Do your children enjoy visiting the pet store?

Mine think this is the next best thing to the zoo.  Yes it may sound odd, but being a family with no pets (since I do not consider two betas in small bowls pets) creates an even stronger love of animals.

My husband and son both have allergies when it comes to pets.  Even without the allergies my husband and I have no desire to have pets.  I grew up with cats and a dog but never really had a strong need to have a pet once I left home.  Therefore the only pets our children will have will be fish.

Having two animal lovers with no animals in our house, we will occasional stop at the pet store to visit the animals.  This outing is much better than the zoo in a few regards: it is free, lasts under 30 minutes, no strollers or snacks to pack and no stuffed animals to purchase in the gift shop on the way out.  I highly recommend it!

Idea of the Day:

Go visit the pet store.

You can easily make it an educational outing as well by:

- researching the animals you saw at the pet store when you return home.

- asking the dog trimming workers a few questions.

- having older children add up the cost of buying a pet.  ie-cage, supplies, food, the pet itself.

- learn why beta fish need to be a bowl alone versus goldfish who can live with others.

With the start of the new year, I changed the format of my blog a little by adding, “discussion Fridays”.  From time to time, a few of you decided to share your thoughts and opinions regarding the topic of the day.  However as a whole there was not much discussion taking place.  So it is time for a change.

I will still continue to blog on Fridays but it will be random thoughts.  It could be anything from new websites I have found to books to favorite recipes.

Don’t worry I am not changing the focus of my blog.  My main goal is still to provide parents with ideas and resources for their children.  I thought one day a week it would be fun to change things up a bit.

Therefore, my random thought of the day:

I found the coolest website that gives you ideas on how to reuse and/or repurpose items.

Junk Market Style

Check out this fun Yo-Yo Picture Hanger Idea!

Did you know that you need to think about the fall 2010-2011 school year in January?

When most people are thinking about cleaning up and organizing after the holidays, those of us with preschool or school-aged kids need to start worrying about fall registration.

With my first child, I had no clue that preschool registration for most schools began in January or February.  Needless to say, by the time I got around to finding a school in May, all of the good ones were full.

Since that time I have made it a point to always know the deadlines related to school.

If preschool is something you are thinking about for next fall or if you are pondering the idea of changing school districts, you need to find out what you need to do NOW!!!!

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Are your kids excited about the snow?

The time has finally arrived….Enough snow to build a snowman.

My kids have had their boots and snow pants all ready for the last month.  Almost every day my daughter would ask, “When is it going to snow so we can go build a snowman?”

The first snow storm of the season is upon us and of course my kids can’t wait to get out and play.  But there is a problem…The wind and cold temperature are too much for a 3 year old to handle.  By the time I bundle her up she would be crying and wanting to come in the house.

So how do we play in the snow without going outside?

Solution: Bring the snow in the house!

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Do you have a fun activity for matching uppercase and lowercase letters?

My daughter has finally mastered all 26 uppercase letters!!!! (of the English alphabet).  Now it is time move on to the lowercase letters.

For the most part teaching lowercase letters is easy since so many of the letters resemble their uppercase counterpart.  However there are the tricky ones of b, d and p that seemed to confuse little learners.

Instead of doing drill and practice with flashcards, try the letter soup activity.

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