Parenting Tips

Here are some great ideas from HowDoesShe for parents of little ones.  Please share your ideas, too!

1.  Put your kids to work.  Make it a game.  They will never know the difference.

2.  Watch those fingers.  Put a cut foam noodle on the door to keep that door from slamming.

3.  Use that DVD case for a coloring case.  Easy car storage.  Here.

4.  Extend that faucet just a bit more for toddler hands.

5.  Put a pad lock on cords that you don’t want plugged in.

6.  If your kids are sacred of Monsters.  Make monster spray.  Here.  Now everyone can go back to bed.

7.  Don’t let pesky mosquitoes eat the baby!    Put a crib sheet over a play pin to keep the bites off.  Here.

8.  Eat in the car?  Let you kids eat in the car?  Try a dollar store carrier to decrease the spills!  Here.

9. Glue holes in bath toys to prevent mold from growing on the inside.  Yuck .  Here.

10.  Take a small spray bottle with 2 Tbs of fabric softener and water.   Doll hairspray and it will help with the tangles!

 

11.  Put a sticker in a pair of shoes so your little guy/girl can get them on the right foot the first time!  Here.

12.  Put magnets on the backs of your cups so they don’t get lost or the child keeps pulling out new cups.  Here. 

13.  Those darn slippery princess slippers.  Add a bit of hot glue to the front so they are not as slippery.   Here.

14.  Kids struggle holding all the uno cards?  Use the bottom of an egg carton.   Cut slits so the cards can sit in nicely.  Here.

15.  Use a cereal tupperware container as a trash in your car.

16.  Ahh…now that’s a great place to store bibs.  Use a command hook.  Here. 

17.  Use a barrette to keep straps from slipping on kids.  Here.

Toddlers and Turn Taking

Turn taking is a skill that we learn very young and use for a lifetime.  Because of our fast-paced world, some little ones are not learning turn taking skills as early as they should.  A child who understands when it is time to take their turn in a game or activity or to talk, also understands when it is time to let someone else take a turn or time to listen.  Learning to take turns in activities leads to taking turns in conversations and being able to listen to what the conversational partner is saying in order to respond to what is heard rather than add an unrelated message.  Here are some tips for teaching your child turn taking skills.

Infants

• After you play a game with a baby, pause and wait for the baby to take a turn.  He will tell you if he wants to play again or if he is done with "This Little Piggy Goes to Market".  His turn may consist of extending his toes to you as a message to re-start the game.
• When feeding the baby, offer her a morsel on a spoon and talk about how wonderfully delicious it is.  As she gobbles it up, ask, "Want more?  More carrot?"  Her turn will consist of eye contact, looking at the spoon or the food, opening her mouth, or turning away.

Toddlers

• The most powerful secret ingredient for teaching a toddler to pay attention to you is to give them your undivided attention when they are telling you something.  Try hard to respond appropriately and directly to the content of the message.  Our greatest tool for teaching children is example.
• Make deliberate mistakes when enjoying a familiar activity with a toddler.  Even toddlers with limited language skills will enjoy indicating something outside their expectations.
• Give toddlers opportunities to take turns during play time.  Taking turns with objects leads to taking turns with words.  At the same time, the toddler is learning to play with others - another valuable skill.

Other Uses for the Pool Noodle

 I found these great ideas for using pool noodles on createcraftlove.com.  They are from a variety of websites, so if you want more information, check out the links at the bottom of each idea.

From GingerSnapCrafts.com guest posting on Crazy Little Projects blog.

For this project you’ll need:

• felt
• pool noodle
• twine or rope
• googly eyes
• hot glue gun & glue

First you’ll bend your pool noodle on one end. You’ll want to have someone hold it like that for you. (Kids make awesome helpers on this project!) Then you’ll hot glue the felt mane onto the back of the pony’s head. Then you’ll tie a piece of twine or rope around the end of the bent pool noodle. Tie it pretty tight so it will hold nice & snug. I used a pretty long piece of twine, so I would have a little extra to make some “reins” for my kiddos to hold on to.

Then you’ll add some felt ears around the bend of the noodle, and then glue on some googly eyes. Now it’s time to giddy up! Wahoo! :)

http://crazylittleprojects.com/2013/07/poolnoodleponies.html

This idea is from Ramblings from Utopia.

Now I saw this done with marbles, the noodle was a much small diameter, so when I saw the giant noodle on sale at the grocery store we snagged the last one!

My new obsession other than drilling holes in toys is matchbox cars, wait till I show you are flying ones!  

But that will have to wait for another week since their just so so cool they deserve their own DIY post.

1. Buy an extra large diameter foam pool noodle, I got mine 1/2 price at the super market ($1.50)
2. cut the noodle in half with a serrated knife (one side than the other side or electric knife you can cut straight through both sides)
3. once the noodle is in two pieces lay them on the ground side by side
4. insert toothpicks where the two halves of the foam noodles touch each other
5. use as many toothpicks as need to hold the noodle tracks tight together
6. then with a need nose pliers clip the ends of the tooth picks flush to the noodle

 Now you're ready to decorate your track

Using cardstock at toothpicks I created small flags for along the sides of the track

 Again with cardstock cut to size I stamped Start and Finish then I cut wooden or bamboo skewers down to size leaving the pointed end exposed (makes it easier to insert into the foam) I then used fast drying Aleene's Tacky glue I glued the two pieces of cardstock together with the cut ends of the wooden skewers sandwiched in between and we were ready to race!

Finally just prop the track up on a chair, table, bed, pretty much anything, the higher the prop the faster the cars go.

http://www.ramblingsfromutopia.com/2012/04/diy-pool-noodle-race-track.html

Have fun giving your pool noodles a new life and your kids another fun end-of-summer activity!

August Family Activities

Summer is drawing to a close but there is still so much fun to be had!  Here are some activities in your community that you can take advantage of with your family!

North Salt Lake:

     August 15th at 9:30 pm  Movie in the Park "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2" at Hatch Park

Bountiful:

     August 6th - August 9th: Summerfest on Main Street

Centerville:

     August 8th at 9:00 pm  Movie in the Park at Founders Park  "The Nut Job"

     August 15th at 9:00 pm Movie in the Park at Founders Park  "The Wizard of Oz"

Kaysville:

     August 16th at Dusk  Movie in the Park at Heritage Park  "The Turbo"

     August 30th 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at Heritage Park - Cold Cones and Cool Cars

Layton:

     August 11th at Ed Kenley Amphitheater - Movie in the Park  "Despicable Me 2".  Gates open at 8:00 pm and the movie starts at dusk.  Family Recreation will be giving out free movie treats.

South Weber:

     August 2nd - August 9th Country Fair Days!

The Davis County Fair is August 13th - August 16th at the County Fairgrounds in Farmington.  

Some other fun activities on the Wasatch Front during August are:

Free R.A.M.P. Summer Saturdays at Ogden Nature Center on 12th Street in Ogden.  Activities include guided nature walks, live animal presentations, games, creative nature crafts and more.

Movies Under the Stars at the Capitol with bands performing at 7:30 pm and movies starting at dusk.

     August 15th "Despicable Me 2"

     August 29th "Frozen"

Sandy Hot Air Balloon Festival on August 8th and August 9th at the Storm Mountain Park at 11400 South 1000 East in Sandy

B98.7 Family Fun Days August 12th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Gallivan Center (239 South Main, SLC)  Activities for the kids, face painters, a bounce house, train and other cool stuff.  A great field trip to add to the summer of fun!

By the way, did you know that your kids can send their favorite Disney character a letter, and they will send an autographed 8x10 photo back?! Here's the address!!

Name of Character
Walt Disney World Communications
PO box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040