Michele Giannattasio, Author at The Practical Parents

All Posts by Michele Giannattasio

Banana Sushi {Healthy Toddler Snack Idea}

I have a toddler that LOVES to snack. Snack time is easily her favorite time of the day. Her little palate prefers sweet snacks over savory, so I’m always looking for easy snack ideas that will satisfy her sweet tooth. Fruit is an obvious choice of snack in this instance. However, eating the same plain fruits […]

Weekly Meal Planner {Freebie}

One of my goals for this new year is to create healthy habits. One habit in particular that I first want to focus on is healthy meal planning and food prepping on a weekly basis. I typically go grocery shopping every week. I have a general list of key foods and ingredients that we typically […]

Washi Tape Activity Track

Today was one of the coldest days of the year! When I woke up this morning it was 12°F, so I knew I needed to come up with some entertaining indoor activities for the afternoon. Creating a washi tape track is such a simple activity that can have a million different variations, depending on the age […]

Healthy Three Ingredient Cookies

What do you do when you have overripe bananas that you need to use? Make some healthy cookies of course! These cookies are made with only three main ingredients; bananas, oatmeal, and peanut butter. In fact, you can even make them with just TWO ingredient if you omit the peanut butter, but I mean… we’re […]

Printable Christmas Tags {Freebie}

‘Tis the season to start wrapping presents! Today during nap time, I decided to be proactive and start wrapping some holiday gifts. Since I usually wait until Christmas Eve to do my wrapping, I was very proud of myself for trying to get a head start this year. Year after year, I typically just bust […]

Toddler Gift Guide {1-4 years}

After my last post where I shared my Infant Gift Guide, I had many requests to create a gift guide for toddlers as well. So here it is! All of the gifts on these guides are items I’ve either purchased or used myself, had recommended to me by friends and/or family, or plan to […]

Infant Gift Guide {0-12 months}

With the holidays only a few short weeks away, we’re all scrambling to get our last minute shopping done. In an effort to help alleviate the stress of not knowing what to buy for your young children or relatives, I’ve put together a guide of various gifts ideas that babies from only a few weeks […]

Cookie Cutter Play Dough Activity

What child doesn’t love playing with play dough? There’s a reason it’s been such a popular toy for so many years. Not only is play dough excellent for encouraging imaginary play, but it also helps improve fine motor development too. When those tiny hands squash, roll, flatten, chop, poke, and stack the dough, they are […]

How to Involve Your Kids in the Kitchen

I’ve always loved to cook. Cooking is an outlet I use to relax and express my creativity. You can regularly find me watching the Food Network any time my TV is on. I mean, what’s better than a Chopped or Chopped Jr. marathon on a lazy Sunday? Since I love cooking, we usually eat home cooked […]

Sensory Leaf Pile Play

One perfect fall afternoon, I took Taylor to the playground to run around and play. However, much to my surprise, she wasn’t interested in playing on the playground at all that day, which is rare for her! She kept gravitating toward this pile of leaves in the very corner of the fence. She thought it […]

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