I came across a great little site that will be full of oodles of activities to get you in the holiday spirit.  Heather created this site for the holiday season based on our 50 Days of Summer Fun.  How fantastic is that?  Check out what Heather is coming up with this week, and check back each week for a new batch of activities!  She’s quite crafty, too, so be ready to have some creative fun!

I would like to take a moment to point you to a wonderful journal that I think you would enjoy.  This is the site of Tara Marie.  It is entitled, Emma Sage, after Tara’s fourth child. 

What strikes me most about Tara’s blog, especially in the post linked above, is how amazing God is.  These are the kinds of moments I see with my nephew, Wes, who is also an incredible creation, like Emma Sage.  Sometimes, we need to hear little snippets like this to remind us what is really important, like loyalty, the kindness of friends (and strangers), and that children really do have so much to teach us. 

Enjoy.

Thank you, Tara Marie, for sharing your gift of the written language.  All of your sites are beautiful and well-written.  It is a blessing to get to know your family, even if only in little snippets through the computer.

As a Friday treat, I would like to point you to Nicole’s site.  Nicole is the mom to four beautiful girls, and I have enjoyed reading through her site since we added her to the Wonderbrains Blogroll (see our sidebar for more blog-worthy reads!).

Nicole shared a wonderful exercise in detail that she and her husband did with their daughters.  The basic idea is to teach children about detail in the form of nature.  It is a great activity for families and classes.  Give each participant a large cut-out shape (like a frame - I actually created construction paper “frames” for my pre-k class to do this).  Go outside in a grassy area and place the frame on the ground.  Then, lay on the ground with the frame and observe all the details you can find within the frame.  In Nicole’s “frame” she found a twig, some green grass, dead grass, an ant and three black seeds.  Next, meet with a partner and share what was in your frame.  Trade places with your partner and see if you can find all the details he or she found.

I love Nicole’s second activity as well - make sure you have a well-treed area for this.  Blindfold a person and lead them to a tree.  Have them touch it, feel it, discover it.  Then, lead them back to the starting point and take off the blindfold…can that person find their tree?  In Nicole’s family, the girls were each able to find “their” tree.  Talk about enhancing your senses when one is taken away!

Thank you, Nicole, for some wonderful activities for family time!