I don't know about you but we got a lot of packages at Christmas that included packing peanuts. Well this easy sensory bin uses them for play.

You will need them, some plastic snowflakes ( look in the craft aisle or Christmas clearance sections) and cotton balls.  A big container and some tongs ( we get ours at the dollar store).

Start by putting in your cotton balls and packing peanuts.

Add the smaller snowflakes.

Play - while your kids are playing talk about how soft the cotton it, squishy the peanuts are and hard the snowflakes are.  Ask older kids why they think the snowflakes fall to the bottom.

Use the tongs to separate the snowflakes from the rest. Tricky and wonderful fine motor practice, kids love challenges!

When you are done pop it in a large ziploc and store for another day.

* please remember that this is not for children who are still mouthing items . Use caution and stay close, these are potential choking hazards.

Have you ever made a craft or done an activity that you thought your child would like but they ended up loving? My 3 year old had an all out fit when I put this away and told him it was well past nap time. He loves scooping and pouring and wouldn't let me have a turn at all!

Making your own gifts saves money but it can also show your children that gifts don't have to be bought, and that when you make them they are even more special.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a silicone baking pan .We are using a snowflake shaped pan, but you can use any shape! We got ours in the dollar section of a large retailer and only use it for making crayons. You will also need crayons and an oven set at 250.

Cookie cutters are my favorite tool to use with toddlers and young preschoolers who are so eager to make something themselves but that still looks like what the big kids are doing. These snowflakes are great for that.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, some sparkles, while glue and a snowflake cookie cutter.

Bad enough that lousy weather robbed us of a summer. Here in the Northeast, we lost all of June to clouds and rain. July was touch and go, and then there were a couple of uncomfortably humid weeks in August. That was it! Now it's mid-October, and already the unbelievable has happened: it has snowed.

Massachusetts weather is unpredictable! Yesterday, the sun’s shine heated up the Bay State – the pavement was wet, the ice was melting. It almost felt like a day in May, when revival fills the air, when the grass begins to grow, and the leaves begin to appear; you can just about smell the pollen. In anticipation of spring, we walked the streets without our boots, we left our gloves and hats in the closet, and we rode our bikes in the street. That was yesterday! Today, we are shielding our faces from the cold, the winds blowing the snow horizontally – again! We are deceived.

What could be better to hear on a dreary February Monday in New England than the fabulous news that we're in for 6 more weeks of winter weather? Yes, that's right, folks...Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. Now, maybe it's because it's Monday, maybe it's because it's February, or maybe I just wasn't in a good mood, but when I heard that little piece of news this morning, I almost cursed out my television. I mean, really...who does this Phil guy think he is, anyway?

If last week was filled with too many terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days, then yesterday, our snow day, was the most perfect day possible--a shining exception to last week's mayhem. I made big bowls of steaming oatmeal for the kids in the morning (my new favorite way to eat oatmeal is to dice up dried apricots, toss them in, and drizzle lots of honey over the top), and L. ate an entire huge serving of oatmeal for breakfast--something he almost never does.

I remember being younger and staring out the window in silent desperation, willing snow to fall so we'd have a snow day and miss school. I remember my parents fussing about how inconvenient snow would be, and worried that we WOULD get a snow day, and I remember the stodgy, annoying weathermen who would gush about how lucky we'd be if the snow did miss us and wouldn't that be a relief? I also remember thinking fervently, please don't let me grow up to be someone who complains about snow days.