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If you've been reading our blog for a while than you know we love all things pirate. It was only a matter of time until one of the boys asked for a pirate themed party. So with Big Brother turning 7 - and asking for a treasure hunt - it was the perfect time for this theme. And of course, we were excited to again team up with The Oriental Trading Company and their awesome party supply resources to

This month Little Brother turned 4, and if you've been reading with us for a while now you know that we love fun birthday themes over here at Kitchen Floor Crafts! For this birthday we decided to go with a "Dinosaur Birthday Party" theme! For this post we were excited to team up with Oriental Trading Company to come up with some great favors, paper goods, and more! We also created some

On this chilly and rainy weekend, it's hard to remember back a week to the gorgeous fall days we've been having up until now. But, really, we've been pretty lucky this fall season. We've had so many incredible weather days. It was on one of these beautiful days that the boys and I took a quick walk up a local trail after school. As we hiked we used this printable scavenger hunt to collect

We gave this gift a while ago to a good friend of ours, but I loved how it turned out so much I couldn't resist sharing it with you too! Over the summer our friend became really interested in science experiments, which lead to the creation of this homemade science tool kit for his birthday. We based several of the gift ideas on the activities we had done during our Science Week. For the most

It's no secret that we love all things pirate around here, so when we saw the chance to join in on the "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" Quirky Blog Hop we couldn't resist. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is actually coming up on September 19th, but today Witty Hoots is hosting this Quirky Blog Hop so bloggers can share lots of fantastic pirate fun to start getting everyone in the mood!

A few weeks ago we really enjoyed "Forest Week" in our Simple Summer Theme weeks. For the most part the boys truly just loved getting outside into the forest - which meant we could really keep things simple. (Which was in fact one of our July Monthly Goals.) To kick off "Forest Week" on our first adventure into the woods the boys worked on this Forest Scavenger Hunt as we walked through the

So when Big Brother requested a "Desert Week" in our Simple Summer Theme series, I was a little stumped on what we might do for projects and activities. But, in the end I was excited about some of the different projects and materials we were able to explore. (Although this was a slightly shorter theme week.) 1. Read a Good Book This book Deserts by Gail Gibbons was a great resource for

This summer we were excited to kick off our Simple Summer Themes with Science Week! Each week of summer vacation we explore a different "theme." We use materials on hand, simple/easy projects that don't take long to complete, hands on activities, recipes, and field trips. This summer, even more than previous summers, we're truly keeping our themes simple. We're doing something fun with them when

As we went through out Simple Summer Theme Science Week, we enjoyed a variety of hands on science activities. This one was very easy to put together and proved to be lots of fun for the boys! I wanted to put together a sensory bin that explored a scientific concept, but wasn't quite sure what would work. Then the idea of using our growing magnet set seemed like an easy fit! Materials: 

This spring Big Brother has been making amazing progress as a reader, and it's been so exciting for the both of us. As always, I want to look for ways to support his learning but without making our time at home feel like more school. With that in mind, I always try to make his learning at home very hands on. Lately I've been noticing that he could use some word family practice, which

This week has been a little funny as Little Brother came down with a stomach bug early on. And although it only lasted 24 hours, it still threw off our routines a little for the whole week. It also meant a stay home day with just mommy for Little Brother, which he always enjoys. In order to create something fun for us to do one on one, I put together a new sensory tub: Leprechaun's Letters, an

One of our favorite things to do with seasonal candy is use it as a math manipulative. In the past we've used candy hearts for math games, counted with pumpkins, and done math play with jelly beans. So when I saw these SweetTart Easter Candies at the grocery store I knew they would be perfect for math play. Since the candies were both colorful and different shapes, we decided to graph them!

While my hope is to just have fun and relax over this winter vacation, I also know that it can be good to keep school aged kids thinking at least a little about both math and reading. The best way parents can do that is by keeping the learning fun and playful. (Which does not mean worksheets.) A few months ago, I came up with this game for Big Brother and I to play and practice math facts at the

The weather this week has been amazing, and we were really pleased to be able to get out and enjoy the nice temperatures again. Little Brother and I had a ton if fun playing with shapes outside in the fall sunshine and leaves. We had a blast bringing our large, foam pattern blocks outside and involving them in some great backyard autumn play.  Before going out to play I took one of each

We love finding ways to use holiday candy in learning games and activities. In the past we've used candy hearts and jelly beans to practice different math skills. So of course it was time to do something with fall candy! As Little Brother is getting a little older, he's been getting really interested in counting and numbers, so I put together this Pumpkin Patch counting activity using candy

It's no secret we love pirates around here. In the past we had so much fun with our Pirates' Gold Number Play we knew that we wanted to extend it into some letter play. That lead me to create an ABC Treasure Hunt. It's great to do these types of activities during the summer, so we can be outside. But, the materials are simple enough it could be recreated inside as well.  To Prepare: To