Bits and Pieces

So you’re baby is finally old enough to eat solid table foods…well, soft ones cut into atom-sized pieces. Mealtime at my house can be quite an ordeal—between getting together components for a well-balanced meal, cooking vegetables until they’re soft enough to melt in Baby Bear’s mouth, letting them cool, cutting everything up into little pieces (I can cut off the skin of a grape and still slice the inside into 8 pieces)…I usually end up with three dirty plates, two forks, and three knives for one of her meals.

My easiest solution so far is good ‘ole Campbell’s soup. Soup has a nice variety of veggies, grains, and meat. But even better: everything is pre-cut! I strain the soup before giving it to Baby Bear (as well as let it cool). Some types of soup still need the vegetables cut, but not many. I choose varieties with small noodles as I despise having to cut them as well.

Although soup is often high in sodium, if I don’t have the time it takes for a full meal production, soup is perfect (there are also varieties with lower sodium).

Here are some that we (yes, I eat it, too) like best:

Muir Glen Organic Savory Lentil Soup: mainly lentils.

Amy's Soups Indian Dal Curried Lentil: this is also a lentil soup, with a kick.

Campbell’s Healthy Request Vegetable (made with beef stock): contains alphabet noodles, green beans, carrots, peas, corn, and potato.

Campbell’s Chunky Fully Loaded Turkey Pot Pie: contains dumplings, turkey chunks, carrots, peas, and celery.

Bon appétit!

Art Supplies for Elementary-Aged Kids...Oil Pastels

I have two children who love to create art. I am a writer who loves to write about art.

Doing research for an article, I ended up immersing myself in it—painting, drawing, and sketching. I interviewed art teachers, fine artists, and illustrators. I visited an elementary school art class, purchased new art supplies, watched demo videos online, and started creating art on my own. I learned way too much for a magazine article. So I decided to blog about the spill-over. Day one: oil pastels.

Recently, I was given a pack of Crayola oil pastels. These are wonderful! Although it will feel similar to using crayons, oil pastels are smoother—they just slide across the paper. And the colors are brighter—they really pop on color paper.  (Here was one mom's comparison: Oil pastel vs crayon) Oil pastels are messier than crayons, but great for sit-down projects.  My kids don’t even want a snack after school because they want to use these.

Some tips:

• Put newspaper underneath workspace.
• Don’t have your child cover the whole page in pastels (especially black).
• Wear old clothes.
• Have your child try overlapping colors—they totally blend together!
• Have them rub their finger over the color.
• Give your child different colors of construction paper.
• Look at famous artwork to mimic.
• Join in the fun. Not only did my kids love me joining in, but the conversations that naturally flowed when we were all busy was amazing.

What to do with Birthday Money

What my son's birthday money went toward: driving a taxi.

As my daughter’s birthday approaches, I have to be honest: I dread more stuff coming into our house.  It seems as if we finally picked up the wrapping paper from Christmas and her brother’s birthday.  But here we are: getting ready to bring in the loot.

Although there’s not much I can do about that (I do want my daughter to enjoy the gifts from her friends), I have decided that the cash she gets from relatives is not going toward more stuff!  So I’ve been brainstorming what to do with it (besides putting all of it in savings) and ways we've spent the money in the past. 

Classes: Since my kids don't yet know how much classes cost, I often say the money went toward a class they are currently taking.  Ballet/gymnastics/sports classes aren’t cheap.  I think it’s good for them to know that classes cost money and that Grandma is supporting their love of dance/soccer. Sometimes the class cost more than a $50 check, but that’s okay.

Rides I Normally Wouldn’t Spend Money On: My son loves the little train that travels around the mall, as well as play on those quarter-fed little vehicles at the mall.  On his last birthday, we put the money toward both of us riding the train.  We had a fun time waving to mall patrons.  I think he also realized that we won’t be riding the train every time we go to the mall—we were able to do it with his birthday money.  Although, to me, the ride is a waste of money, it’s a fun experience for him and there’s no take-way mess/clutter afterward (although he did play with that punched train ticket for days).

A Fun Day Together:  Although I can afford to take my children places like bowling or ice skating, it adds up.  By my children using their birthday money towards fun days out, I think they appreciate them a little more.  It’s also nice to be able to tell a relative that the money was spent on a family activity vs. another Barbie doll.

Food Related Fun:  My daughter loves to bake.  I think she would have fun buying supplies I’m to normally willing to buy: sprinkles, colored sugar, cupcake wrappers, you name it.  And I’d much prefer doing this than having a baking kit or Easy Bake Oven sitting around collecting dust.  What’s nice about creating with food is, when you’re done creating it, you eat it!  (See my post on this: Anti-Crafting: Crafts That Don’t Use Paper, Scissors, Glue, or Tape)

Seeds and Such:  It’s getting warmer, and my kids and I are excited to begin planting.  What fun it will be for them to pick out their own plants or seeds and pay the cashier with their own money.  This can also be a learning experience as to what else they’ll need: soil?  gardening gloves?  Do they have enough money? If not, what is the most important items they need/want? Can they share certain items?

I believe a whole roll of tape was
 used for these lovely stuffed animal garments.

Supplies They Borrow from You:  Anyone else out of tape every time you need it because your little one used it to wrap a gift for her stuffed possum?  Instead, I might have my daughter buy her own tape/Post-Its/whatever gets swiped from my desk for projects.  This may sound greedy, but I have a feeling that if my daughter paid for tape, she might conserve it a little more than when it seems there’s an endless supply.

 

Sharing the Wealth: I have two children.  They might (MIGHT) buy into getting something the two of them can both enjoy, such as treating their sibling to ice cream.  It's a win-win  It's worth a try.

(Please note that that my kids are still little pipsqueaks.  I don’t think they're quite ready to donate money to charity.  I’d rather wait until they truly understand the concept.  We do donate in their teachers’ names for the holidays/end of year).

 

If you look through my suggestions, you should note that almost all of these end up adding 0% clutter to the house and 100% happy children.

Do you have a good use of birthday money?

Neighborhood Clue Game with Rocks

Want something different to do on your next walk with your kids?  Try this clue game.  It’s especially fun with little ones who get very excited about finding the clue rocks.

Preparation

Print out TWO copies of a map of your neighborhood.  I just went to www.maps.google.com and entered in my address.  Then I zoomed out as much as I wanted included in the map.
 

Think of locations or intersections where the clue rocks can be dropped.  Label these on your maps with symbols (I used colored shapes, such as a red triangle, a red square, a green triangle, a green square, etc.)  I’d suggest only having about six to nine total clue spots.  Be sure both maps end up with the same symbols at the same points—they need to be identical.
 

Draw the same symbols on rocks or other small objects (see picture below). 

How to Play

You will need two adults and at least one child.  Break off into teams, each with at least one adult.

The Hiders’ Job

The Hiders will secretly pick a spot on the map to begin the game.  They will then leave that clue at the house (we leave ours by the door).  They will take the rest of the rocks with them (we use the fun little pouch shown here), as well as one of the maps.  (I also recommend the adult brings a cell phone in case of rock-placement error.)
 

They then hurry to that first spot and leave their next clue rock.  We set ours along the edge of the sidewalk where the Seekers may need a minute to find it rather than in plain view.
 

They continue doing this at at least one other point on the map.  They will wait at the last point and watch for the other team to arrive.

The Seekers’ Job

The Seekers will stay at home until the Hiders have had a little bit of time for a head start.  I suggest five minutes.
 

Once five minutes is up, the Seekers pick up their first clue and head out to that clue spot.  They should bring with them the map and a small pouch to collect the rocks in.

At the first clue spot, they will search for their next clue rock.  Once they find that symbol on the map, they will go to find another clue.  They continue doing this until they end up locating the Hiders.

Alone Time for All

A couple of months ago, my four-year old stopped needing a nap.  Great.  Nap time was the only time during the day I had to myself to write and veg out a little (okay, and eat chocolate). 

Soon after, I was given a double-whammy: my two year-old also felt he could live off bedtime alone. 

I began scouring pages of Pinterest for activities they could do alone.  I went through my hoarder-style closet full of toys I bought for a rainy day but had never given them. 

As a former teacher, I thought it’d be best to create a calendar arranged by theme of what they could do in what I dubbed “Alone Time” while I continued on with my old routine.

I planned to have the kids work on math-related activities one day, art another, etc.  I created boxes with fun math things, brand new art ideas…

FAIL!

The activities and toys were so foreign, the kids had no idea what to do with them.  I was called in again and again to help them.  My son plain wasn’t interested in the toys he’d never seen before.  I didn’t get it: on Pinterest, these Alone Time bins worked like magic.

As I was rearranging toys in my bedroom, my daughter came in and began to play with something we had done together a bunch of times and then I had put away.  Well, what do you know: now she was ready for it to be played with solo.

And that’s when I realized something: we could still do the fun activities I had planned, but we’d need to do them together first.  They needed to explore them when I could answer questions and show them how fun they could be.

I needed to flip the toys in my house.  The toys that were in the living room that we played with together a million times could be used in their bedrooms for Alone Time.  The new toys would then go in the living room where the kids and I could play with them together.

The kids didn’t need to do art alone.  Instead, we can do art together—this also allowed for messy supplies and scissors.  The cool princess dice and graph paper with dry erase markers would also be fun to do together.  Once she gets it, then it can be an option for alone time.  And I didn't need to be all teacher-y and have a planned agenda.  It would require too much work on my part and not really matter to the kids that much.

I’m excited to try my new plan.  I’ll report back on how it went.

Anti-Crafting: Crafts That Don’t Use Paper, Scissors, Glue, or Tape: Graham Cracker Robots

If there’s one thing I learned having preschool-aged children is that just about every activity ends in a product. 

Don’t get me wrong—I love doing crafts of all sorts.  And Pinterest has really fun ones.  But I think I’m…over-

crafted at this point. 

Not only do I not know what to do with the finished product (I feel guilty getting rid of them when they turn out so cute), but my kids don’t really care about it either—they just enjoyed the process.  So why not focus on the process?

Lately, I’ve been trying to do more activities that don’t use traditional craft supplies, not even reused items such as toilet paper tubes, craft sticks, etc. 

Many of our projects have now been food related.  We make things out of yummy things, and then eat them.  This is good for three reasons: 1) the kids still are doing fun “crafts,” 2) they end up eating something they normally might not because they were distracted making the product, and 3) there’s no worrying about where to hang it or how to sneak it into the recycling bin—the kids munch it right up.

My four-year old's robot.

So, here is Project #1:

Graham Cracker Robots

Ingredients:

• graham crackers, broken into squares and the smaller rectangles
• “glue”—we used cream cheese and sunflower butter, but you can also use peanut butter or frosting
• small foods, such as small circular crackers, raisins, cut grapes, various kinds of cereals, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds

I got inspired to create robots after my kids and I read the book Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit by Chris Van Dusen.  My kids seemed interested in robots, so I thought they’d have fun making their own.  Instead of getting out paper, though, I showed them how we could use graham crackers to make a 2D robot.  I then gave them knives (they sell toddler knives, but my kids like my decorative appetizer knives which also are dull) and a muffin tray of fun things to attach as buttons and gadgets.  They used the cream cheese and sunflower butter as glue.

My kids had fun with this and ate all of their supplies—there was really little clean up with this.  It also was a good chance to talk about shapes with my little one, as well as give him practice in fine-motor skills. 

Stay tuned for other Anti-Craft Projects.

Scavenger Hunt Walks—Making the Most of Nature

Stop to smell the flowers.

My kids and I love going for walks around the neighborhood.  To me, it’s the perfect chance to teach them about their environment.

When we first started to look for items, we made a list of things we hoped to see and hear, such as a cat, a dog, things that are red, different kinds of wheels, and a panda bear (

my two-year-old’s suggestion). 

Since then, we’ve added natural things to look for:

If we find pinecones: Where is the pine tree? 

If we find helicopter seeds: Where is the maple tree?  (These seeds are fun to raise up over your head and drop, watching them propel back to the ground.)

Pointing out a maple tree.

If we see acorns: Where is the oak tree?  Are there any squirrels around?

If we hear birds: Do you know what kind they are?  I bring my smartphone with me—a great app with bird calls (at least for an iPhone) is BirdCaller.  Can you see the birds?  Be sure to check out my bird crafts, too: Bird Crafts

If we see ants: Is there an anthill nearby?  How many ants are there?

If we see yellow, blue, or purple flowers: Are there any bees in the flowers?  (Don’t get too close!)  Bees are attracted to these colors more than to others.

Do we see anything flying: What do we see?  Airplanes, birds, fluffy seeds?

If you walk after there’s been a storm: Are there any changes since the storm?  Puddles, large branches, bunches of leaves/seeds on the ground?  How about worms in the grass?

If we see an interesting-colored tree, bush, or flower: What would you call that color?  What other objects does that color resemble?

Look at the bark on different trees: How does it feel?

Can you find any leaves with munches in them?  Are there any creatures around that could have caused those munches?  (Remind them of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.)

Although wheels aren’t found in nature, we still like to look for them.  If we see anything with wheels: How many are there on the object?  How many different objects can we find with wheels (think wagons, bikes, garbage cans, cars, flatbeds, wheelbarrows—it’s surprising how many my kids can find.)

It’s also fun to collect things.  We sometimes bring a reclosable plastic bag with us on our walk to collect various nature objects, such a cool-looking leaves, acorns, sticks, and pinecones.  When we get back, we empty the bag, and the kids sort the items into piles, make a face with them, trade objects, etc.  What’s nice about doing this is that, once you’re done, you can just dump the items back outside and reuse the bag for next time.

Once you start pointing things out, it’s amazing all that your kids will notice.  Note: we're still waiting to see a polar bear..

Picking Up the Play Room

If there’s one word that doesn't describe me, it’s neat.  I did find a way to make clean up less daunting: Clean Up Flashcards.  By concentrating on just a couple toys each, cleaning up the play room is much more manageable. 

About ten minutes before bedtime, the kids blindly pull three Clean Up cards to know what items they need to put away that night.  My husband and I also choose some, so it’s a family task to pick up.  Some days some of the toys aren't even pulled out, so you end up with a “freebie” card.  We also have a catch-all bin for items that don’t really belong in any category; I usually also put those items away.

Here are the steps to make your own Clean Up Flashcards—they’re super easy to make.

Step 1: Provide a container for each kind of toy: one for blocks, one for books, etc.  (Being into reducing waste, I use empty diaper boxes as bins for toys.  That way, it’s easy for each type of toy to have it’s own container).

Step 2: Take a picture of each of the bins of toys.  Print.

Step 3: Create flashcards (I used large index cards for mine), with a picture and label of each bin.

Spring Break Activity: Whole House Zoo

Looking for a fun and easy activity to do on a rainy day or during spring break?  Turn your house into a zoo!  This activity can be altered to fit many different aged children.  Here’s what you can do with little ones:

Feeding the monkeys.

Gather all of the stuffed animals you can find in the house (we even included our dinosaurs!).

1. Sort through them, putting like animals together (we also grouped all farm animals together).
2. Decide which animals will be housed where—we put animals everywhere in the house—the kids’ bedrooms, under the dining room table, under the stairs…



Sorting through our animals.

3.  Put your animals in their enclosures.
4. Create a placard for each enclosure with the animal's name and a picture.  (My preschooler got to practice trying to spell animal names, my toddler practiced drawing animals).
5. Research what each animal eats and “feed” them with play food (or make out of paper, blocks, etc.)
6. At night, have your child pick an animal to read to.  Your child can choose a book he or she thinks that animal would enjoy.  (The monkeys might enjoy Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed)

We looked up what opossums eat.

Our pig placard.

We’ve had a lot of fun with this.  It’s been weeks since we set this up, and the kids still “clean out” an enclosure, check on the animals, show their zoo to guests, etc.  This week, my preschooler is playing veterinarian and helping all of our farm animals with various ailments.

There’s lots that can still be done with this activity.  Here are my other ideas:

• Make map of the zoo
• Measure the animals with a tape measure, paper clips, or Unifix cubes
• Graph how many of our animals have four legs vs. two legs, wings vs. no wings, etc.

Our wild dog enclosure.  Note the real "wild dog" at the top of the stairs.

Making Science Juicy

My kids love Curious George;  I love science.  What can be more fun than combining the two?  One of our (okay, my) favorite Curious George episodes, “Juicy George,” is about George trying to recreate a juice recipe.  Afterward, there is a segment of real kids creating their own juice combinations.  I thought it would be fun to do the same.

We already had an assortment of juices in our house—the standard orange, apple, and cranberry, as well as tangerine juice that was on sale.  I wanted the kids to try vegetable juice as well, so I bought small bottles of a carrot-orange juice.  I also bought a bottle of blueberry-blackberry juice, since my daughter claims to not like blueberries, but I had a feeling she’d like the juice.

After the kids and I re-watched the episode, I poured a small amount of each of our juices into clear cups.  I put the bottle of each behind the cup so the kids would know what’s what.  My two kids took turns telling me what juices they wanted to combine.  We poured 1 tablespoon of that juice into a cup. 

They had a blast trying the different juice combinations, even liking the carrot juice.  It was a great way for them to get a variety of vitamins and try flavors they might not normally be willing to taste (did I mention that neither of my children like vegetables, and my daughter doesn't normal like/drink juice?).

I feared that trying too many combinations would cause one of them to get a stomachache, but all is well.  Sticking with 1 tbsp amounts seemed about right.  They each tried six or seven combinations. 

Next step: Learning more about what vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables can do for our body.  Stay tuned…

Favorite Things for Parents of One Year Olds

Gift Ideas for PARENTS of One Year Olds

In my last post, I gave gift ideas for one year olds.  The below items are good gifts to give parents of a one year old.  If you've ever been to a one-year old birthday party, you know that the child is bombarded with gifts. Why not give something to the parents instead? There are so many useful products for parents out there. Here are some of my favorite.
*Please note that the links aren't the only place to find these products.

Bed/Sleep Stuff

Breathable Baby Crib Liner Once babies become more mobile, these breathable "bumper pads" help to keep limbs from sticking through the crib slates (I took mine down once my baby was starting to stand up in the crib, however.)

Leachco Easy Teether Crib Rail Cover and CribWrap Side Rail Covers I bought various other contraptions to cover the crib rails, but these were most successful. (The first link is for the front of the crib; the second link is for the two sides.)

Halo SleepSacks SleepSacks are great since little ones kick off blankets.  

Safety Gripper Door Stop My son loves to play with his bedroom door.  At first I bought a typical door stop, but he was quick to figure out how to pull it out.  This one is a little trickier for him since it slides under the door.

Food Stuff

Bumkin Bibs  My favorite meal time bibs come from Bumpkin.  They're thin, so not too stiff.  They can easily be cleaned—either by hand or in the washing machine.  Lots of fun designs, too.  

Gerber Sip and Smile Sippy Cups  These are my absolute favorite sippy cups.  They really don't leak and come either with handles or without.

Ikea Long-sleeved Bib One thing I hate about winter is how both of my babies had to learn to feed themselves while wearing long sleeved shirts.  Not matter how much you try to roll them up, they get filthy.  Ikea has a bib with long sleeves.  It totally helps to protect those winter shirts. 

Out & About

Boppy Shopping Cart Cover This one was especially good for both high chairs and shopping carts.   

Eddie Bauer Shopping Cart Cover This one was nice because it already has a seat belt built in, which is good since we all know about one in every five carts has a working seat belt. 

One Step Ahead's Wrap Strap Shopping Cart Safety Strap  This was handy once my baby was getting too big for the shopping cart's seat belt and, like the Eddie Bauer one, is nice since you don't need to search around for a shopping cart that has a good lap strap.

California Baby Sunblock Stick  I found this to be the easiest sunblock to apply to a squirming baby. 

Chicco Capri Lightweight (Umbrella) Stroller I couldn’t find the one I have online (it’s a pretty lime green one) but I believe this is very similar.  Mine rolls well, has high handles, is lightweight, and folds up slim.  It also came with a bag to store it in, which worked great at the airport.

Gift Ideas for One Year Olds

Gift Ideas for One Year Olds
My Favorite Things

Are you trying to find a gift for a one year old?  It can be frustrating because most toys are for ages 3 and up.  I thought I'd put together a list of items my one year olds enjoyed.

Toys

• Fisher Price stroller—great for learning to walk.  It's very sturdy, so Baby Bear can pull himself up and then push it along.
• Feel & Roll Bumpy Balls-comes in a set of four balls with fun bumps on them for throwing and rolling.
• My Barnyard Friends Baby Talk Playset by Aurora World—this soft barn comes with four soft farm animals that make their own sound.  The barn also has a handle for Baby Bear to tote around like a little briefcase.
• Fisher Price Corn Popper--this toy has been around since I was a baby and is still popular.  This is better for walkers.
• Fisher Price Puzzle--this plastic puzzle is great because the pieces are chunky and can be "teethed" on.  They also make noises.
• My First Crayola products--my second born loves to be able to join in with my older one on coloring.  These triangular crayons are good because they're fatter then regular crayons and their shape helps them from rolling away.

Books

• Doggies by Sandra Boynton  Although all of her books are fun, my kids like this one because it's just doggies barking.
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle   A classic.  Kids love to put their fingers on the holes where the caterpillar munched.
• Knitty Kitty by David Elliot  Both my kids loved this book.  And it’s a simple read.
• My First Words:Let's Get Talking and  My First Colors: Let’s Learn Them All  by DK Publishing.  This series has excellent photos of common items grouped by category or color.  Great for learning words.
• Peekaboo books  by DK Publishing  More books with baby faces or animals and fun flaps.
• Baby Touch and Feel books by DK Publishing  Can you tell I like DK Publishing books?  Tractor is a favorite at our house.
• Baby Giggles  by Rachael Hale.  My son loves to look at pictures of babies.  This one is cute and is short.

See my next post for helpful items for parents of one year olds.

Winter Birds--Last Post

Although it seems my daughter could continue on with creating birds for the next 25 days or so left of winter, I will be moving on with my blog.  I’d love to know what others are doing to learn about winter or birds, so please share!

American Goldfinch

Good photo and facts:  American Goldfinch and American Goldfinch

Activity: This is one of my favorite art projects—and it’s easy!  I traced the outline of a goldfinch in permanent marker on a sheet of overhead paper (the dull side).  Then my daughter colored it in with washable markers (also on the dull side).  I did help her color since all areas need to be colored.  Then we took a sheet of aluminum foil, crumpled it into a ball, and flattened it back out.  Last, I stapled the foil to the dull side of the overhead paper and cut around them.  Here are formal instructions for the “stained glass” project: Instructions 1 or Instructions 2   And here is the coloring page I traced: Coloring Page

Woodpeckers (downy, red-bellied, hairy)

Good photo and facts: Downy Woodpecker

Activity: This is a magazine collage.  I had my daughter search old magazines for things that are red, black, and white to tear out (you can also use old newspapers.  We then tore the images into small pieces and glued them onto a picture of a woodpecker (Coloring Page) to make a paper collage.

Here are other winter birds we have not “studied”: Junco (spend their summers up north), tufted titmouse, house finch, sparrows, mourning doves, crows

And here are various bird coloring pages Click Here and Click Here.

I hope you can enjoy winter birds as much as we have!

Winter Birds III

In addition to creating paper birds for our mural, we have found some good bird books:

Bird Songs by Betsy Franco

Riki’s Birdhouse  by Monica Wellington

Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert

If anyone has another favorite bird book, let me know!

I also downloaded a bird call app on my phone: Bird Caller + (get the 99 cent one vs the free one)

Here are some more of the birds we’ve done.

Blue Jay

Good photo and facts: Blue Jay I and Blue Jay II 

Activity: We first looked at photos of blue jays.  Then I used the template I found at Blue Jay Coloring Page (I enlarged it a little bit) and had the kids glue blue, black, and white feathers onto it.

Canada Goose

Good photo and facts: Canada Goose I  and Canada Goose II

Activity: This was a cute activity and good for following directions.  I added the pieces onto a goose, step by step and had my daughter create hers.  Heart Goose Activity

Coloring page: Click Here

Chickadee

Good photo and facts: Carolina Chickadee

There is also a good illustration in Bird Songs by Betsy Franco.

Activity: Using this Coloring Page, I created a similar image on watercolor paper.  I then showed my kids a picture of a chickadee and had them use black and beige paint to create a similar bird.

Winter Birds Continued

In my last post, I shared how my children and I are learning about winter birds.  

Through online research, I found ways to create paper birds using various supplies and skills. On craft paper, I drew a simple tree top, and we tape the birds on.

The mural is a huge hit with my kids. Even my one-year old likes to point out their birds to guests.

Here are some of the birds we created.

Cardinal

Good photo: I really like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds website. Here is the page for the cardinal: Northern Cardinal. It includes a picture of the female, too, who isn’t as colorful as the male.

Activity: This is the activity we did at Ryerson Forest Preserve. The body is made by tracing your child’s foot and the wings are the child’s hands. The other pieces were pre-cut for us, so my 2 ½ year old just had to glue them in the proper places.

If you just want a coloring page, here’s a good one: Coloring Page

Owl

Good photo and facts: The types of owls around IL in the winter include the Great Horned Owl I (also try) Great Horned Owl II and Screech Owl

Activity: This owl was fun to do.  My 2 1/2 year old got practice using scissors, cutting strips of paper into squares: Owl Activity (There is also an Owl Template )

If you want an owl coloring page, I suggest you google “owl coloring page.” The variety of coloring pages is quite interesting—from very detailed anatomically correct ones all the way to an owl wearing overalls. I liked this realistic one: Coloring Page

And as for our new bird feeder, we had lots of chickadees today at lunch, as well as a cardinal.

Winter Birds Fun

Earlier this month, my two children and I attended a workshop for toddlers on Winter Birds. We learned which birds are around in the winter time, read stories, did simple activities, made a paper cardinal, and even went on a bird watching hike. Once we got home, we were very inspired and wanted to do more with winter birds.

Our first task was to create a homemade feeder to attract winter birds to our dining room window (the heart in the picture). We made one by spreading peanut butter on a piece of cardboard and sprinkling bird seed on top. We then hung it by a ribbon on a nearby tree. By the next morning, we had attracted many chickadees!

I’m not sure if birds were eating from the feeder, or waiting for squirrels to knock the seeds to the ground where they scavenged, but soon the feeder was seedless.

We decided to invest in a real bird feeder. We just installed this one last night. Unfortunately, it snowed horribly overnight, and, this morning, we didn’t have any visitors. We’re keeping our eyes out for them though.

We can’t get enough of winter birds.  I’m going to share the journey we’re been taking, and, hopefully, it will inspire others to learn about our feathery friends.

My Favorites for the Baby Registry

Seasoned mothers: don’t you wish you knew then what you know now when you were a new mom? It was definitely a live and learn experience. Unfortunately (or fortunately), you’ll never have to go through that experience of being a new mom again.

A friend of mine recently contacted me. She is pregnant with her first child and is beginning the daunting task of creating her baby registry. She wanted suggestions from her friends on what to get. I also had contacted friends (as well as using my sister’s registry from the year before) to create my registry.

I decided to share some of my favorite things to have for a newborn. I threw in some green tips here and there as well.

Diapers—I found Huggies and Pampers Swaddlers to be the best. They both have a color-changing stripe on their newborn diapers that helps to know if your baby has urinated. (It’s obvious if they pooped, but not so much if they peed. And you’re supposed to keep track of how many times a day they do each.) To me, the grocery store brand of diapers ran big—too big for a newborn. I now use them on Baby Bear as they work just as well and are almost half the price. (I also noticed that the grocery store gives coupons at the checkout for the competitor’s brand of diapers. Save the coupons for later or stock up on bigger-sized diapers)

Wipes—If you put wipes on your registry (which I’d recommend, along with laundry detergent and diapers), be sure to sign up for refill packs and not the wipes already in the dispenser. You only need one or two dispensers for your house. Although I began by buying Seventh Generation wipes because they were chlorine-free, I now use generic wipes because they come in a huge bag.

Changing pad covers—You’re going to need cloth changing pad covers (2), but I also used disposable ones on top of the cloth one so I wouldn’t have to do laundry as often. (You only need to use a new one if it gets leaked on.) I used Especially for Baby brand; however, they make them large enough to cover the entire changing table, which you don’t need. You can cut these into halves or fourths or buy ones labeled multi-use pads, which are about the size you need.

Soap—I like Nature’s Paradise Baby Organic Conditioning Coconut Shampoo and Body Wash. It doesn’t leave a slimy residue in the bathwater that even California Baby did. It’s also organic, all natural, and doesn’t contain common allergens. You have to order it online http://www.naturesparadiseorganice.com/or buy it at boutiques.

Shampoo—Although Nature’s Paradise is also a shampoo, it mentions that it isn’t tear-free. Because I liked that baby-head smell, I started using regular baby shampoo. When I went in for Baby Bear’s first haircut, she had a very crusty scalp. The stylist said it was a wax buildup from the shampoo I was using. When I switched shampoos (Cookie Cutters brand), the gunk went away.

Laundry detergent—Before Baby Bear was born (and I actually had free time), I did research on what detergents are the best for the environment as well as the safest for newborn babies: this website was helpful www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html. Ecos brand Free and Clear(found at most grocery stores) was at the top of the list. Seventh Generation was near the top but contained enzymes and softeners.

Clothes—When buying clothes, realize that your baby will be lying down 99% of the time. You really only need one nice outfit, and, chances are, you’ll get a bunch as gifts from friends. Buy onesies instead. (And when you buy clothes, remove the hangers at the store so they can reuse them. I know I only ended up hanging Baby Bear’s dressiest clothes and kept all of her everyday outfits at close reach.)

Socks—I don’t really understand how socks just spontaneously fall off, but they do. Don’t use them if you don’t need to. If you do, the best brand is Trumpette—found online (http://www.trumpette.com/) and in boutiques. Not only do they stay on, the girl socks look like Mary Jane shoes and the boy socks look like sporty shoes.

Sleepsacks—In your baby class, they’ll teach you how to properly swaddle your baby. The problem is, a real baby can break through that swaddle within minutes. I loved swaddlers with Velcro closures, such as Kiddopotamus brand swaddlers and Halo SleepSack Swaddlers both sold at Babies R Us. Get at least two.

Breast pump—I followed my sister’s advice and bought a Medela. It came in a backpack to easily transport and can run on electricity or battery. I would recommend getting at least one extra set of equipment as all the parts need to be dry when you use it, and you’re supposed to wash the pieces after each use. I’d also buy nipples for the bottles. Otherwise you need to transfer the milk from the Medela bottles to real bottles to feed your baby. A must for pumping: a hands-free bra. The best brand is Easy Expression Hands-Free Pumping Bras, which sells a bustier you put on without having to remove your shirt or regular nursing bra. They sell them online at http://www.easyexpressionproducts.com/ as well as at A Pea in the Pod, Destination Maternity, and Buy Buy Baby.

Book—Best book in the world: BabyWise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. Read it, learn it, live it.

Recalls—I recommend joining the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s listerv: http://www.cpsc.gov/. They send you emails when toys and baby products are recalled.

I'll Be Alright

I have another terrific CD for your little one: Dave Fletcher’s I’ll Be Alright.

This CD is really great for all ages—especially school age children—but Baby Bear and I love the beats of the songs so much, we got an early start.

What’s nice is that many of the songs teach a lesson: “Twelve Months” teaches the twelve months of the year. “Musical Drill” (one of my favorites) teaches the different musical notes: quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes. It does this both with a definition in the song as well as demonstrates through the rhythm of the song. There’s also a rap on famous composers, and a song that tells the story of the three little pigs. The CD has a good mix of genres of music—rap, blues, etc., as well as instruments. In addition, some of the songs feature children singing, which Baby Bear especially enjoys.

Definitely check this one out: http://ax.itunes.apple.com/us/artist/dave-fletcher/id4106716

A Trip to the DuPage Children's Museum

Recently, my daughter and I went on a field trip to the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville, Illinois.

Now, some may ask, “Isn’t she a bit young to enjoy a museum? She’s not even nine months old yet.”

I’m here to say, you’re never too young to benefit from a museum.

I first took my daughter there when she was three months old. Although she couldn’t even sit up yet, we were able to have fun. There were tons of things to look at, including a whole exhibit on color and light. We also hung out in the music room where she listened to older kids play percussion instruments. Even though she mainly observed, she still seemed amazed by it all.

Now that she can sit up, crawl, and play with toys, I thought she was ready to experience the museum again. I am so glad we went.

Besides the joy she got out of playing, it was nice to get out of the house for the day. I couldn’t do dishes or sort laundry or work on my writing. She had my full attention.

We didn’t have to hurry home or worry about a sibling or friend wanting to move on and play somewhere different. We explored an exhibit for as long as she wanted. The museum isn’t huge, but we still didn’t get to everything we wanted to.

Here’s a guide to what we did do that your young one might enjoy as well:

Creativity Connections: We went to an area lit by black light with various colored “glow sticks” that can be stuck into slots and pulled back out, similar to a huge Lite Bright. Although my daughter wasn’t quite ready to arrange the sticks into a pattern as may have been intended for the station, we had fun pulling the sticks out, clinking them together, and even just holding on to them. As well, it might have been fun for her to stack them in a pile and rummage through them.

Also in the Creativity Connections area was the percussion room. In addition to listening to other children drum it out, my daughter was able to hold a mallet and I helped guide her wrist to hit various sized wooden and metal xylophones.

Young Explorers: Various exhibits also have a section called Young Explorers, for children under 24 months old. We spent most of our time checking these out. They often had toys similar to those the main exhibits but for littler hands. My daughter loved the area with tons of colorful plastic balls that she could sit in, roll, and click together.

Math Connections: We really enjoyed building with wooden blocks in this exhibit. My daughter liked to hold the different shaped blocks and watch the cylindrical ones roll. Of course, she also watched me build something and then she knocked it down. We also had fun in the geometry section. There’s a huge transparent wall where you can stick colorful and varied shape window clings. She had fun peeling them off with my prompts, such as “Can you get the circle?”

WaterWays: Who can resist playing with water? Although I had to perform contortionistic moves to get my daughter’s hands positioned in the water, she had fun splashing around and watching rubber duckies traverse through the water.

Bubbles: Talk about monstrous bubbles! My daughter enjoyed watching me create the biggest bubbles ever with a large triangular wand. She wasn’t yet ready to try to pop them, but was amazed by their glorious size.

If you only have one child and are debating whether they’re really old enough to appreciate a visit to a museum, why not try it? You’d be surprised what there is they can have fun with.

Tips for the Museum:

1. Bring a stroller—it was helpful for when I needed to powder my nose, peruse the gift shop, etc.

2. Dress your child in a short-sleeved shirt—that way sleeves don’t get wet while playing in the water or bubbles. Be sure they are dressed comfortably for crawling or running around.

3. Pack a lunch for both of you. There are vending machines, but it’s easy to pack a simple lunch and eat healthily. Bring paper towels for clean up. Since my daughter is still doing the baby food thing, I also had to remember a little spoon. A handy tip I learned: store it in a toothbrush holder. I also brought a rubberized mat for eating her Cheerios on, a cloth bib and a plastic bib, and a plastic grocery bag to store all the yucky stuff to take back home (dirty bib, empty baby food jar to recycle, metal spoon from my lunch, etc.)

4. Think ahead to when naptime will be. I chose to drive out to the museum during the morning naptime (as she slept in the car) and drive home for her afternoon nap (and she was definitely ready for it!)

5. Don’t forget a camera to remember your special day.

Going Bananas for Valentine's Day

Last week Baby Bear’s Tot Rock instructor announced that we’d be celebrating Valentine’s Day the following week. We should each bring a Valentine for the other children.

At first I was excited—I had been anticipating doing crafts with my child since I found out I was pregnant. But what exactly could a nine-month do?

I didn’t want to just buy those chintzy cards with a licensed character on it and sign her name. I also didn’t want to give the other tots candy.

Instead, I decided to go off the old Valentine saying, “I’m bananas for you.” I made banana bread and put a slice for each child in a small bag. Then I took a picture of Baby Bear holding a bunch of bananas and wrote “I’m bananas for you. Happy Valentine’s Day.” I printed multiple copies on regular paper with the saying next to it and taped them on the bags.

I later realized that I could have had Baby Bear participate in the baking after all. Since the bananas need to be mushed, I could have put them in a large freezer Ziploc bag and had her pound away. Of course, older kids can have fun making banana bread, stirring the batter and pouring in the measured amounts.

Another spin on giving out candy-less Valentines that doesn’t require any baking would be to buy oranges. You could then take a picture of your child holding an orange with the saying, “Orange you glad we’re friends?” and print them on large mailing labels to stick on the oranges.

There are so many different phrases you can play on with this. Older siblings can even help think of puny sayings and ways to “pose” your baby.

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

Here’s my favorite banana bread recipe.

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 ½ mashed overripe bananas
1 container vanilla yogurt (6 oz)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 ¼ tsp b. soda
pinch salt

(for the topping)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add in eggs, banana, vanilla, and yogurt. Mix.
4. Stir flour in, a little at a time. Then add in baking soda and salt, and mix again.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan.
6. Mix together cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle on top of loaf.
7. Bake for 60 minutes. Check if done with a knife or toothpick in the center.
8. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.