Kids Activties: Table or Street Shuffle Board

This game is a variation of the real thing. It is easy to make and very inexpensive. These are two things parents love to hear when dealing with anything. The game will give children ages 4+ a great time. They will have hours of enjoyment from this, and you will enjoy participating.

You will need a table (perhaps a kitchen table or long rectangular picnic table as this can be done indoors or outdoors) or a concrete area around 4+ feet long. The area can be as big or as small as you want and will really depend on how old the participants will be. You will also need masking tape for the table or chalk for the concrete area. The next thing that you will need is some type of pucks. Each participant will need one and you can be color coordinated if you choose to have teams. We used small 5" and 3" plastic bowls from a kids toy kitchen.


Table instructions:


1. Measure a 10 inch section from one end of the table and place masking tape all the way across the width of it.
2. Place a 10 inch piece of tape on the table to divide this section in half.
3. Then measure another slightly larger section and divide it in a similar manner. This will make 4 sections on the table and cover still less than half of it.
5. Assign a point value to each section with the higher point values on the smaller sections at the end of the table.

Now you are ready to play.

1. From the unmarked end of the table, have participants take turns sliding their pucks in an effort to make them stop in a point assigned area of the table.
2. Leave all pucks on the table until everyone is finished. If a puck knocks another puck ahead into another area it is now assigned that point value. Likewise, if a puck knocks another puck off the board the puck that is off the board is awarded no points.
3. The idea here is to add up all points after everyone has taken their turn. If you use teams have one participant from each team take a turn. Then each round will consist of the same until everyone has had a turn.

Concrete instructions:


The same as for table instructions only use chalk to divide up the sections.

Kids Craft: St. Patrick’s Day Thumbprint Pins

In preparing for St. Patrick’s Day each year we all find ourselves looking for or purchasing something green to wear to avoid getting pinched. Instead of buying something, here’s an idea that will give you a timeless keepsake and something green to wear. Make thumbprint art that you can turn into a one of a kind St. Patty’s Day pin.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Green and black stamp pads, tempera paint, acrylic paint, or watercolors.
Cardstock, poster board, or thick construction paper
Contact paper or laminating sheets
Hot glue (or your choice of other craft glues)
Safety pin
Markers

Here’s what you should do:

1. Use green to make thumbprints for leaves of a clover. You can also use a black thumbprint as a pot and small fingerprints for the gold in a pot of gold. Here’s what you’ll have at this point.

2. Next, use markers to embellish and add detail. Draw a stem on your clover and a rainbow over your pot of gold. (You may choose to embellish further with mini pom poms, sequins, beads, glitter, ribbon, etc.)

3. Now you are ready to cut out your pin and laminate it. This will both preserve and protect your keepsake pin. If you are a scrapbooker and have decorative papers, you may want to matt your creation on other paper, prior to laminating for a more finished look.

4. Finally, glue a safety pin to the back and you’re ready to go.

Now you have a personalized keepsake pin with your son or daughter’s fingerprints and thumbprints. Hope you enjoy. And have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

If you enjoyed this craft, you may also enjoy the ideas in St. Patrick's Day Crafts (Fun Holiday Crafts Kids Can Do!) and Crafts For St. Patrick'S Day (Holiday Crafts for Kids).

Children's Book Review: Skippyjon Jones

Written by Judy Schachner

The Skippyjon Jones series is about an adorible Siamese kitten, who has a very active imagination. He is not content to be just the ordinary Siamese kitty, and imagines himself as so much more. In this delightful tale, Skippyjon becomes Skippito Friskito, the great sword fighter. He then ventures to Mexico to conquer Alfredo Buzzito. This book is sprinkled with comedy, music, Spanish, and several little lessons (My favorite, is that if you try, you can conquer your fears, because they are never as big as you imagine.). You child will be thourougly entertained while activating his imagination.

For other books in the Skippyjon Jones series, consider the following:
Skippyjon Jones in the Doghouse
Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble
Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones
A Surprise for Mama (Skippyjon Jones)
Skippyjon Jones and the Treasure Hunt
Skippyjon Jones Takes a Dive (Skippyjon Jones (Grosset & Dunlap))

Kids Crafts: Hands of a Child Calendar - January

During my son’s first year of Pre-K, his teachers put together a very special calendar for the parents. I don’t think they would mind me sharing this idea with you on a month to month basis over the next year. Here’s how to start.


The First Page:

This page held a picture of my son, the calendar year, and the following poem:

The Hands of a Child
Written by Amy Ethridge

When you look at the hand what do you see?
There are just some lines most would agree.
But take a closer look this very minute
And notice the treasures that are found within it.
The hand can be so many things,
From tulips to beautiful butterfly wings.
A Santa, an apple, even a heart,
A pumpkin, an umbrella, that’s only a start.
The hand can be a leprechaun trying to hide.
It can be the sunrise to brighten the day.
It can be a fish swimming away.
It can be a turkey strutting along,
Whatever you make it, you can’t go wrong.
Just take a little time to look and see,
Where these hands came from,
And you’ll surely agree
Your child, the artist, reaching his goal,
Created this for you with body and soul.
Keep it and use it till the time has past.
Then put it away so the memories will last.


The Second Page:



Here there was my child’s handprint and the following in print.

“I know you wipe some away,
But these handprints were made to stay!
So keep them forever, a treasure they’ll be,
A special ”I Love You”,
For you from me?"


The Third Page:


The month of January!!! There is a small calendar with snowflakes and a snowman. Using white tempera paint and overlapping fingerprints form my son’s hands, he made a very special snowflake. Above the calendar and snowflake is the following rhym.

Snowflakes
Snowflakes white are dancing down.
Dancing, dancing . . . all around.
Each one is different, it’s surely true.
Here’s one I made from me for you!

The next page, of course is February. I’ll be sure to post it before the end of the month. So you’ll have it to enjoy all month long. As with any craft or art project, this one too can be customized to fit your desire. And your imagination is your only limitation! Happy crafting. Hope you enjoy the handprints.

Children's Book Review: Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words

Written by Jane O'Connor
Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

This is only our first Fancy Nancy book. However, Nancy is the typical girly girl. She dresses up plays pretend and takes full advantage of her imagination, all while embracing all things fancy. In this book, Nancy introduces children to 26 very fancy words. Some they are familiar with, but many they are not, for instance "Repondez s'il vous plait", to you and I, RSVP. My own little girly girl was completely taken in by the brilliant illustrations while we read, totally identifying with the character. She wants to be, and in many ways already is, just like Fancy Nancy. This darling little book encourage imagination, pretend, and builds vocabulary.

Here are a few other Fancy Nancy titles to check out if you enjoy this one as much as we did.
Fancy Nancy
Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly
Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy
Fancy Nancy: Let's Get Fancy Together!

Letter to All: My Apologies

Dear reader,

As any of you with children know, the holidays are a very hectic time of year. I failed you, and let the holiday chaos keep me from updating the site and sharing more ideas with you. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Our ornaments came out great. We did 25. I did a set for the baby, and each of the older kids painted their own. We used markers on the first couple and water colors on the other three. Then, we embellished with glitter. (Tip: For those of you who don't use a rolling pin often, like me, you may want to dust the surface you are rolling on with flour and then the dough periodically as you roll it out. I did not do this, and the dough stuck to my rolling pin A LOT.) The ornaments are currently scattered on the tree. When I take down the Christmas tree over the next few days, I'll gather them and post a picture for you. We enjoyed the activity so much that we will be repeating it as a new family tradition.

Also, as we are bringing in the New Year, I've made a few resolutions. I won't share them all with you, but one is to keep this updated for you, my reader, and share as many ideas, books, and thoughts with you as possible. I'll also keep an eye out for any good sales on kid related products.

Hope you'll visit again soon. My apologies for the break in posts. And I look forward to any responses you have or thoughts you'd like to share.

Yours sincerely,
Eve Lawson

Letter to Parents: Focus on Giving - Crafts Your Kids Can Give as Gifts

Of our four children who are walking and talking, our 7 and 10 year olds realize that Christmas is not only about receiving gifts. They realize that the season also centers around the idea of giving. Our two 4-year-olds, however, want everything that they see.

In an attempt to shift the focus from receiving to giving, we tried to make giving fun for them and cost-effective for us. So, we started searching for gift ideas that we could make.

Here are some of the ideas we found and tried:

I. Paperweight:

1. The website we found this idea on suggested using postage stamps to cover a rock. This is a great idea and sounds like it would be very cute. It is also a great idea for younger children. However, we decided to try a few alternatives. You can use anything heavy for your paperweight. An old book you do not want, a discarded box that jewelery was purchased in (filled with sand, dirt, plaster, clay, or anything to make it heavy), an expired can of tuna, whatever you can find that is the right size and weight will work. Then use your imagination and decorate, disguise, and change your item to make a one-of-a-kind gift.

• Here are a few ideas:
• 
  If you are using a box or can, wrap it. You can do this with plain printer paper, construction paper, brown paper, or scrapbook paper.
  -Next Decorate your paper. If you’ve used plain paper, you can draw on it, paint on it, use stickers, or cut out pictures from magazines or family photos.
  -If you used a patterned scrapbook paper, you can jump straight to embellishments. You can add glitter, ribbon, rickrack, tags, layers of graphic shapes in a variety of colored papers, buttons, sculpey or model magic clay, etc.
  -If you’ve only used paper products, you can seal your creation with a gloss sealer, modge podge, or white glue. If you are using embellishments of other materials, sealing should happen prior to adding these.
  -If you are using a rock, but do not wish to decopage it with postage stamps, photos, or images, you could simply paint it. These can be quite beautiful and make wonderful keepsakes.
  -If your child is too small to sign their creation, a hand or fingerprint in paint is a great way to let them mark the peice. You can always take a Sharpie and write in their name and the date created.
  2. Box of Love: We found this idea also, on another website. I have not altered the idea tremendously, but my kids loved it so much, I thought I should share it with you. You take any small box; wood, paper mache, discarded jewelry box, etc. Wrap and decorate it. Then attach the following poem:
  This is a very special gift
  That you can never see.
  The reason it’s so special,
  Is its just for you from me.
  Whenever you are happy,
  Or even feeling blue,
  You only have to hold this gift
  And know I think of you.
  You never can unwrap it,
  Please leave the ribbon tied.
  Just hold the box close to your heart,
  It’s filled with love inside.
  We took some small wooden boxes we’d bought for fun at Michael’s. The kids opened the boxes, said a bunch of "I love you’s." Gave several kisses, and hugged the inside of the box. Then they closed them tight, so all the love would not get out. Then we painted our boxes with Acrylic Paints. They had a blast. Then we tied a ribbon and the poem to each box.. They were so excited!!!
  3. Cookie Cutter Ornaments - Here’s what you do. Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 2/3 cup of water together in a bowl with your hands until it is the consistency of stiff pie dough. Add water as needed to reach the right consistency. Set the mixture aside overnight. The next day, roll the dough out and use christmas shaped cookie cutters to cut out shapes in your dough. Insert a paperclip or ornament hook into the dough for your hanger. Then lay these out on wax paper and allow to dry for several days. Once they are dry, you can decorate them. Felt tip pens, markers, water colors, and craft paints all work beautifully. The ornaments can be embellished with glitter, stones, buttons, ribbon, etc. You can also use a smaller cutter and cut a hole in the middle and glue a picture onto your ornament. As with any project, your imagination is the only limit to what you can create and do. (We will have all five kids for Christmas. I will be preparing this ahead of time for the kids to do. Once the project is complete, I’ll post a picture of our ornaments for you.) You can group the ornaments into sets of 6, 10, or 12, wrap them or put them in a decorated paper mache craft box and give them to family and freinds as a personalized gift.
  I hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas, for more you may want to reference