Toy Thursday: Christmas?

Christmas?

Yes. It is only October.

But as a saver, it's never too early to check your gift stockpile and research gifts. If you're a saver (like me), you know that EBates is a GREAT site to get paid to shop. But sometimes Ebates doesn't offer all of the sites you want to shop from. That's where MyPoints comes in. Click either of these links and get paid to shop.

Buy smart, save money. :)

Toy Thursday: Learn your letters with Easter Eggs!

Last year my neighbor gave us this clever Easter egg game matching letters together. As soon as we got it back out this year, Judah was more interested in it than before. The game certainly puts a seasonal flair on learning by matching upper case letters to lower case letters using plastic Easter eggs.

Items
package of colorful plastic Easter eggs
permanent marker

Instructions
On one side of the egg, write a capital letter of the alphabet. On the corresponding side, write three or four lower case letters of which one is the match to the upper case letter. Rotate these letters around the egg. The child then puts the egg together and turns the sides to match the upper case letter with the lower case letter. Do this with several eggs using various letters of the alphabet.

Toy Thursday: Brown Paper Sack Puppets

For those who like to pretend, in particular, preschoolers, making puppets can be fun.  Putting on puppet shows and playing interactively with your child is rewarding creativity and encouraging skills.

If you are like me though, I have neither the patience (plus I cannot draw very well) nor the time to make elaborate puppets.

Instead, we find our brown paper lunch sacks, coloring books, scissors and glue. Then we construct our own puppets from there. And it does not have to be hard, one easy way to pretend is to take a favorite book and make the characters of the book to act out the story.

So we find large color sheets of people and animals from coloring books or an online source. I find the coloring pages with large plain pictures work the best. Judah then can color the animal or person as desired. He can practice cutting out the object. We glue the head onto the bottom flap of the bag and line up the body on the side. Other decorations can be added like yarn for hair, objects for props, and eyes for 3-D facial features.

Between making your own puppet and acting out your own story, imagination is endless. And all the while you are having lots of fun making memories with your child! And you will have less stress with this simple play thing and activity.

Toy Thursday: Science Experiment - Constellation Tubes!

Judah and I have been learning about the solar system and planets. More recently we did this "take home science" project to learn about stars and constellation shapes in the sky. This simple lesson has us talking about Cassiopeia and Pegasus. Have fun learning about science!


Materials Needed
Empty paper towel or bath tissue tube
scissors
ballpoint pen or toothpick
tape
black paper

Instructions
Trace a circle around the tube. Make dots of one of the constellation designs (i.e. Big Dipper) from a pattern in a book or online inside the circle. Carefully poke just the tip of the pen or toothpick through each of the dots of the pattern. Place the circle on the pattern face down over one end of the tube. Make sure that the dots are centered. Fold the sides of the pattern down over the sides of the tube and tape them into place. Hold the end of the tube with the pattern on it up to a light source and look through the other end. Do you see your constellation?

Toy Thursday: Science Experiment - Rainbow in a Jar

Sometimes we have those random moments we need to fill to pass the time while sister is sleeping. This is a great opportunity to do a quick science experiment. In this case, we followed the instructions from Mudpies to Magnets: A Preschool Science Curriculum for "A Rainbow in a Jar."

In this relaxing activity, preschoolers can "watch colors float through water in beautiful designs and also see primary colors blend to create secondary colors." Put on some classical music to add to the fun.
Discuss colors diffusing together to create currents of shapes and designs. Find patterns, blend colors, and experiment.

Items Needed

Glass Jar
Food Coloring
Water

Instructions

Fill the clear glass jar or vase with water. Set the jar in a spot for a child to observe from all angles. Place one drop of each primary color of food coloring approximately three to five centimeters for the streams to go deeper. Observe the currents making patterns with the colors mixing them into designs.  This experiment works best if the water has been sitting overnight before adding colors. However, compare the water that has been sitting to a freshly filled jar. Expand your experiment to include ink, oil, or tempera paint.

This just might be your ticket to a pot of gold on a rainy, cold day.

Toy Thursday: My Little Olympian

If your house has been like ours, the Olympics have been a big hit both on and off the television. Our son has been joining us in the evenings as we tune into the world competitions.

I remember as a kid the Olympics were a big deal. Four years between events is a long time for a kid. To add to the wonder, we grew up with stars like Mary Lou Retton and Kerri Strug among others in the summer Olympics. We dreamed big. We put up our posters. And we pretended we were gymnasts.

To be on the other side of those dreams watching your kid pretend is no different. We talk about the Olympics a lot: "Where are their pants (regarding the leotards)?" "What is Hungarian?" And "Why do they have masks (regarding fencing)?" And "Where is Michael Philips?" So with our globe beach ball in hand, our commercial breaks filled with somersaults and cartwheels, and our fencing costume, we have won gold medals in playing Olympics for sure.

In fact the other evening, our neighbor had her whole yard filled with Olympic track and field events for the kids. She had her tin foil shot put to toss, her straw javelins to throw, and the Frisbee disc to send through the air. We used a toilet paper roll for our relay race and long, rectangle flower pots for hurdles. We had yellow streamers for our finishers. Then we finished our evening with pop sickles before heading indoors to watch more Olympics.

Take this time to use the Olympics to your advantage for fun! Make a torch out of a paper towel roll, tin foil, and tissue paper (for the fire). Use pipe cleaners to make the rings. And by all means set up your own events. Do a simple geography lesson with a map. Dream big for the Olympics do not come often enough for young imaginations.

Toy Thursday: Turning Cleaning Into A Game

Yes...I did it. I made cleaning fun. The last couple of days I've talked about using lemons and limes to clean, so I thought I'd try the bathtub cleaning I came across. I sliced my lemons and limes, put them in the tub with cold water and let it sit.

I thought the ducks could use a good citrus soak as well.

Liam was not wanting to go to bed, at all. I was exhausted. I knew I needed to drain and scrub the tubs. So I had him help me.

He thought it was fun to squeeze he juice that remained in the lemons and limes, and when we drained the water, he thought it was fun to take a rag and scrub. I was amazed at how easily the soap scum lifted (even with his 6 year old elbow grease). And the bathroom smelled SO good.

The best part? It wore him out. By the second bathtub, he was tired. And he went to bed (willingly)...and slept in!

However, I should note that I took a shower shortly after we had cleaned the tub and I'm not sure if it was the juice or the lifted gunk, but the tub was a little slippery. So be careful!

Toy Thursday: A Toy For The Sibling

First I want to say Congrats to my co-author Emma for having a beautiful baby girl yesterday. That reminded me of how important it is to make sure her older son feels included in all of the attention.

Every time a friend has a baby, I always get the baby a gift (of course) but I always try to get something for the older sibling(s). Every time my husband and I have a new baby, we make sure the older brothers get a present "from the baby" so they don't feel left out when the baby gets all of the new clothes, toys etc.

Becoming an older sibling is an adjustment. While it's easy to shower gifts on a cute squishy newborn, it's just as important to make sure the older siblings feel involved and included.

Toy Thursday: Playing with your Food

What is it about kids playing with their food? I remember my mom always telling my younger siblings to stop playing with their food or swinging their arms at the table. If something spilled because of carelessness, then we got in trouble at the table. And now I find myself doing the same thing.

Judah is definitely in that stage where food becomes center stage for all kinds of pretend ideas and creative imagination. And most of the time this results in a mess all over himself, the table, and even the floor much to my dismay.

His new thing is to pretend that food are some characters from a movie. We have a Winnie-the-Pooh noodle, a Piglet noodle, and a Tigger noodle. I am not sure if Kraft Macaroni (Cars) gave us this idea or not. One night we just could not get Judah to eat and so we said, let's pretend to find so and so and it worked. He played along and got the calories in him that he needed that day.

This imaginary meal play works well when you want to get him to eat as you can play along and concoct up ideas to stir the imagination. For instance, to get him to eat his peas we talk about using his spoon (the loader) to load up the dump truck in his mouth. Or try to munch his broccohli like Peter Rabbit. We even pretend that sweet potato is orange pie because it is sweet.

This does not work so well when they push the limits on creativity. When they know they are not supposed to do something, pretend suddenly becomes an alibi to get away with it. This would include splattering milk across the table at breakfast from the cereal bowl because it is snow or finger painting in the peanut butter making shapes.

So where do you draw the line. You want your kid to be creative. And you certainly want your kid to eat as in our case since Judah lost so much weight from being sick and needs to gain the calories. Yet, at what age do you implement table manners to include no playing with your food.

I guess we try to eat with our spoon. We say please and thank you and may I be excused. We wipe up and try to sit down to eat. And we always have to take at least a taste of what is on the table. I feel like that is a start until we are older even though my mom would have a fit. Still, kids have an imagination all their own.

From one mom to another, I would love to hear your stories and ideas.

Toy Thursday: Homemade Doodle Board

Judah and I have been playing with our homemade doodle board the last few days to pass the time. This is another activity that can be used simply for fun or to add as a tool for learning. It is super easy to put together and the results are endless.

I found the idea off of Pinterest at the Hippie Housewife. To make our own though I used washable finger paints in a Ziploc freezer bag taped down by clear packing tape onto our plastic table cloth (use blue painter's tape directly to wood table). To do this I poured a generous amount of primary colors into the different areas of the bag. We noticed the more paint you use the more fun you have. Before taping the bag down, I smoothed out any and all air bubbles. I used a light color piece of paper underneath to brighten the background and to catch any messes that may happen. Then I sealed the edges of the paper and the bag off with packing tape.


Judah understood the concept right away as he mixed the colors together like finger painting only mess free. To make designs, you take your finger and draw lines through the paint. To erase your drawings, just lightly smooth out the paint. This is how we doodled our letters and shapes as well as made hand prints. Judah then pretended it was mud and drove his trucks over the bags for road effects.

We left the doodle boards up for several days so that Judah could go back to it to play. We did have one scratch and I simply taped over it with clear packing tape. The colors mixed together. Since the paint remained wet inside the bag, you could totally undo the doodle board and use the paint for a real finger paint project.

Toy Thursday: Indoor Snow!

If the weather is keeping you indoors because of the cold but the kids are bothering you to play in the snow, fear not because there is a solution to this problem. You can make indoor snow!

A few weeks ago, I talked about how much fun it is to have your kids help wash toys. Here is another spin on the idea but with making foam out of dish soap. Your kids can still have fun cleaning their toys. And you have a fun activity to help pass those long days indoors.

After finding the idea off of You Pinspire Me and knowing Judah likes to play with bubbles when we wash his toys, we made indoor snow to play. We put 1/3 cup warm water with several squirts of Dawn dish soap into the food process to blend. And we got a white foam, ideal for play.



I put the foam into a display plastic tray lid so that he could drive his cars around. After a while the foam soap would turn into a small water puddle. We would then keep adding more foam mixtures for additional play. We learned that the longer you blend the mixture, the better foam you get. Judah played with his foam for 2.5 hours until lunch time and even then he made a fuss about putting it away. Once we were finally done though, we wiped up and rinsed off the toys and the food processor to put away for another time. The mess was minimal as he did not get soaked like he does when washing his toys.

This activity provided so much entertainment and it was easy enough to do, that I highly recommend using it to pass the winter blahs. Indoor snow can be fun and so easy.

For additional outdoor fun indoors, check out Indoor Sandbox. And for ways to minimize mess even more, check out Make Less Mess.

Toy Thursday: Sick of those Noise Toys? Me too.

Thankfully we did not get any annoying noise toys this Christmas but we do have a few toys from Christmases and birthday celebrations in years past. If you did get a noise toy, I bet you are fed up with it right about now.

I remember our first annoying noise toy that we got for a birthday: the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Puppy. I swear that toy is demon possessed. If you have one, you know what I am talking about. I remember that thing going off in the middle of the night talking in spite the batteries practically falling out and the switch turned off. The songs grew on your brain and the thing had no volume button. Oh yeah, that thing did not last very long at all in our house. Sorry to the family member who got it for us.

Another toy that I have found annoying in the past was a V-Tech learning bike that offers all kinds of learning opportunities. Simply put, the bike takes up too much room for a toy that we do not play with very much. And you guessed it, there is no volume control to control the blaring, annoying songs.

And from that moment on I distinctly told family members NO NOISE TOYS PLEASE.

Call me crazy if you want but why add extra electronic noise to an already noisy house of screaming kids. The flashing lights, the loud ditties, and the annoying word phrases almost over stimulate our kids into craziness. The sounds are often too loud for an adult let alone a young child. And how much learning do the kids really get out of these highly entertaining-only toys? Probably not as much as a hands on activity that requires creativity and imagination in your own noise making.

Last year for Judah's birthday, he got a drum with drum sticks. And I remember one extended family member commenting, "Be sure to take that home with you. I think it would get annoying." I have to laugh because I can handle the drum. The difference lies in natural noise verses electronic noise. The same is true for a fire truck that we have that makes sirens. Yes, it might be a little electronic noise but at least it is a natural sound we hear in society.

So I am anxious to hear what toys you got for Christmas that you have already put away. Also I would like to know what toys you find most annoying so I can make sure to add these to my NO NOISE TOYS PLEASE list for the future.

Toy Thursday: What My Kids WON'T Be Getting This Christmas

Is it just me or are toys getting stranger and stranger? What happened to the normal toys we had growing up?? That being said, here's a list of toys that my kids WON'T be getting at Christmas (or birthday, or ever).

1. Doggie Doo Game

Really? A game where you feed a dog and press its tail and it poops. And then you have to clean it up. And how is this fun? Ew.

2. Pop the Pig

You feed a pig burgers until his tummy bursts. Again, ew.

3. Squinkies

Here's a great idea...let's encourage our children to play with something that is super small and a choking hazard. What could go wrong?? Pass.

It reminds me of this SNL sketch.

My kids will not be getting "Mr. Skin Grafter", "Doggie Dentist", "Johnny Switchblade, Adventure Punk" or a "Bag of Glass".

Call me a mean mom. But I might just stick with Duplo toys and trucks.

Toy Thursday: Out with the Old and In with the New

You have heard the saying "out with the old and in with the new." I thought of this when I saw a mom's post on face book about cleaning out the toy room just this week to make room for new Christmas toys.

I guess adding a new collection of toys to the already overstuffed toy room can be a challenge (And a pathetic one in our society at that if you ask me). That is why it is a good time to clean and sort the toys as you make room for new ones. Here are some tips to do so.

• Allow age appropriate toys to remain while removing toys that are outgrown.
• Remove broken toys and their pieces from the room.
• Bag up some toys not played with for charities such as churches, clinics waiting rooms, and organizations that take gently used toys.
• Rotate toys around the house between rooms as some kids play with toys in different settings.
• Rotate toys from storage and get out when the kids are bored with what is currently out.
  
• Dust, wipe down, and wash toys and toy areas from germs and dirt to make a safe and clean play environment. Remember that some toys like bath toys can be washed in the dishwasher.
• Organize toys for easy access and efficient clean-up.
  

Toy Thursday: Surviving The Holiday

There are SO many toy commercials. Honestly, I was expecting more political commercials than toy commercials, living in Iowa one month away from the caucus. But I couldn't be that lucky.

Woah. Wait. Did I just call myself lucky to sit through political commercials? I did. I must be losing it. And Mattel must have a larger advertising budget than Mitt Romney.

But every time my kids see a commercial for something the TV tells them they need...they want it. The toy commercials have even infiltrated my evening news.

24 days until Christmas. We'll be watching a lot of IPTV (commercial free) and less Nickeloden between now and then. I'm done toy shopping for the boys and I don't want them to decide there's something they need between now and then.

And then there's the Pampers "Silent Night" commercial that never fails to make me weepy. And even though they scream and fight and yell for toys, they're my little angels.

Toy Thursday: Make Leaf Place Mats for Thanksgiving

Looking for some last minute decorating ideas for your Thanksgiving table. If you desire to make it a family affair, consider making place mats for each place setting on that special day. The kids will have fun helping decorate too.

Remember those leaves we collected a few weeks ago on our nature walk. Judah and I selected various shapes, sizes, and colors of fall leaves. We brought them home to press between magazines.

Recently, we got those leaves out to make place mats for our Thanksgiving table. To do this we took 10 inch by 13 inch piece of colored construction paper. Judah helped me glue down the leaves onto the paper. He finished his design with adding some color from the markers.

Once the leaf designs were finished, we cut two pieces of clear contact paper. Taking one piece of contact paper, we placed the construction paper (face up) onto the sticky side. We then proceeded to press the remaining second sheet on top. Finally, we smoothed out all the air bubbles and trimmed the edges of contact paper around the construction paper.

Be sure to make enough for all your Thanksgiving guests. Have fun using the leaves to make designs of all colors and shapes. Your new place mats will be sure to add to your holiday spirit and your time with family will make your day that much more blessed.

For added decorations, press your leftover leaves alone between some contact paper. Cut around the leaves in different shapes. Punch a hole and hang your sun catcher on the windows.

Toy Thursday: I (eye) Spy!

I spy with my little eye....Every little kid at some point in their lives sits down to read an "I Spy" book. After all, hunting for hidden objects in the book is a classic past time. The concept of I Spy can be transferred into so many activities and games to help pass more time on a cold, snowy day.

First, you can play I Spy by describing objects in a room. Judah and I use this technique while waiting at the doctors office. I tell him "Eye Spy something...." and I proceed to describe the color, shape, or size of the object. This technique helps him discover and familiarize himself with his surroundings.

Second, you can play a variation of I Spy by hiding objects in the room. Take a medium-sized object and hide it in the room of choice. The second person then looks around the room to find the object. Once found, the games continues to the next person to hide and the other to seek. For example, I will hide a book mark with a string in the living room while Judah closes his eyes. He will then look around the room to find the book mark.

Still you can play I Spy by filling up a clear, glass jar (with a lid) with birdseed. Add a number of objects to the jar that are small in nature. Tightly close the lid of the jar and shake the jar to see what objects you can find inside. My neighbor utilizes this game with her preschool son. Objects inside the jar include things like a small bouncy ball, a matchbox car, a penny, and so on. Each person on their turn will spy something and proceed to describe the object they see peeking out from the birdseed.

These games not only help pass the time on cold days indoors but also teach valuable skills. Use adjectives to describe objects by specific details as in color, size, and shape. Also, practice using words of opposites like inside, outside, up, down, high, and low. You are building vocabulary and spatial skills. And above all, have fun using your eyes!

Toy Thursday: Toy Organization

Judah has been been in this habit lately of walking with his toys around the house. I find upstairs toys being carried downstairs and downstairs toys being carried upstairs. He wants a specific toy and so he goes to get it often bringing it to a different room. Then he puts it down forgetting about it until the next time he wants it.

The next time he wants the toy, he asks me where it is. I have been so busy doing chores that I am not sure where he took it, played with it, or put it down. We often end up going on a hunt around the house just for one specific toy. We find it, play with it, and then put it down as we go onto something else, thus forgetting about it again until the next time.

I run into the constant problem of hunting down toys which I neither have the patience nor time to do.

I understand and in fact encourage the need to play with all kinds of toys at the same time. Build a city with your blocks. Add your cars to drive around. Then build the train track. It makes sense for the need to be creative and resourceful.

I also understand the need to move toys around the house. In addition, I also realize the benefits of rotating toys not only from room to room but also what is available to play.For some reason creativity is sparked by changing venues. You can add a striped blanket from the living room for the roads. In the bedroom, the bed acts as the mountain for the city.

I am starting to realize the key is to picking up the toy when finished and putting it away in the appropriate place (room). Judah has this nice new toy bin with buckets for his blocks, cars, and trains among other toys. At first, the toys have been thrown in each bucket in any old way with some of all three in each bucket. This adds to the stress of finding a toy when desperately needed and relying on mom's help every time to come to the rescue.

While I continue to tell him to look in his toy bins, I have decided it is time to implement some further organization tips to make the search process run smoother.

When Judah opened his brand new toys from the boxes, I immediately cut off a picture of the toy from the leftover box. With high hopes I plan to tape the pictures of the blocks, cars, and trains to the corresponding bin that will house the toys from now on. Then when we pick up, we can be more mindful of matching the correct item into the box. Judah, himself, can look at the picture knowing what goes into that specific bin, aiding a faster search.

I hope this lessens the stress finding the toys. Now the next step is to figure out how not to walk with them around the house, leaving them in random places. Any ideas?

Toy Thursday: Christmas Toy Catalogs!

We have not even had Halloween yet I find myself being bombarded with Christmas. You? Every department store has had their Christmas trees up and decorated next too all their Christmas wares and merchandise for over a month now.

My husband even took our son Judah to Menard's one night to look at tools. Instead, they ended up going through the Winter Wonderland complete with a tunnel of lights, big snowman inflatables, and lots of decorated Christmas trees of every shape and color. Now my son talks about seeing Christmas trees when we come to every nearby Evergreen tree. Even the decoratated trees outside our neighbors house with orange lights are Christmas trees.

We limit our television time to watching mostly videos, thus avoiding commercials on regular programming. However, I can only imagine the toy commercials have increased on the air. And soon we will be listening to Christmas music as well.

Now I typically enjoy the Holiday season especially as Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday (perhaps because it is like Christmas only not commercialized). Yet, I always enjoy the activities of Fall so much as this is my favorite season of the year. This year I feel cut off from wearing my orange and making my pumpkins as the rest of the world seems ready to move onto Christmas.

In spite our efforts to avoid commercials, the advertising world has taken a hold of our mailbox filtrating it with Christmas catalogs and coupons of all kinds - pajamas, clothes, tools, plants, and yes TOYS!

This is really the first year I have seen Judah sit down with the toy catalogs turning the pages and looking at all the bright colored pictures. And I have heard him say, "Neat" and "I want to play with this" as if the item will magically jump out so that he can touch it and play with it. I guess you can say the advertising world is clever when it comes to marketing toys.

The toys though on the market this year are actually not that cool. To me they scream mess, noise, and boring. In the back of my mind, I have already picked out some educational, fun, and neat toys for Judah. And I plan to go and look for these regardless if they are in the catalog or not. So good try toy stores.

Toy Thursday: When a Toy Becomes a Weapon

I knew this day was coming. I have three boys. Toys become weapons. Normal household items become weapons. They're boys.

I'm not trying to encourage violent play, but again, they're boys. Someone is always getting hit on the head, the back...something...with something. Balls? Flying projectiles (even if they were "just playing angry birds"--somehow I think little brother DIDN'T want to be a pig).

I recall as a child, normal toys (and even household items) became weapons. Barbie's Convertible could be a missile down the stairs at my little brother. And he learned early that micro machines could be instant roller skates, strategically placed of course.

And you can't tell me that an empty wrapping paper tube was never a loud microphone you would use to wake someone up...and then as a sword, that is until you hit someone with it and it collapsed.

I tell my boys to play nice...and they do, for the most part. But sometimes they get a little carried away.

My brother and I would spend countless hours coloring the outside of a cardboard box to look like a car, only to push each other down the stairs in it.

I try to avoid violent toys like swords and guns...but as long as they have imagination, there will be "tough boy toys". And I won't take away their imagination...just ask that they "play nice". But they're boys.

However, once someone cries (or hits mommy), the game is done.

What do you do when a toy becomes a weapon?