Jan

31

At the White House web site, there is a dedicated area for kids stuff that has lots of entertaining and educational games, quizzes and historical information that kids will enjoy.  There are activities for all ages - you can even learn about the White House pets!


Jan

30

FreeKidsMusic.com has a wide variety of songs for kids that you can either listen to on the site or download the MP3 file.  There are lots of artists to choose from- stop over and take a listen!


Jan

29

Printables4Kids.com has lots of fun printables for kids of all ages. Click here to get a Winter Word Scramble that will keep the kiddos busy for a while.


Jan

28

If you like The Big Comfy Couch, check out their site, where can join and get several freebies, including some stickers and coloring sheets.  Looks like fun!!


Jan

27

A homemade gift is the best kind!  Here are links to a few crafts to give you that lovin’ feelin’:

Valentine’s Day Scroll

Candy Valentine Butterfly

Valentine Salt Dough Pins & Magnets


Jan

26

Do you have epic thumb wrestling battles in your home? Check out these cute championship belts. (they are at the bottom of the page when you click on the link)  Now here’s something for the champion to wear to reward his victory! It even has a thumb wrestling tip to ensure success. What a great idea! You can print these or they might just inspire you to make your own!


Jan

25

A-maze-ing Apples!

January 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I wish I liked apples more. There are so many reasons to eat them- the old adage about keeping the doctor away is true!

Try this maze and then go eat an apple!

5 Reasons to Eat Apples:

(source: virginiaapples.org)


Jan

24

I found this fun idea on The Idea Box. Make Astronaut Pudding by putting 1 tablespoon of chocolate (or any flavor) instant pudding in a ziploc bag. Add 1/4 cup of milk. Close the bag. Squish up the pudding mix. Poke a hole in the bag and suck it out. Eat just like the astronauts with no utensils!!

Then you can color this nifty astronaut picture and practice writing that long word! (from Homeschool Views)


Jan

24

While supplies last, Dawn is giving away a newly designed kid-friendly sponge, if you vote for the design you like best. Do you like the fish? The Car? How about the Foot? “Go on honey and finish washing the dishes with your foot. Thanks” (don’t know how long this one will last so check it out quick!) (oh.. and you don’t have to register on their site to vote or get the free sponge, just click on “Continue without registering”)


Jan

23

The National Geographic “Print-N-Go” coloring book has some really beautiful pages of animal pictures. It’s a whole zoo full of animals, from Nurse Sharks to Dugongs (huh? never heard of those…) and even three kinds of turtles! These would be nice colored with crayons, but even nicer with colored pencils as they are fairly detailed drawings.


Jan

21

The Don’t Buy It site at PBSKids teaches kids about advertising tricks and gimmicks, encouraging them to get media smart and question all the advertising that bombards them.  There’s a recipe for fake ice cream that looks just like the real thing and a fun activity area where you can create your own cereal box.  These are valuable lessons as kids are exposed to more and more advertising every day, and lessons in “critical thinking” are sorely lacking in our school systems.


Jan

20

This game at BrainPOPJr embarrassed me - I actually missed some the first go-round.  Give it a try and see if you can get them all the first time!


Jan

19

Printable reward coupons

January 19, 2007 | 1 Comment

When you want to reward your little ones for an accomplishment, a job well done, good grades, good behavior, etc, try these Reward Coupons. (pdf format) There are three coupons on the sheet: choose the dinner menu, stay up past bedtime, and skip a chore. Your kids will love redeeming them!


Jan

18

It would be tough to be frequently stared at because of a skin imperfection, especially for a kid.  If your child is dealing with this, you can get a free book to help them deal with it and foster self-esteem.


Jan

18

Find the Hidden Picture

January 18, 2007 | 4 Comments

Highlights for Kids has been a favorite magazine for a long time- I remember looking forward to reading it when I was a kid.  I recently discovered that they have a really wonderful web site that is just full of fun activities for kids.  One of my favorites is the Hidden Picture puzzles.  They have a new one weekly - here is this week’s puzzle.  You can print them out and they make very nice coloring sheets as well!


Jan

17

All you need is paper to make the folded models at Origami.com. Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. You can download a range of projects from Simple to Complex. When you get really good at the art of folding, visit this site for directions on how to make an entire chess set out of paper! Of course, then you’d have to learn to play chess.


Jan

16

Sudoku 4 Kids

January 16, 2007 | 1 Comment

Sudoku is a great logic exercise for anyone, but I think it’s an especially good teaching tool for kids.  Check out Jigsaw Sudoku. The grids are only 6×6 vs. the regular 9×9 grids you usually see, and you can play online by moving the numbered tiles into the correct spots.  You can even get a hint if you need one!


Jan

15

Easy Bake Ovens are one of the best toys ever invented, I think, but have you seen how much the mixes cost? 2 for $5 is just too much, in my opinion. At Budget101.com, they have a page that has recipes so you can make your own mixes for much, much cheaper. Happy Baking!


Jan

14

I had never been in the hospital in my adult life until I had my son at age 36.  I had a C-section, so my stay was a bit longer than planned, and I learned while I was there that nurses are some of the most special people on the planet. You can get free stuff from the Discover Nursing website, like a coloring book and book covers. Lots of kids dream of being a nurse when they grow up- maybe this freebie will encourage them!


Jan

13

Free Gerber Stuff

January 13, 2007 | 2 Comments

We generally aren’t into signing up for things which will add to the pile of mail we get every day, but I’m glad I signed up for the Growing Up Gerber club.  We have appreciated the many coupons and free samples we’ve gotten along the way- the coupons come in a little booklet that has some parenting and feeding tips, They even sent us a free bib after we signed up (I don’t know if they’re still doing that).


Jan

12

Two winter printables

January 12, 2007 | 1 Comment


We live in a part of the country that usually sees snow in the winter several times, and this winter we’ve barely seen a single flake! Here are some fun, flaky printables to try out- one for older kids and one for the younger crowd.

Connect the Dots

Snowflake Match Up

(pdf format)


Jan

11

I never would have thought of this- it was my mother’s idea. She filled up an empty photo album she had lying around (the small kind that holds just 4×6 photos) with pictures of babies, kids and other familiar things from magazines, and also threw in some pictures of family members here and there. My son loves looking through it- it keeps him entertained for long periods. It’s been especially nice lately, as he is at the stage where he is refusing to eat just because he can. I can put the album on his high chair tray, and he gets so engrossed in looking through it that he doesn’t notice me putting bites in his mouth!


Jan

10

This game at PBS Kids is a fun way to practice alphabet skills.  There’s even an online version in case you’d rather not print and cut out the cute little cows.  Moooo!


Jan

10

Looking for entertainment for those long car trips? Check out Storynory- they have an extensive collection of children’s stories that you can use in all sorts of ways. You can play them on your computer, transfer them to your iPod, or burn them to a CD. They have everything from Bible Stories to whole chapters of Alice In Wonderland. They post a new story about once a week. This is definitely one I’m bookmarking to go back to in the future. Our little guy got a portable DVD player for Christmas that plays MP3 format as well, so these stories would be a welcome break from the movies (or boobies, as he currently calls them)!


Jan

9

I found this recipe in Good Housekeeping last year and I don’t think I’ll ever make regular Rice Krispy Treats again. I have made it several times and everyone raves about it.

Here’s the recipe:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 bag (10.5 oz) miniature marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts
1 cup M&M’s Mini Baking Bits

1. Spray 10-12 cup fluted baking dish (such as a Bundt) with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, heat chocolate and butter in microwave oven on High 1 minute, stirring once during heating. Remove from microwave; stir chocolate mixture until melted and smooth. Add marshmallows to mixture. Heat in microwave on High 1 minute longer; stir until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth.

3. Add cereal, peanuts, and M&M’s to chocolate mixture. Stir until all ingredients are coated and mixture is well-combined.

4. Transfer cereal mixture to prepared pan, pressing down with fingertips. Let stand at least 1 hou to set chocolate. (In warm weather, refrigerate to set cake)

5. To unmold, with knife or metal spatula, loosen cake from side of pan; invert onto serving plate. Cut into slices to serve. Store in covered container at room temperature up to 3 days.

A couple of notes: I used a double boiler instead of the microwave and it worked just fine. Be sure not to skimp on the marshmallows. I didn’t use quite enough last time and the whole thing was so hard to stir and I ended up crushing all the pretty M&M’s, so the cake didn’t look nearly as nice.


Jan

9

Freelance illustrator Clay Cantrell has a great web site, with some really nice illustration work as well as some fun stuff for kids. I loved these simple pop-up book instructions. It would be a great project for a creative child of almost any age from preschool on. Heck… I’d like to go make one- it looks like fun!


Jan

9

Via Parent Hacks: there are likely free formula samples available at your pediatrician’s office.  I can attest to this, having gotten some samples from our pediatrician when my son was only a couple of weeks old.  The sample also came with a free book that was a bit like “What to Expect the First Year”, but had some different things in it.  Formula is really expensive, so I was glad to get it!  Did you know that generic formula brands are just as good as the brand names?  I checked with the doctor on this, and they had no problem with me switching to the generic.  It’s a huge cost savings - sometimes almost twice as much formula for the same amount of cashola!


Jan

8

I first visited this Fisher Price Games site when my son was about a year old. He really didn’t get it at the time, and was more interested in just banging on the keyboard! As he has gotten older, he’s still interested in the banging, but it’s starting to sink in that what he’s doing on the keyboard is making something happen on the screen. Overall, I think it’s a nice way to introduce babies and toddlers to the use of the computer. The games are really cute, from the ones for babies, where anything they hit on the keyboard makes something happen on the screen, to the toddler games that teach colors, numbers, etc, to the preschool learning games and coloring pages. Have your kids played these games? What did they think of them?


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