With fall just a week away, our kids are excited!  We have captured some of the anticipation with fall crafts that you can make with your own children to learn, play, and create!  …

During the past weekend, my oldest daughter was married in a small, intimate wedding at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Illinois.…

Exploring The 5 Senses in Early Childhood will help young children identify and discover the body parts that are used to gain sensory information:  Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth, and Hands.

The activities suggested below will offer…

Are you searching for fun and unique activities to celebrate the arrival of SPRING with your kids?  Below you’ll find some colorful ideas using Wikki Stix, the original wax covered creatables.

FLOWER BLOSSOM…

Strawberry Poke Cake is one of our family's favorite desserts for Valentine's Day!  It is a moist and delicious cake that literally melts in your mouth!  If you'd like a light dessert that isn't too filling, this cake will surely be a winner with your family,…

The Patriotic Ideas for Kids below are some of the best our kids have enjoyed from around the web!  We hope you and your children enjoy them, too!  Click the links or the photos for detailed descriptions! 

Patriotic Math Games for Kids via …

Paper bag books are great crafts to make with kids for Valentine’s Day (or ANYDAY)! The books are inexpensive to make and the tab pulls make it easy for tiny fingers to turn the pages.

Materials needed:  5 paper lunch sacks (per child/book), a stapler, foam craft numbers 1-10, glue sticks, assorted cardstock in…

Every January, our family has a bit of the "post Holiday blues!"  We've worked and played, wrapped gifts, made special foods, and attended special family events to celebrate Christmas and the New Year!  January, especially in the Midwest, can be cold and a bit dreary.  If your family needs a little "pick me up," perhaps an evening "Snowman Party" will help to lift spirits!…

Are you in the organizing mode for the New Year?  Do you have toys, games, or learning resources that your own children have outgrown?  Would you be willing to donate the items to other parents or teachers if shipping costs were paid to you?  

COME JOIN our newest Google+ Community.  …

New Year's Eve can be a fun time for kids, too!   It is often difficult for young children to understand that we will have a new MONTH and a NEW YEAR!  It helps to go over the names of the calendar months starting with the month of January.  If you have a 2012 calendar, say the names of the months as you turn the…

There are many activities that our own children enjoy in the winter; building a snowman is always near the top of the list!  Whether you live in a climate that has snow or not,  your children will have hours of fun building snowmen on a sticky table!…

By today's standards, we have a rather large family!  We love to play games as we gather for brunch on Christmas morning!  The "Minute-to-Win-It" games help create fun times and cherished family traditions!

1).  Happy Birthday,…

WARNING:  MESSY PLAY:)

Jell-O Scented moldable dough is an inexpensive substitute for commercial…

Christmas ornaments make great gifts for family and friends from kids.  We have cherished ornaments that our own children and grandchildren have made throughout the years!  The Santa and Snowman Ornaments below are fun for children to make and…

Pattern Block Turkeys

Our kids love to play and explore with…

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, these Indian Corn Mosaics make great decorations and are fun for the children to make!  

Materials needed:  One Indian Mosaics Corn Template (linked in blue here) …

Whether you consider yourself a "tech savvy" parent or not, one thing is for certain...using technology and learning to navigate various forms of technology with ease will help our children today and in the future.  

Many parents are concerned about "too much tech time" (whether it be tv, games, apps, etc.)..There IS a difference between using technology appropriately to teach basic skills and using technology as a "babysitting" service that is unsupervised and without direction from…