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!

Here’s a fun and easy way to add custom stamps to your child’s art supplies! Go check out Mel’s Own Place for a tutorial on making these stamps using bottle caps!

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!

One Inch World has discovered that juice tops are sturdy enough to make excellent custom sewing cards for your little crafters! Click here for more!

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!

Here’s a simple way to help your kiddos practice their counting skills (with a little fine motor thrown in for good measure)! It’s a cinch to make and you probably already have everything you need! Check out Naptime Journal for the details!

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!

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”

Mother Earth shares the dream catchers she recently made for her daughters to hang over their beds. This one is really beautiful and would be a great to make for or with your kids to accompany a lesson on Native Americans. Learn how to make one here!

Shannon, from luvinthemommyhood has posted a tutorial for making bibs out of placemats! I love this idea. Placemats are designed to be durable, plus you can find some really gorgeous prints nowadays! Even if you don’t have little ones, bibs are always a practical gift for new moms! You can find the tutorial at Nouvelle Mama!

This play dough looks so inviting, doesn’t it? I love the soft colors! Click on over to LMNOP for the recipe!

Trixi, from Coloured Buttons, has been coming up with some really amazing kid toys using matchboxes as her foundation. This doll house is incredible with all of its tiny details, plus she’s added a bit of ribbon going through the roof making it highly portable (and fun to wear)!

She didn’t stop with this dollhouse. In fact, she challenged herself to complete weekly matchbox crafts for a month! This tiny rock theatre is another one of her creations:

Her other matchbox projects include a board game and matchbox bugs! I hope you’ll check out all of her matchbox crafts. You will surely come away inspired!

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)

How sweet are these pipe cleaner fairies from 5 Orange Potatoes? They would go perfect in a backyard fairy garden! Click here to learn how to make the fairies.

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!