Are you looking for a fun and creative way to introduce your child to the stories in the bible?  Try using felt figures as a visual aide during the reading of your favorite bible story.  Story Time Felts has felt figures to tell multiple stories.  Just a few are "The Birth of Jesus", "Jonah and the Whale", and "Noah's Ark."  You can make your own felt board to go with is, or buy one of the mounted background boards designed specifically for the Scripture Stories felt.

 

  I start off by reading the story to my children and putting the figures onto the board.  After I have done that once, I read it again and let them put the figures on.  After doing that a few times, I let them retell the story.  It always amazes me how much they actually retain and can re-tell.

 

 

    I wanted to take this time and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Explaining the meaning of Thanksgiving to young children can be tricky.  We need to take into consideration the age of the child.  My 5yr old is now ready to understand the basics.  That it is a day that we take time to be thankful for what we have.  For our family and friends.  I don't think she understands about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, but that will come.  We have to start somewhere. 

 

   Today, I will point things out to her.  I will let her know about our history.  I will ask her questions about who and what she is grateful for.  I will do the same with my 9yr old son.  He is able to grasp the bigger concepts and he already knows the meaning of Thanksgiving. 

 

  Right now, my daughter is drawing pictures of a turkey.  She is using her imagination and creating masterpieces.  Well, to me they are masterpieces.  She is my daughter and I love everything she does.  Happy Thanksgiving.

    Christmas is just around the corner.  I like to start my decorating right after Thanksgiving.  This year, my daughter is old enough to help.  I think she is as excited as I am.  We will be going all out, decorating everything.  My goal is to use all the decorations that I have.  After that, we will be making our own.  The first thing we will be starting with, will be pinecones.  There are so many out in the yard, that we can use some as decorations and some as scented pinecones.  Both my kids like to paint and decorate pinecones.  Making scented pinecones is easy and fun too. 

 

   Another favorite activity, is baking.  I intend to make a lot of homebaked goodies to give out as presents to relatives.  This will save a lot of money.  My daughter will enjoy helping me bake, whild my son will enjoy eating them.  I look forward to seeing how creative my little girl can be when we decorate the cookies.  I am also going to make chocolate truffles, and I know she will have a great time helping me with that.

 

   I have two wonderful Christmas felt sets to use with my children.  The colors and details of each felt figure is wonderful.  My daughter and I will also be going to a special Christmas party being hosted by Social Services.  We will be doing a Christmas Story Telling for them.  I beleive that my daughter is old enough to learn that part of the meaning of Christmas is  doing good deeds for others. 

    Teaching a child math for the first time can be fun.  You start with learning to count, then move on to identifying numbers by sight.  Once your child is getting good at that, you move on to basic addition and subtraction.  With my 5 year old, I have found that she learns best when given a visual model.  She also has a problem with adding and subtracting when presented with a traditional math problem (1+2=).  When I present it to her as 1 object + 2 objects =, and have her count the total amount of objects, she has no problem.

 

    This is why I love the Deluxe Toy Counter w/ CD felt set.  There are 273 figures and a mounted background that can be used to play "store".  This set is a great tool for teaching basic math concepts.  You can present math problems to your child using the toy or object felts, numbers, or both.  The math symbols are also included in the felt figures.  The activity is creative and fun for both parent and child.  As a mom, this is important for me.  My daughter learns best when she is having fun.  She also learns more when she is interacting with me, instead of playing by herself.

 

   Another activity you can do around the home to help your child learn math is cooking.  Measuring out the ingredients, helps your child learn measurements.  Asking him/her to get x amount of an ingredient out of the pantry.  Setting the table with plates, utensils, and cups is a good pratical learning opportunity.  I recommend involving your child in the tasks you do around the house in order to teach mathematic concepts.  It may take longer to accomplish your task, but for me, the benefits are worth it.  Plus, you are creating memories that will stay with your child forever.

 

        It can be difficult to keep a child entertained when you are sick.    That is why I save special projects that she can do for the times that I am just too sick to play with my five year old.  We have our usual activities that she can do, play with the felt, read together, color and paint.  When I reach the point that I just can not do anything else, I pull out a special project that she can do all by herself.

 

      Yesterday, we had one of those days.  Only, it wasn't just me sick, she was too.  She was too sick for school, but still wanted to go.  Just a little stomach bug for her that I wanted to give a day to get through her system completely.  I brought out some of my scrapbooking materials and a couple of pictures.  I told her she could make her own scrapbook page all on her own, just like mommy does.  She was so excited.  She took her time and it was beautiful.  Best of all, she did it on her own. 

 

    This is why I believe in encouraging creativity with children.  The fact that she is five and can come up with projects on her own, implement and carry out until completion, is a major life skill.  As she gets older, these skills will enable her to accomplish many life goals.  I believe that these are essential skills necessary to have to achieve anything you want in life.

 

    Let me know what you think.  What major accomplishment has your child achieved lately, that you are so proud of?

   This might seem a little off-topic for this blog, but I think it is connected.  I spend a lot of time cooking.  Most mother's do.  I am now in the process of teaching both my children the basics of cooking.  My son is 9 and has Autism.  He will take time and patience to teach the basics.  I am confident that he will learn.  My daughter is 5 and is always wanting to help me in the kitchen.  She has already learned the most important thing about cooking, wash your hands first.

 

   Christmas seems to be getting here quicker than most of us are ready for.  I have decided that we will be baking cookies as a family this year, instead of me doing all the work.  Talk about the perfect opportunity for creativity.  Cutting the cookies into different shapes.  Decorating the cookies.  Maybe even make a special Graham Cracker House.  I like making them instead of Gingerbread House's.  My kids prefer them too.

 

  What do you think?  What activity do you like to do in preparation for the Holidays?  What is your favorite tradition that you have established with your family?

     Do you ever wonder if you are doing enough to promote creativity with your child?  Do you ever wonder if promoting creativity and imagination is important?  Let's start by examining the first question.  Can you turn off the television and the computer without your child telling you there is nothing to do now?  Can you take away all electronic toys without being submitted to a tantrum.  If so, great!  If not, cover your ears.  Can your child play outside for hours?  Can he/she make up games and imagine different scenerios to act out?

 

   If your child can do these things, you are way ahead of the game.  Growing up, I didn't have any of the toys that now seem to be so popular with parents and children.  I watched about an hour of television a day.  Most of my day, when not in school, was spent outside.  I had adventures with my cousins in the woods or in the empty lot next to the house.  It was safe back then to roam the neighborhood, going from one friend's house to another's.   Over the years, things have changed.  We have to keep a close eye on our children.  We can do that and still allow them the time they need outside to be creative and to learn how to play using the items they find in their surroundings.  They can also do the same in the house.  I spent time one day playing Mommy and daughter(she wasmommy and I was daughter).  We went from room to room pretending we were shopping.  Each time we left a room, we had to go back to the "car" in order to go to another "store".  She was in control.  She determined that my bed was the car, and what store each room was.  She picked out things that we would "buy" in each store and "paid" for them.  While we did this, I was able to instill in her the importance of mommy having to hold daughter's hand in the parking lot.  A very important point and after that, I no longer had any problems with her in thea real parking lot.

 

   Children learn important concepts through play.  Either alone, or with other children, the independent thinking instills confidence in your child.  Creative play with other children helps improve social skills needed for when they are older.  Activities that can help your child think and be creative are what our children need.  If you agree, or even if you don't, let me know.  Leave me a comment with your opinion and if you have suggestions or ideas of activities, please share.

      Remember when we used to play with paper dolls and paper clothes?  Now, you can share the experience of your childhood with your child.  Only, instead of paper, he/she can play with felt dolls and clothes.  There are several sets to choose from.  The classic Girl Clothes with Doll comes with 62 items of clothing, the doll of your chouice and a Duffle Bag to store them in.  The variety of outfits your child can put together is only limited by their imagination.  From formal dresses, to funny costumes, your child will be able tp spend hours putting together a variety of looks.  There are also other collection of clothing and dolls available.

 

    These dolls are not just for play.  They can also be used as a learning tool.  You can teach your child how to pick appropriate clothing for the weather color coordination.  You can use the International Costumes set as a visual aide when teaching different cultures.  Also, you can work on how to behave in different social situations.  Both of you can act out different scenerios and responses.  One important thing to remember is that while you are teaching, your child thinks you are just playing.