No Money for a DS? No Problem.

So, my niece and nephew recently each received their own Nintendo DS gaming system. My daughter (who's 4), has seen them use them and has requested one of her own. She will not be getting one, for various reasons that I won't get into because, you don't want to hear that rant. So, she used her creative little brain today to get her hands on her own DS (which she referred to as a "CBS" and stated to her little brother, "No one's allowed to touch my CBS").

Thank goodness for cardboard, markers, and pencils (there's a little hole that holds the pencil that she presses the buttons with). Oh, and she's obviously still in her 'make a face for the camera' phase.

Kill 2 Birds with One Stone OR How To Get Your Kids to Do Your Dirty Work

Here's an activity that benefits both you and your children. It not only keeps you children occupied and feeling important, but gets your BBQ clean for the first time in 2 years! 

Here are your needed supplies:

Dishsoap

Water

2 Empty plastic containers (good time to recycle here and feel good about yourself)

2 scrub brushes

1 dirty BBQ

2 Eager children 

An alternative activity for you, such as cleaning the kitchen, phoning a friend, or reading People magazine

Steps:

1. Lay out all supplies beside filthy dirty bbq

2. Begin to scrub

3. Let them come to you. Trust me. They will come.

4. Show them what to do

5. Now, walk away to your alternative activity

Here's a picture in case you're not sure of the steps

Note in the picture that this can be done on a semi-rainy day. Children don't melt when rained on.

How to Fight Evening Exhaustion

Note to self

When feeling extremely drained after the supper hour, plus depressed about the massive mess that surrounds you, here's what you do (as experienced this very evening):

Announce to the children that Mommy needs to lay down.

Lay on the couch.

When the children begin to climb on you, announce (loud enough for your husband to hear):

"I'm going to my bedroom, because I have a feeling this is not going to end well."

Turn a 30 minute movie on for the kids (or just walk upstairs and let your husband to do it, because he's tired too and just wants to veg on the computer).

***By no means are you to feel guilty that they are watching (another) show, as they'll (probably) still turn out fine when grown-up.***

Lay down in your room for 15 minutes. Maybe even lightly snooze for 5 minutes. This ensures you won't have that icky heavy-tired-groggy feeling from sleeping too long that only serves to make you crankier. 

When you wake (because your husband barges in and lays down beside you and begins to immediately snore), make yourself a tea. But ensure you sneak to the kitchen so the kids don't know you're 'awake' yet.

While drinking your tea (or maybe wine if you have any just laying around, since it's faster than tea), think about all the things you did right today. Here are mine:

When my 2 year old was having a massive, over-the-top, sorta-kinda-scary toddler tantrum, I calmly told him to go to his room. When he said no, I calmy put him in his bed with his blankie and closed the door. While listening to his screams, I said to myself, "Be the one in control." And I was. I entered the room 5 minutes later and told him he could leave his room when he was done crying. He decided he was done crying when he heard that. And we concluded the moment with Mommy not joining his tantrum!

Or there's this:

We made polka dot wrapping paper for my niece. And it turned into polka dot water painting on the deck! 

Okay, confession. We didn't actually do this activity today. We did it two weeks ago. But it was a good moment. So it's okay to reflect on it two weeks later.

We try to make all of our own wrapping paper. We got a roll of paper from the local paper mill (it's called a "Butt." True story). It pays to know people who work there. And then we cut strips off and paint it any way we like. Super cheap. Super personal! Super fun!

We like to paint the deck with water using regular paintbrushes too. I use my no spill paint pots so my 2 year old doesn't promptly dump it out. This is PERFECT when trying to accomplish something in the kitchen. 

Okay. Where was I. Oh! Right. 15 minute rest and reflextion.

By this point, you will be 100%!!!

You will have enough energy to put the children in the tub, in bed (hair braided), clean kitchen, sweep floors vacuume rug and even blog!

How to survive Motherhood: Always revert to the 15 minute rest in the evenings!!!

Getting your child to bed without a fuss

Want to get your child to bed without a fuss?

Then transform their room into a hotel, and they'll be begging to go to bed!!!

This post is based on ACTUAL events:

Tonight, Rachel requested a hotel in her room. I asked her how we were going to do that. She indicated all we needed were some chairs, her snow white (snowman) blankie, her 'real' blankie, and that was all! I suggested we add a TV, so she drew on a shoebox. She told me that we needed a remote, so we taped together some popsicle sticks and she added the buttons with her marker. 

 

When her hotel bed was created, she asked enthusiastically, 20 minutes before it was even time to get ready for bed, "Mommy, can I please go to bed RIGHT NOW!?!?!?" Sometimes it's just so hard to say no *sigh.* I told her she could only go to bed if she paid me money, because it costs a lot of money to stay at a hotel. She dug out all her pennies and handed them over happily. She was so excited to go to sleep, she actually forgot all about watching tv and left her tv on the kitchen table!

 This was the nice pose. 

And then . . . 

 This was the silly face pose, 

which she has recently become so fond of. 

Here are some more examples of her fondness of it, just for fun!

This is my fave'! We actually have a progression of photos of her making various silly faces in this moment, and it is very entertaining to flip through them quickly! Cheap entertainment baby!

Keepin' Lunch Time Fresh and Fun!

Is your child tired of boring old sandwiches? 

No longer interested in lunch? 

Then try . . . 

"The Circle Lunch!"

This lunch can then be followed by a delicious round cookie!

Rice Krispies Re-Created

My daughter wanted to make Rice Krispie Squares this weekend. It occurred to me that someone out there has probably re-invented the rice krispie square to make it healthier. I love making my baked goods have some nutritional value and lower sugar content if possible. Thanks to nutritionist Joy McCarthy who posted her version here, we were able to do just that! 

I modified the recipe slightly by mixing in half a cup of sunflower seeds, as well half a cup of wheat bran. I'll probably add more of each next time. I sprinkled ground flax on top, then added sprinkles on top because when you're 3, everything needs sprinkles. 

These Rice Krispies were DELICIOUS, and hard to resist.

I'm thinking this is a great birthday party treat, and honestly, with sprinkles on top, what kid is going to know that these are actually a source of protein and are low in refined sugars?????

Hope your family gives this healthy twist a try together!!!!

Feature!

My last post was featured on:

Check out Best Toys for Toddlers for more great ideas!

Building with recyclables

Who needs blocks?  

A staff member at school, who's husband hates to throw anything out, brought in boxes of extra large empty peanut butter jars, as well as coffee cans, for us to build with at preschool. We replaced our standard wooden blocks with this alternative for a month and a half. The possibility of what to do with multiple sized containers that stack, roll, open and close are absolutely endless. These are a MUST HAVE resource if you teach preschoolers OR have a toddler at home! 

Eventually, we switched back to our standard blocks. We don't have any room at school to store these, so I decided to store them at home in my storage room. But first, I let Micah at them, who is now 21 months. He's been having a blast stacking them, and knocking them over. 

The same affect can be accomplished with empty ice cream containers or large mayonnaise jars. 

Yay for recycling! 
Now all you need to do is find your local hoarder/environmentalist who can't throw anything out, and you'll be set!

Homemade Mop

So mopping can be a challenge when you have an 18 month old (he's actually 19 months, but I don't like to say that). He just gets in the way, and tries to take the mop from you. 

So thankfully Daddy had a pile of old white t-shirts that I could tear into strips, then tie together with an elastic. I tied the bundle onto the stick with elastics too. 

He stayed occupied until I was done mopping. Then his sister mopped after him. SO, my floors were the cleanest they've ever been!

What to do on a snow day

We had a snow day here in New Brunswick (well actually, more like a rain day - freezing rain and messy roads). So what to do with a whole day ahead of you, where you can spend time together instead of being at preschool? Well, you can . . .

 *Play Restaurant. Take an order. 'Write' it down. Pay your money. Eat a delicious lunch!

* Skate on Cake Pans. 'Nuf said.

*Make puppets out of toilet paper rolls. Then destroy them an hour later (if you're Rachel)

*Play catch with a cold pack (and laugh hysterically for unknown reasons while doing it)

*Make a double batch of granola bars, and lick the spoons when you're done. These are a staple in our house. I always freeze a batch for later (or my husband will inhale them). We add ground flax, pumpkin seeds, and a variety of nuts to ours. And don't drizzle chocolate on top, because chocolate's not allowed at preschool.

*Practice your Picasa skills for work (Mommy)

Now we're going to make rhubarb crisp to go with homemade hamburgers for supper, just to stick our tongue out at the winter weather. And I might read a few chapters from my current book (Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman). And throw a load of laundry into the mix, just to make my day complete :o)

Playdough Art

 Instead of sitting at an easel and paint, why not sit at an easel and sculpt? That's what Rachel decided to do today while she was playing playdough.

This is a person (with no body, just legs, mind you). The circles around the head are actually hair. And two of those circles are earrings. And the nose wouldn't stay on. So she's a non-smelling, body-less person. Who is completely orange. And so darn cute!

Once again, playdough entertains!

Bottle Caps

So, I'm a bit of a hoarding weirdo when it comes to keeping random things I see a lot of crafting potential in. It probably stems from my obsession of being frugal and using materials around me instead of spending money. Or perhaps it's just a burden that all early educators bear (I'd love to hear your support if you're like me)! Like that big plastic pipe from my last post that we put balls, cars and water down. The instant I saw it, I declared: We can use that for something! And I wouldn't let my co-teacher throw it out and we came up with the fabulous idea that we did, and it was HUGE success! (We've since brought it outside and propped it up on the play structure and run rocks down it as well as spent a good deal of time screaming inside of it. Now THAT'S true pleasure!!!


My latest hoarding obsession has been plastic bottle caps. I read a post over at Silly Eagle Books quite some time ago and always thought I'd like to do that, so I've taken my time collecting different colours and sizes. For a long time, my tea cups on my window ledge were full of them, as I didn't bother to put them all in a baggie (like a normal person would do). One day when Rachel declared she wanted to make a craft, I dug them out.


It really turned out similar to our rock people, but this time, Rachel was able to do a lot more herself, as the surface was flat and she's doing a lot more on her own. I was also brave, inspired by Teacher Tom, and dug out the hot glue gun for the first time and let Rachel squeeze on the glue while I put the eyes in the glue. She got to experience a burn at one point (so did I), and miraculously, she survived. She didn't even cry actually (Teacher Tom is a great one for demonstrating that kids can survive taking risks)!

Monster Cap

It's hard to see past the "Fresh Cap" label on this one, but do you see the little frown paired with the sad eyes and the downturned eyebrows?

All of Rachel's cutie's. She spent a lot of time creating these, then glued that all (with white glue) to the back of a cereal box.

 

 

And lastly, what's the point in craft time if I don't get to have a little fun?

Toddlers + playdough

I have been a slacker blogger. To all of my followers, I am sorry. I haven't posted since August, but I do have a good excuse!

At the end of August, I began working part-time at Touchstone Community School , ignoring the blog world to put all of my energy into this elementary school's new Preschool classroom. This has been a vessel for all of my creative energy. And the best part is that my daughter  joins me every morning for preschool, so we still get to participate together in fun activities!

Such as . . . (Note how easy it is to do these simple activities at home too )

Propping a pipe found in the back of a storage room on a stool and 'racing' balls, cars, playdough and water

Practicing our fine motor skills with poker chips and a baby formula can with a hole cut in the top

More fine motor with chop sticks and pom poms

Making shadows with an 'old-fashioned' overhead that none of the teachers use because the other classes have smart boards!

Then in the afternoon, I get to be at home with both Rachel and my son Micah.

Micah has recently discovered the joys of playdough. Some would be reluctant to let their 17 month old play with playdough, but, you know me (plus, it helps that he's not the type of kid that's very interested in putting much in his mouth). What he's been enjoying the most, since he's obsessed with balls, is rolling playdough balls of random sizes that I've made, off the table.

Recently, he discovered the simple joy of sticking pencils in the playdough, taking them out, putting them back in, etc. etc. ! Who needs fancy playdough toys??????

This is an activity that required intense concentration (as can be seen by the tongue at the tip of his lips)

and created happy results!

Scrap Wood and Rock People

Remember when we did this to my deck?

My husband tore it down this summer (a day after we painted it actually), and is now in the process of creating a new one. What do we do without a deck in our backyard? Build with all the scrap wood of course! All the little pieces are great for making towers and houses, and even for pretending they're pieces of bread (Rachel came up with that on her own). We built a house yesterday, and it was immediately apparent that we needed people for our house. So, we dug out the hot glue gun, googly eyes, and a sharpie to make a rock family.

Mommy Rock

Rachel Rock

Micah Rock

Daddy Rock, snoozin' on the bed (he lost his eyes early on). 

Sitting together on the couch, watching the giant. . . 

...TV!

Painting with cars

Nothin' like another 'classic'! Even the baby can do this one. This is definitely an outdoor activity *grin*

Basket sleeping?

I went to wake Rachel up from her nap and found her like this:

I have no idea why, but one can never understand the mind of a 3 year old!

Snake day!

We made a couple of snakes simply by chance when we had some snipped straws as well as some corrugated cardboard from a fan box. 

When I saw the cardboard 2 weeks prior come out of the box I knew we would be able to use it for something, so I put it on the counter and just waited for the perfect opportunity. When Rachel started snipping a green straw I had visions of a green snake, and I knew we could turn the cardboard into another snake!

He even has a little smile!! Hee Hee!

Here's our straw snake:

And a green necklace: