Archive for January 2009
I didn’t even know I was nominated , I went over to MomDot.com vote for a good friend and saw that I was nominated for “Outstanding Performance” ! Wow!
So here is the shameless begging, if you haven’t voted already….
Vote Here !
Today is our day of unplugged play! Click on the button above to see what we contributed !
I am honored to be a part of Operation Playtime, 12 days of play , exploration and not a battery in sight! The goal isn’t to banish the video games or battery powered trucks forever, just to find a balance and make sure that every child gets some good old fashion unplugged play!
I can’t count the number of times I have made this craft but it wasn’t until I saw this post over at Just 4 Fun that I got my tush in gear and made it! Sandy does a whole bunch of awesome activities , if you haven’t seen her blog you need to pop over there! I got the package of doilies at the dollar store and the water color was perfect for the fragile paper.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 doily hearts, some red and pink construction paper glue, water colors, a paint brush, small dish for water, googly eyes and a pipe cleaner.
- Start by painting the doilies with water colors. This was the first time my son had used them and after teaching him a quick chant of “Water, Color , Paper!” it was smooth sailing.
- While they are painting, cut out a butter fly body from the red paper.
- Cut out a small heart from the pink paper for a mouth.
- Glue the doilies together at the point end.
- Add glue on top
- Add your butterfly body.
- Glue on the mouth.
- Add the glue for the eyes, and glue them on
- Poke two holes in the top and feed your pipe cleaner through. Tape on the back for extra stability. Curl the ends.
“Did I Tell You I Love You Today?” by Deloris Jordan is a very practical yet heartwarming look at all the ways parents show love to their children everyday, from feeding them healthy food to praying after they go to bed. My son loved all the big boy things in the book like, the school bus, basketball and the playground. I teared up reading the book, but I cry at American Idol so that may not be indicative of anything!
“I Love You With All My Heart!” by Noris Kern is the precursor to “Will you Still Love Me” the author is the illustrator in the other book. The characters are the same and the story is equally as sweet. It’s a slow but calming story about Polo’s quest to understand what mama bear means when she says she loves him with all her heart!
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of different color construction paper, paint, a marker,glue,pom poms, a pipe cleaner, googley eyes, and scissors.
- Draw a big C with your marker on one piece of construction paper.
- Have your child paint the C, we are using paint rollers, I try to give my son options when possible and he chose the paint rollers. You could use crayons or markers too!
- Add as many glue dots as you have pom poms, make sure there is a lot of glue, pom poms need a good amount to stay put. Also add two smaller globs of glue for the eyes.
- Add your pom poms! I held them and asked my son which color he wanted, then he put it on.
- Add the googley eyes. Let dry.
- Cut the C out ,add the pipe cleaner by poking two small holes and threading it through, glue the C onto the 2nd piece of construction paper.
” The Crunching Munching Caterpillar” by Sheridan Cain is another story about a caterpillar who is not happy about his lot in life. There is a fair bit of language that some parents would object to. This caterpillar is often reminded that he is too fat to fly- so that poses a few challenges to parents like myself who are trying to instill healthy body images as well as using respectful words with others in our children. I have dealt with this book in two ways, first by saying that the caterpillar is getting fat but it’s a good thing because he will be sleeping for a long time in his chrysalis and needs that fat to live. Also I have simply replaced fat with big, a word that is much less ugly to many people’s ears.
for my weekly activity .Older Children will love it!
I have always loved this craft, I don’t know the first time I made one but it’s been years and they always turn out beautifully and if you make a bunch they will turn your house into a true Chinese New Years Celebration !
- Gather your materials. You will need a red piece of construction paper , some crayons or markers, scissors, double stick tape or stapler and some gold glitter glue.
- Cut a small strip off the end of the paper and set aside.
- Have your child color with crayons or markers. I don’t use paint with this craft because the paint has in the past made the lanterns brittle and they ripped.
- Add your glitter glue ! Using glitter glue makes it so the paper doesn’t get saturated and brittle. Let dry.
- Fold and cut into the fold, start about 1.5 inches into the paper and leave the margin on the other side too.
- Add double stick tape to one side ( top and bottom) and attach the other side to it.
- Using the strip of paper you set aside earlier, tape into a handle.
