Teaching Kids To Craft

I am always a bit frustrated when I see kids craft projects posted on the internet that couldn't possibly have been created by a kid.  Adults make "perfect" craft projects but kids create very differently from adults and guess what?  They think their final product is amazing no matter how it looks.  I am a firm believer in letting my children express themselves as they create and even though I sometimes have to stop myself from "perfecting" their project, I encourage them to make it how they want.  So the other day when we were going to make some birthday cards for grandma I quickly whipped up this project:

I cut out all my pieces but didn't put it together.  I let my girls pick their own papers and then drew all the pieces for them to cut out.  They did the cutting of everything but the feet and black eyeballs.

Then, and we have never it done it this way before, but what we did is I showed them (instead of just telling them) what to do as I put mine together.  It worked out so well and I wasn't frustrated because they weren't following or understanding my directions.  I told them to watch and showed what to do each step and then they repeated on their pieces.  It was so much funner that way and they didn't get frustrated and want to give up because they didn't know what I was talking about.

In the end this is how their owls turned out:

Now here is a good comparison of what an adult can do verses a child.  But theirs are still adorable. I am really proud of how well they watched and followed directions.  Why didn't I think of show as you go crafting before?

After we were done I asked them to dictate to me a message from Grandma.  Don't you just love how kids just say exactly what is on their minds:

Snack Time Clock

Do you hear the words, "Can I have a snack?" all day long like I do?  Seems like every time I turn around I have a child under my feet asking for a snack and my youngest little pumpkin in particular can eat a meal and then be asking for a snack 1/2 an hour later.  Drives me BANANAS!!! So I created the snack time clock and it has become the authority on snack time in our house.  It is incredibly easy to make one-though I am sure you could craft it up as much as you want.  I needed something that was visual since my kids are too young to tell time or read.  So I bought a basic face clock at Walmart for $3.95

I flipped it over and unscrewed the tiny screws on the back.

Now you can flip it back over and take off the outer ring and glass.

I painted the hour hand yellow (any bright color will work)

Then I colored my snack time sections with yellow marker and added food stickers (the fruits and veggies stickers are to trick all you readers into believing that I only feed my children those things for snacks).

Let the paint dry, replace the glass and outer ring, and screw the screws back in.  And there you have it.  Now when my kids ask for a snack I refer them to the clock.  If the yellow hand is pointing to a yellow section then they can have a snack.  If not then they have to wait (though there are sometimes exceptions).  And in case anyone is questioning my snack time hours let me explain.  We usually eat breakfast at 8:30 or 9:00 and lunch at 1:30 so an 11:00am snack time is right in between those times.  Having the whole section colored doesn't mean they can eat for an entire hour either.  The 3:00 snack time works too because we usually eat at 6:00 for dinner.  Of course you would make it work for your family.  Perhaps more snack times if you have small children or health issues.  It is just a great visual for your kids and eliminates the constant whining for snacks.  The clock now becomes the one to blame if you don't hand out food.  A quick and easy fix for something that drives every mom crazy.

3 Strikes and You're Out: An Idea for Imperfect Parenting

Before I had children I was an expert at raising them.  I knew exactly how to handle tempers and tantrums (not that my perfect children were ever going to have those) but if they did I knew that I would give them a gentle reminder to behave and on we would go skipping and whistling while we worked and played.  Fast forward to today when I am the parent of three children and have no idea what the heck I am doing and often feel that if anyone deserves to be sitting in time out it is probably me for inappropriate behavior.  You know, I love the Internet and blogs and especially Pinterest for all the ideas/information they provide you with but they also provide you with mommy overload: a bombardment of ideas that only increase a mother's feelings of insanity.  Everyone has an idea and an opinion-but how on earth do you decide which is best for you?  At one time spanking was the accepted norm, then that was labeled taboo and "time out" became the "best" discipline method.  Now I read that rather than time out we should give our kids "time in" for misbehavior.  Yelling is possibly worse than spanking.  Consequences should be funny rather than harsh.  Kids need a calm down jar or a quiet spot to journal their angry feelings and read books until they are ready to play.  Point out the good and ignore the bad.  Whatever you do don't scar your child (possibly too late for us) or damage their self esteem.  It all sounds great and very confusing and I often find myself standing in the bathroom in tears wondering what I am supposed to do and questioning my abilities as a mom.  So I am not saying that this is a good idea (and I am sure someone will think I am scarring my children with this) but I am just saying that this is an idea.  It is a "3 strikes you're out" chart.  

The basic idea is that there are often things that our kids want to do or places they want to go but they aren't immediate (like going to Grandma's to play in the afternoon, or going swimming after lunch or going on the bus with dad in the morning).  We tell the girls they must behave if they want to go (or do) but they are 4 and 3 so that goes in one ear and out the other.  I do not feel that, with them being so young, it is fair to only allow them one chance to mess up (though there are exceptions when one mess up is all it takes) but I feel like they at least deserve a few tries so my husband and I use the 3 strikes system and this chart is an easy way to keep track (so that dad doesn't come home and say they can when they can't which creates mass meltdowns) and it is a visual reminder for them that we are serious.  If you get 3 strikes you miss out-SORRY-end of story.  The blue squares are for us to X out and the line at the bottom is where we write the "privilege or activity" (once again so that we can be on the same page-so mom doesn't say no swimming this afternoon and dad doesn't say something like 'no treats at the baseball game in 2 weeks' [aren't dads great at this kinda stuff...NOT!]).  I don't use this to catch bad behavior and certainly many things slide (if they really are inconsequential).  This helps us to stick to a consequence and it eliminates the repetition of the ever popular parent phrase, "This is your last chance."  Hey and you can even take it places with you!!!  It's portable.  If this is a terrible parenting practice well then add it to the list because I am just like every other mom out there-trying to do MY best to figure out how to be a parent as I go.  I am sure it won't be the first time I "scar them for life."

Works For us Wednesday: Preschool

I, like a lot of other moms out there, want to give my children as much education as possible before they actually start kindergarten.  I am amazed at how many preschool ideas there are on the web and wish I had time to do every single one of them.  The truth is that I don't have time to do even a portion of them and I feel like I don't really even have the time to do anything overly formal as far as preschool goes at home with my girls.  I have been doing some form of preschool with Small Fry since she was 2 but as she gets older and involved in more things and I have more children it seems to get harder and harder.  I am not a home school mom...that is for sure, but I have finally found a fairly simple solution that works for us to get some preschool in each day.  It started when I grabbed a few flash cards to review with the girls one day while we ate breakfast.  They loved reviewing their letters in a very informal setting and asked if we could do it again at lunch time.  I was surprised but said sure.  And for the last 2 months that is what we have done everyday during breakfast and lunch 5 days a week-preschool.  Sometimes I think they will get tired of it and don't get anything out but as I sit down with the girls they say, "mom what about preschool."  We do flash cards, I ask them to spell things, we review their address and phone numbers, we review the days of the week and the months of the year, we count by tens and count things on flash cards.  We sometimes do rhyming words or play I spy.  Sometimes I ask one to quiz the other.  Sometimes after we eat we sit a little longer so I can have them write something or do some fine motor activities.  We get to eat our food, we bond because we are interacting the whole time and they are learning and having fun doing it.  It totally works for us.  It is one of the greatest ideas I feel that I have ever had.  I look forward to eating meals with my girls because of how much they love that preschool time.

Easy, Fast and Cheap Kid Activities

I am always on the look out for something that my kids can play with, or that I can do with my kids that does not involve running around and being crazy (which is what they always suggest we do when given the chance).  I need things that I can whip up in a second or that are new and exciting without being alot of work.  Here are two great ideas. 

This first one I found on Pinterest.  It is a city map made out of masking tape on the floor connecting houses and other "town" like toys.  I had a bunch of toys in the basement and found as many cars and trucks as we have in a all girl house.  The girls were super excited to see this but didn't play with it that much at first, except when my husband or I played with them.  But they asked me to leave it and went back to it multiple times over the next couple of days.  I think I left it up for 3 days total.  It was really easy to make and took about 10 minutes during nap time. 

 The second one is going to be one of my favs I think: painting with water.  I know it is the simplest idea and yet so fun.  Why didn't I think of this before.  I didn't want the girls to get messy but wanted something new to do outside.  I brought out jars of water and paint brushes and away they went.  We wrote names and practiced writing letters, we splattered the water with the brushes and all with no clean up at all.  It was fantasic and is something any mom can throw together in a matter of seconds.

Sidewalk Chalk Paint

 Part of the reason I took a break from blogging is so that I could spend more time (quality-real, kid centered) time with my girls.  I want to be more available to say "yes" to their requests rather than, "in a minute."  I am trying to actual look at some of the amazing things I have been pinning on Pinterest and put some of them into action.  We recently tried sidewalk chalk paint.  The girls were ancy one morning and I said, "lets make some paint for outside" and they were pretty thrilled about that idea.  I wasn't sure how well it would work but the results were FANTASTIC.  I just made a few colors because I am running low on food coloring and I wasn't sure how long my girls would last.  They however loved this because they could just paint where ever they wanted and I wasn't nearly as paranoid as I am indoors.  And can I just add that the artwork lasts a long time (unlike regular chalk-unless you get it wet I am guessing but we did it under our carport) and the clean up was a breeze. Oh and it works best with large brushes.  It goes on kind of watery but dries just like chalk and in nice bright colors.

Edible Playdough and Rainbow Cookie Pops

I wanted to make rainbow cookie pops for Small Fry's rainbow birthday party.  I found this recipe for edible playdough and this great idea for making it into rainbows-I just had to try it.  A note or two about the recipe: it is called edible playdough because it is meant to eat but the recipe does call for an egg.  I was not thinking while making the cookie dough about the egg and so we made it and ate a hardy amount of it unbaked with the raw egg in it.  No one got sick so we were okay but if I made it again I would substitute egg powder or egg replacer for the actual egg and then it is safely "edible".  I thought that one recipe of dough would not be enough and almost doubled it but it actually was enough to make 16 rainbow cookies and a pan of cookies made by my girls.  The dough has to be refridgerated so plan ahead.  It is very easy to mold and the taste (both baked and unbaked) is wonderful. To get the dough colored I made the basic recipe then broke it into as many different balls as I needed colors and then I kneaded a few drops of food coloring into each ball.  My hands ended up slightly colored but it was easier then putting each through a mixer but you can do it however you wish.

 These are the cookies my girls made.

 These are mine (unbaked).  After forming them I slid a stick in the middle carefully. 

 Here are the girls cookies baked (they were very proud)

 Here are mine.  I baked them just a touch longer then recommened to make sure they would not break when held by the stick.

I love this idea.  I am planning on doing it again when I can just make crazy cookies with my girls.

Busy Bag Day

Since Pinterest and I have developed a loving relationship I have noticed tons of links to busy bags (among other wonderful things to keep toddlers learning and occupied...it is saving my life might I just add).  I have wanted to make a bunch of busy bags for my girls but the thought of making them all on my own was very overwhelming.  So I sent a message out on Facebook to a bunch of moms with young kids here in town and got a group of 9 women together to have a busy bags day.  Each mom picked one or two ideas to make and brought enough supplies for the whole group.  We had about a month to get ready since we all live in the middle of no where and had to have time to gather supplies.  We met at our church where the kids could run around while we assembled.  Everyone brought their own gallon sized ziplock bags to take home all the new activities in.  Some games required some assembly which was done at the church while others were ready to go.  We were there for an hour and a half and each mom went home with 18 different things to do.  It was so worth it.  Even if you had to pay a dollar a piece for the items for your bags you were getting 16 more bags at no cost so the cost was well worth the final outcome.  At first I thought we should each do 3 bags but actually doing 2 was the perfect number for each mom.

Here are some of the bags set out ready to go.

A second table of bags.

Table #3 of bag items.

Some of the lovely ladies who participated.  We did it on a morning when not everyone could attend so those who couldn't make it sent their stuff and some of us assembled bags for them.  So it works out even if everyone can't be there.

This is my loot.  Some of the things I got are: a Popsicle matching game, fishing game, pom pom shooters (fun for dads and kids), alphabet clothes pin game, stringing beads, file folder games, tongue depressor puzzles, alpha beans and more.

 My plan for using the busy bags is that we will do them Monday, Wednesday and Friday because we have preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We are doing them right after breakfast after we clean off the table.  I picked out two bags for each girl and they did them and then switched.  Their attention spans are still not that long so it was the perfect amount of time. 

Want to do a busy bag day of your own?  Here is the list of links I sent all the ladies.  Each one is a link to a specific idea or a blog or website that has lots of ideas.  After I sent the link I had the ladies write back to say what they were doing to avoid repeating any of the activities. 

http://www.walkingbytheway.com/blog/?p=298
http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/2010/09/toddler-busy-bag-activities-month-3.html   #'s 1 & 4
http://rootsandwingsco.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-popsicle-activity.html
http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2010/07/marble-travel-game.html
http://myplumpudding.blogspot.com/2008/10/cereal-box-matching-game.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/05/free-cothesline-busy-bag-instructions-and-pattern-download.html
http://totschool.shannons.org/?p=1690
http://printableparenting.com/files/documents/BusyBags/pompompatterns.pdf
http://www.mynameissnickerdoodle.com/2010/02/colors.html Could be done with different sizes of pasta (just a bag of colored pasta and some string.
http://moneysavingmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cupcake-busy-bag-final.pdf
http://unsolicitedadvice-n-such.blogspot.com/2011/06/easy-felt-fish.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/08/busy-bag-idea-pom-pom-stuff-it-in.html i have found packages of mini cups with lids at the dollar store they come in like 5 or 6 a package.
http://www.chinacat.org/roller/sunfrog/entry/pasta_dyeing_beading_and_sorting
http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2011/09/mini-marshmallow-shooters-or-pom-pom.html
http://www.activity-mom.com/2010/03/lima-bean-letters.html could be put with a bunch of cards that spell words and the child has to match up the beans
http://www.activity-mom.com/2010/02/letter-matching.html   You could make a bunch of cards with letters on them and then add in a couple of sheets of stickers.  Once used up the mom can replace them
http://www.activity-mom.com/2010/01/beware-of-crocodiles-game.html I think this would be cute but I would use fun foam to make the crocodiles and you could put numbers or shapes or colors for the kids to find.
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/10/busy-bag-idea-pinchers-pom-poms.html
http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/11/while-backi-whipped-up-little-game-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ImperfectHomemaking+%28The+Complete+Guide+to+Imperfect+Homemaking%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
http://theprincessandthetot.blogspot.com/search/label/Tot%20Trays There are tons of ideas here that could be turned into busy bags.  I like sort the foods (you could do this with picture cards), the nuts and bolts-that would be super fun, egg carton button sort, happy sad sorting (click older enteries to get here), draw a mouth, lacing foam beads onto a stick (could be done with fun foam with a hole punched in it and a meat skewer),
http://www.kindergartenkindergarten.com/file-folder-games.html this site has some cute and free printable file folder games that could be put in a bag.

I love Watermelon T-Shirt

Our little town has a huge watermelon celebration in Sept.  I am getting ready with stuff for my booth.  Here is my latest project.  There are always official Melon Days t-shirts for sale but nothing that fits little kids very well.  Perhaps I can help meet that need.
Let me know if you want one (leave a comment or send an e-mail).  The t-shirts are $5.00.  The sizes available are: 0-12 months (onesies) 18 months-4T (t-shirts)

Easy Peasy Job Chart for Kids.

I have recently been thinking that it is time for Small Fry to have a few more jobs and I wanted to create an easy, kid friendly job chart for her.  I found this one at Target in the dollar section.  I made some simple job pictures (the jobs are targeted at a 3 year old level).  I printed them out on printable magnet paper but they actually weren't strong enough to hold through the chart so I reinforced them on a sheet of magnet with a sticky back (I ordered that on line a while back but you might be able to find magnet sheets in a office supply store).  These were much stronger.  I made a few extra jobs so that I could change them up from time to time.  I added extra magnet to the back of the chart as it only had one small piece. 

 The idea is-she looks on her chart and sees the jobs and then when she has done one she can put a smiley sun beside it.  At first I told her when they were all done she would have a reward but that actually was causing me more stress than having the chart be helpful.  So now before she can go somewhere or do the next fun thing I remind her she needs to get 3 jobs done, or 4 jobs done, or 2 jobs done (depends on what time of day and what activity) or she will ask if she can have an M&M and I tell her when she has 3 jobs done.  That way I am not stressing over whether or not the jobs are getting done.  It will probably change over time (how I use it) but I like have a visual list of things that she can help with in a place where she can see it.

And to make it even easier for you to make one here is a link to the job's and smiley suns for you to download and print.

Toddler Beach Towel Poncho

My kids love to swim but they don't love getting out of the water and feeling cold.  I wanted to create a towel that would be great for my little swimmers that would easily stay on them, help them get dry and keep them warm.  This tutorial in particular is to make a towel poncho for a small toddler (my little pumpkin is about a year and a half).  If you wanted to make a similar thing for an older child you would need to start for sure with a bigger towel, or sew on additional material to a towel this size in order to make it fit.  This towel would be too small for my 3 year old.

Okay, lets begin.

Materials

1 bath towel 53 1/2 x 29" (isn't that a random towel size?)  This is your standard bath towel

1 hand towel 15 x 24

5- 2"x 72" strips of fabric

1- 2" piece of 1/8" elastic

1 button

1. Begin by laying the large bath towel out flat and cutting off a 5 1/2" strip from one end.  I cut right along one of the patterned lines on my towel.

2. Next take the edge that you just cut and fold it over on the towel like this to form a triangle (when you cut this it will form a perfect square).

3. Cut along the side of your towel that is adjacent to the remainder of the towel to get a big triangle.  When you open it up you should have your square.

4. Now you are going to bind each of the towel edges.  I did a super easy (could be considered cheaters) method.  I am not a fan of sewing with bias tape, nor did I have enough fabric to create my own bias fabric strips so I decided to just use regular fabric strips and sandwich each of my towel edges between one (so you would see an inch of fabric on each side).

5.  Then I sewed a 1/2" seam down each strip.  I cut the fabric towards the seam on each strip after (in about 1/2" increments).  Once this is washed it will fray.  I like the look-plus it is simple and easy.  I think binding each edge neater with bias binding would look fantastic.  So you have two options.

On the corners I just left the ends of each strip raw (I didn't fold anything under).

6. Now we will sew the hood.  Begin by cutting your hand towel down to 22 x 9 1/4".

7.  Sew a strip of fabric along one long edge.  I used the same method that I did on the large square.

8. Fold the towel in half (right sides together if you have a right side) the width way.  Pin the opposite side of the one with the binding.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along that whole edge.

When you turn it right side out you will have a cute pointy hood.

Back view.

9. Next to be able to attach the hood and make an opening for a cute little head you will need to fold your large square piece to form first a large triangle (so fold it corner to corner), then in half again to form a smaller triangle. (this picture shows it open so that you can see that I folded twice).

Here it is closed.

10.  Find the center point (so if you opened your triangle up, the center point would be in the top middle).  Measure about 10" one way and mark with a pin (make sure you are staying on the center fold as you measure, don't measure down the side.  The center fold is the part that will slip over your kids head and rest on his or her shoulders.  I so wish I was a mathematician because I am sure there is some sort of mathematical way to explain this).  Flip the whole triangle piece over and mark 10" out from the center point on the other side.

11.  Using a sharp pair of scissors, poke one point in at the center and cut along one side to the pin.  Then repeat on the other side.  On one side (not both) cut an extra 2-3 inches.  This is going to ensure that the hole will fit any size of head.

This will leave you with a large opening in the center of the towel.

12.  Bind the edge in the same manner that you did the sides.

13.  Now you will adjust the hood so that it will fit with your opening.  To do this I made a series of pleats.

14.  The pleats are simply made by pinching the fabric

and then folding it down to one side.  Keep all your pleats going the same direction.  I have mine going out from the center.  Start on the outside edge first and then work towards the middle.  You could make a few large pleats, or many smaller ones.  Pin each pleat and then measure it against your opening to make sure it fits. You want it to fit the 20" opening-not including the extra 2 inches on one side.

15. To pin it on, lay the hood with the right side (which is the outside) of the hood (the back center seam) on the back side of the towel, about a 1/2 inch down from the opening edge.  Match the edges of the hood to the size of the opening.  It should be 20".  Pin in place.  There should be 2-3 extra inches on one side.  Sew along the edge of the hood.  After you have done that, pull the hood up, pressing the opening edge of the towel up over the bottom of the hood.  Pin in place and sew again along the edge of the opening piece.  This will cover up the raw and unfinished edge of the hood.

16. Lastly I added a button on the front side of the towel (I placed it where the 20" end and the extra 2-3" begins (see second pic below to clarify).  On the opposite side (which is the back side of the towel) I sewed a small loop with the piece of elastic.  This will help hold the towel on a little body after they have put it on.

And now for my adorable model.

Happy sewing and swimming everyone.