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.

Preschool Age Story Time

Below I have one of my favorite stories listed. I was thinking it would be really fun to read this to your child, then print up the words and make a book, then let your child color the pictures for the story, and then you can read it with them. Yesterday I saw that done, except they took a story they had written and had their kid color pictures for it. Then they took pictures of each page and made a video. It was so cute. It was a perfect way to document your child's creativity. Or I guess you could do the same thing, but just let them act it out. Anyway just an idea!

The Elves and the Shoemaker
by Horace E. Scudder,Book of Fables and Folk Stories
There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard and was honest. Still, he could not earn enough to live on. At last, all he had in the world was gone except just leather enough to make one pair of shoes. He cut these out at night, and meant to rise early the next morning to make them up.
His heart was light in spite of his troubles, for his conscience was clear. So he went quietly to bed, left all his cares to God, and fell asleep. In the morning he said his prayers, and sat down to work, when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes, already made, upon the table.
The good man knew not what to say or think. He looked at the work. There was not one false stitch in the whole job. All was neat and true.
That same day a customer came in, and the shoes pleased him so well that he readily paid a price higher than usual for them. The shoemaker took the money and bought leather enough to make two pairs more. He cut out the work in the evening, and went to bed early. He wished to be up with the sun and get to work.
He was saved all trouble, for when he got up in the morning, the work was done. Pretty soon buyers came in, who paid him well for his goods. So he bought leather enough for four pairs more.
He cut out the work again overnight, and found it finished in the morning as before. So it went on for some time. What was got ready at night was always done by daybreak, and the good man soon was well-to-do.
One evening, at Christmas-time, he and his wife sat over the fire, chatting, and he said: "I should like to sit up and watch tonight, that we may see who it is that comes and does my work for me." So they left the light burning, and hid themselves behind a curtain to see what would happen.
As soon as it was midnight, there came two little Elves. They sat upon the shoemaker's bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply their little fingers. They stitched and rapped and tapped at such a rate that the shoemaker was amazed, and could not take his eyes off them for a moment.
On they went till the job was done, and the shoes stood, ready for use, upon the table. This was long before daybreak. Then they ran away as quick as lightning.
The next day the wife said to the shoemaker, "These little Elves have made us rich, and we ought to be thankful to them, and do them some good in return. I am vexed to see them run about as they do. They have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold. I'll tell you what we must do. I will make each of them a shirt, and a coat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the bargain. Do you make each of them a little pair of shoes."
The good shoemaker liked the thought very well. One evening he and his wife had the clothes ready, and laid them on the table instead of the work they used to cut out. Then they went and hid behind the curtain to watch what the little Elves would do.
At midnight the Elves came in and were going to sit down at their work as usual. But when they saw the clothes lying there for them, they laughed and were in high glee. They dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye, and danced and capered and sprang about as merry as could be, till at last they danced out of the door, and over the green.
The shoemaker saw them no more, but everything went well with him as long as he lived.

Baby & Toddler Fun!

So now the kids are in school lets talk Baby & Toddlers! I found this on Family fun and thought it was really good. I think my little boy could use a little bit of mommy and Payton time. What could be more perfect than doing some of these little activities and games.

http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/child/dev/specialfeature/famf0703familyfun123-games/

Charts

You are probably noticing that I put a lot of ideas up about behavior. That is because that is what I am dealing with at home. I want my children to be good kids, respectful, loving, friendly, etc. Everything I have learned about behavior, whether it is reading or a therapist, they have said to change it up quite a bit. So for me we take breaks on some stuff and do new stuff and then return when they are excited about doing it again. It really seems to work. Anyway today's idea:

I am a fan of charts for kids. This is an example of one I did for good behavior in the car. They get a sticker if they are quiet, a sticker if they are fast getting to the car, a sticker for good behavior, a sticker for cleaning up mess in car, and so on. They can have this every time you drive somewhere. I put it in plastic protectors and we keep it in the car. It makes it really easy to motivate good behavior.

I am doing charts right now that I found under My favorite websites/Charts. I printed up a different one for each child and gave each of them a goal I wanted. For Example two have the goal of Cleaning their room before school and turning off their light. One has the goal of going to time out and staying there. Lastly one has the goal of not hitting. When the simple chart is filled they get a surprise.

Easy and so far a great motivator. Here is the website or look on the side area.

http://www.stickersandcharts.com/

Having A Party?

So I am helping plan a big party for my church and I was looking for games and stumbled on this website. It has games for Baby showers, bridal showers, Holidays, Ice Breakers, Kid games, college games, adult games, Relay games, and travel games.

http://www.free-party-games.com/

Church Coloring Pages

O.K. I found a really cute site that has really cute coloring pages of the bible stories. I thought you might want to check them out and add them to your files.

http://www.sundayschoolprintables.com/

This link is also listed on the side under FHE stuff

Job Chart!

How do I get my children to school by 8:00 in the morning. Especially with one child that likes to sleep in and is SLOW as Christmas getting ready?



How do I get Afterschool homework, snack, individual laundry,etc done?



and Lastly how do I do dinner clean up, brushing teeth, getting ready for the next day, and bedtime with four little rug rats?



The answer is these simple charts. I have one for morning, afternoon, and evening for each child. This one was a Summer one that we used. Anyway I found chore pictures on wwwtheideadoor.com and found others in clipart. After printing it up I put it in a plastic protector and gave each child a dry erase marker to check their chores off. It is easy and I don't have to nag anymore. I just give them their papers and they know what they need to do. At morning time if one gets it done and the other doesn't then we make two trips to school. The first goes on time and the second has to feel dumb for not getting done. It only takes once and then they are ready for school on time also. Anyway this works great for little kids also. You just use less squares and make them bigger. This was for my 10 year old.

First Day of Kindergarten

My mom does a German tradition for all the children going into Kindergarten. It is called (spellcheck) Zukertada. You take a poster board and make it into a cone. Then you decorate it and put their name big on the cone. After that you fill it with lots of school supplies and candy. It makes our kids really excited and just waiting to have grandma give them their cone. On the internet I searched and found this. It was not the same word my mom uses, but I think that different areas of Germany might change it. Anyway I hope you enjoy learning this new tradition and try it out on your little ones.
History of the Schultuete

In Germany, the first day of school has long been acknowledged as a special occasion with customs that have been documented back to the middle ages. Depending on the region, it may have taken the form of a special church service, at the conclusion of which the children may have been led in a procession to the school, or they were presented with cookies that had been baked in the shape of letters or the pieces of slate that, until well into the middle of the last century, where used for the first tentative tries at writing legible letters and numbers.The custom of the "Schultuete" proper goes back to about 1810, to Saxony and Thuringia at Germany's easternmost borders, where sweets were given to the children on this day. The first documented report of the cone-shaped Schultuete proper comes from the city of Jena in 1817, closely followed by reports from Dresden (1820) and Leipzig (1836). It started in the bigger cities but spread quickly to the small towns and villages, soon becoming an institution all over Germany.The custom that started in Saxony and Thuringia but which was not adopted in other parts of the country was that the chlidren were not given their Schultuete directly. Marked with the students' names, they were taken to the school by parents or godparens and in a habit reminiscent of the Mexican pinata, hung on a metal "Schultueten-Baum" (Schoolcone tree) from which each child had to pick their cone. Without breaking them, of course.The only custom that has changed in the later half of the 20th century is that less and less sweets seem to appear in the Schultuete, with more practical gifts such as crayons and pencils, small toys, CDs, books and even articles of clothing replacing the tooth decay-inducing sweet stuff.

First Day of School!

I know we all basically do the same things for the first day of school. New outfit, backpack, maybe new shoes, and of course the first day of school picture. I do a few other things I would like to share and if ANYONE would like to comment on what they do then we all can have a large assortment of ideas. I always have a special gift for my kids on their beds when they come home from school. It could even be a little candy bar or it could be something big. It is so hard getting back in a chair and working on school stuff that I want to reward them for their long day.

Also I put a note in their lunch bag that says how much I love them and how proud I am of them.

So what do you do or what are you going to do?

Sorry!

Sorry I haven't updated as much as I used to. I will try to get back in the hang of it. Anyway I found Two French sites that are pretty good.

The second site has lots more artist pictures than the first, but both sites have lots of great coloring pictures. The second site has artists like Brueghel, Cassatt, Cezanne, Degas, da Vinci, Matisse, Monet, Renoir, Picasso.... (80+ pictures to color)
The first site has 16 pages to color (well, more than that, but 16 famous paintings to color in). This site is the one that has TONS of coloring pages! Click on the top of the page "Tous les coloriages" It means all the coloring pages.
If you get to a page that says "Decoupages" on the top--click on that link, too! It has a bunch of paper dolls on it. Paper dolls for boys (garcon), paper dolls for girls (fille) and trains to build out of paper. It was a great site to run across!
http://www.hugolescargot.com/coloriages-art-peintres/coloriage-peintres-peintures.htm
http://www.momes.net/coloriages/coloriages-peintres.html

Hope you enjoy this!

New Websites for Math!

Check these out I think you will find they are really good!

This one is my favorite of the two. It has Geography, Math up to Jr. High, Science, Creative Play, Language Arts, History, Themes, Clip art, and more! It is very easy to use.

http://www.learningtreasures.com/hulk_desk_strips.htm

And Here is a link with a complete math curriculum. It has posters, number lines, shape cards.... lots of stuff for grades 1-6.

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

You will find both of these links in the Great Education Sites!

Vacation Journal

So I needed to show you all how fun our vacation journals were. I wanted to show you one of each of the children, but settled for this. Any age this will work. I helped write if the children were not old enough. Anyway every day of our trip we did our journals. It took me about 5 minutes to print them up, about 20 minutes to find other things to put in the book (coloring pages, maps, travel bingo, etc.), and 5 minutes and 4 dollars total for four bound books. I think I will treasure these little books they worked so hard on. We made time to do it. I think in the end they will love looking back at these books also. I am planning that when they are sick of looking at them, I will put them in their scrapbooks.

Sorry!

So we went on a little family trip and that is why I needed a break! So is everyone busy buying clothes and school supplies. I did even on my trip. Two weeks for me and three of my kids are back in school.

I will give you all my tip for new teachers. Each year at the get to know you thing, I have each of my kids give their new teacher a gift. I make sure their name is on it so they know who it is from. I feel this is starting the year off right. Bribe? Yes! I am saying love my child, tolerate my child, teach my child, be nice to my child, help my child, and I know you have a hard job! This year I know it will be even harder for one of my kids. So this year I am requesting a private meeting with the teacher before the open house thing. Anyway think about it.... Starting the year out good.

Give Me A Break!

So I just wanted you to know that I am taking a mini break. I will be back blogging next week sometime. I hope you like this blog. I really do try and find good websites and lots of fun ideas! Have a great day!

Score!

My really neat friend gave me a REALLY COOL website of free stuff. I am so excited about it. It has categories of: File Folders, Card Games, Bingo, Tic Tac Toe Games, Learning in the car games, Game Spinners, Worksheets, Word Puzzles. They are colored and you download the games and print them and then they can play. The website is located under My Favorite Websites and it is: www.webeans.net/hutt/index.html

Really check it out! It is great!

Great Book For Kids!

I just wanted to tell you to look under the reading section to the Super Hero ABC's website. This book is so clever that you have to check it out. Both girls and boys will love this book. It is a must have if you ask me! The superheros are silly and that makes it such a fun book for kids! I hate spiderman etc., but loved this book.

A few new websites!

pioneerlibrary.org is a fantastic resource for anyone living in Utah. It has CultureGrams that are made for kids for the 50 states and the countries of the world. With those CultureGrams, they have recipes and sound clips and all kinds of cool stuff. They also have an eMedia feature where they have purchased episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy, American Experience, Frontline, and others that you can download for free. This feature also has all kinds of educational video clips. Through Pioneer, you can also get to World Book Encyclopedia, which has tons of cool stuff, including history activities for kids. This is ONLY for people with students or any contrivable connection with schools in Utah. Anyone that fits this can go to their school and request the login and password.

uen.org also has some cool resources, especially in their K-12 Students section. On the right in that section, they have "interactives." That means games Anyway, just a few cool things I learned about

www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com/ Need some ideas to do hair? Scroll down on this blog and you will get lots of help!

Update!

I just thought I would show you all how the Alka Seltzer game turned out. I think the pictures say it all. Also notice how many adults had to get in on the game as well. Side note to the game: My sister filled plastic sandwich bags with water and then cut off a corner so everyone had a fair shot! Anyway it was really fun and I think we might have to do this every year.

Another Website Added!

Just wanted you to know I also just added a free piano music site under music. It is really good. It has different songs with different levels. I just printed a few songs off for my child. It was very easy. My daughter loves the spinning song!

Hello Again!

Well I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! We tried the game below and it was so fun! It would be perfect for scouts or Activity days also. Anyway I have a new website that I have added into the Great Educational Sites. It is: http://www.toytowntreasures.com/ Have a great day!

Fourth Of July Water Fun!

My sister gave me an idea she saw done today for a party and said it was really fun. I thought it would be perfect for a water day Fourth of July!

Items Needed:
**Alka Seltzer
**Netting (Fabric store- usually 89 cents a yard, You will need just a 2 inch by 2 inch square per person)
**Yarn
** Water Guns

Prep: Take on Seltzer put it in the Netting make a sort of bag and tie with yarn. Then hang around neck of each player. Each player also gets a full water gun.

Object of the game: Squirt others Seltzer and the last one to have theirs wins the game.

Simple, Easy, but to me sounds like a lot of fun!

Learning To Work

I grew up in a farm community. My father chose that spot so we would be able to have a big garden and orchard. We worked every Saturday all day long. We had 100 fruit trees and the garden was massive to support through the year a family of 8. I can't say I loved every minute of it, but I do have great memories, special moments, and a work ethic. Now my father is gone and we, the children are still running the big orchard. At first I really hated all the work that we had to do on the farm. It was such a change in my life. Now 5 years later I have a new philosophy. It hit me last week that our life is too easy for my children. I don't want spoiled/snotty kids. I want kids who value money and hard work. Our yard is fully landscaped and I think it takes about 30 minutes to spruce it up every week. For a family of 6 that is not enough work. During the week we clean the house, but still with 6 of us working it doesn't require too much work. So I am so grateful that my children get to learn how to work at Grandma's house. When we come home we are always tired, but everyone has a happy smile. So if you are in my same shoes, you might want to do a little service for someone else. I also found two websites I thought were good on the issue of teaching your children to work. They are:
http://www.parentadvisor.net/ethic.htm

and

http://www.teachkidshow.com/teach-your-child-to-work-hard-without-complaining/

Strangers!

So has anyone tried the Stranger Quiz for kids? It is probably a good time with all the trips to the Zoo, Museums, Water parks, Pools, etc. I think a refresher course for my kids is really needed. Anyway you can find it in the Safety section. Have a great day!

Fourth Of July Fun!

Ice Cream in a Bag! This is really fun and a great way to cool off. My kids love this and they love the treat also.

What you'll need:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size Ziploc plastic bag
1 gallon-size Ziploc plastic bag
Ice cubes

How to make it:
Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
Place the small bag inside the large one and seal again carefully.
Shake until mixture is ice cream, about 5 minutes.
Wipe off top of small bag, then open carefully and enjoy!

Tips:
To make a larger amount, try doubling the recipe. Anything larger might be too big for kids to pick-up, because the ice itself is quite heavy.

Weekly Web!

So I found another fun website this week and I love it! It is called Rookie Moms! It is found in My Favorites. They have really great ideas!

Ice Cube Fun!

So my fun and crazy friend Nancy told a story about how she entertains her kids with Ice Cube Races. I thought it was such a fun idea for this hot summer! I also added a few ideas of my own as well as ones I found on the Internet.

Strategy #1 Ice Cube Races: Give each child a ice cube and the first melted wins!

Strategy #2 Ice Cube Race Variation: Put something inside your ice cube like a prize for your child.

Strategy #3 Ice Cube Painting: Add a little food coloring and a toothpick to the water in your ice cube tray. When frozen, get paper and paint!


Strategy 4
Get 2 ice cubes out of your freezer.
Slide 1 ice cube under your right foot, and the other ice cube under your left foot.
Put one hand on the counter and the other hand on the wall or another counter.
Push off and keep sliding until your wall or counter runs out, or before your ice cube melts.
Repeat until satisfied!

Strategy 5
Get 2 ice cubes out of your freezer.
Melt the ice cubes a bit by placing them under your feet or trying strategy 4 for about 1 minute. Make sure they do not melt completely.
Place the ice cubes under a paper plate and place your hands on two surfaces. Slide like you would do in strategy 4.

Strategy 6
Extract ice cube/s from freezer
Allow one hand to hold the ice cube/s, and keep your good hand free.
With your free hand grab the back of the collar of your friend's shirt.
Place the ice cube on between his/her back and shirt
Watch your friend squeal and enjoy!

Strategy 7
Get a hot frying pan or oven pan.
Put the ice cube on it and watch it boil and sizzle!

Strategy 8: Cold Head
Get two icecubes and a friend
Place one icecube on your head and the other on your friends
See who can keep it on longest!
For a harder level, walk around a selected area and see who can keep it longest then!

Strategy 9: Koolaid Painting
Put out several sheets of plain paper, Sprinkle small amounts of different colors of Kool-Aid onto the paper, Give your child an ice cube and let them "paint" by sliding it over the Kool-Aid. As the cube melts the Kool-Aid paint spreads over the picture.

Strategy 10: Ice Cube Melt Water Game
The first person holds and rubs the ice cube until their hands get to cold. Then they pass it to the next person, and so on, until the ice cube melts. What ever team melts their ice cube first wins.

Here is what I got!

(Read post before this one, if you haven't already) They had a 30 page Fairy Tale coloring book, and two audio fairy tales. They looked like they were for both boys and girls. Also they have an extra thing coming this Thursday and they have daily stuff on their site. Anyway now I have tried it, I would suggest it. It downloaded really quickly and I think my kids will love it.

Free Stuff Weekly!

My friend sent me this site this week and it seems really neat. You give them your first name and your email and every Monday they send you an email that explains what they are giving free this week! I signed up and will get that email tomorrow and I will post what I got. It seems really good. Anyway if you are interested here is the site. Also I am not a home schooler, I just really like my kids learning through the Summer. So anyone can join this site.

http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

Special Tie for Dad!

One of my favorite ideas for Father's day is to take an old tie (D.I. has tons) and stuff it with Dads favorite candy. Hot glue the bottom and add eyes and tongue to make a snake. It is really cute and dads love the candy inside and your child will love playing with the "snake" afterwards. You can even stuff it after the candy is gone for a toy.