How to Make an Easy Kite out of Household Objects

Last year at a church picnic, someone brought kites and Caden loved flying them. Ever since the weather has warmed, he has been asking to go kite flying. Originally I planned on buying him one, until I came across a tutorial on Inner Child Fun on how to make an easy kite. We followed the steps together one by one in their video.



The best part about making this easy kite is it's adaptable to what you have on hand. We used Popsicle sticks instead of skewers, gift wrapping ribbon instead of streamers, and baker's twine instead of string. I also let the boys add stickers and washi tape for decoration.

The day we made the kites was snowy, so on Sunday we decided to try them out because it was windy and we had been cooped up all weekend due to cold weather and sickness. The boys had a blast! The wind wasn't consistent so the kites didn't stay up very long, but it was an excellent lesson in patience and perseverance.

Then Daddy came home and helped.

Making easy kites out of household objects was the perfect activity for practicing different skills, spending time outdoors, and having fun as a family!

How to Teach Your Child at Home Using Everyday Activities

Photo by Peter Galbraith

You don't have to spend money on preschool or be a seasoned homeschooler for your children to learn about the world around them. You can make your home a place of learning by turning everyday opportunities into chances to teach knowledge and skills.

Toys
Why not start with the things kids interact with most? Any toy can become a chance for subtle learning. Pretend to care for stuffed animals to emulate caring for pets; note the shapes, sizes, and colors of toys; try to figure out how some toys work or are made; play with blocks to explain simple physics concepts. There are endless possibilities! Let your child's play guide you.

Board Games
Board games are easy ways to incorporate math and other academic skills. Chutes and Ladders and Hi Ho Cheery-O! are excellent for counting and introducing addition and subtraction. Uno teaches preschoolers to match numbers and colors, and Candyland is perfect for reviewing colors as well. Matching games are good for teaching word recognition too, not just pictures.

Other Games
Other home and travel games make great learning opportunities. I Spy teaches children to observe and describe their environment. Hide and Seek helps children practice counting, searching thoroughly, and using their sense of hearing.

Puzzles
Puzzles are fun ways to learn matching, from the simplest illustrations to complex puzzle pieces. They're great for reviewing geography too.

Songs
Almost anything can be learned through song, not just the alphabet. Use tunes to common children's songs to teach names, dates, and places--even math!

Books
Books are oceans of knowledge just waiting to be charted. There are so many creative nonfiction books too, making information that can be boring or difficult to understand and remember into fun, attainable, and memorable. 

Videos
You can find anything online, especially on YouTube: how to make things, how things work, where things come from, what things look and sound like, etc. You can also learn American Sign Language. Don't have Internet or suffer from poor video quality? Borrow or buy educational DVDs, like the popular Signing Time.

Technology
Make technology your educational friend with learning games and shows. PBS Kids is a favorite at our house. Even do something as simple as making a password your child's name so he or she has to learn to spell it to use the computer or other device.

Around the House
Use measuring to explain math and cooking to explore science. Teach your children life skills, like doing laundry, cleaning, sewing on a button, budgeting, etc. Plant a garden to watch how things grow and die. Let your children help you fix things (or watch a professional do it). Hang maps, graphs, and charts in the kitchen or bedroom for quick reviewing of knowledge. Play musical instruments (or make your own) and create art together.

Free Community Activities
Go to reading time at the library for social interaction and to discover new books, songs, and themes. Attend free classes, workshops, festivals, markets, parades, museums, and events in your comunity to expose your children to new hobbies and ideas.  

Out and About
Count stairs you climb, talk about the weather, find different modes of transportation people use. Make anything into an observation, an explanation, or a game --or a question to explore together if you don't know the answer. Take the time to listen to your children to find out what they are interested in.

What do you use to teach your children at home?

The Rec Center

The rec center here is open weekday mornings for young children and babies to play. There is a toddler room, bounce houses, and cars to ride on. And all for free! We've been going as a family since Justin doesn't work in the mornings. It is a short walk away too, so I can take the boys if Justin isn't available (except if it's raining or snowing, which unfortunately are the days when we need to get out of the house the most). We went for the first time last Wednesday and the boys had the time of their lives. Gabriel loved the bouncy balls the most, and Caden the cars of course.

What play places do you like to take your kids to in your town?

10 Sidewalk Chalk Games

photo by Ryan Bourne

Summer means throwing the kids outside to play. If you think they may get bored quickly with their usual activities, try these 10 sidewalk chalk games!

1. Connect the dots. Draw a picture with just dots, number them, and let the kids connect the dots to see what you drew.

2. Hangman. This fun standby game is even more fun with a larger area to draw on!

3. Pictionary. Write words or phrases on paper and then have a child pick one and draw it for others to guess.

4. Hopscotch. This one gets the kids exercising too!

photo by Adrian

5. Chalk race. Race down the sidewalk, forward or backward, while drawing a line of chalk behind you.

6. Self-portraits. Trace your child's body on the ground and have them draw in the details.

7. Hole in the Wall. Similar to the TV show, have your child lie down in a silly pose. Trace his or her body with chalk. See if the other kids can lie down in the pose.

8. Tic tac toe. An easy game that never gets old!

photo by Horton Web Design

9. Dot game. Make a grid of dots. Take turns drawing a line connecting two dots, with the goal of making a square. Whoever closes a square on their turn puts their initials inside the square. Once all the squares are made, whoever has the most squares wins.

10. Photo scenes. Draw a scene on the ground. Tell the kids to lie down and pose according to that scene, get on a ladder above them, and take a photo. (Go here for an example.)

What chalk games do your kids play?

Ten Active Indoor Games

Are you and your children stuck indoors because of the cold weather? Are they driving you nuts with their high energy or spending too much time in front of the TV? Here are some fun, energetic games and activities you can play inside so you don't go stir crazy!

Bowling!

1. Hide and Seek
2. Duck, Duck, Goose
3. Follow the Leader
4. Simon Says
5. Twister: Make your own mat by painting an old bed sheet, and call out body parts and colors by pulling them out of a hat.
6. Bowling: Use empty toilet paper/paper towel rolls and be sure to play music for fun and dancing!
7. Obstacle course
8. Activity songs: "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" (try doing it backwards!); "London Bridge"; "If You're Happy and You Know It" (change up the song by including other emotions and feelings).
9. Bubbles
10. Musical instruments and dance

How to Teach Your Baby to Clean Up

Making his first mess!

Ever since Caden was a baby people have been amazed to see him clean up his toys and other messes. They were in awe that a child so young could and would do it. I think people greatly underestimate what babies and toddlers can do. They are little sponges just waiting to soak up every ounce of knowledge they can. We must take advantage of this time to instill in them good habits before they reach the age where they realize those things aren't fun to do! But if it's something they have been doing for as long as they can remember, it becomes second nature to them and they don't think twice about it.

That doesn't mean Caden is perfect. He still is 2! He sometimes gets distracted and starts playing with the toys again instead of cleaning them up. But overall, he is a clean child, especially when he spills something. He doesn't need me to tell him to clean it up because he freaks out! He's a little OCD about food getting on him or his eating area.

Anyway, here are some tips to help you teach your baby how to clean up the toys:

1. Start as soon as Baby can play with toys on his or her own, around 6 months. At the end of the day, sing the "Clean Up" song as you put away the toys while Baby watches you. It is important that Baby sees you do this and is not in another room or sleeping. 
2. Be consistent so Baby knows and expects this everyday. Once you've established the daily habit of cleaning up, help Baby pick up a toy or two and put them away.
3. Clean up more frequently as Baby's play times increase. Good times to clean up are before nap, before dinner, and before bed. You can also teach putting away one toy before getting out another.
4. Wait patiently for Baby to help you clean up on his or her own (Caden did at about 12 months). Never force it. Give lots of praise when it finally happens so Baby knows it is a good and positive thing to do. 
5. Continue to do this and soon you won't need to help at all! However, it is not bad to still help because it teaches your toddler team work and kindness (he or she is more likely to help you clean your messes in return).

As your baby becomes a toddler and starts to learn things like colors, shapes, and numbers, you can incorporate this learning into cleaning up. For example, ask your toddler to pick up a red toy. If your toddler gets distracted and wants to play with the toys again, make cleaning up a game. For example, pretending to wash the dishes in the play kitchen and putting them away, driving the cars back into their bucket, or pushing stuffed animals in a shopping cart to the bed.

Good luck! You and your baby can do this and have a mess free home!

Cheap Crafts & Activities for Toddlers

Is it still cold where you are? Or already getting too hot, like here in Arizona? Need ideas for entertaining the little ones? The good news is that it costs very little to nothing, because toddlers and preschoolers are the easiest to please!

Crafts
The trick is to find things you already have in your home and encourage creativity. Construction paper, crayons, stickers, and pipe cleaners yielded this:

Caden didn't care for the fingerprinting, but most kids do. (Try making animals only out of fingerprints!) Caden loves tracing his hand though. The "C" next to his hand was an attempt to trace his elbow.

If your kids want something more crafty and structured, then gather your supplies and figure out what you can make. I found cotton balls (saved from medicine bottles), ribbon scraps, buttons, and pipe cleaners. I think you can guess what we made:

Maybe with your items you can make lunch-bag, popsicle-stick, or sock puppets. Or puzzles by coloring pictures, gluing them to cardboard, and cutting them up into weird shapes. You can also find tons of free printable crafts online. The simplest ones require just coloring utensils, scissors, and glue or tape. If you don't have something, improvise! And the best part about using or recycling things you already have or buying supplies at the dollar store is that you don't feel guilty when the kids break or lose the projects or when you have to throw them away to make room for more.


Activities
Not the crafty type? There are other fun activities you can do indoors. I read on another blog giving rice, beans, a muffin tin or cookie sheet, and measuring cups for toddlers to play with. I'm not one to encourage playing with or wasting food, so I found some beads and buttons and put them on shoebox lids. Caden loves pouring the buttons in and out of the jars and measuring cup/spoon. He's been playing with them every day. Yesterday we also put beads on the pipe cleaners--great hand-eye coordination exercise. You can also turn it into a sorting game to review colors, shapes, and sizes.

A few weeks ago, my mom gave me her old flannel board. Preschool felt cut-outs and lessons can be pricey, so I found some cheap pre-cut felt circles at Jasmine Blossom Crafts and wrote letters on them with a Sharpie marker. You can also do numbers and shapes or leave them blank and review colors. Caden likes spelling words and making them look like caterpillars.

You can also make your own play dough or finger paint with few ingredients, blow bubbles, squirt water out of spray bottles (outside if it's hot or in the bathtub if it's cold), and play dress up out of old clothes and costumes.

Play games together too. Caden loves hide and seek. If you prefer something less active, try a simple card game like Go Fish, Memory, or Uno (turning it into a sorting game instead).

Happy playing! Share any ideas you have.

Ready, Set, Go!

That's Caden's favorite phrase right now. He says it when playing cars or just moving from one place to another--he will stop and then run to the location after "go." He is starting to talk more too and say words correctly.

Yesterday out of nowhere he asked to play cats. He started crawling around the floor and meowing and then had me do it too. I showed him how to scratch the furniture.

Then he became a dog and tried jumping on all fours. It ended up more like a shuffle. He also tried a horse, but that only made him want a horsey ride on me.

Caden is super affectionate right now, always giving big hugs, kisses, and smiles without being asked. When I'm sad or crying he comforts me. And when he gets hurt I have to kiss his owies before he goes off and plays again!

Caden has been on a nap strike for the last couple weeks. Once I got pregnant we napped together, but now he fights nap time. Sometimes nap time fights back:

Other past photos I never shared:

He's gotten good at walking in our shoes and putting them on the right feet!

He wanted to read my book.

Some Things Never Change

Basket Case

Ever since he could crawl, Caden has been obsessed with baskets and anything else he can climb into or on top of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And those are only the moments caught on camera!