Favorites – This Blessed Mama

PicassoTiles!

Recently, we found the BEST toy set!

PicassoTiles is a company that makes amazing, fun, interactive magnet sets that are not only fun for all ages, but educational, too!

We received the 40 piece Mini Diamond Series set. It came with 4 isosceles triangles, 16 squares, 12 equilateral triangles, and 8 right triangles. The tiles are embedded with magnets all along the edges and are very sturdy! We have built towers, rockets, animals, and so much more!

These tiles are wonderful! My kids love to play with them and will do so for hours! The possibilities are literally endless. The can build flat designs, 3D designs, shine light through them, use them on the refrigerator, etc. if they can dream it then can do it! These are amazing to teach children how to play and be creative on their own, or fun for the whole family!

And one of the best parts? They are so easy to pick up, organize, and they are compact, when stored! Check out PicassoTiles.com or check them out on amazon! You’re kids (and you😉) will love these! 😍

8 of our Favorite Educational Toddler Apps!

Any busy parent of toddlers can tell you that having a few fun apps on your phone or an iPad can be a real lifesaver! But, it can be stressful worrying about which apps are appropriate for your toddler and whether or not you should allow screen time at all.

Technology can be used as a tool when boundaries are set in place; so, I’ve compiled a list of our favorite educational toddler apps that are great for teaching, inspiring, and engaging young minds!

1. ABC mouse

ABC mouse has quickly become one of our favorite apps for kids! From the colorful kindergarten classroom home page and learning zoo to interactive books and songs, there are so many choices that will engage most Pre-K and early elementary-age kids while teaching them all about math, reading, science, social studies, art, and music!

Price: 9.95 per month or $79.99 per year!

– 30 day free trial offered!

2. Vooks

Vooks is a kid-friendly, ad-free digital library of animated books for young kids. Each story is read aloud and animated, allowing kids to read along as they watch! My kids love to be read books, so this one is so great for them!

Price: 4.99 per month

– 30 day free trial offered!

3. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

This app is great for teaching young children basic reasoning skills and keeps them entertained with a simple to play interface! I love the variety of little games that teaches colors, shapes, letters, and counting!

Price: $1.99 to download the app

4. Avokiddo

Acokiddo is extremely interactive! Kids are able to “bike” along side Beck or Bo through 26 interactive scenes loaded with fun preschool activities and puzzles! This app teaches letter recognition, names, and basic phonics. It also enhances creative thinking and problem solving.

Price: $2.99 (no in-app purchases)

5. PBSkids

This app is seriously AMAZING! You can watch all your favorite PBSkids shows! Fun literacy & stem, safe, and educational videos and clips! New videos every week including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Odd squad, Super Why!, Sesame Street, Curious George, and so many more!

Price: Stream the PBSkids channel on the app for FREE! No subscription or login required.

6. The Wheels on the Bus Musical

A super fun, all-in-one activity center for children! With 11 beautiful and colorful verses filled with fun interactions, your children can play, sing, and learn at the same time!

Price: Download for free

– Full version with all features: $7.99

7. Learning Games for Toddlers

This app is a great way for kids to learn ABC’s, letter names, shapes, and spelling! This app was built for independent exploration, so it’s easy for children to navigate on their own or with a parent’s help/ guidance! Positive reinforcement and colorful illustrations really make this app great for children!

Price: Free to download

– $2.99 to unlock all features

8. Elmo loves ABC’s

Explore the alphabet with Elmo! This app is songs, videos, coloring pages, and games about letters! Slide, swipe, touch, and trace to discover over eighty classic Sesame Street clips!

Price: $4.99 to download

~ So there you have it! My list of toddler emergency apps that will not only entertain your little one, but teach them something, too!

Our experience at Little Land

Little Land Play gym is easily one of our favorite indoor play places to take the kids! This Little Land is located in Tyler, Texas but they have many other locations throughout Texas. Both of the kids always play for hours and they even have an area for babies like A!

What is Little Land?

Little Land is an amazing, fun indoor play place that offers a unique experience for kids to not only have a blast, but also develop and grow. Each component of their gym was designed by pediatric development experts! They’re committed to being a place where kids can just be kids while also focusing on fine motor skills, gross motor skills, speech and language, social and sensory development and so much more while offering an unstructured place for family fun.

Our experience:

Every time we go to Little Land, each of the kids find something they love to do separately and together. Their open play area is separated by small gates throughout. I absolutely love this because it creates different places for different ages and abilities. There is a big open play area complete with so many fun things for all ages! Then, there is a smaller area for smaller babies (any age can play here but its perfect for littles that are just learning to toddler around). Did I mention all of their equipment is safe for up to 300 pounds? That’s so great for my husband and I because our kids love for us to be right there with them while they play. They also have a café (with FREE wifi) and benches for parents who would like to relax while their kids play! Each time we go is like a completely new experience because there are so many different toys and activities.

Our favorite things:

Pediatric Steamroller Ramp: The name is pretty self explanatory, but this giant steamroller ramp is perfect for both of my kids that crave what we call “heavy work”! They can scoot on their bellies, backsides, or bottoms! This ramp makes EJ feel so brave and provides her with body awareness and calming, sensory pressure stimulation!

The Black-light Room: This is a separate room closed off by a curtain. There is a bubble tube column, a white ball pit, and super fun outer space paintings. The best part? It all GLOWS! The kid’s clothes will also glow if they’re white or a light color. This room is definitely one of EJ’s favorites, she cracks up when she realizes her socks are glowing.

Giant Pin Art Impression and Giant Lite Brite Wall: These toys are my personal favorite because they make me think back to my childhood! There are giant versions of the popular kid toys! The giant pin impression is so fun because instead of just your hand, you can imprint your entire body!

3-in-1 Barrel swing: This swing is a blast! R and EJ love to take turns spinning in circles in this barrel swing! Fast or slow, their faces always light up when they spin in this!!

Platform Swing: This swing is my personal favorite to do with A. I can lay down in the swing with her or the kids can sit on it and swing high.

Ball Pits: Little land has 3 ball pits! One giant one in the open play area, one smaller one in the littles area, and one in the black light room! The ball pits are our family’s favorite thing in little land to do all together! We all have such a blast jumping straight into the ball pits. The kids love to be buried underneath the balls! The bright colored balls are so fun for A.

Ball Wall: This wall is so much fun! There are different tunnels to put the balls in and air sucks them up and through! Each tunnel is different and the kids love to watch as the balls fly through loops and down through the tubes.

Playground: Inside little land is an entire playground! There’s a climbing wall, bridge, slide, and even monkey bars. Such a great and safe playground surrounded by squishy bean bag pads all around. This is perfect for R because he likes to randomly jump off of high places and he’ll land right on the bean bags!

Toy Area: In this separate area, there is a check-out stand complete with food, a wall of interlocking gears, and so many toy options ranging from princess castles to race car tracks and so much more! This is a calm space for all ages and is separated by an open fence from the large open play area. The check out stand is one of EJ and R’s favorite things to do together! They always pretend to sell ice cream and other groceries to each other.

Little Land is such a fun indoor play gym and is perfect for any weather. We’ve gone while it’s storming, while it’s burning up outside, and just on a typical day and we always are so happy that we do! Little Land has become one of our favorite things to do together as a family. Their calm, inviting atmosphere always makes us feel welcome and the employees are always so helpful and kind. I recommend it for all families with children any age!

Diaper Bag Essentials (with links!)

When it comes to new babies there can be a lot of new, unfamiliar things to learn. Learning how to change diapers, how to swaddle, and getting ready to take your baby out in public. One of the most important questions you may be wondering: what do you REALLY need to pack in your diaper bag?? We all know the basics: diapers, wipes, changing pad. As a first time mom, though, there were so many things that I didn’t even think about until I needed them! Here are 13 of my must-have diaper bag essentials!

A change of clothes: There will come a time when that unexpected blow out happens, or your baby will spit up all over their new outfit. That’s when a change of clothes, maybe even two, will save your day. I love these button up sleepers by Carter’s! They’re super convenient and warm!
Receiving blankets: I like to pack a receiving blanket to have with me on outings for added warmth or for everything from laying baby down at the park to shielding baby from the sun in the stroller. These simple swaddles work well, because they’re not too bulky but provide good protection.
Diaper Clutch and mini baby bum brush: Okay, if you haven’t seen these before, you need to go purchase one right this minute! The clutch is perfect for on the go changing when you don’t want to take in your entire diaper bag and even has a built in compartment for your wipes, a spot for your diapers, and your bum brush! The bum brush is an easy way to apply diaper rash cream mess free! TARA20 gets you a discount at checkout!
Extra pacifiers: My daughter loves her pacifier so we always have a couple extra packed in case we lose one or drop one and don’t have time to rinse it off. These Evenflo pacis are her favorite.
Changing pad: Aside from the fact that the changing table in a public bathroom is probably not where you want to put your baby’s bare bum, a lot of restrooms don’t even have a changing table, so having a portable changing pad is very convenient. Plus, I use mine as a mat to lay on at the park. The mat I have is an older one, so I linked one very similar here.
Extra socks: These are great to go with onesies when its a little chilly outside.
Formula dispensers: If you’re formula feeding you don’t want to carry around a whole can with you. These are so convenient and great for travel as you simply mix each feed as you need it.
Bottles: Again, if formula feeding you’ll need bottles and water to take with you on outings. We use doctor brown’s bottles and pre-fill however many ounces of water baby needs.
Teether: Once your baby starts teething, Sophie La Girafe is very flexible and has lots of parts for baby to chew. She is perfect for soothing baby’s sore gums when teething!
Wipes: You always need wipes- from cleaning up blow outs and wet diapers to wiping whatever gunk ends up on baby’s face. We love the up and up fragrance free from target. The price is great and they are the softest wipes we have tried.
Diapers: You should plan to have 1-2 diapers for every hour you’ll be out. Plus I always pack a couple extra in case of multiple blowouts. Pampers work best for my sensitive baby.
Diaper rash cream: My baby’s have always been prone to get diaper rashes from poopy diapers incredibly fast, so I always try to keep diaper rash cream on hand. We get ours from a local seller, called Tushie Cream, but Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is definitely a close second!
Burp cloths: For everything from spit up to boogers to drool while teething, burp cloths are one of the things I reach for a lot in my diaper bag. They’re also made to be softer on baby’s face than a towel or napkin.

**I also have two toddlers, so when I need to pack a bag for all three of my kids, I add an extra outfit, extra undies for my 3 year old and extra diapers for my 2 year old, some snacks, and sippy cups for them.

I purchased my diaper bag off a Facebook group, but I have linked a similar one here. I love this diaper bag! It has multiple pockets, and tons of storage.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope this helped you prepare your diaper bag for your outings with your new baby! ❤️