We hope your holidays are filled with

fun, laughter, and most importantly, love,

no matter how you celebrate. 

See you in 2009!

1. Woodstock Percussion Inc. Recalls Toy Drums Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

2. Munire Recalls “Newport Rubbed Black” Cribs and Matching Furniture Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

3. Children’s Jewelry Sold Exclusively in Hawaii Recalled by Aloha 808 Trading Due to Risk of Lead Exposure

4. Evenflo Recalls Majestic™ High Chairs Due to Fall and Choking Hazards

5. Xtreme Toy Zone Recalls Toy Dinosaurs Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

With little kids, staying up until the official New Year begins is out of the question.  So, we improvise and throw a bit of a New Year’s celebration just for them!  Here are some ideas to try out this year…add your own as well!

• Our favorite is to set our clocks three hours ahead.  The kids get the sensation of midnight without it actually BEING midnight.  We blow horns, throw streamers, cheer and dance.  Then, it is time to head off to bed while it is still actually a reasonable hour!
• Serve up kid-friendly snacks for that New Year’s eve bash.  Pinwheels are easy to make and yummy for kids.  Simply roll your favorites in a tortilla, slice and serve.  We’ve had peanut butter and jelly pinwheels, cream cheese and ham pinwheels, and frosting with sprinkles pinwheels - let your kids help prepare them, too!
• Another great snack for New Year’s eve is pigs in a blanket.  Roll Little Smokies sausages up in crescent rolls for a yummy surprise. 
• We pull out our goblets for the kids to use on New Year’s eve as well, although last year we avoided near-disaster by using plastic ones for the first time…it was a good thing, too, because they wanted to toast the New Year with the “clink” of the glasses!  Serve up sparkling grape juice or the like for those little revelers.
• We take a family picture on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  It is a great scrapbook opportunity to usher in the new year in photographs!
• Our older son, now 9, invites a friend to come and spend the night with us.  The more the merrier, and we all have a wonderful time.  Two years ago, we had the other child’s entire family stay with us until after “faux-midnight” to celebrate. 

What are some of your ways to celebrate with kids?  Leave a comment and share!

As adults, it is our responsibility to teach young children what it means to be a good citizen.  It is our job to show them how to take care of others and the community - a skill that will last throughout their lifetime.  Here are some great ideas to try as a family:

1. Having a party?  Ask the guests to bring donations to Blue Santa, the Food Bank, a children’s shelter or another non-profit group.  Our son is having a “pet party” next year to collect food and pet supplies for our local animal shelter. 
2. “Adopt” a neighbor.  Have your child check on the neighbor from time to time, draw pictures and share little snippets of his or her day.  Older neighbors who aren’t feeling well, are unable to leave the house or live alone will appreciate something fresh and different in their daily routine from time to time.  If your child chooses to share cookies or something similar, though, check for dietary restrictions first.  Sometimes just playing a card game or helping retrieve the mail is a wonderful gift for an older person.
3. Have a “Fashion Show”.  Have your child model all of their clothing, and together decide if it still fits or should be donated to a worthy organization.  Then have him/her choose the charity to donate and take him/her along to give away the clothes.
4. Teach your child to share his or her talents.  If your child is taking music lessons, offer a “free concert” for some neighbors.  Or, if younger children are around, allow your child to read to one of them.  Likewise, read to older adults as well, especially those with poor eyesight or in a nursing home.  If your child has a special interest or hobby, have him or her share it with another child or a close adult.

In my son’s school, I have noticed a significant shift away from creating children who can write neatly.  So, I try to find ways to get my kids motivated about writing - and writing legibly - without feeling like it is such a chore.  Here are a couple of suggestions to try with your young writer:

• Making a (shopping) list - on the way to the store, I dictate a short list to my son of things we need to purchase.  Then, I allow him to add one or two extra items that he feels we may need (we talk about them first, though, before adding them!).  He realizes how important it is to write well when others will be using your “work”!
• Portable writing center - this is an idea I gleaned from my preschool classroom.  I try to keep a supply of paper and pens or pencils in the car, usually in the glove box or among the children’s belongings in the front seat.  When we are out running errands, I let my sons write letters to their friends.  They can also choose to write relatives or far away friends as well, and we mail those off to get to their destination.  From time to time, I will stock my car with postage-paid postcards for my boys to write letters.  Then, we make our final errand stop the post office!  To practice writing for another person’s enjoyment is a good motivator to use legible handwriting.

What are some ideas you have for getting kids to write legibly?

With the holiday season upon us, it is difficult to NOT get caught up in the crazy frenzy of holiday shopping.  However, I came across a great idea for teaching children about the act of giving of themselves.  This is perfect for children because not only do they give something to someone they love, but they find the joy of creating that gift.

Have everyone in your family draw names from a bag.  In our family, we’re doing just the four of us, but it would be wonderful to get the grandparents and other extended family involved in this, too!  The name you draw is the person for which you will create a gift.  Here are some simple ideas that kids can do for gift-giving:

• dressed-up coat hangers: have children wrap colorful ribbon around coat hangers to create a beautiful and unique gift.
• beaded bookmarks: string beads onto yarn and knot at the ends for a lovely way to mark your reading place.
• magnets for mom: print off different letters and/or words in a variety of colors and fonts from your computer.  Cover both sides of the paper with contact paper, cut out, and attach a self-sticking magnet to the back.  Or, find extra photos and create photo-magnets!
• for the gardener: choose a packet of favorite seeds and present them in a hand-painted pot.
• Old standbys: using clean, recycled material, kids can create virtually anything: a pencil holder out of a tin can, a new mail basket out of a plastic milk jug, a colorful paperweight by painting a pretty rock, and even a set of pretty holiday coasters by covering old greeting cards with contact paper.

One of the most frustrating things for me about this time of year as a parent is guessing which toys my kids will “dig” and which ones won’t be worth the packaging they came in.  My boys are influenced by television and friends - seeing toys and products that they just HAVE to have (I’m sure you’ve heard the whining yourself at some point).  With holiday budgets being cinched and the need to keep the charge cards down, I am very wary of any purchase I make for my boys for the holidays.  I am looking for quality merchandise, and not some flimsy product that will break within the first day of use.

I can always be assured, though, that products I choose from WonderBrains have gone through a careful check for quality of their products.  Each toy and item is described in detail and categorized according to Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, insuring myself, as a consumer, that I am purchasing something that my child loves and enjoys.  There are too many products to count on here that have won awards or been recognized for outstanding quality and craftsmanship.  I know that what I purchase to come into my home will be something my boys will enjoy and use for a good, long while.

Put your mind at ease and shop a bit this week around the store.  There is something for every child, of all ages, at WonderBrains!

Here’s a delightful experiment to try with kids to identify different tastes.  Even my picky-eater-9-year-old loved this one, and he is the quintessential picky eater!

Is your tongue “mapped”?  Test your taste buds with a bit of sugar water.  Use droppers with sugar water and place it on different parts of the tongue, such as the sides, front, back, and middle.  While not everyone’s taste buds are exactly the same, many people can taste salty and sour on the sides, sweet on the front, and bitter in the back.  See if your tongue matches these areas - some do, some don’t!  Try it with pickle juice and lemon juice as well.

Try the same experiment as with our post on smell.  Have your child hold his or her nose and taste foods to see how different it is - part of tasting is smelling! Try it with condiments, such as barbeque sauce, ketchup, mustard, relish, and mayonnaise.