For this recipe you’ll need:

• Vanilla and chocolate cupcakes
• Chocolate and vanilla frosting
• Vanilla wafer cookies
• Assorted candies for ears and bows
• Food coloring
• A pint sized glass
• A knife
• A spoon
• Spatula
• Scissors
• Gallon and sandwich sized bag

Eep the Mouse cupcake:

Add one teaspoon of blue food coloring to store-bought vanilla frosting and whisk, or add to homemade butter cream frosting.

Make a piping bag. Put one corner of a gallon sized plastic bag down in the bottom of your cup and fold the bag open over the edges. Scoop in your blue frosting until the bag is full. Lift your bag out, squeeze out the air and zip the bag shut.

Squeeze the frosting down to the bottom corner of the bag, and then snip off the end.

Starting from the edge of the cupcake, frost gently in a spiral motion until you reach the cupcake’s center.

To make the face, prepare two piping bags: one with black frosting, and one with white.

Using black frosting, draw little eyebrows, eyes, a nose and a mouth on your vanilla wafer cookie. Use white frosting to add a little sparkle to his eye.

Place your cookie in the center of your cupcake.

To make the ears, cut a chocolate circle in half and place them.

Trace over the chocolate with blue frosting, and finish with two blue candies.

Mother Goose Club’s Teddy Bear cupcake:

Use a chocolate cupcake.

Make a piping bag with chocolate frosting, frost starting at the edge and work your way to the center.

Place the cookie face and chocolate circle ears. Trace over the ears with chocolate frosting.

For Teddy’s special bow, add two blue candy-covered chocolates.

Baa Baa Sheep cupcake:

Use a vanilla cupcake. Add eight drops of red, and two drops of blue to vanilla frosting to get the right color. Make a piping bag.

Make a series of dots with pink frosting around the edge of the cupcake.

Using your spoon, smear each dot towards the center of the cupcake.

Make a second circle of dots, just like the first in the center.

Add the cookie face and two purple chocolate-covered candies for ears.

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Even if babies can’t sit through an entire story, they can interact with books, and every interaction is good. Holding a book and turning its pages are great practice for reading someday. The more familiar babies are with books, the more likely they are to pick them up to read when they’re older.

Talking about the cover or the pictures inside shows kids that pictures are a part of the story. You don’t need to get through all the pages, pictures or even past the cover with really young kids. The important thing is to make book time fun.

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If your child is learning her ABC’s, making the alphabet out of Play-Doh or modeling clay is a fun hands-on activity to help them practice!
For this activity you’ll need:

• Play-Doh
• Tools (for rolling, cutting, etc.)
• A smooth surface

Objects from around the house can make interesting textures or shapes. Get creative!

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View on YouTube!

View on YouTube!

View on YouTube!

How to Sing “The Wheels on the Bus”

Singing “The Wheels on the Bus” is great for kids because the repetitive words and structure help them memorize, and hand motions help them understand what words mean.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town.

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Being a parent, you may notice that your children often are not simply watching videos of their favorite songs and rhymes. They love to sing along, sometimes even dance to the words and the music. Today’s crafting idea builds creativity, enhances future singalongs, and may even help develop hand eye coordination. To top it all off, you will be recycling items that were likely headed.

Materials:

Most of the materials can be found around your home. You can substitute the beans and glitter with any similar items as long as they make noise while looking pretty.

● Empty 8 oz. water bottle, with cap (make sure it’s dry)
● Toilet paper tube, or paper towel tube cut in half
● Scissors
● Electrical tape (best with multiple colors)
● Funnel (if you can’t find one, you can make a funnel by rolling up a piece of paper)
● Dry beans
● Glitter

Step 1 – Fill bottle

Place the funnel over the empty bottle, then fill it about ⅓ of the way with beans and glitter (or your fillings of choice).

Step 2 – Put on lid

Place the cap on the filled bottle, making sure that it is on securely.

Step 3 – Cut the tube

Use the scissors to cut in a straight line down the side of the tube.

Step 4 – Wrap tube

Take the tube that was cut and wrap it around the mouth of the water bottle. Hold the tube tightly and use the electrical tape to secure the tube along the length of the cut.

Step 5 – Tape tube to bottle

Use the tape to fasten the bottom of the tube to the plastic of the bottle. Make sure to go completely around the tube. Use two or three layers of tape and make sure that the tube is not loose afterwards.

Step 6 – Decorate

Use different colors of tape to really make your shaker stand out. Combine your favorite colors, and try using the scissors to cut out small shapes from the tape that you can place on the handle or bottle.

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Try this craft with your kids at home! Show us pictures or short video clips of your family shaking along with your favorite Mother Goose Club songs by posting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #mothergooseclub.

Cardboard boxes can be extremely helpful in the development of a child’s creativity. The versatility alone of a large object children can sit inside or hide inside of lead to endless possibilities for playing together with others. Motor skills can also be developed by decorating the box or cutting openings into the sides. Here are some great crafting ideas that are easy to make and will provide hours of fun for your little ones.

Materials:

You can often find suitable cardboard boxes around your home, but if you don’t have any there are some other places you can obtain some for free. Try searching on Craigslist or ask your local shop owner if they have any spare cardboard boxes. Convenience stores, beverage stores and coffee shops are great places to ask for boxes.

• Large cardboard box (ideally at least 30 inches wide, large enough for a child to crawl into)
• Small cardboard boxes, useful for building a house or making a robot
• School glue
• Crayons
• Scissors

Idea 1 – Cardboard car

The box used for a car shouldn’t be much larger than 30 inches by 30 inches, as it will be harder to push around. Simply tape up the bottom of the box to prevent the flaps from catching, provide a frisbee or a paper plate as a steering wheel for the driver, and you are ready to go! As a fun side activity, use crayons to draw headlights on the front and some tires on the sides.

Idea 2 – Cardboard house

For a cardboard house, a larger box might work better if you have more than one child. Place the box on its side so that the open flaps on top swing outward like doors. Use scissors to cut windows onto one of the ‘doors’ as well as the sides. Smaller boxes can be placed inside the large box to be used as a table. Having an open flap on the opposite side of the box as a backdoor can also add to the fun. This is also a great way to tell stories involving a house such as The Three Little Pigs.

Idea 3 – The boat

Similar to the cardboard car, a boat ride can stimulate a child’s sense of discovery. Being on the open seas your kids will encounter rolling waves, secret messages in bottles, and may even run into a whale or a dolphin. Incorporate stuffed animals or bath toys to make the journey even more fun. Simply provide a steering wheel for the captain, cut portholes into the sides, and decorate your cardboard vessel with a name.

Idea 4 – The robot

The cardboard robot will require a box that is large enough to fit on a child but small enough that isn’t burdensome. Simply cut  a large enough hole on the bottom of the box for the head and holes on the sides of the box for the arms. Use crayons to draw colorful lights and wires on the chest. If you have a smaller box for a helmet, cut two small hoes to see out of and your robot suit is ready to go! 

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Let us know how your cardboard box creations turned out! Show us how much fun your children had with their imaginations by posting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #mothergooseclub.

Play dough has a special place in the hearts of kids of all ages. Did you know that play dough is not only tons of fun, but it also encourages creativity, helps hand-eye coordination, and develops fine motor skills. Play dough is also great for building social interaction skills with other children. Using the food coloring of your child’s choosing will provide them with hours of fun with their friends!

Materials:

You may need to find a nearby craft store for the watercolor kit and a small paintbrush. You’ll want to have a good variety of crayon colors around but will need a white one for the outlined letters. Watercolor paper is ideal, but regular paper will also work.

● Small sauce pan
● Wooden spoon
● Measuring cups and spoons
● Dinner plate
● Flour
● Water
● Salt
● Vegetable oil
● Cream of tartar
● Food coloring
● Glitter (optional)

Step 1 – Mix
Combine the following into the saucepan:

1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
¼ cup of salt
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of cream tartar
5-10 drops of food coloring

Stir everything together with the wooden spoon until the lumps are gone.

Step 2 – Heat

The adult should take over at this point while the kids watch from a safe distance. Place the smooth mixture on the stove over medium heat. Continue stirring until it forms into one large, lumpy mass.

Step 3 – Be cool

Turn off the stove and place dough onto a plate. Let it cool for a few minutes.

Step 4 – Knead

Once cool, press and knead the dough until it is well mixed. Children can join you in this step. If you have any glitter, you can now mix some into the dough while you are kneading. You are now ready to play!

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What kind of colorful, glittery, play dough did your family come up with? Share your masterpiece with the world by posting images on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #mothergooseclub.

This year, all families have spent more time at home than in previous years. This has forced many parents to become masters in the art of gift hiding. Whether you live in a farmhouse in the countryside or an apartment in the big city, these tips should help you get through the struggles of keeping your little ones guessing before the day you are ready for them to open their gifts. Keep in mind that as with most difficult tasks, preparation is key.

Tip #1: Figure out your size needs
A smaller gift gives you more options, but if you have a larger object, consider if you have any empty boxes that an appliance or tv arrived in as a hiding spot. The attic or ceiling crawl space is also a great place to put larger items, just make sure you don’t leave a ladder right next to the access point.

Tip #2: Postpone the gift wrapping
If you have shiny green and red holiday wrapping on your gift, chances are it will be easier to spot, even if hidden well. Consider not putting any wrapping on until closer to the actual day of opening, or just use some brown kitchen paper and just before giving put a nice ribbon on top.

Tip #3: Study your opponent
The pantry or tv room is probably not the best choice, think of places your child very rarely would have access or interest in. A box in your home office filled with receipts, or a dusty trunk of family photos would be great for hiding. If your child doesn’t share your taste for music, try hiding your object under a stack of old Billy Joel cds.

Tip #4: Think outside the box (house)
What if you have a small house or apartment that doesn’t offer many hiding options. Sometimes outside is the best choice, like the trunk of your car or a tool shed. If you have a trusted neighbor, letting them hold onto the gift would be an almost foolproof way to hide it, but I recommend you attach a card with the recipient’s name on it so that it doesn’t get mixed in with the neighbor’s gifts.

Tip #5: Avoid damage
You definitely want to avoid risky hiding spots such as ovens, freezers, washers and dryers. You are very likely to end up destroying the very gift you had spent so much time keeping safe.

Tip #6: Hide it well, but not too well
The only things worse than damaging your gift would be completely forgetting where you placed it. If you have hidden multiple items, make a list on your phone of where you put everything so that you aren’t suddenly giving out gifts in March to some bewildered children.

Tip #7: There is no shame in defeat
Remember that this is all in good fun, and given enough determination children will likely end up discovering the gifts no matter how well you hid them. Be prepared to accept defeat and still share a good laugh with your family.

We hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday, and make this a memorable season of giving. We would love to see what creative hiding places you have come up with. Share photos of your most clever spots on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #mothergooseclub.

Separation anxiety is a common and healthy phase of early childhood, but there are steps that parents can take to help make those tough goodbyes a little easier.

Practice Separation

Ease into separation with practice. You can start small here – first get accustomed with being in different rooms for short periods of time, and build from there. This practice will help you better anticipate needs down the line, like that first day of school or daycare!

Talk It Out

Practice is an effective way to anticipate needs, and so is conversation! If that first day of school or daycare is coming up, keep the kids informed, ask questions, and encourage questions. A healthy back-and-forth will help both sides gain some valuable and healthy emotional insight.

Goodbye Ritual

Establishing a simple goodbye ritual can go a long way. Something as simple as a hug and kiss (bonus points for a secret handshake!) can build familiarity, security and bonding during those tough goodbyes.

“Mom, You’re Late!”

Parents are busy, so those last-minute schedule changes are inevitable. But try be as consistent and timely as possible – that consistency can help ease anxiety for kids. If you’re running late, just the keep family informed, and maybe plan an occasional surprise as a reward for patience!

Building Babysitter Trust

Every situation is different, but frequent short-term babysitters can set-back trust-building and contribute to separation anxiety. If a child feels at ease and comfortable with the caregiver, it helps put the whole family at ease!

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We hope these tips come in handy. Share your own thoughts and tips with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using hashtag #mothergooseclub.