Do the Holidays Ever End?

Okay, I admit it. New Year's Eve completely snuck up on me. In celebration of (or recovery thereof) I will not be posting activities for tomorrow. Have a great day with your family. If you need something to do with your kids, then take a trip down memory lane. Look at photos from 2007 and remember all the great times you had together.

Happy New Year!

Fun Farm Frolicking

Welcome back! I hope you all had great holidays and you are sufficiently recovered and ready for the arrival of the new year. We are going to start out simply this week since it has been such a busy time of the year.

Music Time: Sing Old MacDonald had a Farm with your kids.

Craft Time: Make paper bag puppets. Try making farm animals like a cow, pig, sheep, or chicken. You can do this by decorating the bags with construction paper cutouts or get more creative with other art supplies. (ex: buttons, yarn, glitter, etc.)

Story Time: Read books about farm animals.

Outdoor Time: Have your kids pretend to be different farm animals.

Art Time: Have your kids draw and color a farm scene. If you have really young artists at home, find them a coloring page with farm animals and just have them do the coloring.

Indoor Time: Put on a puppet show. If you have puppets, you can use them. Otherwise, use the puppets you made at craft time.

Carnival of SAHMs - December 23, 2007

Welcome to the December 23, 2007 edition of Carnival of SAHMs. Sorry the posting is so late, but at least I am getting it in on the right day! Life has been CRAZY here with the addition of our 6 year old nephew to the kid crew. I was telling my brother-in-law that I had to go post a blog carnival and he said, "I don't even know what a blog is...I'm thinking it's some sort of high heel shoe with goldfish in it, but I'm not sure." Do you know people that react the same way when you talk about blogging?! Well, on with the carnival...there is a lot of good reading here for you this week.

Did you ever wonder if you are the only mom that lives a crazy life? Well wonder no more! Dana presents And the toilet saga continues posted at Principled Discovery.

Okay, I must live under a rock. I had no idea there was even a product called the Keeper. Whether you know what it is or not, you can find out from one who's been there and done that. Stephanie presents The Keeper - A Three Month Review posted at Stop the Ride!.

Tea Party Girl presents Why I Said ‘No’ So I Could Say ‘Yes’ posted at Tea Party Girl, saying, "Blessed December to every SaHM! I hope this article helps you choose little ways you too can be nurtured this season." I thought this was a refreshing point of view considering I have a little girl turning 3 next month and she doesn't take tumbling, dance, karate, swim lessons, piano, gymboree, etc., etc.

Lauren Franklin presents Once upon a time... posted at Finding my mommy voice. Come read about the start of Lauren's journey as a mom.

Need a good laugh? Here you go! Jenny Rapson presents Dirty Phonics on the Bathroom Wall posted at Mommin' It Up!.

Lisa Clauson presents How to Teach Children to Say Thank You posted at Lil Duck Duck. Thanks, Lisa, for some creative ideas for thank you's. Very timely with Christmas this week!

Spillay presents Christmas is coming! posted at A Pot of Gold. A nice read to help remember why, as moms, we run around like crazy this time of year.

Dolfin presents Book Review - Hanukkah posted at Lionden Landing, saying, "Holiday wrapup - A book review of Hanukkah" This is a nice post comparing several books on Hanukkah. Dolfin has done the footwork so you don't have to.

WhatWorksForMom presents Scrooged posted at What Works For Us. Ai-carumba! This is one of those stories that makes you question what you would do in the same situation.

This is a REAL quick tidbit. Wenchypoo presents Food Absurdity of the Millenium posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket, saying, "Some entertainment for you--food to AVOID. This product is perfect for the inept cook who can't boil water without burning it. I found this buried in my health food store's online catalog."

Here's a little glimpse into a the life of a SAHM from New Jersey. Jenny presents My Little Guitar Hero posted at the so called me.

Alison presents Preschool For a Fraction of the Cost posted at This Wasn't in The Plan.
Cool! That was my reaction to this idea. It's on my list of things to look into.

Last but not least, here is an experienced mom sharing her wisdom on sleep training. We did something similar with our first, but unfortunately, waaaay too late in the game after far too long without sleep. Fussy Fussypants presents How to get your baby to sleep through the night posted at Mrs. Fussypants Guide to Life, saying, "Hope y'all enjoy!"

I too, hope you all enjoyed this edition of the SAHM carnival. A very merry Christmas and may you find the perfect gift in your children's smiles on Christmas morning.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of sahms using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of sahms, blog carnival.

Keeping it Clean

A little blog housekeeping first - tomorrow is Favorites Friday, so you get to repeat your children's favorite activities from the week. I won't be posting the Daily Grind next week for a couple of reasons. One, we have family coming in for the holidays so it promises to be quite hectic around here. Two, I don't think most people are going to have a problem finding ways to keep the kids entertained next week. For most of us, the kids are going to have a bunch of new toys to keep them happily engaged for the week. But, I will be hosting the SAHM Blog Carnival this Sunday. Be sure to check back in and see what moms are contributing this week for your reading pleasure.

And, since I mentioned it a looooong time ago, I thought I would post my cleaning schedule for those of you who can't get enough of schedules. This schedule is designed to keep your house clean - NOT spotless. Go see Martha Stewart if you need a spotless house....better yet, go see a shrink. You need to get your priorities in order. Spotless homes and small children are not congruent. If you fail to get everything done everyday, then at the very least your home will be tidy. This far surpasses the (total chaos)(pit of despair) mess that reigns without some sort of schedule in my home.

Being an accountant by trade, I am an excel freak. So my schedule is posted as a spreadsheet on my refrigerator. Feel free to write it up in whatever way works for you. You could use index cards for each day/category, make a list then laminate it, write it on a white board where you can check it off as you go...the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Here is my schedule:

DAILY: Straighten all rooms
Do dishes and put away
Make beds
Plan meals
Do a load of laundry
Wipe bathroom sinks
Wipe down shower after use
Clean stove/oven as needed
Pay bills
Water plants/garden
Feed/water pets

WEEKLY -
MONDAY: Empty wastebaskets/take trash out
Sweep kitchen floor
Spot-clean walls/floors
Change bed sheets
Choose a monthly task
TUESDAY: Clean kitchen sink
Clean bathroom mirrors
Clean toilets
Clean ceiling fans
Choose a monthly task
WEDNESDAY: Empty wastebaskets
Clean toaster, microwave, coffeemaker (i.e. regularly used small appliances)
Wipe cabinets/appliances
Sweep/mop downstairs
THURSDAY: Clean kitchen sink
Clean bathroom mirrors
Clean showers Spot-clean floors
FRIDAY: Empty wastebaskets
Dusting Sweep/mop upstairs
SATURDAY: Clean kitchen sink
Choose 1-2 monthly, bi-monthly, bi-annual, or yearly tasks

MONTHLY: 2x - dust out of reach areas/polish
Check dryer vents
Vacuum in/on/under furniture
Clean refrigerator inside/top/under
Wash kitchen curtains
Turn mattresses
Wash garbage cans
Wash windows inside

EVERY OTHER MONTH: Dust blinds
Wax floors
Clean kitchen drawers/cupboards
Wash curtains
Wash whole stove
Wash windows outside
Baking soda in drains to clear sinks
Clean throw rugs

BI-ANNUALLY: Carpets cleaned
Rotate seasonal clothes
Clean closets/drawers
Check smoke detectors/replace batteries (do at daylight saving time each year is an easy way to remember)

YEARLY: AC/heating system maintenance
Wash walls
Wash blinds

I know, I know....it seems overwhelming. But the reality is, you are doing most of this anyway. You just didn't realize how much you were juggling every day/week. Or you did, and it made you want to fake your own death and disappear to a tropical island somewhere. Utilizing this schedule will help it be more manageable. Really, if you are following this schedule on a regular basis, most of the daily and weekly stuff just isn't so bad. It's when you fall behind that the tasks can become laborious. For instance, if you haven't so much as looked at the blades on your ceiling fans since the day they were installed or you moved in, then it is very likely going to be a highly time consuming chore the first time you clean them. But after that, each week will be a pretty quick and painless assignment to dust the blades off.

Also, you can shift items around as needed for your home. Our garbage is picked up on Tuesday morning. I was scheduling to empty the wastebaskets 3x a week, so I did MWF to accommodate getting them emptied the day it needed to go out. Our last home was only one level. I just split the house into two sections and swept/mopped half the house on Wednesday and the other half on Friday. Also, I assigned everything from Mon.-Sat. I like having Sunday off from any chores. You can set up your schedule for every day of the week if you like or maybe you would rather do more during the week and have off Saturday and Sunday. Just be realistic about what you can get done in a day without totally neglecting your kids.

Oh, yeah. Here's the really important part....your husband should be helping you get this all done. Stop laughing - I'm serious. Keeping a household clean after you (get married) have kids is a huge task. Having this chart helps you to make that point abundantly clear with your significant other. Sit down with him sometime after the kids are in bed and before you become completely comatose, and go over the list of tasks, assigning them between the two of you. If your husband still needs more convincing that you need his help, then I suggest the two of you read Babyproofing Your Marriage. (review here) This book makes it clear that if a man wants you to meet his marital needs (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more) then he needs to step up to the plate in a big way with the housework. Really, once you have kids, housework is the new box of chocolates/bouquet of roses. I remember telling a girlfriend of mine after the first baby, "Hubby did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen and swept the floors last night. It was the best foreplay I've had in a long time!"

Enough said. Divvy up the housework and give yourself grace on those days it just doesn't all get done. Your house will live to see another day. (and you will too!)

It's a Snow Day of Sorts

What a cute snowman! But this creation will set you back close to $60 if you want to buy it. Instead, you can make it with your kids during your craft time.

Craft Time: Snowman door wreath. Pick up 3 wreaths from your local dollar store or craft store. Tie them together to form your snowman and add a hat, scarf and mittens. The totally homemade version goes like this: Get an old cardboard box. Cut one big circle out of cardboard. Draw 3 circles inside each other on your cardboard circle, so that it looks like a dartboard. Then cut along each line. This leaves you with 3 circles to make your wreaths for the snowman. Punch holes in the circles and tie them together to make your snowman. Let your kids glue cotton balls onto the snowman, then dress him in your scarf set and hang on the wall or your front door. If you make a smaller one, then your kids can use construction paper to make the accessories for the snowman and glue them on.

Art Time: You draw the outline of a snowman family on paper. Now let your kids color in the features and accessories for Poppa snowman, Momma snowman, and baby snowman.

Indoor Time: Indoor sledding. Take turns giving your kids "sled" rides. Get a blanket out and lay it on the floor. Have your kid sit down on it, pull the sides in towards them for them to hold onto. Now you take the end and pull them around the house. This works best on non-carpeted floors, but can be done even on carpet. note: this is in place of going to the gym for you!

Outdoor Time: You've heard of a rain dance. Well, today you will do a snow dance with your kids. Do it up good if you want a white Christmas!

Music Time: Put on the song "Let it Snow," pick your child up in your arms, and dance with them. This is a great song to love on your kid with - hugs and kisses are called for in between twirls and dips.

Story Time: Read your kids Frosty the Snowman. You can find the story online here: Frosty the Snowman

Christmas Letter Pizzaz

Are you dreading creating your family letter for the year? Try this approach to get your creative juices flowing and make it more interesting for all involved. (i.e. your readers!) Write down the highlights you want to hit for the year. Now start creating a letter that reads like "The Night Before Christmas." To do this, you want to have 12 syllables per line and you want to rhyme each group of two. Here was our family letter from last year to give you an idea of how it goes. (I haven't worked on this years yet, but heck, the years not over!)

The year 2006 has come and gone so fast
With bittersweet memories that are sure to last.

The year started off with long awaited good news
A baby was due before Trinity reached two.

February we learned about love and respect,
A marriage conference we will never forget.

News came in April of the first of our losses,
Amy’s Grandmother went home to be with Jesus.

Amy went to Illinois to say her goodbyes,
Then returned home in time to turn around and fly.

Off to Florida for vacation we were bound
We stayed with Aunt Cookie and she showed us around.

The Cubs and the Diamondbacks played in early May
What a great way to celebrate Amy’s birthday.

But what was so much fun became cause to be sad,
When at the end of the month, we lost Amy’s Dad.

What a tremendous loss to all those who loved him
It seems so unreal we won’t see him ‘til heaven.

Somehow we moved on and prepared for the baby
Angelina arrived on September twenty.

Three years of marriage, one year of David’s Salon
Now two children at home, how fast the time has gone!

If we could talk to our dad two things we would say
We love you so much; tell Jesus “Happy Birthday!”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
David, Amy, Trinity and Angelina

Give it a try - you may find it's not nearly as hard as it looks!

What do Teddy Bear Races Have to do with Christmas?

The answer: nothing. They are just something fun and easy to do with your kids. And don't we need a little fun and easy in our lives these days?! Here are all the suggestions for your activities today:

Craft Time: Christmas card tree ornaments. Put all those cards to good use. Cut out the pictures on the card to make an ornament. If there is a picture of a tree, then cut out the tree; an angel, cut it out. Let your kids cut if they are old enough. Then let them outline it with glue and glitter. Add some yarn or a pipe cleaner to hang it from the tree.

Music Time: Sing and dance to the tune of Walking in a Winter Wonderland. But to make it more fun, put on your long johns and sing it ..."walking in our winter underwear" instead. (Google "Winter Wonderland lyrics" if you need the words)

Story Time: The Polar Express is a must read with your kids this holiday season. Head over to the library and check it out.

Outdoor Time: In the spirit of the Polar Express, play choo-choo train with your kids. Have your kids form a train by standing behind each other and holding onto the waist of the kid in front of them. You be the engine in the front. Reach your hands back for your kid to hold onto if it isn't easy for them to hold onto your waist. Now chuga-chuga-choo-choo all around the yard. If they want, let them take a turn being the engine.

Indoor Time: Have teddy bear races. Get a couple of empty plastic clothes baskets and put a teddy bear in each. Have your kids race each other or you race your kid. Set a course for the race then push your teddy bears across the floor and see who gets to the end first. Try not to dump your teddy bear along the way! (don't have plastic baskets? find something else that will work in their place - even a couple small empty boxes will do) If you have really young ones, you may want to have the goal be finishing, rather than racing.

Art Time: Let your kids do a watercolor painting of your Christmas tree.

Kid Daze is Dazzled!

I recently read a book that I think is just fantastic. It is called Babyproofing Your Marriage by Stacie Cockrell, Cathy O'Neill, and Julia Stone. Now, my husband and I are Christians and have been to marriage retreats, marriage groups, marriage conferences, read all the books, been there and bought the t-shirt. Yet we still are on the quest to make our marriage something we are thrilled about rather than something we are surviving through. The one thing we never got from any of our Christian resources is exactly what Babyproofing Your Marriage, or BPYM for short, nails succinctly within its 285 pages. Once you have children, your lives change in ways no one really wants to admit to. (chapter four - The "Sex Life" of New Parents, Coitus Non-existus, among others)

BPYM covers so many of the real life issues that parents face and help you understand that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Here are some examples from the BPYM Glossary of Terms:

The BPYM Call to Inaction - A plea to mothers everywhere to embrace lower standards and end the Uber-Mama insanity. The movement's manifesto includes calls to a) abolish Open House Overdrive (e.g. setting out fresh flowers before play dates) and b) limit the contents of all birthday party goodie bags to a Sticker and a Fruit Snack.

Marriage on Autopilot - This is the most common marital state for couples parenting small kids; we're not quite asleep at the controls, but no one is actively flying the plane. The "deep and meaningfuls" are gradually replaced by "time to make the donuts" repetition and routine.

Mommy Brain - The sizable portion of a mother's brain that is consumed with both the day-to-day and long-term minutiae of parenting: carpool logistics, doctors' appointments, a toddler's social development and potty-training progress. There is little mental real estate left over for her husband or herself.

Whiplash - The sensation experienced by many stay-at-home moms that they have been yanked out of the 21st century, and hurled back in time to the 1950's where they have to cope with gender inequality and never-ending, unappreciated housework.

All of these get covered in depth in the book along with many, many more. While there are definitely some ideas mentioned in this book that will not be considered acceptable by Christians, they are not specifically the suggestions of the authors. They typically are quotes from other real parents talking about things they have done/do to deal with married life as a parent. There is also language used that could be offensive. I just wanted to be forthright in these issues because I believe that most parents, especially of young children, will find this book enlightening and helpful. It also helps that it is written with a lovely dose of humor to make the revelations easier to swallow.

All in all, Kid Daze gives it a two thumbs up, must read rating. Now, if you'll excuse me, the kids are in bed and I have a date with my husband!

Who Has Time for Gingerbread, Anyway?!

Craft Time: Graham cracker houses. Instead of baking gingerbread, buy a box of graham crackers and just do the fun part - decorating! Again, sorry I have no photos to show you, but this is another one I am saving for next week. But if you really want to see some examples, just go to Google images and do a search for graham cracker house. You will get to see an abundance of graham creations to give you ideas.

The basics: You will need a box of graham crackers, a container of icing, and an assortment of candies for decorating. Also, a 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar mixed in a cup of icing will help the icing dry hard enough to hold your cracker house together. For a base used cardboard covered in aluminum foil. To pipe your icing onto your house, cut the corner off a plastic bag.

Once you have your walls assembled you have two options. 1. You can cover the house with icing and stick the candies on, or 2. use your icing like glue and stick individual candies on the house. If you go for option one, be sure to only ice one cracker at a time or the icing may get too hard for the candy to stick to it before you get all your decorating done.

Indoor Time: Sock Grab. Otherwise known as sock wrestling. The object of this game is to pull the socks off your opponent before they get your socks off. Obviously if you are playing this with your kids, you have the advantage. So, have fun with it and let your kids get the best of you - or at least get your socks! ;)

Optional alternative - if you have the board game Candyland, this would be the day to play it!

Story Time: Tell them the story of Hansel and Gretel today to go with your graham cracker houses. Don't have the story and no time to go to the library? Look it up online. :)

Outdoor Time: Inspired by Hansel and Gretel, hide a treat outside and create a trail that your kids have to follow in order to find it. You can literally use bread crumbs or whatever else you have that will do the trick and you don't mind trailing all over your yard. Bread crumbs are nice because the birds will clean up after your game for you! Be sure to be very elaborate in your trail making. Do lots of swirling and circling - make it lots of fun for your kids to track.

Music Time: Do you have some jingle bells in the house for holiday decoration? Let your kids play the jingle bells along to some holiday music today.

Art Time: Use playdough to create gingerbread men shapes.

It's Almost Christmas!

Here we are, the eve of another week. But not just another week - one week before Christmas. Isn't it unbelievable how the time goes so quickly? I am not going to be making "The Daily Grind" posts during Christmas week. We have family coming in to visit and I will be busier than ever. But you can always pull out some old favorites for activities if you don't have enough to keep your kids entertained. My guess is though, that keeping your kids entertained next week is not going to be an issue!


Craft Time: Gumdrop Wreath. I don't have a picture for this one because it is actually a craft I plan on doing with my kids next week when their cousin is here. I found out about this on another site last year, and loved it. The site is no longer actively posting but their archive is still up and available. Check it out at kiddley.com. You will have to scroll down as it is near the bottom of the page. Here is how I made it:



Supplies:
styrofoam wreath
gumdrops
toothpicks
yarn (for hanging - you could also use fishing line, pipe cleaner, etc.)
ribbon for a bow


I make a much smaller version than the one on kiddley. This year I went to Dollar Tree and found small styrofoam circles in the floral accessories section. I will cut the centers out to make them into wreaths. I'm guessing it is about 5" diameter. I also got bags of gumdrops from the Dollar Tree. The rest is pretty simple. Cut the toothpicks in half. Poke the cut side of the toothpick into a gumdrop then stick the other end into the wreath. I only cover the front and sides with gumdrops so that it lays nicely against a wall, cabinet, etc., when it is hung. My daughter and I did this together last year when she was a month shy of being two years old and she had a great time with it. I expect she will be able to do it without my assistance this year. (other than I will pre-cut the toothpicks :)


Story Time: Keep reading Christmas stories. :)


Art Time: Keep it simple today. Have the kids do some Christmas coloring sheets.


Indoor Time: Indoor basketball. Get a laundry basket and set it up on a chair or your sofa. Now teach your kids how to shoot baskets with a big plastic ball. Note: obviously, don't do this where there are breakables! Make sure you have a kid safe zone where you play this game.


Music Time: Teach your kids your favorite Christmas carol.


Outdoor Time: Play red light, green light. You be the stoplight first so that your kids get the hang of it. The basic rules are as follows: The stoplight has their back to the players and calls out "green light." Then the stoplight calls out "red light" and turns around. All the players are supposed to freeze at red light. If they are seen moving then they have to go back to the starting line. The first one to reach the stoplight gets to be the stoplight next. (just take turns, obviously, if you only have one kid) With real young kids, don't expect a complete freeze - if they can just figure out not to keep running during the red light, then they are doing great!

Friday Favorites

Okay gang, here's the deal. I don't know how it is around your house, but there is tooo much stuff to do with the kids. What ends up happening is my older daughter wants to do something we did before, but of course I've already lined up something new and different to do for the day. In the spirit of 'this is supposed to make life easier with our kids' I am not going to post a fifth day's worth of activities. Fridays are now favorites day. Redo your kids favorite activities from the week. How do you know what those were? Ask them! When it is time to play a game, ask what game they want to play. If they don't name one off the top of their head, then guess what? It gets to be your favorite from the week! Either way, you will have plenty of choices and continued fun with your kids.

Enjoy your Friday favorites!

Twelve Days til Christmas

Craft Time: It's time to make some cookies with your kids. You can either make your own dough from scratch or buy the ready to bake sugar cookie dough from the store. We opted for the ready to bake since I am a big fan of making life easier at this time of year. Even your young kids can help decorate the cookies. I put my 14 month old in her high chair and put the colored sprinkles in the tray. She had fun spreading them around before I gave her the cookies. Then I showed her how if you lay the cookie on the tray, move it around on the sprinkles, when you life it up it is covered in sprinkles. She picked up on it immediately and was incredibly pleased with herself with every cookie she decorated. The picture is of one of her creations.


Art Time: Using finger paints, teach your kids how to make thumbprint people. They can then make them into Santa and his elves. Dip their thumb in red paint for Santa then press on paper. Use green for the elves. After the paint is dried, they can use crayons to color in the rest of the characters features (face, arms, legs, etc.) and the scene - Santa's workshop maybe?


Story Time: Keep reading those Christmas stories. Only twelve more days to go! ;)


Indoor Time: Break out the bubbles and find a room where you don't mind bubbles popping on your floor - most likely your kitchen.


Music Time: Since it is now twelve days til Christmas, teach your kids the Twelve Days of Christmas today. Here is a link with music too, if you need the words.

Twelve Days of Christmas

Outdoor Time: We haven't been able to go outside and play since we got hit with the ice storm. But if my kids could, I would just take them outside and have them run! They opted for running back and forth on the couch this afternoon! If your weather permits, let your kids enjoy the simple art of running. Make it a race, telling them you bet they can't beat you - then let them!

It's Coming Up Candy Canes

Craft Time: Using red and white (or red and silver) pipe cleaners, make candy cane tree ornaments. Just wrap the two pipe cleaners around each other, then form into a cane shape. This is an excellent alternative to hanging the real thing on the tree. In our home, the ornaments will be replaced by real candy canes after the kids go to bed Christmas eve. Then, in the morning, they will find that Santa traded out their ornaments for candy and will be so thrilled.

Story Time: Keep reading your children Christmas stories.

Indoor Time: Play Make the Shape. In this game we will keep with our candy cane theme. Using toys, pillows, etc. have your kids lay out objects on the floor in the shape of a candy cane. Create the first one for them so they see the object of the game. If the kids are really young, you may want to pick out the objects for them to place into position.

Art Time: Break out the playdough and make candy cane shapes.

Outdoor Time: Play "I Spy" with your kids. Look around and pick out an object in the yard that is easily seen. Say, "I spy with my little eye something that is..." then give one word that describes the object such as "square," "blue," or "tall." Then have them try to guess what you have picked. Take turns picking the object.

Music Time: Play with any musical toys you might have - whether they are toy instruments or toys that play different kid songs. Sing the songs with your kids and interact with them with their toys. They have so much fun sharing their play time with you and will love showing you how good they are at making music.

Holiday Jam Session

Craft Time: Today make a Christmas collage. Cut pictures of trees, ornaments, wreaths, and anything else that seems like Christmas to you. Have your kids glue them on construction paper - red or green preferably!

Story Time: Let's move into Christmas story mode. Head to the library and check out some books to help get your kids in the holiday mood. (like they need help, right!? lol!)


Music Time: Holiday jam session. Put on the holiday music for some more dancing to Christmas tunes.

Art Time: Print out holiday coloring sheets for your kids from the internet. Better yet, head to the dollar store and pick up a whole coloring book so you have plenty on hand.

Indoor Time: Remember that game they played on Sesame Street - they would sing the song about "one of these things is not like the other?" They would have four objects and one would be different somehow. You can play this game with your kids. Do groupings such as: 3 teddy bears and 1 doll, 3 red blocks and 1 green block, 3 small toys and 1 large toy, 3 round toys and 1 square toy.

Outdoor Time: Pattern play - have your kids do patterns of movement and keep adding to it to see how long they can remember. Example: First you jump. Then you jump and take a step to your right. Then you jump, step to your right, then run forward. Then you jump, step to your right, run forward, then turn around in a circle twice. etc, etc. It's up to your own imagination.

End the Madness!

Did you go out into the holiday madness this weekend? Well, never fear, Monday is here. Have some fun with the kids today.

Craft Time: Today we are making Christmas balls for the tree. But these are no ordinary balls - these are filled with chocolate candies. Below you see all the supplies you need to make them: egg cartons, pipe cleaners, candies, and metallic tissue paper. hint: you can find pretty much all you need to make these at the dollar store.

Cut the egg carton cups into sections. Stack one cup on top of the other and tape one side so that it can flip open like a lid. Fill with candy. Close the cups then wrap up in a square of metallic tissue paper. Use half of a pipe cleaner to close. The pipe cleaner then twists around the branch to attach on the Christmas tree.

Now you not only have a decoration on your tree, but a candy surprise as well. On Christmas day, if anyone needs a sweet treat, they can just help themselves to a Christmas ball ornament from the tree! :)

Indoor Time: Play beanbag toss. You don't even need a bean bag to accomplish this game. Get yourself an empty clothes basket for the target. Use balled up socks to act as bean bags. Make 3 bean bags. Take turns tossing the bags into the target, seeing who can get the most in. Keep moving farther and farther away to make it more challenging.

Story Time: Today find books that teach about circles. If you don't have any specifically about shapes, help your kids to identify circles in the various pictures of the stories you read.

Art Time: Break out the crayons today and have your kids do a winter wonderland drawing complete with Frosty the Snowman, who just happens to be made of ...circles!

Music Time: Teach your kids Frosty the Snowman today. This is a great song to dance and skip around to. It almost begs to run around as you adventure along with Frosty! Don't know the words? You can find them here:

Frosty the Snowman

Outdoor Time: Target toss. Similar to your beanbag toss, but now use a big bouncy ball. Select an object to be the target. (a tree trunk, swing set leg, rock, patio chair, etc) From a good distance away, toss the ball with the goal of getting the ball to stop close to the target. Mark their position and try to get closer with the next toss.

Too Many Toys!

This is starting a new category - quick tips.

Are you buried under a mountain of toys? Here is a quick tip that worked for me. When the kids were soundly sleeping, I gathered all the toys together. I took three plastic crates and divided all the toys into the crates. I'm talking about all the little stuff - the slinkies, baby dolls, race cars, Shrek watch, bouncy balls, teething toys, etc. I tried to separate like items so there was some of each in the crates. Then I packed up 2 boxes and put them in my closet. I let the kids play with the toys in one crate until I notice that they are starting to spend more time exploring non-toy items, i.e. getting into cabinets, dragging around my broom, etc. Then that night, I pack up the toys and exchange out the crate. The next few days are so exciting as they find "new" toys to play with and forgotten about long lost friends.

Keep smiling! :)

Holiday Bling

Craft Time: Today we are making jewelry. You will need construction paper, tape, glue, and some advertisements from the paper or an old store catalog with pictures of jewelry. Cut strips of construction paper. Cut out pictures of jewels from advertisements. Let your kids choose which items they want even if you have to do the cutting for them - it's their jewelry, after all! Have them glue the cutout jewels onto the strips. Once they are dried, use tape to hold the ends together. Your kids will love having a little bling to wear! (picture below is bracelets in the drying stage)

Now, fair warning, your child may have a completely different idea of what a diamond bracelet should look like than you do. Remember, this is their project, so no editorial comments on how they decorate their bracelet. If you must, make your own so you can do it the "right" way. *wink*

I hear you saying, ummmm, I have 3 boys and not one of them is interested in making a diamond bracelet. Never fear - let them make a watch. Have them pick out a watch face to cut out and glue on, and then they can decorate the "watchband" however they like.

Music Time: Put on a classical music station and practice ballet dancing. Moms of boys, before you go telling me how your little one won't want to ballet dance, here is the solution. Don't tell them it's ballet. Just have them spin around, leap through the air, jump, hop, whatever they want. Try to get them to tailor the movement to the music - that's the real gist of it anyway - getting into the timing and mood of the music. Have fun with it though. Don't become the dance nazi and get overly critical. If they are jumping up and down like they are hopped up on sugar when the music is slow and calm, let them burn the energy!

Art Time: How is the photography going this week? Good! This is your last day to get some great shots. Have you noticed that your kid is getting better at taking pictures? Doesn't take long does it!

Story Time: Find all the books you have about opposites and make that your topic for the days reading.

Indoor Time: Indoor bowling. Use whatever you have on hand that might work as pins - some ideas are empty plastic soda bottles or rectangle shaped blocks. Get a ball (preferably big soft squishy type that kids are so enamored with, but even a tennis ball would work fine) and let them have fun trying to knock down the pins.

Outdoor Time: Our outdoor time was filled with the game - catch the snowflake on your tongue. Obviously one you can only play when it's snowing! In the event that you don't have snow falling when you want to play with your kids outside, grab a bag of mini-marshmallows and practice tossing them up in the air and trying to catch them in your mouth. Decidedly more delicious than snowflakes any day, and your face doesn't get all wet! For a variation, try tossing marshmallows into each others mouths.

Letter to Santa today! Woo-hoo!

Indoor Time: Play Drop the Barrette in the Bottle. Here is the game as we played it in our home - but as you read on, you will see that you may need to be creative on recreating the game for yourself. Having two little girls, I have an abundance of small plastic barrettes. This game was created in an effort to get the girls to pick them up after they were strewn all over the living room. I took an empty plastic apple juice bottle (you could use empty milk jug, litre soda bottle, etc.) and had them drop the barrettes into the bottle, making sure that they started low and kept raising the height to make it challenging. (of course, for the 14 mo. old it was just enough to drop them in - total joy!) If you don't have barrettes find something else small enough to fit through the opening...crayons would work great.

Outdoor Time: An oldie but goodie, have some fun with Simon Says today. Be sure to get them to do things to burn some energy.


Story Time: Practice making up stories. Start with the favorite saying, "Once upon a time..." You tell a story then let your kids give it a try. This is great imagination practice for them. Don't criticize or try to add to their story - just enjoy what their little minds come up with, and let them know it. :)


Craft Time: Write a letter to Santa on Christmas stationery - the catch is, your kids will do the decorating to make it holiday stationery. If your kids are too young to do the writing themselves, you can write it for them, being sure to have them tell you what they want for Christmas. Draw a square in the center of the sheet and do all the writing inside the square. Then let your kids decorate all around the letter. Give them whatever works for their age and ability - glue, glitter, stickers, construction paper to cut out their own Christmas symbols, crayons or colored pencils for drawing, etc, etc. When it comes time to put it in the envelope, have them draw/color the stamp for the envelope - this step is completely optional. Go ahead and put a stamp on it if you would like to be part of the $185,000 or so that the postal service makes on Santa letters. But you can explain to the kids that Santa's letters don't require postage other than their own creation. (part of the whole being good thing)


Music Time: Put on some music and dance. Make a game out of it - the kids dance around as long as the music is on. Turn the music off (or down so you can't hear it) and the kids have to freeze. Done correctly, this can induce lots of giggles!


Art Time: Back to photography today. We took a break yesterday and colored a Christmas tree, but today we are back at trying to capture the perfect photo (or photos) to make into Christmas cards.

A Decidedly Christmas Activity Day!

Craft Time: I know we are already into the month of December, but creating an advent calender is a great craft to do with your kids. Below is a picture of the one our kids grandmother made for them. It gives you an idea of what you can do for your own. Use felt to create the calender. The Christmas balls are numbered 1-25 and can be attached using Velcro. On the bottom of the calender are little pockets numbered with the dates. If you have older kids that won't try to eat small things, then you can use tiny ornaments to hang on each day of December. They store nicely in the little pockets until their day is reached.

(our kids are still in the "eat small things" phase, so we are just using the velcro balls for now!) You can put more effort into this project and make something you keep for year after year, or just minimal effort and make one for just this year. Then you can have the fun of making a new creation each year with your kids. You decide what works for your family.

Story Time: Include a Christmas story today in your reading time with your kids. If you don't have Christmas books, then head off to the library and stock up!

Indoor Time: Try a new twist on an old game - play pin the star on the Christmas tree. Either draw a picture of a tree or print one off the Internet. You could even draw a tree on a white board or chalk board. Cut out stars from construction paper and have fun! (do I need to say it? use tape on the stars - not pins!)

Art Time: Break out the crayolas and have a tree decorating contest via a coloring page.

Music Time: Teach your kids Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Don't know the words? You can find them here...
Rudolph

Outdoor Time: Have a Santa obstacle race. Have them start at the "North Pole," then fly their sleigh onto the "roof top." Next they have to go down the chimney. If you have a swing set with a slide, I recommend the slide be the roof top and going down the slide is going down the chimney. After that, they have to high-tail it back to the North Pole. Cheer them on as they make their way along the route.

Shrill Shopping

An old man was grocery shopping with his grandson. The toddler was crying and at times screaming at the top of his lungs. As the old gentleman walked up and down the aisles, people could hear him speaking in a soft voice..."We are almost done, Albert....try not to cry, Albert....life will get better, Albert...." As he approached the checkout stand, he carefully brushed the toddler's tears from his eyes and said again, "Do not cry, Albert... we will be home soon, Albert..." As he was paying the cashier, the toddler continued to cry as a young woman in line behind him said, "Sir, I think it is wonderful how sweet you are being to your little Albert." The old gentleman blinked his eyes a couple of times before saying, "My grandson's name is John....I'm Albert..."

We have all been there. We must go shopping and the little one(s) must come along. Does anything fill your heart with dread more? I read this little amusing story that came my way via email and thought - story of my life!

I can remember being at WalMart with my two girls this summer. Somehow the two them got started on a screaming frenzy. The younger loves to imitate her older sister. So, there they were, in my shopping cart, one screaming then the other screaming, and grinning like they were the coolest thing since Dora the Explorer. I couldn't get them to stop. What do you do? I mean, I had visions of duct tape over their mouths, but of course THAT would never happen outside of my dreams. I walked through the store, pushing this cacophony along, literally talking out loud..."I don't know these kids, I just found them in the parking lot, I have NO idea who these children are..."

Have you ever been there and done that?

Stars and Stripes Forever, Take II

Craft Time: Christmas tree decorations are the order of the day. These are the Christmas version of stars and stripes - we'll just call them stars and icicles. Cut out stars and strips of construction paper. Take some of the strips and stack them together. Now start cutting off little bits at angles, creating paper confetti. Put glue on your cut-outs and sprinkle your confetti paper over it until it is covered. Shake off the extra confetti. Use yarn, string, rubber bands, twisty-ties, etc. to hang your ornaments. Just tape onto the back and hang on the tree.

Story Time: Read a Christmas story with your little ones. Today we added O Little Town of Bethlehem, A Pageant of Lights, published by Candy Cane Press. It is a great book for all ages. It is a board book, so highly tolerant of your littlest ones, and has light up stars and music. What fun!


Music Time: Practice singing your ABC's with your kids. Incorporate any toys that play the tune. If you have toys with the alphabet on them, use them to teach the letters while you sing.


Art Time: Repeat - this whole week is going to be Focus on Photography. Let your kids take pictures to make home-made Christmas cards. Help your kids play photographer by setting up scenes for them to photograph. How about a favorite teddy bear holding a Christmas stocking? How about a favorite teddy bear in a Christmas stocking?


Indoor Time: Hide and go seek Tag.... sounds wrong, but it is right. You have probably played this before, but just never put a name to it. I play this all the time and my kids love it! Say, "I'm going to get you!" then run up and tickle them. Run away and hide around a corner or behind a doorway. As your kids come out looking for you, jump out and say again, "I'm going to get you!" Your kids will run squealing with delight as you chase after them to tickle them again. Repeat the process until you are all laughed out. :)


Outdoor Time: Teach your little ones how to skip and practice skipping around the yard.

Problem Solving 101 - Take II

For a list of craft items needed for this week, check out last weeks postings under Stars and Stripes forever. Add Velcro to that list, preferably the kind with the sticky backing so you don't even have to sew. Now on to the activities!

Craft Time: We are going to start with the garland for our Christmas tree. Cut strips of colored construction paper. Form a loop and tape it together. Form the next loop inside the 1st one and continue to create a long chain. I had to help my almost 3 year old, but she did most of the work herself and loved this activity.



Story Time: Read a Christmas story with your little ones. In honor of my daughter Angelina, we checked out Angelina's Christmas (of the Angelina Ballerina fame) by Katharine Holabird, from the library. The story is a good one to teach about helping others. Use your story time to not only read stories but talk to them about the lessons they are learning from the books.

Music Time: Sing Christmas songs. Start with "Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh..." Have fun with them and dance.

Art Time: This whole week is going to be Focus on Photography. Let your kids take pictures to make home-made Christmas cards. Group together holiday decorations for close-ups or let them take scenic shots in your local neighborhood. Does your city have a nice holiday display? That can make a great picture for a Christmas card. If you get snow this week, head out with your kids for some winter wonderland photos. Let creativity be the guide, and listen to your kids ideas for pictures.

Indoor Time: I call this game Island Hopping. Gather some pillows together. These are your islands. Lay out a path of pillows from your couch to a chair or other piece of furniture. Tell your kids that the floor is the ocean and the furniture and pillows are the islands. The goal is to stay on the islands. Have them practice walking along the pillows. Now, take it up a notch by removing a pillow and spreading out the remaining ones. Keep removing pillows until they have to hop from pillow to pillow. (this is great fun for them!) Try teaching problem solving skills by giving them only 2 pillows and tell them they have to reach some far away piece of furniture. See if they can figure out to stand on one pillow and put the other one ahead of them for the next step, continuing to pick up the pillow behind them to put ahead of them for the next step until they reach their destination. Help them out if they need it.

Outdoor Time: Ball play. Practice throwing. Toss the ball back and forth. Also toss the ball and see how far they can throw it. Put a marker down after the first throw and see if they can beat it.