Fun-filled Friday

clip art courtesy of fotosearch.com

Boy, time sure has flown! It's hard to believe that it's already time for me to once again share five fun links.

1. 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.
2. 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)
3. 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.
4. 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.
   
5. 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?

That is a wrap for this week's edition of Fun-Filled Friday. Until next week, remember to take time to enjoy your children.

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Changes Coming Soon

I am still working out the details, but, in the near future, a big change is coming to Little Fun; Little Learning. I think it will be a good change, and I will let you know what is happening as soon as the details are finalized. Meanwhile, I intend to put up a regular post tomorrow. Until then, take care!

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Fun-filled Friday to Return Next Week

I apologize for this, but with all the excitement of the past week and having to make preparations for my youngest daughter's party tomorrow, I'm completely out of time for Fun-filled Friday. I'll bring it back with five fun links next Friday. Until then, remember to enjoy your child!

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And the Winner Is...

Thank you to all who participated in my little contest for the child's prize pack. I wish I could give every one of you a prize, but, unfortunately, I can't. So I used a random number generator this morning, and it selected the number corresponding to the comment left by Heather, whom I have already contacted.

Thank you again for playing along, and I hope you stop by again to see what fun activities and educational ideas are offered here. Also, if you would leave me a comment to let me know what you think about my idea to start a Carnival of Family Fun, I would really appreciate it. The Carnival would feature both your ideas for having fun together as a family and your stories about fun time you spent together as a family. I'd like to know if you think this is a good idea, don't care about it, or think it is totally lame.

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For "The Littles" - Closed

Click to see the winner announcement. I would also appreciate your input on an idea I have.


If you don't already know, there is a huge Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway going on hosted by Shannon of Rocks in My Dryer. Absolutely H.U.G.E!!!!! Over 400 participants! At RS Designs, I am offering one lucky person the chance to choose 3 out of 4 options to make over their blog, and at The Porch Light, I am giving away my piano solo CD, He Giveth More Grace. My design partner at RS Designs, Linda, is giving away 2 free headers at Mama's Coffee Corner, her personal blog. Now I'm adding Little Fun; Little Learning to the list.

In keeping with the theme of this blog (focusing on fun activities and educational ideas for the littles - children ages 0-5), I am giving away 2 workbooks (your choice of preschool or kindergarten), sidewalk chalk, a box of crayons, and a book (either a coloring book or a story book - not sure yet). (Sorry: no international participants for this one, please, though your comments are still welcome). {Added for clarification: this is one big prize pack, not individual prizes.}

Rules:

• Leave a comment no later than 11:59 p.m. Thursday night.
• Make sure you leave some way for me to contact you: an e-mail address or working URL would be great.
• One entry only, please. Multiple entries will be deleted, leaving everyone on a level playing field.

That's all there is to it! Have fun!

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Contest Galore!

Here's another contest: at my personal blog, The Porch Light, I am giving away a special prize as part of the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway hosted by Shannon of Rocks in My Dryer. Make sure you stop by her place - the contest just began at 8:00 a.m. CST this morning, and there are already over 100 participants. I bet there will be more than 1,000 participants in the end - what fun!

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It's Time

Today marks the beginning of the Parker love-fest, and it couldn't begin at a better time. Parker is not doing very well right now. Stop by and make your donation anytime until Friday. Follow the directions, and you will be entered in a drawing for 17 great prizes.

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Fun-filled Friday

clip art courtesy of fotosearch.com

Well, I almost missed it! I'm glad I realized that fact in the nick of time. I hope your week has gone well. Mine has flown by.

Here are today's five fabulous links:

1. ParentWonder.com offers 70 Toddler Games and Activities You Can Play and Do With Your Child. Trust me, you have to at least take a look at their list.
2. Family Education gives us directions for Edible Jewelry. I know my girls will think this is very cool; I'm going to be picky about what candy I use, though!
3. My Education Journal shares 10 things your child can do with empty plastic bottles.
4. Family Fun sounds like my kind of site. For more fun with bottles, check out their Bottle Ball Game.
5. Introduce your child to the fun-filled world of cooking. Spatulatta: cooking 4 kids online features recipes by kids for kids. Here's a link to their snack recipes, but take the time to really explore this site, too.

That's all for this week's edition of Fun-Filled Friday. Until next week, remember to take time to enjoy your children.

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What If This Were Your Child?

Parker is a special little boy with huge medical problems: he not only suffers from Downs Syndrome but also from larger, more critical issues. His family's insurance provider has run true to stereotypical form and has refused to assist with medical devices of life-and-death importance for Parker. Parker's family faces ever-mounting medical bills with only the prospect of more bills since Parker needs more surgery.

Melody of Slurping Life decided to do something to help Parker and his family and is holding a fund raiser from July 23 through July 27. To generate more interest and add greater incentive, Melody is also giving away prizes and has asked others, including myself, to donate prizes as well. Prizes include, courtesy of Hewlett-Packard, a digital camera/printer/accessories package retailing for approximately $430. To be eligible to win a prize, you must donate a minimum of $2, though a larger contribution would certainly be appreciated. All donations will go directly to an account accessible by Parker's parents.

As I mentioned, Melody contacted me about donating a prize, and I was happy to have been asked to be a part of this fund raiser. I am donating a custom website design update from RS Designs (my design website), valued at $55 - $120 (depending on options chosen). The winner of this prize may choose 3 of the following options:

1. Web site color change (change the colors of your existing template, including images)
2. New background image
3. Custom sidebar image
4. Custom header
5. Custom advertising banner.

Make a note to stop by Slurping Life sometime during July 23 through July 27. If you can post about this yourself, that would be great. The more people who are aware of this, the more people who will contribute. Whatever you can do to help is greatly appreciated.

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A Look at the Pros and Cons of Homschooling

I already told you why I plan to homeschool my girls. Today, I ran across a great article detailing both the pros and cons of homeschooling. In it, Isabel Shaw examines the issue from both sides, going into a depth of detail that, she said, comes from experienced homeschoolers. Her exact words:

"Almost ten years ago, when I was making the decision to homeschool, I wrote up a list of pros and cons. The pros won me over, but since then, I've discovered there were many more pros and cons that I couldn't possibly have anticipated!

To help other parents who are considering homeschooling, here is a new list of pros and cons. This list is based on both my experience and the experiences of dozens of families who've shared with me the ups and downs of their day-to-day homeschooling."

Some of the pros:

• Increased freedom of various kinds
• Strengthened family relationships
• Elimination of busywork

Some of the cons:

• Time restraints
• No break for Mom
• Living outside the norm

If you are in the process of making a decision regarding homeschooling your child, I strongly encourage you to go read the entire article to obtain a balanced view of both sides of the homeschooling coin.

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