What Things I Liked to Make With my Kids

  By leanne | May 28, 2012 - 2:41 pm | Things to do with a kid
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Make some Play Dough with your kids.

It’s always fun to remember some of the things my kids and I made together. One thing that I highly recommend making with your kid is homemade play dough. I got a great recipe handed down to me. I know that you can go out and buy the real stuff but it just isn’t as fun!! Think about it this way. You actually will be able to entertain the kids on the day you make it as well as for the next few days. This play dough lasts a pretty long time if kept in an air tight container. So here goes:

Play Dough Recipe

You will need a: saucepan, spoon, and ingredients

1 cup flour                                          1 tablespoon cream of tartar

1 cup water                                        1 tablespoon cooking oil

1/2 cup salt                                        and a few drops of food coloring

Mix these ingredients in the saucepan and cook on high while stirring constantly. When the play dough reaches the correct consistency remove it from the heat and let it cool.

You can add the coloring after it is cool if you want ( just gets a bit messy though). Store the play dough in plastic bags and it can go in the fridge. Unfortunately you can only make one batch at a time for your kids. The recipe doesn’t work well if doubled.

Now get ready for fun! I liked to use a plastic cutting board to keep the mess somewhat controlled. Let the kids make what ever, sit down and make something with your kids.

This recipe is edible, although not tasty. If your little one eats a bit it’s OK, I think too much would end up as a tummy ache. And if you have a rotten little dog like we did I never had too clean the floor up.

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What To Make With a Kid for Mother’s Day

  By leanne | May 9, 2012 - 1:28 pm | Things to do with a kid
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Are you trying to decide what to make with your kid for Mother’s day? Well here is a great little craft that Mom will actually use. It’s a recipe card holder. I know that she will keep it AND use it. I know because I have used mine for quite a few years now. Keeping my recipes clean and readable is one thing that I’m not to good at. But this little card holder makes it quite easy.

 

SUPPLIES

1 small clay pot

some craft paint and brushes

cup of water and paper towels

a popsicle stick

a clothes pin

a flower

some play dough

a glue gun with glue

This is soo easy that a Dad could help make it with your kid. First you need to paint the pot. it doesn’t matter what you paint, just have fun. I strongly suggest that you only use three or four colors. if you get too many it gets pretty time-consuming and messy. Let your kid decide what to make. 

I use either end of the paint brush to made dots. Use five dots to make a flower with a single yellow dot in the middle. You may have to help your kid print out words, but that’s OK. Next get the glue gun ready , this is a part for the adults or an older child. Glue from a glue gun can be very warm and since in sticks it can burn little fingers. Glue the popsicle stick and the clothes pin together. make sure the clothes pin opens on the top. Then glue the flower to the clothes pin. I actually use a skewer instead of a popsicle stick as it was what i could find. Lastly, put some play dough ( or styrofoam) into the pot. If you use something like styrofoam just pretty it up with some florist moss. Now insert the flower/clothes pin/ popsicle stick. TA DAAAA your done.

See i told you it was easy. Anyone could make this with their kid for Mom’s day. And any Mom would be proud to keep it and to use it for years to come. Don’t forget to have your little person sign and date their work!!!

                            HAPPY MOTHER”S DAY!!!!

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SHOULD WE TEACH TO OUR KIDS NOT TO TRUST PEOPLE?

  By leanne | February 21, 2012 - 9:25 pm | parental advise
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I just liked this picture, it has nothing to do with my post.

 

I never thought of teaching my kid that not everyone is trust worthy! That sounds crazy,HUH? But I should have had my trust blinders off and taught this to him. I know that I am way too trusting of others, and I want to teach to my son how NOT to be SO trusting.

To start at the beginning; My son recently bought a used truck, he worked very hard for the money and got himself a good deal. Now he loves this truck. I mean really loves the truck. I did teach him to get an inspection prior to buying any vehicle. This ended up well worth it as the first truck he was looking at would have cost him an extra $2500.00 to fix all the issues. So he was very pleased that he paid the $60.00 to find this out. So, he found another truck and everything should have been hunky dory, right?

Not so much! While driving home one day the “engine” light came on. I had not taught him how to deal with this. So, he panicked and drove directly to the closest C_______ Tire store before the truck blew up ( at least he thought it was going to blow up)and had them check it. They looked at it for 15 minutes and told him exactly what I would have told him (If I had thought of teaching this to him this ahead of time). They told him that an engine light on in a vehicle from 1999 probably just means that the light is malfunctioning, and there might not be anything wrong with his truck.

Then they charged him $100.00. Can you believe that? I am disgusted with this store. They saw a seventeen year old kid and thought lets just take him to the cleaners! I was going to say something worse,but I held back. How hard would it have been to just say the light was probably messing up and he should keep an eye on things? I mean really!

Now I feel horrid. I should have taught him that not everyone or every store should be trusted!! He lost $100.00 hard earned dollars because I didn’t teach to him whom and when to be trusting. And how not to be taken advantage of.

I don’t want my kid growing up a pessimist and I don’t want him to be used as a door mat. One good thing out of this lesson is that it cost him money, enough money so that he will probably never  forget it!

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CRAFTY THINGS TO DO WITH A KID

  By leanne | February 13, 2012 - 4:32 pm | Things to do with a kid
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I am a “crafter” so naturally I always had some crafts to do                               Mr Dressup makes things with kids

 with my kids. We had a “tickle trunk” of sorts, actually it 

wasn’t even a trunk it was a bathroom cabinet. Anyway, I

named it the tickle trunk after Mr.Dressup, I know that’s from a while back, right? And, I know he had dress up stuff in his trunk versus my craft stuff. But “tickle trunk” was what I came up with. SO, live with it!

                                                   

 

Here is a huge hint to all you non-crafters out there

In order to have a tickle trunk ,of sorts, all you need to do is put “bits and pieces of stuff” along with crayons and some glue in one place. TA DA! You have the ultimate collection of crafty stuff for your kids to make “things” with.

For Valentine’s Day we would pull everything out and make cards. Don’t get too enthusiastic and try to make cards for the entire classroom, Did that,  didn’t work, the kid got bored and left me to finish. Just start off  with some paper, colored, construction, recipe cards or fancy paper. The point is you can use what ever you have. Now, fold the paper. TA DA there you have it the beginning of an absolutely beautiful card. Then decorate it!!! For Valentine’s you can use heart shapes and/or cut your card into a heart shape. I would give each kid a some glue and let them CREATE!!

Add stuff like: scrapes of fabric, buttons, lace, tissue paper, more colored paper, tooth picks, beads, pasta, string, yarn, dried veggies and various recyclables like T.P. rolls, boxes … Ya OK I could go on and on, but I’m sure you got the gist of it. I even recycled cards and envelopes, the kids cut up the pictures on the cards, and the name on an envelope is easy to cover up ( like with a sticker or something)and they would use it again.

I would collect all this stuff from my own crafting left overs. As well as old clothes, kitchen stuff, wrapping paper, bows and of course the trusty dollar store. The important thing is to put all these bits and pieces in one area, add pencils,crayons and glue ( maybe safety scissors if you trust your kid) . It doesn’t have to be pretty. Ask any real crafters out there it is almost impossible to keep everything all tidy (although I know a gal, who moved home to Newfoundland, who succeeded at the tidy thing). And this is for your kids to make things,Right?

The really important thing is: DO NOT BE A SUPERVISOR! that’s right don’t be a supervisor ( of course you should be there to keep everone safe). Just get in there and do “it”, what ever “it” is, go ahead and get dirty making things with your kid. And let the kids lead. I mean, they get to choose what or how they want to put stuff together, and it doesn’t have to be perfect! It has to be kid like. They will be so proud to give it away and, you both will have made some great memories and somebody is going to get a great CARD.

 

 

.

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COOKIES ARE THINGS TO MAKE WITH KIDS

  By leanne | February 10, 2012 - 12:13 pm | Things to do with a kid
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things to make with a kid, heart cookiesthings to make with a kid, heart cookiesthings to make with a kid, heart cookies

 

 

One of the things I really enjoy making with the kids is cookies. Although trying to keep hungry fingers out of the dough can sometimes impossible. Especially when their Mom enjoyed a taste or two. My mother and I would make sugar cookies on special occasions, especially for Valentines day. So I guess that I am carrying on the tradition of making cookies with the kids.

Mom’s sugar cookie recipe

1 cup softened butter                                                 1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup white sugar                                                     3 cups flour

1 large egg                                                                      1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a bowl beat butter and sugar on low speed until well blended. Increase to high-speed and beat until light and creamy.

2. At the low-speed beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. Beat in the flour and baking powder until blended.

4. Devide the dough into four pieces and flatten them into disks. Wrap the disks in saran and refrigerate for about an hour.

5. Roll each disk into 1/8″ thick rounds. Cut out the cookies. Wrap and refrigerate the trimmings. Then repeat step 5 with the trimmings.

6. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned.

There are a few ways to decorate these cookies.

1. Food coloring to color the dough prior to cooking. You could have red dough and some white dough to mix together to make  marbled look, or a solid red.

2. Sprinkles are fun. The stores also had little shaped sprinkles.

3. Diiferent colored icing. Make designs,little sayings,or use the icing as a glue to hold little candies or sprinkles in place.

I’m sure you will enjoy making and decorating your valentine cookies with your kid.

things to make with a kid: Cookies;


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THING TO DO WITH KIDS

  By leanne | February 8, 2012 - 11:18 am | Things to do with a kid
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Finding things to do with your kids shouldn’t be a chore. Afterall both you and your child should enjoy it. What kid, or parent for that matter, would want to go out of their way to do an activity that they aren’t fond of doing?

chorse to do with kidsTake chores for example. I can guarantee that your

kid won’t have fun doing chores, that is if you make

 it a chore! I know that I don’t enjoy forcing a child

                                                 to do their chores. As a parent I dreaded getting the kids to clean up their rooms. There was the inevitable crying,shouting, pleading and last but not least excuse making. My kids are great at the excuse making!

“YA, YA, I’ll DO IT RIGHT AWAY”" I’LL DO IT AT THE NEXT COMMERCIAL”"OK, OK, I JUST NEED TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL”" I’LL DO IT TOMORROW”" I’M TOO TIRED”"I CAN’T CUZ I GOT HOMEWORK”

I could go on forever!!!

I digress. Well, you really don’t want to make the task of getting the kids to do things so unbearable that you, the parent, start to procrastinate. And believe me there are parents out there who would much rather do the chore themselves then making their kids do it. This will only give you kids that grow up doing nothing, and having no idea how to complete any chores in their own homes.

If you make the things that you do with your kids fun they might just do them! Eureka!! I have found the answer to the horrible chore war that every parent abhors. YA RIGHT!

Now kids are sneaky. For the first few years they will think that doing certain things is fun. And then reality sets in and they realize these tasks are in

fact not fun at all. When my son was about three he loveddishes to do with kids, tot washing dishes

washing dishes. I didn’t let him wash the good dishes but

plastic bowls and such, HAVE AT HER KID!!

BUT, it didn’t take long until he decided that washing the dishes wasn’t any fun at all. So I was delegated the chief dish washer yet again.

Having fun while doing chores with kids will entice the kids to do the chores AND you might even enjoy yourself too. Now if any one can tell me how to get teenagers to bring dirty dishes back to the kitchen, I would love to hear it!

 


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KIDS ISSUES WITH SPEECH CAN INDICATE HEALTH PROBLEMS

  By leanne | February 2, 2012 - 4:16 pm | parental advise
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two girls with kittens, kids issues one girl is deaf

My cousin and me on the farm

What does it mean if your kid is having issues with speech? It could mean that there is a    health problem. Speech is one way to determine if your child is progressing through the stages of  developmental normally.

As a child myself, I was regularly babysat by my Aunt. This worked out well because my cousin was about the same age. Unfortunately, my cousin started to imitate my speech and this delayed the diagnosis of a problem.

I guess I had a , how do you say, had a volume disorder. So, pretty much I was just too loud.  I was very comfortable at my Aunt’s home so I would take off playing without even a glance back at my mom. Which is sometimes a good thing. My Mom would always call to me and say “Bye Leanne”.  And as such a tremendously attentive loving child I would holler at the top of my lungs “BYE MOMMY”. Since I was young and unaware of how my actions affected others I would often be in very close proximity to my cousin when I did this. I mean pretty much right beside her ear.  My cousin didn’t seem to mind though. She actually seemed very interested in what I was doing. She began to say things like mom, maam, ba, be and bam mm.  My Aunt realized that her language skills were at the slow end of her developmental stage. The slower development of speech was attributed to the fact that my Aunt had German measles while she was pregnant. Having the measles during a pregnancy can affect many areas for the childs normal growth and development.

Unfortunately my cousin was able to imitate me, especially my mouth ( Ya , I know my mouth is always in action and sometimes too loud) and she was able to emulate some sounds. And yes this was unfortunate as it delayed a correct diagnosis. She was always very interested in my attempts at speech and spent quite while just watching my face and attempting to do the same things that I was doing. Her ability to mimic me covered up that there was a delay in her developmental stage. The german measles caused a congenital disorder which left her deaf.

She should have started at the School for the Deaf by the age of three. This was a few years ago I would expect a child could have started with therapy prior to age three now days.

My huge mouth and excessive volume delayed my cousins admission into the school for the deaf a couple of years. Even after the late start, and the obnoxious cousin , she has done very well.  Thankfully no lasting effects have been contributed to her cousin, me.

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KIDS ISSUES: AUTISIM

  By leanne | January 22, 2012 - 3:10 pm | health
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kids issues

 

For kids that have issues with their speech development it’s important to know what stage of development they should be in. If your child doesn’t seem to be learning to communicate as well as you thought, it might be prudent to seek a physicians help. Many kids have issues with communicating and do not have any underlying health issues. But some kids health issues are found by knowing where their speech development should be. Often, if these health issues are discovered early and treatment plans followed the child can do very well in a “normal society” setting.

A friend of mine brought my attention to a ‘you tube’ video showing that early diagnosis of health issues can be a huge step in recovery and sometimes assimilation in society. Take a look it’s a great video!

AMAZING TOO!!

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DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES: TODDLERS LEARN TO TALK

  By leanne | January 19, 2012 - 12:45 pm | health
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baby girl talking appropriate for developmental stageToddlers go through different developmental stages even when it comes to talking. If your toddler appears behind in language skills from others his age don’t be too concerned as this could actually be OK. About ½ of all toddlers who talk late catch up to their peers in about two years . The thing is for parents to realize the norms for their child’s developmental stage.

As a baby begins to make sounds the first sounds are “P”,”B”,and “M”. After they have pretty much mastered these they go on to “N”, “H” and “W”.  Toddlers imitate sounds and gestures that people around them make. By the age of two a child should be using all of these sounds as well as appropriate body language. By their first birthday they should be able to say mama and dada. The average 18 month old has developed a vocabulary of about 25 words and by the age of two they should be using 50 words. Children go through developmental stages in approximately the same manner, even when learning speach. If your child misses some sounds in their words, don’t be too concerned. As it is normal for a kid to drop sounds or replace sounds that they can’t say. For example: “at’ instead of “cat’ or “tat” instead of “that”.

appropriate developmental stage for baby to laugh

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery

 

There are  problem signs that you should bring to your Doctor’s attention. Having a really quiet baby who doesn’t babble and make noises between 6 months and a year could be cause for concern.  Children learn from imitation , it is an early sign of communication. So if a child isn’t or is only imitating a small amount of sounds and gestures by the age of one you should let your doctor know.  Another bad sign is if the child has no recognizable words by 18 months, and a small vocabulary by age two.  The child may also have limited consonant sounds like “N” and “B” only. These are all signs that you should bring to your Doctors attention.  The one thing to remember is that children respond well to therapy.

There are things that might be reasons for your toddlers late talking. These can be things like being hard of hearing, either from a congenital defect or from chronic ear infections.  Allergies and enlarged adenoids or tonsils can also contribute. And unfortunately there are some developmental disorders, that can affect a childs language skills. If the child shows a large deficit in their language skills as well as certain behavioral issues these could be signs of a disorder called autism. Check with your health care provider if you have concerns.

The Canadian association of Speech –Language Pathologists and Audiologsts at www.caslpa.ca can be a resource for parents as well.

 

 

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WHAT IS CHRISTMAS FOR YOU?

  By leanne | December 18, 2011 - 9:03 pm | parental advise
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Santa, is what christmas is for

 

 

 

You have beliefs about Christmas is for, I do too. I tend to use my memories to define the holiday. Of course the one big reason for Christmas is celebrating Jesus’s birth. I also feel the season is for family. If your family is like mine they are spread out all over the place. When I was younger everyone really tried to get together for the holidays. Now that we all have families of our own we don’t see each other very often. But we always talk on Christmas day.

Since I am close to my parents we often celebrate together. This year is going to be a little different though. I have to work on Christmas day until three pm. So I won’t be able to make a Turkey. And my parents are now 87 years old and making a big supper is a bit too much for them. I am actually very pleased that they admitted it was too much work for them. As I often worry that they try to take on too much work and end up very tired. We started to get a bit worried that Christmas dinner wouldn’t happen. After all what is Christmas for but celebrating with family.

So What is Christmas for? Snoopy has presents.

 

My mother and I were discussing how to do Christmas, make the meal I mean. She seemed very intent about having Christmas on christmas day rather than Boxing day. So I jokeingly said that “maybe R…” ( my son ) could do it. He was in the kitchen at the time and since I know that kids always listen in, I thought I would get a really funny reaction from him. On the other end of the phone Grandma started to laugh. Surprisingly he hadn’t heard me, and then Grandma really wanted to know if he was going to cook or not! So I asked him again. OMG he said OK!!! I can’t believe that my 17 year old boy isn’t afraid of coooking a big holiday meal! But he knows what Christmas is for, family and being together, so he said sure. One catch I have to give him instructions and I’m sure I will be hearing from him while I am at work.

You know I sure am proud of that kid!

So what is Christmas for in your home? Is it for family, celebrating Jesus, parties, gifts, Santa or eating too much?

 

 

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