Have Fun at CBeebies

I found another free site for children today. Looks like there's a lot of fun stuff to do at CBeebies. You'll find fun and games, music and songs, make and do, watch a story, Nina's lab, and more. Have fun!

Out of Town This Week

Sorry I haven't been around this week. My daughter is out of school for the week, so I decided to take the kids to see my parents. We've had a fun and busy week. We'll be leaving today.

Check back later for some fun spring activities.

I've Been Tagged

Laura over at Laura Williams' Musings tagged me for this Meme, 7 Facts about me. I'm supposed to include some random and weird things about myself.

The rules are:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Things about me:

1. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate cigarette smoke!!!! It is one of my biggest pet peeves. It makes my eyes water, makes me sneeze, and it smells horrible! I have a hard time understanding why we have to be subjected to cancer causing agents while enjoying a meal, especially when less than 25% of the population smokes. I think all states should follow California in making no smoking rules. Ok, was that a fact or a rant? I guess a bit of each. lol

2. I have a few other blogs - Thrifty Mommy, A Healthy Balance, and another one that's anonymous.

3. I was a full-time teacher before having my children. Since then, I have taught a little part-time, but right now I'm staying home.

4. If I don't go back to teaching, then I would like to find more freelance writing work. I really enjoy writing.

5. I sing and play the piano at church. I am a one man band.

Ok, for some weird things about me.

6. I have a really long tongue. It is hereditary. I can touch my chin and my nose.

7. I am double jointed. My knees lock into my legs and it looks a bit weird. I can bend my fingers back a bit far, which totally freaks out my husband. I can also make a popping/clicking noise with my toes.

The people I am tagging:
1. Revka at The Porch Light
2. Angie at Baby Cheapskate
3. Jennifer at iMommies
4. Kelly at Thrifty Mommy
5. Char at Raising a Healthy Family and Weary Parent

Jelly Bean Poem

Several years ago, someone gave me some jelly beans with a Jelly Bean Poem.

Wednesday night I took some plastic eggs, jelly beans, and poems to church for the children to stuff their eggs. It was an easy and memorable activity.

Please note: Not all jelly bean packages have all of these colors. You should compare the color list before purchasing your jelly beans.

Red is for the blood He gave.
Green is for the grass He made.
Yellow is for the sun so bright.
Orange is for the edge of night.
Black is for the sins we made.
White is for the grace He gave.
Purple is for His hour of sorrow.
Pink is for our new tomorrow.
An egg full of jelly beans colorful and sweet
Is a prayer, a promise, a loved one's treat!
~Charlene Dickensen

Wordless Wednesday: Just Having Fun

50 Encouraging Things To Say To Your Kids

Words can really change attitudes, self-esteem, relationships, and lives. Here are 50 things that you can say to your kids. Try at least one of them today. Also, it's good to be specific when using praise. Instead of "beautiful picture" try saying, "I really like the colors you used." Instead of "nice job" try, "You did a great job cleaning your room. It looks so nice."

1. I love you.
2. You mean so much to me.
3. I'm proud of you!
4. Great job.
5. Nice try.
6. I'll pray for you.
7. You make me happy.
8. Have a good day.
9. You're beautiful.
10. You can do it.
11. You're the best!
12. You're good at this.
13. I like the way you did that.
14. You're so smart.
15. That was thoughtful of you.
16. I appreciate your help.
17. Very clever.
18. You have a lot of talent.
19. Fantastic!
20. Way to go.
21. Your efforts are paying off.
22. I can tell how hard you've been working.
23. Outstanding!
24. You're a hard worker.
25. You're an excellent helper.
26. Well done.
27. I knew you could do it.
28. Marvelous!
29. You figured it out.
30. What an imagination.
31. I am blessed to have you in my life.
32. You made my day.
33. You're a good friend.
34. You made a good decision.
35. You're incredible.
36. Good for you.
37. Now you have the hang of it.
38. You're really improving.
39. That's the best ever.
40. Much better.
41. I can tell you've been practicing.
42. You should be proud of yourself.
43. What an accomplishment!
44. You've really learned a lot.
45. Congratulations!
46. You figured that out fast.
47. You made it look easy.
48. It makes me happy when you do your best.
49. That's quite an improvement.
50. Good thinking!

What can you add to this list?

Horton Hears a Who!

Horton Hears a Who! demonstrates messages of faithfulness, compassion, self-sacrifice, and looking out for others. Here's a summary from Movie Guide.

HORTON HEARS A WHO is an uneven adaptation of the famous story by Dr. Seuss
about the elephant who hears a tiny voice crying in the wilderness and declares,
“A person’s a person, no matter how small!” HORTON HEARS A WHO is sometimes
entertaining and humorous movie and sometimes dull and annoying when it dilutes
its message of faithfulness, compassion, self-sacrifice, and looking out for
others with some Romantic, politically correct messages.

Has your family seen this movie? If so, let us know what you thought of it.

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Kids Domain has clip art, recipes, activities, crafts, and games.

St. Patrick's Day Parade - click on gallery to see pictures from previous parades

ABC Teach has a nice selection of songs, printables for various ages, and other useful resources.

Enchanted Learning has a few cute craft ideas.

The History Channel gives some history behind the holiday.

First School

Child Fun

DLTK

Activity Idea Place

St. Patrick's Day Has Been Moved

Eliza at Babylune just let me know that St. Patrick's Day has been moved. Sources say the Roman Catholic Church changed it to Saturday, March 15th to avoid conflict with Holy Monday that falls on March 17th.

This is new news to me. Did you already know about the change?

(Free clip art from Kaboose.)

Welcome to the Party!

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Party! I'm so excited to be participating with 5 Minutes for Mom and to have a chance to meet other mommy bloggers.

My name is Karen and I am the writer for Little Fun; Little Learning. I am a work-at-home mom and previous teacher. I have taught grades pre-k through 8th. I know, quite a span. In the most recent years, I have taught part-time preschool.

On this site, you will find lesson plans, art and crafts projects, and any other various ideas for little children. Some of these may be things my children have done at home, things I have done in the past with my classes, or simply links to other ideas.

I hope you'll stay a while and surf the archives. If you like what you see, please feel free to subscribe to our newsletter. You'll find a place to do this in the sidebar on the right.

Please sign our guest book via leaving a comment. I would like to visit some of your blogs and meet new people. As a party favor, I will be giving away a new copy of a worship cd from Cross Reference Music. Please leave a way for me to contact you or drop by next week to see who the winner is.

Happy browsing! :)

P.S. Please check out my other parties at Thrifty Mommy and A Healthy Balance.

Height and Weight Art Activity

Here's another momento I found from my days of teaching pre-k. This is simply a girl that was traced from a stencil and it has been golf ball painted. After these were dry, we wrote the child's name, height, and weight on their person. Of course, for the boys we used a boy stencil.

Some other thoughts:

• You could paint these with the color you're studying that month.
• These would go along well with these themes: our body, God made me, measurement, and/or I am special.
• You could do one at the beginning and end of the year as a cute way to record how much the children have grown.
• Put these on the bulletin board with a cute saying.

This Really Irked Me

I was in the doctor's office the other day and came across an article in Ladies' Home Journal by Nancy Bilyeau. The article was referring to The Feminine Mistake, a book by Leslie Bennetts. Here's a quote:

In her new book, The Feminine Mistake, Leslie Bennetts issues a wake-up
call to women who have chosen to leave the workforce to stay home and raise
their kids full-time. "Opting out," she argues, puts women at financial risk for
the rest of their lives. Bennetts, a longtime wife and working mother of two,
spoke to us about the dangerous trade-off she believes such moms are making.

A wake up call? Seriously?

I can think of no greater profession than to raise healthy children who have good self-esteem, know that they're loved, are well taught, and are shown a passion for the Lord. Yes, it is a sacrifice and unfortunately, not all moms can afford to stay at home. But seriously, a "dangerous trade-off"? Errrrr!

If you think you won't get too angry, you can listen to the entire podcast here.