365 Days with Kiddos - #36 - Spend an Afternoon Coloring

I spent hours and hours AND HOURS coloring as a child. While I grew up to make art every day, I didn't have many opportunities to simply color until I had my own kiddos. The enjoyment I used to get from coloring all came back to me when I started to do it with my girls. They have both been coloring since they could hold a crayon, long before they could talk. I really enjoy spending time with them an watching how their skills change as they get older.

My eldest, Quin, who is 5.5 years, is very creative when she colors. She likes to stay within the lines (which in my mind is not required) and she often uses several colors instead of just one in each segment of a coloring book page. Her creations are beautiful! She will use crayons but she prefers pencil crayons (colored pencils) and markers. She spends a lot of time on these creations, and we keep the ones she likes the best in a folder.

My youngest daughter, Emmanuelle, is just 2.5 years old. She has had the benefit of watching her older sister color. As a baby she would clamour to color and didn't spend much time using crayons.

She totally skipped pencil crayons. Her instrument of choice has always been markers. She used to scribble all over the page but recently we were pretty shocked when she started coloring in the lines. Her hand can suddenly control the marker and go exactly where she wants. She now spends up to an hour just filling our coloring books with glorious color. Amazingly enough, she seems to be very adept at color combinations, which I can't say I taught her, she just learned by looking and trying things out.

There are several benefits of coloring that I have seen in my children first hand. They have developed better concentration, their color awareness has grown, Emmanuelle has been able to learn the names of colors, it has helped them to develop their fine motor skills, and I can see that overall it helps them to be more artistically creative, to have better imaginations, and to help them to express their thoughts and feelings.

If you would like to try making recycled crayon cakes from your old crayon bits, please see this post...

365 Days With Kiddos - #36 - Go Outside & Do Something, ANYTHING!

My kiddos and a little friend, explore the wonders of the great Banff outdoors...

One of my very best friends, Patty Selly, has started a regular feature on her blog, small wonders, entitled "101 Things To Do With Kids Outside". Patty has been my friend since high school, which is getting be a long time ago... and she really knows what she is talking about, because she is an environmental educator, with two small children of her own. If you are looking for some inspiration on way to explore nature this summer, please check out Patty's blog...

Happy and Healthy - Dry skin? Try an Oatmeal Bath

I have used lotion to ward off dry skin for most of my life. When I got pregnant with my first child I started to look at what goes into my cosmetics as well as my hair and skin care products. Needless to say, I was shocked, and started to look to natural alternatives. We live in a year round dry climate where it can snow at least 6 months out of the year. My kids have never really needed any lotions to keep their skin hydrated. They drink lots of water, bathe every 2 - 3 days, and when their skin gets dry we just add oatmeal to their bath. There is not a simpler, more natural, and cost effect method. It can cost $6 for an 8 pack of commercial oatmeal bath powder. This will cost as much as the oatmeal you use. It is also good for itch relief.

Oatmeal Bath
By Tiffany Teske

Ingredients
~ 1 c Organic old fashioned, quick cooking, or instant oatmeal (They all work just as well)

Directions
Grind your oatmeal in a coffee grinder or food processor. Put in your oats and grind until they are a fine powder. If you would like to make a large batch of powder you can grind in smaller batches and store in a jar with a lid for up to 6 months in a cool place. Add 1/2 - 1 c directly to your bath water or about a 1/3 c to a baby bath and swirl around with your hand. The water will look milky and feel silky. In a powdered form the oats will go down the drain without any problems.

If you don't want to or can't grind your oats you can add 1 - 2 cups whole old fashioned oats to a sock, knot the sock just above the oats so they are snug in the sock, and put it all in your bath for 15 - 20 minutes. Wring out the sock several times. Oatmeal powder will make your tub more slippery than usual, so take care.

365 Days With Kiddos - #3 - Your Child's Art - Documentation & Storage

Are you looking for ideas for showcasing your child's artwork that doesn't involve hanging it on the fridge? Do you have so many of your child's art projects hanging around that you need to find a better way to store them? Is your child like my daughter, who can't bear to part with anything she made? Here are some ideas...

* Hang your child's art work on your walls. You can frame it or just use wall tack so you can change it from time to time.
* Put a cheery painting on your front door to greet your visitors and yourself. I blog about how-to in this post.
* Roll up flat art and store in a mailing tube.
* One of my favorite ways to document the art that my daughter makes, especially the 3-D items, is to photograph them. She also gets in on the action using her toy digicam. Then, we can show the creations to others and include them in photo albums. Since we begun doing this she has an easier time parting with the work we can't keep.

Do any of your have information to share on how you store your child's art? Please leave me a comment...

In Praise of Hand - Me - Downs

This post was inspired by a large box of clothes that recently arrived from my sister. They are the cutest of items that her almost two year old has outgrown. The day they arrived it was like it was someone's birthday. It was a big production for Quin and I to go through the clothes for her little sister. Quin was down right envious about some of the items her sister was going to get to wear. Now, some people would never consider clothing their children in hand-me-downs, just like some people would never consider eating reheated leftovers from yesterday's meal. I am not some people. If I liked my meal, I am happy to open the fridge and see it again. And if I like a piece of clothing I could care less who wore it before me. I love passing around clothes, both as the giver and the receiver, for all to share and wear. Maybe it was different in the old days, I do know people who whine about the hand-me-downs they had to wear. I was the first and only girl in my family, so I am assuming I never had to wear them but I would like to think I would have been excited to wear such and such's clothes, the way my oldest loves to tell people she is wearing "Jorga's shoes" or "Lucy's shorts" or something from another friend. And of course, her little sister gets all of her clothes, some of which belonged to the children of my friends before they belonged to her. I look at some of these clothes, especially the few handmade items, and I smile about how many kiddos may have worn them, and the loving hands that made them. I long for the days when handing down clothing was a necessity and each piece was made knowing it would have to clothe several kids. It is not like that today. Clothing is so easy to come by that most people I know have way more of it than they need. It is possible to buy new clothing on sale for a couple of bucks. Some of this clothing is bought and never worn only to be available at yard sales and thrift stores. There is good clothing everywhere including the landfills. I know MANY people who will not mend any item of clothing, who claim they don't even know how to sew on a button! I try to mend clothing once a month, both to be able to save items we love, and also to reflect on what all the generations before us both knew how and needed to do. And I think of the state of our environment when I think of our world of abundance. Handing down clothing is a great way to recycle. I give many of my favorite and best kid's items to friends even though I may have another child. It is fun to see their kids in my kids' favorite clothes. If I have another girl, they will give me these items back. And if I don't they will pass them on. Adults can get in on the action, too. I have both attended and hosted clothing swaps for adults. I even wrote about how you can do the same here. So I will close this rant with a big thank you to my sister for keeping the hand-me-down cycle going. I promise to pass these lovely items on...

Monster Puke Bubble Bath - A Good Homemade Birthday Party Gift for a Boy (or a Girl)

Quin, my daughter, likes to make the birthday gifts that she gives to her friends. I used to be somewhat unsure about giving handmade gifts at a birthday party but I have since learned that most of my friends and their children really appreciate them. I know that my kids have more toys than they know what to do with, so it is always nice when they receive something unique and made just with them in mind. One of our standbys is play dough. What kids doesn't love it? Some moms that I know don't like it, because it can be "messy" when it dries up but you can always use it outdoors. You can find my recipe here. Crayon cakes are another favorite which you can find out how to make here. For more ideas you can look for the label "gifts you can make" on the right hand side of my blog, midway down...


Recently, Quin went to the party of a fellow preschool classmate and we wanted to make him something different. We decided that a four year old boy would probably like the idea of foaming monster puke bubble bath. Quin herself loved the idea. I found the recipe on Craftbits.com. I liked that the ingredients could be customized to our liking and the the ingredients were mostly natural. In the end, when Quin tried our bubble bath, it was not very foamy but did make the bath tub a nice green. I think it is because I used hand soap as my liquid soap when I should have used liquid dish washing soap.

Monster Puke Bubble Bath
Originally on Craftbits



Ingredients
1 cup of Olive oil
1/2 cup of Liquid soap (dish washing soap)
1/4 cup of Honey
1/2 tsp of Green food coloring
1 tbs of Peppermint fragrance or extract (I used peppermint essential oil so I used 1/2 teaspoon plus a few drops. I just wanted enough for a good scent.)


Directions
Mix all the ingredients together. We put ours in a recycled plastic peanut butter jar and had more than enough leftover for our own test run in the bath. We made a paper label to go over the PB label, put on some monster stickers, then attached a circle of recycled fabric and a plastic monster toy to the lid with hemp cord. Voila!

It was a hit with the recipient :)

A Week of Birthday Posts - #2 - Two Summer Time Organic Lemonade Recipes

Every year at the same time the strawberries are suddenly half the price they were in the winter, I can get organic lemons by the bag, and fresh rhubarb is available. All of this coincides with my husband and daughters' birthdays. One of the special things I like to do for them is to make fresh lemonade. It is worth all of the effort and it is fun for my daughter and I to make together. Plus, it is always a hit with both adults and kids at a kid's birthday party, so this year we served it at my daughter's tea party. I would like to thank my friend, Jano, from Maine, for the following recipes, which I adapted to be organic and I have had in my collection for years.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
Recipe by Jano

This recipe is perfect for kids, who seem to find the second version a bit to tart and pulpy.

Ingredients:
~ 1 cup fresh organic lemon juice (about 6 average sized lemons)
~ 3/4 cup organic natural cane sugar
~ 4 cups water

Directions:
1. Squeeze your lemons. There are several ways you can do this; by hand; using a juicer; or my favorite method which is to use a metal lemon squeezer, like I have in the photograph at the end of this recipe. There is nothing like having the proper tool for a job, and for lemonade this IS the one...
2. Bring sugar and water to a boil. When the sugar dissolves reduce the heat and simmer a minute or two more.
3. Add lemon juice. Let cool. Refrigerate. Enjoy!




Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade
By Jano

Ingredients:
~ 1 cup fresh organic lemon juice (about 6 average sized lemons)
~ 2 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
~ 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
~ 4 cups water
~ Zest from one organic lemon
~ 1/2 t organic vanilla
~ 1 1/2 - 2 cups organic strawberries, chopped, plus 2-3 whole strawberries

Directions:
1. Squeeze your lemons.
2. Heat water, rhubarb, sugar, dash of lemon zest, and vanilla. Bring to boil. When sugar dissolves, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, covered. Add chopped strawberries and boil again for two minutes, covered.
3. Cool mixture. Blend in food processor or blender. Add zest and lemon juice and blend. Pulse in whole strawberries if you want some fresh chunks.
4. Taste - adjust sweetness. Refrigerate. Serve.

Recycled Art for Kids: Painted Rocks Project #1 - The Caterpillar

I just finished teaching a Recycled Art class series for kids aged almost 5 to 9. It can be challenging to select activities for that span of ages, but it can be done. One day we did two painting projects, both of which involved painting rocks. Kids LOVE to paint, probably because it is a messy activity that many moms don't want them to do (I am sometimes guilty of this myself). Kids also love rocks. My daughter likes to fill her pockets with them. And since we worked on this project she brings them to me all the time. It is fun because I put them in a coat pocket, or on the mantle, or in the car, and then I think of her and how she thinks of me, when I see them. I am happy she has started to see beyond the obvious uses for things. This project is a good project for all age levels and the kids can feel really good about and use their imaginations to play with the results.


How to Make a Painted Rock Caterpillar
by Tiffany Teske

What You Will Need
~ 5 or more rocks
~ Acrylic craft paint
~ Paint brushes; one for covering the rocks with solid all-over color, and smaller ones for detail work
~ Matte finish sealant; I used Krylon Matte Finish Spray Fixative


Directions
1. Select your rocks. Wash rocks and let them dry.
2. Paint your rocks a solid color. You will need to paint them all on one side, let them dry, then flip them over to paint the other side. Acrylic paint dries quickly.
3. Repeat step number two, 2-3 times, depending on the color of paint and how well it covers. Dark colors cover better, faster, than light colors.
4. Using a small detail brush, paint dots, strips, and any other kind of design on your rocks. Also, make a face on your first rock, and maybe little legs and feet on the sides of the other rocks. The sky is the limit.
5. Let everything dry well. I waited until the next day.
6. Spray with sealer according to manufacturer instructions. This it to make the rocks more durable.
7. Play with your new caterpillar.

The Boon Potty

Boon n. a benefit bestowed, especially one bestowed in response to a request (the Boon website).

This is the greatest potty on the planet. I have been singing the praises of the Boon potty since the day I brought it home. If your child is nearing the stage if potty training this is one of the best options out there. I didn't know anything about it until I went to my friend's shop and I am so glad I listened when she gushed about it. It is the best $40 I have ever spent. $40 for a potty you ask? Yes, but this is not just any potty. It is a beautifully designed potty that is also a storage bench. It has roll down sides, like a roll top desk, where your child can put books and toilet paper. And when the lid is down it supports 300 lbs as a large, study step stool! When the sides are rolled up and the lid is closed, no one even knows it is a potty. Even my husband was impressed and amazed by how stylish and discrete a potty could be. We both love that once it has lived its life as a potty it can still be useful. And passed on and on, since it is so well made. The design makes it easy to clean. And my daughter absolutely loves it. She is proud a punch to show it off. The pull out drawer is deep and she is able to pull it out, and run with it, not so carefully to the toilet to dump it out, and she has never spilled it. She is comfortable using it and that is what matters the most!

PS Boon donates 10% of their profits to children's charities...