Frugal Parenting Tips and Tricks

For Father’s Day this year, I wanted to continue to impress upon my daughter the importance of ownership of the gifts she gives. Gifts, thank you notes, and various cards hold more meaning to the giver and receiver when made more personable, so I helped my daughter create some cards for her daddy, and both grandfathers this year.  Thus, a DIY Father’s Day craft seemed in order….

Lesson learned: Glue the construction paper to the cardstock FIRST, to prevent the glue from interfering with the paint!

We sat down, working bit by bit over the span of a few days, creating these cards. I brushed washable paint over her hand to create the “flower”. (The paint acquired, by luck, at a garage sale — a pack of 10 small tubs for a quarter.) Then, while she colored on a few sheets of construction paper (to be used later), I asked her “why do you love daddy?”, recording her responses and offering prompts (basically rephrasing the question) to redirect her when needed.

She helped put down the glue for each step (reciting our glue motto of “just a dot, not a lot!”), then placed the strips with her responses on the paper. It was all glued down to card stock, to make it sturdier. The card stock also served as a quick and simple way for my infant son to put his own stamp on each card, too. 🙂

We repeated this for a single-flowered card for each of her grandfathers.

The sheets she colored were used as wrapping paper for the two small gifts we got for her daddy. (Since he had actually requested something specific, we indulged him.)

Each card was greeted with great pride by its intended receiver– so much so, that first thing Monday morning the card for her Daddy was proudly displayed at his office. 🙂

Do you have any DIY Fathers Day crafts or gift ideas to share? Please leave a comment here or contact me. I’d love to hear all about it!

I hoard containers. There — I put it out there. I save various, sturdy containers, with the idea that I could re-use it ….for something. This came in handy the other day with my 3-year-old daughter.

I’m always looking for ways to keep my children entertained, as well as offer them chances to explore and learn.  If I can additionally do so in a “green” manner, even better.

For this occasion, I put red food coloring in an old throat spray bottle, blue in an old dish soap bottle, grabbed some old foam letters (but sponges would work just as well) and put a little paint in old flushable wipes containers, gathered up a few unused medicine droppers, opened some paper bags at the seems, and threw in a few paint brushes, and  empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls.

In our driveway, we “painted” a large hopscotch-like path with various shapes using the dish soap bottle. Then we experimented with painting with rocks, sticks, and our fingers. When asked which she liked best,she responded “the rock — because it’s MAGIC!”

She and I had a blast, and all for pennies. More importantly, these activities encouraged her imagination, worked on dexterity (pushing the spray button, utilizing the various objects for painting, etc), and allowed for open-ended inquiry. Certainly this was a good example of “process over product”.

My next plan is to get some old, large containers to create makeshift water tubs, and let her play and explore. I already have a few containers in mind for this. When my son is a little older -perhaps later in the summer- he can join in the fun.

Do YOU have some great, cheap (and green) ways to entertain your kids? Please share, or contact me. 🙂

**Sidenote: I’ve learned that food coloring, while great for learning, does not easily come off hands — it requires a good dose of elbow grease.