The Mom I Want to Be

 

Your child can sow seeds of love with this Mother’s Day or National Teacher Day (May 3rd) greeting card. Packed with flower or vegetable seeds, it’s a garden in the making (water not included).

 

Silver card stock

Scissors

Seed packet

Tape

 

Print this watering can template on a piece of silver card stock.  Mark the details on the can as shown, then cut a horizontal slit across the front. Slip in a seed packet (add a piece of tape at the back to keep it in place), then write a message on the can.

 

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If your children are frequently bored like most, you can provide hours of entertainment, fun and creativity with a craft box that you make yourself. Craft boxes contain assorted materials your child can use to make anything he can imagine and the things your child can imagine are usually things you would never think of yourself. Having a box of goodies that a child can just dig into whenever he feels bored is a great way to inspire creative thinking and get kids occupying themselves. If you keep your box well stocked you can provide more fun than any gizmo with lights and batteries ever will. Creating your craft box is a project in itself that you can do with your children, letting them add their own ideas for its ingredients.

 

To make a craft box, you’ll need to start with a box. Rubbermaid tote boxes are great for craft boxes, they range in sizes from small to humongous and are stackable, washable and durable. Let your child help decorate the box if you like with cut outs of felt, glued on sequins or anything else you can imagine. Paint on your childs name to make it personal, this is a great gift idea if you have a lot of kids in the family! Make sure your box is big enough to accommodate a large variety of different sized items that you will be filling it with. One way to do a craft box is to have many smaller boxes, using one box for each item, like buttons, clay, beads, etc. You can draw the name of the items on the side of the box with markers or use labels for easy locating when your child is ready to do a project. You could even keep the smaller boxes inside one big box!

 

Now that you have a box, you will want to fill it up with all kinds of goodies that you might have around the house or can find at your local craft supply store. Some great ideas for your box are buttons, beads, felt, pom poms, yarn, pipe cleaners, artificial flowers, Styrofoam pieces, wooden cut outs, clay, etc. Some basic things you will want to provide also are glue, paints, tape, crayons, paint brushes, markers and anything else your child could use to pull his masterpiece together. Dont forget to throw in some old newspapers to remind your child to protect the furniture when he decides to open the craft box.

 

Your child will probably be able to think of endless crafts to make with his new tool box, but if you need to get him started, try these ideas:

 

Silly masks: Use cut out felt and string to make masks your child can tie around his head, decorate with sequins, feathers, etc.

 

Wall hanging: Starting with a square of felt, have your child create a scene, gluing on shapes and smaller objects, then attach a string to two ends of the top to hang on the wall.

 

Pom pom animals: See how many different animals your child can create using pom poms and pipe cleaners for arms and legs.

 

Youll get many hours of quiet from your craft box, I guarantee it!

• Stone Soup, by Jon J Muth (optional)
• paper
• crayons and/or markers

In this folktale, three monks entice frightened villagers to make soup from stones. The villagers discover that when they give, they receive much more in return.

As you read the story with your child, encourage him to predict what will happen next. What does he think the villagers will do when they see the monks making soup from stones? What will they do when their neighbors start bringing carrots and onions for the soup?

Invite your child to think of other foods that could be added to the soup.

After you finish reading, ask your child what he thinks will happen after the monks have left the village. Will the villagers go back to their old ways, or will they continue to share?

To extend the reading:

1. How well do you know your neighbors? With your child, create a plan to get to know them better. Maybe a picnic or potluck dinner? How about a block cleanup or beautification project?

2. Write your ideas down and select one or two to try. Enlist a neighbor to help!

3. Versions of this folktale are found in many cultures. On your next trip to the library, see if you can find different versions of it.

Learning benefits:
• develops prediction skills
• encourages kindness and socialization
• supports creativity

When decorating the nursery for your baby, keep in mind that newborns can visually perceive objects place 8-12 inches away from their face.  Since their field of vision is so limited, contrasting colors (such as red, black and white) are easiest to discern.  Create easy to make, engaging flash cards displaying favorite baby images, such as smiling faces, checkerboards, spirals, bull eye’s, zig zags, diagonals and other captivating patterns.   Ensuring that flash cards are out of babies reach and securely affixed, add a few cards to a mobile, attach them to her crib where she can easily gaze at them or hang them on the wall just above the diaper changing table.  Rotate the placement of flash cards to give her a change of scenery periodically.

 

Give your baby something stimulating and adorable to look at while in the crib – himself!  Fasten a child safe unbreakable mirror right in his crib to provide hours of delight.  Faces are the most engaging images to baby, and he’ll soon realize that when he moves his head or smiles, so, too, does the face in the mirror

 

Attach a pinwheel to the foot of babies changing table.  Spin the pinwheel to keep her occupied as you change her diaper, get her undressed, or check her temperature.  She’ll love watching the pretty colors in motion, and it will help distract her as you attend to the task at hand.

 

Hang a bulletin board on the wall above baby’s changing table and attach large magazine cut outs of baby’s faces – plus mommy, daddy, and grandma – using putty-tack adhesive instead of thumbtacks or pins to affix the cutouts.  Point to the faces as you change him and reinforce works such as “baby”, “eyes”, “nose”, “smile” and “mouth”.  When he is older you can use the board to showcase his drawings and paintings.

 

For reassuring “nightlights” in your toddlers room, consider affixing glow in the dark moon and star stickers to the ceiling above his bed.  Before tucking him in at night, sing “Twinkle, Twinkle” together, ask him to make a wish on a star, or make up a fairy tale about a brave space explorer who just happens to share your child’s name.  Talking about the night sky makes a wonderful bedtime ritual and the comforting glow of the stickers will help combat a fear of the dark.

 

Paint your child’s closet door or a section of her bedroom wall with chalkboard paint (available at hardware stores) for a permanent canvas on which to showcase his many doodling masterpieces.  To section off the chalkboard area on the wall, first find a large wooden frame at a thrift shop, paint the area to suit the frame, and then hot glue the frame to the wall.  Alternatively, scout out tag sales for inexpensive wooden toy cabinets or short wooden tables and cover them with chalkboard paint.  Stock your child’s art supplies with colored chalk and easy to trace plastic cookie cutters.

 

Create a cozy reading nook in a corner of your toddler’s bedroom.  Place throw pillows and beanbag chairs to create a comfy sitting area.  Turn a plastic milk crate on its side to function as a book holder and a table.  Consider using this area to read favorite bedtime or naptime stories to your child.

 

Mount a large cookie sheet on your toddler’s bedroom wall, positioning it at eye level so that she can spell out words with magnetic alphabet letter.  Buy self adhesive magnet sheets to display cutouts of babies, animals, flowers or other images your toddler might find appealing on her magnetic play area.  You might want to print out a few common vocabulary words on your computer, turn them into magnets, then sit down with your toddler to create a rebus story that combines images and words on her cookie sheet.

 

If you don’t have enough room for an easel in your child’s room, consider mounting a large easel sized clipboard on the wall.  This can hold large sheets of paper on which he can draw and fingerpaint and it won’t take any room when not in use.   In fact, it can become an ever-changing display area for works of art.

 

Instead of storing a bulky puppet theater in your child’s bedroom, place an  expandable, spring loaded curtain rod on his doorway for an instant puppet show stage.  Hang an old curtain or tablecloth from the rod and let him decorate to his liking.  When the show is over, simply store the “stage” in the linen closet.

 

 

Toddlers need lots of sensory activities; this one helps build the fine motor skills as well as takes care of a sensory experience. My toddlers love this!

 

 

You need one bottle of any color glitter paint, a large piece of clear contact paper, a flat smooth surface and thick/wide tape.

 

Find a clean, smooth surface. Pour glitter paint on the surface. Cover with clear contact paper. Seal edges with thick/wide tape.  Smooth out the bubbles in the contact paper. This activity is a non-messy way for toddlers to experience a sensory activity and build those fine motor skills as well. They love it!

Do you have a hula hoop, strings and some material? With just a few simple materials you could be the newest resident of a “Fairy House”

Tie three sections of string to the hula hoop as shown, an equal distance apart. Tape the tops of the fabric strips around the hula hoop. Cut the bottoms in petal-like shapes. Screw the cup hook into the ceiling. Attach the strings securely to the hook. Finishing Touches – Decorate the top edge with a second piece of fabric. Tape long ribbons to the hula hoop so they hang down. Glue silk flowers all over.

Decorate with fun and lightweight fabric, silk flowers, and anything else your fairies might like! If you’re feeling adventurous, try putting on your favorite dress, make some wings and pretend you’re a fairy!

 

There are undoubtedly some children who love taking tests to measure their abilities and academic achievement. But the vast majority don’t thrive on such challenges, especially when they sense the second-hand anxiety of adults in their midst — teachers who worry about being blamed for kids’ poor performances, and parents whose self-respect is too often on the line. Teaching to the tests, so prevalent in the current academic environment, will fail to capitalize on school achievement’s best ally — kids’ own eagerness to learn about the things that intrigue them.

There is little challenge to policymakers, teachers, and parents from children who just plain love it all, love to read, love to write, love math, love to please. But for those children who are not meeting expectations in the core subjects, the current prescription — to narrow the curriculum and focus exclusively on reading and math — may be the turnoff of all turnoffs. Doing more and more drills, spending all day every day doing stuff that is dull at best, is not the way to improve achievement.

This doesn’t apply only to children in school. Let’s look at what modern psychology has found to be the motivating factor par excellence for people of all ages, talents, and interests. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly has studied the question through close scrutiny of artists, athletes, and others who choose to work long and hard at perfecting their skills (often with little promise of external reward). He’s found a remarkable explanatory factor that he calls “flow,” or complete immersion in an activity. Put simply, people who love what they are doing will go on doing it beyond the point of total fatigue because it gives them total pleasure. Pursuing a passionate interest offers the feeling of “happiness.” In fact, it turns out that, contrary to popular thinking, being totally absorbed in a tough task has a much higher happiness rank than being free of responsibility. And there is nothing that matches the total absorption of a child or adult in an activity he or she loves.

It follows, then, that our challenge with kids who are not achieving is to find the hook — the point of passionate interest that will draw them in. This means that we should not be narrowing school subject matter for poor achievers; in fact, we probably should be doing the opposite. Our most talented teachers have long known this. They wait and watch for the hook to bring an unsuccessful student into the fold. Maybe a child’s favorite activity is fishing with Grandpa, something his teacher discovers in time spent listening to and getting to know him. Then why not find books at his reading level about fishing? Why not translate math problems into challenges about whether a fish meets the legal size requirement? Teachers’ best clues to the hook for each child are likely to emerge during “specials” or social studies, maybe even in a shop class or during an assembly of guest musicians or jugglers. Field trips of all sorts are rich with opportunities to find those hooks.

 

Above all, adults need to find something that each child can feel successful at, sometimes a classroom job that may involve some easily accomplished reading or math. But don’t cut out history for the 3rd grader who is fascinated by the Second World War. Don’t rob the artistically inclined child of a lesson in mural-making or a trip to a children’s art museum. Bring hands-on gardening into a science unit that might incidentally also involve both math and reading. Whether or not the basic subjects are involved, being able to pursue genuine interests can rejuvenate kids to do the less exciting work that they still must master.

 

As a parent, you can be an enormous help by encouraging your child’s interests and talents. Acknowledge them, admire them, and discuss them with teachers. Who knows your child’s particular passions better than you? So don’t hold back, thinking that a fascination with horses or submarines is not a worthy subject for school. It is the “flow” experienced in pursuing those interests that hooks kids on learning for life.

 

1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 package un-sweetened strawberry Kool-Aid, 1/4 cup salt, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 cup water

Directions: Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid in a medium saucepan. Add
water and oil. Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. When mixture forms a ball in pan, remove. Knead until smooth. Store in a covered plastic container.