Sponsored

  • DIY, Motherhood, Sponsored

    Wonder Park Movie Inspired DIY Wall Gallery to Display Kids Art

    This DIY wall gallery to display kids art is sponsored by Wonder Park. As usual, all opinions are my own. 

    Occasionally, I meet another mom who makes me rethink my parenting style. A mom who is so refreshing that she inspires me to take a different approach that would be beneficial for my family. This usually happens in real life, but last weekend, when I took my children to a screening of the Wonder Park movie I felt really inspired by the main character, June’s mom. Don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil the film for you with details of how she inspired me but you will understand when you go to see the movie which is in theaters today BTW.  I’ll say that she encouraged June to use her imagination in a bold way and gave her the freedom to express her creativity. Anyway, I thought all week about how this would translate in our home. I decided to use that inspiration to create a Wonder Park movie inspired DIY kids art wall gallery. All three of my kids create art almost daily, and besides the fridge, we don’t have an area to display their art. I wanted this gallery to be one that’s fun where we can display kids art and rotate their art so all of their favorite pieces can be celebrated. Our first exhibit, of course, is Wonder Park movie coloring pages and abstract paintings inspired by the movie. 

    Here’s what you will need to create your own wall art gallery:

    This wall gallery is inexpensive and simple to make. All you will need are the following:

    Wooden picture frames (I bought mine at a craft store

    Wooden Clothes Pins

    Canvas

    Paint

    Instructions:

    1. Paint the wooden picture frames in color of your choice. 
    2. Paint the canvas.
    3. Hang the twine on the wall hooks and then use clothespins to attach your child’s favorite art. 
    4. Hang dried wooden picture frames. 
    5. Add other canvas, collages or any other artwork you would like to display.
    6. Rotate the artwork often. 

    Our Wonder Park Movie Inspired DIY Kids Art Wall Gallery is in our entryway to our apartment but you can put yours anywhere in your home — your kids’ playroom, bedroom, kitchen etc. anywhere that makes sense for your family.  

    Enjoy the Wonder Park movie in theaters with your family starting March 15th! You can find coloring pages for your own art gallery, apps, games, get to know the characters and find local theaters showing Wonder Park here. Below is a synopsis of the movie and the trailer if you haven’t seen it yet.

    Wonder Park Movie

    Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive. One magical day, June is running through the woods to find her way home where she discovers an old rollercoaster car and climbs inside. She suddenly finds herself in Wonderland, an amusement park she had created in her mind and put aside. All of her rides and characters are brought to life but are falling into disarray without her. Now, with the help of her fun and lovable park characters, June will have to put the wonder back in Wonderland before it is lost forever.

    Are you planning to see Wonder Park?

  • Children's Books, Motherhood, Sponsored

    Mo Willems’ New Book Because Inspires Us to Think About Our Because Moments

    We’re happy to partner with our friends at Disney Book Group for this sponsored post. As always, all opinions are my own.

    Sometimes it takes just one serendipitous experience to inspire a child to dream! I think we can all think back to a moment in our life where we found inspiration in the most unexpected places. Those moments can change us and ultimately change our lives. For instance, when my oldest was a toddler, I took her to the library one day just to get her out of the house and discovered a toddler playgroup. We started attending weekly and it was because the librarian who read the kids a Mo Willems book, I discovered the author, fell in love with his work and purchased it. When my daughter started school, I read one of Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie books to her class and because the teacher loved it so much, she asked the school’s librarian to order the collection for the school’s library. It’s because of my adoration for the work of Mo Willems (who has written and illustrated over 50 children’s books) that I’m writing about Mo Willems’ new book Because.

    Mo Willems’ New Book Because Inspires Us to Think About Our Because Moments

    Because begins with a little music history; “Because a man named Ludwig wrote beautiful music — a man named Franz was inspired to create his own.” In our home, because my older daughter plays the violin, my son got interested in music and started playing the piano and they now both take lessons. 

    The beautifully written story takes kids behind the scenes and shows them the village that comes together for an orchestra, the people who may be overlooked from the train conductor, graphic designer, ushers etc. It also highlights that a dream doesn’t come true without hard work, practice and years of preparation.

    What I loved about my son reading this book is that he easily connected the story to himself. He kept saying “Just like me, mommy!’ He wants to become a filmmaker when he grows up and just like the little girl in this book he was inspired by art that spoke to him.

    The illustrations by Amber Ren bring Because to life! This book is her first which is very impressive, and she has a cool job as a visual development artist for DreamWorks TV, Warner Bros Animation and others. One tiny detail I really loved about Amber Ren’s illustrations in this book is her adding herself and Mo Willems. Be sure to see if you can spot them in the book.

    Mo Willems’ New Book Because Inspires Us to Think About Our Because Moments

    Because we loved the book, Because I would highly recommend it. It’s a bit different from what we’ve come to expect from Mo Willems with his hilarious Elephant and Piggie and Pigeon series but it’s just as good and a bit more thought-provoking and informative for our little ones (recommended ages 3-5). I would love to hear your thoughts on this sweet little book when you purchase it. It was released last week on March 5th!

  • Activities, Lifestyle, Motherhood, Sponsored, Things to do

    Keeping Kids Active During the Winter

    Keeping Kids Active During Winter

    Thank you, Boogie WipesⓇ saline nose wipes for sponsoring this post.

    I can’t think of many places I would prefer to raise my children besides New York City! It’s one of the best cities in the world and I love everything that this city has to offer except winter. New York City winters are brutal — frigid, dark and dreary. All I want to do between December and March is park my kids on the couch and eat, but as their mother, I must do more, I must ensure that they’re healthy and well and keeping them active during the winter is essential to their wellness. So how do I go about doing that? It’s been a process of trial and error for me but over the last almost 9 years of parenting, I’ve found a few ways to keep them active during the winter and I wanted to share with you.

    Keeping Kids Active During Winter

    I grew up in the Caribbean and didn’t see snow in real life until I was 15 years old, so I had no first-hand knowledge on what to do in the winter with kids. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in New York City so he’s always been happy to play outdoors with the kids during the winter.  When our oldest was a toddler, I would tell him to keep her inside, but I realized that she got sick when she was indoors more than when she went out to play. The truth is, it’s germs that makes kids sick, not playing outdoors. So once it isn’t unbearably cold, they go out with their dad to enjoy the fresh air.

    This weekend, we took them out to ride bikes and rollerblade at the park. I always keep Boogie WipesⓇ saline nose wipes handy for those tough winter boogers that seem to appear in the corner of their noses as soon as we leave the house. As I mentioned before Boogie WipesⓇ saline nose wipes have been my go-to saline wipes since I was a first-time mom because they remove boogers and clear up noses with little effort and without irritating my kids’ little noses and skin.

    Snow Activities

    Keeping Kids Active During Winter

    Interestingly enough, we didn’t get much snow here in New York City this year (well at least not yet). Whenever it snowed it washed away almost immediately so the kids didn’t have a chance to play in it this year. But usually, we take the kids outside to play in the snow. Making snowballs and snow angels are always fun for them. We’ve never taken them skiing but we plan to once my one-year-old gets old enough.

    Keeping Kids Active During Winter
    Keeping Kids Active During Winter
    Keeping Kids Active During Winter

    Indoor Play

    The truth is that some days are just too cold to head outdoors with kids. We have days that are below 0 with wind chills that feel like -10 degrees. That type of weather isn’t conducive to playing outdoors so the kids play indoors. They learn new dances and do kids workouts that I find on YouTube. They also play indoors if they have a cold, so they can remain active during their recovery.  To combat the dry air indoors, I use Boogie DropsⓇ saline nose drops for my toddler and Boogie MistⓇ saline mist for my older children. Boogie DropsⓇ saline nose drops are my favorite saline nose drops for my baby’s nasal passages because of the size of the dropper, it’s really perfect for tiny noses and it clears her up quickly. I’m also happy that it comes packaged in a box of two, so I keep one at home and one in my diaper bag in case I need it on the go. Even though my son is now 5, he still has a hard time blowing his nose, so I love Boogie MistⓇ saline mist as it clears out all of the mucus easily.

    Swimming

    Getting the kids to the pool to swim weekly is another way we keep them active during the winter. Besides getting exercise they’re becoming stronger swimmers and learning a life skill so it’s one of my favorite ways to get them active on a cold day.

    Keeping Kids Active During Winter

    I hope you got some ideas to keep your little ones active during the winter too. Remember to stock up on all of the Boogie WipesⓇ brand products at Target to ensure your little ones don’t have stuffy noses.

    Keeping Kids Active During Winter

    How do you keep your kids active during the winter?

    This post is sponsored by Boogie WipesⓇ saline nose wipes