Our older son grew up with grandparents, aunts, and uncles all within an hour of our home.  He was truly raised by a village of people!  However, before the birth of our second son, we moved four hours away from our amazing family support system.  We knew, though, how amazing those relationships with extended family were, so we came up with a way to help our younger son identify his kin as he grew older.

We took pictures of all of our relatives and printed them out on sheets of photo paper.  Then, we mounted these pictures to magnetic sheets.  Next, we cut out each individual person (I cut close to the outline of the person to make them “paper dollish”) and cut out names for labels for each person as well.  Our refrigerator and dish washer are decorated with smiling faces of family and close friends, and our sons both love to “play” with their family.  When we talk to relatives on the phone, the boys can look at that person they are talking to and make a connection with them!

Are you looking for a few ideas to hold your sanity in tact until warmer weather arrives?  Even if you are already seeing signs of Spring, these are great activities in ANY kind of weather!

• Let’s go on a treasure hunt!  Hide a treasure somewhere outside, then leave a trail of colorful aquarium rocks, bread crumbs or even cereal for them to follow to find it.  If there’s snow around, the edible trail idea will be great for hungry animal-friends!  Too chilly for those little bodies?  Create a treasure hunt indoors!
• Become a weather bug! Have your child monitor the weather each day by writing or drawing what he or she sees.  Make a journal or chart of the changes in your local weather, and see if your child can predict what might happen the next day.
• If you are in an area still covered with snow, fill a few squirt bottles with colored water and bundle those kids up.  Have them spray the snow to create fantastic works of art right there on the ground!
• If springtime storms are starting to make an appearance, have your child create a picture with watercolor markers on a piece of posterboard or even a paper plate.  When the rain comes, place the drawing outside and watch what happens.
• Create an indoor snowman…make good use of those styrofoam packing peanuts be drawing an outline of a snowman on a piece of heavy paper.  Have your child glue packing peanuts all over the snowman, then embellish with spare buttons, scrap material, twigs, bottle caps or whatever goodies you have just sitting around!

In one short month, Valentine’s Day will be here.  Giving someone a Valentine is a wonderful way to show how much you care, and when these Valentine’s are handmade, the message is that much more special.  Here are a couple of easy homemade Valentines for your kids to make – for neighbors, friends, relatives and classmates!

1. Cut hearts from red or pink construction paper, about the size of a 3×5 index card.  Cut two slits in the heart, large enough to slide a stick of gum (such as Big Red) through, much like Cupid’s arrow through a heart.  On the Valentine, write “I ‘chews’ you to be my Valentine” and sign it!  These are always a huge hit with friends and classmates!
2. As in suggestion #1, cut hearts from red, purple or pink construction paper.  Cut two finger-sized holes in the lower portion of the heart (you can start a hole with a hole punch then use scissors to increase the size).  Decorate the heart with a face, wiggly eyes and cute smile, then pen a message on the back, such as, “You make my heart dance!”  Viola!  A Valentine finger puppet!

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.

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!