The Wonder Years shares many Montessori-inspired activities that can be made at home. This lacing board is simple to make and is perfect to help your preschooler practice his lacing skills. Click here to learn how to make one AND how to introduce the activity to your child!

Peixinhos No Sotao shares a simple play mat idea for playing cars. She offers a basic template, so you can keep it simple or jazz it up as you wish! See it here!

Love this toy dump truck made from recyclables! See Origami Mommy for the details!

I love making skirts for my girls and now I have another to add to my list! Treasures for Tots made this adorable skirt for her little girl and has put together a great tutorial for those interested in making one. Hop on over here to check it out!

This super-fun homemade toy from Julie K in Taiwan is a fabulous way to let your little ones practice screwing the tops on and off of bottles without losing the caps. Perfect for car rides! Check it out here!

These rag quilt letters from Happy Together are so bright and colorful…I think any child would be instantly attracted to them! Click here for the tut!

You can make a fun and relaxing retreat for your littles with the help of a bed sheet! Craft Addictions explains how she created hers here!

Just for Fun With Sandy shares a super-simple way to make bathtub paints…so simple you may wonder why you haven’t tried it before! Click here for the details!

Here’s a clever way to gain some more miles from those baby britches you’ve been hanging on to. Blueprints shows how to turn them into underwear for your preschooler! They also make great underwear cover-ups for little girls in skirts and dresses. Click here for the tutorial!

Lil Blue Boo shares how she repurposed an adult-sized t-shirt to make this adorable outfit for her daughter! I love how she made use of the shirt’s image as appliqué for the tank and skirt. Such a fabulous redo, I just love it! You can find the how-to here!

Brassy Apple made this I Spy Book as part of her self-hosted “creativity for the car” summer craft challenge. It’s such a simple idea, but one that the kids will love!  You can see how she made it, plus check out what others have made for the car, right here!

Mommy Blessings shares a great tutorial for making fairy wings from wire hanger and women’s nylons! Take a look here!

Here are some fun ways to give the gift of crafting to your kiddos (and their friends!):

Silly Putty Kit from Havin’ Fun Yet

Doll Quilt Kit from Craftstylish

Clothespin Doll Kit from Mama Urchin

Hand-stitched Teddy Bear Kit from Chica and Jo

Collage Kit from The Toby Show

Cookie-Baking Kit from Simple Green Frugal Co-Op

Busy Books are very popular right now…for good reason. They’re compact and loaded with fun things for littles to do while (hopefully) sitting quietly. If you’ve been thinking about making one but are at a loss for ideas, be sure to check out Little Hands Big Work. I love the pages in her most recent book. I think my favorite page is this key and lock challenge:

This would keep my girls busy for quite some time! Go here to see the “Bitty Busy Book” and find more ideas in her original, “Big Busy Book”

This work apron from Urban Organica is sure to be a hit with any child who LOVES pockets! Go here and follow the photo tutorial to make one for your own kiddo!

This dress and top pattern from Fiddlehead are so stinkin’ cute and are perfect for staying cool this summer. She has the size listed as 24 months, but with a little adjusting you could make yours bigger or smaller, as needed. Go here for the free pattern and make one for your own little munchkin!

The first day of Summer is just a couple days away! Here are some fun ideas to help get you through these long days!

Count down the weeks of summer with this Sunshine Patterning Activity from Her Cup Overfloweth!

Make and Takes has a great list of items to keep handy for summer crafting. Bag them up for your own Tub O’ Fun!

Let’s Explore is sharing the contents of their Summer Fun Bags beginning with this tangram kit!

Get the kids outdoors for this fun Backyard Alphabet Hunt from Teach Mama!

Follow along with The Long Thread’s Summer Reading Crafts, beginning with the story of Elmer!

Create a fairy fantasy land in your backyard. Here’s a lovely example from And Everything Nice:

Frame a doorway with the items on your summer activity list written on die-cuts. Then take them off as you complete them! Check out the Doorway into Summer at The Artful Parent.

I love this set of personalized name blocks from Melissa at Chasing Cheerios!. These would make a great gift for any child, especially those just learning to spell their name. What a fun way to practice putting the letters in the right order! Older kids could take it a step further by rearranging the letters to see how many words they can spell using the letters in their name, and the younger ones could simply enjoy stacking and playing with the colorful blocks! Go to Chasing Cheerios for the how-to!

A simple IKEA hack turned this rail and hook system into the perfect dress-up storage solution. You can learn more at Memories Are The Scraps of Life! (via IKEA Hacker)

Just Tutorials shares a free pattern and tutorial for making your own baby or toddler bloomers. I love that you can just use and old t-shirt to make these! So cute! Find the info here! (via Craft Gossip)

If you’re planning a circus party any time soon, be sure to stop by Craft Jr. and take a look at their free printables. They’re offering this favor box as a free download in addition to animal masks, circus letters, coloring pages, and more!

Dot at Dabbled recently held the coolest dragon party for her son with many DIY details, including this amazing dragon cake. You can find a tutorial for making the cake here. She’s also sharing a tutorial for making dragon wings…  PLUS…downloads for the invitations and thank you notes she designed! Now you have everything you need to have your own dragon-themed bash!

This Little Project has been making the most darling playscapes based on some of the familiar surroundings of her family. They look great and what a perfect way to look back at recent events with your children and discuss them in more detail! Fabulous idea! Currently, she has created scenes for the park, the library, the post office, and the pool!

These finger puppets from Scribbit are too funny! They’re made from pasta and various crafting materials and they’re totally adorable! Don’t they look like a ton of fun?! Go see more here!

This little sea monster glove is a great way to make use of a lonely glove while making something fun for the kiddos to play with. Crafts and Creations with KMOM14 has a tutorial on her blog!