Today I felt like a pretty good Mommy.

I started bringing the boys’ crafty stuff out of their closets, starting with Moon Sand. If you remember my previous gripes right after the holidays about Moon Sand, now I can set them out on the back patio and cleaning up is an absolute minimum!

Yay!

(The loss rate is still about the same, though.)

I also discovered a new craft addiction: Perler Beads! You’ve probably seen these around, they’ve been around for years. It’s a great exercise to improve fine motor skills. I first saw Perler Bead crafts actually being made during Jake’s ice skating camp back in June/July. It’s one of the activities the kids could do before/after camp actually started. Jake wasn’t that interested, though.

I was browsing our local Hobby Lobby on Tuesday and saw an area featuring little starter kits for $7.99 each. I had a coupon (of course) so it was more like $5 for a transportation-based kit: about 2200 beads and 3 assembly trays.

I brought it home and it was instantly a big hit with Timmy. He and I worked on vehicles for over an hour — together! With no TV, computer or other distractions. I was VERY impressed with Timmy’s attention span and even more impressed with his dexterity. Those beads are LITTLE….

…and they get everywhere. I bumped a tray full of beads earlier today and spilled them all over our living room! I was able to gather up most of them, the rest can come up when I vacuum.

As for Jake, he was less impressed. To be honest, not many things are impressing him right now. He used to be so happy about everything. Now he’s blase’, unless it’s Star Wars…

Anyway, between Timmy and me, we’ve made a bunch of items…he’s really enjoying it! Mostly I will outline a particular color — such as the bottom of the sailboat — and he fills in the rest.

After school today, Jake, Timmy and I made this satellite (Jake’s choice). We downloaded the pattern from the website. Jake did the body of the satellite, Timmy and I did the solar panels. We ran out of gray beads.

So there’s my shameless pitch — Perler Beads are quite cool, and I’m pleased to have found an activity that’s commanding Timmy’s attention besides TV and Webkinz on the computer.