Books and Trains Part 2

This post is a follow up to the previous post I made about the neat new events and activities I came across at Barnes and Noble. This morning we decided to give the FREE Valentine's Day book reading and FREE activities a go. And I sure am glad we did! I don't know how this has been kept such a great secret from me but I'm glad it no longer is. My husband, three-year-old daughter, 8 1/2 month old son, and I attended the event. We arrived about 15 minutes prior to the start time noted on the flyer. When we got to the children's book area my daughter headed straight to the train table. I was very surprised to see she was the only one there. There were a few other kids around but none where playing with the trains.

After about five minutes we decided to go check out the stage area where the book reading was to occur. There was one other child with her mother sitting on the benches by the stage but that was it. My daughter and I ventured off for a few minutes to get two books to look at during our wait while my husband and son saved our spots. Soon after we finished looking through our books the book reading started. At this point there were only about 10-12 little kids. A very nice women read aloud to us "Love Monster" by Rachel Bright.

After she read the book she talked a little bit about it. Then she handed out Valentine homemade sugar cookies. My daughter said her's tasted "delicious"! We were then invited over to a craft table in the center of the children's area to join them for the Valentine's Day craft activities. My daughter joined about seven other children at the table and waited for instructions. Two ladies described and demonstrated to us how to make Valentine hats (they had found on pinterest) and heart chains. There was some cutting and some stapling involved so I helped my daughter a bit but there were some older kids who were able to do them on their own.

After we finished my daughter was pretty excited to show off her new creations. The women encouraged us to take home extra strips of already pre-cut red paper to add to or start a new heart chain. I thought that was really neat!

Following the Valentine's crafts was another FREE special craft event. Since we were already there we decided to stick around (it was only five minutes after we finished the last craft). The ladies handed each child who was at the table a small "Creativity Can" (I found their website online if you wish to learn more). The "can" was filled with lots of neat craft materials like pipe cleaners, colored textured paper, colored popsicle sticks, a glue stick, pom-poms, and much more. The parents were equally excited to see what was inside and everyone (kids and adults) were excited imagining all the possible things they could make. I had one of those "Why didn't I think of this?!?" moments!

We were there for a total of one hour. My daughter came home with an arm full of new crafts. I came home with my "creative wheels" turning. I am now thinking of putting together our own little "Creativity Box" craft for cold or rainy days and encourage our kids to create whatever they want. We all enjoyed our time there this morning. My husband even asked when the next event was. Sounds like we will be going back!

If you would like to see if a Barnes and Noble store near you is putting on one of these type of events you can call your local store or visit their website. This event took place at the SouthPointe Barnes and Noble store.

Homemade Simple Puzzles

 Here are a few easy diy homemade puzzles that are easy and fun to make....

Tongue Depressor Puzzles:
I made these really quick and easy puzzles (see picture above) for my daycare kiddos to encourage matching by shape and color. I purchased a small bag of tongue depressors from Walmart (you can also find them at most craft stores) and used colored sharpie markers I already had at home. Took me less than five minutes and the kids love putting them together over and over. I store them in a small snack size ziplock type baggie.

These next tongue depressor puzzles (pictured below) are a lot easier to make then they look. Materials needed: tongue depressors, a picture (I printed one off my computer onto regular white printer paper), modge podge (or watered down glue), scissors (or an exacto knife) and a paint brush. You will need to paint a thin layer of the glue to the back of the picture (after you cut it to size). After the glue/picture dries you will want to paint a thin layer of the glue over the top of the picture to seal it.

Block Puzzles:
The blocks I used for this puzzle project were purchased for $2.99 (prices will vary) in a six pack at Hobby Lobby. It was cheaper to buy the slightly smaller ones in a package than the bigger ones. The bigger ones cost $0.99/each. So it pays....or should I say saves....to look around.I printed six pictures (one for each side of the block) and glued them just like the tongue depressor puzzle. Remember to put a thin top coat on top so your little ones can use them over and over again. My daughter (and daycare kids) love these puzzles because they are so personal!

A is for....

Today I made uppercase and lowercase alphabet cards on the computer to use with my three year old daughter. She is showing a lot of interest in identifying letters and signs of beginning reading. I included her in picking out the images to use on the flashcards. She was really excited to help mommy. I printed these flashcards on plain white printer paper but you could print it on any paper you would like. A thicker card stock paper would work wonderfully. If you own or have access to a laminator you could do laminate them as well. We did! This way we can use them over and over again. I can reuse them with my daycare kiddos and when my son is a bit older! They were so simple to make that I wish I made them long ago! I always hold off on making these kind of things because I think they are going to take so much time to make and then I jump right in and find out I should have started sooner! If you do not have time to make your own you can get a copy of mine here!

Uppercase ABC Cards.pdf



Lowercase ABC Cards.pdf

Books...and Trains?

One night last week we decided to check out our nearby Barnes and Noble as we had heard it was having a large clearance sale. The sale was a bit of a bust. I'm guessing you have to get there early on during the start of the sale to get the best selection. But what we did take away was about an hour of entertainment for your three year old daughter. My eight month old son slept most of the time in his car seat which was great for allowing mommy and daddy to look around a bit. It's been a while since I have spent more than 10 minutes in a Barnes and Noble. Did you know they have a whole section of kids toys now? I sure didn't know! While my husband and I took turns looking around the store and staying with the kids our daughter played at the train table.

 
She really enjoyed it as she loves Thomas the Train right now. I also saw a Lego table but there were lots of little kids there so my daughter was not all that interested. During one (we had to take two) trips to the "little girls room" I saw they had a schedule of upcoming events and book readings. I also saw a brochure for the Barnes and Noble Kids Club. I took one of each, folded it, and stuck it in my pocket knowing I would have to read it later at home when I was less distracted. Shortly after the trip to the bathroom, we bundled back up (it was about 15 degrees outside), waved good-bye until next time to the train table and headed to our next destination.

The next day I finally sat down to take a look at the upcoming events flyer and the Kids Club brochure I had stuck in my pocket. I was excited to see a few activities that fell on the weekend. I was aware they had book readings during the week but unfortunately have not be able to get to any of them but was unaware they had some on the weekend as well. Here is a link to see if a Barnes and Noble near you is holding any weekend activities. We are planning to take our kids to one this weekend that includes a Valentine's Day children's book reading, Valentine's crafts, and cookies. Next I read the brochure about the kids club. I decided to look up more using the web address provided on the brochure. Click here for the Kid's Club website or you can sign in in store. If you sign up online they will mail you a Kid's Club card. You get special bonuses and near your child's birthday you will be sent a certificate for a free cupcake or cookie from their cafe. You also can opt to sign up for a newsletter which will be emailed to you with upcoming children's events. I signed up both my kids now I'm just waiting for the card to arrive in the mail. We are looking forward to the event this weekend. I hope it turns out as good as it sounds!

Beads & Pipe Cleaners

One evening this past week my three-year-old daughter requested to do "an activity" with me. I usually try to have something prepared but both my husband and I have been recovering from an awful cold that I've been slacking on having any little activities ready to go. I remembered that I had picked up a package of new pipe cleaners at the dollar store over the past weekend as I was stocking up on items we were running low on at home. So I grabbed those out of our craft cupboard. I then scanned around looking for something to do with them....something that would keep her entertained for a while. I noticed the container of beads in the cupboard and decided we should make bracelets. I had her get up on our bed so the beads would be out of reach of her eight month old brother. I grabbed our tray from the kitchen and placed it on the bed with the beads. We began by sorting the beads into matching colors. 

As we sorted the beads we also counted how many of each color we had.  After she made a bracelet for herself, she decided to make one for mommy. Next she made one for daddy and then for her little brother. An activity that I thought would keep her entertained for about five minutes turned into a forty-five minute activity. She enjoyed making presents for each family member. Mommy enjoyed getting to see her match the beads by color, count, and use her fine motor skills to "string" the beads. She loved it so much she asked the next day if she could make more.

Plans for the Blog...

I'm not quite sure how this blog will evolve but I have some goals in mind...

- To share activities and events to do with your children
- To share how to make your home child-proof and child-friendly
- To share craft activities that are age appropriate and educational
- To share recipes I use with my family and my daycare kids
- To share how I organize my daycare and kid space in my home, car, outdoors, etc.
- To share how to select a good daycare, what signs to look for, and how to treat your daycare provider so they treat you well in return
- To share traveling with children tips I've learned and come across over the years8
- To share ways to engage your children and keep them coming back for more
- To share the knowledge I've learned over the many years spent observing, learning from, and implementing lessons I've learned from child professionals
- To share the ups and downs that come along with being a parent
- To share what I have learned from my children, other children, and the readers
- To become a better observer of my children 

About Me.....

Hello! I'm starting this blog for many reasons but most importantly to share (and archive) the joys of parenting. I have been doing this for years in personal scrapbooks, on other internet sites (ex. Facebook), and in my own memory and decided it was time with the urging of a few loved ones to start up a blog. I don't have to tell anyone who is a parent that parenting is tough! It is an emotional roller coaster. We have our good days and our bad days. Like many people my family is pretty darn important to me. Long before I had children I dreamed of the children I would have and dreamed of the type of parent I would be.

Before I get to off topic I'll give you a little background about me. I grew up with five siblings...my oldest brother being four years older than me and my youngest sister is six years younger than me. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. All the neighborhood kids were always over at my house growing up. Mostly because when they came over they had lots of peers to play with but I think it also had something to do with my mother almost always being at home. When I was at the young age of seven my youngest sister had a medical episode that left her mentally handicapped. In a matter of a moment our lives .... my life ... changed forever. Though my parents tried as hard as they could to still make our lives as "normal" as possible. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, special education teachers, para-educators, and IEP managers became a normal part of our lives. I was fascinated with the work they did with my little sister and paid really close attention over the next few years.

When I was in high school I jumped at the chance to enroll in family and consumer science courses. I took courses in parenting, courses in family science, and a course in international cooking. These were considered "pud" courses but they were the courses I looked forward to going to every day. When I was fifteen I signed up for a course titled "Infants and Toddlers". For this class we had to go to the building next door which was a daycare center to observe "real" children....I say "real" because you can only learn so much reading about children in textbooks. I fell even deeper in love with caring for and educating young children. Five days before I turned sixteen I made my first resume, filled out an application, and went to my first interview. Though I had two jobs prior to this one (babysitting neighborhood kids and weekly cleaning a nearby business on the weekends) this was my first professional job interview. I was very nervous but that daycare director must have seen something in me as she hired me on the spot. I started two weeks later.

After two years loving every moment of my job I started taking courses at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. I started out taking courses in Elementary Education but switched my major sometime during my sophomore year to Inclusive Early Childhood Education...a brand new major that had not been available to me when I started at the University. Over the next five and a half years I attended the University I spent hours upon hours in daycare centers, special education classrooms, elementary classrooms, and early childhood classrooms. I completed two student teachings one in early childhood education and one in elementary education. Upon graduation I was hired by the public schools to become a substitute teacher.

For two years I subbed until a close family friend approached me with the idea of becoming a nanny/daycare provider to her soon-to-be-born daughter. I jumped at the chance to have my own space and knowing where I would be working the next day (a bit of a hazard of substitute teaching). After a year of watching this beautiful little girl grow up before my eyes I started the paperwork with the state to become a licensed in-home daycare and open my home to other children. Shortly after becoming licensed we found out I was expecting a little girl of my own.

Fast forward to four years later and we welcomed a beautiful healthy little boy in May of this past year. Though I maintain my license for daycare....still attend training workshops and seminars, am up-to-date on CPR and first aid training, comply with all the new state regulations, etc...I am enjoying some time off from daycare at the moment to be at home with just my kids. I'm not sure what the future has in store but I'm open to finding out!