It doesn't take long to collect a bunch of old, broken crayons. Instead of tossing them, consider saving them to make new crayons. If you put them into molds, you can make neat little gifts for your kids friends. Such a cute idea for Valentine's Day, Christmas, or party favors.
How-to recycle those crayon stubs into a swell homemade gift - More DIY How To Projects
Showing posts with label Frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frugal. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2009
Make Your Own Crayons
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center
I had two 40% off coupons for Michael's this week, so I decided to go out there and find something for the kids. I was pleased to find this Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center. It was $14.99, but I got it for about $9 with my coupon.
Unlike most dry erase activities, this one actually erases! I was so excited that I did not have to use water and a paper towel to clean the slippery little sheets. The sheets fit inside a plastic board type box. The kids put the sheets inside the box and then write on the clear plastic part. The eraser wipes the marker right off with little effort.
This activity board will provide hours of entertainment and learning for my kids. It will make a great addition to the things we carry into church for their quiet entertainment.
The Crayola website also has some free printables that you can use inside the dry erase board.
Have fun!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Fun-filled Friday
Boy, time sure has flown! It's hard to believe that it's already time for me to once again share five fun links.
- While not technically a fun link, Parent Wonder's article, 101 Child Safety and Childproofing Tips for Parents, offers ideas that will help you avoid exposing your child to unnecessary risks which may threaten your ability to continue having fun with your child.
- If your child is like mine, you have lost a couple (or more) photos to scribbles. Why not turn your photos into coloring pages for your child to color to his heart's content? (Hat tip: Busy Mom Online)
- Is your child slowly but surely driving your over the edge? Adventures in Motherhood tells us how to achieve Stay at home sanity: 15 ways to have fun with your little ones.
- Can work be fun? Frank of The New Parent thinks so and discusses play & work: the idea that "littles" often see work as play - until we adults educate them differently. I think it's time for me to learn from my children and find the fun in work.
- Forget that old rule and encourage your child to have some fun with his food! Holly of Seeking Faithfulness shows her family's veggie creativity. Aren't you inspired?
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Deal Alert
I stopped by Target yesterday and found all sorts of neat goodies in their dollar section. I bought letter, phonics, and first words flashcards, 4 laminated placemat sized learning aids (addition, subtraction, print alphabet, and cursive alphabet) that come with a dry erase marker/eraser so that the child can write directly on the poster, an alphabet puzzle for ages 2 and up, a workbook for numbers 1-12, an phonics review workbook, and a little journal for little children. Each item was a dollar, and they had many more educational items.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Fun-filled Friday
I thought I'd try something new and make Friday the day to share 5 links relating to children and fun.
- At The New Parent, Frank gives us 5 Loving Things to Do with Our Little Ones
- Tracy of Mom's Niche gives us ideas for fun, no-cost activities to try this summer.
- Coolest Kid Birthday Parties is the place to go for free ideas for themed parties. They offer free printables, and I have used their ideas for more than just birthday parties.
- Can't make it to the zoo? Brenda of Keeping Afloat ... Most Days tells us about zoo cams, a free way to "take" your children to the zoo.
- The Frugal Life also offers a long, detailed list of ideas for a fun and productive summer with your kids.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Ideas for Special Portraits
Who says that you have to go to a studio to end up with great photos of your children? The last time we went to a portrait studio was when we took Baby Bear to Olan Mills nearly 2 years ago. While we probably will go for a family portrait of us and the girls, I doubt we'll take the girls to a studio anytime soon.
We actually have fun taking our girls' photos. Mr. Incredible's grandparents have a lovely home with flowers everywhere. Around Easter, one particular bed of creeping phlox bursts into full bloom, creating the perfect backdrop for beautiful portraits - like the one of Miss Muffet at the top of this post.
Here are tips to help you create beautiful portraits of your children:
- Work around your child's schedule. I cannot stress this enough! If your child is happiest after breakfast, do your best to take photos then.
- Take along a snack and drink. You may think that it will only take a half hour to get that perfect photo, but time has a way of slipping away. Besides, snacks are great for coaxing uncooperative little ones into a more helpful from of mind. When we took the photo of Miss Muffet pictured above, we kept popping peanuts into her and her sisters' mouths to get them to sit still.
- Bring favorite toys for infants and toddlers. These can be cute and can also be used to distract a fussing child. Some of our favorite infant photos of Pookie Bear, our oldest daughter, are of her as an 8 day old infant lying on our baby-blanket-covered couch surrounded by her Winnie the Pooh character friends.
- Be prepared to shoot many photos. This means having extra film (unless you have a digital camera) and making sure your batteries are up to the task. It would be disappointing to run out of film or battery power without having captured "the" shot.
- Take your cue from your child. Don't make this a time of frustration. If your child is telling you that he has had enough of this picture-taking business, it's best to end the session and try again later if you are not satisfied with the photos you have taken.
- Local parks - several of ours have lovely flower beds, ponds, fountains, and other features
- Historic homes - most places only charge for a tour of the place, not for admittance to the ground, which are often lovely
- Old churches
- Beach - if you happen to live close enough
- Mountains - ditto
- A neighbor's beautiful garden - ask nicely, and you might be surprised to get an affirmative answer. If you do, make sure to send at least a thank you card, preferably a gift.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Letter Y crafts and activities
On to the letter Y!
- From my new favorite site, Brightly Beaming Resources, comes the Letter of the Week segment for the Letter Y. Their site includes great ideas relating Y to Language Arts, Music, Snacks, Bible Story/Character Trait, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art Projects, Sport and Games, and a Field Trip. (I had to laugh when I saw their link to this Internet yodel course! I particularly liked the disclaimer: "I take no responsibility for the consequences of yodeling in social situations. This includes: lawsuits, strange looks, uproarious laughing, traffic accidents, major moves up or down in the stock market, divorces or loss of employment. However, I do accept full responsibility for the smiles and laughter the practice of yodeling might elicit. - Norm, 1996"
- EdHelper.com offers printable Letter Y stories, coloring pages, and a Letter Y word with pictures puzzle book, and more.
- Preschool Education.com has Y Arts and Crafts (featuring yarn, yellow, and yo-yo's), Music and Songs about yaks, and Snacks (yams and yogosicles - popsicles made with yogurt).
- At Preschool by Stormie, you will learn how to make yogurt fingerpaint, something your child will surely love.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Brightly Beaming Resources
I can't wait for you to visit this site! Katrina Lybbert has put together curriculum for children from 3 months through age 8. One of my favorite features about this curriculum is that it is absolutely free! That's right; you can download all the helps and ideas you want for free.
What could you possibly teach a baby who is less than a year old? How about Literature, Nursery Rhymes, Poetry, Bible Selections, Speech and Vocabulary, Classical Music, Baby Games, Lullabies, Sign Language, Foreign Language, Exercise, and Baby Massage?
From 12-24 months of age, follow the Brightly Beaming Toddler curriculum. In addition to the categories of information taught to infants, your toddler will be exposed to Children's Songs, Arts and Crafts, Musical Exploration, Puppetry, Nature Study, and Art Appreciation.
The Brightly Beaming Steps to Reading Program is created to be adapted to many ages. It is broken down into four steps:
- Step One: Preparatory Curriculum - teaches the child to recognize letters, numbers, colors, and shapes and is recommended for children between the ages of 2-4.
- Step Two: Letter of the Week - this step teaches the child the sounds of the letters of the alphabet and is recommended for children ages 2-5.
- Step Three: Sound of the Week - this step focuses on teaching the child phonics, sounds required for reading success, and is recommended for children ages 3-6.
- Step Four: Story of the Week - this step teaches the child to read simple stories and is recommended for children ages 4-7.
The Primary Curriculum offers SpellBright Level Two, Primary Journal Ideas, and Orchestral Beams (a music appreciation guide for children ages 5-7)
I plan to begin using this with all three of my girls this fall and am eager to see how this works. If it doesn't go so well, at least I haven't spent a lot of money on it, but I really do think that this will prove to be a wonderful program.
If you already use this curriculum, would you please leave me a comment detailing your experience with it? I'd really appreciate it!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Helpful ideas
I love Moms Niche. Tracy just has the best ideas. Here are some recent posts that I think are worth reading:
- ideas for getting kids to eat their "greens"
- inexpensive Easter gift ideas for kids
- Easter candy alternatives
- 7 cardio exercises for 7 days of fun with your kids
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Highlighting a neat Mom blog
I just recently found Mom's Niche Blog. I was going to link to a couple of posts that I think are really relevant for this blog, but I REALLY like the whole blog so I decided to devote a whole post to sharing this wonderful place with you.
Mom's Niche Blog is written by a work-at-home mom who also has 3 children. She regularly shares recipes, offers honest reviews of various products, talks about her family and life experiences, and just creates a warm place for moms.
Here are some of my favorite posts:
- Product Review - Crayola Color Wonder - I had this on my list of ideas for posts; she beat me to it! I really think this line of products is one of the best-ever inventions for kids!
- Play with Your Child - It Benefits Them AND You
- Family Night - you know I love this idea, and she offers fresh ideas for family activities
- Is Your Preschooler Ready? - this post offers a link to KidsActivityCalendar.com, a site where you can subscribe to a weekly e-mail program which sends out a news letter each week which includes weekly coloring sheets and printable worksheets, fun weekly audio about the letter of the week, crafts/activities/snack ideas, and a Parent Guide.
- 5 Tips for Dealing with Unsolicited Parenting Advice - boy, did I ever need this post!
- Breakfast - the Most Important Meal of the Day - she offers several great ideas for healthy and easy breakfasts for your children
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Finally, some original ideas!
While I enjoy providing links to helpful resources, I have realized that I have been linking to other useful sites more than I have been posting original material. I sincerely apologize! I do not want this site to just be a linking site; I want it to be a place with original ideas as well.
Without further ado, here are some activities to try with your children:
Create a play. You can write a simple program for them or, if your children arecapable, let them create their own skit. Encourage them to adapt a familiar story or to create an original play. Help them make simple costumes and/or props to flesh out their program. Have them rehearse several times, and then, with all due pomp, let them present their play to the non-participating members of the family. My girls love to act out segments from Peter Pan and other favorite stories.
Hold a treasure hunt. Children just love to hunt for treasure, and the prizedoesn't have to be anything huge. I remember one year when my mother gave both me and my older sister a treasure hunt birthday party. We were all divided into teams of 2, and mother wrote out clues that sent us from place to place both inside the house and outside in our yard. (You could also create a treasure map in lieu of writing individual clues.) Each new clue was located with a small prize for each player: a headband at one place, (sugar-free) candy at another. The treasure was a pair of handmade teddy bears.
Create a stop-and-go story. Sit in a circle with your children. You start outtelling a made-up story; when you stop (usually at an exciting point in the story), have the child to your left add to the story, and continue around the circle. This can be a lot of fun with young children because you never know what they might say. Obviously, this doesn't really work for infants and toddlers, but around 30-36 months, my girls have been able to begin creating rudimentary stories.
When the weather turns MUCH warmer, make some homemade ice cream. My kids love to help us make the ice cream and definitely enjoy eating it, too!Here is our favorite ice cream recipe. My husband particularly likes it because it reminds him of snow cream. We've made vanilla, banana, and strawberry ice cream using this recipe.
These ideas are not grandiose schemes and may not be anything new to you, but our family enjoys these frugal yet fun ideas. What does your family like to do together?
all clip art courtesy of fotosearch.com
Friday, February 2, 2007
Ideas worth sharing
After writing my own post on indoor fun, I found several other people who recently wrote on the topic of ways to enjoy your family. You will get tons of great ideas from these links!
During the month of January, Shannon of Mommy, Inc. shared her frugal ideas for enjoying your child. Her mini-series included thrifty ideas for reducing child care expenses, saving money on kids' clothes, saving money on a Disney vacation, and having fun with your kids while on a budget. Great job, Shannon!
Lindsey of Enjoy the Journey has a wonderful list of family valentine ideas to help you make Valentine's Day special for your family.
The Common Room has a very long list of frugal ideas for family fun.
I encourage you to take the time to enjoy your family every day.
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