A Little Giveaway to Celebrate Love -- CLOSED

I made this video when Claire was 8 months old and I still love watching it now and again. I can't let my sisters know I'm reposting it because one of them cries every time she watches it.

I thought I'd say "Happy Valentine's Day" to a lucky someone here and create a video montage for a reader!

So, if you have a bunch of digital photos gathering virtual dust and a favorite song in your head, leave a comment to enter. I'll pick a winner Friday night, details below the video. And try not to cry from all the cuteness - especially during the last 30 seconds. :)

You can enter this giveaway a total of 4 times -

Comment here on who the star(s) of your video would be
Like "Chalk In My Pocket" on Facebook {www.facebook.com/chalkinmypocket}
Follow ChalkInMyPocket on Twitter
Tweet, blog or post on Facebook about this giveaway with a link back here

Be sure to leave a comment for each thing you did so I can use random.org to pick by comment number. Good luck! Winner will be announced Friday night, check back to see who won!

PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOUR COMMENTS APPEAR!

PS - This is not limited to those with pint-sized Valentine's like Claire. I'm happy to celebrate the love between you and your partner, grandparents, siblings, pets - you get the idea.

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks so much for entering.

*** A BIG CONGRATS TO JAMIE OF HANDS ON AS WE GROW! ***

Homemade Art Materials Recipes

Ohdeedoh has a great round up of art materials that can be made at home. I posted this on my Facebook page but thought it worth mentioning here too - check it out!

How to Make Flubber, Glurch, and Other Fun Art Supplies At Home

I'm a big fan of homemade playdoh, we've had great luck with it and I often dye it with our liquid watercolors. Below is one of my favorite playdoh creations. On our last camping trip the kids gathered bits of grass and leaves and created little playdoh people. What fun!

Lovely Stained Glass Windows

We're putting a Valentine twist on the Tissue Paper and Window Collage over at Filth Wizardry. The colors are just gorgeous and I couldn't be happier with the finished result.

Great Valentine's Reads In Books and Online

I visited my local library Monday, really sad that the due date had arrived for our Valentine's story books. After reading "Sweethearts" by Jan Carr every night for the past two weeks, I've grown rather attached to the sweet family of panda bears who inhabit its pages. Of all the holiday themed books we checked out, this was by far my favorite.

Keeping A Toddler Happy Indoors

There are days when we're stuck inside all day - due to weather, illness or just my general lack of enthusiasm about completing laundry. On those days, I find it pays to have a special "something" up your sleeve. My newest device? The sensory bin.

Is There Value in Digital Art Programs for Preschoolers?

Portrait of Mommy, "Drawing Pad" app for iPad

I'm working up a post about digital art programs for kids and would love to hear your thoughts!

I'm torn. My daughter is a prolific artist so I see occasionally surrendering my iPad as a way to save paper. We also email the pictures around to family for all to enjoy (that's a spider below if you were wondering).

On the flip side, I know art for young children is all about the hands on process. Rolling up those sleeves and diving into a mound of playdough or cup of fingerpaint is a childhood textural experience that shouldn't be missed.

So, what are your thoughts? Do your children virtually finger paint? Is there a particular program or app you love or does your family stick to the real stuff? 

Join the conversation on Chalk In My Pocket's facebook page or leave a comment with your thoughts here. 

Spider created in the "Drawing Pad" App

Top Secret Love Notes

This is one of the coolest valentine ideas I’ve seen on the web yet. Write your loved ones a secret message in invisible ink. All you need is some lemon juice and a heat source. For the full how to, head on over to MiniEco. This blog is one of my favorite stops on the Internet - colorful photography and a plethora of crafts that are easily accomplished at home.

Wouldn’t this be a fun activity to encourage a budding writer or artist? I’m planning to give my daughter a message full of hearts to show my love.

Shhhh! don’t tell her, it’s a secret!

Tech for Tots: Google's Art Project

Thank You Google, You Rock!
If you haven't seen it yet, you must check out this site: Google's Art Project.

I am enthralled.

What’s so cool about this is that in addition to the EXTREME closeups of the artwork (that’s a portion of The Starry Night in the screenshot below) is that they rode this steady-cam style bike thing around and gave us Street View…in a museum! For me at least, part of the excitement of a museum visit was experiencing the atmosphere of all these great works in one place. And while this can’t compare to actually being there, I can see so many opportunities for this in education and even in my own family.

DIY Heart Stamp

I’m sure I can’t be the first person to come up with this concept – but what a great (and frugal) alternative to the overpriced Valentine stamps at the local craft store. I mean, come on – $5 for a HEART?

I raided the container of $1 foam hearts (with stickers!) from Target and stuck them on Claire’s blocks. I doubled them up to make sure the surface was really raised, makes stamping things easier for the chubby-fisted toddler in my life.

The Snowy Day, Literature Brought To Life

One winter morning Claire woke up and looked out the window. Mother nature had dumped another foot of snow and her Mommy was desperate for something new to do. They decided to act out a favorite children’s book, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.



After breakfast Claire put on her snowsuit and ran outside. The snow was piled up very high. The doggies had made a path through the snow for her to follow.

Potato Head Snowmen

Got snow? 

Got a toddler?

Got a potato head toy?

Then you too can have an awesome squadron of wee snowfolk in your yard.

Full Size {FREE} Alphabet Chart!

I had a few requests for a larger version (8.5 x 11) of that little alphabet chart I created to show off the free font featured here. Well here you go, just print and color away! And thanks, but no you don't need to pay me for this LOL!

Here's the link to the full sized landscape version:
http://flic.kr/p/9ePSjP

And here's the link to the full sized portrait version:
http://flic.kr/p/9eSZBd

By the way - I didn't watermark this because what kid is going to want to color all over something labeled "Chalk In My Pocket" but I'd love if you'd link back or email me if you share this somewhere.

I'm linking this post up to:

http://www.abcand123learning.com -- http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com -- Tot Tuesdays