Activity Bags and Play Room Update

We've been putting together activity bags that will be given to Ella periodically post baby. They're not really "baby gifts" but more something new to do together. But each activity is wrapped up because she loves unwrapping things these days. I'd been wanting to put together more of these kinds of bags because they are AWESOME for just grabbing a couple, sticking in a purse or diaper bag, and heading out someplace that might be less toddler-friendly (like a restaurant). They are FANTASTIC travel companions too. Each activity is in its own bag. Some ideas are from here, and here, and some I just came up with.  A number of these activities include stuff we had in the play room, so they'll seem more exciting being wrapped up, haha!

Color-matching game

Materials: mini clothes pins and paint samples

Hole punching

Materials: hole punchers and colored paper

Sticking stuff in clay (creative title, eh?)

Materials: Modeling clay, googly eyes, gems, eventually yarn

"Painting"

Materials: Crayola oil pastels, mini canvas, mini easel

Shape Matching

Materials: Foam "paper" with outlined shapes, Wooden shapes

Stamping!

Materials: Alphabet stamps, ink, colored paper (not pictured)

Color Matching

Materials: cupcake cups, colored gems

Shoelace Tracing

Materials: Foam "paper" cut into shapes, hole puncher, shoe laces

Fishing for Letters

Materials: dowel rod, yarn, magnet, hot glue, magnetic letters (above is magnet tape on cheap wooden letters)

Fishing for Gems

Materials: same as above except magnetic on gems

Shape Matching

Materials: foam "paper" and shape buttons

Button Snake

Materials: shape buttons, ribbon, felt shapes, hot glue

Play Room Update!

We updated the playroom! I've been wanting to do this for months. Instead of the picture wall, it seemed like it'd be fun to have a magnet wall that included magnetized family pictures. So we found a cheapo frame at Goodwill, got some sheet metal from Lowe's (a kind worker used tin cutters to get it to size for me - SO nice!) and hung it in place!

Ugly picture in frame and sheet metal (steel because aluminum is NOT magnetic!)

Ella LOVED putting the pictures up. Having them as magnets is nice, too, because I have more space to add friends that she knows and...well...more babies and aunts and uncles since our family is rapidly growing. It's a little on the tall side for Ella, but she'll grow into it.

Magnetic rocks from Nonna and Pawpaw and gems with magnets added to the back.

I plan on getting a large piece of felt and glueing magnets on it, too, to have a removable felt board. 2-in-1!