{ i spy a diy - help for mr. cranky pants }

I'm blessed to have a three-and-a-half year old who still voluntary takes a daily nap.  Most days Happy Jack wakes up from naps, well, happy.  But some days he wakes up an irritable mess.  It's no fun. No fun at all.  To help deal with this fussiness, and keep the tears to a minimum, I brainstormed and came up with a "quiet jar" full of special post-nap activities.  It has really worked wonders!  I've crafted up a couple of fun new favorites in the last few days.

My friend, Julie, in all of her children's librarian awesomeness, came up with this great "decorate an Autumn tree" flannel board idea. 
So simple and cute.
Felt shapes + kiddo + imagination = FUN.

It was a real hit with Jack.  I couldn't believe how his case of the grumpies faded away after just a few minutes of playing with it.

He loved this one too.  I think I saw it on Pinterest originally.  It's a super-easy-to-make color matching activity.  All you need is paint chips (you'll need duplicates of the same cards), small clothespins, glue and scissors for this one.
 The how-to is pretty self-explanatory, I think.  This activity can be a bit tricky, so Jack is always completely elated with himself when he successfully matches all the pins to the appropriate shades of color.

Our quiet jar has been a real lifesaver for us.  If you're interested in more ideas like these, you can find several more quiet activities here.

Happy Monday, everybody!