It's Never Too Early...

Currently, I'm awkwardly sitting sideways in our office chair - chair cannot be moved because it is wedged in between towers of moving boxes. And since typing sideways is...difficult to say the least. I'll make this short. Here is something I've been thinking about lately...(I planned on having cute pictures, but due to moving + a lovely bout of croup with the Little Miss you'll just have to imagine it...)

There are a couple of things it is never too early to start teaching your children...they are never too young to...

• Have manners! Even before Little Miss could talk we had her signing "please" and "thank you", I wouldn't give her things for fussing or grunting - she had to be polite. Yep, I'm that kind of mom. Judge away. Ever seen the movie "Raising Helen"? You should. It's a good flick. There is one scene where the preggo sister reprimands her unborn fetus for kicking her while "mommy is trying to talk". It's pretty much hilarious, and played by Joan Cusack. Go watch it - you'll love it!
• Have patience! Children should have patience. They don't need to feel entitled to everything they want right away and as their parents we can teach them this fairly easily at a very young age. Here's the trick - don't be quick to give them everything. "In a minute" is fine for a child to hear. Little Miss hears it too often apparently - she's started saying it to me. Which is also, hilarious.
• Know how to give mommy a backrub...I am very serious about this one. My back hurts after a long day of being mommy - plus I love backrubs. So...why not!? Here are 2 tricks to a good kid backrub...

1. A paint roller. We have a small one that Little Miss can easily grip and she is loving "painting" mommy's back. Super fun for her - feels good for me. It's a win-win. *insert cute picture here of Little Miss giving me a paint roller backrub*
2. Drawing pictures. When I was little my grandma would have us draw pictures on her back using our fingers and she would try to guess what we drew. For some reason she could never figure it out and would always ask us to do it again...smart lady. Love this game! Thank you grandma!

So, start teaching your children! And if you're wondering - paint rollers are super cheap at wal-mart! =)

Valentine's Activities

Helping in your kid’s class Valentine’s party? Want to have some Valentine’s fun at home? Then here are a few ideas to get you started...

• Make pictures out of different sized hearts. Use your imagination to create animals, flowers, etc.

• Pin the kiss on the frog prince. Take an old classic (pin the tail on the donkey) and turn it into a Valentine’s game.

• Decorate cookies: Any excuse to slather frosting upon a cookie….yummy! Enough said.

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Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Homemade Valentines

I always feel that homemade is better. Instead of buying the store-bought valentines this year, have your kids make their own to give out at school or to family members.

There are many ideas for homemade Valentines. But here are some we are making this year. That’s right---bust out the white lacey doilies, stickers, stamps and glitter glue—we’re doing old school valentines.

A few more ideas:

• Handprint heart: Dip your child’s hands in paint or ink, then place on paper to form a heart.

• Fortune Cookies: For something a little more formal, make these fortune cookies from felt. Then write things you love about your valentine on strips of paper to place inside them. My daughter made these for her Daddy last year, and he loved it. For a tutorial, go here.

Happy Valentine making!

________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Groundhog Day Fun with the Kids

I think Groundhog Day is an underestimated holiday. I love it! Not only is it a great excuse to watch the Bill Murray flick, but a fun holiday to celebrate. Here are a few things to do to celebrate the day...

• Talk about shadows. Go outside on a sunny day and look at your own shadow. Help them notice how it changes as you move. No sun? No prob. Turn off the lights and break out the flashlights. You can study shadows of your whole body or make shadow puppets with your hands. Help them see that when something gets in the way of the light, it makes a shadow on the ground/wall.

• Study groundhogs. Help them do a mini-research project to find out all they can about groundhogs. Guide them to informational websites, books, etc to find info. Once they’ve gathered said info, have them make a poster about it. With my 3-year old, I just pulled up an informational website, read some facts with her, then created this simple poster:

• Make a groundhog craft. Here’s an easy one. Paint a paper cup brown or green to look like the ground ;) Next, color or draw a picture of a groundhog, then glue it to the end of a popsicle stick. Push the popsicle stick into the cup, then you can move the little guy up above the ground to see his shadow.

Use it as a prop while you recite this poem:

Here's a Little Groundhog
(to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")
Here's a little groundhog, furry and brown,
He's popping up to look around. (push groundhog up)
If he sees his shadow, down he'll go. (pull groundhog back down)
Then six more weeks of winter - Oh No!!

• Talk about hibernation. What is it? What other animals hibernate? After your discussion, you could make a fort out of blankets and pretend you are a groundhog hibernating. Bring books, snacks, blankets, and pillows to get all cozy. Ask your child what they would want to do when they finished hibernating all winter long (I’d want to eat a big cheeseburger, if you ask me).

• And don’t forget to talk about why we celebrate Groundhog Day. For a good summary, go here.

Happy Groundhog Day!

________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Pink Day

Little Miss - staying true to her girly self - loved pink day! Everything pink, what's better than that!? We started out the day right with one of our favorite treats - pink milk, or strawberry milk. So yummy! You can see her love for it below as she preemptively hugs the milk and strawberry syrup in anticipation...

Next we played with pink playdoh - she loves playdoh! I'm pretty sure we could do this all day and she'd be happy. This activity is great for motor skills and imagination! Sometimes I'll make what she asks me too - other times I make things and have her guess what they are...

Then we made Pink Princess Crowns. This was super easy - some cardstock, pink markers/crayons, stickers - whatever you have, and a stapler to finish it off. I just drew the shape by hand. We even wore them to take daddy lunch...yep, I drove around town with a pink crown on my head - no shame.

While grocery shopping we found a pink treat at the bakery - a pink turkey cookie. Perfect. Then we got home and it looked a little more salmon than pink, but oh well! She enjoyed devouring it still.

After nap we did our big activity. Making a pink pig and reading The Three Little Pigs...

For this activity we used two paper plates, paint, glue, and a marker to draw on the face...

And voila! A pink pig. After a week she still has this somewhere - and we've only had to glue the head back on a handfull of times.

We also watched these two short Pink Panther clips - she loves the "pink kitty".

Here she is coloring her pink page...

...mostly blue. Oh, well! I'm not about to stifle her creativity. As long as she can identify pink I'm good. These coloring pages are great for talking about letters too - P is for Pink...

Click the image below to enlarge, then right click to copy into your own word document and print! Just make sure you're in landscape mode, not vertical. Have a fun pink day!

Other pink day activities:

• Enjoy some cotton candy
• Make pink pancakes
• Make valentines
• Mix red and white paint - let your child see what happens
  

G - Day

We started G Day with a snack of grapefruit and graham crackers. Weird combination - but yummy!

We then talked about guitars, played with my guitar, and then made Little Miss her own guitar out of a kleenex box and rubber bands, decorated with glue and glitter. Oh, glitter...so fun, but so messy!

Did I mention fun and messy?! I was finding it everywhere for days! At least she had a good time! If you're going to attempt letting your little one apply the glitter themselves, remember to put a cookie sheet underneath them before hand - it sure made clean up a lot easier!

Then we read some books that started with the letter G - expect for 'The Monster at The End of This Book', but it stares Grover, so we counted it. I always just get books off of our shelf. But if you're looking at the library...here are some titles you might want to check out...

• G is for Goat
• Goodnight, Gorilla
• The Goose and the Golden Egg
• Goliath - children's bible story version

Next we played a game of golf with a cousin. It didn't last too long cause the golf clubs started making contact with the TV...but this was good practice for their gross motor skills and taking turn abilities.

And of course, we finished by coloring a page about the letter G. You can print this out by clicking on it to make it bigger, and copying it into a word document - make sure your layout is set at horizontal.

Other G things to do or talk about...

• gratitude
• groundhog day
• grandparents
• grass
• green beans
• grape juice
• goldfish
• granola bar
• grasshoppers

Love & Logic Parenting: Ten Quick Tips

1. First, lock in empathy (without sarcasm) when a child comes to you with a problem or before you deliver a consequence. "Bummer", "Oh, this is so sad" - Then their mistake, not you, is the bad guy.
2. Set an example by taking care of yourself. That is, stop yourself before you show anger or frustration, yell, threaten, lecture, use sarcasm, criticize, blame, spank, etc. These are traps for parents, letting the child focus on our emotions rather than their bad decisions. Emulate the kind of behavior you want from them now and when they're adults. If you yell and hit - you can expect your child to do the same. If you are calm, loving, and responsible - your child will follow suit.
3. Let experience and natural (logical) consequences do the teaching. Don't rob kids of experiences that teach. It is okay to let them be inconvenienced or uncomfortable without making them unsafe. The more mistakes they make when they're little, the better - as they get older mistakes will cost a lot more! Consequences get more serious.
4. When little kids do something you don't like use the "Uh-Oh" Song. Follow it with loving action. Example: Child hits dog with toy hammer. Parent says "Uh-Oh, bedroom time". As the parent takes the child's hand and takes them down to room for thinking time. Saying Uh-Oh in a sing-song voice keeps the anger and frustration out of your voice. It will also become a trigger for the child to think about what just happened. Soon, all you'll have to do is say uh-oh and the child will stop what they're doing, think about what could be wrong, and change their behavior.
5. When kids whine or argue use a "brain dead" statement by saying in a calm voice, "I know" or "What did I say?" This will stop you from getting roped into the argument and delivers empathy at the same time. Pretty soon the kid will give up and stop.
6. When older kids have a problem lock in empathy and then say "What are you going to do about it?" If they say "I don't know" say "Would you like to hear what some kids try?"
7. Use plenty of choices - "Do you want to wear the blue shirt or the red shirt?", to diffuse potential power struggles. "The car leaves in 5 minutes. Do you want to wear your coat or carry it?" Wait ten seconds. If the child doesn't choose, you choose for him. **This is almost all we have to do with Little Miss to keep things nice and happy. The trick is to make sure the two options you give are things you're okay with.
8. Never tell a resistant kid what to do, tell them what you will do. This is the enforceable statement. "I will listen when your voice sounds as calm as mine", "I take kids to the park who have their chores finished by noon". Turn your words into gold. Talk less, take more action in loving ways. "Love you too much to argue." Follow up with loving actions.
9. You may need to delay the consequence and come up with a strategic training session for problem behaviors that come up again and again. "When you lie to me, it really drains my energy. I'll have to do something about that, but not now, we'll talk later. Try not to worry". If kids are old enough to remember you promised them ice cream, they're old enough to learn from a delayed consequence.
10. Make a plan for a training session and use spouse, friend, or relative to back you up. Restaurant behavior retraining might involve a neighbor on call who will take the child back home and babysit when the child acts out.And sadly, the babysitting won't be fun, and the child will have to pay for it himself with toys. 

Hope you enjoyed these little tidbits!! There is so much more to Love & Logic than just this. We'll be doing a Love & Logic giveaway next monday - don't miss it!

Love & Logic Techniques for Toddlers

Just finished my Love and Logic class - here's a little sampling of the Love and Logic techniques. I'll be posting more about what I learned in the coming weeks and we'll even be having a giveaway!! Have a great weekend!

Purple Day

For Purple Day we went with quality, not quantity. We did one of Little Miss's favorite things - painted our toenails purple. She loved that our toes matched.

Then we baked homemade sugar cookies. Little Miss got to choose which cookie cutters to use, which also gave us an opportunity to go over shapes. After they cooled we decorated them with purple frosting and multi-colored sprinkles. Later that day we delivered some to neighbors and friends - which gave us an opportunity to talk about service.

We also colored our usual purple page with as many different purple crayons as we could find.

Other purple things to do:

• Eat grapes, raisins, plums
• Read Harold and The Purple Crayong by Crockett Johnson
• Read The Purple Coat by Amy Hest
• Drink Purple Cows - milk + grape juice mixed together
• Finger paint with blue & red - let your child find out what happens when they mix!

What To Do When They Stop Napping...

I have been blessed with a good napper. Well, I guess it wasn't always that way. But we worked hard, with a lot of consistency and sacrifice, to make it so. It's important for kids to get enough sleep since that's when all their growth - especially brain development, takes place. SUPER important for brain development!

The University of Tucson conducted a study on 48 toddlers. They subjected the children to an artificial language and those children who napped within 4 to 8 hours of learning retained the information and were even picking up on speech patterns. While those who didn't nap - lost it all. {click here to read more about the study}

Interesting, so the brain pretty much digests and retains information while sleeping. So, sleep is important. And furthermore, if you really want your child to retain something, expose them to it right before nap time. That's kind of cool. I'm going to start doing learning activities more often right before naps.

Having said that...what do you do when your child outgrows nap time? My 2 1/2 yr old still takes 1-2 hour naps everyday...almost everyday. Sometimes she just isn't tired (probably due to a lack of physical activity - thanks a lot cold weather). But that's okay. We still try.

Even if she doesn't seem tired we go through the routine and she gets tucked in. After about 30-45 minutes (you'll have to vary this depending on your child - mine will play in her bed and sing songs to herself...if she was screaming it probably wouldn't last that long) I will go in and ask her if she's just not tired. It's usually pretty obvious that she's not. So...we now have quiet time.

The first day I did this I wasn't sure if it would work, I really didn't think it would. So, I kept a very upbeat, excited voice and announced - "You're not tired!? That's okay. You can have special quiet time!! Let's make your bed into a fun nest."

So we arranged pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and made it super cozy. Then I gave her loads of books and said, "When you can't sleep - you get to have quiet time! You can read books to your animals. You can even have a sippy of water in your bed! (which is very special, she never gets to keep food/drinks in her bed with her) I'll be in the other room. Have fun!"

And I walked out like everything was normal, leaving the door open. Keeping my fingers crossed I waited...and waited...she was so quiet I got a little worried. So I peaked around the corner and she was happily reading to her animals...

Shocked and overjoyed! She was in there for at least an hour and half. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I love quiet time. So that's what we do now on those off days.

In fact, it's been such a hit - sometimes she'll have a good solid nap, I'll get her out of her bed and she'll ask if she can have quiet time...on those days it's like a special bonus - nap time + quiet time...it pretty much rocks! I highly recommend it!

She doesn't have to stay in her bed - just in her room. Lovely. This still gives me a break, which my sanity requires. And this still gives her some down time - which she needs.

Give Thanks

Here are some fun activities to do with your kids this Thanksgiving season.

• Write thank you notes to someone (family member, friend, teacher, etc) for something they have done. I usually try to dictate exactly what my 3-year old is saying so that the card sounds more personal. Then I have her sign her name and draw or color a picture on the front. You can find free printable cards online, or make your own by printing some Thanksgiving clipart.
• What is Thanksgiving without the traditional handprint turkey? Trace your child’s hand, then let them draw a face, feet, and feathers.

• Make a turkey headband to wear. Just attach a turkey head to the front of a strip of brown paper, and feathers to the back, and voila! (we were out of brown paper at our house, so we had to improvise)

• Have your child write their own recipe for how to cook a turkey. It is hilarious the things they will say — especially if they’ve had experience cooking with you. For younger kids, have them dictate to you. You could also have them write how to make pumpkin pie. Please don’t follow these recipes…I’m pretty sure a turkey will not be fully cooked when heated at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
• Make a thankful turkey. After coloring a turkey body, trace your child’s foot on colored paper and cut out. Then have them write something they are thankful for on the feather and add it to the turkey’s tail. You can have them do as many feathers as you want, or have them add one each day. Or you could do this as a family activity and have everyone help make feathers. At the end, you’ll have a turkey full of things you are thankful for.

• Make a book about the 1st Thanksgiving. I found a good one here.

• Decorate a cornucopia. Use any medium you want to make this horn of plenty.You can find some templates here.

• Make Thanksgiving snacks together. Some examples are cornbread, turkey sandwiches (use a turkey-shaped cookie cutter to make it a festive shape!), and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Here’s my favorite recipe for the aforementioned cookies:

Mix 1 can pumpkin with 1 box spice cake mix powder. Then add 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips and you’re done. Really. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. Yummy and easy for kids to help make. 

• And as the holiday gets closer, here’s how you can involve your kids with thanksgiving dinner:
• Teach them how to set the table and discuss where each piece goes. Use play dishes or the real thing. Make it a matching game by tracing plates, cups and silverware onto a piece of paper, then having them place the correct item on its outline. Then when the big day arrives, let them set the table.

• Make a pumpkin pie together.
• Have them make place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. I found this idea using fingerprints at Family Fun. I only had big googly eyes, but I think they are kind of cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!
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Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

F - Day

We started our F Day with Little Miss wearing a flower shirt and collecting fall leaves...and doing a fake smile for this picture. What is it with little kids and not knowing how to smile when you ask them? Silly.

Then we read some books that start with the letter f - Froggy Learns to Swim, and Fun at Bathtime.
Next Little Miss colored a page about the letter F. We've started putting all of her artwork in a binder - she LOVES it! My plan is to scan things in and then just save a few. It's working out great so far.

While coloring we enjoyed some F snacks - fruit (five peaches - which we counted out together) and fishy crackers, which my little chef eventually mixed together and still ate.

To end our F day we made a card for her father with a flamingo on it. She told me "The Flamingo says Whatev's"...so that's what I wrote on the inside of the card...love it!

Some other F activities we failed to take pictures of or didn't get around to doing...

• Singing the Farmer in the Dell
• Visiting a farm
• Playing a fishing game with magnets, a pole, and string...
• Tracing footprints
• Singing Five Speckled Frogs
• Playing with finger puppets
• and visiting her auntie Carrie's cats - Fern & Frankie

{Click image to enlarge for printing}