Gone are the warm summery days of July, the green grass and lush gardens.  In most areas of North America, we’re enduring chilly temperatures, dormant plants, snow and ice.  The outdoors can still be a great opportunity to explore, play and create with kids, though, even in the middle of winter.

Bundle up and take a nature walk.  See what is changing in your neighborhood.  Are there leaves still on the ground?  Are they crunchy or soft?  What will happen to the leaves?  This is a great time to teach children about the natural process of mulching and fertilization.  Or, if you still have a few choice leaves in your area, collect them and bring them home to make leaf creatures.  Glue the leaves on paper to make people, animals, or even to invent your own creature.  Collect sticks and think of ways you can use them.  Make a windchime or a mobile using small sticks, or if you find a large stick, create a walking stick.  Decorate a stick for the season a lead a parade.  Use glitter and ribbons, get other children involved and let them parade around the area.

If you live in an area where snow is commonplace, make your own popsicles outdoors.  Pour Kool Aid into cups and set outside.  After a couple of hours, check on them and add popsicle sticks when the mixture is slushy.  You can create popsicles in a variety of containers, experimenting with shape and color.  Make a layered popsicle by freezing each layer individually.  Make ice lanterns with your children by putting water in a large bucket, then floating a smaller container in the water.  Fill the smaller container with sand or rocks to weigh it down and force it to “sink” somewhat into the larger container.  Once the mold is created, place a votive in the indentation and light your ice lantern.  A safer method is to turn the lantern over like an igloo and drill a hole through the top.  Light the candle and cover with the lantern. 

Collect rocks and have a blast with a new building medium.  Create a snow fort replica indoors with small pebbles glued together.  Or, make a pet rock.  Decorate your rock with markers and other “extras” you have around the house, small ribbon, pipe cleaners, buttons - whatever you can find to add to your rock.  Create a place for your rock to “live” by decorating a small box or container.

In our temperate climate, we have plenty of animals that still hang around through the winter months.  We love to make bird feeders for our feathered friends.  The traditional peanut butter - bird seed  feeder is simple and easy, and there are lots of different objects you can use to set it up.  Try pine cones, bagels or toast, even small sticks that can be tied to a branch.  Birds aren’t picky, but you do have to be sure that your feeder isn’t going to harm them either.

What are some great ways you can think of to keep your child occupied during the short winter days?  Post your ideas in our comments section and share!

My kids BEG to take baths.  It is quite possibly the highlight of their evening.  But, it wasn’t always this easy.  We’ve come a long way from the anguish of putting our toes in the water and the screaming of the thought of hair-washing.  Here are some of the things we do to make bath-time…play-time (and clean-time)!

• Bubbles.  The only other place my kids are allowed to blow bubbles is outside, but with the chillier weather, they don’t have much of a chance to participate in bubble-blowing - except for bathtime.  Bubbles are always fun for kids, and they are a great distraction to the real reason they are in the tub.
• Hide and Seek.  We put several bath toys in the water, and after playing with them for a while, I hide one object under a wash cloth while my child isn’t looking.  He tries to guess what’s missing, and then the fun begins all over again.  This is excellent with preschoolers on up.  Start with just a few items, then move up to larger quantities!
• Fill ‘er Up!  The bathtub can be a super place to work on measurement skills.  Take a set of measuring cups (plastic please!) into the tub.  How many 1/4 cups will fill a cup?  Or, use larger containers.  How many sour cream containers does it take to fill a whipped topping container?
• Bathtub Idol!  Grab that shampoo bottle and strike up a tune!  Kids love the fact that their voices echo-echo-echo!  Bring out their favorites, whether it is “Old Macdonald” or the latest from Hannah Montana.
• When my boys are feeling particularly anti-bath (which isn’t very often, but we do encounter it every now and then), we put on our bathing suits for a dip in the “kiddie pool”.  By simply wearing a bathing suit, my kids take on a whole new persona, and their attitude does a 180 degree turnaround.

If you have some great ideas to share for bathtime, leave a comment and let us know!

At my son’s school, we have a special program called the “Challenge” program.  It is for students that are supposedly academically “gifted”.  The class is a pull-out program, so children that qualify for this service are pulled out of their academic classes for additional instruction.  Children qualify for this program based on two screening instruments (”tests”), a teacher profile and a parent profile.

My child is in this program.  Do I think my child is academically gifted?  I don’t know.  He is an extremely bright boy, and he has many gifts, but I don’t believe that we can truly measure his intelligence (or potential) yet, not even at 8 and in 2nd grade. 

When Travis first entered public school in first grade, they tested him immediately.  The problem was that it was two weeks into the new school year, and he was in major shell-shock.  Adjusting to the environment and routine had put a small strain on his structured life, and he completely freaked at the test because he couldn’t complete it - it became too difficult, too long, too tiresome.  He shut down.

Fast forward 7 months and they retested him.  And this time, he passed. 

I think, at least for my son, that it was a comfort/familiarity issue for him.  That, and he’s a perfectionist.  If he gets to a question and can’t figure out the answer, it will bug him and bug him until he can’t do anything else. 

All that being said, I’m getting the opportunity to see Special Education at work.  Because gifted programs ARE Special Education programs.  Unfortunately, many districts look at truly gifted children and put their needs on the back burner, so to speak.  Many people feel that gifted individuals are independent and self-motivated learners when in fact, gifted children often fail and are hit with many social and academic issues because of the way their brains work.  Schools are responsible for meeting their needs, just as they are responsible for every other child in that building.  Our program at our school is not ideal; my child misses out on regular classroom instruction and has to independently make up the work he misses three times a week.  However, our pull out program is indeed focused on alternative means of solving problems, stretching the thought processes, and tapping into each child’s strength.  His instructor works very closely with the classroom teacher and myself to ensure that we are meeting my son’s needs.

Before you can even get to this point, though, you have to stop and ask, what are indicators that a child might have tendencies towards academic giftedness?  There are several signs that might be apparent at different ages to signal if a child might be functioning at a higher level than his or her peers.  Let’s look at 5 - 8 year olds (children at earlier ages are developing and changing at such varied paces that labeling a two year old as “gifted” is extremely difficult)…Here are some indicators that he or she might need the extra help and attention of gifted instruction:

• understand higher order mathematics and language
• enjoy discussing ethical, moral or religious issues
• can perform mathematical computations in his or her head, even before they are taught in school
• uses a large vocabulary, tends to talk ‘above’ peers
• leads others in games, activities, assignments
• is confident in his or her thoughts and ideas
• loves school and does well in school (though not always - this can be a hazy issue for gifted individuals)
• loves to make up stories, enjoys drawing and illustrating
• likes to make up his or her own songs
• “gets” humor
• enjoys spending time with adults and older individuals
• can accomplish academic assignments two years above his or her age level
• may be highly sensitive
• can memorize quickly and easily and has excellent recall
• IQ testing around 130

IQ testing in children over the age of 5 has been proven to show very little fluctuation in numbers as the child grows, as long as the testing environment is ideal and the participant participates fully.  “Normal intelligence” is usually noted in the range of an IQ score of 85 - 115.  However, please understand that IQ testing is only one tool used to measure a child’s intelligence.  Other factors should also be used, such as anecdotal records of teachers and parents, observations of the child  by the evaluator in a variety of situations, and even personality and academic records. 

From all of us at Wonderbrains, we wish you and your family a peaceful and joyous holiday season.

1. Codee International Corp. Recalls Children’s Jewelry Due to Risk of Lead Exposure

2. Children’s Toys Recalled by Dollar Tree Stores Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard  

3. Infantino Recalls Infant Teethers Due to Choking Hazard

4. AAFES Recalls “Soldier Bear” Toys Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

5. Teething Rings Recalled by Empire Silver Due to Choking Hazard 6. Super Magnet Toys Recalled by MTC Due to Aspiration and Intestinal Hazards

This is a great treat for Christmas morning - or any other morning for that matter!  It is easy and fun (and messy), so be sure everyone gets involved in creating it!

1.25 c sugar
1T cinnamon
3 cans biscuits
1 stick butter, melted
1.5 lbs powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Cut biscuits into fourths.  Mix 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon.  Put mix on biscuits.  Drop biscuits into well greased bundt pan.  Mix melted butter with 3/4 cup sugar and pour over biscuits.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Drizzle with a powdered sugar icing you can create with the powdered sugar, vanilla and a little water if needed. 

Our church is offering up a wonderful ministry this holiday that literally anyone can do on their own.  Try out a few of the recipes posted on here and you’re on your way to a new holiday tradition.

Our church is creating small bundles of cookies (2-3 in each bundle) to hand out on Christmas Eve.  The idea is to take them and deliver the bundles to those that are working that evening - the pharmacist, the policeman, the convenience store worker, the grocery clerk, the hospital staff, the fireman.  It is a way to spread a little holiday cheer (no matter what holiday that person celebrates) at a time that they probably don’t get to celebrate much.

And, think of the wonderful message this relays to our children - that it is better to give than to receive, and while the cookies might be yummy, someone else may enjoy them as well.  And that is a wonderful lesson to learn this holiday season.

This is a great little, light cookie that is perfect for dessert, snacks, and even breakfast!  It is very easy for kids to make, yet tastes like it came from a commercial bakery.  It is sure to be a favorite with everyone!

2 T butter, melted
2/3 c sugar
1.5 t ground cinnamon
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, 9 x 10.5 inches, thawed.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.  In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/3 c sugar and cinnamon.  Stir until blended.  Sprinkle some of the remaining 1/3 c sugar on a work surface.  Unfold the thawed puff pastry on top of the sugar with one of the short sides facing you. Generously sprinkle more sugar on top of the puff pastry, and spread to cover.  Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry, continuing to sprinkle with sugar as you roll.  Roll out to 10×16 inches.  Brush the melted butter onto the pastry.  Then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Press it down evenly.  Starting from a long side, roll up the pastry, jelly-roll style, stopping just before the end.  Press the edge to seal the seam.  Cut the roll into 1/2 inch slices, placing about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.  Bake each batch 12-14 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before moving them to cooling racks.