Coupons, scissors, oh my!

Here’s a trick we just discovered today! This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table clipping my coupons and my almost 4-year-old son asked if he could help. I handed him the stack I’d already cut from (which still contained plenty of coupons we wouldn’t use), we got his scissors out, and he went to town!

Those coupons are perfect for kids to cut up (not to mention they’re free)! The coupons themselves are outlined by short, straight lines, perfect for learning how to cut along a line, and the pages are full of other things that kids love to try to cut out… food items they like, people, letters, etc.

One of the skills that kids should learn before kindergarten is how to use scissors. It is not only good for manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination, but it is a pre-writing activity too.

Before you know it, you’ll have a coupon-clipping, bargain-hunting child on your hands!

Home-made cards from your kids

If your kiddo is big enough to wield a crayon, he/she is big enough to make home-made cards to send to loved ones! I found a pack of blank cards & envelopes at Hobby Lobby in the stamp aisle. The pack was originally $5.99 but I had my trusty 40% off coupon, so we got quite a steal on 50 blank cards & envelopes!

Whenever we have a need to send a thank-you note or card from our kiddos, I whip out these blank notes, and let them go to town using whatever they want to design the card — crayons, washable markers, stickers, stamps, paper/scissors/glue stick, etc. No two cards are the same! They design the outside, and I write the message on the inside.

The recipients just love these cards, and I love the fact that my kids have fun making them and they’re SO much more affordable than the personalized note cards I used to order for them. 

Getting to know you! Photo albums for kids

If you dig around in those boxes in the back of the closet, you’re almost guaranteed to come across some old 4×6 photo albums and that stack of holiday photo cards (& birth announcements) that you couldn’t bear to throw away. Pull those goodies out and dust them off… I have a project for you! There’s that old saying:  “Out of sight is out of mind.” Well, don’t let those loved ones be out of your child’s mind. Put those photos to good use!

Start by organizing the photo cards into categories — family, playgroup friends, neighborhood friends, friends that live far away, etc.

For your very young child, cut the photo cards so that they’ll fit in the photo album. If your child is 3 or older, I encourage you to draw a line on the card where you’d like your child to cut, and hand the safety scissors over to those little (and likely very eager) hands.

Use blank address labels or small pieces of masking tape to label the FRONT of each photo with the names of everyone in the photo. Use clear, block letters so that your child may (or may someday) read the names.

Slide the photos into the sleeves of the album, maintaining the logical order you’ve established.

Read through the photo album frequently with your child, and encourage him or her to “read” it to you. Keep it somewhere accessible for your little one to browse through whenever he or she desires.

You’ll be amazed how much this book will help your child to be comfortable with your friends and family who live far away when you’re all together for those short, infrequent visits. He or she will also start to recognize names, and you can guide your child in sounding out the names.

So, here’s a way to consider the value of this project:

• That old photo album: $2.99 ten years ago
• Those holiday photo cards everyone else sent to you: free to you, but a lot of $$ to them
• The look on Great Aunt So&so’s face when your child seems genuinely happy to see her in person for the first time: priceless!

Building on: Measuring healthy portions

Here’s an idea to build on yesterday’s post about volume.

Have you ever given your child full reign of the cereal box, and allowed him/her to pour his/her own breakfast? I’m betting what typically happens is that the bowl gets filled to the top, regardless of the size of bowl… Here we have a fabulous opportunity for your child to learn about healthy portions, and how to measure them.

In a similar fashion to the water experiment, here is an easy way to teach about healthy portions.

What you’ll need:

• a box of Cheerios (or any healthy dry cereal that your child likes)
• 1-cup measuring cup
• 1/4-cup measuring cup
• your child’s usual cereal bowl (which holds at least 1 cup)
• a “medium” bowl slightly larger than your child’s cereal bowl (which holds more than 1 cup)
• a “large” bowl much larger than your child’s cereal bowl (which holds several cups)
• a “very small” bowl, smaller than your child’s cereal bowl

This may involve some cereal spilling depending on your child’s fine motor skills, so use your discretion as to where this activity takes place.

What to do (adjust instructions if you’re using a cereal other than Cheerios):

1. Working together at whatever age-appropriate capacity is needed, have your child use the measuring cups to measure an age-appropriate serving of Cheerios into his/her usual cereal bowl. According to the Cheerios box, one serving of Cheerios for a child under 4 is 3/4 cup, and for everyone else it is 1 cup. Talk about how much space is left in the bowl.
2. Have your child pour the cereal into the “medium” bowl. Talk about how the amount of cereal looks smaller in this bigger bowl, even though you know it is the same amount.
3. Next, have your child pour the cereal from the “medium” bowl into the “large” bowl. Talk about how it looks like there is barely any cereal in this much larger bowl, yet it is the same amount that was in your child’s usual cereal bowl.
4. Finally, the messy part… Allow your child to pour the cereal from the “large” bowl into the “very small” bowl. Depending on the bowl you’ve chosen, it might not be large enough to hold the serving of cereal (which will cause the cereal to spill over and likely make your little one laugh!).

Discuss together which bowl held the serving of cereal the best. Was his/her usual cereal bowl too big? Would it be better for him/her to use a smaller bowl on a regular basis in order to know how much to pour to have a healthy serving? If so, which bowl in your cabinet would be a better choice? Or, was the bowl just the right size? (If it was, kudos to you!)

A cup is a cup is a cup

Lately, when I’m pouring milk into his cup, my 3.5-yr-old has been asking, “How much milk is that?” Sometimes, when overly tired, I’ll just answer, “Lots.” He’ll ask, “Lots and lots?” My reply to that is, “Yes. Lots and lots.” Clearly, “lots” is not a measurable quantity. What is staring me right in the face? A learning opportunity!

Here is a really easy way to teach your child about volume, and that, indeed, a cup is a cup is a cup.

What you’ll need:

• a 1-cup measuring cup
• water (your kitchen sink is a-ok for this)
• your child’s favorite drinking cup or sippy cup (which holds at least 8 fl. oz.)
• a small clear drinking glass (which holds barely more than 8 fl. oz.)
• a large clear drinking glass (which holds much more than 8 fl. oz.)
• another cup or glass of your child’s choice (which holds at least 8 fl. oz.), preferably one of a very different shape than the others
• a bowl (which holds at least 8 fl. oz.)

This may involve some water spilling depending on your child’s fine motor skills, so use your discretion as to where this activity takes place. Outside might be a good choice if your child is new to pouring liquids!

What to do:

1. Working together at whatever age-appropriate capacity is needed, have your child use the measuring cup to measure one cup of water (which is 8 fl. oz.). Talk about how the measuring cup is used when you’re cooking, etc.
2. Have your child pour the water into your his/her favorite drinking cup. Talk about how you already know how much water is in his/her favorite cup because you measured it with the measuring cup.
3. Next, have your child pour the water from his/her favorite cup into the small clear drinking glass. Talk about how the glass is almost full with the water… “lots” of water. However, we know that it is holding the same amount of water that was in the favorite cup.
4. Have your child pour the water from the small glass to the large glass. Suddenly, the water that seemed “big” will now seem “small,” in your child’s eyes. “Lots” is now “just a little bit.”
5. Again, pour the water from the large glass to the cup or glass of your child’s choice. Does it seem like there is “lots” or “just a little bit” now?
6. Finally, pour the water into the bowl.

Along the way, ask your child how much water is in each container. Keep coming back to the idea that even though it may look like “lots” or “just a little bit,” you already know that it is the same amount — 1 cup — because you measured it at the start.  It may look different because it is in containers of different shapes and sizes, but it is still the same volume of water. If your child is having a hard time grasping this concept, you may want to let your child fill each of the containers (now empty) with 1 cup of water from the measuring cup, and place the containers side by side to compare them.

So, the next time your little one asks for “lots” of milk, ask him/her, “How much milk do you want?”

Photo family tree

Why wait until your child is in 1st or 2nd grade to start talking about family trees? Start now! Help your child see where he/she comes from and begin to build a sense of history. This is something you can do together. All you need is a large sheet of paper or a poster board, some crayons or markers, and, if you have them, photos of your family members. (If you have photos, you’ll also need scissors — preferably child scissors — and a non-toxic glue stick.)

In today’s age of digital photography, gathering photos of loved ones is SO much easier. Start by looking at the photos you have around your home, in photo albums, or on the computer. Have your little one help you identify the people you’re looking for in those photos.  (Hint: If you have your digital photos stored on your computer, first check the ones that you took around the holidays or large family gatherings. Chances are, you’ll find what you need there.)  If you don’t already have extra photos on hand, you may need to call/email loved ones and ask that they send/email a photo to you.

Print the photos and cut out the faces. This is a good time to introduce scissor skills if you haven’t already. (Using scissors is a skill children really need to have before entering kindergarten, according to our local kindergarten teachers.)

Since you already have an idea of the shape of your family tree, you may want to be the one to draw the outline of the tree. Encourage your child to color in the tree if he/she would like! Put a mark where each of the photos should be glued, and let your little one use a non-toxic glue stick to attach each of the photos to the tree. Label the faces with their names and their relationship to your child.

Ask your child to find him/herself on the tree, then you. Talk about how you’re connected on the tree. Then, ask your child to find your mother or father (his/her grandmother/father). This is a concept that takes a bit for little ones to understand, but you can talk about how the grandparent is your parent, and so on.

Post the tree somewhere your little one will see it often, and use it to talk about who will be visiting, who is calling on the phone, etc. Put names to those faces!

Laying it on thick

I’m talking about peanut butter, jelly, margarine, cream cheese, or anything else you use a knife to spread. The next time your kiddo asks for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or cream cheese on a bagel, take a deep breath and hand over the (dull) knife. Better yet, dig into the back of your kitchen drawer and pull out those rarely used cheese spreader knives. (They’re the ones that are about 5″ long from end to end, and have a dull flat blade. They usually have a nice chunky handle, at least as thick as one of those jumbo crayons.) This is a great way for your child to work on manual dexterity and fine motor skills, begin to learn portion control (you need to be the voice of reason here), and have a great sense of accomplishment when sitting down at the table with a yummy self-made meal!

Stringing beads

We just discovered today that the Crest Glide Threader Floss is perfect for little fingers that really want to string beads! My 3.5-year-old son suddenly announced that he wanted to string some beads, so we found some beads in my craft supplies, but the holes on them were tiny… far too small for yarn or shoelaces. Somehow my dental floss (the kind I have to use thanks to a built-in retainer) came to mind, and — voila! — problem solved. After he threaded the first bead on the floss, we tied a knot around the bead, then the rest of the beads stayed on without a problem. Now he has a snazzy new beaded bracelet that he made all by himself. This activity was great for working on fine motor skills, and threading beads on a string is actually a pre-writing skill!