple Heart Resist Art by mama.papa.bubba

Rainbow Heart Suncatchers by Fireflies and Mud Pies

Pine Cone Love Bugs by Fireflies and Mud Pies

Valentine's Nature Suncatchers by Raising Wild Ones

Valentine's Tin Foil Painting by Little Bins for Little Hands

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY


Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

Kids and SNOW: Best Books & Fun Activities from One Time Through
Frozen Inspired Glitter Slime from Left Brain Craft Brain
Easy Play Ideas for Kids with Things Found in the Kitchen from A Little Pinch of Perfect

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)

The Love to Learn Linky is Hosted by:

Totschooling: Viviana is a blogging mom to a toddler and a preschooler, sharing ideas and resources for early education. She specializes in unique, hands-on printable activities that are educational, fun and inspire creativity in young minds.

Left Brain Craft Brain: Anne is an ex-engineer, current stay-at-home mama writing about crafty ways to encourage creativity (and brain power!) in our kids. Each of her projects gives kids the chance to learn about a new subject and do something crafty at the same time.

A Little Pinch of Perfect: Katie combines creativity, play, and learning for the perfect mishmash of fun activities that keep kiddos entertained throughout the day. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of play and feels that all activities naturally provide a fun way to learn.

One Time Through: Sue is an Elementary School Teacher currently on leave to be at home with her preschooler son.  She shares ideas for connecting and learning with kids through meaningful, play-based activities that nurture curiosity and creativity, as well as positive parenting tips.

Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

• Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

• Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.

• Like the hosts on Facebook: Totschooling, A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain and One Time Through.

• Or follow the hosts on Pinterest: A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain, Totschooling and One Time Through.

• Post our button on your site.

• By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Christmas Art Skills Printables

Kids love coloring pages, but sometimes they can be a bit... boring (gasp!) so I created these FREE Christmas Art Skills Printables that work on scissor skills, tracing and coloring at the same time!

These FREE Christmas Art Skills Printables include 3 scenes: Santa riding his sleigh above a skyline, Santa next to a Christmas tree, and a nativity scene.

Directions:

-cut paper along the thick gray lines

-assemble the puzzle and glue onto the blank page

-trace along the dotted lines

-color the picture!

Click here to Download your FREE Christmas Art Skills Pack!

(Note: If you have problems printing these, please email me at totschooling@gmail.com) 

If you enjoy these printables, check out 

The Ultimate Art Skills Pack:

5 Toddler-Friendly Ways to Decorate a Pumpkin (Love to Learn Linky #15)

As an annual Halloween tradition at our house, we always carve a pumpkin. And by we I mean I carve the pumpkin while the kids watch and try to eat the pumpkin parts that I cut out. It's not much of a little kid's activity. So today I am featuring easy, toddler-friendly, no-carve pumpkin decorating ideas that kids can really get involved in.

1. Paint the Pumpkin

Pumpkin painting is great for all ages and simple enough for even the youngest of kids.

Tips: Make sure you use tempera paint or any kid's washable paint. To help the paint adhere to the pumpkin, make a 50/50 mixture of school glue and paint. If you don't add glue, the paint will flake off after it dries. 

For a fun way to combine pumpkin painting and science, check out this Fizzle pumpkin painting activity from Toddler Approved.

2. Decorate the Pumpkin with Stickers

Stickers are very good for developing fine motor skills, and let's face it, all kids love stickers. I sure challenged my kids with these tiny stickers I bought at the dollar store.

You can make pumpkin decorating into a learning activity with this alphabet pumpkin idea from I can Teach my Child.

Here is another great literacy pumpkin idea from The Imagination Tree using letter and number stickers, plus check out the learning games you can play afterwards!

As an alternative to stickers, here is a neat idea from The Educators' Spin on It using a decorative tape called washi tape.

3. Make a Glitter Pumpkin

Glitter pumpkins look gorgeous, but they are a bit messy, so you might want to do this activity outdoors like we did. Have your child use a paintbrush to spread glue all over the pumpkin, then sprinkle glitter!

You can add even more bling to the pumpkin like in this idea from Domestic Goddesque. 

4. Glue Things to the Pumpkin

You can glue almost anything to a pumpkin! Pom poms, googly eyes, scraps of construction paper, tissue paper, buttons, feathers. 

Tip: I recommend using tacky glue, craft glue, or glue-all when gluing things to a pumpkin. 

Here is a gorgeous idea combining painting, glitter and gluing things on the pumpkin from The Imagination Tree.

It doesn't have to be craft supplies that you glue to the pumpkin. Here is a creative idea from A Little Pinch of Perfect, making a sensory pumpkin!

Go on a nature walk collecting Fall leaves and try out this clever decorating with nature idea from Stir the Wonder.

5. Hammer Things into the Pumpkin

This is one we haven't tried yet, but it sure looks fun!

Pumpkin Fine Motor Activity from My Nearest and Dearest

Cookie Cutter Pumpkins from Modern Parents Messy Kids

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Visit my co-hosts to see all the other features!

STEAM Bored Jar: 48 Activities That Can Be Prepped in 5 Minutes or Less from Left Brain Craft Brain
50+ Toddler Activities for the Busy Toddler in Your Life from A Little Pinch of Perfect
20+ HAUNTED HOUSE Activities for Kids from One Time Through

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)

The Love to Learn Linky is Hosted by:

Totschooling: Viviana is a blogging mom to a toddler and a preschooler, sharing ideas and resources for early education. She specializes in unique, hands-on printable activities that are educational, fun and inspire creativity in young minds.

Left Brain Craft Brain: Anne is an ex-engineer, current stay-at-home mama writing about crafty ways to encourage creativity (and brain power!) in our kids. Each of her projects gives kids the chance to learn about a new subject and do something crafty at the same time.

A Little Pinch of Perfect: Katie combines creativity, play, and learning for the perfect mishmash of fun activities that keep kiddos entertained throughout the day. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of play and feels that all activities naturally provide a fun way to learn.

One Time Through: Sue is an Elementary School Teacher currently on leave to be at home with her preschooler son.  She shares ideas for connecting and learning with kids through meaningful, play-based activities that nurture curiosity and creativity.

Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

• Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

• Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.

• Like the hosts on Facebook: Totschooling, A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain and One Time Through.

• Or follow the hosts on Pinterest: A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain, Totschooling and One Time Through.

• Post our button on your site.

• By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!

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An InLinkz Link-up

10 Creative Art Activities (Love to Learn Linky #10)

When it comes to art, my daughter is a perfectionist. She gets frustrated easily if something doesn't "look" right, and quickly abandons the project. I have learned that it's best to give her more open-ended art activities and leave her free to be as creative as possible. 

Today I am sharing some really creative art projects that were linked up last week at the Love to Learn Linky, plus I'm including a few of my own and a few from my wonderful co-hosts. 

10 Free Printable Drawing Prompts

These drawing prompts are a great way to spark your child's creativity and imagination! 

Click here to Download 10 Free Printable Drawing Prompts by Totschooling

Free Printable Art Collages by Totschooling

Kandinsky for Kids by Left Brain Craft Brain

A is for Art: Homemade Clay Recipe by A Little Pinch of Perfect

Easy Seedy CD Art and Science by One Time Through

Dinosaur Stomp Painting by Cutting Tiny Bites

Packing Paper Art by the Science Kiddo

Crayon Transfer Library Totes by Creative Family Fun

Paperclip Painting by Mosswood Connections

Art doesn't have to be perfect by Mother's Madness

If you were featured, grab a button!

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Visit my co-hosts to see all the other features!

11 Unique Alphabet Learning Activities from Left Brain Craft Brain
20 Hands on Learning Activities from A Little Pinch of Perfect
Tips for Early Writing from One Time Through

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)

The Love to Learn Linky is Hosted by:

Totschooling: Viviana is a blogging mom to a toddler and a preschooler, sharing ideas and resources for early education. She specializes in unique, hands-on printable activities that are educational, fun and inspire creativity in young minds.

Left Brain Craft Brain: Anne is an ex-engineer, current stay-at-home mama writing about crafty ways to encourage creativity (and brain power!) in our kids. Each of her projects gives kids the chance to learn about a new subject and do something crafty at the same time.

A Little Pinch of Perfect: Katie combines creativity, play, and learning for the perfect mishmash of fun activities that keep kiddos entertained throughout the day. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of play and feels that all activities naturally provide a fun way to learn.

One Time Through: Sue is an Elementary School Teacher currently on leave to be at home with her preschooler son.  She shares ideas for connecting and learning with kids through meaningful, play-based activities that nurture curiosity and creativity.

Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

• Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

• Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.

• Like the hosts on Facebook: Totschooling, A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain and One Time Through.

• Or follow the hosts on Pinterest: A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain, Totschooling and One Time Through.

• Post our button on your site.

• By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!

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An InLinkz Link-up