Free Fun Day!

Hello All,

It is getting warm and people are enjoying outdoor activities. There are also many events around town for children and adults to enjoy. For many of them, you have to pay some admission fees, but many commercial-type events are free. These last few years, economic reasons made people more careful about spending money. Thus, many stores and businesses started to have events that would draw customers to their businesses. All for free! For example, our local Giant store had "Customer Appreciation Day" in which they had set up tables for children to decorate sugar cookies and make cards. They were also giving away slices of cakes and hotdogs. Also, our local Home Depot had a workshop for kids. They gave children an orange apron with their names on it and a wood kit to make a box. They had games and face painting for children too. And of course the employees would come to you and ask you if your roof need a makeover or if we needed a new kitchen, ..... All in all, sometimes it worth checking out websites of your local stores and businesses to find out if something is going on in your neighborhood for your kids to enjoy. We had so much fun! My son felt so good making a flower box all by himself and he is so proud of his sticker on the Home Depot's apron!!

Bugs bug!

Hello All,

After two years, I finally fixed the backyard screen door. It is still chilly outside, but soon we will open this door letting ourselves some air while watching our son playing in the backyard; Making himself wet by the water hose or running to catch a ball. Bugs, on the other side, are another story and that is why we needed that screen to be fixed. Although I couldn't ask my son to help me fix it, we could make crafts that look like bugs! And did I tell you..I am excited about the new screen because bugs bug specially when they find their way to your home! Craft bugs, on the other hand, are very fun! How are you preparing yourself for spring and summer?

Sense of Creativity

Hello all,

We are born very creative, but as we grow up we are used to things that we see thus we gradually put creativity aside. We like to see things as they usually are. In fact, that is how we remember things, but why don't we use other senses for remembering objects? There are many things you can do to make your child use his/her senses more that she/he usually does. For example, close your child's eyes with a scarf and ask him/her to look for a specific toy in his/her room. Or, hide something and guide him to that object by taping on table. To use your child's sense of smell, make him separate apples from strawberry or cups of milk from cups of water while his eyes are closed. These are good practices for increasing your child's other senses. Creativity start from seeing the whole picture. So, trust yourself! As a parent, you can do many things to make your child develop his creativity. In that case, how wonderful can be when a cereal box become a magazine file? and a cup become a rabbit?

TV Character Obsession

Hello All,
Does your child have a character obsession? Mine does. He loves Dora and Diego and many TV characters that are introduced to him by Nick Jr. I don't like this fact. So my solution was to limit TV and making more time with him. It is sometimes good to let your child get over his obsession about the TV characters by reading books and making crafts that features them. Every time we go to the library, he looks for Diego and Dora's books and I look for other interesting books. When we come home, he pretend he is reading Diego and Dora's book. In fact, he can tell what the story is about almost by looking at images! And as far as the crafts go; the other day, I made a tree house out of an empty box with my son. He wanted it because Diego had a tree house that was his so called "rescue center". He brought his little Diego toy and played with it for a least 2 hours. I couldn't ask for more that day!

Another day we made "yo gabba gabba" characters using simply construction papers ( He is not obsessed about them, but interested in making them.)

How do you solve your child's TV character obsession? What do you do about princesses and heros that your child love? Do you think it is healthy to leave them alone with their obsessions or is it dangerous?

Fishi magnets!

Hello All,

Couple days ago, I was at my mom's house and I found some magnets. I asked her how she wants to use those magnets. My sister said: "She was going to buy batteries for her watch!" She had mistakenly bought magnets that looked very much like small watch batteries. I thought to myself :"This is exactly what I need!". So I asked if I could have them for my son's next craft project. She agreed and I put them in my purse. I had forgotten about them until I was at my sister's home and my son didn't have anything to play with. I gave him the magnets and started reading the box: "Avoid touching them if you are pregnant, don't put them next to your credit card, don't give it to your child." Well, I had done it all three already. My sister was pregnant and had touched them! I had given them to my child to play with them and later when I was buying groceries, my credit card wasn't working properly. So, be careful with those things. Still, when I got home, I couldn't wait to put them to work. I cut out two fish shapes out of construction papers and glue them together then put a piece of chenille stems inside it. I also used a wooden stick and a string. Then, I let my son decorate the fish however he wants. Of course magnets on the string attracted the fish. It was an inexpensive virgin of what he had seen a week ago in a store. My son spend 2-3 hours having fun with them. How fun!

Crafts made out of household items

Hello All,

In our home we recycle things like plastics and papers. It is the right thing to do. Sometimes before we throw things away, we do some kind of creative and fun crafts with them. Who doesn't have an empty box of spaghetti or milk carton at home? What a great dump truck and ship they make! Using household items help you save money and make your child think out of the box! Seriously out of the box! So take your papers, scissors, wood sticks out and enjoy the ride! There is nothing and I believe nothing better than spending time with your little one.

(Cut through the milk carton and then clean it with a damp cloth, then put the piece upside down on the back of the truck)

(Wrap your paper around the box and glue them together. Cut through your ship and put your wood sticks through the box.)


Enjoy!



Paper plate Crafts

Hello all,

Spring is coming and so does spring break. Are you looking for some paper plate crafts to make with your child? My son and I have made some. Take a look:

The Sun is very mad!

Make the most of motherhood

Hello all,

I am a mother and have a 3-year-old son. I do at least one craft work with him everyday. I will post pictures and tips of how we make our crafts. I will also post some pictures of the places we go and the fun we have. I hope everyone enjoys motherhood with me.

Cheers to all moms!

Virgina Aquarium, Viginia Beach

www.virginiaaquarium.com