Lesson Plans Plus

Review of "Connect the Dots and Color" Android app

2012-01-24T17:48:00.000-05:00

     Earlier today I mentioned a preschool app being offered for free today in the Amazon Appstore for Android. I've had some time to use it now and wanted to offer up a quick review.
While the app has been getting mostly negative reviews (2 star average as of this writing) I actually thought better of it than that. I knew from reading the reviews that the main complaint was that the "connect-the-dot" pictures didn't start with the letter they were supposed to illustrate. (The letter E for instance uses a picture of a fire truck that incorporates the E structure into the connect-the-dot design.) Knowing this beforehand made it easier to deal with while exploring it. It's possible that it might be confusing for a preschooler but not as much as some reviewers seemed to think. Kids don't always think too deeply about the meanings that we adults assign to things.
     Our seven year old daughters were very fascinated by the coloring of the pictures after they connected the dots. They blew through the whole alphabet and started over again with the numbers. They actually started arguing over whose turn it was to color. I would have assumed they were too old to have any interest in a game designed for preschool aged kids. I think in a similar way most preschoolers will easily overlook the fact that the pictures don't start with the letter being illustrated. This app will let them have some fun while gaining familiarity with letters and numbers.
     Definitely get this game if only for the fact that it's free. You shouldn't be surprised though if your child ends up loving it and being fascinated by all the dot-connecting and coloring.

Free preschool app today (1/24) at Amazon.com

2012-01-24T11:04:00.000-05:00

Amazon's Android app store has a free app every day. Today's free app is "Connect the Dots and Color". It's an app for preschoolers that helps with learning numbers and letters while letting them create art.
You can beat the price so I would head right over and pick it up before it goes back to $1.99!
Amazon Appstore

Silly Snow Day Superstitions

2012-01-13T06:52:00.002-05:00

Last night my twins wanted to flush ice-cubes down the toilet and make a wish for a snow day. They have some new Lego's that arrived via UPS yesterday and they have big plans to play with them today. They went all out and flushed ice cubes down 2 of our toilets and made a double wish. Well, guess what.....it's a snow day! Yeah for snow! They will be so excited.

What silly snow day superstitions have you heard of? I've also heard of sleeping with a spoon under the pillow and wearing pj's inside out & backwards. I'm not at all a superstitious person but I am a fan of having fun and being silly. I think we'll make some snow ice cream today :)

Snow Ice Cream.

2012-01-05T22:19:00.003-05:00

One of our all-time favorite winter activities is making snow ice cream. We've not been very fortunate in the snow department of late but when it does come we are sure to make some. Rather than repeat the recipe you can click here to see an older post about this fun and delicious treat.
Do you have any other "cool" ideas for snow food? Leave a comment below!

The finished product!

Fun with Boxes

2012-01-03T19:26:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed the holiday's very much. We did a lot of online shopping for Christmas presents this year. What this means is that we have an abundance of boxes. I think my kids enjoy boxes as much as the gifts inside (and sometimes more). They get so creative with boxes. Houses, cars, puppet theaters, doll houses, store fronts, treasure boxes, boats, drive-in- movie theaters, etc. These are just a few of the fun things my kids enjoy creating with boxes. I wonder at what age kids stop being entertained by boxes. If you have some fun ideas involving boxes, please share!

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

2011-12-11T00:11:00.000-05:00

Check out this neat site for some great random acts of kindness ideas this Christmas season. Fun to get the kids involved in this.
RACK

Toilet paper Tube Turkeys and Scarecrows

2011-11-23T18:11:00.006-05:00

I meant to post this project several days ago but I got busy and forgot. If you need a last minute fun craft idea to keep the kids busy tomorrow, give this a try. They also make cute table decorations.

Supplies Needed for Scarecrow:
Toilet paper tube
Muffin tin liner cup (for hat)
popsicle stick
yellow construction paper (for hair)
Wiggly eyes
Markers
Glue

Supplies needed for Turkey:
Toilet paper tube
Construction paper
Wiggly eyes
Glue
Markers

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2011-10-26T14:52:00.000-04:00

I've been in the mood for making pumpkin cupcakes with my kids so I went on an online search for some simple cupcakes. I found some super cute and simple pumpkin theme cupcakes at Family Circle. You could even use a boxed mix if you wanted and just decorate with orange frosting but I think the pumpkin flavor would be great! Enjoy!

Pumpkin cupcakes!

Fabric Pumpkin Craft

2011-09-22T10:36:00.000-04:00

I discovered this adorable fall craft today. These little fabric pumpkins are so cute. Although an adult or older child may have to do the simple sewing, small children could help gather sticks from outside. They could also help stuff the pumpkins/squash. Enjoy making these Squash Softies.

Preschool Lesson Plans on Kindle

2011-08-24T15:04:00.000-04:00

We have just completed a new project. In addition to the various other formats, we are happy to announce that our preschool lesson plans are now available on the Kindle. See the link below for more details including a new low sale price of $7.99 (that's less than .29 per lesson!!!). Get it now for back to school learning.

Red, White and Blue Chocolate Dipped Stawberries!

2011-06-25T23:34:00.000-04:00

I recently brought home a bunch of juicy red strawberries from the strawberry farm. We've been eating them everyday. I've been making jam, freezing strawberries, making smoothies, Popsicles, etc. I was looking for a strawberry muffin recipe and somehow I stumbled upon a really cool recipe for red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries. They are so cute and look yummy too. I think I'm going to give these a try for the Fourth of July. I know my girls would love to help me make them and they would for sure help eat them! Red, White and Blue Strawberries. Enjoy!

So many things in our little lives!

2011-06-23T19:25:00.000-04:00

Our family has been hit hard with sadness over the past 9 months. First my dad passed away in August, 2010, five months later in January our wonderful dog Cazzie passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. Last month, we had to say goodbye to our sweet little dog Ally. She was an American Eskimo like Cazzie. She was our older of the two. We enjoyed 15 wonderful years with her. I never expected to lose both of my beautiful dogs only 4 months apart from each other. Our home is not the same without our furry babies to enjoy it with us. Between all of the grief we've faced in less than a years time, our move (I still haven't unpacked everything yet) and everyday life, I have pretty much been neglecting this blog. To be quite honest, some days, the grief seems like more than I can handle. I manage though. My kids insist that I put on a happy face and keep them busy. Kids are great about not letting you wallow in sadness.

We are now in the full swing of summer. We've had park days, play dates, a trip to the zoo, a parade, cook-outs, a visit to the strawberry farm, a baseball game, mini golf, outdoor picnics, a trip to the library (to get a pile of books and sign up for the summer reading club), several bike rides and lots of water play. We are currently getting a little break from the heat. The past couple days it's been gloomy & raining so I've been busy making strawberry jam, freezing strawberries and making some strawberry treats. Like I said, kids are great about not letting you sit around and be sad. They keep me busy and I am very thankful for that! I hope everyone else is having a great summer so far. I'm hoping and praying for a fun summer for my family and a break from sad stuff happening for a long while!

Where I've been...

2011-03-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

We had several requests for showings on our house in December which kept me very busy and then a week before Christmas, we received and accepted an offer on our house.    The first weekend after the holidays we took a trip to Wisconsin for a wedding. On the way back, we took the kids to Chicago for some museum fun.    A few days after we returned, in the wee hours of the morning on January 13th, my family was faced with much sadness as our wonderful American Eskimo dog Cazzie died very suddenly.   He was a great dog, full of energy and love.   We were blessed to have him for  12 years but I wish it could have been even longer.   He was such a good boy and we all still miss him terribly.

I spent the next few weeks packing and house hunting.   We ended up having a double move as we had to be out of our old house before our new house was finished. We spent our transition staying at my moms house and my kids especially loved that. In fact, they tried to convince us to just forget about buying our new house and live with nana permanently. Nana does love to spoil them!    We finally moved into our new home just before Valentine's Day.   Moving was a ton of work and I'm so happy to finally be in our new home. I still have a lot of unpacking to do but we are getting settled and have all of our essential things unpacked now.

A couple of fun tips that I want to share with you:   My friend Kelly (who is an Army wife and experienced in moving) gave me a great idea to help keep the kids busy while I packed. She suggested letting them decorate the moving boxes. My kids had a blast with this and it kept them busy for a few hours. Great idea Kelly! It worked out much better than me trying to pack while they unpacked the things I had already packed :)

Another fun thing that I did with our boxes after we moved into our new house: I let my kids make cars out of boxes. I gave them paper plates, markers, crayons and tape and they had a ton of fun creating their own special car. When they were done, we pretended to have a drive-through restaurant and they placed an order at "Mommas pancake house". After dinner, we had a "drive-in movie" night. My kids loved it and the next day, they wanted to do it all over again.   I think it made a fun new house memory for them. I have to give my friend Sarah credit for the drive-in movie idea.   In a phone conversation, she told me that she did that for her son's birthday party and it was a huge hit. I knew my kids would love doing that too. So, if you are moving or just have some boxes around the house, have some fun and make some memories with them!

Countdown to Christmas

2010-12-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

Tis the season to get started on holiday crafts. The last two years I have made a Countdown to Christmas chain with my kids. Everyday, starting after Thanksgiving they asked "how many more days until Christmas?" The paper chain made it easy for them to figure it out on their own. We made a paper chain on December 1st with one loop for each day until Christmas. Everyday my kids would tear off one loop of the chain and count how many were left. I was reading a friends blog and I loved her twist on a Christmas countdown chain. She is doing a gratitude chain with her little girl. Check out her idea and enjoy browsing her blog at Finding Calm in the Chaos.

Pick Your Own Pumpkins and Apples!

2010-10-13T09:58:00.001-04:00

My family and I enjoy visiting several "pick your own" farms. It's a fun experience to pick your own produce. A few years ago, I found a wonderful site that I love! You can chose your state, decide which seasonal produce you want to pick and get a list of all of the pick your own farms in your area. Since Fall is in full swing here in the midwest, we are all about apples and pumpkins right now. Check out www.pickyourown.org to find an orchard or farm near you! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mousse Recipe

2010-10-13T09:27:00.015-04:00

It's Pumpkin Time! Do you enjoy pumpkin treats? My kids like to help me make Pumpkin Mousse. It's easy and delicious. It's also diabetic friendly. My dad was diabetic so I often made this yummy dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. The credit for this recipe goes to Mr. Food.
Creamy Pumpkin Mousse: Ingredients: 1 can (16 ounces) of solid-pack pure pumpkin. 1 package (6-serving size) instant sugar-free vanilla pudding mix. 1/4 cup low-fat (1%) milk. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. 2 cups frozen light whipped topping, thawed. Directions: In a medium bowl, with an electric beater on medium speed, beat the pumpkin, pudding mix,milk, and cinnamon until well blended. Fold in the whipped topping until thoroughly blended then spoon into a serving bowl. Cover loosely and chill until ready to serve.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/2 cup):Calories: 65, Fat: 2 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 207 mg,Carbohydrate: 11 g, Dietary Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 3 g, Protein: 1 g Diabetic Exchanges: 1 Carbohydrate

Back to School Traditions

2010-09-09T14:13:00.002-04:00

My twins are in first grade this year. Everyday for the first week of school I leave little surprises on their beds. It gives them something fun to look forward to while they are at school. When they come home they run to their rooms in anticipation of their small gifts. I started doing this last year when they were in Kindergarten. My mom actually did this for me way back when I was in Kindergarten. She left me small surprises on my bed each day but I think it may have gone on longer than a week. I needed bribed as I wanted to continue staying home with my mom. My kids love school but I such had fond childhood memories of this. I wanted to create the same great memories with my kids so I decided that the first week of school would be the perfect time frame. My kids enjoyed this so much last year that I decided to make it a tradition every year. It's just something fun and inexpensive (I buy little things from places like Target, Dollar stores, etc.). I only spent about $10.00 for a week of surprises for two kids but the joy and memories from the tradition are priceless.

Another tradition that I want to share: Back when I was in school, my dad woke me up in the mornings with a silly song that he had made up. He started out singing softly but got louder and louder until I would get out of bed. It was funny when I was little but by the time I was in high school, some days it would drive me a little nuts because I was not a natural morning person and didn't always enjoy my "dad alarm clock". It was something that my dad and I laughed about in adulthood though and it became a good memory. My dad passed away unexpectedly on August 15th, 2010, at the age of 62. My girls and I have been sharing good memories about my dad, their beloved grampy. One of the stories I shared was his silly wake up song. My kids thought it was funny. My girls started school this week (just 3 weeks after my dad died). In memory of dad, I decided to wake them up with dad's silly song. I'll bet he was looking down on us with his big smile and contagious laugh, maybe even joining in with the song.

Some of my other first day of school traditions are common such as taking pictures of my kids wearing their backpacks in the morning before leaving the house. I also walk them into class and snap a picture of them in their classroom.

I would love to hear about your school traditions too. Whether you are a home school mom, a teacher or a parent sending your kids to school. Please share with me. I have always loved creating wonderful memories and starting traditions with my kids. After the recent loss of my own dad, I see even more importance in the memories we make. They are lasting.

Preschool Lesson Plans

2010-09-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

It's back to school time! Whether you are a mom to a preschooler, a teacher or someone who works with preschool aged children, you will find plenty of fun filled learning activities to keep your children busy at Lesson Plans Plus. Please stop by. Thanks!

Unplugged and summer fun!

2010-08-04T10:31:00.004-04:00

I can hardly believe that August is already here! June and July flew by in a blink! I've been busy this summer working on home improvement projects, putting our house up for sale, going on vacation and having fun with my kids. I thought that I would share some of the fun things we've been doing so that if you are looking for a bit of inspiration, maybe this will get the wheels turning.

At home: Getting the kids involved with projects around the house. Weeding the garden, watering the plants, making jam, washing the car, painting the shed (they loved this), helping with sorting and organizing toys and "weeding" out the stuff they didn't want/need. We didn't have time for a garage sale so instead we made a couple of trips to the consignment store and then donated the rest. We've also been staying cool with the kiddie pool, sprinkler and water table (my kids like to dip paint brushes in the water table and "paint" the house, fence, etc). Summer has also been a great time for the kids to enjoy playing with messy stuff outside (such as moon sand and goop). We've also been keeping busy with lots of reading. My girls are both reading independently now and they love to read everyday. We're doing the summer reading club through the library again this year.

Unplugged! I've been wanting to take a week here and there and do "unplugged weeks" No TV, no Internet, no electronic games, etc. Just good old fashioned summer fun. Our biggest stretch this summer was on our vacation. We spent 9 days at a cottage on a lake. It was great to just enjoy playing in the sand, swimming, fishing, walks in the woods, playing games, campfires, etc. No TV, computer or any other electronic games. It was a nice break. I'm planning to do something similar again at home. We often go 2 or 3 days in a row but it's a fun challenge to go for a week or two without the use of the TV or computer.

Outings: We've enjoyed strawberry picking, cherry picking, picnics at parks (we've been looking for new parks to visit this year which has been fun) , zoo days (we bought a membership), farmers markets, splash pads (water playgrounds at parks), visits to the library, play dates and cousin sleepovers.

I would love to hear what you have been up to this summer. Please share your fun ideas too!

Preschool and Kindergarten Reading Fun

2010-06-01T10:03:00.012-04:00

My girls have been reading books on their own for several months now. Listening to my children read brings me so much joy. During my teaching years and also as a mom I purchased a bunch of the "I Can Read" books. You can choose the level that is right for your child. A few years ago a friend gave me a complete set of Magic Castle Reader books. Her son outgrew them and she knew that we would enjoy them. They are fun and easy for young readers and my girls are currently enjoying reading them on their own. Unfortunately, I noticed that these books are now out of print but I did check and you can find them from Amazon.com or eBay. You may even be able to find them at your local library. Some other fun books that my girls have been enjoying are the Fancy Nancy books and my huge collection of Dr. Seuss books.

We've been joining the library reading club every summer since my kids were three years old. This year it will be even more fun as they do a combination of reading their books to me, to each other and reading quietly. Of course, I still read to them too. I'm sure we'll be doing that for many years to come. I don't think we ever outgrow the enjoyment of sitting back and listening to another person read aloud from a good book. Check your local library to see if they offer a summer reading club. The reading club is great for pre-readers too. It helps keep you & your kids motivated and accountable for reading books all summer long. Summer reading clubs usually begin sometime in June, once most schools are out for the summer.

Earth Day Activities and Crafts

2010-04-20T14:00:00.006-04:00

Are you planning to do anything special with your children or students for Earth Day? A really fun and easy craft for kids is to let them make a junk collage. Provide a variety of "junk items" and let them use their imagination creating. Check out my Earth Day post for more ideas.

This is also a great day to get some seeds planted. It's not warm enough here in the north to start the garden yet but I bought some flower and vegetable seeds for my kids to plant in little pots inside. The dollar area at Target has some cute tin pots. When it's warm enough (usually mid to late May) we will transfer our plants to the garden outside.

Fun Easter Crafts, Activities and Ideas (Christian and Traditional)

2010-04-03T14:01:00.010-04:00

We were healthy all winter but Spring brought us a round of sickness. Tonsillitis and ear infections for the kids and a cold that turned into a sinus infection for me. The kids are now better and I will be on the mend soon as I finally went to the doctor and started my antibiotics yesterday. I've been sick for almost two weeks and the sinus infection is pretty bad. I was looking at some old blog posts and crazy enough, this time last year we were just getting over being sick too. You can find some True Meaning of Easter Ideas by checking my Easter blog post from last year.

The weather here has been gorgeous. We enjoyed an outdoor Easter Egg hunt last weekend and today we are decorating Easter eggs. I also filled a large basket full of plastic Easter eggs and the kids are having a blast hiding them around the house today and filling them will little toys. I filled our themed book basket with some of my favorite Easter books for the kids to look at and read. About the book basket: I keep a large basket in the living room that I fill with special themed books. These are books that don't stay out all of the time but I bring them out for a week or two and then swap them out for the next theme.

If I can gather enough energy (this sinus infection is the pits!) I am also going to cut out a couple of large Ovals from construction paper (for eggs) and let the kids paint them and tear little pieces of tissue paper to stick onto the painted eggs. An easy but fun last minute art project.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

2010-03-16T22:48:00.002-04:00

I want to make sure that find this St. Patrick's Day post of mine about Magic Leprechaun Powder. It's fun, yummy and of course "magical" for the kids.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Soda Bread

2010-03-16T22:32:00.008-04:00

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I found a quick and easy recipe for Irish Soda Bread to share with you. Check out this Irish Soda Bread from Family Fun. This would be a good recipe for the kids to help make. You can find more great St. Patrick's Day recipes by visiting this link to Family Fun.

Fun and Educational Fieldtrips

2010-03-03T22:48:00.008-05:00

The snow is still on the ground here in my neck of the woods but spring is on the way. Field trips and outings are wonderful year round but with the arrival of spring, many parents and teachers start getting the itch to take their children on more fun and educational field trips. Lots of people are looking for some inspiration and ideas. I have an entire page of fun field trip ideas for you to check out on the field trips page of my Lesson Plans Plus website. The field trips listed would work well for preschool and elementary aged children alike. Truth be told, field trips are fun for adults too. I'm not sure who enjoys fun field trips more, me or my kids! Check it out: Fun and Educational Field trip Ideas.

If you know of a good field trip that I haven't listed, please share it with us by leaving a comment here on the blog or emailing me at trips@lessonplansplus.com. I'm always looking to add more great ideas to my website.

Winter Fun with Homemade Snow Ice Cream!

2010-02-17T23:15:00.005-05:00

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Okay, well maybe I don't actually scream but my kids did start bouncing up and down shouting for joy when I told them we were going to make snow ice cream.

We had a lot of new snow and I knew that my kids would enjoy making and eating snow ice cream. It's really fun and easy to make. All that you need is clean snow, milk, vanilla extract and sugar. You can adjust the amounts to your liking. We made a lot because we wanted to test out some different flavors and we also wanted left-over ice cream. We put about 10 cups of clean snow into a big bowl (it melts fast when you bring it inside) and mixed in 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 cup of milk and about a 1/2 cup of sugar. We just mixed it all together with a spoon. You can adjust the amount of milk and snow until you get the consistency that you like and adjust the amount of sugar to your desired sweetness. We enjoyed the vanilla ice cream first and then we experimented with adding a little baking cocoa for chocolate ice cream. We placed our left over vanilla ice cream in the freezer.

Later in the day, my kids wanted to surprise daddy with our yummy after dinner dessert of snow ice cream. Our left-over ice cream still tasted great and we sprinkled "malted milk" on top for some extra goodness. If you haven't tried snow ice cream before, give it a try. It's easy and fun for the kids to make and even more fun to eat!

Cooking healthy and yummy foods with kids!

2010-02-02T21:47:00.005-05:00

I enjoy cooking and especially making healthy meals that my kids enjoy. Tonight one of my children requested that I make extra baked potatoes because she loves them so much. My other daughter wanted asparagus. I was happy to cater to their dinner desires tonight.

I want to share with you a new food blog that my friend Kendra has started. She also loves to cook healthy meals for her family. She is a home school mom and enjoys including her children in the cooking process. In addition to her healthy meals recipes, I think you will also enjoy her kitchen school posts where her kids get involved. Check out Kendra's yummy blog. The Queen of Brussels Sprouts.

Fun Valentine Party Games for Kids!

2010-01-28T23:54:00.006-05:00

I'm currently in the process of planning a children's Valentine party. I know that coming up with themed party games can be challenging so I'm going to make it easy whether you want to host a classroom Valentine's party or a party at home with your children and a few little friends. You could even do some of these games one on one with a child at home.

Heart Hunt: This is super easy. Simply cut out a bunch of paper hearts. Hide them all over the house/classroom or even outside if you are in an area with mild weather (it's snowing here). Let your children have fun finding all of the hearts. It's basically just like an Easter egg hunt but with hearts.

Candy Heart Towers: Set a bowl of candy hearts and a timer on a hard flat surface. See how high the children can build their heart tower before the timer goes off. This can be a competitive game or not depending on the age of the children and what they would enjoy. Really, everyone is a winner because they can keep and eat their candy hearts.

Candy, Candy, Heart!: This is a game that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers as it is played just like Duck, Duck, Goose. Just replace the wording with Candy, Candy, Heart!

Estimation Jar: Fill a jar full of candy hearts or any type of pink/red candy. Make sure to count out how many you put in the jar! Let each child take a guess at how many pieces of candy are in the jar. Whoever guesses correctly gets to keep the jar of candy. Another option: If you don't want to let just one child win the prize, just give the winner a round of applause and then everyone can share the candy inside.

Famous Pairs: This is always a fun game. I remember playing this when I was a child. Make a list of famous pairs that your particular group/age range of children would recognize. You name one half of the pair and the children have to guess what goes with it. Some ideas: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Mickey Mouse & Minnie, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Bert & Ernie, Jack & Jill, Hansel & Gretel. You get the idea.

I hope you enjoy one or more of these Valentine's Day party games with your kids. Have fun playing!

Homemade Baby Food Jar Snow Globes and Christmas Goody Bag Ideas

2009-12-14T12:00:00.001-05:00

I'm a Kindergarten room mom this year and I'm in charge of party planning. I have a small budget to work with and I was trying to think of some inexpensive but cool gifts to put in goody bags for the children. I was able to "go green" a bit by recycling some baby food jars that were given to me. The friend who gave me the jars also gave me the idea to make snow globes with them (thanks Carrie!). To prep the jars, I soaked them in hot soapy water and the labels came off quite easily. I dried each jar and lid and then got to work on my project.

I bought some small evergreen trees to stick in each jar. I had envisioned using snowmen but the craft store didn't have any on the day I went so I went with the trees as they were only $1.99 for 12 count packages. I used floral clay to stick the trees to the inside of each lid. The finished snow globes will sit lid side down. Next, I filled the jars with about two teaspoons of glitter. Then I filled the jars with cold tap water stopping about a 1/2 inch from the top. I used a hot glue gun to seal the lids. I put the glue around the inside rim of the lid and then twisted it back onto the jar. Once this is done, let the jars dry lid side up overnight. Resist the urge to shake them or turn them over before they are dry. I did not resist the urge (I'm very impatient sometimes!) and as a result I ended up having to redo the seals on about 75% of my jars due to leakage. Not fun and quite messy! The finished product turned out cute and I think the kids are really going to enjoy these. I will wrap them in newspaper (another "green" move) to help prevent breakage.

I will be putting the snow globes and Reindeer Food from my previous post in the goody bags along with a few dollar store finds (Christmas Pencils and Christmas Erasers), a candy cane and homemade cookie treats. I'm pleased with my budget friendly goody bags. The goody bags themselves are also going to be homemade. The kids will each decorate their own goody bags ahead of time using a plain paper lunch bag and some Christmas cut-outs, crayons, markers and glue.

Magic Reindeer Food!

2009-12-12T23:53:00.005-05:00

I was busy last night assembling 21 reclosable bags of Magic Reindeer Food for a classroom full of Kindergartners. It's an easy and fun little project that I thought you might enjoy doing for your children or classroom too. It's perfect for preschoolers and early elementary children who have fun believing in Santa and the reindeer.

To make the Magic Reindeer Food I used about 4 tablespoons of dry oatmeal per reclosable bag and then mixed in about 2 teaspoons full of glitter. I mixed a few colors of the glitter together for extra color. I then attached a note to each bag telling the children to sprinkle the magic reindeer food on their lawn on Christmas Eve night. The smell of the food will help guide the reindeer to their house. Be sure to verbally explain to the children not to eat the food themselves as it does have glitter in it! Last year on Christmas Eve just before bedtime, my husband took our kids outside all bundled up in their PJ's and they sprinkled the mixture onto our snow covered lawn. We're looking forward to doing it again this year.

Christmas Books for Preschoolers

2009-12-05T19:08:00.012-05:00

I want to share with you a list of Christmas books that I enjoy reading to my kids year after year. For your convenience, I will make two lists. One list will be the traditional Christmas books and the other list will be Christian / Religious or have mention of religious material. Also be sure to check out our Christmas lesson plan (on sale now for only 99 cents) for some fun arts, crafts and activities and crafts.

Traditional Christmas Book List
(Hover your mouse over the title to see a preview from Amazon.com)

Clifford's Christmas (Clifford, the Big Red Dog)
by Norman Bridwell

The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy'>The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer

Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?
by Jan Brett (*Note, this may not be appropriate for younger preschoolers as it is a Norwegian legend with trolls and a bear.)

Christmas Stories and Poems'>Christmas Stories and Poems by Lisa McCue

Twelve Days Of Christmas - Pbk'>The Twelve Days of Christmas Illustrated by Susan Swan

Merry Christmas Mom and Dad (A Golden Look-Look Book)'>Merry Christmas Mom And Dad by Mercer Mayer

The Dog Who Found Christmas (Picture Puffins)'>The Dog Who Found Christmas by Linda Jennings

The Polar Express'>The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Bear Stays Up for Christmas'>Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies (A Special Christmas Edition) (If You Give...)'>If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Joffe Numeroff

Oliver All Alone'>Oliver All Alone by Christine Harris

Corduroy's Christmas (Lift-the-Flap)
by B.G. Hennessy

Frosty the Snowman'>Frosty the Snowman by Jack Rollin's

Christian / Religious Christmas Book List

amy and the special snowflakes'>Amy and the Special Snowflakes by Grandreams Books Limited

The Littlest Christmas Tree: A Tale of Growing and Becoming'>The Littlest Christmas Tree (A tale of growing and becoming) by Janie Jasin

The Tiny Star'>The Tiny Star by Arthur Ginolfi

The Christmas Story with Ruth J. Morehead's Holly Babes (Pictureback(R))
by Ruth J. Morehead

THE CHRISTMAS BOOK A GOLDEN SHAPE BOOK BY DONNA KELLY~1977'>The Christmas Book by Donna Kelly

The Stable Where Jesus Was Born'>The Stable Where Jesus Was Born by Rhonda Gowler Greene

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale'>The Tale of Three Trees (A Traditional Folktale) Retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

This Is the Star'>This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar

Legend of the Candy Cane, The'>The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

Legend of the Christmas Tree, The'>The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne

The Parable Series: The Pine Tree Parable'>The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs

Winter field trips and Christmas outings.

2009-12-04T20:35:00.008-05:00

Continuing the Christmas theme I want to share with you some ideas for fun field trips and family outings. These are things that should be available in most regions without too much of a drive. Even if all of the ideas are not available in your area, I hope they will give you some inspiration to find something fun for you to do with your children. Most of our links are around the Midwestern United States but most areas will have similar attractions within a days drive. If you have any great Christmas or winter field trip ideas please comment below and share them with the rest of us.

CHRISTMAS/WINTER FIELD TRIPS:

Live Nativity Scene. These include live animals that the children may be able to pet afterwards. Many times churches and farms will offer this during the holiday season. It is often free or fairly inexpensive. Below is a link to one of these types of events. http://www.critterbarn.org/site/c.ihKMIWPDIqE/b.4170339/k.9424/Live_Nativity.htm

Christmas Tree Farm. This is a fun field trip for students looking to get a tree for the classroom. We also enjoy doing this trip with our family. Some farms offer wagon rides and even meals or snacks (hot cider and doughnuts, etc.). http://www.lenderink.com/treeFarm.html

Botanical Garden. They may decorate for the holidays. The garden in the link below has an amazing display of "Christmas Traditions Around the World". They have many trees representing various countries. Frederik Meijer Gardens.

Ballet Production. Of course there is the large ballet that is offered in the bigger cities but often you can find ballet schools/organizations offering less expensive ballet performances designed for children and families. We attended "Twas the Night Before Christmas" last weekend and it was wonderful. My kids were even able to go on stage after the play to meet the cast and sit on Santa's lap! http://www.careballet.org/

Christmas Train. These trains go by many names but are almost always a magical experience that shouldn't be missed. They vary by price and length of ride so be sure to look around. If you are near the Midwest our favorite is Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad. It is amazing!

Carriage/Sleigh Ride. Whether in a city or out in the countryside these are fun for the whole family and create memories that last a lifetime. http://www.chicagocarriage.com/

School/Church/Theatre Productions. Opportunities abound to find inexpensive, child-friendly plays and musicals.

Bookstore / Library. In addition to the library, I know that large bookstores such as Barnes and Noble also offer storytime and crafts. I'll bet some smaller local bookstores do this too. They usually have holiday themes this time of the year. It's free and fun.

Malls. Take your children to walk through the mall. Malls, especially larger ones usually have many Christmas decorations up and it's fun to walk through and look at the displays. Bring a camera becasue if Santa is there, the kids can sit on his lap and you can take a picture.

Drive Through Light Displays. Look in your local newspaper to see if a ballpark, stadium or neighborhood is advertising drive through light displays. Sometimes you pay a fee per car load and sometimes you are asked to give a donation to help offset the expenses.

Bakery Tour. Check with your local bakery to see if they are offering holiday baked goods. I know that Krispy Kreme usually has holiday doughnuts. This is a fun fieldtrip year round but extra fun to watch holiday treats being made. Even more fun to sample them!

Zoo. You may not typically think of going to the zoo in the winter but it's actually a really fun time to go. The rates are usually reduced or even free. It's a gret chance to see how the animals react to the cooler weather and the zoo is less crowded. Some zoos even decorate for Christmas and offer special holiday hours. http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home.aspx

Nature Centers. Learn about wildlife in winter, get a local history lesson and take part in fun activities such as candle dipping.

Craft Fairs. Craft Fairs can be a lot of fun for little ones. I give my kids each a couple of dollars to bring to the craft fair. They enjoy being responsible for their own money and I encourage them to look at the things at all of the booths before buying. They can "booth shop" without buying and then go back once they have seen everything and made a decision. This also gives me a chance to look around without hearing "mommy, I'm bored, can we go now".

If you live in the United States, I found another great resource for great winter field trips. You can find your state and then look for places to go in your area. They also offer recipes. http://pickyourownchristmastree.org/index.htm

Happy Holidays! Enjoy!

Making Easy Advent Calendars for Kids

2009-12-02T00:23:00.005-05:00

I remember having fun with an Advent calendar when I was a little girl. I can't remember exactly what the calendar looked like but I do remember that each day we opened a little numbered door on our "calendar" and found a small surprise hiding in there. We received something little (like a sticker or piece of candy) each day until Christmas.

If you are looking for an advent calendar to do with your kids, I found a few that you could easily make or print. My favorite is the baby sock advent calendar because it's absolutely adorable.

Bubble Wrap Advent Calendar from Family Fun

Printable Advent Calendar from The Toymaker

Christmas Tree Advent Calendar from DLTK

Baby Sock Advent Calendar from Martha Stewart

Kids Countdown to Christmas Activity

2009-12-01T23:49:00.007-05:00

We put our Christmas tree up over the weekend and now each day my kids ask me "mom, how many more days until Christmas?" They are so excited! Does this sound familiar to you too? I've decided that we need a fun and easy way to count down to Christmas. I'm going to cut strips from red and green construction paper and have my kids help me make a festive paper chain. The chain will have one link for each day until Christmas. Each day they can remove a link and count down the days left until Christmas.

My Favorite Thanksgiving Day Books for Preschoolers and Kindergarten Children

2009-11-24T22:30:00.008-05:00

I've been reading lots of Thanksgiving books to my kids this week and I wanted to share some of our favorites with you. If you get the chance, see if your local library has any of them. Enjoy!

My First Thanksgiving ~ By Tomie dePaola

Thanksgiving Day ~ By Gail Gibbons

Thanksgiving Mice ~ By Bethany Roberts

The Story Of The Pilgrims ~ By Katharine Ross

The Best Thanksgiving Day (Pooh) ~ By Ann Braybrooks

It's Thanksgiving Day! ~ By Mary Packard

Clifford's Thanksgiving Visit ~ By Norman Bridwell

A Plump and Perky Turkey ~ By Teresa Bateman

Over the River and Through the Wood ~ A Thanksgiving Poem by Lydia Maria Child

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie ~ By Alison Jackson

Three Little Pilgrims ~ By Janet Craig

Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks ~ By Margaret Sutherland

The First Thanksgiving ~ By Jean Craighead George (Note...this book is more appropriate for 5+ year olds due to the length and more in depth history lesson)

Handprint and Fingerprint Turkey Craft

2009-11-18T22:44:00.007-05:00

I love doing hand print turkey's with my kids each year (and of course I save them to look back on later). Most of you have probably seen or done hand print turkey's. Palm side facing up, the thumb is painted brown and the fingers painted in various colors. Press down on paper. When dry, have your child draw eyes (or glue on wiggly eyes) a beak and a gobble on the thumb and then draw legs onto the turkey. These are always a nice keepsake.

I recently found a cute fingerprint turkey craft that is also really easy so I wanted to share it with you. You can find the fingerprint turkey here on the DLTK site.

Thanksgiving Mazes

2009-11-18T22:19:00.004-05:00

My kids love doing mazes right now so I decided to look for a few Thanksgiving themed mazes. I found some to print off from kaboose.com which saves me the time of making them up myself. They have a decent selection from simple to more difficult mazes. Here is the link for more of the mazes.

Holiday Sale!

2009-11-16T12:57:00.006-05:00

We are running a special holiday sale at Lesson Plans Plus. Please check out our website for more details on this great offer.

Edible Thanksgiving Craft - Pilgrim Hats

2009-11-15T22:15:00.004-05:00

Check out this how-to video for a cool Thanksgiving treat: Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats.
http://familyfun.go.com/how-to-videos/familyfun-marshmallow-pilgrim-hats-762347-v/

Super Cute Turkey Craft

2009-11-12T21:38:00.005-05:00

I just found an adorable and simple turkey craft that I want to share with you. I might stop by the craft store this weekend to pick up the supplies. I think that my kids would love to help make this for a Thanksgiving Day Centerpiece.

Turkey Day Craft

Enjoy!

Sharing a Giveaway

2009-11-06T22:50:00.003-05:00

This really does not pertain to preschool but I know that a lot of mom's read this blog and giveaways are fun! A friend of mine is doing a giveaway on her blog this weekend and the prize is a beautiful mothers necklace. Make sure that you check it out and get in an entry before it's too late.

Scrumptious Spiders!

2009-10-28T22:38:00.004-04:00

I wanted to share some easy spider treats with you that make a fun Halloween treat.

To make a scrumptious spider snack take two round crackers (such as Ritz) and spread peanut butter on one side of each cracker (don't put them together yet) Place four pretzel sticks (or you can snap two in half for four small legs) on each side of one cracker. Place the other cracker on top. Now you have a spider body and legs. To make eyes on the spider dot peanut butter and place two mini chocolate chips (or raisins..whatever your kids like) on the peanut butter. Enjoy!

Another yummy but not as healthy option would be to use cream sandwich cookies such as Oreos and then use string licorice for the legs.

You could also have fun making spider cupcakes using the same idea. Frost the cupcake and use black string licorice for the legs and M&M's or chocolate chips for the eyes.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy some spider snacks!

Apple Time!

2009-09-21T13:33:00.004-04:00

I brought my kids to an apple orchard this weekend. There is something about the apple orchard that helps me say goodbye to summer and embrace fall. I love the smell and taste of fresh crisp apples (especially Honey crisp!) and preservative free fresh apple cider. Whether or not you plan to visit an apple orchard with your children, I want to share a few of my favorite preschool apple books with you. I know you will enjoy reading them with your children. You may even be craving a juicy apple or a fresh baked apple treat when you are finished with the story so be prepared.

~Dinofours...It's Apple Picking Day! By Steve Metzger
~The Apple Pie Tree By Zoe Hall
~Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time By Jody Fickes Shapiro

Back to School!

2009-09-07T21:49:00.005-04:00

It's been a wonderful and busy summer here. Some of our highlights were camping, visiting the beach, parks and picnics, blueberry and cherry picking and vacationing at a cottage on a lake (both of my kids caught their first fish!). I hope that all of you enjoyed your summer too. It always goes by too fast. I can feel a chill in the evening air and some of the leaves on the trees are already starting to change colors. It's the time of year when children start going back to school. When I was a kid, one of my favorite first week of school assignments was to write and/or draw a picture of my favorite summer vacation memories. I would encourage you this week to talk with your children about their favorite summer memories and then have them draw pictures. After they have completed their pictures let them give you a picture description as you write a small caption on each page. This will make a treasured book to look back on during the year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful new school year!

Celebrate America!

2009-07-03T12:04:00.021-04:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I love celebrating my wonderful country, especially on the Fourth of July. I wanted to point you in the direction of some of my previous Fourth of July posts so that you can enjoy some fun activities with your kids too.

Fun Fourth of July Books

Patriotic Weekly Challenge

Fourth of July Crafts and Activities

Fourth of July Coloring Pages

Enjoy! Have a wonderful Independence Day celebration!

May Day Celebration

2009-04-30T10:30:00.010-04:00

May Day festivals are traditional in England and celebrated on May 1st. May Day is a fun springtime celebration. I thought that you might enjoy doing a few May Day activities with your children too.

~For a fun and easy craft, you can help transform your children into May Kings and Queens by making May crowns with them. To make a May crown, cut the middle out of a paper plate and paint the rim green. Onto the plate, glue pre-cut flowers from construction paper or tissue paper. You could also make a construction paper crown and attach pre-cut flowers to that.

~Take a nature walk and collect wild flowers on your walk or pick some flowers from your own yard. Your children can "go a-Maying" and surprise a friend or family member with the flowers.

~Another fun activity is to dance around a May pole. To create a May pole, attach ribbon, thick yarn or crepe paper streamers to a pole or tree. The children can wear their May crowns as they hold onto the ends of the streamers and dance around the "May pole" singing their favorite springtime songs.

~A May Day song by Elizabeth McKinnon (sung to "The Mulberry Bush")
Let's dance around the Maypole today,
Maypole today, Maypole today.
Let's dance around the Maypole today.
We're the Kings and Queens of May.

~Here is a link to another May Day activity that I posted about last year. I hope that you enjoy these fun May Day Activities. Happy May Day!

*Note, many of these ideas were inspired from the book Small World Celebrations by Jean Warren and Elizabeth McKinnon.

Earth Day!

2009-04-22T16:21:00.006-04:00

Today is a great day to talk to your kids about doing their part to help take care of our world. My preschool students always enjoyed participating in Earth Day clean-up. I gave every child a pair of gloves and we went on a clean-up walk around the playground. It was fun for them to help make the playground look nice and I'm sure the groundskeepers appreciated our little contribution as well.

Another fun thing that I enjoy doing with my kids on Earth Day is a craft that I call a "Junk Collage". I simply collect "junk" that I would toss out anyhow and the kids enjoy making art from it. If you are a classroom teacher or daycare provider, you could send a note home for parents to donate a few items so that their child can turn trash into treasure. I realize this post is coming in a bit late as today is already Earth Day but you don't need this specific day to have fun reusing and recycling.

A sample list of items for a cool junk collage:
~Mismatched buttons of all shapes and sizes
~Beads
~Yarn
~Shredded paper scraps
~Milk carton rings
~Bottle caps
~Toilet tissue tubes
~Cut up cardboard from food boxes
~Pieces of material

Pretty much anything goes as long as it's safe and clean. It's so fun to see the creative creations. I like to provide a piece of cardboard or poster board for the children to glue their treasures onto but some children might also enjoy making free standing objects.

Have fun and remember to reuse, recycle, pick up litter and possibly even plant a tree or two.

Looking for some fresh Ideas?

2009-04-21T14:56:00.007-04:00

Spring is in full swing where I live and before we know it, summer will be here. If you are interested in some easy and fun ideas, arts and crafts and other projects to keep your kids busy this spring and summer, check out my Lesson Plans Plus website for fun preschool lesson plans. The lessons are a great way to stimulate and keep kids busy. Thinking ahead...whether you are planning to home school for preschool next fall or just looking to supplement an existing program, my lesson plans would be a good and inexpensive resource for you. You are welcome to download one free lesson plan at any time to give you a taste of what I offer. Check out Lesson Plans Plus.

Christian Easter Ideas

2009-04-08T23:54:00.007-04:00

As usual, I had hoped to update sooner but life has again kept me busy. We got hit with several rounds of early Spring sickness which was not at all fun. Thankfully, we are mostly healthy again. As Easter is just around the corner, I wanted to share a few ideas for those of you who enjoy teaching your children that there is much more to Easter than candy and the Easter bunny. Of course, candy and the Easter bunny are great fun and I've been buying Easter surprises but Jesus gave us a gift far better than any Easter basket could contain.

I've been reading a great book with my kids this week titled "Benjamin's Box" by Melody Carlson. The book is appropriate for children ages 4-8 years of age. This book is a wonderful compliment to the popular "Resurrection Eggs" by FamilyLife. I have been using the Resurrection Eggs with my children since they were 3 years old. This year I purchased the Benjamin's Box book to go along with the eggs and my kids are really enjoying reading a couple pages each night before bed. Rather than read the book all at once, I like to break it up over a few days so that we open two or three eggs with the story each night. It gives them something to look forward to the following evening. When we are finished, I will let my kids re-tell the resurrection story on their own using the eggs.

We also have a great Easter DVD called "Miss Patty Cakes Easter Eggstravaganza". It's perfect for toddlers and preschoolers and gets the message across in a fun way. There is also a Miss Patty Cake book that compliments the Resurrection Eggs titled "The Story of the Resurrection Eggs in Rhyme & Song".

The Beginners Bible by Karyn Henly includes a preschool appropriate version of the Easter story that is broken into sections. My children have enjoyed stories from the Beginners Bible since they were 2 years old. By now we have read through the Beginners Bible several times, so last year, I purchased another great children's Bible titled "The Jesus Storybook Bible Every Story Whispers His Name" Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I recommend either of these Bibles for your preschoolers.

St. Patrick's Day Magical Leprechaun Powder

2009-03-10T23:00:00.004-04:00

St. Patrick's Day is such a fun holiday to celebrate with kids. In addition to wearing green, I want to share a fun and easy project that you can do with your kids at home or school.

I like to cut out a bunch of little green footprints when my kids are asleep. They awaken to a trail of footprints that they instinctively follow. The trail leads to a Ziploc bag of "magic powder" with a note attached describing what to do with the magic powder. The note is also signed by our little green friend ;-) The magic powder is simply instant pistachio pudding mix but my kids have no idea and they are thrilled to whip up the magic treat. I hope that you give this a try with your kids too. Enjoy!

Pot of Gold Jello (St. Patricks Day)

2009-03-10T22:47:00.006-04:00

Check out this link at Family Fun for a cute recipe of Pot of Gold Jello.

Family Fun has many other cute St. Patrick's Day ideas here.

I'll be adding several of my ideas soon too but wanted to give you some resources to get you thinking about St. Patrick's Day fun.

Rainy Day Fun...Balloon Baseball

2009-02-11T13:53:00.004-05:00

It's pouring buckets of rain today. It's finally feeling like Spring outside but we are stuck inside. Boredom was sneaking up on my kids and they were beginning to ask for the TV to be turned on. I said, "I have a better idea".

I happened to save a couple of cardboard paper towel tubes (for a rainy day activity) so that we could make telescopes. I gave my kids some markers and told them to decorate their telescopes. After spending awhile decorating, they were finished and ready for their next adventure. The telescopes were fun for a few minutes but quickly turned into swords and my couch pillows became shields. It was a creative use for the tubes but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to encourage that game for very long so I suggested an alternative that was an instant hit.

I blew up a balloon (I always seem to have a bag of balloons on hand) and showed my girls how to play balloon baseball in the living room. They loved it! I probably should mention that although they played very nicely and had a lot of fun, after awhile, they became weary of sharing one balloon (a natural and frequent occurrence with preschoolers ;-)) I blew up a second balloon so they could just hit it around with their "bat" on their own. I didn't have to worry about the "ball" breaking anything, knocking anything over or anyone getting hurt so that made me happy. It was an easy and fun way to pass about an hour of time.

The next time you finish off a roll of paper towel, save that tube. When you and/or your kids start feeling stir crazy or bored, give this easy project and game a try.

Fun Field Trip Ideas

2009-02-08T22:06:00.005-05:00

If you are in need of some fun field trip ideas (and who isn't during a long, cold winter), check out our newly updated Field Trip page on LessonPlansPlus.com. We have compiled a list of our favorite field trips for young children as well as links to some other great resources. Now go get rid of that cabin fever...Enjoy!

Valentine's Day / Handprint Hearts

2009-02-08T20:07:00.010-05:00

I want to share a very easy Valentine idea. To make a hand print heart: paint on your child's hand in his/her choice of color(s). Once the hand is painted, instruct them to close their fingers and then press their hand onto a piece of white construction paper at a sideways slant. Paint the other hand in the chosen paint color and press that hand onto the paper slightly overlapping the fingers of the print already on the page. This is a very easy project but rather difficult to explain so I'm going to add pictures of my own children's hand print hearts so that you can actually see the project. I think this will make it much easier for you to do the project at home or school.

Once the hand print hearts are dry, you could add a clever Valentine message and give the card to a parent, a grandparent or special friend as a gift. A couple of Valentine phrases that I have used in the past:

~You're the best Valentine, hand's down!

~I've got to hand it to you, you're the best!

You could also do this project with feet. You could make foot stamped hearts or trace the children's feet and help them glue their foot cut-outs into a heart shape.

Valentine Mailbox / Love Box Craft

2009-02-05T23:21:00.010-05:00

A fun and easy craft to do at home, school or daycare is a valentine mailbox or love box.

Collect enough empty tissue boxes for each child. I prefer the longer boxes (8.6 In X 8.4 IN) rather than the smaller boxes. A shoe box would also work fine.

You have a few options. I usually just let the kids paint the entire box using their choice of red, pink, white and purple tempera paint. They may also sprinkle glitter onto the wet paint. When the paint dries, they can add a variety of heart shaped cut-outs, etc.

Another way I have helped the kids decorate the boxes is to cover the box with paper (usually red or pink), as if I am wrapping a present. Be sure to cut out the opening at the top. The children then decorate the paper covered box by coloring on it, adding stickers, glue designs or even stamp art.

This is a great craft to use in a school or daycare setting where the children exchange valentine cards with several other children. They usually get a lot of cards and need a place to store them. Make sure each child's name is clearly visible on their mailbox so that others can easily drop cards in the appropriate boxes.

This is also a fun project to do at home whether you have several children or even a single child but I have a slightly different idea for the use of the box. Instead of using it just for a Valentines Day box, use it as a love box. The week leading up to Valentines Day (or however far in advance you would like to do this) you can leave your child special love notes and messages, maybe even a small piece of candy or a trinket inside the Love Box. You could even make a small "flag" out of card stock paper and when your child sees the flag raised, he/she will know that she has mail waiting. The flag is really not necessary as I'm sure your children will be checking the box all day anyhow but it's a fun option. The love boxes are fun for all family members and it would be extra fun if the parents had one too. I know that my kids love writing me notes, drawing pictures and even leaving things inside my shoes as a surprise.

I'm sure that your children will enjoy making the valentine / love boxes and will especially love getting surprises inside!

If you are interested in a Valentine Lesson Plan unit, I do have them for sale on my Lesson Plans Plus Website. You can inexpensively purchase my set of 28 themed lessons or you can purchase the lessons individually for only $1.99 each.

An Indoor Winter Picnic

2009-01-23T23:06:00.006-05:00

If your weather is anything like mine, being outside is no picnic ;-) The arctic breeze is blowing through the mounds of snow. My kids love to have picnics and in the Summer, we eat outside all the time. About a week ago we packed up a picnic lunch, spread a blanket out on the living room floor and we enjoyed an indoor picnic. Part of the fun of a picnic is letting the kids help make and/or pack up the lunch. Having an indoor picnic is always a special treat for my kids because it's not something that we do very often. As we were having our picnic lunch, I had an idea, or as my kids would say, "a GREAT idea". For our next indoor picnic we are going to create Spring. We'll spend the day before making flowers and butterflies and other typical Spring crafts. We will decorate the room with our artwork, spread out our blanket and enjoy eating our picnic lunch inside our little Springtime retreat (as we watch the snow fall outside). It will be fun and something different and my kids can hardly wait. The great thing about our inside picnic is that the paper bugs won't try to eat our lunch! I love how preschoolers find such great joy in the simple things.

Weekly Challenge: Enjoy an indoor picnic with your children and make it extra fun by decorating the area with some fun artwork ahead of time.

Indoor Winter Activities

2009-01-14T21:30:00.007-05:00

It's freezing cold here so my kids have not been able to play outside in the snow for several days now. I've been trying to bring some of the outdoor fun inside. I thought you might like to try some of these ideas with your kids too.

~ Ice Skating: Use waxed paper and rubber bands or masking tape. Tape or attach a piece of waxed paper around each foot (preferably with a sock on the foot). Put on some music and watch your children skate.

~Fill your sensory tub (I just use a big plastic bin) with snow. Put mittens on the kids, give them a few gadgets and toys to play with in the snow and they will be happy for awhile. You can also provide magnifying glasses for the children to observe the snowflakes.

~Make Snow Play dough: It's actually just regular homemade play dough with some silver glitter but we like to pretend that it's snow play dough because it sparkles like the snow. You can find a play dough recipe on the Lesson Plans Plus website.

~Simple winter science experiment: Bring a container of snow indoors. Once the snow melts, add food coloring to the water. Place the container back outside until the water freezes into a colored block of ice. Bring the container back inside. The children can observe the changes as the ice melts.

~Bird Feeders: Another fun activity for kids is making bird feeders. Roll a pine cone in peanut butter and then roll (or sprinkle) the peanut butter covered pine cone with bird seed. Tie a string around the pine cone and hang it outside for the birds and squirrels to enjoy. Be sure to hang the feeder in a location where your children can easily see it by looking out a window.

Christmas Arts and Crafts

2008-12-08T21:30:00.005-05:00

Life has been super busy around here and I haven't had time to update my blog in awhile. We have been doing lots of home improvement projects and we are also getting ready to put our house up for sale. Between all of this and my normal busy life as a mom of four year old twins, there hasn't been much time left-over.

I had good intentions of sharing some of our fun Thanksgiving projects but my life was so busy that I forgot to post. I wanted to give you a few easy and fun Christmas art projects as the Christmas holiday will be here before I know it.

Hand print Wreath: This is super easy. Lay out a large piece of white construction paper as well as a shallow pan of red paint and a shallow pan of green paint. Very lightly (in pencil) draw a circle in the center of the construction paper. Have your child dip his/her hand in the green paint and press it all around the circle. After the hand print circle is complete, instruct your child to dip his/her finger in the red paint and then press it around on the green hand prints. The hand prints are the greenery of the wreath and the red dots are berries. I also cut a red bow from construction paper for my kids to place on the wreath. You can cut the wreath out or leave it displayed on the large piece of paper.

Rudolph: You can trace your child's hands and feet on brown paper, cut out and let your child assemble and glue onto a piece of white (or whatever color you choose) paper for this project or you can use painted hand prints and a footprint. Rudolph's face is the foot shape and his antlers are the hands. Decorate with eyes and a red nose.

Shiny Candy Cane: Draw a large candy cane shape on construction paper and cut out (or let your child do the cutting). Mix red tempera paint with a small amount of corn syrup. Let your child paint the candy cane. When dry, it will have a shiny wet look like real hard candy.

If I get the time, I will try to post some pictures of these projects in a few days.

Halloween / Harvest Festival Fun

2008-10-31T12:18:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween! Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch which was a lot of fun. We painted our pumpkins and once they were dry, my kids decided they wanted to carve them into jack-o-lanterns too. They did all of their own painting but mommy ended up doing most of the cleaning and carving of the jack-o-lanterns. My kids are still not fond of the pumpkin "goo".

I wanted to share a few fun Halloween activities for you to enjoy with your children:

~Make orange play dough and add some pumpkin or apple pie spice for a yummy scent. I have a play dough recipe on my website.

~Make orange goop. Again a recipe is on my Lesson Plans Plus website.

~Bobbing for apples. I like to stick craft sticks into the apples.

~Add shaving cream (or whipped topping) to pie tins and add orange food coloring. Pretend that it's pumpkin pie and let your kids stick their hands into it and play.

~Add some water, orange food coloring and dish soap into a plastic bin, give the kids some bubble wands and other water toys such as small cups, etc.

~Make hand print bats. Press both hands, palm side down onto black paint then press hands onto a piece of construction paper so that the wrists are touching. When dry, add a face.

~Paint a large paper plate orange and then press paper face cut-outs onto the wet paint to make a jack-o-lantern. Add a brown or green paper stem.

Fun Books to read to your children:

The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs (Note, this is a Christian based book)

The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King

It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White.

Low-Fat, Low Sugar Pumpkin Dessert

2008-10-24T13:17:00.005-04:00

It's that harvest time of year again when I start thinking about using pumpkin more. I love canned pumpkin because it's inexpensive, convenient and 100% natural. I have an easy and delicious pumpkin dessert that I would like to share. I used to make this dessert each year around Thanksgiving with my preschool classes and I continue to make it with my own children at home. It's called Creamy Pumpkin Mousse and I obtained the recipe years ago from a chef "Mr Food" who made it during a segment on one of our local news channels. It's diabetic friendly and figure friendly. It's also easy for kids to help make this recipe.

Creamy Pumpkin Mousse

1 Can (16 ounces) solid pack pure pumpkin
1 package (6 oz) instant sugar-free vanilla pudding
1/4 cup low-fat milk (I use fat-free)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups frozen light whipped topping, thawed (I use a small tub of fat free, sugar free whipped topping)

1. In a bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the pumpkin, pudding mix, milk and cinnamon

2. Fold in whipped topping until thoroughly blended then spoon into serving bowl. I like to sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top because it looks pretty. Cover loosely and chill until ready to serve.

I know that I haven't offered up a challenge in awhile so I would like to challenge everyone to give this recipe a try. It's a great way to get another vegetable into your kids because it's "disguised" as dessert. Let me know how you and your children like the creamy pumpkin mousse. Maybe it will become a seasonal regular at your home as it is at mine.

Enjoy!

Fall Fun

2008-10-07T00:15:00.005-04:00

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful fall. The leaves are starting to change colors and there is a chill in the air here in Michigan. I love this time of the year. My children and I spent this evening creating pumpkin art. My kids painted and decorated large construction paper pumpkins and they also worked on smaller tissue paper pumpkins that we will as fall decorations in our home. I set out a variety of materials for my kids to decorate their pumpkins and they enjoyed using paint, glitter, shape cut-outs, colored pom pom balls, tissue paper, small beads and wiggly eyes. These are no average jack-o -lanterns. It's fun to provide a bunch of materials and let your children be creative.

I want to share a resource that I recently discovered. A Kid's Heart is a fun site offering many free online games and printable activities for children. They have a page of autumn activities that you might enjoy so check it out when you get a chance.

Fun with Apples

2008-09-17T13:43:00.003-04:00

I'm finally back! My anniversary celebration, beginning of school and a vacation have kept me very busy this September and I haven't had a chance to get back to my blog before now. I hope that each of you had a wonderful summer. We returned home from a warm and sunny vacation in Nevada to early fall in Michigan. I'm now shifting gears and thinking about fall fun.

Yesterday my kids and I made caramel apples. I picked up one of the easy packs with the sheets of caramel that you wrap around the apple and then bake for about 5 minutes. They were super easy and very yummy. I usually end up melting caramel in a pot and dipping apples. The caramel wraps were the easier way to go with four year old helpers.

This week we are going to work on making Stained Glass Apples. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds. I simply cut three identical apple shapes from two pieces of red construction paper and one sheet of wax paper. I cut the middle out of the construction paper apples leaving the frame of the apple. Leave the entire wax paper apple shape. I then will provide my children with torn pieces of tissue paper (they can help tear and cut small pieces), glitter and glue. They will glue the tissue paper and glitter onto the wax paper apple shape. When finished, we will glue the wax paper apple shape between the two apple frame shapes. When dried, the apple can be hung in the window for the sun to shine through.

One of my favorite apple themed books is called, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. I would encourage you to check your local library for a copy of this book. It has a recipe for apple pie at the end of the book if you are feeling in the mood for baking.

Enjoy!

Back- to-School Traditions

2008-08-27T22:26:00.005-04:00

Whether you are a home school mom, a teacher or a mom whose children will be going to school this year, I was wondering if you have any special traditions that you do to "kick off" back-to-school time.

Being a former teacher, I've always enjoyed this time of year and I love looking for back-to-school sales and bargains. I especially love buying new art and craft items and school supplies (as you may have guessed from my recent sweepstakes offer). Even though I'm a stay-at-home mom now, I still feel the urge during this time of year to buy myself at least one new outfit. There's just something special about buying new clothes during back-to-school time. I have great memories of my mom, my sister and I on our big clothing shopping spree every year in August. I always buy my kids new clothes this time of the year too.

My husbands aunt hosts a Back-to-School party every August. It's a great time for the children and adults in our family. She really goes all out planning fun games and activities for everyone to enjoy. At the end of the day, she gives all of the children some new school supplies. One year she handed out pencils with "Back-to-School party, 2006" printed on them. It's a fun way to end the summer, spend time with family and get ready for the new school year.

Some other ideas that I have read about or thought of doing as a way to celebrate the start of a new school year:

~Let the children pick out new backpacks or lunchboxes (this is fun even if you are a home school mom).

~Shop for school supplies together.

~Go out for ice-cream after the first day of school.

~Gift your child with a new book

~Make a special breakfast the morning school starts.

~Set some goals with your child for the new school year and help him/her to accomplish them.

~If you home school or are a classroom teacher, get your children involved by asking them for ideas. Such as "Tell me two things that you would like to learn about this year" "Tell me one thing that you would like to learn how to do". If they don't know, that's okay, they can think about it and let you know when they are ready.

What are some of your ideas and/or traditions? I would love to know!

Sweepstakes Winners!

2008-08-23T20:26:00.002-04:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in our giveaway. The 3 winners of the back-to-school prize packages are:

susan1215
agordon10
blueviolet

Winners need to contact me at kim@lessonplansplus.com with their shipping address by Wednesday August 27th in order to receive their prizes.

Back to School Sweepstakes

2008-08-14T21:03:00.005-04:00

Very soon the lazy days of summer will be over and many children will be heading back to school or gearing up for homeschool. I thought it would be fun to hold a back to school sweepstakes. Entering the contest is simple. All I ask is that you help me spread the word about my blog. Some easy ways that you can help spread the word:

~Send an email to other moms, teachers, friends and family, etc. linking them to this blog.

~Share a link on your own blog.

~Write a review on Stumble Upon.

~Share my link on parenting, teacher or home school message boards that you frequent.

In order to be entered into the contest, please leave me a comment letting me know how you helped spread the word. Your comment will serve as your entry. Three "Back to School" prize packages will be awarded to three different winners. Each prize package contains all of the items shown in the picture above. I appreciate all of my blog readers but this particular contest is limited to to USA residents only. The contest ends at midnight EST on Friday August 22nd and the random drawing will take place on Saturday the 23rd. Winners will be posted on the blog shortly afterwards.

U-Pick Adventures

2008-08-08T22:43:00.009-04:00

If you've never gone to a U-Pick farm or orchard, I definitely recommend giving it a try with your kids. Yesterday my family went blueberry picking. This was the third year in a row in which we have taken the kids. Blueberries are a favorite around our house so we like to have blueberries on hand all year long. My four year old twins had been anticipating blueberry picking day for about a month. They remembered it well from the previous year. They did a great job picking berries and were wonderful helpers. We managed to pick 22 lbs of blueberries in just over an hour. As we were picking berries, it was fun to remember how small the kids were that first year we went to the blueberry farm three years ago. It's a fun tradition and I hope that even when they are eighteen years old, they will still like hanging out with mom and dad enjoying these kinds of simple pleasures.

Today we prepared many of the berries for freezing (Place a single layer of blueberries on a cookie sheet and quick freeze for one hour. Separate into Ziploc sandwich bags and freeze). We also made blueberry muffins. It was fun for the kids to make something yummy using the fruit they picked with their own hands.

We are looking forward to apple picking next month.

Weekly Challenge: Since my challenge is coming at the end of the week instead of the beginning, think of it as a head start to next week. You have the whole weekend and next week to work on this. My challenge to you is to take your children to pick some fresh produce. If you can't squeeze in a U-Pick adventure in the coming week, at least give it some thought and try to make plans to go in the near future. It's a great family activity. It's also a great way to save money and get some wonderful high quality in season produce to can or freeze for later. After picking your seasonal produce, let your children help make something using the fruit and/or vegetables they picked.

Natural and Better For You

2008-08-07T10:31:00.004-04:00

A couple of years before we had kids my husband and I decided to get a new life insurance policy. After getting blood work done for the new policy, we discovered that my husband had high cholesterol. My tests came back fine but with my family history of high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer and diabetes, I knew that making healthier eating choices would be of great benefit to me. I started taking steps to become more informed, cleaned out the pantry and started shopping and cooking differently.

I thought that I was doing very good with our food choices until my twins were 2 years old. We were at friends baby shower and I let my kids have some dessert. One of my daughters broke out in a terrible case of hives after eating a strawberry cake with some artificial ingredients. We spent several weeks trying to figure out what caused the reaction and we narrowed it down to red dye. I suddenly had to be even more aware of what was in the food we eat. Red dye (specifically red #40) is in so many things...even things that are not red! After giving it some thought I started wondering why we needed artificial colors at all and artificial flavors for that matter too. In my quest for no artificial coloring, I became even more aware of ingredients. I was honestly surprised at so many ingredients, some names that I did not even recognize. I decided that I was going to do my best to buy natural foods with ingredients that I understood.

Replacing refined flours with whole grains, using all natural peanut butter (only ingredient is peanuts), lean meats without preservatives when possible and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, was pretty easy. Avoiding artificial colors and flavors took awhile to get used too and grocery shopping took a lot longer at first but it was worth it for the health benefits.

I won't pretend to be an expert on the subject but I want to share a few of the "better for you" and not too expensive store bought convenience foods that I have in the house right now for the kids. In the summer we are busy and I do a lot of spontaneous picnics and outings with my kids and their friends so quick and easy is good.

~Mott's All Natural Fruit Snacks

~Target Market Pantry Unsweetened Applesauce (I make my own canned applesauce every year but always seem to run out so these are a good alternative). I believe that Mott's also has the natural and unsweetened applesauce but the Target brand is less expensive.

~Pepperidge Farm Goldfish made with Whole Grain (my kids begged for goldfish crackers for a long time so I was glad to find these for a special treat)

~Dannon All Natural Yogurt, No Artificial Anything (these do still have quite a bit of sugar but that doesn't worry me too much since my kids don't get a lot of sugar and after all..sugar is natural)

~Hormel Natural Choice (100% natural, no preservatives) deli meats

~Quick Oats 100% natural (great for a quick and healthy breakfast, I buy a big container at Aldi very inexpensively)

~Pure Honey (we put it on our oatmeal to add sweetness). My kids also like to use honey as a dip for many things.

~Ocean Spray 100% Juice, no sugar added. No artificial colors or flavors and made in the USA. (we like the Cranberry & Blueberry and the Cranberry & Concord Grape). I buy this at Target for $2.59 (64 fl oz) which seems like a good price to me. Juice is so expensive these days.

Non-Food products that we switched over to recently:
We have a lot of fun in the sun and this summer we started using "Burt's Bees Chemical Free Sunscreen" with hemp seed oil. It's pricey at $12.99 for a 3.46 fl oz tube but it seems to work well, doesn't smell bad and I feel good about using it.

Another product that I've discovered this summer is "Jason Hand and Body Lotion" (Pure, Natural, Organic). It makes our skin silky soft. I found this at Target on sale for less than $5.00 a bottle.

These are just a few of my finds. I would love to hear about some of the natural snack and lunch foods and products that you enjoy. Please leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know.

Upcoming Sweepstakes

2008-08-05T13:17:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be doing a couple of giveaways this month. Please check this blog often so that you get a chance to enter and possibly win some fun prizes to use with your kids.

ABC Fun

2008-07-30T14:59:00.005-04:00

I would like to recommend the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Set. It's a great tool for young children learning the alphabet. My kids loved playing with these magnets when they were 2 and 3 years old. When they were 3 1/2, they received the Leap Frog Word Whammer and it has been an equally enjoyable learning toy that they still use at 4 years old. My children love to spell words and the Word Whammer has been great at assisting them. I also purchased the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD for my kids when they were 2 1/2 years old. It's a perfect compliment to the refrigerator magnets and helps children learn letter sounds quickly. If you are working on the alphabet or thinking about introducing the alphabet to your children, any of these products would be a great choice.

Choose Something New (Challenge)

2008-07-29T23:13:00.004-04:00

Do you bring your children grocery shopping with you? My children almost always go grocery shopping with me and one of the things they look forward to is choosing a food item. Sometimes I let them look around in the produce section and I encourage them to pick out a new fruit or vegetable because trying new things can be a lot of fun. Letting your children pick out a new food item is a great way to encourage trying new things and healthy eating.

Weekly Challenge: Before you go shopping, have a discussion about new foods that might be fun to try. Look through the grocery store ads and ask your children to name the fruits and vegetables. Take your children grocery shopping with you the next time you go. Let them look around and choose a new fruit or vegetable to try. When you are ready to try the fruit or vegetable at home, let you child help prepare it in some way if at all possible (washing, peeling, cutting, etc).

I would love you to leave a comment and let me know what your kids ended up trying and whether or not they enjoyed the experience. You may want to give it a try every time they go grocery shopping with you.

Pumpkin and a Cake Mix

2008-07-24T22:31:00.005-04:00

Not long ago I heard about a lower fat chocolate muffin recipe that is super easy to make. I love chocolate so I went looking for the recipe. I discovered the Hungry Girl website and found the recipe. All you need is a boxed cake mix and a 15oz can of solid pack pumpkin. I used a Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix and one 15 oz can of all natural solid pack pure pumpkin. Don't add any other ingredients. Mix the pumpkin and cake mix together and then separate it into muffin tins. I used an ice cream scoop as the mixture is very thick. It says to bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes but I found that 20 minutes was a bit to long in my oven so I would advise checking them after 15 minutes.

If you want to make this recipe with your children, they can help pour the cake mix and spoon out the pumpkin but stirring will be difficult for little kids as the mixture is very thick. You could let your kids help scoop the mixture into the muffin tins when finished. My kids thought the best part of this recipe was getting to lick the spoon and ice cream scoop at the end. I don't usually let my kids lick the spoon for muffins and cakes because of the raw eggs but since this recipe didn't need any eggs or oil, they were able to lick the spoons clean. These muffins received a thumbs up from my kids.

I don't know if you have already heard of or tried these muffins but since they are so easy and turned out well, I wanted to share. I also read that you can use any flavor of cake mix with the can of pumpkin to change the muffin flavor.

Enjoy!

Go Clean your Room

2008-07-22T16:11:00.011-04:00

I expect my children to tidy their own bedroom and playroom. They've been helping clean up since they were old enough to walk. By the time they were 2 years old, they were doing a pretty good job and by 3 years old, I was feeling really good about the wonderful little cleaners they had become. My children are 4 years old now and although they have the ability to do a good job, I've noticed that they haven't been very motivated to pick up and organize their belongings lately. I will tell them to clean up and when I check in on them 10 minutes later, not only has the cleaning process not started but their room is often more of a mess. Sometimes the room will appear clean but when I look under the bed or in the closet, I discover the short-cuts. I guess I've gotten a little spoiled because they used to clean up so well and they actually enjoyed it. I knew that might change someday but I didn't expect it to be now. When I was teaching preschool outside the home, I was more creative with motivating my students to clean up and also gave more specific directions. Lately, I've simply been telling my own kids to "go clean your room" and then feel frustrated when they don't. I think in addition to getting distracted, they often get overwhelmed by their messes. Although we have a good organization system and everything has a place, it can be daunting to put everything in it's place when it's all been dumped on the floor.

I realized that I needed to come up with some new ways to motivate my kids instead of just feeling frustrated with their cleaning set-backs. I've tried a variety of things. I give them advance warning before clean-up time. I've tried to make it more fun by playing music to see if they can clean up before the song ends. I've tried setting a timer to see if they can race to beat the time. I've sent one to the bedroom and one to the playroom and challenged them to a race. Sometimes we sing a special clean-up song together. I make sure to give them positive reinforcement. I've also had to play the role of the "mean mommy"and bagged up all of the toys that were left on the floor. All of these methods work some of the time but it seems that the only sure bet at our house these days is to be very specific about what they need to do to help them stay on task. Today I sat on the floor in their bedroom and gave specific step by step instructions such as telling one child to pick up all of the dress up clothes and put them in the treasure chest while the other child picked up all of the ponies and put them in the pony basket. Next, books on the bookshelf and then stuffed animals in the animal basket. As soon as each task was complete, I would give another job. They didn't complain or whine and actually stayed on task (I'm sure it helped that I was sitting there watching). I didn't do any of the tidying and before they knew it, the whole room was clean.

Do your children have a hard time tidying their room or do they enjoy it? Do you have to get creative or help motivate them to get them to pick up their toys? Do you use a job chart?

Leave a comment or send me an email to share what works at your house or school. I would love to read some of your ideas.

Weekly Challenge: Kids make lunch

2008-07-15T23:20:00.005-04:00

I've been so busy this week. We've been remodeling our kitchen and I decided to tackle the kitchen cabinets on my own to save money. After 3 days and nights of sanding, priming and painting, I'm almost finished. My cabinet doors still need installed and I'm waiting for my husband to get some time to work on that with me. Since I don't have to paint tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the park for a picnic. The weather is hot and there is a park nearby with a splash pad that we've been wanting to try out. To add to the fun, I thought that I would ask my kids to pack their own picnic lunch tomorrow. I've done this several times before and my kids loved having the responsibility. I give them a few lunch food options to choose from and then I let them prepare their own lunch while I watch. My kids usually choose to make their own PB & J sandwiches because that one of their favorites.

My Weekly Challenge for you is to choose a day this week and let your kids make their own lunch. You could let him/her pack it up for a picnic or eat at home. I usually offer a variety of sandwich makings (turkey and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, etc) to choose from and some fruit that is easily prepared (grapes are a favorite here, wash and pluck). Bon Appetit!

Weekly Challenge : Be Present in Play

2008-07-09T23:37:00.008-04:00

I don't know about you but I love doing projects with my children, going on outings and keeping busy. I have always enjoyed planning all sorts of fun activities. My children love keeping busy and get very excited about projects, activities, experiments and outings but sometimes they have no interest in doing anything other than just playing at home. Yesterday, as my kids were content playing, I realized that it has actually been awhile since I got down on the floor in the playroom, ignored everything else around me and just concentrated on playing with my kids. I'm a stay-at-home mom and my life basically revolves around my kids. We read books, do arts and crafts, experiments, projects, play outside, play games, go on outings, etc. I play with my kids everyday but when I started thinking about simple child directed free play, I realized that all too often, I start to play but then after several minutes I get distracted by something or someone. I usually take the opportunity to get a few things done when my children are busy with their own free play which is completely okay and healthy for everyone. I decided that while I do have a lot to do, I would like to make more of an effort to join in with their free play more often.

I walked into the playroom and asked my children if I could play with them. They eagerly said "yes mom" and immediately brought me into their creative play world where I stayed for about an hour before we cleaned up and went outside for a picnic lunch. We all had a really good time just playing whatever they wanted to play. I didn't direct or plan anything, I didn't give any suggestions, I just followed their lead and played without letting myself get distracted. We had a lot of fun together. There is definitely a lot of value in just sitting on the floor with no agenda and just playing whatever your child chooses. I know that my kids can detect whether or not I am living in the moment with no distractions or interruptions and they love it when I am focused on just playing and listening.

Weekly Challenge: Make time in your schedule to just play with your child. Don't plan anything in particular, just take his/her lead and don't give in to other distractions. Be present, in the moment and just play.

Natural Sunscreen and Bug Repellent

2008-07-07T20:24:00.006-04:00

I've been trying to make the switch to all natural products. I haven't switched over to natural sunscreen or bug spray yet. Over the holiday weekend I tried some all natural bug spray on me and the kids and the smell was extremely offensive. I was literally feeling ill after just a few minutes and had to go inside, shower and change my clothes. I didn't want to make my children go inside, take a bath and miss out on Fourth of July fun but I did encourage them to run through the sprinkler hoping the water would rinse off some of the foul bug spray odor. The bug spray was a citronella base and the stuff didn't even keep the mosquitoes away. It didn't repel bugs but it did repel people. We all ended up using some Deep Woods Cutter to repel the bugs. I would still like to find something natural but I'm unsure of what really works and obviously, I need to stay clear of the citronella stuff.

The other topic on my mind is natural sunscreen. I've heard of California Baby, Jason's Natural and Burt's Bees. Has anyone tried these or others? Today I found a recipe for "Make Your Own Natural Sunscreen". I haven't had the chance to price the ingredients but the store bought natural sunscreen is between $12.00 to $15.00 per tube at the stores near me.

I would love to hear from anyone who has tried natural sunscreens and/or insect repellents that work, whether homemade or store bought. Please leave me a comment or email me at kim@lessonplansplus.com to let me know what works for you and your family.

Celebrate America: Fourth of July Children's Books

2008-07-01T20:50:00.002-04:00

Our theme this week is "Celebrate America". In addition to making patriotic artwork, crafts, foods and of course, gearing up for fireworks and cookouts, I also brought out several of my America themed books to read to my kids. I thought you might want to look for a few of the following books in your local library this week. If you're looking ahead to next year and want to purchase the books inexpensively (some for as low as .01 plus shipping) you can click on the links to go directly to Amazon.com. Happy Reading!

Red, White, and Blue:The Story of the American Flag. (By John Herman)

Across America, I Love You. (By Christine Loomis)

America The Beautiful. A collection of photographs published by Scholastic Inc. This books combines photography with the words of the song.

Celebrate the 50 States! (By Loreen Leedy)

The Flag We Love. (By Pam Munoz Ryan)

I Am America. (By Charles R Smith) This is one of my personal favorites. It really shows off America's diversity.

Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney. (By Leslie Kimmelman)

Hurray for the Fourth of July. (Wendy Watson)

Yankee Doodle. (By Patti Goodnow) This book contains pictures going along with the silly song.

Fourth of July Mice! (Bethany Roberts)

Patriotic Weekly Challenge

2008-07-01T01:50:00.004-04:00

As we are gearing up for the Fourth of July here in the USA, this challenge is for those who want to pass along some patriotism to your child. In celebration of Independence Day, I want to encourage you to recite The Pledge of Allegiance with your child everyday this week.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I also wanted to share this Historic Documents site for your own educational enjoyment.

Free Fourth of July Coloring Pages

2008-06-30T14:32:00.009-04:00

Do your kids love coloring? My kids love to color. They especially love it when I put out a variety of coloring tools for them to choose from including chubby and skinny crayons, markers, colored pencils and pens. They also enjoy being able to chose from lined paper, blank paper and coloring pages. Having lots of options keeps them busier longer. Today I was looking for some Fourth of July coloring pages to print and I found a couple of sites with free coloring pages so I thought that I would share them with you. Check out Free Coloring Pages and also check out DLTK for more free coloring pages to print at home.

Fourth of July (Independance Day) Crafts and Activities

2008-06-24T14:32:00.011-04:00

I've always loved the Fourth of July. Getting my kids involved in Patriotic decorating and activities is so much fun. I thought that I would share some of our red, white and blue crafts and activities with you.

American Flag: This is so easy. If you have little kids who are not good with scissors yet you will need to do some preparation while older kids can do their own cutting. Provide a piece of white construction paper to work on. Next provide strips (older kids can cut their own) of red construction paper (these are the red stripes on the flag). Let your children glue the red strips onto the white paper (leaving enough space between the red strips so that the white appears to be stripes too). After gluing the strips onto the paper glue a blue rectangle in the corner. Use white chalk to draw stars on the blue paper. Instead of chalk, you could also use foil star stickers if you happen to have any on hand.

Fireworks Art: Provide black construction paper, red, white and blue tempera paint, glitter and sponges. I like to use the round puffy dish washing type sponges but they can be hard to find so you could simply cut a rectangular sponge into a circle and them cut a few jagged edges to make it look more like a firework burst. Let the children dip the sponges into red, white and blue paint and then sprinkle glitter onto their firework.

Patriotic Shakers: Attach a few pieces of red, white and/or blue crepe paper to a paper plate (these will be streamers). Fold the paper plate in half and staple all but a small opening. Fill with dry beans and then finish stapling. I like to put clear tape across the staples so they don't poke little fingers. Let your children decorate the shakers with red and blue crayons or paint. You could also provide star cut-outs or stickers if you wish.

Flag Cake: Simply bake your favorite cake (I just use a cake mix for this cake) in a rectangle pan. After the cake has cooled, cover it with whipped topping instead of frosting. Use fresh strawberries for the stripes and fresh blueberries in the corner for the star area.

Shaving Cream Fun: Provide 3 large cookie sheets. Spray shaving cream on each cookie sheet. Leave one white but add red food coloring to one and blue to the other. Let your child play in the shaving cream. This is very messy but good clean fun. I like to put the kids in their bathing suits and do this outside so that I can just spray everything (and everyone) down with the hose when finished. If you have children who like to put everything in their mouths, you could use the spray whipped topping instead.

Red, White and Blue Bubbles: Fill 3 separate containers with bubble mixture. Leave one plain but add red food coloring to one pan and blue to another. Check out my website to make your own bubbles.

USA Map Floor Puzzle: Cover a USA map in clear contact paper. Cut the map into several pieces according to your child's ability to make a big floor puzzle.

Homemade Popsicles and other Cool Treats

2008-06-22T23:07:00.008-04:00

I have been enjoying making Popsicles with my kids this summer. Homemade Popsicles are fun to make and even better to eat.

One of our favorites is what we call Smoothie Pops. We place two bananas (the kids slice them first), a small hand full of fresh strawberries and about 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt into the blender. After everything is well blended I pour the mixture into Popsicle molds and then freeze them until we are ready for our cool and tasty treats.

I bought my Popsicle molds at Target. Mine make 4 Popsicles and the cost for the molds was $3.99. I like them because they keep the Popsicles from dripping. If you don't have Popsicle molds you could also use small paper cups and Popsicle sticks.

We also enjoy making Banana Pops. We slice a small banana in half or a large banana into thirds. We insert a Popsicle stick into the banana length wise and then cover the banana in chocolate pudding (you can make chocolate pudding or to make it even easier, give each of your children a store bought chocolate pudding cup). I lined a rectangular plastic container with wax paper and we lined the wax paper with the banana pops. We also put colored sugar and sprinkles on the chocolate covered bananas. You could leave them as is or add chopped nuts if you like. I put the cover on the container and placed it in the freezer for several hours.

I remember making all sorts of Popsicles when I was a kid. My sister and I filled ice cube trays with our favorite concoctions. We used toothpicks for the sticks. We also filled the little paper Dixie cups and used Popsicle sticks. One of my favorite Popsicles was simply pouring lemonade into my mold and freezing it. I also used to enjoy making chocolate pudding Popsicles. Many of our Popsicles were simply frozen juice. As simple as it is, we also enjoyed eating plain ice cubes on a stick. You might be surprised how much your children enjoy plain ice. You can even add some food coloring to make it more fun.

Another of my favorite childhood treats was something that my mom made for us. She broke a graham cracker in half and then put whipping cream (Like Cool Whip) on top of the graham cracker. Next she put sprinkles or chocolate chips on the whipping cream, topped it with the other graham cracker halve and then froze them.

Weekly Challenge: Make a Homemade Popsicle or another summertime treat with your children this week. Let me know what you enjoyed.

I'm always looking for new recipes to try with my children. If you have a favorite homemade treat that is great for a hot summer day, please share it with me. You can leave a comment or email me at kim@lessonplansplus.com.

Invisible Mom

2008-06-18T19:22:00.004-04:00

I am normally not a big fan of forwarded emails but I received this email from my mother in law and I really enjoyed it. As a mom of two small children and a teacher, I could certainly appreciate the overall message. Whether you are a teacher or a mom or both, I think we all go through points in our lives where we sometimes feel "invisible". We are investing our time, energy and lives into building up the little people in our lives. We may not always get verbal appreciation or affirmation but our jobs as moms and teachers are of the utmost importance as we are shaping and molding the lives of the future generation. I'm copying the email here in hope that it will bring some encouragement your way today. I haven't read the book but I've just learned that this email is actually a portion of a book called, The Invisible Woman by Nicole Johnson.

Invisible Mom

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel? I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please. I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, and she's gone! One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip,and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package,and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees. In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it. And the workman replied,'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies. Then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. Great Job, MOM!

Summer Fun Ideas

2008-06-16T22:49:00.008-04:00

I hope that you are having a wonderful start to summer. We've been spending a lot of time outside as we always do in the summer. I like to take activities that we normally do inside and bring them outside. It's fun to think of the backyard as an extension of our house and living in Michigan, summertime is the best time of the year to do that.

I want to get everyone to "think outside the box" and do a few things differently for a fun change. I will share a few things that I like to do with my kids.

Have art and craft time outside. Bring an easel outside along with paper, washable paint and paintbrushes. If you don't have an easel, attach a large piece of paper to a fence or even a tree.

Make chalk drawings on paper outside. Fill a small bucket with water so the children can make both dry chalk and wet chalk drawings. When they are finished, they can color the pavement with the wet and dry chalk.

Find a shady spot (maybe under a tree) and have story time outside.

Bring some lunch fixings outside and let your children prepare their own lunch outside and then eat on a blanket or at a picnic table.

Fill a child size pool with soapy water, give your children some sponges and let them wash several of their toys outside. When the toys are clean you can rinse off the soap residue with the hose and then let the toys dry in the sun. When I was teaching preschool outside the home, I even brought all of our classroom chairs outside and let the children scrub them clean. It was a lot of fun.

Have a outdoor pupppet show.

Weekly Challenge: Choose one of the activities that I listed or come up with an idea of your own and do it differently than you normally would. If the weather outside does not cooperate with your plans you could think outside the box and even do a typical outdoor activity indoors. My kids loved having indoor picnics in the winter. I would love to hear about your ideas.

Father's Day Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert

2008-06-12T23:41:00.005-04:00

Several years ago, my friend and former co-worker Cindy brought this dessert to a work potluck. The dessert was an instant hit. I asked for the recipe and have since made it several times. It's a great recipe and it's easy to involve the kids in the preparation. My children especially enjoying crushing the cookies. I think this would make a great Father's Day dessert. I know that the daddy in this house loves the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert
2- 1/4 cups crushed peanut butter cookies (you can make your own ahead of time or use store bought)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted (I use a light version)
2 Packages (3 oz each) cream cheese (I use fat-free)
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 container (8 oz) whipped topping (I use fat-free)
2-1/2 cups cold milk
2 packages (3.9 oz each) instant chocolate pudding mix

In a bowl combine crushed cookies, sugar and butter. Press into an ungreased 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Fold in 1 cup of whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. In a separate bowl, beat milk and pudding mix until thickened. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining whipped topping. You can also sprinkle additional crushed cookie pieces on top of the dessert as a garnish. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Enjoy!

Reading and Building Literacy with Children

2008-06-09T15:17:00.008-04:00

My children have always enjoyed looking at books and listening to stories. Even as babies, books were one of their favorite things. I want to encourage you to read with your child everyday. I know it's easy for parents to get discouraged in attempts to read to busy toddlers as they are constantly on the go but they are learning and taking in information even as they are standing and playing. They may not appear to be listening but they are actually hearing more than you may realize.

Preschoolers are a lot of fun to read with because they are beginning to appreciate characters in a story as well as the plot. Choose a wide variety of books including picture books as well as more complex stories that are appropriate for your child's developmental level. Reading books everyday is a great way to introduce your children to words that you may not use on a regular basis. When you read to your preschooler, announce the title of the book as well as the author and illustrator. As you read, trace over the words with your finger. Take the time to involve your child in the story by asking questions such as, "what do you think will happen next..." With a familiar story, let your child help tell the story. My children love it when I read part of a sentence then stop to let them finish the sentence.

Another way to build literacy is by pointing out printed words when you are on outings. Point out the words on traffic signs, in the grocery store, at the doctors office, etc. You can even label things around the house to help your child associate words with objects. Show your children that reading is fun and reading is also an important part of daily life. Help your child get excited about reading.

The preschool and Kindergarten years are a great time to begin introducing early reader chapter books. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've found rest time to be a good time to read chapter books aloud. The nice thing about reading chapter books is that they are enjoyable for me and my children. The kids look forward to finding out what will happen next and their imaginations are active.

Many librarys offer summer reading clubs and they often include pre-readers in the fun. Our local library offers a reading club for children birth - 5th grade. The children are given calendar style reading logs with stickers. Children earn stickers by listening to stories, singing songs, etc. The library reading club is another great way to build early literacy. My preschoolers will be participating in our library summer reading club this year.

Weekly Challenge: Start a reading club with your child. You can join your library reading club or do something on your own. It addition to reading aloud to your child some other options are checking out books on tape from the library, singing songs and doing finger plays with your child or even helping your child make a book of her own. Read to your child for a least a few minutes everyday.

I was recently reading the Simply a Mom blog that my friend Hope created and she posted about a cool site called Storynory where you can listen to free audio stories. I thought others might be interested in using the Storynory site as another literacy tool.

Have fun reading with your children this summer!

To the Zoo and Beyond

2008-06-05T21:54:00.005-04:00

My family and I enjoyed a special members night at our local zoo this evening. It was a preview party to celebrate the grand opening of a new "Lions of Lake Manyara" exhibit. My children love going to the zoo but this is the first year that we purchased a membership. I honestly had no idea how inexpensive a zoo membership was because I had never bothered to check. I bought an annual family membership for only $54.00. Now we can go to the zoo anytime we feel like it without feeling any pressure to see everything. One Spring day the kids and I stopped in for an hour just for a fun little time filler.

I decided to post about memberships because what I've discovered is that they are often less expensive than I expected. As a stay-at-home mom, I'm always looking for free or inexpensive things to do with my family as we don't have a hefty entertainment budget. This is our 2nd year with an annual membership to Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. The whole family loves visiting and in 3 visits we have more than paid for our annual membership. They have a wonderful children's garden and play area so we go several times each month. We definitely get our money's worth.

I want to encourage you to find out what is available in your community or a neighboring larger city. Some places where your family might enjoy a membership:

Zoo's
Public Museum
Children's Museum
Botanical Gardens / Sculpture Parks
Small Scale Themed Park (We have one not too far away called Dutch Village)
Theatre (the theatre around here offers children's plays)

I tend to prefer memberships to places that are open year round and that offer both indoor and outdoor activities so we can go no matter the season or weather. I've found our memberships provide our family with some good culture experiences which is important to us. Another great thing about memberships is that they often come with a reciprocal list. Reciprocal lists usually allow you to get into other zoos, museums, gardens, etc. around the nation either free or at a discounted rate. Some even offer discounts for food and gift shops. I discovered that the cost of our annual zoo membership was actually less than admission for our family to a zoo that we wanted to visit while on vacation. Some memberships give members opportunities for special events not available to the general public (such as the lion preview party at our zoo tonight).

My family plans to enjoy spending many long days this summer enjoying the places where we have memberships and maybe visiting some neighboring places on our reciprocal lists.

Quiet Time Activities for Preschoolers

2008-06-04T13:40:00.006-04:00

Do you have young children outgrowing daily naps? My children are at the point where they don't nap most days. I've found that having "Quiet Time" is a good option for us. The kids can play with quiet activities in their bedroom or they can choose to sleep. Whether or not the children sleep, a little downtime during the day is very good for everyone.

When I was teaching preschool outside the home, we had a full day program, offering extended care after preschool hours. Some of the children still needed that daily rest while others had outgrown it. I had everyone rest quietly for about 30 minutes while I played quiet music or books on tape. After the 30 minutes, the children who were not asleep were given quiet activities to do for the remainder of the time.

I think it's helpful to begin quiet time or nap time by winding down to set the mood. You could do this by playing soft music and dimming the lights, by letting the children "read" books or even by reading to your children. I've found nap time to be a wonderful time to start introducing chapter books to preschoolers. It's an ideal time where you have their attention for a long stretch of time and they are happy to listen even if they can't see pictures. Reading chapter books really helps build imaginations.

Some other quiet activities that my kids enjoy:
~Listening to books on tape/CD
~Listening to music
~Using View Masters
~Coloring
~Lacing Cards (Don't leave toddlers unsupervised because of the strings)
~Puzzles
~Playing with Matching cards. I made a variety of homemade "memory type games".
~Flash Cards
~Reading books
~Colorforms
~Magnet story sets (Don't allow toddlers to play with magnets unsupervised)
~Flannel board story sets

Summer Fun Activities with Water

2008-06-03T22:50:00.012-04:00

We have shifted over into summer mode at our house. The weather is warm and the days continue to get longer. I thought it would be fun to share a few summertime activities involving water.

Bubble Fun
Bubbles are great. You can purchase bubbles or make your own. I often just fill a big plastic tub with dish soap and water and give the kids a variety of "blowing objects". The little plastic rings form milk jugs make great bubble toys. I have a good recipe for bubbles on my Lesson Plans Plus website if you want nice big bubbles. The recipe is about halfway down the page.

Wash the Car and/or Wash Riding Toys.
My kids love doing this. I fill up a bucket with soapy water and sponges and they get everything sparkly clean.

Paint with Water
I give my kids a small bucket (sand bucket size) of water and paint brushes and let them paint the house with water. You can let them paint anything you wish, even the sidewalk. It's great clean fun for your little aspiring artists.

Make Rainbows with the Hose
Spray the water into the sunlight to see a rainbow of colors. It may seem obvious to you but kids are often easily amazed.

Set up a Water Table
I have the Water Wheel Table from Step 2 and my kids love playing with it. If you don't have a water table and don't want to purchase one, you can simply fill a plastic container with water and a few floating toys. Water wheels are a fun accessory and not very expensive.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Have some fun with water and be sure to teach your children about water safety. In addition to talking to your children about water safety, I would encourage you to sign them up for swim lessons. You could check with your city's parks and recreation department, local health clubs or even community pools to see if they offer swimming lessons. You could choose from a group class or individual swim lessons with a lifeguard. I signed my kids up for swim lessons last week. Our classes begin later this month and my kids are very excited.

Help Fight Diabetes

2008-06-01T18:17:00.004-04:00

I'm excited to announce that during the month of June, Lesson Plans Plus will donate 50% of all profits from the sale of lesson plans to the American Diabetes Association.

Why did we choose to donate to ADA? Recently our good friend Dave who is a diabetic contacted us about sponsoring him in the ADA's Tour de Cure. My husband and I made a personal donation but wanted to do more. Helping to find a cure for diabetes is very personal to me not only to help our friend but also because my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 20 years ago. I've seen first hand the pain and suffering that diabetes can cause as my dad has gone through many of the advanced stage diabetes side effects including end stage renal disease. Chances are you also know someone with diabetes or are diabetic yourself.

To view or donate at Dave's Tour de Cure site click here. The event is taking place June 8th so donations need to be made before then.

To learn about our lesson plans click here. Again, we will donate 50% of all profits during the entire month of June.

Lets work together to help the ADA continue to research to find a cure for diabetes. Feel free to pass our blog link on to those you know.

Homemade Bathtub Paint

2008-05-30T21:17:00.005-04:00

I've always thought about buying bathtub paint for my kids but have yet to do it. I happened to find a recipe for homemade bathtub paint and I'm going to give it a try soon. It's easy to make and the ingredients are very inexpensive. It's the weekend now and I find that I tend to let my kids linger and play longer in the tub on the weekends since daddy is home to help and we are less rushed. The weekend seems like a great time to give this bathtub paint a try. Art in the tub! Fun and easy to clean. Sounds like a winner to me!

The Recipe for this tub paint was found at FamilyFun.Com

Color-me-clean Tub Paints
½ cup liquid hand soap, clear or white
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Food coloring

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Combine the soap and cornstarch in a small bowl. 2. Divide the mixture into separate containers, then add food coloring one drop at a time. Caution: Test the paints on a small area of your tub or wall first to make sure they won't leave a stain; darker hues may be more difficult to wash off. Tips: Apply to tub and body with fingers or paintbrushes. Use bathroom cleanser to clean the tub if any color remains. Keep any leftover paints in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to three days.

If you try it with your kids too, I would love to know how they (and you) liked it.

Teaching Children Compassion

2008-05-29T12:39:00.019-04:00

I recently received a comment pertaining to my post titled "Making Old Toys New Again". Here is the comment/question "...[H]ow did you introduce this concept? I don't think mine would understand if I told them other kids don't have toys to play with. We have worked on sharing and she's OK with that - although I don't know if she just does it to avoid conflict or if she really wants the other one to have a toy to play with".

Great question! I decided to just respond in a new post as there may be others wondering the same thing. After giving it some thought, I decided to address sharing, compassion and random acts of kindness as they tie together well. Hopefully, I can give you some helpful hints along the way.

I will start by admitting that I don't have a magic answer and my kids have not completely mastered this skill. The majority of the time, they do a great job but they are normal 4 year olds who can be selfish sometimes. My twins have always been very close to each other. They had to learn to share at an early age. We had plenty of screaming, grabbing, biting and hitting to work through with two small children in each others space. Children are naturally egocentric and selfish. Children may very well be sharing to avoid conflict or because that is what they have been told to do. It takes time for children to genuinely want to share.

I've found that the best way to teach compassion to children is to model it. You will probably discover that you are already teaching a lot of compassion to your child without even realizing it. I started with my children early on by showing them a lot of compassion and empathy. I involve them in acts of compassion and random acts of kindness. We try to do nice things within our family as well as outside of our family. When we see others doing nice things for people, I try to point it out to my children "Look, that person opened a door for us". "That little girl shared her snack with the boy who had none".... I encourage them to share with others because it's the right thing to do. We talk a lot about feelings and how we feel when others do kind things for us. We also talk about how we might feel if we needed something and no one would share. I try to get them thinking to help them come to realizations on their own. With younger children, you will need to give them the words and help them learn the feelings. I try to involve my children in simple acts of charity. I'll list a few examples of the things we have done and continue to do to help instill compassion and sharing.

A store we frequent requires a quarter in order to get a shopping cart. When you finish with your cart, you get the quarter back. Sometimes we leave our quarter in the cart for the next person. I tell my kids that we are going to leave a quarter so that someone who doesn't have a quarter will be able to get a cart. It's just a simple way to make someone smile. Another store we frequent has electronic pony rides for a penny. We often bring extra pennies and leave them for the next child. These are just very simple ways to show caring. At first my kids wanted to use the extra penny for a second pony ride which is completely normal but eventually, they caught the excitement of being generous. It's a building process.

Every Thanksgiving season the Salvation Army sends out cards asking for donations to feed the homeless a Thanksgiving meal. We enjoy participating in the effort each year and this year we decided to get the kids on board. We told them that we already had all of the food we needed for Thanksgiving and we still had some money left to share with others. We told them that we could buy some Thanksgiving dinners for people who didn't have money to buy food. We then asked them how many dinners the would like to buy and let them pick the amount.

As I already mentioned in my earlier post (Making Old Toys New Again), we do toy donations. We explain that some children don't have toys and it would make them happy if we shared ours. I make it clear that we will not give all of our toys away. My husband and I also set the example by donating our own stuff too. Younger children may not question why children would have no toys. Older preschoolers may be curious. My children became very curious and filled with questions around 3 years old.

When we are playing with other children, we talk about sharing our toys because it makes others happy. We are happy when other children share their toys. We might feel sad if we played with a child who would not share anything because it wouldn't be a very fun time.

We also read a lot of Bible stories and use Jesus as our example. Jesus wants us to be kind and loving and he wants us to share with others and not be selfish. We ask Jesus to help us.

I also let my children know that it's okay if they don't want to share everything. Some things are very special to us and it's okay if we don't want to give them away or share them but we must be kind about it.

We make cards for family members who are sick. Bring meals to friends or family members who could use a helping hand. We talk about why we are doing these things. Just simple lifestyle lessons. Your children are watching you all of the time. Talk about what you are doing and why you are doing it when they are young as it lays a good foundation for them.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Model compassion for your children this week and talk to them about it. Involve them in a simple act of sharing or a random act of kindness or compassion. You can choose one of the ideas I've already mentioned or come up with one of your own. I would love to hear what others do/have done to teach sharing and compassion to your children. You can leave me a comment or email me at kim@lessonplansplus.com

A Fun Tip: Sometimes when I catch my kids doing something kind for someone, I pull them aside and compliment them and sometimes I even give them a stamp on their hand. I have a bunch of rubber stamps and washable stamp pads and my kids love getting stamped. They don't always get a stamp when they do "random acts of kindness". Stamping is very random and an easy way to help reinforce the concept. I never want them to expect rewards for doing nice things. I want them to internalize but as we all now, sometimes young children need a little external motivation before they are able to internalize. This is a fun and easy motivator.

In addition to doing this at home with my own children, I also used this method successfully when I was teaching preschool outside the home. One year I had a classroom of children who did not show a lot of compassion for each other when the school year began. Many didn't want to share and did not use very kind words or actions. I began talking to them, modeling for them and really pumping up the idea of being kind. It didn't take long for lots of kids to get on board and when others saw and heard the praise and occasional stamp, they wanted in on it too. I found myself giving out lots of stamps in the beginning but eventually, the stamps faded but the kindness continued which was my goal.

Doughnuts for Dad: Fathers Day Idea

2008-05-28T22:10:00.005-04:00

With Fathers Day approaching, I want to share something that I did every year when I was teaching preschool outside the home. To celebrate dads and their kids, my classroom hosted "Doughnuts for Dad". Dads were always a little jealous when I hosted Muffins for Mom. I let the dads know that they had a fun event coming up too and they were pleased to find out that instead of muffins, they would get doughnuts. The children helped make doughnut shaped invitations to hand out to the dads. A few days before the event, I stopped by a local bakery to order and pay for all of the doughnuts and designate a pick-up time the morning of Doughnuts for Dad. The dad's were very happy to have fresh doughnuts. I kept things very simple because dad's usually prefer simple. I offered a nice variety of doughnuts and juice for the dads and children to enjoy together. The children made homemade cards to give their dads and some years I ordered small gifts for them to present to dad. One year I ordered baseball bat ink pens for each dad from Oriental Trading Company and those were a "hit".

This would be an easy event to duplicate at home or with a group of home school children. A home school group could get together at one home, a park or a nearby doughnut shop. Your family could take dad out for doughnuts or simply enjoy doughnuts together at home in honor of dad. I know at my house we rarely eat doughnuts so this would be a very special treat for everyone. I realize for some, dad is not part of everyday life but there is often another male role model that could be celebrated such as a grandfather, uncle or special friend. This is a great time of year to honor the important men in the lives of our children.

New Resource for Mom's of Preschoolers

2008-05-28T21:29:00.004-04:00

My friend Hope recently started a new blog for moms with preschoolers. I would encourage moms to check it out as it's a fun site with lots of great ideas . This week you can enter her giveaways and possibly win a cool prize like a subscription to Family Fun magazine. http://simplyamom.wordpress.com/

I think this is a great mom resource so I added the link to our resource section on the left of the page for easy access.

Homemade Play dough

2008-05-26T23:04:00.004-04:00

If your Memorial Day weekend was as busy and active as mine was then everyone might be in need of a quiet day at home. One of our favorite things to do on a lazy day at home is play with play dough. I have a couple of recipes for play dough that I've made many times. Enjoy!

Favorite Cooked Play dough
2 cups water
1/2 cup salt
Combine the salt and water then boil until dissolved. Add a few drops of food coloring.
While the mixture is still very hot add the following:
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons alum or cream of tarter
2 cups flour

Peanut Butter Play dough
2 1/2 cups of peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups powdered milk
Mix the peanut butter and honey well and then add powdered milk until the dough is soft but not sticky. This play dough is edible.

For a few more fun recipes, visit the recipe page of my website http://www.lessonplansplus.com/recipes.html

Memorial Day Activities and Patriotic Projects

2008-05-22T13:04:00.015-04:00

I would like to start off by saying thank you to all of the military families past and present. I have so much respect for all of the men and woman who serve our country.

In honor of Memorial Day my children and I have been doing a few patriotic projects. We planted some "patriotic" flowers in the yard and have been doing our annual red, white and blue decorating. We've also enjoyed a few art projects and a simple, healthy and yummy patriotic snack. I would love to share some of our ideas with you. These simple projects would be perfect to do at home or in a classroom or daycare setting.

Patriotic Straw Painting:
I added some water and liquid soap (my trick to help paint wash off easier) to a small bowl of red paint, a bowl of white paint and a bowl of blue paint. I wanted the paint to be a runny consistency. I gave my children paint brushes, construction paper and straws. I demonstrated how to splatter paint onto construction paper and then I instructed them to aim their straws at the splattered paint on the paper and blow the paint around the paper (being careful not to suck in any paint).

Hand Print Flags:
I used red, white and blue paint to paint the palms of my children's hands like a flag. I alternated red and white paint on their fingers, painted a small blue square in the corner of their hand (across form the thumb) and I painted their thumbs blue (white would look nice too). When finished, they pressed their hands onto a small piece of construction paper and then placed a star inside of the blue square on their hand print. The end result was a sweet little hand print flag.

Patriotic Painting with Brushes:
I gave my kids blue construction paper along with red and white tempera paint and just let them paint however they chose. I did the same with red construction paper, blue and white paint. The end result was red, white and blue creative artwork.

Fancy Patriotic Parfait:
My children helped make a healthy fruit parfait by slicing bananas and strawberries with a plastic knife. I used their prepared fruit to make parfaits. I used some champagne glasses to make the parfaits a little more fun and fancy. We layered vanilla yogurt, blueberries, bananas and strawberries. I ended with a dollop of yogurt on top sprinkled with a few more blueberries. This was an was an easy, healthy and fun snack that my kids loved.

Some other ways to celebrate Memorial Day and be patriotic:

Go watch a parade with your family. Many cities and towns host Memorial Day parades.
Wear red, white and blue clothing.
Invite some friends, neighbors or family members over for a back yard barbecue.
Enjoy spending time with your family.
Fly an American Flag
Make cards for Veterans and drop them off at a nearby Home for Veterans if you have one in your area.
Make sure to say thank you to anyone you know who serves or has served in our military.
Visit a Veterans Memorial if you have one nearby.
Do a random act of kindness for a Veteran or Veteran family. Some ideas could be weeding, raking leaves, mowing a lawn or even dropping off a homemade treat or card to show gratitude.
Pray for the men and women who serve our country and all of the families associated with them.

Flower Power.

2008-05-21T01:45:00.001-04:00

As promised earlier, here are a few pics from our recent plantings. Not all of them are from my garden which I decided looks a little too messy to share with the world. The photos I snapped tonight don't quite do it justice.

Updates to Lesson Plans Plus Website

2008-05-21T00:49:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note to say that I updated the LessonPlansPlus.com website to make it easier to navigate. You may need to hit refresh in your browser if you've visited in the past so the changes take effect. I also added a survey/feedback page so that readers can tell me what they would like to see in the future. I'd love to hear from you!

Kids in the Garden

2008-05-20T15:58:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I haven't posted in a several days because my kids and I have been very busy outside the past few days. We started on Friday doing yard clean-up and getting our garden area prepped. Saturday morning we went to a greenhouse way out in the country and loaded up with some of our favorite flower, fruit and vegetable plants. We don't have a very big yard but gardening has always been a big deal to me. Spending time in the garden getting my hands dirty is a wonderful stress relief. I think gardening is very therapeutic. Of course, my favorite part is reaping the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor. I love being able to grab something fresh from the garden. Even my small garden is an inspiration to eat fresh and healthy. I've tried to expose my kids to the joys of gardening ever since they were old enough to walk. I also enjoyed exposing my students to small bits of gardening when I was teaching outside the home. There's just something special about planting a seed or small plant, tending to it and watching it grow. It's a great lesson in patience and learning to care for something. I think including children in planting and gardening activities at an early age helps foster an appreciation and love for nature. I'm trying to build positive memories with my children that will carry over into their adult lives. I hope that they will always appreciate and respect nature and have a desire for fresh and healthy foods.

Weekly Challenge: Even if you don't have a large space to work with, I would encourage everyone to enjoy getting your hands a little dirty by planting something somewhere. Even if it's just a small herb garden in a patio box or some flower, herb or vegetable seeds in a Terra Cotta pot.

I'll try to post some pictures later with some of the things we planted around our house.

Some tips to make gardening/planting successful with small children:

~If you visit a greenhouse, do it close to planting day. I try to get things planted the same day or the next.

~Get all of your suppplies organized and ready ahead of time as the kids will be anxious to get started.

~Expect to get dirty (you and the kids).

~Child size gardening gloves are great for the little ones who don't love getting dirty hands. I found child size gardening gloves in the dollar bins at Target.

~If planting with a large group, it works best to work with 2 or 3 children at a time rather than have an entire class trying to do a potting activity at once. I've found that writing each child's name on a pot in permanent marker works great and eliminates confusion over ownership if you plan to send the plants home.

~Expect that young children may lose interest and/or become impatient with a gardening activity. If you are going to be involved in the project for an extended time period, plan a few low maintenance activities for the children to do alongside or near you as they tire of gardening.

Signing Time!

2008-05-15T22:27:00.002-04:00

Have you ever thought about doing sign language with your children? I started introducing sign language to my children when they were about 15 months old. My good friend Lorrie offered me her set of Signing Time videos and I was instantly hooked. I was not very skilled in sign language so I learned right along with my kids using the Signing Time videos. Sign language really helped my children communicate more effectively with me and took away a lot of frustration during those years when they were still learning to verbalize.
Scientific studies have shown that “typical” children who learn to sign have higher IQ scores, are better adjusted and read at an earlier age. My four year old twins still love to watch Signing Time. I actually really enjoy it too. Signing Time makes sign language fun, entertaining and very easy to learn. I highly recommend giving Signing Time a try whether you are a mom with a baby, toddler or preschooler. Signing Time would also be great to use in a preschool or Kindergarten classroom. I took a sign language class for adults several years ago but I discovered that I actually learned more from Signing Time than I did in my class and watching Signing Time was way more fun! If you would like to find out more about Signing Time check out their site: The Official Signing Time Store! .
*Disclosure: Due to our positive experience with the Signing Time videos we have decided to partner with them as an advertiser. Clicking on the links or ads here will also benefit Lesson Plans Plus. Thanks!

Sensory Challenge

2008-05-13T23:17:00.006-04:00

I just realized that I forgot to post a weekly challenge: My challenge to you is to enjoy a sensory activity with your children this week. Whether you fill up a bin with water or rice, roll out some cookie dough and bake, press your fingers in paint or feel the smooth and rough textures of rocks on a nature walk....have fun and let the stress of the day melt away as you think about your own childhood memories. Enjoy something simply delightful through the eyes of a child.

I would love to hear what you did! Feel free to leave a comment or email me to let me know about your simply delightful moment.

Dutch Spice Cookies

2008-05-13T22:41:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking about taking my children to a place called Windmill Island. Windmill Island is home to a 240 year old working Dutch windmill and over 150,000 tulips are are in bloom this time of year. While I was looking over the Windmill Island website I started remembering the times I went there as a child. When I think of Windmill's, I also think of the Windmill cookies we used to buy from the store when I was a kid. I don't have a Windmill shaped cookie cutter but I do have a yummy recipe for Dutch Spice Cookies that brought back some good memories of baking as a child. Maybe I'll be able to find myself a Windmill shaped cookie cutter at Windmill Island. Whether I find one or not, I plan to enjoy this recipe with my kids and sharing is nice so....enjoy!

Dutch Spice Cookies (recipe from the "Cookies for Kids" cookbook that my mom had when I was a little girl)

Ingredients
1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions
Beat butter with an electric mixer until softened. Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg, beat well. In a separate bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well mixed. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with a floured cookie stamp or the bottom of a drinking glass with a design in it.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown on bottom.