Halloween!

Now is the time to make or get your Halloween Costumes! Beat the rush and get it done this week! I have finished all of my family. We are doing the Wizard of Oz. Because we were early I even found some cheap red shoes in my daughters size. They were the last ones! Anyway just a suggestion. I Love Halloween, and for me Halloween is all about the costumes!

Dinner Party Games!

I was helping my sister find dinner games for her son that is going to Homecoming this week. Listed below are some that I found. If you have Dinner parties often, or have a high schooler you might want to copy these into Microsoft word so you can have them for later use. Anyway this is what I found, please add anymore into the comment section.

1. "psychiatrist"
One person is selected as the psychiatrist; she has to leave the room while the rules are explained; when she returns, she's told she has to diagnose the problem of all of the other participants. The "problem" is that each person thinks he is the person to his immediate left (the participants sit in a circle), and will respond to questions as that person. The psychiatrist must diagnose the problem by asking individuals questions about themselves--any questions. The person must answer as if he is the person to his left. If the answer to the question is incorrect (e.g. the person pretending to be you says his favorite food is bbq chicken, and you're a vegetarian), the person who's being impersonated yells "psychiatrist," and all of the people stand up, scramble positions, and sit back down in a circle, whereupon questioning resumes. The game is over when the psychiatrist can correctly diagnose the problem (state the rules of the game)

2. Who What Where: Pictonary, Draw a card for each thing and then draw it.

3. Celebrities Charades

Round 1- Description
Round 2- 2 word Phrase
Round 3- Pantomime like Charades

Each round lasts 3 minutes. Different Celeb. Each time.

4. The Celebrity Couple Party Game

Summary and Supplies: As far as icebreaker games for small groups go, this is one of the liveliest and most fun ways to start a party. All you need is a good knowledge of celebrity couples, a pen, and a stack of post-it notes.
The Game
· Before the party begins, take the time to write out the post-it notes. On each note should be written one-half of a celebrity couple. For example, one might say Brad Pitt and another Angelina Jolie.
· As each person arrives at the party, you (or somebody else assigned to do it) should stick one celebrity post-it note on their back without allowing them to see it.
· The goal of this icebreaker party game is for each guest to find their celebrity match-- by finding out which celebrity they themselves are. To do this, each guest may ask the others yes or no questions about their identity until they figure out who they are.
Alteration: You can also instruct guests to treat each person as the celebrity name on their post-it to help speed up the process. The wacky conversations and sometimes physical antics that stem from this are pretty fun to watch!
Note: This is one of those great icebreaker games for small groups of any kind-- even those that don't follow celebrity gossip. So don't limit yourself to real-life celebrity couples. Change it up by adding couples such as "Yogi and Bobo," "Romeo and Juliet," or even "milk and cookies" -- there's no limit to how silly you can make your guests look.

5. The “No” Party Game

Summary and Supplies: This is one of the most rowdy icebreaker games for small groups you can play-- and the competition can get vicious, so watch out! This is a great one to play during a cocktail party or while guests nibble appetizers at a dinner party. To play, you need one necklace (such as a lei or beads), or tag on a string or clothespin for each player. In this example we'll use leis.
The Game
· Each guest is given a lei when they arrive and is instructed to put it on.
· The goal of the game is to collect as may leis as possible by stealing/winning them from other guests. To do this, you must get another guest to say the word "no." Yep, that simple.
· To get a guest to say the word "no," the players must ask questions or make statements which would make the player give a negative answer. If a player (the answerer) forgets to go around the word "no", he or she must give their lei to the person who got them to say it (the asker).
· If you have lost your lei, you may continue to play, ask questions, and collect leis.
· The winner is the person who has collected the most leis by the end of a predetermined period. They can win a prize if you wish, such as a bottle of wine or leftover dessert.
Note:You can choose whether or not to allow the word "know" to be used for this game-- both ways are fun. It's pretty interesting to see the lengths lei-less players will go to get leis from winning players-- especially as the game progresses. The hilariously convoluted things your guests will say in order to keep from having to say the word "no" make this one of the best icebreaker games for small groups.

6. Message under a plate

Summary and Supplies: This is one of the easiest free party games to liven things up around the dinner table. All you need is a bit of imagination, a pen, and some small strips of paper. (Or, if you prefer more elegant dinner table games, some blank business cards or card stock and a printer-- you can do this on the computer).
The Game
· Write or print a different phrase on each of several small pieces of paper. Place one card under each of your dinner guests' plates. Make the phrases usable but strange. Ex: "I am a space cowboy," or "Have you tried ostrich eggs?"
· Before dinner, ask everybody to read the card under their plate-- they're not to read it aloud or share its contents with anybody. Instruct your guests to use their phrase or question as naturally as they can in conversation.
· You can decide to make this a race-- whoever manages to use their phrase last loses. Or it can be a competition between guests. The goal is for each guest to figure out when another guest is using an assigned phrase. If they're able to slip it into conversation naturally without anybody noticing, they win.
· You can also choose to assign guests several phrases-- increase them in difficulty as they go along.

7. Mr. Freeze
Summary and Supplies: This game works best for larger groups. You can play this at the dinner table for a dinner party, or while guests are standing around having cocktails. No supplies needed.
The Game
· To play, nominate (or have the group nominate) somebody as Mr. Freeze. During the course of the evening, that person should completely freeze-- even if he or she is in mid-sentence. As time passes, other dinner party guests should notice and freeze, too.
· The goal is to get everybody to freeze. The last person to notice and "freeze" loses. You can also make this a drinking game, requiring the loser to down the rest of his or her drink and become the new Mr. Freeze.
· Not one of the best dinner table games to play at a restaurant-- the waiter may have trouble taking your order!

8. Apples To Apples

9. Balderdash

10. Cranium

Two New Websites

I just added two new websites. The first is called flylady and the next is called Family Corner. Check them out. Flylady can be a little cheesy in some places, but it really helps you get organized. Family Corner reminds me a lot of Family Fun. Anyway hope you enjoy them.

My Favorite Kids Poems

I just thought I would share two of my favorite poems for my kids to memorize. They are fun to tell Grandma or just to give your little one a talent. They are.......

I never saw a purple cow,

I never hope to meet one,

But I can tell you anyhow,

I'd rather see than be one!

and

There's too many kids in this tub,

There's too many elbows to scrub,

I just washed a behind,

I don't think was mine,

There's too many kids in this TUB!

Potty Training

My son just finished potty training. I am so excited. When I started I had decided I wanted to make jars that had treats in them for each task I wanted help with. So I used the images above, colored them, attached them to containers and it worked really well. He had different treats in each container also. When he went Stinkys he got a stinky treat, when he did water in the potty he got a water in the potty treat, and when I put him on the potty if his real pants were dry he got a dry pants treat. My son loved the variety and did really good potty training. This might not work for you but it took me a long time to find these pictures so I thought I would post them for others if they need them.

Have A GREAT day!

Just a quick thought

I went to parent teacher conf. last week and one of the teachers said something that made me think a little. I was talking with my daughters resource teacher. We were making a plan of what to do for my daughter who is about a year behind in Math and Reading. I told her that I had decided to start teaching her piano, even though it might be too hard for her. She surprised me by telling me that she thought it was a great idea. She told me that it will better fuse the Right and Left brain into working together. It would require both to work at the same time.

Now I know the benefits of music on babies and in the womb. I have looked at many of studies about it. I also have researched in school how the brain is affected by things. But never did I think Piano would help my delayed child. Amazing. So we are going to start. She also suggested I play classical music for her while she is doing her homework.

Anyway I guess this is another good reason to have your kids take piano.

What Do You Tell Them?

I had a very interesting experience yesterday that I have never had before. When I was in Elementary school the biggest tragedy was the Challenger. Do you remember when the Challenger went down? I remember singing the Christa McAuliffe song, and doing an American program to honor her. I remember feeling so sad that this had happened- the worst of that time period.

Anyway back to present time my daughters came home yesterday talking about 9/11. I have talked with my older daughter about it, but never my eight year old because I always felt she was too young. I guess I should have though because it was even talked about in the Kindergarten classes.

I think all of my kids came home with lots of questions. They couldn't understand why someone would do this. How can I explain that, when I don't understand it. I did my best, but it got me thinking back to the Challenger and how simple that seemed compared to this. I also thought of death, divorce, losing a pet, or really any loss. It made me want to find out what I needed to do in these situations. I found this quote that I really liked:

"Helping a child cope with loss is perhaps one of the most important roles an adult can play. In effect, you are helping that child develop skills that can last a lifetime."

Holy cow! Skills that can last a lifetime-I want to give them that. In my Safety area I have a couple of Healthy kids websites. this is one and I really liked how they kept it simple for kids. It helped you see how you could help them open up and talk about changes and loss. Also if you click on your feelings on the right hand side they have more topics like: Anger, Being teased, Cancer (when you know someone who has it), Telling Lies, Being Lonely, and dealing with grief- to name a few.

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=287&id=1649

Anyway I saw this quote for kids about changes and really liked it. I hope you also take the time to prepare your kids and During a tragedy to not forget these little kids that might need a little TLC and help understanding.

"Life is full of changes. Nothing stays exactly the same. People and things come into and go out of our lives. We can remember them as we get on with living each day and looking to the future".

Fall Fun!

So here is my idea for today. I made this a long time ago for preschool and I have always loved it. All you have to do is print this up and have a bottle of glue. You go for a walk or hike and look for all these things. Some are stretching it because of the letter, but it is really fun for the kids. Anyway in the next month this could be a very fun activity to do.

Mark it on the Calendar!

So my daughter came running upstairs when I woke up today to inform me that it is Grandparents Day. A T.V. station was telling all about Grandparents and making a big deal about it. I kept telling her it wasn't, but she insisted. So what could I do but get on Hallmark.com and see if it was a real holiday. It was listed! So we made cards for all our grandparents and we will deliver them tonight with a little paper made flower. I realize that it might have to be done late, but I do think it is a great way to honor our grandparents. So send them a special note this week from your kids, or even let them call their grandparents.

Unfortunately Grandparents don't stick around forever. Not only did I lose one of my grandmas five years ago, I also lost my dad that same year. There are a million things I wish I could have said and done with my dad. I wish I would have taken more pictures of my kids with him. Don't forget how lucky you are and do it.

Anyway Happy Grandparents Day Today!

I will Survive!

Today I am recovering from a full day yesterday of naughty, rude, and non respecting kids. I was pretty down last night and now I feel like I am back on top of things. Do you ever feel like this? Anyway I turned on the music, "I will survive" and it totally helped to belt out this song and get rid of all my bad feelings concerning my kids. Yes corny, but it did help. So I guess I am admitting I am far from perfect, have far from perfect kids, but I will SURVIVE! So if you are having a hard day then take note: have a happy day and know that we are all in this together and that raising kids is hard.

Side note: My husband fired someone and had a bad day at work, and on the same day came home and I was sick so he had to care for the kids. At bedtime he told me: "I could never do this Andrea. This is exhausting. How do you do this every day? " From this I really felt validated. My husband who had a horrible day, admitted I had the harder job in the family. It just felt good to know that someone saw this, my efforts with my kids, and had compassion for me.

Pre Reading

This is what I tell people if they ask me about teaching kids to read. I say:

1. Read nursery rhymes and Teach them Nursery Rhymes

2. Give them a good foundation of Letter Recognition on Capitals

3. Give them a good foundation of Letter Recognition on Lower Case

4. Give them a good foundation on Sounds

5. Then start to teach them to read.

If they don't have steps 1-4 down really good I feel you are wasting your time. This is just my opinion though.

It has been proven that children who know Nursery Rhymes well learn to read faster. Also when they get to Rhyming words at the end of Kindergarten and First grade, this really helps them.

Also I don't push my kids. I wait until the Summer before they go to kindergarten. This is just how I do it though. I don't like my kid too far ahead or too far behind. I strive for the middle of the road. I have known children who "know everything" in Kindergarten to have behavior problems, because they are bored. On the other hand I have a child who struggles and thats not where you want to be either.

Anyway I hope this helps someone. I want this blog to be helpful and full of good ideas. Most are just my own, so sorry I can tend to get long winded.

Kindergarten Reading

My favorite books for teaching kids to read are the BOB books. You can find them at your library, or you can buy them through Scholastic. I did see them at Costco last week also. They are really good books. They are black and white cartoon sketches with simple words. I have bought all of them and now that I am on my third reader, I can say I LOVE THEM! I also do something else one of my daughters got in Kindergarten and I am going to post it sometime. The combination really helps my kids. Now I guess I am a mean mom, because when they get home from school they have to do the teachers homework and then mine. My fifth grader gets an hour a day from her teacher and then has to play the piano and guitar. She does not get extra, but the little ones do and I think it is really good for them. I give them one BOB book to read everyday until they get it down, and then the other thing which I will post another day. Anyway hope this helps someone.

You can also find the BOB books at the website: www.bobbooks.com
They also have stuff about the authors and activity pages to color.

They are pricey but it is worth the money.