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Views From a Step Stool

Open Minds & Messy Hands

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‘Inside Out’ Edible Water Beads: Exploring Emotions through Sensory Play

‘Inside Out’ Edible Water Beads: Exploring Emotions through Sensory Play

July 13, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone 2 Comments

Have you seen the movie ‘Inside Out’? The movie is about feelings and emotions, a prominent topic in our house at all times. Raising spirited kids,  I am constantly discussing feelings and appropriate ways to deal with emotions. This is usually discussed in our calm down corner, but I also try to talk

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Filed Under: Babies, Edible Sensory Play, Elementary, Learn Through Play, Preschoolers, Sensory, Toddlers Tagged With: emotions, feelings, Preschool Homeschool

Marbled Milk Prints: Art+Science

June 27, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

  We have done the magic milk experiment a number of times and it never gets old! Watch the video below to see how we turned our experiment into art! To see the full tutorial on how to do the experiment, click here.   We chose to color on our

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschool Science, science, Toddler Arts & Crafts, Toddler Science, Uncategorized Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Simple Oil+Water Science for Kids

June 23, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

  It’s science week in our house! We had a 2 year old birthday party and Father’s Day this weekend so I am WAY behind the 8 ball… so today’s science project was SUPER simple. Combining oil and water may seem plain to us, but kids love watching the reaction

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Toddler Science, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Color Mixing Sensory Bags for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Color Mixing Sensory Bags for Toddlers and Preschoolers

June 11, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone 1 Comment

Sensory bags are great ways for kids to explore textures, colors and different objects, all while being mess-free and baby-safe. We love making themed bags for holidays or to discuss different learning objectives such as shapes and colors. (Check out how we made these 4 different baby-safe sensory bags!) These color

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Filed Under: Babies, Elementary, Learn Through Play, Mess-Free Sensory Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Sensory, Toddler Science, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Frozen Paint Pops: Summer Art for Kids

Frozen Paint Pops: Summer Art for Kids

June 11, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

This summer we are doing themed weeks similar to a summer camp at home. This week is color week! My 2 year old still doesn’t know her colors despite my best efforts..so we are spending the whole week focusing on them! To keep my 4 year old engaged we are

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Elementary, Learn Through Play, Outdoors, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschoolers, Summer, Toddler Arts & Crafts, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Butterfly Life Cycle Craft with Pasta

Butterfly Life Cycle Craft with Pasta

June 5, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

We love talking about the life cycle of a butterfly, even though my 4 year old knows the process well by now it still completely fascinates him! We also happen to love colored pasta for sensory play which is what we used to complete this activity.  To see how we

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Learn Through Play, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Spring, Toddler Arts & Crafts, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Watercolor Printing with Strawberries

June 3, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin My kids love to pick fresh fruits and vegetables from our local orchards. It’s one of our favorite summertime activities and always serves as a nice platform for our ‘projects’ (as the kids like to call them). Whenever the kids are getting themselves into trouble

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Babies, Learn Through Play, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschoolers, Toddler Arts & Crafts, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory Bin

May 28, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone 1 Comment

Find out which types of pasta to use to make this fun and educational butterfly life cycle sensory bin. Dyed pasta with food coloring that kids love.  Sensory bins are one of our favorite ways to explore a topic. This butterfly life cycle sensory bin was super easy (and fun) to

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, Sensory, Spring, Toddler Science, Toddlers Tagged With: kids, moms, Preschool Homeschool, preschoolers, sensory play, toddlers

Painting Outdoors with Water Guns

May 24, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin It’s finally starting to feel like spring in our neck of the woods! Which means it’s time to keep the kids occupied OUTSIDE! This stay at home mom spends much of the day chasing the 2 and 4 year old tornadoes that rip through my

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Elementary, Learn Through Play, Outdoors, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschoolers, Spring, Summer, Toddler Arts & Crafts, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Color Mixing in the Snow

Color Mixing in the Snow

February 3, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

  We are wrapping up our snow and ice activities this week before beginning all things love and Valentine’s Day! One of our favorite things to do when it snows, is bring the snow inside! We only last outside for so long and love to play in the snow, so

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Outdoors, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Toddler Science, Toddlers, Winter Tagged With: color mixing, kids activities, Preschool Homeschool, science, snow day

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Welcome to Views From a Step Stool!

Welcome to Views From a Step Stool!

I am a mom to three little ones and love to create and explore every day with them! We have open minds and messy hands, come join in our adventures!

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What’s New

  • 12 Snowman Crafts for Kids
  • 10 Elf on the Shelf Printables to Download
  • 12 Elf on the Shelf Ideas
  • Candy Corn Sensory Bin
  • Emotions Sensory Bag
  • 10 Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts

What’s New:

  • 12 Snowman Crafts for Kids
  • 10 Elf on the Shelf Printables to Download
  • 12 Elf on the Shelf Ideas
  • Candy Corn Sensory Bin
  • Emotions Sensory Bag
  • 10 Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts
  • Build a Jack-o-Lantern Sensory Craft
  • Breakfast Smoothies for Kids with BlendJet Portable Blender
  • 12 Outdoor Painting Ideas for Kids
  • Educational Sensory Bin Ideas
  • 12 Animal Sensory Bin Ideas for Kids
  • 10 Insect Themed Sensory Bins
  • 12 Bee Crafts for Kids
  • 15 Easter Chick Crafts for Kids
  • 15+ Earth Day Crafts for Kids
  • St. Patrick’s Day Emotion Cut and Paste Printable Activity
  • Valentine’s Day Charades Words
  • Printable Color by Number Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids
  • Valentine’s Day Kindness Countdown Calendar: Free Printable
  • Valentine’s Day Pixel Art Color by Number: Free Printables

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