Toddler Fun – Motherhood Overloaded

Do you wanna build a Snowman?

by CasieBlog, Mom Things, Toddler Fun March 29, 2025September 16, 2025No Comments

Do you wanna build a snowman? (Are you even a parent if you aren’t singing along to Frozen in your head, while you read that sentence?)

Its the end of March, lets be real, I’m TIRED of the snow. We’ve had a couple of high 40 and even 50 degree days here in Maine. It’s a real tease when the next day we get 6+ inches of snow. That’s what happened this weekend.

But we had a beautiful sunny day last week, so my sister-in-law and I took my daughter outside to play in the snow. She’s FINALLY brave enough to walk in her boots and her snow pants! It was so exciting to see her bravely stomp through the snow (even if she did fall on her face a few times). Watching her grow and try new things or re-try things that once made her scared or anxious is one of the most amazing parts of being a mom.

My sister-in-law started to roll around a ball of snow, but come to find out, she’d never built a HUGE snowman before! I knew we had to make it happen before the snow was gone! So she rolled for a while, then I did. Then I did some shaping while she chased my daughter around the yard and we rolled up the second ball of snow. (I forgot how HEAVY snow can be, it took both of us to get it onto the bottom ball.) Then lastly, the smallest for the head.

I remembered that I had got my husband some Lego theme snowman accessories and ran down to the basement to grab them. I’m so glad I did! My husband works in the Health and Safety field, so we made the snowman into one of his co-workers. Hardhat and walkie-talkie included.

This is a fun way to wrap up winter. Seeing as by the end of the day, the snowman face had melted off. Then we got snow this past weekend. I’m ready for spring. For green, for grass, hell, I’ll even take the bugs. (I don’t like bugs) I’m tired of being inside all the time and I can’t wait for us to spend our days in the yard, going for hikes, or heading to the lake. So here is my send off to winter. Snowman included. Until we revive him next year. Bring on spring!

DIY Toddler Sensory Bin: Fun, Messy, and only cost me $5.25!

by CasieBlog, Toddler Fun March 9, 2025No Comments

(So let me start this off by saying, this could be even LESS than $5.25. If you already own food coloring! I did not.) All you’re going to need is 2 ingredients. Food coloring, and a bag of uncooked rice. I used a 2 lb bag and I’d suggest at least 2 lbs of rice. (Also, I think you can get food coloring at Dollar Tree for $1.25. This would save you the extra $2 I spent at Walmart.) Everything else that I used for this sensory bin, were items I had around my house!

Depending on how many dishes you want to wash, (either use the 4 separate bowls, or keep reusing one, whatever floats your boat!) grab 4 bowls and evenly distribute the rice, leaving 1/5th behind in the bag. Then, add a few drops (5ish) of food coloring to each bowl. It’s kinda like Easter! But instead of eggs, it’s rice! *Bonus Activity, you could color the rice then add your Easter eggs to the bowl and swirl them around for a cool design!* Stir your rice and food coloring around until the rice is covered.

Don’t go TOO crazy, because the food coloring will only go so deep into the rice. It’ll only get so pigmented but I was pleasantly surprised that the rice dried fairly fast! Once each color is dry, mix all the rice together in a large bowl, including the rice you left white.

I initially had all the rice in a large empty seltzer water bottle. My daughter used this as a shaker for a while, it was a worthy instrument. But after some time had passed, she lost interest, and I figured it would be more fun for her to play with her hands and with some tools. But, as a parent of a Toddler, we all know how quickly a mess can happen. So I had to figure out a way for her to play with the rice, without it being ALL over my house.

I had a light bulb moment! We had just got some totes so I could do some organizing, and one of them we hadn’t put anything into yet. It was a big tote, so I knew she’d fit with room to spare. I brought over the tote and dumped the rice into it in front of her. She was FACINATED! And immediately wanted to be in the tote so she could try to put the rice back into the bottle. And thus, the Rice Sensory Bin was born!

When we can’t go out to the snow, so we bring the snow to us!

by CasieBlog, Toddler Fun February 21, 20253 Comments

Since we live in beautiful, snowy Maine, we get lots, and lots of snow. (Not like when I was a kid, but still enough to despise shoveling.)

My daughter hasn’t really gotten the hang of shoes yet. Especially boots. (Those suckers are heavy!) So we haven’t spent a whole lot of time outside in the snow. But, she’s so interested in it!

So instead of going out into the snow, I brought the snow inside to us! I dug down a bit to get past that hard, crunchy layer. (I used a Tupperware container 😅) Then I filled the container with snow and brought it in. I set her up in her highchair (a towel on the floor soaks up the inevitable mess) then I added in cut up blueberries and grapes and put some sprinkles on top!

This kept her busy for about a half an hour! I replenished the snow every so often so she could continue to play. She definitely needed an outfit and diaper change afterwards. But I’d say mission success!