Trips: Visit to the Seashore

Is there anything better than spending a relaxing day at the beach?  The perfect day at the seashore is different in everyone's books but for me it is when it is off season.  I am not a fan of crowds.  In fact, they cause me a great deal of anxiety, so you will not catch me down the shore during the height of the tourist season too often.  But since I do love the smell of the salt air and the roar of waves, we try to visit as often as possible during the cooler months.  We have visited during the last seven years at various times - cold, rainy Autumn days and sunny, hot Spring days - and they were all equally enjoyable.

On a recent Saturday in May, we visited Cape May, NJ and had a bagged lunch at the lighthouse and walked on the windy beach.  There was not an abundance of birds there at the time but in the future, when my toddlers are older, hopefully we can do some proper bird watching with binoculars to track the migratory birds like my stepson has done in the past.

We also had the opportunity to walk through town to window shop and see the horse drawn carriages.
 

Is there someplace you and your family like to visit on a regular basis for a relaxing day trip?

We have enjoyed visiting a local farm during the spring and also for pumpkin picking as well as Washington State Crossing park.

I linked up with the following blog(s):

Trips: Visit to a Farm

We are fortunate to live close enough to Creamy Acres Farms to take day trips (as well as holiday trips) with our family.


We have visited several times, including to pick pumpkins for Halloween and to see their light display at Christmas.

We recently visited to see the farm and play at their playground.

It is so much fun to visit their for the day!

They have a large herd of cattle, goats, ducks, chickens, pigs, a donkey, rabbits, and geese.  My daughter really enjoyed seeing the calves the most and was delighted when one licked her hand.

  

We all enjoyed seeing the different animals as well as watching the toddlers play on the wooden ship, swing set and tricycles in their playground.

They also have a large greenhouse.  On this trip we purchased some marigolds for my mom and a new Hosta for our own garden.

We hope to visit again in the near future as our children like Creamy Acres Farms.

Inspired by our visit to the farm? Want to check out more of my farm-related blog posts? You could make your own farm animals for a game of bowling, or a cute pig craft to hang up in your home, or perhaps you would like to read about another trip we took to the farm for Halloween?

Click the images below for the posts! 

Crafts: Paper Plate Lamb Masks

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Creating masks is a favorite craft time activity for my little ones.  This week we created lambs.

Materials

• cotton balls
• pink construction paper
• white paper plates
• white construction paper
• glue 
• scissors 
• Popsicle sticks 

Steps

1. Gather all materials.

2. Cut circle out of paper plate to create a mask.

3. Glue on cotton balls around edges to create fur.

4. Cut out ear shapes (pink and white).

5. Glue ears onto the back of the paper plates.

6. Attach a handle for the child to hold their mask.

Our lambs look a bit more like rabbits but that is okay with my kids.  They knew they were their lamb masks.  Just proves that kids don't really care about the end product, as long as everyone had fun during the process and got to spend time together.

And in the end, my daughter didn't want to use her mask for a photograph.

Resources

Danya Banya's Paper Plate Sheep Masks for Kids 
Teaching Nook's Animal Crafts (including a lamb mask)
Dollar Tree's In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb 

Looking for more activities for your preschooler or toddler? 

Work on fine motor skills by creating weather bottles or practice buttoning with a felt ribbon snake. 

Crafts: Paper Plate Pig

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Materials 

• paper plates 
• pink paint
• paint brushes
• googly eyes
• pink construction paper 
• black construction paper 
• pink pipe cleaners 
• scissors
• tape
• glue 

Steps 

1. Gather all your materials.

2. Paint the paper plates.

3. While paint is drying, cut out round face, nose, ears, feet and hooves from pink and black construction paper.

4. After the paint is dried, glue construction paper pieces onto the paper plate.

5. Glue googly eyes onto your pig's face.

6. Curl the pipe cleaner to make the pig's tail and then tape it onto the back of the plate.

7. Don't forget to add your child's name and date to the back of the paper plate.

Resources 

• The Baker Twins' Pig Craft 
• Activity Bucket's Paper Plate Pig Craft 
• Living on a Latte's Paper Plate Farm Animals 

Looking for more farm-related crafts and posts? 

Perhaps your children would like to make a sheep or even celebrate with a farm-themed party?