A miniature garden makes a wonderful child size space for small world play. Like a doll house for the outdoors and a space to imagine and tell stories.  MATERIALS: container filled with soil, twigs, craft sticks, string, gravel, shells, pebbles, food jar lids, tin foil, small mirrors, small plants, moss, bark, dollhouse furniture  To make a miniature garden of your own first choose a container: an ice cream tub, a big plant pot, or an under-bed storage box works well. Then prepare the ground. If

TODDLER BOARD BOOKS  Make your own toddler board books with simple text and colorful drawings or photos. Some books might just have one word and a familiar object on each page, while others might have one line of a toddler friendly story. These books are easy to make and fun to read aloud to your child. MATERIALS: paper and pencil, card stock, hole punch, ribbon or twine DIRECTIONS:  Create a book cover by hand lettering (or printing text of) the title of the book in bold, colorful letters on

SENSORY TREASURE HUNT  A garden is such a rich sensory playground for children to explore. This treasure hunt activity encourages children to focus on the wide variety of scents, colors, and textures surrounding them.  MATERIALS:  - EGG CARTON - MARKERS OR PAINTS - FABRIC SCRAPS To prepare for your sensory treasure hunt take an egg carton and use each section as a different sensory clue to matching objects the children will hunt for. You can make these clues yourself in advance or have the

HANDPRINT CACTUS  You will need: A hand that is ready to get dirty! Paint  Paint brush  White cardstock  1 cotton swab  Black marker  1. Paint a generous amount of green paint onto the child's palm and fingers with a paintbrush. 2. Press the painted hard firmly onto the cardstock. This step can be done more than once if need be. 3. Allow the handprint to dry, and then dip a cotton swab in yellow paint and dot on flowers! I used yellow for the flowers and added a red center. 4. You can also use a