Guest Post: Ginger from Literally Inspired

Today I would like to introduce my friend {Gin}ger over at Literally Inspired.  I love Ginger's blog because I always find inspiration when I'm there.  Y'all are in for a real treat today, so enjoy!
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it feels like home over here!
in real life gin and i would definitely hang out on the regular.
our husbands would drink beer together.
and our boys would have the most awesome play dates.

for those of you who don't know me, my name is ginger and i blog over at literally inspired.
i run a mixed bag kind of blog.
the premise of literally inspired is to share my love of books.
sound nerdy enough for you?
don't worry i also share awesome crafts and diy projects too.

a couple of weeks ago gin asked me what she can do to get toph crafting.
i am still new in the parenting game so i really had to think about it.
my son doesn't like to get his hands dirty, like at all, so we didn't do very many crafts his first year.
i did get him to finger paint once.

he makes me smile.

i like to use books to influence my crafting so why not do the same for my child.
at his daycare he will learn a new word and then do an art project to actualize the word.

here are five books and five craft ideas i came up with:

[ read ] the hungry caterpillar

[ activity ] egg carton caterpillars and coffee filter butterflies

directions and source

[ read ]  i love you through and through

[ activity ] 
make labels for your eyes, nose, ears, mouth and have your child "label" a photo of themselves.
you could also print out photos of your child exhibiting different emotions.

[ read ] are you my mother?

[ activity ]
create flash cards of "mommy" and "baby" animals and make a match game. have your child color the photos and glue them to the flash cards. make sure to include the name of each animal along with the photo on each card.

[ read ] buzz

[ activity ]

make paper plate bees

note: this book has a fantastic underlying moral story about what bees shouldn't be able to do but they do it anyways.

directions and source

[ read ]  the best time of day

[ activity ]

make your own clock out of construction paper or a paper plate.
along with the times of day, add a photo of the activity your child does at that time.

i could go on with more ideas.

there are so many great children books out there.

i hope this post will inspire you to head to the library, read a few books to your kids, and then create an awesome project that will get your kids excited about reading.

thanks again for having me gin!

i hope to see some of you around literally inspired!

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I think Ginger would do just fine as a teacher, don't you think?  Not only will I use these awesome ideas with my boy, but with my kiddos too.

Thanks Ginger!!