February 21, 2012

Marble-Print Bookplates

These bookplates make reading extra personal and extra fun.

Total Time Needed:

1 Hour

Materials

• Bookplate template
• Painter’s tape
• Box or container with tall sides
• Tempera paints in 2 or 3 colors

• 5 or 6 marbles
• 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper
• Glue stick

1. Print out the template and cover the name boxes with painter’s tape as shown above. Set the template in the box. Tip: To keep the template from sliding, stick a small roll of painter’s tape under each corner.
2. Squirt paint along the sides of the template, then drop in the marbles. Show your child how to gently tilt the box, so that the marbles roll through the paint and across the template.
3. Let the template dry, then carefully peel off the painter’s tape. Color copy the template onto 8½-by-11-inch paper and cut out the bookplates. Glue each one to the first page of a book or wrap them up as a gift.

Tips:

A plastic index-card holder (available at office supply stores) makes a great gift box — packed with a glue stick — for our Marble-Print Bookplates.

February 20, 2012

President’s Day is a federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February. The holiday is intended to celebrate President George Washington’s (February 22nd) and President Abraham Lincoln’s (February 12th) birthdays.

Use this holiday to learn about these two famous Presidents. Click here for some history and activities on President’s Day!

Febraury 19, 2012

Fun with Letters

by Catherine Newman and Jodi Butler

Keep your preschooler spellbound with these simple alphabet activities.

Letter Writing Tray

Ages: 3 and up

Here’s a great way to help your tot get a feel for writing — no paper or pencil required! First, sprinkle a thick layer of cornmeal over the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet, then show her how to write letters with one or two fingers. When she’s ready to start over, gently shake the sheet to erase the letters. Store the cornmeal in a ziplock bag when not in use.

Sound Search

Ages: 2-1/2 and up

Clue your child into phonetics with this educational twist on hide-and-seek. To play, gather up a handful of objects that start with the same letter, such as a banana, boat, boot, and ball. Talk with your little one about the sound that the objects start with (in this case, “buh”), then have her close her eyes while you “hide” them around the room. Now make the sound of the letter (”buh buh buh”) and challenge your child to find everything in the room that starts with that sound.

Letter Portraits

Ages: 4 and up

Draw a large letter on a piece of paper, then give your child colored pencils or crayons and have her turn the letter into a portrait of something else. A lower-case “m” might become a camel, for example, or an upper-case “B” could change into a butterfly. For extra credit, tell older kids they can draw only objects that start with the letter on the paper.

Alphabet Scramble

Ages: 4 and up

Print each of the 26 letters of the alphabet on a separate sticky note and help your child stick the notes on a wall in order. Have her close her eyes, then switch the letters around. When she opens her eyes again, see if she can put the letters back in the right order. (If she needs a hint, try singing a round of the ABC song.) When she’s ready for a new challenge, encourage her to place each sticky note on an object whose name starts with the letter, such as “c” on a cabinet or “d” on a doorknob.

Take It Further: Make a personalized ABCs book for your little one.

February 18, 2012

Discover Engineering Family Day at the National Building Museum
February 18, 2012, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Take part in slime-making, day-long robot demonstrations and competitions, design bridges and helicopters, and much more. Free. $5 suggested donation. Most appropriate for children ages 5-13.

February 17, 2012

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day.  So… perform a few random acts of kindness- hold the door open for a stranger, let someone go ahead of you in line at the store, pay the coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks, give a compliment–the ideas are endless.  See if you can “pay it forward” and make today a great day!  Here are a few great ideas for the kids:

• Go to a children’s zoo or a park where feeding animals is allowed. Offer a bag of food to another family to feed the animals.
• Bake cookies together, and take them to a neighbor .
• Pitch in and clean up the yard of a neighbor who is ill, has had surgery recently, or has had a family emergency.
• Walk to a nearby park and pick up trash, then have a picnic there.
• Bake a treat and take it to a police or firefighter station.
• Arrange to plant flowers or a tree at a school or park on a Saturday morning.
• Have each member of your family choose someone outside the family who has made a positive difference in his or her life.
• Write short thank-you notes, and mail the letters together.
• Discuss the best things about the area where you live, the best places to shop and have fun, etc. Have someone take notes. Then type up the ideas to give to new neighbors who move in.
• Leave a bouquet of flowers on a neighbor’s front step anonymously.
• Make some small gifts or write kindness wishes and drawings on bright greeting cards. Deliver them in person to residents of a nursing home, children’s home, or senior facility.
• Collect stories from family members about kind acts both given and received, and create a family scrapbook. If you have photos, include them with the stories. As years go by and as your children grow, all of you can review the many ways that kindness has touched your family’s life.
• Tape a lunch bag to each family member’s door. For a week, put a daily treat or note inside for them to find when they wake up in the morning.

February 16, 2012

Coin Critters

by Nicole Blasenak Shapiro

Here is a great game to play with the kids and practice using your American coins.   I think you will be amazing how much money you have in just coins.

Total Time Needed:

30 Minutes or less

Here’s some instant fun for just about any time or place. All it requires is a pencil and a little spare change.

The skills it builds: coin values, addition, and subtraction

What You Need

• Coins
• Paper

• Marker or crayons

Instructions

1. Take some coins from your pocket or purse, lay them out on a piece of paper, and have your child draw arms, legs, and other body parts to create a creature.
2. Then help her total up the value of the coins and write it beside the creature. Add or take away coins to form new shapes, and figure out the new sums.

Febraury 15, 2012

Squeeze fruit in your kids diet anyway you can.   Try fruit pancakes.

The kitchen is a great place to spend some quality time with your kids.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk

• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• Butter
• About 1 cup of fruit, such as blueberries, raspberries,
• Sliced strawberries, apples, peaches or bananas
• Maple syrup

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Show the chef how to measure accurately, using dry measuring cups and leveling off the flour. And be sure to have him check for any remaining lumps in the bottom of the sifter.
2. Whisk the eggs and milk in a separate bowl, then whisk in the oil. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon, but do not beat. The batter will be a little bit lumpy, but that’s okay. For fluffier pancakes, substitute buttermilk for the milk and use 2 teaspoons baking soda instead of the baking powder.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a griddle or an electric skillet on medium high. Then, being careful not to splatter the hot butter, drop about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake (a job for older kids and parents only). Be sure to leave enough room between the cakes for them to grow. For fun, you can drizzle the batter into shapes. Pour it into a plastic bag, snip a small hole in one corner, and squeeze the batter into hearts, teddy bears, numbers or your child’s initials on the hot griddle.
4. Ask your kids what fruits they want to add to their pancakes, then gently press blueberries, raspberries, or apple or banana slices into the batter. To help the kids pick their favorite fillings, set out bowls of the prepared fruits. Six-year-old Tom picked five blueberries and one raspberry, whereas his sister, four-year-old Ruth, said “I don’t want to put anything in it, just on it.”
5. Cook until the pancakes bubble on the top and brown on the bottom. Flip, then cook until brown on the other side. For successful cooking, use a griddle that heats evenly. Keep it on medium high–if it’s too hot, the pancakes will burn on the outside and remain gooey on the inside; if it’s not hot enough, the crust will turn hard and the inside will be dry. Cook a test pancake in the beginning, then adjust your heat accordingly.
6. Serve the pancakes hot with butter and maple syrup, if you like. Or, stockpile them on an oven-proof dish set in a warm oven for any late sleepers. Makes 20 pancakes.

February 1, 2012

February 14, 2012

Saint Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionary, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines“).

Here are some great activities and games to do with your kids to show love and appreciation on Valentine’s Day!

February 14,  2012

Puppy Love

This Valentine’s Day show someone you care with a silly snack of heart-shaped hot-dogs!

Ingredients

• hot-dog
• piece of uncooked linguini

• cheese