G is for Gingerbread

For the next 24 hours this monthly unit is FREE!

 Go download it to make your planning a little easier during this busy month! 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holiday-Literature-based-Units-Gingerbread-Man-Little-Engine-That-Could-174740 

Happy Earth Day (and a funny video)

I just saw this video on Carrots 'N' Cake. It is so cute that I just have to share it with you.  If you have children, please share it with them.  Besides being absolutely adorable, it teaches some important lessons.



Have a wonderfully "Green" Day!

Fun Stuff for Earth Day

~ Dirt Girl World ~
Wes (and I) are very excited about the premiere of Dirt Girl World, a new tv series that encourages children to "go out and get grubby". 



For more info check out the Dirt Girl's website.  For activities, games, coloring pages, and videos check out Dirt Girl World's page on the Sprout website.

~ Free eBooks ~

Lose that Remote and Seize the Day!
TV Turnoff Week Overlaps with Earth Day this Year

Mount Pleasant, SC (April 13, 2010) – Join Sylvan Dell in celebrating national TV Turnoff Week April 19-25 and Earth Day, April 22. Every year this week challenges families to turn off their television sets and find an alternate form of entertainment. Earth Day, celebrating its 40^th year, happens to fall right in the middle of TV Turnoff Week this year and provides a perfect excuse to turn off the television and learn about the earth.

So, instead of channel surfing, do something good for the Earth. Here are some suggestions:

• Visit an animal rehabilitation center near you. Ask what types of animals do they help? Are any of these animals endangered or threatened? What can you do to help?
• Take a trip to the zoo or your local aquarium. Turn it into a learning activity. Draw or make a list of the ways the animals are alike or different.
• Go hiking in a nature reserve. Collect leaves, shells and flower petals. Draw a tree or make a nature journal.
• Visit a nature museum. Quiz yourself after, what do you remember? Write down what you learned.
• Read a book like “Where Should Turtle Be?” or “What’s New At the Zoo?” Sylvan Dell books are great educational resources that promote awareness and appreciation for animals and the environment. 

 Sylvan Dell is participating by giving schools, libraries and families free access to their 50 eBooks for the week of April 19-25.  More than 40 of these eBooks explore Earth Day related themes including marine animals, habitats, wildlife, zoo animals, earth and physical science, birds, and astronomy. So, before deciding to turn on the TV, read an eBook and learn about the wonders of the Earth!

For more information about Earth Day, visit http://www.earthday.net/earthday2010
For more information about “TV Turnoff Week,” visit: http://tvturnoff.org/
For more information about Sylvan Dell Publishing, visit: http://SylvanDellPublishing.com
eBook access instructions are located on the Sylvan Dell website at: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/TVTurnOffWeek.htm

~ Art Activities to Celebrate Earth Day ~

Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kids (Bright Ideas for Learning)
Over two hundred projects for painting and drawing, sculpture and mobiles, collage and printing, weaving and crafts, and handmade art supplies emphasize recycling and natural materials.

 ~ Great Earth Day Links ~
Planet Pals
Earth Day Crafts ~ Kaboose
Craft Projects for Kids ~ Family Fun
Games, Activities, and Craft Ideas ~ National Geographic Kids
Celebrating Learning and Sneaking in Some Learning ~ Teach Mama
Win a Kid's Vegetable Growing Kit from Terracycle ~ Mommy Niri

Happy Easter

I hope you had an Easter day full of family, sunshine,
and blessings!

Glitter Easter Eggs and Lots of Easter Links

This year we decided to create glitter covered Easter eggs.  All I had was brown eggs, which I have never used for dyeing eggs.  I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but we left them in the dye for an extra long time and they turned out really pretty.  After the eggs were completely dry, we painted them with watered down glue and sprinkled spring colored glitter all over them. 

I think they turned out beautifully,
and the kids are thrilled with them.

Here are some other fun Easter egg decorating ideas:

Disney Family.com

The Crafty Crow

Family Fun

Tissue Paper Eggs from Blue Cricket Designs

Easter Printables and Crafts

Easter Egg and Bunny Patterns

Easter Card to Print and Color

Adorable Bunny Coloring Page from A Winding Road

Build a Bunny Printable Game from Homeschool Creations

Carrot Letter Search from Prekinders

Printables from The Itty-Bitty Bookworm

Writing Paper (Black and White)

Writing Paper (Color)

Name Tags (Black and White)

Name Tags (Color)

Chicks and Nests Math Game

Bunny Cards

Easter Egg Cards

Easter Basket Lacing Card

This post is linked to Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori, and We Made It! Friday Showcase at   Ramblings of a Crazy Woman.

Little Cooks with Books: An Easy Easter Treat

These Little Bird Nests are the perfect Easter treat. 
They are cute, easy, and yummy.

Ingredients
Bag of chocolate chips
1 C. Peanut Butter
Box of Mini Frosted Shredded Wheat
Cadbury Mini Eggs (my favorite Easter candy)

Directions
Crush the shredded wheat (about half a box).
Melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips in a large bowl.
Add shredded wheat until you get get a nice consistency.
Lightly grease a muffin tin.
Add some of the nest mixture to each muffin cup.
Mold the mixture in each cup into a nest shape.
Put the muffin tin into the refrigerator. 
Once the nests are completely hard, remove them from the tin.
Add a few Cadbury Mini Eggs to each nest.

Printable RecipeChocolate Bird Nests

To accompany this cooking project we read Whose Nest is This?.  It is a rhyming picture book that describes the many types of nests animals make. "There are mammals and reptiles and insects who nest. Birds, too, build unique nests that suit them the best. Some nests provide shelter, and some are for show, but the best nests are those in which young babies grow!"  Gracen and Wes enjoyed this book.  They especially liked it's riddle format.

For older children, I recommend Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest: Where Birds Begin.  This book describes how birds make their nests.  "Many birds build intricate nests out of twigs, leaves, feathers, mud--even dollar bills and clothespins. Some nests are gigantic, housing hundreds of birds or weighing as much as a car, while others are just large enough to keep one egg safe and warm. Whether simple or fancy, every species finds a unique way and clever place to raise its young."

What are your favorite Easter treats to make?

This post is linked to Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori, We Made It! Friday Showcase at   Ramblings of a Crazy Woman , stArt at A Mommy's Adventures, and Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

My Favorite Easter Tradition

Easter morning is a busy, but fun time at my house.  We always begin by waking up early to see what the Easter Bunny has left.  After the children have eaten half of their chocolate bunnies, several Peeps, a handful of bubble gum eggs, and a hundred jelly beans, we have breakfast.  Needless to say, they don't ever eat much but they have to have something to chase down all of that sugar.  I usually prepare a breakfast casserole the night before, so that all I have to do is pop it in the oven.  In the past few years, I have made this and this.  This year I am going to try this breakfast casserole from Mommy's Kitchen.

After breakfast, we all go outside to see if anything grew in our jellybean garden. Each and every year, the children are amazed that where they planted jelly beans (the night before) loads of lollipops have sprouted up.  This is my very favorite tradition.

After we pick lollipops, we go inside and get dressed for church.  In the past, after church, we have always gotten together with family for a big Easter dinner.  However, since we have moved, my in-laws will be coming to visit us.  This will be the first year that we have hosted Easter dinner, so I am excited to plan and cook.  It is my family's tradition to serve ham, macaroni and cheese, collards, and biscuits, so I will be making these and some new recipes, as well. 

This Year's Easter Dinner Menu:

Ham with Pinapple-Orange Dijon Glaze
Corn Spoon Bread
Collard Greens
Macaroni and Cheese Casserole
Potato Casserole with Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Cream Cheese
Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
Coconut Cream Cake

What are your Easter traditions?  What is on your Easter dinner menu?

This post is linked to Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs.
photo credit:  Easter dinner

Some "Wee" Fun on the Weekend

We had a Wee Bit O' Irish fun this weekend.

Gracen and John built a leprechaun trap.  There are pennies (spray painted gold) on the inside of the box.  Gracen said these were the "lure".  There is also a little note written on the inside of the box.  It says, "Pull the bar for more gold!".  The idea is that when the greedy little leprechaun pulls the bar, the door will slide shut and trap him.  I can't wait to see if she catches one!  Neither can she!

We baked The Barefoot Contessa's Irish Soda Bread .
It was so good!  In fact, it was so yummy that it was devoured
before I could get one good picture. 
Thanks, Flickr for this one.

What are you doing to celebrate?

S is for St. Patrick's Day: Printable Activities for Preschoolers

To help you plan a fun St. Patrick's Day, I have created some printables for you. 

Five Little Shamrocks
Felt Board Activity ~ Print out this poem and clipart.  Attach felt or velcro pieces to the back of the clipart pieces.  As you recite the poem, invite the children to put up the corresponding pieces. 

Have the children match the rhyming words.

Name Plates
Use these name plates as labels ~ or ~ laminate and have the children use dry erase markers to practice printing their names on them.  
 Shamrock - Capitals

Shamrocks - Lowercase
These alphabet shamrocks could be used to play matching games:  match capital to lowercase or print two copies of each set and match capitals to capitals and lowercase to lowercase.

You could also fill your sensory table/tub with scraps of green construction or tissue paper and hide the shamrocks in it.  When the children find one they try to identify the letter on it. 

Hide the shamrocks in your classroom or home and go on a shamrock hunt.

Colored Coins


Children color the coins the correct color.  For children who do not recoginize color words - use a corresponding crayon to color the color word on each page.  The children will then know what color they should use to color the coins on that page.

Have Fun!

A Sweet Treat for Teachers

 I wanted to do something nice for my children's teachers, but could not think of anything original.  However, this weekend, I saw a great idea for a sweet treat on Giada at Home.  Heart shaped Strawberry and Rosemary Scones.  Yum!  I am going to bake these and put them in cute little Valentine's Day Chinese take-out shaped boxes (from Michael's).  The kids will be making cards using construction paper and heart shaped foamies (also from Michael's).  Hope the teachers like them!

Do you have any creative Valentine's Day gift ideas?  If so, please share!

*Check out more yummy  ideas at Mouthwatering Mondays hosted by A Southern Fairytale.

Chinese New Year: Books, Crafts, and Activities

We have decided to take the kids to the Chinese New Year celebration in Philadelphia's Chinatown.  The girls are very excited because they have learned about the Chinese New Year in school. They can't wait to see the traditional lion dance.  However, Wes does not have any background knowledge on any of this.  Therefore, I thought I would plan some activities and check out some books from the library to help him understand.  Here is what I have come up with.

Books

Toddlers

My First Chinese New Year - In this colorful picture book, a young girl prepares for and celebrates the Chinese New Year with her extended family, describing how she makes an altar to honor her ancestors, gets a haircut, feasts with her relatives, and attends a Chinatown parade. The tale radiates warmth and quietly builds up to the dramatic dragon dance and the traditional greeting of "Gung Hay Fat Choy!" The collage illustrations, cut from paper with colorful Asian designs, also include paint and other media to capture the joyful celebrants. ~ School Library Journal

Wes did not like this book as much as he liked Dragon Dance (see below).  It could have been because the main character is a little girl.  He is in this stage where he prefers to read books about boys.  I believe it is because it makes it easier for him to relate to the main character.  I, on the other hand, love Karen Katz, so I thought is was adorable.  The main character is extremely likable and very cute.  In addition, this book offers lots to learn.

Preschoolers

Dragon Dance: A Chinese New Year - This lift-the-flap book follows a family as they plan for the Chinese New Year and celebrate the traditions (red envelopes, p Garade).  This is a great book for preschoolers.  It is relatively short and the rhyming text is fluid and easy to understand.  Wes really enjoyed it.  He liked lifting the flaps (of course).  He also appreciated the detailed illustrations.  He spent a lot of time looking at them and asking questions.  Good Choice!

Lion Dancer -  In brief, simple sentences, Ernie Wan describes his Chinese -American family's celebration of the lunar New Year. Ernie lives in New York City's Chinatown, where traditions are rooted in the culture of southern China. Ernie's father, a kung fu master, choreographs The Lion Dance, the center of the community celebration and a major tourist attraction. This year, Ernie dances in the place of honor under the lion's head. Color photographs depict private and public festivities. ~ School Library Journal

Wes loved the photographs in this picture.  This book really got him excited about going to the Chinese New

Year Parade and celebration.

Happy Chinese New Year, Kai-Lan - Join Kai-lan for a Chinese New Year celebration! Kai-lan and her friends get to carry the dragon costume in the big parade - but can they work together to make the dragon dance? ~ Product Description

Wes loves Kai-Lan, so I have ordered this for him.  I will let you know what we think.

School-Age

Celebrating Chinese New Year - Readers follow 10-year-old Ryan Leong and his family as they celebrate the Chinese New Year in San Francisco. Through big, bright photographs and a clear, easy-to-follow text, readers see the preparations and festivities and learn about the history and traditions. The author includes the symbolic meanings of the foods eaten and other customs, an explanation of the Chinese Zodiac, and an in-depth look at the Lion Dance. ~ School Library Journal

Samantha and Gracen enjoyed this one.  They especially liked the photographs and the fact that it is non-fiction.

 

The Chinese New Year Mystery (A Nancy Drew Notebooks Mystery) - The third-grade classes at Nancy's school are learning about Chinese culture, and they'll celebrate the Chinese New Year with a special parade. The highlight of the parade will be a dragon costume. Nancy's class is making it out of feathers, sequins, gold tassels, and red silk. But right before the big day, the dragon disappears! ~ Product Description

Samantha loves this series, so I have ordered it for her to read.   I will let you know what she thinks.

Activities 

The actual date of the Chinese New Year for 2010 is February 14.   

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2010 is the year of the tiger.  Make a tiger paper bag puppet.

Chinese New Year paper dolls and clothes and more clothes.

Color the Chinese Flag.

Make a dancing lion or dragon toy.

How to make a Chinese lantern.

Practice using chopsticks.  Children can practice picking up food, craft pompoms, marshmallows, cotton balls, and small toys.  For young children - tie a rubber band around the chopsticks to make them easier to use.   Great fine motor practice.

Make a parade dragon puppet.

Lots of Printables for School-agers.

Activities and Printables for Preschoolers.

Countdown to New Year - On-line game

Musical Lanterns - On-line game

On-line Tangram (originated in China) Puzzles

Cook some traditional Chinese New Year's Eve foods.

Do you have any fun Chinese New Year activities planned?  If so, I would love to hear about them.

My New Year Resolutions

When planning my New Year Resolutions, I like to revisit and review the resolutions I made for the previous year.  Was I successful?  What worked?  What did not work?  What can I do to make my family happier and healthier?

My 2009 Resolutions were:

• Feed my family more whole foods and less convenience foods. I did very well with this!
  
• Exercise more consistently.  Better, but still needs to be more consistent.
  
• Stick to a weekly budget.   Successful!
  
• Create and write Bible story units for The Itty-Bitty Bookworm.  Almost complete. 

After thinking about these, I began to consider my goals for 2010.

My 2010 Resolutions are:

Health

• Eliminate sugar and white flour "junk" from our diets.  Specifically sugary breakfast cereals, cereal and granola bars, baked goods, white bread, and white pasta.
• Read Real Food: What to Eat and Why and Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats  and incorporate what I learn from these books.
• Exercise more consistently (Wii Fit and running).
  

Spiritual

• Begin each day with 15 minutes of quiet time (for prayer, meditation, devotional reading).

Professional

• Continue to work on creating a Kindergarten curriculum for The Itty-Bitty Bookworm.
• Blog more consistently.  

Family

• Create more opportunities for one on one time with each of my children.
• Have more "date nights".
• Have a family night once a week.

What are your resolutions (or goals) for the New Year?   Do you plan to blog about your progress? 

A Girl's Day at American Girl in NYC

My girls LOVE (with a huge, pink, puffy heart)  American Girl.  They like the dolls, the clothes, the books, everything.  Needless to say, they have always wanted to go to the American Girl shop in NYC. 

Well, we finally went a couple of weeks ago and we had an absolute blast.  The only bad part was ~ I forgot my camera ~ GASP!  How does a Mom forget her camera on one of the biggest days of her daughters' lives?  Oh, that's right!  It is called rushing around at 6:00 in the morning to catch a train.  Anyway...I had to take pics on my phone.  Unfortunately, my phone does not take the greatest pictures, but it was better than nothing. 

Here are some pictures from the cafe at the American Girl shop.

Yes, the dolls get their very own chairs, plates, and mugs.  So cute, huh?

This is Gracen's Itty Bitty Baby named Lily.

 This is Samantha and Kit.  They are enjoying some hot cocoa.

 

This is Lily and Gracen waiting for their miniature hotdogs and hamburgers.

 

And this was what we had for dessert.  A perfect ending to a lovely lunch.

 

All of that shopping wore my two little girls out.

This was such a fun day.  We will have to make it a tradition.

Christmas Recipes From Around the World

I have a vintage cookbook, titled Holiday Cooking,  that contains recipes for each and every holiday.  For Christmas, it has a section containing Christmas recipes from around the world.  I have scanned in the recipes and put them together to create a little booklet for you.  I hope you and your children find some recipes to enjoy.

Holiday Cookbook

This and That

ABC Adventures

I read lots of Tot School and Preschool Corner blog posts.  Many of them have so many fabulous alphabet activities.  However, it can be overwhelming to try and keep track of all of them.  Fortunately, United Teaching will begin hosting a blog meme in January to link up all of our ABC Adventures.  You may include posts detailing your alphabet-related ideas for crafts, learning centers, games, recipes, songs and rhymes, and books to read.  You can read all about here. I look forward to participating and reading everyone's posts!

Last Minute Homemade Gift Ideas
Beauty and Bedlam - Earring Organizer and Decorated Clip Boards
Pink and Green Mama - Shrinky Dink Photo Ornaments
Pink and Green Mama - No-Sew Fleece Pillow
How Does She... - 30 Neighbor Christmas Ideas
Giver's Log - Teacher Gifts
The Idea Room - The Inn Keeper's Key
Make and Takes - No-Sew Fleece Scarf

Candle Holder
This was the Christmas gift that Wes made for me in nursery school.  It is so pretty that I had to share it with you.

It is a mason jar, sponge painted white with gold stars, with a glass votive holder inserted into the mouth.  There is a little card attached with a brown ribbon.  The card says "Jesus is the light of the World".
Love it!

My Santa List

Cast Iron Skillet

Deep Covered Baker

Bless This Home Tile Set

Lisa Leanard Necklace

A Recipe for Christmas Joy: A Giveaway

This giveaway is closed.
Jen from The Happy Little Homemaker is the lucky winner.
Thanks to everyone who entered!

When life gets busy I don't always have time to visit all of the blogs (and sites) I love to follow. However, I do visit this site each and every morning. I find that the Daily Devotionals on their blog are the perfect way for me to start my days. One of my favorite contributors on this site is Marybeth Whalen. I love her style of writing and, from reading her personal blog, I find it very easy to relate to her. She seems like someone that I would be friends with "in real life".


I recently purchased A Recipe for Christmas Joy, an e-book written by Marybeth. I cannot tell you how much I love this book. It has tons of great ideas for finding peace and happiness during the busy holiday season.

Here is Marybeth's detailed overview of what you will find in her book:

* how to make Jesus the center of your Christmas
* a complete menu for Christmas dinner and a traditional New Year's Day meal (with recipe's!)
* a week by week checklist for organizing your Christmas
* helpful websites
* suggestions for easy meals on those busy nights
* how to observe advent in a way that will work for your situation
* ideas for decorating for Christmas and instructions for gifts you can make
* many tried and true recipes for Christmas goodies
* 25 ways to make the holidays holy days
* fun and creative ways to reach out to others at the holidays
* list of great Christmas read alouds for you and your children
* a week of devotions for the week between Christmas and New Year's

Marybeth has written several other books. You can check them out here . She also has a novel, titled The Mailbox, coming out in June 2010. I can't wait to check it out.

For this giveaway, Marybeth is offering one of my lucky readers a copy of A Recipe for Christmas Joy.

First Entry Requirement ~ Leave me a comment telling me about one thing that brings you joy during the holiday season.

1. Subscribe to Cheaper by the Half Dozen, Marybeth's personal blog. (1 entry)

2. Follow Marybeth on Twitter. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms. (1 entry)

*Make sure and leave a comment after this post for each entry so I can give you all the credit you deserve (and don't forget your email address too)! Winner will be announced Friday, December 18, and contacted by email. Winner has three days to contact me at contact@ittybittybookworm.com. After three days another winner will be drawn.*

The download link will be emailed to the winner, so be sure to leave your email address in your comment entry.

Back to Basics Toys ~ A Trivia Game and a Giveaway

This giveaway is closed.
The winner is Our Busy Homeschool.
Thanks to all who entered!

You know from this post that I am a huge fan of Back to Basics Toys. Well, I now LOVE them even more. I just learned that they have launched a new online trivia game, called Name that Toy, which supports Toys for Tots. Here is how it works ~ for every question that a player answers correctly Back to Basics Toys will donate 10 cents towards toys to Toys for Tots. No purchase is necessary and players can play all 50 questions or repeat the game.

Go on over and check it out. Not only is it fun to learn interesting facts about your favorite retro toys, it is also a wonderful way to help raise money for a good cause.

Back to Basics Toys is also sponsoring daily toy giveaways called #Tweets4Toys. Here is how it works:

1. Follow @Back2BasicsToys on Twitter.
2. They will announce the day’s giveaway in the morning with the hashtag #Tweets4Toys.
3. Either RT our tweet or compose your own tweet about classic toys and include the hashtag #Tweets4Toys.
4. They will enter you into that day’s giveaway each time you tweet the hashtag #Tweets4Toys.
5. They will select and announce the daily winner the next morning around 9am ET.

Here are the daily prizes:

• 12" Raggedy Ann & Andy Box Set (12/9)
• Special Edition Erector Set (12/10)
• Deluxe Play Cube (12/11)
• Deluxe 6-in-1 Game Table (12/12)

Now for the really fun part ~ Back to Basics is offering one of my lucky readers a Bicentennial Edition set of Lincoln Logs. YAY! Need a reminder of how much fun these are? Check out this video.
First Entry Requirement ~ Go play Name that Toy. Then come back and leave me a comment telling me one fun fact you learned.

1. Follow Back to Basics Toys on Twitter. (1 entry)

2. Subscribe to Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms. (1 entry)

*Make sure and leave a comment after this post for each entry so I can give you all the credit you deserve (and don't forget your email address too)! Winner will be announced Monday, December 14, and contacted by email. Winner has three days to contact me at contact@ittybittybookworm.com. After three days another winner will be drawn. Contest is for US residents only. No P.O. Boxes.*

Thank Yous and a Giveaway

The Harris Family is the lucky winner of this giveaway!

As many of you know, my passion is writing curriculum and creating fun printables for preschoolers. Therefore, I consider it a true blessing to have gotten to know so many creative, inspiring women who share this passion. I would like to acknowledge a few of the MANY women who have inspired me to continue pursuing my passion. Thank you, ladies! It is a pleasure to know you.

Amy from Teach Mama
Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations
Carissa from 1+1+1=1 and Totally Tots
Jodi from This Handmade Life
Susana from My Family, My Forever
Shannon from Mommies Wise Little Bookworms
Felicia from My Family Life
Karen from Prekinders

I recently met another inspiring woman. Her name is Ashley and she owns an Etsy shop named Me and Marie ~ Learning Aids for Little Ones. Ashley is a former early childhood teacher who, after having her own child, has decided to work from home creating early childhood learning packs, pretend play packs, file folder games, and more. Ashley sent me her latest learning pack, 12 Days of Christmas, to review. I have to say that I am completely impressed. Her ideas are new and creative. The graphics are clear and crisp and completely adorable. Perfect for little ones!


The 12 Days of Christmas is the perfect way to get your kiddos in the holiday spirit. Each of the twelve days includes a lesson plan (short and simple), a song, a hands-on activity or craft, and a clue hunt. The clue hunt has your little detective on the look out for clues that Santa and his helpers have already visited your house (to see if your little ones have been naughty or nice). I love this idea and can't wait to try it out with Wes. This is the first year that he has been interested in Santa, so I know he will love it!

For this giveaway, Ashley is offering one lucky winner the 12 Days of Christmas learning pack. It will be sent to you as a download link in an email, so be sure to include a working email in your entries.



First Entry Requirement ~ Check out Me and Marie ~ Learning Aids for Little Ones. Then come back and leave me a comment about your favorite items.

1. Subscribe to or follow the Me and Marie blog. (1 entry)

2. Follow Me and Marie on Twitter. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to Raising Itty-Bitty Bookworms. (1 entry)

*Make sure and leave a comment after this post for each entry so I can give you all the credit you deserve (and don't forget your email address too)! Winner will be announced Saturday, December 12, and contacted by email.

A Holiday-Themed Play Date

This past week my girls invited a couple of friends over for a play date, so we decided that we would plan some fun holiday activities. The first thing the girls did was make Christmas cards. I set out the following supplies for them to use:

• previously used Christmas cards (Each year I save my Christmas cards, so that the kids can use them for crafts. For this particular activity they like to cut out the pictures and glue them on cardstock to make new cards.)
• holiday-shaped foamies
• holiday stickers
• holiday stamps and stamp pads
• ribbon
  
• cardstock
• construction paper
• envelopes (several different sizes)
• pens, markers, and crayons
• scissors and glue

They had so much fun with this that they ended up making a ton of cards. In fact, my girls asked me to keep all of the supplies handy because they wanted to make some more. This would be a great service activity for Girl Scout or Church groups. The cards the children make could be delivered to nursing homes, shelters, or sent to troops abroad.

Next, we baked Reindeer Cookies. I got the idea from National Geographic Little Kids. Here are the original pictures from the magazine:


Cute, huh? They are super easy to make, too. Here are the directions:

1. Roll the cookie dough into egg-shaped balls. Place on baking sheet and flatten.
2. Press two pretzels into the dough as antlers.
3. Bake according to the cookie package directions. Let cool.
4. Cover the top of some cookies with chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella) or peanut butter.
5. Press on two whit baking chips for eyes. In the center of each baking chip, put a dab of peanut butter and place a mini chocolate chip on top.
6. Add a candy nose - red for Rudolph - and enjoy.

The girls (and Wes) had a ton of fun with these and, of course, they enjoyed eating them.


The finished product:

Yum!

Screaming with delight!

Gracen sports a milk mustache!

Lastly, the girls set up a little toy shop and pretended to Christmas shop. They took turns being the shopkeeper and the customers. They used the following props:

• Recycled shopping and gift bags
• toy cash register with play money
• toy phone
• items to "buy" (They used small toys - stuffed animals, small horse figurines, Littlest Pet Shop animals, etc.)
• notepad
• pens

They all liked being the shopkeeper the best because they liked using this fun cash register.


If you think your child would like one of these cash registers, come back for Friday's Gracioius Giveaways because I will be hosting a giveaway(sponsored by CSN Stores) for one.