Wooden Marching Hippos Pull Toy

Traditional wooden marching hippos pull toy. Heads move up and down when the toy is pulled along. Toy is painted with non-toxic paint. Enjoy lots of fun. Top-quality European made wooden toy. More details at http://www.petratoysusa.com/.

Rainy Day Fun – Crafts For Kids

Rainy days can be so boring for a child…and just as hard on moms. So we give some ideas to brighten your day and chase their rainy day blues away!

Shadow puppets

In a room that is fairly dark set up a flash light so it is facing a wall. Have the children make hand shadows…If they get really good at them they could even put on a little play.

My box home

As a little girl some of my best times were spent making Barbie homes out of medium card board boxes. Paints, markers, crayons, fabric scraps, glue, and so on were used to fashion wall paper curtains and the like. The ideas and possibilities are endless!

Little boys can make garages for there cars as well.

Magazine Story

Take ten pieces of paper. Staple them together. Have you child go threw a magazine and pick out 10 pictures to cut out. Tell him/her to paste one on each page. Now what ever order they are in the must right a story, the story should have some thing to do with the pictures on each page. This can be a real challenge but is endless fun and giggles.

Puzzles

Have you child search for a few pictures they like in an old magazine. Paste these pictures onto heavy cardboard. With a paint brush, brush on a coat of clear drying glue such as Elmer’s glue. Let them completely dry. Once they are dry cut them up into different shaped pieces. Now you have a puzzle for this rainy day and rainy days to come! Store in zip lock bags.

Bean Bag Pals

You will need a 10×10 square of felt, thread, needle, a parent to sew, beans or rice, tacky glue and scraps of different color felts to decorate with. Mom or Dad should sew the squares together all the way around, all but about 2 inches. Turn the square inside right. Fill with the beans or rice and sew closed. It can be decorated with the scarps of felt to make animals. Googly eyes are fun to add as well but are not recommended for children under four.

A Gift of Comfort.

Not long ago when I was in the hospital having my son, I was given a special heat pack for my back. It was very simple and would be a great project for children to help with. My suggestion is have your child make about 30 and donate then to a labor and delivery floor.

Rice Sock Heat Packs

You will need white men’s tube socks ones that have no preformed heal medium is a good size.

You will need uncooked white rice (not minute)

You will need ribbon any color or colors you like.

Gift tags that tie on.

Fill each sock two inches from the top.

Tie a length of ribbon tightly in a knot attach the gift card and then make a bow.

On the gift tag write the instructions for use (you could make gift tags on your computer and print them all out) Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until it reaches the desired warmth. Enjoy!

These work great, stay warm for a long time. If your child makes them to give away it is an added bonus of pride!

Dress Up

My children have a tote full of dress up clothing. I did it inexpensively threw yard sales, Dollar Stores, Halloween clearances and Good Will. I pick up things such as jewelry, hats, sun glasses, badges, fancy dresses, costumes and other articles of interest. Many times I save new things to add on a rainy day or another day they have nothing to do. It generates new interest and hours of play. One reader even mentioned the idea of theme boxes. Such as a fairy box if that was what your little girl was into or a princess or a firemen ect. I think that is a good idea for but also I believe a good mix of things inspires imagination and creativity.

Driving Mat

A huge poster board or cardboard is great to let your little one paint roads on for his cars In fact I bought my sons a light colors rug remnant (it was cheap) about 4×5 .It can be any size you like. My sons used fabric paints on the rug. They painted lakes, roads, airports trees and so on. If you decided to do the poster board you can use crayons or markers as well. They had a really great time making this one rainy day and still enjoy it to this day. When they are done they just roll it up and put it away. Card board milk cartons can be saved and painted to make little decorative houses and stores as well as stores to place on their car mat. Be sure to wash them well, dry them and staple them closed.

© 2003-2004

Jennifer & Gregory Gove

About The Author Jennifer is the owner of simply moms.com. She is a full time stay at home mother living on the coast of Maine.To see more articles, parenting community, chat, baby name finder and more. Visit her site at http://www.simplymoms.com admin@simplymoms.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Gove

Fun Things To Do At Home With Children

Having seven children – five of them boys – they love spending time outside getting muddy. However as the nights draw in and the weather becomes wetter and colder outside play has to be cut to a minimum most days. The problem with staying inside to play though means that the first choice is either watching television or playing on the play station. Not wanting to encourage too much ‘couchpotatoism’ in my children I have to keep lots of fun and entertaining ideas up my sleeve to entice them away from the box and also to stimulate their minds and curiosity.

Of course I do allow them to watch television and we even have a subscription to Sky television. There are some wonderful programmes these days that teach children all about history, science, travel and cookery – and of course, they don’t realise that they are learning because they are having fun! Children, like adults, also need some time out in which to relax and chill out, but too much time in front of the TV means they may become a little too relaxed and don’t get to burn off their excess energy and so end up fighting with each other.

My children vary from newborn up to twelve years and so finding activities that they can all enjoy and which don’t wreak too much havoc can be a challenge at times. We have a big table which we try and use for most activities. This helps keep the mess all in one place. I also try and seat each child not to close to the child next to them – less chance of WW3 breaking out over who has which colour pen and less chance that one of them will be stabbed in the eye!

The table-based activities that seem to go down well include the following:

Playdough – all children (and parents!) seem to like playdough. We prefer the cooked sort because it lasts up to a week if stored inside the fridge. There are various recipes available online and you just have to work out which suits you best. Never known what people use cream of Tartar for? Make playdough and you will find out that it is a vital ingredient! I also advocate adding salt because this stops little ones eating it. After being used daily for a week it’s not the sort of thing you want your child to be eating!

My children like to make animals and spaceships out of playdough but cake cutters are also useful and you can also bake the figures made and paint them at a later date. We don’t often do this in our household because painting is currently banned. Due to one of them painting some of the new words they had learnt in the school playground on the living room wall and also inscribing them on the brand new pine doors around the house we have withdrawn all paint and felt-tip pens from the house.

Another activity which they all seem to enjoy is scrapbook keeping. We tend to go on a big family holiday once a year and so in the months leading up to this we collect travel brochures about the places we are going and cut out pictures and the children then write about what they want to do and see when they get there. Then we watch the news and read the newspapers and cut out any articles or pictures relevant to the places we are going. Our family holidays tend to involve a lot of driving and visiting places so this is easy to do. We are also Disney fans which means pictures are usually easy to find. Cutting with scissors, obviously, needs to be supervised closely (especially the boys) but it’s good to let children develop their cutting skills from quite a young age. The plastic scissors designed for children we tend to find are useless for cutting more than a stamp in half and so we do use real scissors – but since these are good at cutting your own or your sibling’s hair a responsible adult does need to watch every move. We have had a few near misses with fringes going missing….

As I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of colouring pens and paints. These treats are reserved for school time and playgroup. My house has just been redecorated after someone drew a picture of me on the dining room wall. It was horrendous and had to be painted over to remove it. I therefore only allow crayons and colouring pencils into the house now. Woe betide any relative who gives the children pens for Christmas! The children tend to lose patience with crayons quite quickly – they just don’t seem to colour that well, and so colouring pencils are favoured. For paper we pick up cheap copying paper from the supermarket (they don’t like drawing on the back of printed scrap paper) and also use rolls of wall lining paper for larger projects. In fact the latter is great for collages too – glue made from flour and water is very cheap and quick to make and washes out of clothing easily.

When the children feel in the mood to be crafty, having tired of drawing on their siblings’ arms and legs, another favourite is for the boys to make and decorate paper aeroplanes and the girls like to make pasta necklaces. Macaroni seems to work best and I occasionally allow them to get some paints out – but only in small quantities and Dad’s old shirts have to be worn to prevent their clothes getting too stained. The planes are then thrown all over the house so the next hour is spent clearing up the mess and retrieving the planes from the toilet and other off places where they have ended up.

Away from the table one of my favourite activities for them is to build an assault course – this reminds me of being a small child when I used to pretend to be a horse and set myself obstacle courses. We use cushions and chairs mainly due to lack of space but quite a lot can be done with these. Blankets can be held between chairs to create a tunnel and these are great fun. When they get bored of the obstacle course they use the blankets to make a tent between the sofa and the chairs and often sit there for ages talking about smugglers and sinking ships.

There are plenty of other things that we do at home and having such a large family means that each and every child manages to contribute their own ideas. The downside is that the mess created is unbelievable but the sound of laughter and smiles on happy faces far outweighs the mess – and even the odd scribble on the wall can be forgiven. After all they won’t be children for long and when they have left home there will be plenty of time for us to enjoy a clean scribble-free house!

Jane Bishop is the owner of 2 online children’s clothing stores – Milliemoos Children’s Online Resale which sells nearly new and new brand name and designer children’s clothes and Amalaika Disclunt Designer Clothes which sells discounted children’s designer clothes and shoes. Visit her sites at http://www.milliemoos.com and http://www.amalaika.com to kit your child out in the best for less. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_Bishop

Fun Things to Do with Your Kids this Summer

10 Fun Things You Can Do With Your Children this Summer that Won’t Break the Bank

For a family with small children like my own, a big family vacation in the summer isn’t always an option. But just because your summer entertainment budget is small doesn’t mean you and your kids can’t have lots of fun this summer.

Here are ten ideas to get you started on lots of fun this summer – on a budget.

1) Water + Kids = Lots of Fun

Put everyone in bathing suits and turn on the sprinklers. Fill the plastic pool that’s been lying around the garage all year. Get some inexpensive water guns at the dollar store and fill up some water balloons. Believe me, your kids won’t need any further instructions. Just keep plenty of towels around to dry off afterwards.

2) Your Child on Paper

Get a large sheet of packing paper, or use some leftover wallpaper. Any big sheet of paper will do. Ask your child to lay on his or her back on the paper and use a pen or pencil to draw the outline around him or her. Let your child paint features, clothes etc. When the paint dries, cut the shape out and hang this life-size picture of your child up.

3) Make Your Own Sidewalk Chalk

Use the recipe found at http://www.kinderinfo.com/crafts/sidewalk-chalk.htm to make your own sidewalk chalk. Use it to let the kids turn the driveway into a piece of art, or and use it to play hopscotch.

4) Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Do you have a baseball team in town? It doesn’t have to be a major league team. In fact tickets will be a lot cheaper if it isn’t. Take the kids out to a minor league game or even watch your high school team play.

5) Backyard Camping Trip

Don’t have time to take the kids on a camping trip this year? Just camp out in the backyard or even in your living room. Your kids will enjoy it just as much as going out into the woods, and it will give you a great chance to spend some quality time with your kids uninterrupted by TV, video games etc. For more tips on how to turn this into a fun event, read Backyard Camping Trip at http://www.kinderinfo.com/articles/backyard-camping-trip.htm

6) Take the Kids to Work

Have your kids been curious what Mom or Dad do all day at work? Take them with you for a day or even just a few hours before they have to go back to school. Of course you may want to check with your employer first. If he doesn’t like the idea of having a child hang out in the office all day, ask if it would be ok for someone to bring your child in for an hour or two. Get your child involved while he or she is visiting with you. Ask him or her to help you with some of your everyday tasks.

7) Game Night / Movie Night

Dig out some of the board games that have been sitting in the closet for ages and play games for a few hours. You can even share some games that you enjoyed playing as a child.

Movie Night is another great way for the entire family to spend the evening together. Rent a family movie, make some popcorn and have everyone watch the movie together.

Lemonade Stand

Encourage your children to open a lemonade stand. They’ll be busy all day making posters, and lemonade of course, setting up the table and selling the lemonade. This is also a great time to work in some math practice by working with them to figure out the cost of each glass of lemonade and how much they need to sell it for to make a profit.

9) Treasure Hunt

You can keep the kids busy for hours with a fun treasure hunt. The idea is to create a series of clues that the kids will have to follow to get to a little prize in the end. You can draw the item where the next clue is hidden on a note card, or give them a written clue. For example, “The next clue is hidden under a chair in the house”. Put another clue under one of the chairs saying that the next clue can be found hanging in a tree in the yard. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like.

10) End of Summer Party

Invite the kids your child has been playing with all summer for an End of Summer Party. You may want to have their parents over as well, to give you a chance to get to know each other. This doesn’t have to be fancy, just ask everyone to come over and grill some hotdogs in the backyard.

For more Summer Fun Ideas for Kids, join the Kinderinfo Newsletter at http://www.kinderinfo.com/newsletter and we’ll also send you our ebook “Summer Fun”, which is full of even more great ideas to have a good time this summer. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susanne_Myers

Baby Shower Decor, Games, and Gifts

Baby showers can be a lot of fun. Many have games and some have gifts as well. In planning a baby shower you do not have to work hard to make it wonderful for everyone. There are simple steps that you can do to make a baby shower a lot of fun for the new mom to be.

First set a comfy chair for the mom to be and put balloons on it, a banner on the back, telling all it is her chair. By decorating the chair you do not have to go overboard on the rest of the place for decorations. You can keep your expenses down. You can take the balloons, maybe some crepe paper and her banner and deck out her chair.

Next set up a game, give every one there a pencil and paper. Put about ten to fifteen items on a tray that is related with a new baby nursery. For example, cotton, q tips, manicure set, booties, wipes, tissues, soap, powder, and so on. More items on this tray make for a better game. Cover the tray with a towel. Explain to the players they will get twenty seconds to look and study the items on the tray. After the twenty seconds is up, cover the tray back and then they have two or three minutes to write down what they saw. No peeking allowed! The person with the highest amount correct wins a small gift. The gift for this game can be a small spa gift, simple and inexpensive. Be it a small reminder of a fun time.

Another game that is fun is everyone must guess your birth weight when you were born. This game can be fun. Many times when this is played no one can guess the correct weight. Have the new mom write her birth weight on a paper largely, then fold it in four and hold on to it. Then give the players several minutes to give it thought and then they must guess. You can keep track of what the players guess. The one closest wins. Again, the gift can be a small memento.

These two games mentioned can be a lot of fun, for either a small or large crowd. All that participate are sure to enjoy their time with the new mom!

Author is Michele Rogers, owner of http://www.lilyputts.com Lilyputts Gift Baskets , an online gift basket retailer. Also hosted is a http://www.lilyputts.blogspot.com BLOG that reviews gifts and welcomes other comments as well. Please visit Lilyputts Gift Baskets for descriptions and product presentations. Please, if you use any portion herein be sure to email author first. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michele_Rogers

Buying a Gift For a New Baby

Has one of your friends or family recently had a baby? Are you stuck for a present?

If the answer to both of these was yes then don’t worry, you’re not the only one!

Why is it so hard to buy for babies? Well the first reason is that they are just babies who have no idea what they want so it all comes down to you.

So what options are there? Well there are two many options – practical or fun. If you go with the first you could purchase something the baby will need like a Moses basket or some bottles. These may not be the most exciting things but it’s one less thing the new parents need to think about and they’ll thank you for it.

But what if you do want to have a bit of fun and buy the new baby something fun. Well you could get them some clothes, however the problem is everyone tends to have the same idea and the baby only gets to wear a few of the outfits before they’ve outgrown them, so if this is what you’re thinking how about getting something they can have when they’re six months and running out of clothes!

The other alternative is toys, the best thing to choose in this case is something soft and colourful so they can hold it and look at the colours. Soft will be good for them in the early days and great for everyone else when they’re older and able to throw their toys at you!

Are there any other options? Well yes there are. There are two other people who could do with a bit of spoiling – Mum and Dad – so why not treat them with a present instead, I’m sure a bottle of bubbly or some really nice chocolates will go down really well!

Michelle Penny runs Baby Gift UK, a gift site focused on new babies and their parents. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Penny

Making Bath Time Fun and Safe for Your Baby

As your baby grows larger, that little tiny counter top bathtub will become a thing of the past. But, putting a baby into a big bathtub can be frightening for both of you. Here are some ideas to make bath time fun and safe for you and your little one.

Take a bath together

Your baby will love having you play and splash with her, especially if she is a little afraid of the big bathtub. This works best when baby is old enough to sit up on her own, so you don’t have to hold her the entire time.

Buy a bath ring

Bath rings are great for babies who can’t sit unsupported just yet, because they keep the baby from slipping down into the water

Try an inflatable bathtub

Inflatable tubs fit snugly down inside your bath tub. They are soft, with big puffy sides that help keep baby upright. Plus, these tubs make the large tub seem a little smaller and less overwhelming to the baby. I found this to be a great way to transition my children into the big tub.

Buy lots of bath toys

If your child is a little fearful of the tub, the best way to deal with the fear is to take his mind off it. There are loads of toys for the bath, from a plain old rubber ducky, to battery operated fish that swim around, to paints designed for writing right on the walls. Find the right combination of bath toys, and only let him play with them in the bath, and you should be able to turn bath time into the favorite time of day.

Color the water

There are some great bath time products that can color your bath water. Children are delighted to be able to pick the color of the bath. It’s a great way to teach colors, too!

A couple of final words about bath time – be sure you are using children’s bath products. The last thing you want is a child who is already fearful of the bath getting soap or shampoo in his eyes. Plus, adult products can be drying and cause skin irritation. And, never leave baby unattended in the bath, not even for a second. The bath can be loads of fun for your child, but only if it’s safe, too.

Sarah is a 41 year old wife and mother of two boys and one girl. She spent many years as a manager in the corporate world, and gave it up to be a stay at home mom. Go to http://www.infantresources.com now and get her incredible baby minicourse – absolutely free. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Veda

Baby’s First Birthday Party: A Fun Milestone For The Whole Family!

Your baby’s first birthday is a time of celebration for the whole family! It may seem like just yesterday that you brought your baby home from the hospital, but here it is–already time to plan your baby’s very first birthday party, and I am sure you are eager to begin.

Your baby’s first birthday is a milestone, but one most celebrated by the family, rather than the child. You may be tempted to buy out the toy store, but at this age, your child is likely to be much more fascinated with the box a toy came in, instead of the toy itself, so you could ask your guests to all chip in on one special gift, such as a youth bed your child will be ready to use in no time, or clothing and more practical gifts. Your child definitely won’t mind, and a few inexpensive, brightly colored learning toys will certainly satisfy your toddler.

If your child has a favorite animated character, consider building a theme party around that character, but often the biggest mistake new parents make, is thinking they should invite every child they know, to their baby’s first party. Though your child is growing quickly, at your baby’s first birthday party, few will have developed interactive socialization skills involving other children their age, and are generally much happier, and more content, around the familiar faces of those they know and love. I recommend close friends and family members to fill the guest list for your child’s first birthday party, but should you decide to invite children from a day care or play group, be certain to choose around nap times, and provide a safe place for all the toddlers to play, such as an enclosed pay area. Be certain to provide spill-proof cups instead of paper party cups, to avoid lots of clean up later.

For this very important first birthday party, one thing not to forget is plenty of film for your camera, or perhaps even splurging on a professional photographer, especially if there are relatives who live far away or are unable to attend the party, they will cherish the photos of your one year old as much as you will, and consider giving your child their own mini cake for the beloved photos of your child digging into the birthday cake. Children do indeed grow up so quickly, but in the years to come, you will cherish the memories of this first birthday party forever!

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Free Party Games to help complete your event. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gail_Leino

Many Baby Shower Fun Activities

There are many baby shower fun activities. It is the activities that really make a baby shower a great event. Games can help guests get to know each other, get everyone involved in the party, and give the mother-to-be and everyone else a good laugh. There are some common games that seem to make the round at every baby shower and then there are some newer, unique games that are starting to make baby showers more fun than ever before.

Classic baby shower activities include games using baby items or where people guess the mothers belly size, but some of the newer games are all about making guests get crazy. One of the most fun games now showing up at baby showers is the baby bottle drinking contest. Guests are all given a baby bottle filled with juice or water. Whoever drinks their bottle the quickest wins. It is not as easy as one might think. Drinking from a baby bottle takes a lot of work and watching people try to guzzle it is hilarious. Another crazy game is the diaper game. In this game melted and crushed candy is placed inside a diaper. Guests then have to guess what type of candy it is. They are allowed to smell or even taste. Watching adults peer and smell and stick their finger into these ’used’ diapers is sure to produce laughs. Along the lines of making guests look goofy is a feeding contest. Guests pair up and one puts on a bib and the other person stands behind them and puts their arms around them to act as the bibbed players arms. The player in the back has to feed the player with the bib. The first to finish win. This is a messy game that is also a great photo opportunity.

These are just three of the new games people are using as baby shower fun activities. There are many more ideas that can be found in baby magazines or online.

For more information concerning baby showers please visit The Baby Shower Zone - a website that specializes in baby shower thank you balloons Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Bock

How to Take Great Photos of Your Child

Children are naturally photogenic. Ive worked in studios and children are so easy to photograph. What I hear from parents is that they dont think that their kids are that easy to photograph. Thats only because they dont know some basic tips.

1. Young children especially infants take beautiful photos while they are asleep. Keep the light natural avoid flash if at all possible. Keep the image tight on the child and crop out distractions. For infants when theyre awake youre better off having another person in image, it gives the child someone to interact with and you can crop the shot to keep the other person out of the image or you can keep the adult and child in the photo.

2. Toddlers look best when they dont know that youre taking their photo. Candid shots are the way to go for this age group. Keep your camera handy and when they start doing something cute snap the photo quick. Remember your child doesnt have to be looking directly into the camera to take a great photo. Dont ever say to the toddler, Oh how cute, now look here. It wont happen.

3. Children ages 4 plus are really good at sitting for photos. But if youre going to dress them up make sure that they are comfortable and dont put them in some outfit they hate, it will show in the image. Crop tight on your subject, keep the light natural, and if youre using a toy to get their attention make sure that it makes them laugh and doesnt scare them. (I learned that lesson the hard way.)

4. Older children are really good at dressing up for photos. The hardest thing will be getting a natural smile from them. Say, cheese is a sure fire way to get a fake smile. Most of us learned young to smile automatically at that cue. Here you have to get silly. One time I was working with a young boy and his older sister. She was a natural smiler and loved being dressed up. He was not happy and kept pulling at his tie. His mother straightened it for the tenth time. I posed them and addressed the young boy I said, Now on the count of three I want you to say, I hate this tie! His sister smiled surprised at what I said, and he grinned. I took the photo. He then screamed, I hate this tie! Again both smiled wide and I took a second photo. The images turned out beautiful.

I hope these tips help you to take better photos of your child. With a little practice and a few tips youll see better family photos immediately.

If you have some specific questions please visit my Photography Forum at: http://kellypaalphotography.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/index.php and post your question there.

About The Author Copyright 2004 Kelly Paal Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Paal