News with Naylors

Each year, I like to add a book to our Valentine's Collection. I leave the books out on our coffee table a few weeks before Valentine's, so my boys (ages 1-6) can look through them and we can read them often. Reading books and snuggling up close is one of my favorite things to do with my littles. Adding a little cup of hot chocolate or a snack is always nice, too. A list of our Favorite Family Valentine Books: The Valentine Bears  by Eve Bunting Hedgehugs  by Steve Wilson Love Monster and the Last Chocolate  by Rachel Bright (my six chose this one) Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse!  by Laura Numeroff (my four chose this one) Where Is Love, Biscuit?  by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (for my one year old) Love, Z  by Jessie Sima - If you're looking for a craft to go along with the book, make these cute Valentine Robots. My sister came up with these and does them every year. You wrap tin foil over blocks of floral foam and let kids decorate the robots with g...

For other Family Home Evening lessons, search our  Family Home Evening Index .  Prayer : Song : As I Have Loved You - Hymn book page 308.  Click here to sing along . Toddler Book : We read " The Story of Valentine's Day ," which is a great toddler book explaining the origin of Valentine's Day. I even learned something new. Paper Bag Activity : Easton loves drawing things out of paper bags, so we do this type of activity a lot. I wrote a list of people on different colored foam sheets (paper would work as well). Easton drew a name from the bag and we asked him how he could show love to that person. He responded "give loves" to dad, "give Connor toys" for Connor and "be nice to Connor" for mom. I loved his sweet answers! When Easton drew "Heavenly Father and Jesus" we talked about saying prayers, going to church and reading our scriptures. When he drew grandparents, we talked about how we could make Valentine Cards for...

Our favorite Valentine Art we did this year was Valentine Puffy Paint. It's this amazing four-ingredient paint that you mix up in the blender, pour into squeeze bottles, draw and dry in the microwave. It's low mess and my kids spend over an hour playing with this stuff every time I make it. You can click here to find out more:  Valentine: Magic Puffy Paint . In the past, we enjoyed these activities with little ones: 1) Heart Sponge Painting, Heart Tube Stamping or Heart Potato Stamping. These all work well when making Valentine Cards. 2) Conversation Heart Sensory Paint  from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails. Mix candy hearts and water together. Once the hearts dissolve, add a little flour to make thicker paint.  3) Glitter Puffy Paint  from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails. Mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of water. Add glitter and food coloring. Paint onto cardboard hearts. 4) Footprint Valentine Cra...

Valentine Science Activities are always a favorite at our house! This year (2020), I bought a $3 Valentine STEM Packet with so many great Valentine related science activities. I printed the pack and did a quick trip to the Dollar Store and we were ready for eight or so great hands on activities with the cutest observation sheets. I wrote a post about the  5 Simple Valentine Activities  we chose to do this year, if you want to learn more. My kids were so engaged and loved them. We learned: Which liquid dissolves candy hearts the quickest? How many candy hearts can you stack? What happens if you add warm water to M&Ms? Do hearts sink or float? How tall can you built your heart tower? In the past we have had a lot of fun doing these other activities: 1) Foaming Hearts.  Mix 2 cups baking soda + 2 T. salt + 1 tsp. dish soap together in a bowl. Add 8 T. water + a few drops of liquid watercolor + glitter (optional).  Mix together and form a he...

1) Alphabet Hearts File Folder from  file folder fun : I'm a little obsessed with file folders! This is a great letter review as well as matching game. 2) Heart Patterns File Folder from  kids activity blog : This is a fun matching activity. 3) Heart Shape Matching &  Heart Number Matching File Folders from  itsy bitsy fun : I'm so grateful for those that are willing to share free printables! The dog shape clip art is adorable. Easton will love these! 4) Fix the Broken Heart (Shapes): I cut hearts out from different colored foam sheets (another dollar store purchase) and drew a shape on each one. Then, I cut the heart in half. I put the left half of the hearts on our table and hid the right half of the hearts around the room. When Easton found a right half heart in the room, he brought it over to the table and found it's match. Then, he identified the shape. 5) Find the Hearts (Shapes):  I also cut out a set of hearts (fro...

A list of some of our favorite Valentine Sensory Activities: 1) A Valentine's Tub : Tubs are a great sensory activity and my kids love playing with water! I actually wrote an entire post about  Tub Time Activities  - including a glow tub! Red Food Coloring - Squirt a few drops in the water to color it pink. Shaving Cream - Squirt a drop into one bowl to color it pink.  Brushes, foam hearts (stick to the side of the tub when wet), heart slinkies, red strainer, red measuring cups and spoons, etc. I found everything, including the shaving cream, at the Dollar Store.  2) Valentine Oobleck :  Mix 3 cups of cornstarch + 1 1/2 cups of water together and pour onto a cookie sheet.  Add in heart slinkies, cookie cutters, conversation hearts, pots and pans, etc. Note: Oobleck is really fun - it's a liquid when it rests and becomes a solid when played with. The items "stick" to the oobleck if it's deep enough, so make sure to grab a slinkie! ...