Do your children enjoy sidewalk chalk?

Now that the weather is finally acting like spring/almost summer here in Minnesota, it is time to dig out the appropriate toys.  The kites, bubbles, bikes, sprinkler and sidewalk chalk have been taunting my children all winter.  They are so excited that they can finally play with all of these things again.

This past weekend when my children were creating their chalk masterpieces my neighbor asked me if I had ever soaked the chalk in water.  I figured that chalk+water=disintegrated chalk.  I guess I was wrong.  Supposedly (since I have not tried it yet and am a bit skeptical) that if you soak chalk in water for a few hours or overnight the chalk colors become very bright.

This is one experiment that my children are very interested in conducting.  We will see what happens.

Idea of the Day:

Try soaking the sidewalk chalk in water for brighter colors.

Here are a few links that have complete directions on this process.

Some say to add sugar to the water, others do not.  You decide.  One site I found said to soak the chalk in milk.  I think we will stick to the plain water first.

How to Create Wet Chalk Drawings

Preschool Art

Fun with Sidewalk Chalk

Does your child have the game Scatterpillar Scramble?

My daughter and I were at Target yesterday and I was looking at some of the toys/games on clearance.  I saw Scaterpillar Scramble on clearance for $4.77.  Regular price was $19.09.  Since games can be expensive, I thought this was a great deal and decided to get it.

I have to admit it is a great game for preschoolers.  First of all, what preschooler does not love a dancing caterpillar?  Second, it is a great game to build fine motor and hand-eye coordination.

The object of Scatterpillar Scramble is to have children use tongs to pick up marbles and place them on the caterpillar while he dances around.  If you have small children in your home, you need to be careful of the marbles.  I like this game because it holds a preschooler’s attention while working on a skill they need to develop.  I give it 2 thumbs up!

Idea of the Day:

Check your local Target to see if the game Scaterpillar Scramble is in the clearance section.

The online price for this game is $19.09.  I don’t think I would pay that much for this game, but I was willing to pay the clearance price of $4.77.

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.

Do your children write their own thank you cards?

The birthday party has ended and a sense of relief fills the air.  No more menus to plan, groceries to buy or party bags to fill.  However there is still one box on the “to do” list that has not been checked off: thank yous.

In a world where there are more emails sent in a day than traditional snail mail letters, I feel it is important to have children write thank yous after their birthday parties.  Obviously a 2 year old cannot sit down and write, “Thank you so much for coming to my party and bringing me a toy that makes noise all day and drives my parents crazy.”  (I had to say that because all parents have one toy that they want to donate).

Anyway, a two year old can usually write the first letter of his/her name or at least scribble at the end of the card.  By the age of four, your son or daughter can most often print his/her name on each thank you.  And by elementary school, you can buy the thank you cards in which the child fills in the blank with one or two words.

No matter how much or how little your child contributes to the thank you card, I believe it is an important life skill to teach and learn.

Idea of the Day:

Have your child write thank you cards with you.

Here are a couple free printable card sites you can use:

DLK’s Custom Greeting Cards

KidPrintables.com

(Photo taken from Lakeshore website)

Have you ever done masking tape art with your children?

Both of my children love creating masterpieces out of colored masking tape.  I saw this activity while my daughter was enrolled in an Early Childhood class.

Her teacher had the rolls of masking tape on this nice wooden dispenser (as pictured above).  It seemed like an item I could find at an educational store for a reasonable price.  It was masking tape.  How expensive can it be?

After doing some research, I found the dispenser and 8 rolls of tape for the bargain price of $49.95.  WHAT?  I was not going to spend that on a tape project.

So for a while we simply used pieces of white masking tape and the kids colored the pieces different colors.  We also used the white tape on different colored paper.  Then one day we decided to stop by Ax-Man and JACKPOT!  Rolls of colored tape for $.75 a piece.  Another time, I found pink at a Dollar Store.

Moral of the story: You can find colored masking tape for a decent price at random discount and thrift stores.  Keep your eyes open!

Idea of the Day:

Do masking tape art with your children.

This activity:

- helps develop fine motor skills

- focuses on creativity as your child makes designs from small pieces of tape

- helps hand-eye coordination for older children as they hold and cut the tape

- teaches younger children that once tape is placed on paper, it can not be removed