Mickey Mouse Jingle Bell Necklaces

Jingle all the way with these adorable DIY Mickey Mouse jingle Bell Necklaces! 

Christmas is close, and this year things are going to be tight for a lot of families. Skipping the gifts just isn't right! We all deserve a surprise this year! So why not make a dozen Mickey Mouse Jingle Bell Necklaces to share with the special people in your life?

You can make about a dozen necklaces for $3 if you shop at Dollar Tree for supplies. These are awesome for classroom gifts or a way to spread a little cheer with a very limited budget.

Supplies:

Large Bells

Smaller Bells

Ribbon or bakers twine

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Cut the ribbon to the desired length. (12-15" is ideal)

Thread your ribbon or twine thru the top of the large bell.

Use the hot glue gun to attach the small bells to the large bell. 

Place one bell on either side of the ribbon.

Allow the hot glue to dry for a few moments.

Tie off the ribbon to complete the necklace. Make sure your knot is secure.

Your necklace is ready to wear or share! Jingle all the way with a touch of Disney magic!

If you are looking for more Christmas ideas check out these reader favorites:

Button Tree Ornaments 

Design Your Own Play Doh Ornaments

15 Advent Calendars for Kids

When I was a kid, one of my favorite parts of the holidays was the little advent calendar my grandma always had for me. I only got to see her on weekends, so when I would get to her house, I would get to open several windows at once, for a few little treats!

Looking back on it, the calendar was as basic as it could get. The squares of chocolate were small. But, it was the fact that someone thought of me and picked up an advent that had a picture she knew I would love on it, and she kept it for me, on the odd days I came over.

Now I am a mom and I always have an advent for my kids. They love the little ceremony and surprise that awaits them. If you are like me, and maybe don't have the time to create an elaborate advent, check out these ideas from Amazon. This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase, I will earn a small advertising fee.

Paw Patrol Advent
Hatchimals Holiday Advent
Barbie Careers Advent Calendar
Mega Bloks TMNT Advent
Playmobil Advent
Play Doh Christmas Advent
Grinch Advent Calendar
Hot Wheels Advent
Crayola Christmas Countdown
Disney Tsum Tsum Advent
Lego City Advent
VTech Smart Animals Advent
Thomas and Friends Advent Calendar 
Funko Harry Potter Advent
Olaf's Adventure Christmas Countdown Calendar 

If you find a great advent calendar on Amazon, I hope you will leave me a comment so I can add it to my list!

Large Mickey Mouse Bell Ornaments

Grab a few bells and a ribbon to put together these cute and easy DIY Mickey Mouse Ornaments!

I love Christmas. I start getting excited about it as the kids return to school, plotting, planning, creating and shopping. I love to share gifts and treats with friends, family, teachers and neighbors, so getting an early start is crucial with so many cute things to make.

This is such an easy and affordable craft to share. Make a few to decorate your tree with, or to dress up wrapped gifts. You can make dozens of these for $5 or less if you shop at Dollar Tree for your supplies.

This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I earn a small ad fee

Supplies:

Ribbon

Hot Glue Gun

Large Jingle Bells

Small Jingle Bells

Begin by threading a 5" section of thin ribbon thru the loop on the larger of your bells.
Tie a double knot in the end to keep it secure.

Next, glue one of the smaller jingle bells onto the side of the larger bell.

Now glue the other bell onto the other side.
Allow to dry.

Hang on the tree, or adorn a wrapped gift with a Mickey Mouse Ornament.

These are awesome to make and share with friends, classmates, or anyone that needs a little extra holiday cheer.

Are you looking for more awesome DIY Disney holiday ideas?

Check out these Play Doh Mickey Mouse Ornaments

Mini Mickey Mouse Jingle Bell Ornaments

Foot Print Matching Activity

This easy homemade puzzle challenges toddlers and preschoolers with supplies you probably have on hand. 

Kids will love figuring out who made what prints in the play doh!

This foot print matching activity is so much fun for little ones! It gives them a quick and easy homemade puzzle that will engage toddlers and preschoolers. Mix it up with different dinos or animals for a puzzle that changes every time you play with it.

This is such an easy and fun activity for kids. It gives them a chance to be a young detective while engaging in hands on play. Parents and caregivers will love that this one is so easy to set up. All you need to do is grab a can of play doh and a few action figures.

My son was crazy about Dinosaur Train when he was little so we have a ton of these little dudes in the toy bin. My daughter has been interested in them for a few weeks, so I decided to involve the trusty Dinosaur Train friends in this puzzle to keep her exploring and learning. You can use any kind of toys you want, from dinosaurs, to super heroes or even other animals.

This post contains affiliate links.

Supplies:

Several action figure type toys

One can of play doh

Directions:

Flatten out a can of play doh.

Grab a dino or action figure and press the feet into the doh. Press hard enough to make an imprint, but not so hard that the doh tears or rips. 

Repeat with other dinos or action figures.

Line up the toys and ask your child to figure out who left what set of prints.

If you want to challenge your child, you can mix the prints up, or if you want to make it a little easier for younger kids, keep the prints in a line.

If you are looking for more boredom busters and ways to keep your playing and learning check out some of our favorite kids activities .

Reader favorites include

Button towers

Apple Tree Addition

Play Dough Ghost Ornaments

This easy Halloween craft is perfect for anyone who wants to add a little boo to the holiday without having to spend any cash! You already have the ingredients to make the Play Dough Ghost Ornaments in your pantry! 

With the kids being at home this year, it feels like old times, we have time to craft in the afternoons again, and I LOVE it! With Halloween coming up, we decided to add a little boo to our decor with this easy homemade play doh ghost ornament craft. This is such an easy craft to make! It is perfect for all ages, from kids to adults.  You can make about a dozen of these (or more depending on your cookie cutter size) from a batch of dough.

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup salt

2 cup flour

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Slowly add water, a few spoons at a time, until dough is smooth.

You will know you haven't added to much water if your dough is easy to handle and isn't sticking to your hands messily.

Knead by hand for 5 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 an inch thck.

I used a cookie cutter to cut the shape of ghosts.

Next, poke a hole thru the top of the ghost so you can hang it up.

I used a BBQ skewer.

After cutting my shapes, I used a black crayola marker to make the face of the ghost, on the raw dough.

Place  the dough on a cookie sheet and place it in a cold oven, turning up the temp to 200 degrees. Allow your ornaments to bake for about 90 minutes. Check them frequently to make sure they are not browning (if they are pull them out.)

Allow the ornaments to cool then feed a section of bakers twine or a string into the hole and hang.

Add a variety of faces to your ornaments for a boo-tiful variety of economical and adorable DIY Halloween decorations.

You can find all of my Halloween crafts here.

Reader favorites include:

Pumpkin Window Clings

Paper Plate Spiders

Apple Tree Addition Activity

This apple tree addition activity is perfect for kindergarten and first grade students. It gives them a hands on chance to practice their skills and work hands on play into their lessons. This is an all around engaging way to teach addition to kids.

This semester both of my kids are attending virtual school. They have a great curriculum that they follow, and the kids seem to be ok with the change in how we learn.  But, I like to make sure they are learning offline too. This apple tree math activity is perfect for little kids who are just grasping math concepts. Plus it is easy to set up and it is a lot of fun to work with. 

Using play doh is a great way to make this more than a math activity. Play doh is great for sensory play as wee all know. Adding it to math? Thats an equation for fun learning! Adding pony beads gives the activity a fine motor element, so I guess this math lesson has a lot of layers to it!

Supplies:

Green and Brown Play Doh

Pony Beads

Small wooden letters or stamps

Directions:

Encourage your child to roll out a tree trunk with brown play doh.

Instruct your child to flatten out a can of green play doh for the leaves of the tree.

Select two numbers and stamp them into the leaves. Add a +  between them.

Offer your child a few pont beads.

Encourage your child to count out enough for the first number and press them into the doh.

Instruct your child to count out enough beads for the second number and press them into the doh.

Ask your child to count all of the beads to get the sum.

Remover the beads. 

Remover the "leaves"

Smash the green doh into a fresh pile of doh.

Repeat with more numbers.

If you liked this easy math lesson idea you might like these reader favorites:

Fine Motor Counting activity

Play Doh Pumpkin Faces

Play Doh Snakes

Looking for a simple way to engage the kids with supplies you probably already have on hand? This easy play doh snakes idea is the way to go. Kids of all ages will love this sensory play idea that combines fine motor work and creativity for an all around fun time!

Now that my kids are enrolled in virtual school for the semester, I have been finding ways to keep them engaged. They finish their work early in the day and have a few hours to fill in the afternoon. I bought a bunch of blank books, small canvases, coloring books, wooden plaques and so onto keep them creating. But, to keep things entertaining, I give them a daily challenge.

Some days, I challenge them to build something specific with legos. another day, I might challenge them to find pine cones, leaves, or sticks of a certain size. My favorite challenges involve play doh. On this particular day I gave them a pile of buttons and a can of play doh and asked them to make an animal. They put their heads together asked for a touch of red doh and 2 little eyes. This is what they came up with. It is so cute, I knew I wanted to share this idea with you.

This post contains affiliate links.

Supplies:

Play Doh, offer 2 colors

Buttons

Googly Eyes

Directions:

Encourage your child to roll a play doh snake and  decorate it with buttons.

Give the snake eyes and carefully give him a tongue.

If you liked this easy play doh idea check out these reader favorites.

Button Tower Stem Activity

Apple Tree Math

Mud Ice Cream

This mud ice cream station is so much fun for kids! It is easy to set up and is the perfect use for those leftover ice cream cones from summer, while serving up a bunch of good old fashioned fun!

I am always looking for great ways to keep my kids playing without turning to their video games.This mud ice cream activity kept them entertained with dramatic play all day. They naturally got filthy dirty which is half the fun! If you do this with your kids, opt for old clothes and shoes and do it outside!

Supplies:

Ice cream cone

Sprinkles

Old dishes like a bowl and spoons to scoop with

Mud

Directions:

Fill up a bowl with mud.

Offer your children spoons and scoops , sprinkles and a few ice cream cones.

You might like to add a few old bowls to the mix for variety.

Allow your child to scoop mud into the cones and dishes and add a generous amount of sprinkles!

Both of my kids were enthralled with this idea. It might have been one of the best activities I have ever set up for them. They laughed, they mixed up mud, served it to each other and got so incredibly dirty. It was wonderful fun!

Both kids agreed that this would be fun to try with snow too! Should we be so lucky this winter to have enough snow to play with!

When playtime is over, simply spray the tools your kids used to play with the hose, and toss the ice cream cones! I love easy clean up activities! If the weather is warm enough, your kids might enjoy a splash in the sprinkler, or the garden hose to clean off a little bit before going inside.

You can find more kids activities here

Play Doh Fine Motor Rainbows

Pine Cone Rescue

Play Doh Fine Motor Rainbows

Play Doh and buttons are the perfect combination to make a fun fine motor rainbow! This is a great activity for indoor play days and is so easy to set up!

We are crazy for both play doh and rainbows so this activity was a huge hit with my daughter Harper. It was easy to set up, and gave her a chance to explore textures, express creativity, and work on her pattern making skills, with a dose of fine motor too!

Supplies:

Play Doh

Buttons in assorted colors and sizes

If you can't find white play doh, like we used, no worries, use any color your kids like!

If you don't have a jar of buttons at home, we bought this little jar of multi color buttons at Dollar Tree.

Directions:

Roll out a can of play doh.

Offer your child a pile of buttons.

Encourage your child to make a rainbow by lining up the correct color of buttons in the pattern of a rainbow.

As buttons can be a choking danger to small children, be sure to closely supervise this activity with little ones.

This was a lot of fun for Harper. We will certainly be pulling this activity out again in the coming months as an easy yet engaging boredom buster!

You can find more fun ideas for kids here

Button Tower Stem Activity

Glow in the Dark Galaxy Slime

Dinosaur Rescue Fine Motor Activity

Looking for a way to work on fine motor skills with the kids while having a ton of fun? This dinosaur rescue fine motor activity is perfect for hands on fun and busy work.

Some of the best activities are the simple ones and this dino rescue is no exception! While cleaning bedrooms, the idea to add a new dimension of play to some old toys was hatched.  

This hands on play idea will give kids a chance to explore a favorite toy in a new way. They  will love rescuing the dinos while working on their fine motor skills. Parents will appreciate how easy this is to set up, and that only two supplies are needed.

Affiliate links have been used below.

Supplies:
Dinosaurs
Small Rubber Bands or Rainbow Loom Bands

Directions:
Stretch small rubber bands all over the dinosaur, cover the arms, legs, tail, scales, spikes, etc in a variety of ways.
Offer the trapped dino to your child.
Encourage your child to remove the bands, one by one, until the dinosaur is free.

Carefully supervise this activity as these bands can be dangerous to little people and critters.

Be sure to dispose of the bands properly as they can be a choking hazard to children and pets.

If your children are younger, use fewer bands. If your children are older, add more bands to make it more challenging!

If you had fun with this idea, you might want to check out my other fun fine motor activities.

Reader favorites include:

Play Doh Lollipop Counting

Play Doh Pre Writing