Do you remember Cootie Catchers from when you were a kid?  I loved them!  Here is a cootie catcher perfect for the learning to read kiddo in your life!  For our paper we used one of the sheets of Shaving Cream Painted works from yesterday.  I was inspired by Jimmie and her daughter Sprite (love their blog).  They created cootie catchers for learning history and math facts at Heart of the Matter Homeschoolers.   If they can make one for the Civil War, I bet I can make one about “Short …

I loved discovering Mindi’s site, B.A. Bookworm, we are bookworm wanna-bes over here and I love some of the ideas she has for ways to encourage reading in our kids!  She is an advocate for getting kids up and moving, rather than sitting in front of a TV (or computer – we love starfall and online educational game over here!)  All you need for these activities is a brown paper bag and some creativity!

I love our fun activity box, well, actually we have two of them, one for when we travel with the kids and one for when I need to occupy them say at Church or another event where they have to sit quietly for a few hours.  Depending on how you use the box and how creative you get, the entertainment can last for hours!  To make the box last longer, only pull one activity out at a time.  If you don’t need to worry about stretching the fun out, try …

This is a super simple activity I remember playing when I was a kid.  Basically, we created a stop/go sign and one person got to be “in charge”.  When the sign said go we ran around like crazy banshees!  When it said stop, we’d stop.  Super simple!  Kept them entertained for quite awhile.  I even got a morning “quiet time” as a result of all our running!  I have some resting preschoolers this morning.
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What you need to make your sign:

Paper towel roll (I think we used the insert from our …

Are you struggling to find something to give/make for someone on your list?  Wanting to give a handmade gift that people will really use?  In this day of heightened environmental awareness a canvas bag is a great gift.  I found this was a project that showcased the work of  even the youngest budding artists in an aesthetically pleasing way.   Use it as the gift itself or as an eco friendly alternative to wrapping paper.
Materials to make your tote bag:

old cereal box to use as a “frame”
tote bags (pick the size and …

We have had so many terrific submissions!  So many tips! Thank you to all who participated in our first blog carnival! Our next carnival will
Ticia is mommy to three preschoolers and she explains how she makes doing chores easy for her youngsters by using plastic dishes and even explains her method of getting groceries unloaded (which at my house can be an all-afternoon event).  I hope you can learn from her and her post, Chores and Kids posted at Adventures in Mommydom.
Sherry shared her chore list for us!  …

More ways to use chores to teach your kids…
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Mopping, wiping, vacuuming and learning:

I use mopping to work on memory skills. Did you already mop here? How can you tell? With our table top we can easily practice deductive reasoning. The area without crumbs and greasy hand prints was wiped down, the other areas still need attention.
With mopping, short-term memory is more important. Often the floor looks about the same. So we work on developing our short-term memorywhile mopping.  Where have we mopped? Where …

My kids love cooking with me. So how can I use those moments adding ingredients, mixing and stirring to teach my kiddos? Here are some of the learning ideas I came up with:
Cooking with your toddlers:

Sequencing steps. It is important for kids to follow specific steps in a process. Example: First, mix eggs, butter and sugar. Then add the flour. Finally, spoon the cookies onto the cookie sheet. This is a great time to discuss consequences and make predictions. If we skip …

Our “theme” for this week is doing chores with our kids, what ways can we use chores and reoccurring daily events to teach our children educational concepts (math, verbal skills, reasoning, etc.) as well as instill in our kids a sense of value for work and appreciation of effort.  I love how excited my kids are to contribute to our family.  Now I only wish I were more willing to take the time and let them help me more often!
Here are some ways we have used washing the dishes as …

I have three kids all under four and they love being useful, feeling needed, knowing that they contribute to our family.  And, I love to look for the sneaky ways to help my kids learn without realizing it, or without the confines of a structured environment.  Chores are a great way for my kids to contribute, for learning to occur and for us to get more done in a day.
Sorting laundry and math skills:

Counting, learning one-to-one correspondence, or learning that “1″ means 1 item.   Kids Love to Know explains …