Top 10 Kids’ Activities from Fantastic Fun and Learning

It’s my birthday! Really, it is. But that’s not what we’re here to celebrate. Today Fantastic Fun and Learning is celebrating a birthday, too. One year ago today I clicked publish on the first set of posts on this blog (some backdated, for those of you who like to verify these things).

I can’t believe it’s been a year! In some ways it seems like it was yesterday, but it also seems like it was years ago.  Some of you may not know that this first year of blogging also coincided with my first year as a stay at home mom. Professionally I am very proud of this blog and what we’ve accomplished this year, but personally this space is so much more.  It’s a reminder of the journey the kids and I are taking, and the fun things we’re doing along the way.

10 Things I Didn’t Know When I Started Blogging

Today I thought I’d share with you some of the things I never envisioned when I started blogging.

• how much I would love being able to look back at all the fun the kids and I have had this past year
• how much time blogging can take
• how much I would enjoy blogging
• that people would actually read my blog
• how helpful and supportive the members of the Kid Blogger Network would be
• how many great people I would meet through blogging
• how much those great people would inspire me and make me a better mother, teacher, and blogger
• how much a kind comment can brighten my day
• how much I would learn in a very short time
• and how much more I have to learn

My 10 Favorite Posts from This Past Year

I thought it would also be fun to share my personal favorites from the year. These aren’t necessarily the most popular posts on the site, but they are some of the ones that hold particular significance to me. Out of 269 posts, it definitely wasn’t easy to limit myself to 10, but here goes…

This Painting with Rocks mural is by far one of my favorite activities from the year. It combines science, collaboration, and art. And the end result is just gorgeous! Not to mention how tiny and cute Tinker was just a few months ago!

I love when we don’t know how something is going to turn out. As a major Type-A planner, I’m surprised to see myself writing that, but this year I’ve come to love trying new things with the kids. This Painting with Tea Bags post is a reminder of how fun those discoveries can be together.

This Spider Headband has always been a favorite activity, even in the classroom. It’s a reminder of all the silly times we had and singing we did this year.

This Wet and Dry Opposites Sensory Play was our first “real” attempt at messy play. It opened a wonderful door for us. The girls had so much fun–never mind that I didn’t even realize cornstarch and water was a real play recipe at the time. Ha! The girls played and played, and I was encouraged to find many more messy play ideas to try. We’re still on that same mission!

Our Hungry Bear ABCs game was one of the first games we made at home last year, and it’s a reminder to me of how much fun we can have with learning activities. Both Big Buddy and Lovey had so much fun growling like bears as they practiced the ABCs.

I can’t look at this Gardening Sensory Bin without laughing a bit.  The kids enjoyed having their own pretend play garden, but what happened to the bin a few weeks later always makes me laugh.

Our Marshmallow Theme Activities were the first theme series we posted on the blog, and this theme is still one of my favorites. You’ll notice our photography has come a long way since this series, but the content is still great. The kids were so engaged in these activities. I can’t wait to try them again when Tinker is old enough.

The activities we did for our Watermelon Theme are another set of my favorites. It was such a fun combination of messy play and learning.

We had a lot of fun creating different small worlds to go along with our themes and different holidays this past year. This Dinosaur Sensory Bin is one of my favorites.

Play dough is always available around our house. We’ve shared a lot of play dough activities this past year. This Fall Play Dough is special to me because it was one of the first collaborative projects I worked on with another group of bloggers. This same group of bloggers has been an amazing support to me this year, and I’m very glad to call them friends.

Thank You

Thank you so much to those of you who choose to be a part of our conversations here on the blog and via social media. I can’t express enough how helpful it is to hear from you and know that you are finding helpful information on this site.

And a big thank you to all of the bloggers who have shared, commented, and supported us this year. I’d share a list, but I’m afraid I’d miss someone or have to list the entire Kid Blogger Network. Your influence and kindness is so appreciated!

I’m looking forward to another exciting year together.

This post has been shared at some of these fantastic link parties.