Knock knock just recently sent me a few parenting products that they just added in stock, that I love. Since I started blogging over 4 years ago, I stopped journaling. That’s a pretty big deal since I’ve been semi-regularly journaling since I was 6. My very first journal entries were all practically the same (which I find so hilarious). Why did I think it was so important to journal that I had breakfast?
(click on the image to enlarge)
Roughly translated, here’s what it says:
Sunday 4-1991 (I was 6 1/2). Today we ate breakfast, and then we ate lunch. We went to church. Today it is ma may. Today we went to school. I went to go home. I got a snack. I got (something). I watched TV. I loved watching TV.
May 1991 Thursday is May. My mom had her birthday today. I gave mom a note on Peggy’s birthday. Mom had a happy birthday. We had a good breakfast.
Gosh, I can’t believe that was 20 years ago this month!
Whenever Penelope does something funny, I often think oh I’ll remember this forever. Of course that’s never the case. I was overjoyed to get Knock Knock’s parenting journal. It’s full of hilarious quotes & it focuses on the imperfections of parenting. The front cover really says it all
(click on image to enlarge)
Since receiving the journal I’ve written in it pretty much every other night; if not, every night. It’s great to document all of the Penelope-isms & track Felix’s growth. Oh, Felix ROLLED OVER today. WHA? Penelope didn’t roll over until she was at least six months. I’m in trouble.
Knock Knock also sent along Parenting Flash Cards (so hilarious & the perfect gift for first-time parents) and a Let’s Pretend Pad. Chris & I just laughed & laughed while we read the parenting flash cards. They’re hilarious!
I’m not sure if Penelope is old enough to play with the Let’s Pretend pad, but after she seemed so interested in air stories last night, I might give it a try soon. Just barely I’ve started telling air stories to Penelope; it was something that my parents did for me as a kid. I loved those! Basically my parents would sit at the foot of our beds & we’d all contribute to a made up story. It was so fun!
Knock Knock was so nice to send these goodies my way & offer to sponsor a giveaway. I gladly accepted for a few reasons:
- I love everything Knock Knock
- I need a journal
- I want you to share your playtime activities with me
Yeah, I need ideas for things to do with Penelope. We’re in a rut these days. All we ever do is go to the park, run errands or watch TV together. Every once in a while I’ll bust out the paints or playdough, but other than that, our days are pretty boring.
SO, if you’re interested in some free Knock Knock stuff, I’d want your best ideas for fun activities to do with 3 year olds. Let the best idea win! Here are the contest guidelines:
- Check out knockknock.biz – they’ve got cool gifts & organizational products for parents & (non-parents, too). What’s your favorite item?
- Comment, leaving your best idea for a fun, kid-centered activity
- Comment on THIS POST by Tuesday, May 3, 11:59pm MST
- Only 1 (one) comment per person
- No need to be a parent to enter
- Open to US residents only
- 1(one) winner will be chosen by me & announced Wednesday, May 4
I’m sure It’ll be super hard to decide on a best idea, I know. I’ll be featuring my favorite ideas here as I do them with Penelope & let you know how they go! Thanks for your ideas in advance!
Activities for 3-year olds? We’re not there yet. But we like to go to the park and go to our local library’s story time. I’m sure a 3-year old would like those things too.
PS my first baby rolled over repeatedly to the left and right at two months for a week. and then didn’t do it again until she was 5 months. So you may not be in trouble….
Hee hee that’s all we do too! Though before a month ago (when we finally became a two car family) we didn’t even run errands during the day. We just went crazy inside all winter! Anyway, we read a lot of books, color, play music and dance, play the piano, and have lots of playdates. We play pretend in her kitchen and she watches me string her beads on a shoelace. We also like to play with bubbles and non toy things like boxes.
My baby’s not quite 3 yet (he’s 6 months) but one of my favorite activities when I worked in childcare was playing with shaving cream. Spray a bunch on your dining room table or other flat and cleanable surface and have fun with Penelope drawing pictures in the fluffy, somewhat slimy stuff!
hahaha, I MUST have those parenting flashcards, lol!! Let’s see… one of the things my kids always love to do is build a blanket fort in the front room and have a “picnic” in it while we watch a movie (yes, we build it around the tv. Or we break out the sidewalk chalk and color around each other. :) We also like doing “experiments” together. We check out the Bill Nye movies from the library, and whenever they have a “try this at home” we stop the movie and do it. It’s lots of fun. :)
I love the roadtrip Bingo…we had something similar when we were little and would drive from Washington to California. I plan to use them this Christmas when we drive with our 3 littles from Washington to Arizona:)
Activities for 3 year olds…I would do something pretend. Maybe dress all up (hats, boas, gloves), set the table up all nice, serve treats (maybe you could bake something together earlier in the day), get out your tea cups and pretend you are at high tea. This would be great when Felix is napping so that you can have some Mommy daughter bonding time. She would feel so special!
And yes – this is coming from a momma with 3 boys:)
I don’t have kids myself, but I have four nieces. My favorite thing to do with them is bake. They get to stir, pour, decorate, eat the goodies we bake and help with the clean up :). They always feel so happy when they see the finished product.
I love the personal library kit! I think I would spend all day putting these into my books with my little one.
As for the activity for a three year old- I love art, so I would strip my boy down to undies and place butcher paper on the floor and let him paint with his fingers, feet, knees, etc. Then he can clean up by taking a bubble bath!
I want that parenting journal! I think you have introduced me to my new go to funny birthday gift site!
Things to do with a 3 year old –
Magic potion 2 found on the blog Mini-eco
http://www.minieco.co.uk/magic-potion/
(fabulous blog for ideas!)
It was a ginormous hit at my house! We got to make a really cool mess and play with science and colors. (It’s your basic volcano experiment) We took it outside but it could be done indoors as well.
How about: 1) Making some old fashion sewing cards. Just draw an outline of a simple picture, add holes at various spaces around the drawing and string yarn through the holes like you are outlining the picture.
2) Save clean plastic containers and let her “wash” them in the sink or a dishpan.
3) Learn nursery rhymes or common childhood songs such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, etc.
4) Have tea party with real tea and cookies.
5) Make cookies
6) Fingerpaint
7) If you have a deck or porch give her a little toy bucket of water and a brush and let her “paint” the deck or porch.
8) Give her the garden hose and let her water the flowers/garden.
9) Supervise all of the above and have fun!
Someone already suggested building a fort in the house- so fun! I loved doing that when I was little!
My son is one and a half and there is something I am looking forward to doing once he is a little older- I would say three would be perfect :) Have a ‘color day’- for example, declare the day to be ‘Red Day’ and do activities involving that color. Wear red clothes. Have all red foods at meals (or most)- strawberries, apples, spaghetti.. paint or color a picture with only reds- go outside or to a store and collect/hunt for red things. Maybe bake something red? (an excuse to have red velvet cake!) This is something that could be done on somewhat of a regular basis as you go through all of the colors.
I love the how I feel pad and I read a book pad.
My daughter just turned 4. I found other than baking with me, giving her my undivided attention doing activity of her choosing was what made her happiest. It was usually a pretend game called big sister wants a puppy and it goes like this: I’m the mom (of course), she’s the big sister. We sit on her bed and ‘drive’ to the pet store, buy a puppy, ‘drive’ back home and then I make food for everyone. :)
Just follow her imagination.
that parenting journal is awesome!
some ideas for a three-year old (i’m leaving out my blatantly BOY ideas for now, until the f-bombadier is 3 :)
* go to the movies (or make one at home) * go outside and blow bubbles (loads of bubbles) * visit a local farm or petting zoo * bowling * swimming * chalking up the driveway * tons and tons of hugs
I love the nifty perscription pad (my Husby just graduated from Medical school- He’d love it!) As for playing with three year olds- we love to ‘paint’ each other. We use our finger as the paintbrush. Then we look for a good color (like the blue from your jeans or the green off a nearby book) and then ‘paint’ eyes, and nose and ears. It is so funny to watch them give you a blue nose and laugh their guts out about it.
since it’s getting warmer out, i’d say water, water, WATER! my kids love to make big bubbles with dish soap and hula hoops, “paint” rocks with water (they dry quickly, so you can “paint” them over and over!), give their toys a “bath” in their kiddy pool…or just race the revolving sprinkler. :) also, making colored ice cubes with food coloring is fun – then lay some paper outside and on hot day, paint with the melting ice cubes. so fun!
Such an awesome giveaway!! I would LOVE that journal!!
My kid is only 18 months but i’m taking a shot at 3 year old activities anyway, even though not having one makes me in no way qualified!
1. paper dolls (the silhouette store has awesome ones you can print out on magnetic paper)
2. Those cards that you lace a shoelace around the shape
3. Build a fort and read books inside it. Who doesn’t love a fort?
Ok that’s all I got! Hopefully I come up with more before my kids gets to 3!!
I love that journal. Thanks for a chance to win. :D
We love going for walks, but to make it more interesting we turn it into a nature scavenger hunt. We decide on a few things we want to find on our walk before we leave. Then my 3yo takes a bucket or a container along to collect her findings. It depends on the season, but lately we’ve been looking for dandelions, buds on tree branches and tulips (we make sure we can take it before we do!) This gives the walk a little more structure and an ending point so that we aren’t walking forever (seriously, my LO would walk all day if I let her!) The next time we go for walk I plan on doing an activity with her when we get back with the things we found on our walk. We’ll probably collect as many dandelions as we can, then use them as paintbrushes to make cards for Mother’s Day.
What a great website! I just love the parenting flashcards and the graph journal. :) My little boy will be 3 in a few months and he LOVES playing outside. We play with chalk and bubbles and we play all sorts of sports. We find shapes in clouds, letters in sticks and we chase each other around our house. I am soooo ready for summer to get here! Thanks for the giveaway!
Love that parenting journal. Great idea. As for Felix rolling over – same with my kids. Daughter took forever to do that stuff, and my son was lightyears ahead. Of course my daughter was saying multi-word phrases at barely 2 years old… my son – not so much! But he can climb a ladder like nobody’s business!!!
I am grandmother and caregiver to a 3-1/2 yo grandson. Something I like to do with him is look through magazines or catalogs and just talk about it. “What’s this?” “I want this.” and the perennial “Why?” His favorite is an arts and crafts supply catalog. It’s fun to talk about who uses it and how, what you could make, what you like best, what’s scary… It gives you insight (sometimes) on how his brain works.
I’m a nanny & one favored activity of my once 3, now 4 year old girlie is the “Balance Beam”. It’s so simple but we do it over & over again. Place a strip of painter’s tape on the floor or draw a line with chalk on the ground & tell Penelope it is a balance beam, she must walk on it. Then give her different instruction on ways to walk across: Giant Steps, Tip-Toes, Bunny Hop, Slithery Snake Style, Heel Toe, Baby Steps, with Arms Above Her Head, Backwards, Eyes Closed, Balancing a Cushing on Her Head, etc. The possibilities are endless & it’s actually really challenging for a little one.
Am I supposed to tell you my favorite Knock-Knock products? I would use the Market List the most but I would love the Today I Feel pad for the kiddos at work (& perhaps with my husband occasionally) & the Self-Directed Therapy for fun. I love their products!
Love the parenting journal!
I take my little guy on a trip to the pet store sometimes – he LOVES looking at all the animals.
Do you have a yard or a porch? You could take her for a picnic right outside your door for breakfast or lunch. I did this twice this week with my 2 year old. Not only did he love it, but he also ate better than normal because he was so distracted by all the sights and sounds of the outdoors!
I would choose the parenting journal.
Something I loved to do as a kid, especially in the summer, was wash my parents’ cars. I would put on my bathing suit and play in the water and bubbles and slide all over the hoods of their cars on my bottom. I thought it was super fun and they liked it because their cars got clean.
With my own girls, painting was always a big hit when they were 3 – painting with any and all accessible body parts.
I work as a teacher in multi-age children’s enrichment program and my 3 year olds there just love playing in the sensory table – rice, noodles, sand…even shaving cream!
Just yesterday with my 2 year old I made a design with white glue on construction paper, gave her a bowl with dried beans, noodles, and cheerios, and she was able to stick them down on the glue. It was actually a big hit! (I live in Canada so don’t pick me for the giveaway – although I’d like to win!)
my favorite item: the high five nifty note! so cute. :)
disclaimer: NOT a parent… favorite kid activity (i have babysat quite a lot in my days, and once upon a time, i was a kiddo)… running through the sprinkler. now only if the weather would WARM UP!
These are SO cute!
Go hunting at the local thriftstore for dress up clothes and costumes and have an impromptu play!
Go hunting at the local thrift store from dress up and costume clothes and have an impromptu play!
I love that you have your journals from the age of six! I think I started journaling when I was about nine – mostly to vent. I don’t journal much these days… maybe I should. I’m so glad I’ve changed so much as I have as an individual – become stronger and mellower – I’d love to compare that to where I’m at in ten more years.
I can so relate to this stage feeling SO boring. Days are all just so similar. I miss those days though. As bored and exhausted as I was it was also so simple. We enjoyed putting puzzles together. I found some at the Dollar Tree and 25 pieces was just about perfect for my three year old. I did the puzzle as much as she did for the first year, but once she’d done the puzzle about a hundred times she could do it on her own and it was a soothing activity for her. We also play on the computer sometimes at the Fisher Price website – the ABC game is especially good and also on Funbrain.com in the “playground” which is good for building mouse skills. I also do educational activities occasionally – like ABC flashcards, or writing in workbooks – I especially like the ones put out by Kumon.
Totally think the How I Feel and Goodnight pads are really sweet. Ummm…Pretty sure I’m not going to come up w/ anything new as far as fun activities for kids go. We like to get out the step ladder and climb the “mountain.” P probably doesn’t know what a mountain is since she’s 2, and we live in Texas. But it’s fun anyway. Oh, this is fun: baby oil + tissue paper + canvas. She layers the tissue paper on the canvas over and over again and thinks she’s making art like her mommy.
Make creatures out of your food! Use fruits and veggies to make animals or bugs – grapes for the head, celery or carrots for legs, raisins for eyes, that kind of thing. For ideas, check out Play with your Food (http://www.amazon.com/Play-Your-Food-Joost-Elffers/dp/1556706308) Or even just google “play with your food” for some pictures. Always super fun!
ohh I so want this! I write down all the hilarious stuff my kids do in a composition notebook for each of them.. but this looks awesome!
I like the parenting journal too but they have so many great products to choose from.
Go on a picture scavenger walk. Make a list of things that Pen will take pictures of (using a simple digital camera, not your fancy one). Example: something yellow, something tall, something sharp, something fast…
She will have fun taking the pictures and when you get home you can look at them on the computer and cross off your list.
You can create different themes for each walk you go on.
This is a great idea! My 3 year old says the funniest things sometimes and I would love to be able to look back and remember it all.
I think the personal library kit is super cute. They have such clever products!
When Athena was 3 (and sometimes still) She liked to go out and be social no matter what it was. She wanted to talk to people, but there were places that i took her and some places that she had to go with me. Anything free was good, the library, the park, the petsmart to visit the adoption animals and watch dogs get hair cuts, the museum, art openings (free food!), she also very much enjoyed going to the coffee shop and talking to people (anyone). She went to class with me (I was still doing my undergrad’). you could make giant bubbles with hula hoops, make sun paintings, garden, build cities with the house hold recycables, make giant outdoor pictures with chalk, dance, do parent mother yoga (there are also parent child dance classes and orchestras), etc. now that she’s almost 10, we do each other’s nails, bike ride,see movies, sew, knit,and bake (a couple of weeks ago we made soft pretzels that spelled words). We also still do most of the other stuff, but now she also likes shopping. She’s learning to thrift and antique.
So I checked out knockknock and I really like the sweet nothing sticky and the apology nifty note. Both would come in handy for me to write a little love note to my love or to apologize cause I struggle in that department.
Here are a few ideas of activities for you and Penelope to do together.
1. Make homemade ice-cream in a bag. It’s more like snow ice cream if you’ve ever had any before. Found idea and recipe here: http://crafts.kaboose.com/ice-cream-in-a-bag.html
2. Adopt a dog for a day. Visit your local humane society and adopt a dog for a day. Take it for a walk, play with it, and show it some love!
3. Bake homemade sugar cookies. Roll out the dough, make fun shapes using cookie cutters, decorate with sprinkles and icing, and enjoy (:
4. Take a trip to the thrift store. Let Penelope pick out an item for your next project that you two could do together.
5. A homemade slip n slide (if it’s warm out). Use a tarp, squirt some baby soap on it, spray with water, and slip n slide!
I don’t know about in Utah, but where I live the symphony hall has a children’s play area where preschoolers can play with the instruments. It’s so fun!
I love the High Five Notepad. How fun!
Now for activities… In addition to building a fort, coloring, and running wild outside, one of my boy’s favorite things was to play with Oobleck. You make it by mixing 2 parts cornstarch with 1 part water (1 c. cornstarch + 1/2 c. water). This combination creates a substance that pours like a liquid, but is strangely solid at the same time. He would play with it for hours on end. Just keep in mind it can get a little messy.
my almost three year old loves:
-Bubbles (you can buy these cool no-spill tumblers and take them anywhere)
-Playing hide and seek with his toys (i hide cars in the next room, then he finds them… he’s even begun “hiding” them for me, which is hysterical)
-Setting the table (one spoon/plate/napkin at a time)
-Feeding the pets (dogs and fish)
-Using his 25 cent water gun to shoot the “bad guys” while he’s in the bath tub
… oh and I love knock knock! I include their stuff in gift bags all the time… i love the what to eat list and the packing list, so useful!
My 4-and-two-thirds year old loves any activity that just involves him and not his brother, he knows it’s special to get one-on-one time so we try to take him out once a week for a special treat. Just to the park or running errands (complete with a stop for donuts). He loves it.
i always LOVED playing with shaving cream. we’d spread shaving cream in a layer on the table and draw pictures and letters with our fingers. you can also add a few drops of food coloring to make your shaving cream a fun color!
Oh, I need this parenting journal sooo much! My 1 year old funny little boy is doing cute things every minute and I can’t let all those things be forgotten! ;)
Oh. My. Gosh. This is the best thing ever! Thank you for introducing this! I would totally buy this journal. A fun activity would be to draw pictures of some of your daughters favorite things, make copies so that there are double of each image. Make 6 or 8 pairs and play a memory game with her. You can also buy a cheap photo book from the dollar store, a 4×6, and have her draw out some of her favorite memories like they’re photographs. You can go through them with her every day and talk about things that your family and friends have done with her. It’s a way to stay thankful for what we have. :)
What a fantastic company and such fun creative ideas.
I just thought of another idea. (I don’t know if it’s been written down yet though). Make hand puppets out of socks, paper bags,etc. and put together a play that you can perform for Dad when he gets home from work. You can also make a puppet using a finished toilet paper roll with a ball (wood, styrafoam) glued to the top of it (makes it look like the cute old school Little People) and then use yarn for hair and color on the clothes with markers.
I need the parenting journal. I’ve been writing down all the funny things my kids have been doing this past year in a 2×3 spiral notepad. It’s looking a bit tattered and I only have 4 pages left. Today on the way to daycare my daughter said “Excuse me, I burped with my butt.” It took about 3 seconds to figure out she meant that she farted. That deserves to be written somewhere it will stand the test of time.
So funny–because I actually wrote about one of their journals here… http://rowdystroudy.blogspot.com/2011/04/in-my-humble-opinion.html
That parenting journal looks awesome;)