Archive for June 2009
Potty Training 101
Posted on: June 28, 2009
Surviving the economic recession is tough right now and everyone is trying to cut back on expenses. Well one area where money can be saved is for diapers. Now is a great time to potty train your child. Potty training a child requires dedication and consistency. But, it doesn’t have to take up all of your time. Whether you are a stay at home parent or a working parent, you don’t have to stress yourself out when the subject of potty training comes up. It actually just requires a weekend to get started. Check out these potty training tips .
Play Dough Recipes
Posted on: June 24, 2009
Okay, I absolutely LOVE to make Play Dough from scratch! I have always felt better about making it than buying it at the store. This is for a few reasons… First of all it’s a great project for kids to do. Second because I have spent so much time trying to stop young kids from EATING IT… 😛
Anyway, here are two cool recipes…
Ingredients for #1:
1 cup of flour
1 Kool-aid packet
2 tbsp cream of tarter
1 cup of water
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup of salt
Mix ingredients and cook over stove top on medium heat. It takes about 3 minutes… Be sure to let Playdough cool before play.
Here’s how our most recent batch came out using strawberry kool-aid mix…
The last recipe is made of peanut butter so please do not use this one if anyone has peanut allergies…
Ingredients for Recipe #2:
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of honey
Mix with your hands and you’re done… Quick and easy 🙂
Here are some pictures of our peanut butter playdough…
Home with the kids…
Posted on: June 18, 2009
Home with the kids… This is a topic that causes stress for many parents because they feel that they can’t get things done with the kids around. Well, you would be surprised how many things you can do with your children that are simply things that have to get done around the house. Kids love to do what adults do. That’s what dramatic play is all about. When you allow them to be a part of the things that they see you do everyday, they are extremely happy. Here are some examples of regular tasks that parents have to do that the kids will see as being fun.
Your kids see you clean up all the time. My kids absolutely love to help clean. The funny thing is, they don’t like to do it as a chore. They like it when I am doing it along side them and when it seems like it’s for fun. If I say “okay go clean your room”, they will not be interested but if I say “I’m going to clean the living room, who wants to help?” it turns into something totally different. Most kids enjoy simply being helpful and it makes it twice as fun because they are spending time with you.
The first example is washing the dishes… My daughters are a little older now so they are able to (for the most part) wash the dishes or load them into the dishwasher. When they were smaller I would let them wash the dishes and I would help them along. I would really be doing most of the washing but they didn’t mind as long as they were helping. As for the dishwasher I always let one put in the dish detergent while the other turns it on.
The second example is when I am washing and folding laundry. I don’t like to let my kids touch the clothes from the hamper, but I let them help put in the detergent and press the buttons (taking turns of course). When it’s time to put the clothes in the dryer, I let them help switch the clothes, add dryer sheets, and again press the start button. Once the clothes are done, they sometimes like to help fold them. Even if your child does not fold them properly just stack them up and continue folding the rest and let them put them away how they folded them. You can re-fold them later if need be. 😉
On the days where they are not interested in the folding part, I give them their own clothes to put away. My kids love to race so they try to see who can do it first. I usually have to call them in several times throughout laundry day, and surprisingly they are still just as excited to put their clothes away.
Cooking is also something you can let your kids help you with… When I cook I often call my daughters in to help. If I don’t they are usually right there asking. They are not allowed to really cook like as far as touching the stove or using knives, but I let them do as many little things as possible. When I am making something I let them add seasonings. Also I let them crack eggs into the bowl or stir things. They love to help with any and everything.
Another example is letting your kids help clean around the house. When my kids were little I would let them help me clean things around the house like tables. I wouldn’t give them actual cleaning products, so I’d put water on their paper towel and they would think they were really cleaning with something. They were so proud…
These are just a few examples to give you an idea of how to let your kids be helpful around the house. Just think when they are older, cleaning won’t seem like such a miserable task.
Movie night
Posted on: June 16, 2009
All kids love a good movie. But parents get tired of having their kids stare at the TV all day. Why not make movie night fun?
The first thing is to pick a movie. How can you get into a movie? With tickets of course… Using paper you can cut rectangle shapes and you and your children can make movie tickets. If you want, you can number the tickets so that people can “find their seats”. Next you can make your movie aisle. You can either get some red velvety fabric, simply use red construction paper, or even use a sheet, curtain, or blanket. If you choose to use fabric, cut it and make it like a red carpet. If you choose to use paper you can simply tape the pieces together.
Make the long carpet go right down the middle of the room towards the TV like a movie theatre aisle. You can put some folding chairs (or even kitchen chairs) lined up on either side of the carpet to make the room look like a theatre. Don’t forget to number the seats… You and your child can write large numbers on paper and tape them onto the seats to match the numbers on the tickets.
For food you can serve meals that are offered at movie theatres like nachos with cheese, hot dogs, popcorn and drinks. You can also buy some white lunch bags and as another project in preparation for the movie night use crayons, colored pencils, or markers to draw and color the red vertical stripes on the bag. This is to make them look like popcorn bags. If you’d rather not do the project you can simply buy popcorn to make and serve it in a bowl. It’s great if you have a popcorn maker because kids can actually see the popcorn popping. Another cool popcorn idea is to get the large popcorn bucket that they sell in the stores. You make the popcorn right from the bucket and it looks just like at the movies.
Now that you’ve got your movie theatre set up…Take your seats and enjoy the show…
Spa Day
Posted on: June 16, 2009
A fun activity that can be done at home is a Spa day… With this activity you and your child can do “pedicures” and “manicures” by simply using a large bowl or container. You and your child can soak your feet or hands in the bowl with some bubbles. If you have nail brushes or any other play brushes you can use that or just sort of massage the hands of feet in the water. After soaking you can file the nails or just apply lotion. (I usually use this as an opportunity to cut my children’s nails down too 😉 ) Next you and your child can take turns painting nails.
The next part of your relaxing day can be a facial. Start by playing some very relaxing music. If you have some soothing nature sound cds you can use that or even just find a station on the radio. I like to use music that has flutes playing in it for this activity. You can put cool whip on your faces as a mask and use cucumbers for your eyes. Next, you can either lay down on the floor or across chairs while you and your child enjoy your soothing “facial”.
When your facial is over rinse your faces and use a hand towel to blot your faces dry…
Kids Math Can Be Fun…
Posted on: June 16, 2009
Kids math can be fun. Here’s a cute idea that my daughter did at school and absolutely loved! One thing that my daughter’s teachers always do is ask for index cards at the beginning of the school year. My daughter always has to make her own math flash cards. She has done this with both multiplication and division. This has always made it easier for her to remember her facts. Kids have to concentrate on writing the problem so it seems to sink in better. I know for myself I have to write things down so that I won’t forget. We always have to remember that every child is different and what works for one may not work for others. For this reason I think learning is made so much easier when kids are given a variety of ways to do it.
Another idea that was use in my daughter’s school was to use learning math facts like a sticker chart for rewards. The teacher had a paper that had a large bowl of ice cream drawn on it that had a spoon in it and a cherry on top. On each scoop of ice cream, the spoon, the bowl, and the cherry was a different number to multiply by. (x1, x2, x3…) The kids used the flash cards to learn the facts and for example, when they learned the x1 facts they were able to color that scoop that said x1. The object of this activity was to encourage the kids to want to learn the facts. The kids were given a certain amount of time to complete these facts and at the end there would be a party. Whatever they had colored was what the child would get. If you only learned your x1’s and x2’s you would only get the bowl and spoon and so on and so forth.
I thought this was great because you could apply this idea to anything. An idea would be a pizza night. The slices and toppings could be where the facts go. You could add drinks and chips… Or you could do the same for a trip. You could make footsteps that lead to Disney world or a skating rink… whatever interests your child. You can get creative and do it according to what you’d like to plan for your own child.
My daughter LOVED this in school for multiplication and it can be used for other facts like addition, subrtaction, and division.
Have fun…
Here’s an idea that will give parents an opportunity to do a fun activity with their kids. I know a lot of activities require looking up and following directions, but I like this because it is always fun to find something that both kids and adults are interested in.
About a month ago I had some work to do around the house and the kids were asking for an activity to do so I sort of took care of two tasks in one.
Well, I had some plant cuttings rooting in water, so I thought why not let the kids be responsible for something besides the dog. 🙂 Since I had some small empty clay pots, I thought it might be fun for them to grow their own plants. I gave them paint and brushes and they spent some time carefully decorating them how they wanted.
When they were done, I let them help me by preparing plant food in the watering can and watering the plants around the house. We re-potted a few of the larger plants and by the time this was done their pots were pretty much dry.
I then I let them use the small gardening shovel to put potting soil in their painted clay pots. They put the rooted plants in the pots and added more dirt. This is something that they will need help with so it really gives you time to work together. When they were done we set the plants in the garden window and every couple of days the kids are responsible for watering their plants.
They love this and they now do it without me saying it. Also they are very proud of what they are growing and they show everyone that stops by. Great way to teach your kids responsibility.
A quick tip for a neat project that kids will love. If you’re anything like me, you’ve had one of those days where you want your kids to do something fun but you just don’t feel up for the mess that comes along with so many art projects. Well CONTACT PAPER COLLAGES are perfect! For those who have never used contact paper, it’s a clear paper that is sticky on one side. It comes on a roll.
When I do this project I like to tape the edges of the contact paper to the table with the sticky side facing up. The great thing about this project is that you can use any thing you want on it! I sometimes let the kids make a collage with feathers or confetti.
**A tip that you won’t want to forget is when you let your kids cut things out, keep the scraps. You can cut them into small pieces andstore them in a ziploc bag or even an empty wipe container. These scraps can be used for contact paper collages especially when you’re running low on art supplies. These scraps are also great for regular paper collages.
When making this collage, kids can randomly stick things on the contact paper. Older kids may like to make a particular picture out of the scraps. When your child has created his or her masterpiece, you can stick the collage to the window… and guess what? No tape… AND… No mess to clean up… Have fun!
Quality time with your kids
Posted on: June 10, 2009
Just a thought I wanted to share… Everyone that I mention this to is so surprised to hear this because I have worked with children for so long. The topic is quality time. When I gave birth to my first daughter my life changed drastically. Everything that I was used to doing was put on hold. Many people could not believe I became this way, because it was never an issue of who would watch the kids. I had a few people who would have taken them at any given moment. I just wanted to spend all the time I could with them.
Well I was actually born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and as anyone who has ever lived there may know, life for many people pretty much revolves around work. Working in childcare I saw so many parents that worked long hours and their children were spending majority of their time in daycare. So many parents worried that they were missing out when this happened, but I want all of you out there who feel this way to know that you don’t have to.
As I was saying before, I spent every minute of my time with my girls, and the funny thing is it wasn’t until recently that I realized it wasn’t about the amount of time spent but rather WHAT we were doing when we were together. These are the things that matter most to kids. These are the memories that will last forever.
I have made it a point to play games with my kids or at least just sit down and read books or watch a show together. Many kids watch TV quite often. This is something that we all know kids do. So if that’s what they are doing at times, it becomes something different if we sit down with them. It is always great to get involved in something that OUR KIDS love to do. This allows us to become involved in a part of their world. I don’t mean just sitting next to them while you’re on the phone or reading a book, I mean laying at the bottom of the bed and talking about the TV show or movie and just hanging out together.
I always talk to my kids about any and everything throughout the day, but I still smile when I am listening to them talk because they amaze me with how much they know and just to see their own little personalities. It probably sounds weird, but sometimes I do that and my kids are like “Mommy… what?”. 🙂
Anyway, the message I want to get across is just that for the many parents out there who can’t spend as much time with their kids as they would like, it’s not about being there every second of the day. That is just not realistic for the average parent. When you DO get time with your kids just make it QUALITY TIME.
Hanging out at the lake
Posted on: June 9, 2009
Today was a great day! The weather was beautiful and we decided to head over to the lake with all of the family. We started out by having a nice little picnic lunch. The kids played at the playground (meanwhile, as usual I snapped pictures of EVERYTHING… hee hee).
There was also another section of the playground where the kids wanted to play. When we went over to the area to our surprise it was actually workout equipment… Yes, outside at the lake! I thought that was such a great idea… It was set right by the playground area so parents could get a workout in while the children do the same by playing on swings and climbing structures. GENIUS!!!
Anywho, the kids had a great time in the water. They spotted fish and turtles, and the ducks were up close and personal too. We stayed and hung out for about 4 hours. And guess what the kids slept the entire way home… 🙂 What a day!
Stay Home With Your Kids 