Awesome Craft To Do With Your Kids

By MAD21

I was reading through some of my favorite blogs and came across a really great idea from fellow blogger Kristen at We Are THAT Family.

The project is 'DIYP: Little Hands.' We all probably have at least one hand stamp or imprint of each of our kids when they were little, but I thought this was a unique way to preserve their handprints. And in a way that is easy to hang on the walls for everyone to see. Kristen found the idea at Country Living Magazine. Thanks for sharing it!!

I know what project I'll be working on over vacation!

How Can Kids Search The Internet Safely, And Still Learn Something?

By MAD21

AskKids is a kid safe search engine that allows age appropriate searches of the internet for answers to common (and uncommon) questions.

This site was created by the makers of Ask.com, who decided it was not appropriate to let all answers be shown for any topic asked if children were the ones asking.  So, AskKids was born for kids age 6-12.  Every website result is hand picked for cleanliness.

The main page looks like notebook (including being able to scribble on it with pen, pencil, and highlighter, and stickers).

Top level sections include Schoolhouse, Movies, Games, Video, and Images.

Click to read more ...

YogaKids

By MAD21

YogaKids was founded by Marsha Wenig. The program "recreates traditional yoga techniques and poses in fun and educational ways...The classes incorporate [their] unique 14 elements to reach a variety of learning styles. Reading, storytelling, music, creative arts, science and earthcare blended seamlessly with yoga poses to educate the whole child ages three through teen."

This group also has some really great videos and books on doing yoga with kids. Some are better than others, but the poses are really fun to do with your kids (my kids enjoyed YogaKids 2). They have stories for each of the poses, and the poses themselves have names the kids will remember. You can also sign up to receive emails with the "pose of the week."

Check your local library, ours had some of the videos so we could try them out to see if we liked them before we bought them.

Book Review: My Friend Rabbit

Title: My Friend Rabbit
By: Eric Rohmann
Reviewed By: EM, Age 5

This is a book about a rabbit and a mouse. Rabbit put the mouse in a plane so he could fly. The plane made loop-dee-loops and then got stuck in a tree. And then rabbit said, "Don't worry little mouse. I can save you." Then he brought an elephant and some other animals, like a rhinoceros. He stacked them all up and climbed up to get the mouse. And the little ducklings quacked as all the animals fell down. There was a loud, CRASH! All the animals were very angry at the rabbit. But then the mouse in the plane was unstuck from the tree and he flew by and saved rabbit from all the angry animals. They were really good friends. I think everyone should read this book.

Activities For Kids

By MAD21

During the summer months and the kids are out of school, and you are trying to find things to do, check out Activities for Kids for some ideas. They have everything from planning a party (printable invites to party themes and games), arts and crafts, recipes, and my favorite: The Summer Internet Calendar. You can use theirs, or create your own based on some of the things they have on theirs-it's a GREAT idea.

So don't just just plop the kids down in front of a DVD or mindless TV, set out on an adventure of exploring the internet as a learning experience for you and your children, plan dates to go to museums, specialized camps, the zoo, or make a cool new recipe.

Whatever you do, just make sure to spend time with your kids. They love every minute they have with you.

Have a great summer.