Making Memories With Your Children: Summer Craft Activities

Posted on May 14, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

I was in Chicago last weekend for Mother’s Day with my son and daughter-in-law. I also had an opportunity to visit with my sister and her sons and their families.

One evening, we all got together at a fantastic BBQ, hosted by my nephew and his wife. We all had a great time…the food was not only delicious, but healthful as well…kudos to Dave and Rebecca!

After dinner, we sat down to look at the old photo albums my sister had brought. As we turned the pages and my son and his cousin (both in their 30’s) exclaimed over each picture, I realized how important the pictures were…they reminded these grown men of the children they had been and the activities they had been involved in when they were young.

Summer is just around the corner…I know many parents are wondering how they will fill the long hot days with their children.

Of course, there are various solutions to this problem:

Put them in some kind of day camp…might be costly.
Sit them in front of the TV…how many cartoons do you really want them to watch?
Send them to someone else’s house…don’t you want to be the one they get their values and information from?

What is my solution to the problem of young children home for the summer?

READING…CRAFTING…COOKING!

Young children are always eager to hear a good picture book story.

Young children love arts and crafts.

Young children enjoy helping in the kitchen.

If you buy a copy of my book that is FILLED with picture book suggestions and summaries, easy arts and crafts activities and simple healthful recipes, you will be prepared for the long hot summer days ahead.

For starters, here’s a great idea that comes from Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. It will help capture those memories for your child as you create a photo album together.

AN ALBUM OF ME

You will need: A small blank photo album, a selection of photos of your child at different stages of his or her life, self-stick labels and a fine point marker.

1. With your child, go through some of the pictures that you have of him from birth to the present…and let him choose several to include in his own album. Make copies if you want to keep the originals in the family album.

2. Help your child insert each photo and then write a description (with his input) on a label or small strip of paper and press or glue it on the bottom of each page.

3. Listen to your child while he turns the pages of his album and tells you the story of his life.

4. Important tip: keep a camera handy…you never know when a photo opportunity arises.

Activities like this help:

build your child’s self-esteem!
develop pre-reading skills!
create a life-long parent-child bond!
keep your child busy in a constructive positive fun-filled way that will be fun for you also!

Start planning your summer activities now…with this amazing short-cut for busy parents and teachers!

And please stop by tomorrow for Cinema Sunday: My Picks of Great Flicks.

Follow-Me-Fridays: Where’s Miss Vivian?

Posted on May 6, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday I enjoyed my last Show-Me-How Story-time presentation of this school year at Queen Palmer Elementary School in Colorado Springs. I did two programs…the first teacher had picked Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed by Barney Saltzberg. What child doesn’t want to hear about a silly pig that has a unique idea of how one should get ready for bed. The children chuckled when they saw how Cornelius brushed his teeth with a body brush and soap. They were horrified when Cornelius fed his fish chocolate chip cookies. They counted the number of books Cornelius had picked for his father to read to him…19 books, they said, NO WAY! After the story, all of the children made construction paper clocks with movable hands and were excited to be able to take them home to show their parents how they could tell time. The second teacher had chosen Frederick by Leo Lionni. The children in that class loved hearing about the little mouse that collected sun rays, colors and words while his family collected nuts, seeds and wheat. I believe the children understand the lessons behind Mr. Lionni’s story…we need to celebrate the uniqueness of each individual, and every member of the family (even young children) contributes in his or her own special way. Do you celebrate your child’s uniqueness? Many of the activities in my book focus on celebrating a child’s unique gifts and talents.

The teachers loved the book and one of them is going to request that the school obtain copies for the kindergarten classes…she commented that teachers are so busy (just like parents) and would appreciate a resource like Show Me How! because it just about provides 100 lesson plans…complete with story suggestion, arts and crafts project and a simple cooking activity (and many of these are no-cook)!

As many of you read this, I’ll be winging my way from Colorado Springs to Chicago.

I’ll be spending the Mother’s Day weekend with my son and his wife.

Since we all LOVE eating sushi, taking long walks around the lake, watching classic foreign films and being with one another, I know I will have a great time.

My daughter-in-law (the talented artist who designed and drew the cover for my book) is picking me up at the airport. She’ll be taking me to Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, where I’ll be meeting with the owner of Lollie’s, a beautiful children’s boutique. Alexis has already read Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking and is interested in offering it for sale in her shop. I’m really excited about that! My hope is that indie bookstores and shops across the country will carry the book to make it more accessible to parents and teachers. Several libraries in various states have also purchased the book for their collections…if you are not in a position to buy the book, why not ask your local library to purchase copies…many libraries welcome suggestions from patrons regarding future book purchases. If you feel the book would be a valuable resource for your community, let your library know!

The rest of my time in Chicago will be spent having fun and also connecting with my sister and her sons and their families, all who live in and around the Chicago area.

So, I may not be able to post in the next few days…but I’ll be back Tuesday afternoon and am eagerly looking forward to my first featured author guest post with Colorado Springs award winning author, Rebecca Dunning.

Also, a quick reminder about the Mother’s Day bonus offer that ends May 8 on my website. If you purchase a copy of the book (at 20% off the cover price), you will also receive, with your order, a $10 Marshalls/TJMaxx gift card. What a great deal…a wonderful resource of great fun-filled activities and story suggestions for you to use with your child and a gift card to stores that are overflowing with great stuff for mom…Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day Special: What’s In Your Child’s Bookcase Wordy Wednesday

Posted on May 3, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Mrs. Ramsay and her children, Montreal, QC, 1891

Image by Musée McCord Museum via Flickr

“You may have tangible wealth untold,

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold,

Richer than I you can never be,

I had a mother who read to me.”

This well-known verse by Strickland Gillihan points out so clearly how important it is to read to your child. I know that most of you do…for those of you who don’t…you are missing out on something really special. Reading picture books with young children is special for several reasons:

It engages the child in the story and events between the pages.
It develops pre-reading skills.
It opens up a window of opportunity for you and your child to discuss, not only the story, but how it relates to your child. Often, during story-time, children are able to talk more openly about issues that bother them.
The time you spend together creates a life-long parent-child bond and can be so much fun for everyone involved.

Here’s a great children’s book that celebrates Mother’s Day.

No Time For Mother’s Day by Laurie Halse Anderson is a story about a little girl who has two days to decide what to get for her mother. She goes shopping with her cousin whose mom had given her daughter a list of what she wanted and the money to buy everything. However, Charity does not see anything she wants to get for her mother. What she really wants to get is an extra pair of hands for her mother who is always so busy. On Mother’s Day, Charity’s present to her mom is revealed…a day of peace and quiet. Charity has turned off all of the phones and things that go beep.

Some other good Mother’s Day titles:

1. My Mother is Mine by Marion Dane Bauer

2. Berenstain Bears & the Mama’s Day Surprise by Jan and Stan Berenstain

3. Happy Mother’s Day by Steven Kroll

4. A Present for Mom by Vivian French

5. I Love You, Mama by Isabel Gaines

Reading, crafting and cooking with young children are wonderful activities that build self-esteem, develop pre-reading skills and create a life-long parent-child bond. If you’d like some more activities to fill the summer days ahead, you can purchase a copy of my book. It provides hundreds of great picture book suggestions, simple craft projects and easy cooking activities…enough to keep everyone happy and busy all summer long and beyond!

If you go to my website, you’ll be able to buy a copy at 20% off the cover price AND receive a bonus $10 Marshalls/TJMaxx gift card that will be mailed to you with the book. This is a special Mother’s Day offer, good only until May 8. The book is a great Mother’s Day gift for any mom who is time-short. There are 256 pages that are chock-full of easy eco-friendly activities that will keep your young children busy every day.

Buy a copy between May 1 and May 8 and receive a $10 Marshalls/TJMaxx Gift Card (aren’t these two of the best stores for moms?) with your order.

Please stop by tomorrow…for Healthy Habit Thursday…I’ll have some great tips about how to make blood draws easier for kids.

On Friday, I’m flying to Chicago to spend Mother’s Day weekend with my son and daughter-in-law. I will be meeting with the owner of Lollie’s, a children’s boutique, to discuss placing Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking in her shop…she’s read the book and loves it and would like to have it available for her customers. 🙂 So, Miss Vivian will be in Chicago for the next few days!

And I’m really excited because next week, we’ll be featuring a guest post from a local Colorado Springs author, Rebecca Dunning. She’s a really special lady and I’m thrilled to welcome her to next week’s What’s In Your Child’s Bookcase Wordy Wednesday.