My Square Meal Lunch Boxes

It is true summer is almost over and it is time to start the back to school shopping. One of my least favorite things to do is shop for back to school items. Most items I feel are cheaply made thus the need to purchase a new one each year. I purchased this eco-friendly lunch box last year for my son and I am happy to say it is still in great condition. My Square Meal lunch boxes are beautifully made and the bento box is dish washer safe. The cool thing about these lunch boxes is you get a menu card with ideas of how to fill your lunch box. I LOVE THAT! So many times I was stumped for what to pack and the menu card was my savior. Would love to hear your back to school secrets.

Kids-In-Mind

Here is another great find...love google. I was trying to decide if a movie would be appropriate for my 7 year old son and came across Kids-In-Mind:Movie Ratings. This cool site list every movie you can think of and gives a rating based on Sex/Nudity, Violence/Gore and Profanity. The complete content analysis gives you insight into the movie and possible questions that may arise from your child. The best part about it is there is an App for this site KidsInMindApp.com so you can check movie ratings on the go.

Parenting Blues

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Saw this story this morning on the Today Show and thought I would open this up for discussion. Some days I find myself in a "funk" and all I want to do is shower quickly and get out of the house to have a little peace and quiet. I feel guilty, but after seeing this piece it is nice to know I am not alone. Parenting is hard and no one can prepare you for the 24 hour job, the rewards are great but do we have to lose our identity for new one.."parent." Please leave comments and let me know what you think.

EWG's 2010 Sunscreen Guide

Thought I would share this information given to me by our pediatrician. It is a detailed list from the Environmental Working Group rating sunscreen. You can even type in your current sunscreen and see its rating. Remember that any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen so make sure you and your family stay safe in the sun this summer.

Thank You?

We just celebrated my kid's birthdays in our household and I am trying to teach them the importance of writing thank you notes. I started to realize though that we have been to several birthdays this year and was wondering do people still write thank you notes? I know that growing up we wrote thank you notes for every gift we were given, have times changed, is simply saying thank you enough? I LOVE receiving thank you notes and think it is important to teach our children these simple manners of appreciation. I found this great little book The Thank You Book for Kids, there are over hundreds of creative ways to say thank you. What a great resource for children. You can get it a an amazing discount at Lillian Vernon. Please let me know how you feel about thank you notes...am I old fashion in expecting my children to write them?

Homemade Bathtub Crayons

It has been an really cold winter here in Texas and the snow continues to fall on the first day of Spring. So why not make some homemade bathtub crayons to pass the time. It is easy and fun.

Here is what you will need:

• 2 cups of ivory snow powder
• food coloring
  
• 1/4 cup of water
• ice cube tray
  

In a large bowl, combine the water and ivory soap, add food color until you reach the desired color. Blend well. Add more water if needed. Fill the ice tray with the soap mixture. You may want to use a knife to spread the mixture out. Leave to dry until hardened. Remove the crayons from the tray. Kids can color on the tub, or on themselves during bath time! For a little more fun you can add a few drops of food color to the bath water. We love blue to make the ocean.

St. Patrick's Day

Found this cute little rhyming book and thought I would share. Follow this leprechaun family as they march through the St. Patrick's Day parade.

For a fun St. Patty's Day craft you can make this cute kissed blarney stone. Legend has it that anyone who kissed the Blarney Stone of Ireland would be blessed with eloquence. All you need is a rock, white and green paint. A little gold glitter makes it sparkle.

Too Much of a Good Thing

I thought I would share this book with you that I read with my mommy book club. I feel that many of us can relate to the title. We all want to raise children with good moral fiber, but how do we do that in the instant gratification world we live in? I want my children to have more than I did growing up but where do you draw the line. Are we teaching are children the life lessons they need to be successful or is our indulgence crippling them? This book helps us through all those tough questions. This book is on my parent reference shelf.

Please share any parenting books you have enjoyed. I will post them on the blog. We all need any help we can get.

Chinese New Year

Celebrate Chinese New Year with this Chinese paper lantern craft. It is really fun and easy.
Here is what you will need:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• ruler
• tape
• stapler
• pencil
• glitter, sequins or anything to decorate lantern

Fold your paper length wise and use your ruler to draw a line one inch across from unfolded end. Measure and mark lines one inch apart starting at folded end toward the stop cutting line. (see diagram below) Cut along lines to the stop cutting line. Unfold paper and tape lantern together. Add a handle and decorate.

Valentine's Day

Start your Valentine's Day off right with heart-shaped pancakes. You can find the pancake molds here. Make your Valentine breakfast all red and pink by using strawberries and raspberries. You can also make strawberry milk.

Check out this fun Valentine craft. Lollipops as the center for a flower. I just love this! You can give them to all your friends. Get all the details on how to make the craft here. Happy Valentine's Day!

Family Time

As our children are getting older we are finding it harder and harder to have family time. We find ourselves running from soccer, basketball, and dance, we are consistently on the go. Because we are always on the go we have made a commitment to having dinner as a family every night. During dinner we share our favorite part of our day. It is really fun to see what the kids will say. Plus they are really interested in what our favorite part was as well. We also ask what the lowest part of their day was. This is a great way for you to find out if anything is bothering your children. It is comforting to children to know that even their parents have hard days and you can teach them how to cope with any issues they share. If "playing" favorite part/lowest part of the day doesn't get the conversation going their are fun dinner card games. Remember the best gift you can give your family is your time.

Toys, Toys, Toys!

Now that the holidays are over I find myself swimming in toys. What to do with all these toys both new and old? Here are a few ideas we use. I have my kids count how many new toys they received for Christmas and that is how many toys they must donate. This is a great chance to not only clean out the toys but it teaches the children about donation and how there are children that aren't as blessed as they are. We like to donate to the local Children's Hospital (a place we know all too well)....but find a place that is near and dear to you. Most places that take donations for children will give a small tour of the center and show your children where their items will go. When we go to the Children's Hospital to make our donations my kids love to see all the children enjoying toys that have been donated. They feel much better about giving their toys away.

Share with us what you do with all the toys your children no longer play with.

Handprint Menorah

This is one of my favorite activities that we do at my school when teaching our students about Hanukkah. The children make their own menorah. All you need is construction paper, paint and your little ones hands. You can decide if you want to "light" your menorah all at once or one for each night of Hanukkah.

Holidays?

During the holidays as a teacher and a mother I get a lot of questions about the different holidays children celebrate. It is a difficult question and for some a delicate subject. I enjoy talking to my own children about all of the holidays. I find that I learn something new every year along with them. I feel, by teaching your children about other peoples traditions and cultural/religious belief you are giving them the knowledge of acceptance and you expose them to the diverse world they live. Here are a few of my favorite stories I share with my kiddos.

• Christmas Around the World
  
• Light the Lights! A Story About Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas
• My First Kwanza Book
• Night of the Moon: A Muslim Holiday Story
• Lighting a Lamp: A Diwali Story
• The Legend of the Poinsettia
  

These are just a few of the many books that are out there for you to share. I also have several activities that I do as well. I will try and post pictures soon. Please share your ideas for talking to your children about holidays.

Leaf Rubbing

Here is another fun fall activity you can do with you children. Go on a nature walk and collect a variety of fallen leaves. If you are able to identify the trees/leaves, even better. Lay your collection of leaves on a smooth surface, vein side up. Place a piece of paper over leaves. Shade lightly over the leaves/paper with a soft pencil or crayon. An image of the leaves should appear. My kids love doing this. They kept saying it's like magic and couldn't wait to make more leaf rubbing collages.

Pumpkin Pumpkin

October is the unofficial month of pumpkins. There are so many fun things to do with pumpkins and way too many books to share. Pumpkin Pumpkin is one of my favorites, it takes you through the cycle of the pumpkin. Here are a few of our favorite things to do with our pumpkin.

1. Visit a pumpkin patch
   
2. Measure and weigh your pumpkin
   
3. Count the seeds
4. Taste the pulp
5. Roast the seeds....wash the seeds, pat dry, coat a pan with oil, add seeds to pan, lightly salt, bake in oven at 400 for 45 minutes.
6. Sing Pumpkin Songs:
   Five Little Pumpkins
   Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate, (hold hands up)
   The first one said "oh my its getting late," (hands on cheeks)
   The second one said "there's a chill in the air," (hug self)
   The third one said "but we don't care," (shrug)
   The fourth one said "we're ready for some fun," (jump)
   The fifth one said "lets run, run, run," (run in place)
   So woo went the wind, and out went the lights,
   And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight (sit down).
7. Carve your Pumpkin coat the inside with Vasaline to make it last longer

Apples, Apples Everywhere

While apples are in season why not share this wonderful book with your children. This beautiful book by Marjorie Priceman will take you on a wonderful adventure and opens to door to talk to your child about how do items make it to our super markets. The best part about the book is the recipe at the end. You can make a yummy apple pie with your little one.

Have extra apples left over from your pie? Make apple prints. All you need are apples, paint and paper. Cut your apples in half either vertical, showing the apples true shape or horizontal, showing the wonderful star. I like to use plastic forks as handles so we do get too messy. You can even turn your prints into stationary by printing on card stock.

Another fun activity with apples is apple tasting. Run out and buy all the apples that your super market carries and let your little ones try them. Talk to them about which they liked better and why. I learned very quickly after doing this we were a mix household of gala and granny smith lovers.

Spelling Practice

Practicing your spelling words is never a fun homework activity. Here are a few fun ways to spice up spelling practice. Crayola has great bath crayons; while your child is showering give them a "spelling test" and let them write the words on the tile wall. If you have a glass shower door you can write the words on note cards and tape them to the glass and let them trace the words for practice.

Free Music

A friend of mine (Kathy) sent me this wonderful find. You can download some great children's songs for FREE at PBS Kids. There are also some great activities for the little ones. Check it out.

Bath Play

Looking for an educational way to let the kids play in the bath tub and clean at the same time? Have the kids play in shaving cream! You can draw different shapes, letters or numbers with the shaving cream on the tile and have them identify what you drew. You can have them smooth out the shaving cream once they have identified the object and have them practice writing the letter, shape or number. This is great for fine motor and cleans the tile at the same time.