“Once Upon a Time…”

There’s just something magical about those words, whether they’re read from a book or coming from the imagination.

Reading and storytelling play an important role in children’s language development. All children, from infants to elementary age students benefit from being read to and being told stories.

In the past children learned to communicate through interaction in mixed-age family groups, but today children spend much of their time with other children, or watching TV and in other “screen time” activities. This means that they miss out on opportunities to develop valuable communication and social skills. As a parent, reading and talking with your child gives you a great opportunity to model appropriate language.

Young children enjoy books that are repetitious and predictable. Books that repeat the same phrases over and over delight children because they know what’s coming, and because they can say the phrases with you, which gives them the feeling that they’re reading with you.

During the preschool years children acquire language more rapidly than any other time in their life. Listening to books and stories helps them learn how to communicate with others. In addition, being read to helps them learn how speech relates to printed words as they begin to realize that the symbols on the page have meaning.

With older children it’s important for you to make time for discussion after reading books. Not only will older children bask in your undivided attention, they’ll also benefit from the insights to be gained from books. Many books help children learn about feelings, which is why they enjoy reading stories about other children having similar experiences – like fears about going to the hospital or jealousy over a new sibling.

Children of all ages love to imagine and pretend. Books and stories provide the opportunity for children to become completely absorbed in a world of fantasy. They also allow children to be silly; many of our most cherished nursery rhymes may not make sense, yet they evoke powerful images and reinforce word rhythms and rhymes.

Best of all, reading books and sharing stories with your children provides them with the undivided attention they love. It’s a warm and cuddly time that they’ll always remember.

Spoiler alert!

If you’re the mother of a child enrolled in my child care program you may want to close the window now and come back after you open your Mother’s Day gift. I’m just sayin’…

Everyone else keep reading to see the fantastic flower pots we painted for Mother’s Day!

Every year I vow to plan ahead so I’m ready for Mother’s Day instead of scrambling at the last moment… And every year Mother’s Day sneaks up on me and bites me in the butt.

This year was no exception.

On Tuesday I realized Mother’s Day was THIS Sunday, not NEXT Sunday like I’d been thinking, and I didn’t have anything planned yet. Yikes! Luckily I found a quick and easy idea on the internet – painted flower pots!

Painting flower pots is quick and easy, not to mention the finished pots are both pretty and functional. What more could you want in a Mother’s Day gift?

Painted Flower Pot Supplies

You just need a couple of things to make painted flower pots for Mother’s Day:

• Terra cotta flower pot
• Spray clear coat
• Acrylic paint
• Something to put in the pot

Painted Flower Pot Directions

There are just 4 simple steps to painting flower pots, and you can probably finish the project in one day.

1. Prime
I was worried that moisture from the plant would seep through the terra cotta pot and mess up the paint so I took all the flower pots outside and sprayed the insides with Krylon Acrylic Clear Coat. I’m sure other brands would work; that’s just the first one I grabbed.

The can said it would dry in 15 minutes and could be handled in 1 hour, so we had breakfast while it dried. By the time we were done it was dry enough to handle, even though it hadn’t been a full hour since I’d sprayed them. I think the terra cotta sucked the Clear Coat in so it dried faster than it would on a nonporous surface.

2. Prepare
Make sure your child is wearing old clothes because acrylic paint doesn’t always wash out, even though it’s it’s water-based, and kids manage to get full of paint no matter how closely you watch them.

Decide how you want to provide the paint. If we’d all been using the same color I would’ve poured some paint into a shallow container for each child, but since there were different colors I dipped the brushes in the bottles for the children. They traded in their paintbrush for another one when they wanted to switch colors.

Love Bug was totally engrossed in painting her pot yellow.

3. Paint
Hand over the paint brush and watch the creativity flow!

Young children should be watched closely in case they try to taste the paint, paint their hair, or toss the paintbrush at the wall or the cat. They may lose interest before their pot is fully painted, or may paint one area over and over but leave another area blank. That’s OK! Enjoy watching your child’s self-expression and resist the urge to finish or “fix” the pot when your child is done.

Older children also need supervision, although they’re less likely to eat the paint. You may notice your older child painting a picture or design, painting one color over another, or mixing paint colors.

W was totally engrossed in painting his pot too.

When the paint was dry I wrote each child’s name and “2012″ on the rim of the pot. Then I sprayed the outside of the pot with another coat of Clear Coat, and let that dry.

4. Plant
I always love receiving flowers on Mother’s Day, so I had the children plant flowers in their painted pots. I have a policy to never have the children give a gift that I wouldn’t enjoy receiving. That’s why you’ll never see directions for a paper doily brooch, plastic bead necklace, or pipe cleaner chenille stem (gotta be PC!) flowers.

Let’s plant some flowers!

Aren’t my kiddos just adorable? I love the way Peanut is hamming it up for the camera – that is so typical of her.

Instead of stones the children put a coffee filter circle in the bottom of the pot to keep the dirt in but let water drain out. Then they poured a little dirt in.

I loosened the flowers so they could pull them out of the plastic containers and put them in the pots. Then I spooned extra dirt around the outside of the plants for the children to tamp down with their fingers.

All done!

I had the children decorate bags with stickers while I made lunch. Bags are great for wrapping plants without squishing them.

Painted Flower Pot Variations

Go ahead and put your own personal touches on this project! Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Paint your child’s hand and have him grab the side of the pot to leave a handprint.
• Fill the painted pot with smooth stones, shells, sea glass, potpourri, pinecones, or whatever else your mom would enjoy.
• Glue craft foam pieces to the pot instead of painting it. There’s a wide variety of shapes available so you can choose some with special meanings for your child.

Enjoy making painted flower pots with your child, and don’t forget to send me a photo.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Children of all ages love to play in sand – take this crash course in sandbox basics and get ready for a summer full of fun!

Sandbox Safety
Set up some ground beforehand so children know what behavior is expected in the sandbox. Rules may include:

• Sand should never be thrown.
• Sand should stay in the sand box.
• Put away sand toys when you’re done with them.
• Cover the sand box before going inside. (To keep friendly animals from using it as a litter box!)

Sandbox Cuisine
If your child hasn’t discovered the wonder of mud pies yet, show her how to make them using sand, grass, flowers, sticks, etc. Be sure to let her know which yard materials are OK to use and which aren’t! Provide dollar store measuring cups and spoons so she can practice measuring, and old bowls and wooden spoons so she can stir to her heart’s delight.

Sandbox Games
Play tic-tac-toe with a stick or your fingers in damp sand. Hide “treasures” in the sand and invite your child to search for the treasure.

Sandbox Construction
Show your child how to make sand castles with damp sand and plastic molds. Dig a moat and fill it with the hose for messy fun. Make roads, tunnels and bridges for cars and trucks to travel; add streams, lakes and boats… given enough time you could create an entire sandy world!

Sandbox Art
Dribble glue on paper and sprinkle sand over the glue; shake off the excess. Add glitter to the sand for extra pizzaz. Fill a container with damp sand and make an imprint in the sand with your hand or another object. Fill with Plaster of Paris and let dry before unmolding. Paint if desired. Make sand candles the same way, but fill the imprint with paraffin, adding a wick before it hardens.

What are your child’s favorite things to do in the sandbox?

“Here comes the sun,
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right…” ~George Harrison, the Beatles

Spring is here and along with it comes the sun! It’s hard to believe that something that makes us feel so good can be harmful, but we know that without protection the sun can cause serious burns and even skin cancer.

Young children are more susceptible to injury from the sun because their skin is thinner than that of older children and adults. This means that young children burn more easily than older children and adults, and infants are even more vulnerable than young children. Contrary to popular belief, dark-skinned children can burn also; it may take a little longer than it does for fair-skinned children, but their skin is just as susceptible to damage from the sun.

The tricky thing about sunburn is that often you don’t know you have one until it’s too late. Even on cloudy days eighty percent of the sun’s harmful rays reach the ground through the clouds and wreak havoc on your skin.

So how do you protect yourself and your family from the sun?

Begin by applying a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Ask your doctor for sunscreen recommendations for children under two. The FDA has new sunscreen label requirements for 2012 that will make it easier to choose the right sunscreen for your family.

Once you’ve found the right sunscreen, apply it generously about half an hour before going outside, and reapply according to directions. Since the face, shoulders, back of knees, back of the legs, ears and nose are more likely to burn than other parts of the body, be sure to cover those areas liberally and frequently.

Covering up in lightweight clothing is another way to protect yourself and your child from the sun. Have your child wear a hat outdoors to protect his sensitive scalp, and be sure to cover bare feet. Speaking of bare feet, watch out for hot cement, sand and play equipment. A wide variety of sun protective clothing designed to keep you cool while protecting you from the sun is available for all ages and activities.

Avoid the sun between the hours of 10 AM and 2 PM because that’s when the sun’s rays are most potent and harmful. Also keep in mind that certain drugs, including some antibiotics, increase sun sensitivity, making extra protection essential.

If you do end up with a sunburn, the first thing to do is treat it like any other burn and stop the burning. Cool wet compresses applied every 10 minutes, a cool shower, bath or dip in a cool pool can all help relieve the discomfort. Be sure to keep the burned skin out of the sun until it’s completely healed, then protect it when you do go back into the sun. Blistering, nausea, chills and fever are symptoms of a more serious burn; call your doctor immediately if any of these symptoms occur.

Now you know how to protect yourself and your family from the sun, go out and have some fun in the sun – safely!

Robert S. Donovan

As you may or may not know, back in January I applied to participate in the USDA’s Wellness Grant to improve the health of children in child care programs through better nutrition and increased physical activity.

Grant recipients were able to choose one of three kits to support their quality improvement plan: a Nutrition kit, a Cooking with Children kit, or a Physical Activity kit. Since I believe I do a good job with nutrition, and have a well-stocked kitchen, I chose the Physical Activity kit.

It finally arrived! I didn’t hear the UPS truck so I didn’t know it was here until Z-Man and my Dad came up the back stairs, each carrying a box.

I was so excited I couldn’t wait to open them!

And empty them!

Doesn’t this look like fun?!

Here’s what was in the kit, from left to right:

• Ladybug balance board.
• Activity scarves.
• Six foot parachute.
• Football, soccer ball, basketball and kickball with a string bag.
• Let’s Get Moving indoor/outdoor activity mats.
• Watch me Move balance cones and strips with activity cards.
• Movement Fun activity cards.

It’s so much cooler than I expected! Some of the items are things I’d never have bought myself, but now that I have them I will definitely use them. And I already know I want another balance board because it’s going to be so popular that one won’t be enough.

The next step is to clean out the shed and figure out how best to store everything.
Anyone want to help?

Children are naturally active learners. They’re curious, and like to investigate and experiment. Parents and caregivers have opportunities every day to enrich children’s learning in simple ways.

The most important thing we can do to encourage learning is to remember that everything a child does contributes to his or her learning. When Joey throws his food on the floor for the millionth time he learns that gravity always pulls things down. He may also learn that throwing food on the floor means his dinner is over! When Sally uses scissors to fringe the edges of paper she’s learning about cause and effect, as well as developing the small muscle skills she’ll need later for writing.

Children learn best from hands-on experiences with materials they can see, hear, touch, smell, and possibly even taste. Worksheets, flashcards, and the like don’t offer the type of interaction that children need to learn. Circling pictures of bigger or smaller items on a sheet of paper can’t compare to the opportunity to learn about different sized objects by holding them in your hands.

Some way you can support your child’s learning are:

• Encourage imagination by offering many opportunities for to create freely. Sand and water, play dough, dress-up clothes and other open-ended materials occupy children for long periods of time and encourage them to use their imaginations.
• Develop thinking skills by asking lots of questions. Gather several unrelated objects like a cotton ball, toothbrush, and crayon, then ask your child “What are these used for?” and let her explain without correcting or guiding. Trace common items on a piece of paper and challenge your child to match the item with the tracing; this strengthens visual perception and thinking skills.
• Provide hands-on activities in everyday situations. While baking homemade pizza, talk about the shape of the pizza crust: is it round, rectangular, or some unusual shape? What other objects can you find that are the same shape? What does the sauce look, smell, taste and feel like? Should you use a lot of sauce or just a little? Your child can develop vocabulary, practice math skills, and much more through simple cooking activities.
• Promote language by talking, talking, talking. Describe what you’re doing, ask questions: “What do think will happen if…?” and “Why do you think __________ happened?” Another great language activity is writing an email or letter to another family member. Young children can dictate while you type or write, while older children can try their skills at the keyboard or with a pencil.

Remember, children are always learning!

Please welcome guest author Jenna back to My Happy Crazy Life. Today she is sharing some tips for looking great while spending less this summer. Like all of Jenna’s posts, the only benefit I receive besides the great tips is time saved.

With summer right around the corner, thousands of shoppers are already flying through retail stores in hopes of buying all the latest fashion trends and designs.  Although summer is generally a time to kick back, relax, and wear less, it seems that these days people are spending more on summer clothing and accessories than they are on the other more clothing-necessary seasons.  Maybe that’s just me though, who knows?  In any case, shopping for summer doesn’t have to be an expensive, time-consuming affair. Here are a few tips that should help you and your family save some money, and time, while still looking good in the coming summer months.

- DIY T-Shirts
This is one of the biggest trends that young women have fallen into lately: the do-it-yourself approach to t-shirt designs.  By cutting patterns and designs in the sleeves and backs of old, regular t-shirts, you can now find yourself with a whole new summer wardrobe without spending a dollar.  This is also a good opportunity for some family bonding as you can work on these trendy new shirts together.  Go ahead mom, teach her a thing or two about fashion, and how to wield a pair of scissors.

- Cheap Accessories
Buying knock-off accessories online can help you get normally expensive designer articles for much less.  This is a particularly smart way to get sunglasses at a low price, which would otherwise cost you an arm and a leg.  Ultimately, they do the same exact thing, and with designer knock-offs as good as they are these days, they look just as fashionable, if not more fashionable at times.  Shoes and other clothing accessories are also good things to shop for online at discount rates.

- Consignment Shops
With one particularly big summer blockbuster movie coming up in The Great Gatsby, fashion is likely to see a huge resurgence of old trends.  Flapper dresses, suits, and panama and cloche hats are likely to make a return in a big way – with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan all starring, you can count on it.  This is where grandma might be quite fashionably helpful, too.  Consignment shops and thrift stores are bound to be popular venues this summer in lieu of this impending release.  Hit them first before everyone can get all the good stuff. With online options for shopping as prevalent as actual physical stores these days, there’s really no shortage of ways to save on fashionable clothing and accessories. 

Make sure you and your family are happy and comfortably dressed for the upcoming warmth, without breaking the bank, or perhaps your gas tank.
~Jenna

Thanks for the tips Jenna! I’ve got one more: Get a bunch of friends together for a clothing swap! Not only will everyone have a chance to score some new clothes, you can get rid of things that no longer fit or that you don’t love anymore. It’s a win-win situation all around!

What are YOUR low-cost summer fashion tips?

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Children love being outside, playing in the dirt, watching things grow, and learning about the world around them, so it’s only natural that they also love gardening. Just spending a couple of minutes gardening with your child will forge a connection to nature that they’ll always remember.

Children are natural gardeners because they love dirt; touching it, digging in it, smelling it, and may even try to taste it when we’re not watching. From a very young age children can be involved in gardening. Babies may not be ready to play in the dirt, but their senses will involve them as they watch you work, smell the rich earth, and listen to the sounds around them. Toddlers can help dig holes and cover seeds, water, and even pull weeds under your watchful eye. Preschoolers and older children can plant and care for their own gardens with increasing responsibility and decreasing tutelage as they get older.

You don’t need a green thumb to garden with children, but if you’re not sure where to begin, try these activities first:

Keep it Simple

Children like to see results quickly, so start with seeds that sprout quickly and require minimal care. Grass is one of the easiest seeds to grow, and chances are there’s at least one bare or thin area in your lawn that could use some care.

Keep the seeds moist – this is a great job for your child. Children love watering plants and will feel important when they are given such an important job. In a week to ten days the grass with germinate and begin to sprout. Try to let your child discover this amazing surprise independently. A good way to subtly point out the new growth and simultaneously remind your child to water the grass is by asking “Have you checked on your seeds today?”

For a fun springtime activity, make Egg Head Pals. Next time you make eggs crack them carefully to keep most of the shell intact. After washing the eggshells, help your child carefully draw a face on the eggshell using a permanent marker – the open end is at the top. Cut a paper towel tube into 1″ sections to hold your Egg Head Pal. Fill the shells with potting soil and sprinkle grass seed on. Water, place in a window, and watch your Egg Head Pal grow green grass hair!

Plant Seedlings

An even easier way to garden with children is to buy seedlings and transplant them into your garden or a larger pot. Children won’t be able to experience planting a seed, caring for it and watching it sprout, but you can carefully knock the dirt off the roots so they can learn about how the roots help the plant grow. They’ll also learn how to use gardening tools, have a chance to work in the dirt, and most importantly – spend time with you.

Grow Veggies

Many vegetables are easy to grow, even in planters if you don’t have space for a garden. Green beans are among the easiest vegetables to grow, and can be eaten both raw and cooked. Try purple beans – they grow purple but turn green when they’re cooked! Lettuce is another vegetable that’s easy to grow. You can harvest outer leaves while leaving the inner leaves to continue growing, and lettuce just needs a quick rinse before eating. Zucchini grows like a weed! It’s the most fool-proof of all vegetables, and can be eaten raw, cooked, or grated and made into zucchini bread or muffins.

One of the benefits of growing vegetables is that children are more likely to try – and like – vegetables that they’ve grown themselves. You’ll be amazed how quickly a handful of fresh-picked green beans disappear into little gardeners’ mouths!

Including children in gardening fosters their creativity, independence, responsibility and provides a sense of accomplishment for them. So what are you waiting for? Grab a trowel and start digging!

I love organizing, but paperwork used to my biggest challenge. I tried to get organized by sorting papers into piles: To Mail. To Shred. To Recycle. To Do Later. To Do Sooner. DO TODAY! But faced with all those piles I was so overwhelmed I ended up only doing what I had to do and putting the rest off for later – much later.

Then last summer Teacher and I both read “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. I adapted his ideas to come up with a system that works for me.

As your paperwork comes in, sort it into one of four categories: Do, Defer, Deposit, or Dump.

• Do: Take care of the things you can get done in 2 minutes or less right away. Then pat yourself on the back for cutting down on paper clutter and stress.
• Defer: Set aside things that will take longer than 2 minutes. Put these on your To Do pile, then set aside some time every day to get them done.
• Deposit: File the things you need to keep, like appliance instruction manuals or articles you want to reference later.
• Dump: Get rid of junk mail and any other garbage right away.

You can do the same thing with your email! As you read each message, decide where it belongs:

• Do: Reply right away if you can do it in 2 minutes or less.
• Defer: Move messages that will require more than 2 minutes of your time out of your Inbox to a different folder. I set up an “Action” folder and use flags to indicate priority messages.
• Deposit: File messages you may need to look up later into a separate folder. Mine is named “Reference” and divided into subfolders for blogging, child care, sewing, etc.
• Delete: Get rid of spam and any messages you don’t need to keep.

Now it’s your turn to share:
How do YOU organize paperwork both online and off? Share your tips to managing physical and digital clutter!

Visit the main post on BlogHer.com add your comments. While you’re there, remember to enter the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes!

Many parents are worried about their children’s success in school, even when their children are still infants and toddlers. Stores are packed with toys and materials advertised to help your baby learn, but they’re not necessary. Neither are the elaborate games, worksheets, flash cards, and other “learning activities” some parents create for their children.

The problem is that parents who are so busy quizzing their child on the ABCs, colors and numbers, they miss the best opportunities to help their children learn.

The best way to help children learn is by taking advantage of everyday teachable moments

Teachable moments aren’t about counting how many apples are in the bag when you go to the grocery store, but are about being eager to respond to your child’s natural curiosity and to share discoveries with your child.

Just like adults, children enjoy learning at their own pace through a teachable moments instead through drills and quizzes set up on someone else’s schedule.

Learning about Feelings

Teachable moments are the perfect time to help your child learn about feelings. Let’s say your three year old just pushed another child off the slide. What better time to ask “How do you think your friend feels right now?” Or to remind your child to use words rather than actions by modeling appropriate phrases like “Can I please have a turn?” Either way, your child will learn more through this teachable moment than by coloring an “I Can Share” coloring sheet.

Strengthening Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving skills can also be developed through teachable moments. Instead of freaking out when your seven year old spills juice all over the kitchen floor, take a deep breath and embrace the teachable moment. You’ve got the opportunity to build your child’s self-esteem by letting him take responsibility for his actions and to let him know you see him as capable and competent by letting him figure out how to fix the problem.

Even young children need opportunities to solve their own problems. If the toy on the blanket is too far away for baby to reach, he’ll soon learn that he can pull the blanket to bring the toy closer. If there are two cookies and three children, let them figure out how to share fairly. As adults it’s so easy to jump in and fix our children’s problems, but in doing so we’re missing a valuable teaching moment to let our children see themselves as competent people who can solve their own problems.

World Around Us

Teachable moments help our children learn about the world around them. When you walk outside on a chilly morning to find last night’s puddle frozen solid, it’s the perfect time to help your child learn that liquids turn to solids. When you need to go to the post office, or the dentist, or the grocery store, take your child along to see mail being processed, how to care for teeth, and that food doesn’t just pop into the refrigerator by itself.

When your child finds a spider, take a moment to watch what the spider is doing and talk about it with your child. Instead of telling your child facts, ask questions to get your child thinking, “Why does a spider spin a web?” “What color is the spider?” “How many legs does the spider have?”

Children’s natural curiosity about the world around them opens the door for teachable moments every day. We just need to put down the worksheets and walk through.

Image credit: www.365kidcrafts.com