Toddler Approved!

Celebrate International Book Giving Day With Your Child {via Delightful Children's Books}

2012-02-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing that I hope to teach my kids, it is to be kind to others, which is why I was immediately drawn to Toddler Approved’s 100 Acts of Kindness Project. I was hoping for some simple activities that I could engage in with my kids that will encourage them to be kind to others.

Recently, I have been thinking about how to teach my kids to be kind not only to kids that they know but also to kids that they do not know and will never meet.

My urge to teach my kids to be kind to kids that they have never met was part of the impetus for turning Book Giving Day (a holiday that my 6-year-old son invented last year) into International Book Giving Day.

Last year, my son invented a new holiday – Book Giving Day (February 14^th) – a day to exchange books with friends and family. He wanted a “more exciting” holiday to celebrate between Christmas and Easter, and my brother encouraged him to invent one. This year, recognizing that we are blessed with books, we are dedicating the holiday to getting books in the hands of others.

For International Book Giving Day, we are encouraging people from around the world to give new, used, or borrowed books to kids.

Simple ways to celebrate International Book Giving Day (February 14^th) with your child:

Purchase your child’s favorite book from the bookstore and stealthily leave it in a waiting room where other children will enjoy reading it.

Encourage your child to choose a book from their bookshelf that they no longer read, and donate it to a local second hand store, children’s hospital, library, etc.

Encourage your child to choose a book to lend to a friend.

Organize a small book drive in your neighborhood, at church, or at your child’s school. Your child, however young, can help set out a drop box, collect books, and deliver them to a good organization.

Celebrating International Book Giving Day with my children has been pretty neat. We have purchased books that they love and secretly deposited them in waiting rooms. I am organizing a book drive at my church, and my kids will help out with that. We have watched a few videos of organizations working to distribute books to kids in countries around the world. We have gained little bit of a sense of gratitude for the books that we are surrounded with.

I hope that you will consider celebrating International Book Giving Day with your child this year. For more information, including a few neat videos to share with your children and information about an International Book Giving Day link-up on February 21^st, see International Book Giving Day’s webpage: http://bookgivingday.blogspot.com/.

Amy Broadmoore is a mother of three young children ages seven, four and two. She spends her time teaching and learning from her children, running, and searching for great picture books. She compiles booklists about a variety of themes (e.g. birds, dance and friendship) and shares them at Delightful Children's Books: http://delightfulchildrensbooks.com/. Amy can also be found on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Are you planning to participate in International

Book Giving Day?

Thanks Amy! This is such a great idea and I am adding it to our to-do list for next week. I really think this is a great way to get my son involved in giving.

If you have a moment, drop by Amy's blog, Delightful Children's Books. One of my favorite spots on Amy's blog is the section for Babies and Toddlers. There are so many great book suggestions and they are broken down based on the stage of the child. It is a phenomenal resource!

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}

Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}

Week 2- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #3: "Heart Attack" a friend {via Made on Maple}

Kindness Heart Scraps

Collaborative Memory Project {via Hands On:As We Grow}

Stylish Kindness for the Birds {via AngeliqueFelix}

Act of Kindness for Delaney Rose {via PlayDrMom}

Kindness Challenge #4: Look Outward and Give

Heart Map {via At Home with Ali}

Serving With Little Ones {via Mommy and Me Book Club}

From the Bottom of My Feet, er, Heart {via Mikilani}

In honor of The Heart Project we have a great trunki giveaway by Melissa and Doug happening right now. Check it out here. It closes on February 14th!

Have a wonderful Saturday!!

From the Bottom of My Feet, er, Heart {via Mikilani}

2012-02-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to revisit this technique and allowed my son (now almost three) full creative control of the project. First, he colored one foot with a washable red marker (you could also use washable paint or a stamp pad). The marker is very ticklish so you may find your child erupting into fits of giggles during this step.

Next, he made the first half of the heart by standing firmly on a piece of paper. We then carefully peeled his foot off and quickly washed it with baby wipes, and repeated this process on the other side. Be sure to help your child carefully position his second foot to create the heart-shaped print.

We also made thumbprint and pinkie-fingerprint hearts (the small ones pictured above) and handprint hearts (pictured below).

My older son really enjoyed this project too, making his heart prints in pink to compliment the red. Both boys worked together to customize an oversized card for dad that will be waiting at the breakfast table on Valentine's Day.

While we let our heart prints dry, (it shouldn't take too long unless you use paint), we read Valentine's Day books. One of our favorites is "If You'll Be My Valentine" by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka. I love Rylant's gently rhyming verses and Kosaka's soft, soothing pictures. (You can watch a reading of the book on YouTube, but the video doesn't do the illustrations justice, so try to find a copy.)

In the book, the little boy makes valentines for the special people in his life - his cat, mom, dad, sister, grandma, teddy bear, favorite tree. After we read the book together, we talked about who is important to us and who we should give our valentines to. This year both our preschool friends and Thomas the Tank Engine friends made the list.

Once the heart prints are dry, it's time to make copies. Instead of having the boys make multiple prints for multiple cards, (that would be beyond my preschooler's attention span), I printed color copies on card stock for additional valentines and the kids' scrapbooks.

It was fun to sit down with my preschooler and compare his footprint hearts from different years.

This is such a fun project to do with your children and the end result is a beautiful homemade valentine, personalized by your child, that it sure to please the recipient. It's quick and easy and you probably already have all the supplies you need in your closet. So what's stopping you? Grab a washable marker, your child(ren), and a piece of paper and let the fun begin. ❤

*Fair warning: Depending on which brand of marker and what color you use, you may have little stained hands and feet which can take a few washings to completely get rid of. Lighter colors (like pink and yellow) clean up much easier, but my boys always want to do red, so the color tends to linger. Alternatively, if you want to avoid this, you can trace your child's feet (and hands) onto a piece of colored paper and use the cutouts to make your hearts.

Mikilani is a Jill-of-all-trades mom who has traveled from coast to coast with her family and is still up for more adventure! This spring, she will spend three weeks in Japan with her family on the ultimate field trip.

What a beautiful project! Your son's list is adorable too. What a great activity to do as you make connections with the book. I also love the color copying idea. I will be using it. Thanks Mikilani!

Do any of you have any special Valentine's day creation that you've made? We'd love to see them, so share a picture or link to them on our Facebook wall today.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}
Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}
Week 2- Kindness Round Up
Kindness Challenge #3: "Heart Attack" a friend {via Made on Maple}
Kindness Heart Scraps
Collaborative Memory Project {via Hands On:As We Grow}
Stylish Kindness for the Birds {via AngeliqueFelix}
Act of Kindness for Delaney Rose {via PlayDrMom}
Kindness Challenge #4: Look Outward and Give

Heart Map {via At Home with Ali}
Serving With Little Ones {via Mommy and Me Book Club}

Also, have you donated to The Heart Project yet? As our ultimate kind act we are trying to raise over $2,000 for the American Heart Association by February 14th. I actually think that we can raise more than that... since we raised a $1,000 in just one day. We'd love to give you our free ebook filled with 100 + heart projects for kids when you donate. Go check it out!

In honor of The Heart Project we have a great trunki giveaway by Melissa and Doug happening right now. Check it out here.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Serving With Little Ones {via Mommy and Me Book Club}

2012-02-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

Before I had children, I was constantly searching for and involved with community organizations. I loved serving others, especially children. I spent many hours a week volunteering for different causes that I was passionate about. Before I had children, I also imagined that as a Stay at Home Mom, I would continue to serve in the community, serving soup to the hungry with a baby on my back. Tutoring in inner city schools while my toddler sat next to me in a stroller. I thought that when I didn't have to go to work each day, I would fill my days with service to others.

I am not sure what happened. I am not devaluing the service I render each day to my children. I know it is the most important work I can be doing right now and I love every minute of it. I wake up every morning overwhelmed with gratitude that this is my life. That I get to be here in this home, with this man, with these three wonderful children. I love my life. Which makes it even harder to understand how I allowed 7 years to go by without helping anyone outside the walls of our own home or church community.

I truly believe that "Because I have been given much, I too must give." I want my children to learn to follow the Savior's example of healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and comforting the lonely. And I want them to learn it by serving side by side with me and their dad. I want to be a family that serves the community together. I prayed to be led to an opportunity where I could serve with my small children. An opportunity that would be meaningful to them, one that they could actually DO and contribute in a meaningful way.

Then this past fall, I read in the newspaper about moms who were serving hungry children at local schools. Each Friday, these moms were packing backpacks filled with a few “ready to eat meals.” These backpacks were sent home with children who usually get breakfast and lunch for free at school, through government assistance, and whose teachers thought that they might not have anything to eat over the weekend. The Food Bank was providing these weekend meals, but needed manpower to get them distributed.

I knew immediately that this was something that I wanted my kids and I to be involved in. It was perfect. It was a concrete experience that children could do themselves. They could help pack food into backpacks. They could carry backpacks. And it was something I thought they might like doing. I mean, what little one doesn’t love wearing backpacks like the big kids?

I found a church near our house who was participating in this program and they agreed to let me and two of my mom friends join their efforts. Each Friday, our 7 preschoolers go to this church to help put food into backpacks. They get to place the backpacks onto a cart and help push the cart to a van where the Moms load them in. Then we take a short drive to the school to deliver the backpacks. Once we arrive at the school, (and we unbuckle 7 kids out of car seats) each of our children carries a backpack into the building where we deliver them to the guidance counselor. (She delivers the backpacks to the recipients, in order to maintain privacy).

The entire experience only takes about 30 minutes, but it is the perfect amount of time for my two year old’s attention span. I don’t know how much help we give in actuality, with our 7 little ones ages 5 and under, but I appreciate the coordinator giving us this chance to teach our children about feeding the hungry. As moms, we stand back and let the kids do as much as they possibly can. This probably makes things take twice as long. But you can see the joy in their faces and the sense of accomplishment of doing something important and “big” all by themselves.

I wasn’t sure how much my two little ones understood about what we were doing each week. Whether it was having the intended impact in the lives of my children. Then last Friday, while we were packing one of the backpacks, my little Molly looked up at me and said, “Dis is food for Jesus. I giving food to Baby Jesus. I wuv Him.” I guess she gets it after all.

Once upon a time, Danielle was a very happy kindergarten teacher. Now, Danielle is a happily at home wife and mom of three. She blogs about her love of children's literature at Mommy and Me Book Club. You can also find her sharing ideas on her Facebook page.

What a special experience! As mentioned in my Kindness Challenge #4 post, I really do feel that "family values are more caught than taught." Danielle's children are so lucky to have experiences like this to go out and serve other people and discover firsthand that they can make a difference.

In addition to teaching her children about serving others, Danielle shares tons of activities and craft ideas over on her Mommy and Me Book Club blog. I love her two most recent posts- one about activities to go along with the book Three Little Kittens and one filled with great book-related ideas for The Snowy Day.

What are some little ways that you serve alongside your children?

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Heart Map {via At Home with Ali}

Also, have you donated to The Heart Project yet? As our ultimate kind act we are trying to raise over $2,000 for the American Heart Association by February 14th. I actually think that we can raise more than that... since we raised a $1,000 in just one day. We'd love to give you our free ebook filled with 100 + heart projects for kids when you donate. Go check it out!

In honor of The Heart Project we have a great trunki giveaway by Melissa and Doug happening right now. Check it out here.

Phew, man I am tired! Reading about all of these awesome projects is making me exhausted. Off to bed before 1am for once! Goodnight. :)

Heart Map {via At Home with Ali}

2012-02-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

As part of the 100 Acts of Kindness Project I started to talk to my eldest daughter, who is almost 4, about love and kindness. Cakey wanted concrete examples of how to be kind to people. I suggested comforting someone who has hurt themselves, helping a friend with a difficult task or smiling at a stranger. She offered up the suggestion of drawing a picture for someone she loved: "that would be nice, wouldn't it mummy?" "Yes absolutely" I replied.

Keen to make the most of her enthusiasm I asked whether she would like to make a heart map – a picture showing what it is you love about someone (this project was inspired Riverside Elementary Art). Cakey liked this idea so I pulled out a large piece of black paper and drew an outline of a heart. She got to work with her favourite packet of oil pastels.

Cakey decided to draw her heart map for Puppy (so much for her parents!!). Puppy is her little toy dog who goes with her everywhere, he is very special to her and I live in fear of losing him.

The most wonderful thing about this project was that she commentated throughout, telling me exactly what she was drawing. First she drew puppy (the little brown animal in the middle), then she drew herself in her favorite pink dress. She joined hands of the two little figures (the blue bit). In the right hand corner Cakey drew a sun in the sky and in the left hand corner she drew a rainbow. She then drew yellow hats on the figures' heads so they don't get sunburned from the hot sun and included a small, pink umbrella for shade. Cakey then started to fill the rest of the heart with dots and splodges which she said was treasure.

To finish off her heart map she decorated it with glitter and some little hearts that I cut out for her. This was a lovely little project and Puppy's heart map is proudly displayed in her room.

This heart map is part of the The Heart Project, a collaborative project involving more than 50 bloggers. The Heart Project is a fundraiser with all proceeds going to the American Heart Association. The Heart Project ebook is available this month by making a $5 donation.

Ali is a stay at home mum to two beautiful daughters. She loves the challenge of trying to channel her girls' interests and ideas into activities they can do together. She writes about their progress – some good, some bad, on her blog At home with Ali. You can also find her sharing her fun ideas on Facebook and Pinterest too.

Thanks Ali for being our guest blogger today! I love when I learn about something new and a "heart map" is new to me! What a wonderful activity to do together. Ali is a super mom, so you'll definitely want to swing by her blog and check out some of her other posts. My two favorites are her post about Crafting with Two (quite a balancing act) and her recent styrofoam solar system (gorgeous!).

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Also, have you donated to The Heart Project yet? As our ultimate kind act we are trying to raise over $2,000 for the American Heart Association by February 14th. I actually think that we can raise more than that... since we raised a $1,000 in just one day. We'd love to give you our free ebook filled with 100 + heart projects for kids when you donate. Go check it out!

In honor of The Heart Project we have a great Books We {Heart} giveaway happening right now... so don't miss out. Click here for more details.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's guest post by Danielle of Mommy and Me Book Club!

Heart Project Giveaway – 2 Melissa & Doug Trunkis

2012-02-08T00:11:00.000-08:00

I’m seriously SO excited to be participating in the giveaway of 2 Melissa & Doug Trunkis in support of The Heart Project, a fundraiser for the American Heart Association! If you know of anyone who’d love a Trunki, be sure to enter this wonderful giveaway!

Thanks so much Melissa & Doug for supporting The Heart Project!

The Heart Project

Here's more information about The Heart Project eBook and Printed Book if you haven't checked it out yet.

There are 4 Trunki and Teddy Bear auctions going on right now too!

Melissa & Doug Trunki Info

Have you seen a trunki before? This is a great 1 minute video to show you all the fun things that you can do with one. You know you want one of these for your next trip. :)

Things I like about the trunki are...

- you have built-in entertainment when you're at the airport waiting for a flight... and a great way to get your kids tired out while they are waiting to board the airplane (watching all the moving little legs is making me tired!)

- it seriously just makes me happy- the bright colors and fun concept would make it difficult not to smile if you saw your little one riding around on one of these

Some other reviews about the trunki can be found here.

So... are you ready to enter? Check out the deets below.

Trunki Giveaway Details

Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment on one of the blogs – let us know which one on the Rafflecopter form. (can do once/day)

Optional entries (on Rafflecopter form):

Have you supported The Heart Project by donating to the AHA or getting The Heart Book? Support The Heart Project from now until Valentine’s Day. Every $5 donation to AHA will receive a FREE eBook version of The Heart Book.
Say “Thanks” to Melissa and Doug on Facebook for donating these awesome Trunkis to The Heart Project! (can do once/day)
Tweet about the Giveaway (can do once/day)

There are OTHER ways to enter too … You are not required to donate in order to enter in any of these giveaways. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

If you do not see the Rafflecopter entry form below, please enable or update your java script.
Enter now until February 14!

You can enter the giveaway at any of the following blogs: [entries are all combined from participating blogs]

Terms and Conditions:
*** Available to US residents only.**
* This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability. Winner(s) will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send us an email!
* No purchase is necessary to win.
* Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
* Winners will be chosen via random.org by 2/14/12 and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. If winner does not claim prize within 48 hours or forfeits, prize will be redrawn by random.org and the new winner will be notified.
* Void where prohibited by law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mom Project: "Embroidered" Heart Shirt

2012-02-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

Sharing an inexpensive way to embellish a plain t-shirt into something "fit to wear" to a Valentine's Day Celebration.

Inspiration for this project came while doing inventory in my sewing stash and realizing I have an abundance of shades of pink and red thread. I love the hand embroidered look but do not have patience to sit down and actually do it . . . so I used the following technique and supplies to get a similar look in a lot less time.

Materials Needed:

Sewing Machine

Thread (I used 4 shades of pink/red)

T-Shirt

Freezer Paper

Cut off a small piece of freezer paper. On the dull side draw a series of nesting hearts (they don't have to be perfect - as is evident in my drawing above).

Iron the image onto your t-shirt (shiny side touching the shirt). This will keep the image from sliding around, but you can also just pin the image to the shirt (which will make it a little easier to remove once you're finished sewing).

Sew directly onto the paper and through the top layer of the shirt. I followed my lines and added an extra row of hearts between each of the drawn lines (remember, the more hearts you sew or the closer the hearts are the more work you will have later when ripping away the paper).

Once you have finished sewing your outlines, it's time to rip away the paper. Carefully tear away the paper without tearing out your stitches. This is the most time consuming part of the whole project - not hard, just takes time. I'd recommend sitting down and catching up on your favorite TV show while you do this. If you look closely you'll realize I was a little impatient and ripped out the thread at the base of the heart (back stitching may have prevented this too) but overall I think it turned out cute and I have one little girl who is more than happy to wear it. Now if I could only get her to sit still long enough to get a clear picture . . .

Do you make/embellish clothes for your children to wear?

Remember - you have until Thursday to enter our "Books We {Heart} Giveaway" and less than a week left of our 100 Acts of Kindness Project.

Paper Bag Angry Birds

2012-02-06T00:20:00.000-08:00

If you saw my sneak peak of this post earlier... did you guess correctly?

Does anyone else have a child who loves Angry Birds at their house... or am I the only one?

This afternoon I was in a bit of a power struggle with my son because he really wanted to play the iPad and I really wanted him to come play with me and use his imagination. We had been crafting with paper bags for Tinkerlab's awesome paper bag challenge and I still had supplies out, so I said, "Hey, what do Angry birds look like? Could we make some from paper bags?"

He was hooked immediately. I drew, he painted, we stapled and stuffed, and then we played our game.

We cut each guy out of a paper bag and then cut a backing that was the same size. We stuck them both together and stapled almost all the way around, leaving a small hole for stuffing. We stuffed toilet paper inside each character and then stapled them shut.

Then my son grabbed our large Melissa and Doug blocks and built tall towers for the pigs. Next time we need to make more pigs.

If you are unfamiliar with Angry Birds, it is a game that's has a goal of getting rid of the pigs. The pigs are blocked by different structures and the Angry Birds fly through the air and try and knock down structures and ultimately get rid of the pigs.

For our first version of the game my son was the human slingshot and he made the birds catapult through the air to knock down the pigs. As we kept playing he came up with more and more versions of how we could play and I was so pleased to have gotten him off the iPad and creating!

He had to make sure to give me his best "angry" face while we were playing as well.

I am so excited to be linking this post up to TinkerLab's Creative Challenge with paper bags.

If you missed my Kindness challenge post earlier today, make sure you check it out and link up any posts you have done recently with paper bags. TinkerLab has a super cool pinterest contest going on for the entry with the most pins... so don't forget to link up!

Need any other Angry Bird activity ideas?

Quirky Momma shares these Angry Bird Birthday Party ideas

Make and Takes shares these pom pom Angry Birds

The Centsible Family made these Angry Birds bean bags

Crafts by Amanda made tp tube Angry Birds

and No Time for Flashcards created an Angry Birds inspired balloon game

Do you have any other favorite Angry Birds activities you've done?

Kindness Challenge #4: Look outward and give

2012-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am sharing our last kindness challenge for our 100 Acts of Kindness project.

Can you believe how much kindness we've spread in just three weeks? I'm really excited to spread even more during this last week of our challenge.

Week 1 we thanked those who serve us
Week 2 we showed love to our family members
Week 3 we did a kind act for our friends

So for week 4 we are going to

Look outward and give...

to our community and the world

How can you make a difference? How can you go outside your sphere of friends and family members and help in a bigger way? Many of you already do give in amazing ways and I would love for you to share your ideas in the comments below.

For this challenge, I'm not asking you to do anything huge, but rather to serve in a way that you haven't before with your children or your students.

We started small, with just a big paper bag and some crafting supplies.

We punched out hearts.

painted

and glued everything onto the bag

Then we looked online at our local Food Bank's wish list (to see what canned foods they need) and we sorted through our cupboards for the right things and loaded them into our big bag of love. We also researched where the local drop off spots are and talked about why the food bank needs donations. Later today we will be going to the grocery store to buy a few more needed items and then we'll drive over to drop off our big bag of love at the local food bank.

In Carol Weisman's book Raising Charitable Children she shares several strategies to help parents to incorporate philanthropy into their families. I loved this quote from her article in The New York Times- “Children need to learn firsthand that they can make a difference in the world and that they do have power to make a positive impact, even at a young age.”

She also shared that “Family values are more caught than taught,” she said. “Let your children see you giving — writing a check or by bringing them along when you volunteer — and enthusiastically explain why you do what you do.”

So for this week's challenge, teach your child about giving within the community (or world) and help them participate!

Some ideas we've brainstormed include...

giving a simple cash donation to a charity (but instead of mailing it, go to the local office and have your child hand-deliver the check to the organization).
go through the toys in your home together with your child and have him select 4-5 toys to donate to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.
go and take food to a local soup kitchen (my neighbor does this every other month with her children)
channel surf on VisoGive. This is YouTube's nonprofit channel. Charities upload fun videos and earn 60 percent of the ad revenue when you watch.
go to a local church and volunteer to help clean the toys in the nursery as a service (you could even donate some of your lightly used toys to the nursery)... and you know your kids would love hosing down all the toys.
have each child in your class collect coins and combine them in a big jar to donate to a organization in need
donate a cape to a child who is battling cancer (you and your child can choose the child who receives your cape and even follow the child's journey their website)
make valentines for children who are sick at a local children's hospital

What are your ideas? How can you reach outward into the community this week?

In addition to sharing this kindness challenge with you today, I am also participating in TinklerLab's Creative Challenge with paper bags... so I combined the two to make an extra awesome post. ;) Make sure you check out all of the seriously cool paper bag projects linked up below. I will be pinning tons of them.

My son had fun with our heart bag, but also wanted us to do a slightly different paper bag project, so I will also be sharing that with you later today. I'll give you a hint and you can probably figure out what it relates to...

Any guesses?

What else could you make with a paper bag?

Here are all of the lovely participants in today's Creative Challenge at TinkerLab.

Paint Cut Paste, Imagination Soup, Hands On: As We Grow, Child Central Station, Putti Prapancha, Irresistible Ideas for Play-Based Learning, Teach Preschool, The Chocolate Muffin Tree, Nurture Store, Small Types, The Imagination Tree, Toddler Approved, Red Ted Art, Sun Hats and Wellie Boots, Come Together Kids, Mommy Labs, Kids in the Studio, Rainy Day Mum, Glittering Muffins, Sense of Wonder, Mom To 2 Posh Lil Divas, Come Together Kids, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, A Mom With A Lesson Plan, Angelique Felix, The Golden Gleam, Share and Remember, Clarion Wren, Living at the Whitehead’s Zoo, Let Kids Create, De tout et de rien, PlayDrMom, Rainbows Within Reach, No Time for Flash Cards, Creativity My Passion, Messy Kids, The Outlaw Mom,Glitter, Mud, and Duct Tape Kiwi Crate, Tinkerlab

If you've missed any of our other kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Week 3- Kindness Round Up

2012-02-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

I love the month of February because I am surrounded by hearts and I think about kindness and love (and ways to show it) constantly.

The 100 Acts of Kindness challenge has really changed how our home feels and has created an even happier environment. We've been trying to incorporate some of the things we've learned about kindness and love from our guest bloggers over the last few weeks and put them into action.

We made painted paper using paint rollers and plastic forks...

and then we cut it into hearts and "heart attacked" all three of our neighbor's bedroom doors.

We snuck inside when the kids were gone at school and my son loved leaving Hershey's kisses all over their floors and painted hearts stuck to their doors with notes.

Thanks to Liz from Made on Maple for this great "heart attack" challenge!

Allie at No Time for Flashcards shared simple ways that she encourages kindness in her home everyday. I loved the idea of having my son read stories to his little sister as a "kind act." My daughter isn't a fan of reading with him for long, but occasionally he gets her to stay and read with him and it is precious to watch.

We've also been building opportunities into everyday where my son can teach his little sister new things. This week he taught her to use the stomp rocket. He was so excited when she figured it out. I was so excited to see him being such a kind little teacher.

My friend Jamie also helped me participate in a kind at this week. Jamie at Hands On: As We Grow shared a beautiful collaborative memory project earlier this week that she worked on with her son as a gift for a family member. She also helped organze 70+ bloggers in a collaborative endeavor called The Heart Project to raise money for the American Heart Association during February's "Heart" month. I was lucky to get to contribute one project to the book.

I got my hard copy of the book today and it is beautiful... but what is even more beautiful to me is all of the Toddler Approved readers who are donating $5 or $20 or more to receive this free heart ebook gift and helping AHA in their mission to build healthier lives and help children and adults with heart problems- like little Ellie Jo.

I love this kindness challenge because it makes me so much more aware of the kind acts that I do (or don't do... and then feel bad about)... and it also makes me so aware of the amazing people that surround me that are also doing kind things for others.

What is a kind act that you observed this week?

I observed...

- a church leader cook and serve 100 crepes for the youth at a breakfast

- five teenage girls sacrifice their Saturday morning to help me create decorations for an upcoming Valentine's Day dance I'm in charge of

- my husband bake me brownies and do all of the dishes while I stood and just chatted with him

- my neighbor give me a giant bag of lightly worn clothes for my daughter to have

- my son clean up our playroom without being asked

- a neighbor organize a potluck luncheon to welcome a new neighbor into our cul-de-sac

- a group of friends take dinner over to a new mom who just had a baby

- a friend drop off brownies on our doorstep just to be nice (because she knows I always love treats)

I could go on and on. I would love to hear what acts of kindness you have observed this week. It is amazing how you can find so many once you start looking.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Also, have you donated to The Heart Project yet? As our ultimate kind act we are trying to raise over $2,000 for the American Heart Association by February 14th. I actually think that we can raise more than that... since we raised a $1,000 in just one day. We'd love to give you our free ebook filled with 100 + heart projects for kids when you donate. Go check it out!

In honor of The Heart Project we have a great Books We {Heart} giveaway happening right now... so don't miss out. Click here for more details.

Stay tuned for our Kindness challenge #4 on Monday! We will also be participating in TinkerLab's Creative Challenge with Paper Bags on Monday... so the post should be a fun one!

Act of Kindness for Delaney Rose {via PlayDrMom}

2012-02-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

Source Credit

Some acts of kindness are simple gestures, like holding the door open for a stranger, helping an elderly person with packages, or picking up something someone has dropped. Other acts of kindness are ones we do all the time with our loved ones, like kisses, hugs, and saying encouraging words. But some acts of kindness occur when there are no words, no amount of money, no action that could take the pain of a broken heart away. Those acts are only to help, to make the day easier, and be a reminder that no one is alone.

Ironically, only hours after I commented that I would like to be a guest writer for this series, I found out that a friend from high school's 9 month old daughter, Delaney Rose had passed.

She was a tenacious fighter. Delaney was only one month old when her parents noticed that she was struggling and rushed her to the emergency room. At the hospital it was discovered that she had 3 different heart defects that would require surgery. Quickly it was determined she needed to be rushed Children’s Hospital. During preparation for the transfer, Delaney experienced a cardiac failure and CPR was administered. Her heart-rate returned … but devastatingly incident caused massive brain trauma.

Unfortunately, Delaney never got strong enough to endure the surgeries she required to fix her heart. She required a feeding tube because she was not able to swallow and it was unknown whether or not she was able to hear or see.

After the initial medical trauma, friends and family set up a wonderful website where their story was told, updates were posted, and a link that allowed others to make donations towards the Delaney Rose Fund was attached.

 Delaney's site also links to a wonderful website called Take Them a Meal that organizes meal donations. It is perfect for situations like these ... where parents should only need to worry about taking care of their child ... not what's for dinner. I encourage you to check out the site ... and when you find an opportunity, set up a meal donation plan for someone (maybe for a mom-to-be on bed rest, a family with a newborn, a friend battling an illness, a neighbor that lost a parent, ...).

So, we sent our prayers for Delaney to now be at peace ... and we brought her amazing parents something to eat. An act of kindness.

(This post was written by Laura Hutchison, a mother of 2 who's also a psychologist specializing in children and Play Therapy. Her blog is PlayDrMom. You can also follow her on Facebook or Pinterest.)

What a sweet post about a special family. Thanks for sharing this act of kindness with us Laura. These sort of acts of kindness (to help when there are no words you can say) are sometimes the most meaningful. I have found that a listening ear and a big hug... or even just sitting next to a friend and crying with them during a hard time can be even more meaningful than a grand act. Simple acts of kindness like this are so appreciated. Thank you for that reminder!

If you have a moment, I definitely recommend that you stop by PlayDrMom to check out Laura's "heart attack in a bag" post from earlier this week and this adorable wire popcorn heart... and all of her other great posts.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Also, have you donated to The Heart Project yet? As our ultimate kind act we are trying to raise over $2,000 for the American Heart Association by February 14th. I actually think that we can raise more than that... since we raised a $1,000 in just one day. We'd love to give you our free ebook filled with 100 + heart projects for kids when you donate. Go check it out!

In honor of The Heart Project we have a great Books We {Heart} giveaway happening right now... so don't miss out. Click here for more details.

Stay tuned for Week 3's Kindness Round up tomorrow and our Kindness challenge #4 on Monday!

Stylish Kindness for the Birds {via AngeliqueFelix}

2012-02-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

These birds got some stylish kindness today !

With this post Chanel and I are saying YES to the 100 Acts of Kindness project by Toddler Aproved.

Being kind to animals, your own pets, or those living around us in nature, is a sign of respect for other life forms.

Let's be kind to the beauty of mother nature!

Just a few months ago - As a celebration for the World Animal Day- I organized a bloghop for Children and Animal related crafts and activities. There were some beautiful thoughts on how to bring kids and animals closer. One of my favorite quotes was this one:

"Until one has loved an animal, ones soul remains unawakenend." ~ Anatol France

I am very pleased with the fact that Chanel, my daughter, loves the company of animals. She was present when our Jack Russell terrier had 6 pups and learned how to treat these tiny creatures with tenderness (NOT easy when you are 3). You can see some of these cute and kind pictures HERE.

Chanel dreams of flying, and since she practices daily how to fly, she studies birds, (flying) insects and butterflies....

That's how the idea was born to make a cool birdhouse.

She wanted to craft loving kindness in a small shelter for the birds of Lecco where they would find some good food inside.

♥♥♥

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BIRDHOUSE AND BIRDFOOD

The Food

You will need:
Lard - Butter (let if cool off in the freezer, we used these cute shapes for that); seeds & cornflakes (crushed in a bag).

- When the lard gets hard, put it in the crushed seed-bag, shake it, and voilà your birdfood is done! We also put peanut butter on a loo roll (toilet paper roll) and proceeded as above. To finish the meal we've also put toasted (fresh) bread on a long tooth pick.

The Birdhouse

You will need:
An empty juice or milk carton, drawings, stickers or anything else that you think makes a nice decoration.

- Decorate your carton with drawings, paintings, stickers, or whatever else you want and then go outside!

- Hang the birdhouse and bird food somewhere the birds can find it and enjoy it!

After we made the creations we were excited to see how the birds would react.

Bird! Please be KIND to your friends. The house belongs to everybody! :)

Angelique Felix is the most favorite toy of her daughter Chanel! Besides this she creates safe spaces where parents can play with their children (0-6 years old); where children learn in a FUN way; where adults encounter their inner child. Angelique is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor (International Association of Infant Massage). More information can be found > http://www.AngeliqueFelix.com - The Magic Of Play.

Thank you Angelique! I know my daughter will love this since she looks for any and every opportunity to get close to birds and animals!! Make sure to stop by AngeliqueFelix.com and check out her post about World Animal Day. I'll bet there are tons of ideas on her bloghop for how we can be kind to animals.

What is something kind that you have done for an animal lately?

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Groundhog's Day... repeated

2012-02-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you want to relive Groundhogs's Day again tomorrow, right? So I thought I'd share what we ended up doing today for our super chill Groundhog's Day celebration... and then some of you will get to read it tomorrow morning. :) Aren't you excited?

To be honest, I kinda think Groundhog's Day is a weird holiday... but I also think it is funny (especially watching the men with the tall black hats read their scroll and show off Phil).

Anyways, we keep Groundhog's Day simple around here.

1. We must watch the actual ceremony. We watched it on this website. I really had to try not to laugh too hard. My son loved watching it so much that we watched it two more times once his dad got home.

2. We made a stuffed groundhog using the coloring pages from Life in the Lyon's Den. We printed the coloring pages out twice onto brown paper, cut around them, stapled them together around the edges (leaving a hole at the bottom), stuffed them with tissue paper, and stapled the guy shut.

3. We had a flashlight hunt with Punxsutawney Phil. We took turns hiding him in our dark family room. We used flashlights (my flashlight Android app worked great).

He liked hiding in the silliest places.

4. We played with shadows using our flashlight and a mini groundhog popsicle stick puppet we made.

5. We made a little collaborative groundhog scene. My son practiced gluing, snipping with scissors (straight long lines and little snips), and then he drew Phil's shadow with a brown marker. My addition was the little door for Phil's house. :)

What a fun day!

Did you do anything creative or fun for Groundhog's Day? What's your opinion of the holiday? Do you celebrate it?

Stay tuned for an awesome 100 Acts of Kindness guest post by Angelique tomorrow!

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve: Valentine's/Kindness Party Game

2012-02-02T03:52:00.000-08:00

What child does not already wear "his heart on his sleeve"? We decided to take a literal interpretation of this phrase to come up with the following game for our upcoming Valentine's/Kindness Day Party.

"Are You Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve?"

Materials Needed: 1 Small Heart (felt, paper, fabric) plus a way to attach it to a sleeve (safety pin, tape, ribbon)

Instructions: Gather children in a circle. First, explain what it means to "wear your heart on your sleeve" before explaining the rules of the game.

Next designate one child as "it" and have him sit in the center of the circle (eyes closed) while you place the heart on the sleeve (near the wrist works best) of one of the other children on the outside of the circle.

All children will place their hands behind their backs as if to disguise the "heart on their sleeve".

The child who is "it" will now open his eyes and try to guess who has the heart by asking each child one at a time, "[Insert Name Here], Are you wearing your heart on your sleeve?".

The child asked will then bring her arms in front of them revealing if she is/ is not wearing the heart. This continues until it is discovered who is wearing the heart on their sleeve. That individual is now "it" and the game begins again.

There is something so endearing about hearing small children ask each other if they are "wearing hearts on their sleeves". This game also reminded me of the fun we had last year playing "Don't Break My Heart" and "Did You Steal My Kiss" (pretty sure part of the reason in creating those games as well was to hear little children say those phrases in such a heartfelt manner).

Did you/have you already started to plan your Valentine's/Kindness Day Party? I'm planning on stealing two of Kristina's games from last year, "Hug, Hug Kiss" and "Heart Walk".

Some other "heart" games I'd like to incorporate into our party plans:

[Pictured from left to right] Steal My Heart by Family Fun, Conversation Hearts Bingo by @Home with Gina C., & Stack The Hearts by Simply The Sweet Life.

Not pictured: Heart Hunt, and Catch My Heart.

Speaking of hearts . . . have you read about The Heart Project yet, or entered to win our heart giveaway pack?

Have you missed any of our kindness challenge posts:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Heart Project: Books We {Heart} Giveaway

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Kristie who won this giveaway with the following comment.
I am emailing you right now!

As part of The Heart Project there will be giveaways on many blogs. We will be hosting a few here on Toddler Approved.

Today's giveaway is special because we will be giving away books we {heart}!

These are three books that EJ and I love... and EJ even has a homemade gift that she will be contributing to this little gift pack.

So... here are the items in our {heart} gift pack:

I Love you Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

A bedtime story that shows a mother's unconditional love for her child who likes to ask a lot of questions! This is totally how it works at our house too! :)

Amos and Boris by William Steig

The sweetest book about a pair of friends who have nothing in common, but develop a wonderful friendship.

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

An easy to read story about a peddler and a band of mischievous monkeys.

And EJ will be making a darling homemade Caps for Sale feltboard set to go along with the book.

K, so here's how you win. Good luck!

To enter to win this giveaway:

Simply add a comment stating that you did the following:

(Please include your email address with each entry)

1. Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment with your email address below.

** Please remember to leave your email address with your entry. That is mandatory to enter into the giveaway.

2. Additional Entries:
- Share a book that you {heart}
- Share this post about The Heart Project on your blog or Facebook page and then leave a comment to let us know.
- Share this giveaway post on Facebook, Twitter, or on your blog and leave a comment letting us know.
- Let us know IF you donated to AHA and received The Heart Project ebook. If you did, leave a comment telling us your favorite project in the book.

*** Please remember to leave a comment for each additional entry so that we can make sure to count it.

Entry Guidelines:

- US Residents only.
- This giveaway is open for entry from February 1st to February 8th at 11:59pm (PST).

- The random entry will be drawn on February 9th and announced on the blog. I will notify the winner via email.

- The winner will need to provide their full mailing address to me within 72 hours of announcement/email. If no response, a new winner will be drawn.

- See our Official Giveaway Rules for complete guidelines.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You are providing your information to Toddler Approved and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for Toddler Approved.

The Heart Project: A Fundraiser for the American Heart Association

2012-01-31T21:31:00.000-08:00

I am excited to share The Heart Project with you today!

70+ bloggers have joined together to bring you a gorgeous book of heart projects to raise funds for the American Heart Association [AHA] this February... in honor of {heart} month. This project was organized by my friend Jamie at Hands On: As We Grow and I am amazed at how wonderful it has turned out! Head on over to her blog to find out what inspired her to start this project.

This book contains 100+ projects that are heart-related and kid-related.

When you donate to the AHA, you will receive this amazing collection of photographed heart projects [and tutorials] from bloggers all over the world! We encourage you to join us in our efforts to raise $1000 by Valentine's Day for the AHA! Stop by this page on AHA's website to see how much your $5, $10, or even $20 donation can make a difference in the lives of those who struggle with cardiovascular disease. Donating to causes like this is one of the many ways that we can spread kindness and show love to others.

Here's a sneak peak of what's in the book:

Donate $5 to the American Heart Association
and receive The Heart Project ebook as a free gift!

US $5.00 Donation to AHA

Additional donation! Craftprojectideas.com is donating an additional $1 for every book sold! That means that when you donate $5 to get the The Heart Book, Craftprojectideas.com will donate another $1 on your behalf [up to $500!]!

Please stop by the Craftprojectideas.com Facebook page and thank them for being so generous!

Donate $20 to the American Heart Association

and receive the printed version of The Heart Project book as a free gift!

US $20.00

Order the Printed Version

♥ $5 of every sale of the book will go to the AHA ♥

[Both the ebook and print version of The Heart Project are only available during the month of February,

so don't miss out!]

You can also donate without receiving the free gift by using the button below.

We are raising funds for the AHA in several other ways, in addition to the book!
Check them out below!

Fundraiser Auctions:

♥ All proceeds of each auction will go to the AHA ♥

Melissa & Doug - 4 Trunki with Teddy Bear Auctions!

Fudoo Boards - 3 Fudoo Board Kits for Auction!

Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10

Giveaways are going to be happening every day from now until February 14th! These giveaways are from bloggers who contributed to The Heart Project. There is a giveaway linky at the bottom of this post that will let you know who is hosting and when each giveaway is occurring.

There will also be a couple of special giveaways from Melissa & Doug, Fudoo Boards and CraftProjectIdeas.com! Be sure to check back each day to enter that day's giveaways!

The Heart Project Contributing Bloggers

Each of the bloggers listed below has contributed a project to The Heart Book.

What a phenomenal group!

hands on : as we grow	♥	A Little Learning for Two	♥	Among Many Blessings
Angelique Felix	♥	At Home with Ali	♥	Broken Treasures
Busy at Home	♥	Busy Kids Happy Mom	♥	Carrie Saindon's Photo Journey
Child Central Station	♥	Classified: Mom	♥	Classroom Magic
Creative with Kids	♥	Creativity My Passion	♥	Critters and Crayons
De Tout et de Rien	♥	Dilly-Dali Art	♥	Dinosaurs & Octopuses
Excited 2 Learn	♥	Hand Over the Cookies	♥	Handprint & Footprint Art
Happy Hooligans	♥	Heart Journey	♥	Imagination Soup
Jamie's Jumble	♥	Kitchen Counter Chronicles	♥	Kreative Resources
Let Kids Create	♥	Little Illuminationss	♥	Living Montessori Now
Loudness of the Lambs	♥	Love and Lollipops	♥	Mama, hocemo nesto da pravimo
Mama Pea Pod	♥	Mama Smiles	♥	MemeTales
Messy Kids	♥	Mindful Meanderings	♥	Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Mommy Labs	♥	Mommy Perks	♥	Mum Paints Lives
Mummy Mummy Mum	♥	My Creative Family	♥	NurtureStore
One Artsy Mama	♥	Peace Love & Rainbows	♥	Play Dr Mom
Putti Prapancha	♥	Rainbows within Reach	♥	Reading Confetti
Ready. Set. Read!	♥	Red Ted Art	♥	Sense of Wonder
Share & Remember	♥	Stacy Molter	♥	Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
Teach Preschool	♥	The Artful Child	♥	The Chocolate Muffin Tree
The Craft Barn	♥	The Educators' Spin on It	♥	The Golden Gleam
The Imagination Tree	♥	The Iowa Farmer's Wife	♥	The Joy of My Life
The Kids Fun Review	♥	The Outlaw Mom Blog	♥	The Preschool Toolbox
The Seeds Network	♥	Toddler Approved

Collaborative Memory Project {via Hands On: As We Grow}

2012-01-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

Jamie is sharing a special project that she has worked on with her sons to give as a gift to a family member. Head on over to Hands On: As We Grow for the full tutorial explaining how to make this beautiful...

Collaborative Memory Project

While you're over there, check out some of Jamie's other fabulous posts like her Big Art Activity collection, weekly It's Playtime link up, and posts sharing 30 Moves for Excess Energy.

Have you made any special gifts for relatives recently? We'd love you to share any great projects you've created in the comments or on our Facebook page.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Stayed tuned for a special post about The Heart Project tomorrow.

Kindness Heart Scraps

2012-01-30T22:23:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to briefly post about this week's heart display that we have at our house- which ties in with the 100 Acts of Kindness challenge.

I absolutely loved this Hanging Heart Charms tutorial over at MADE, so I decided to adapt a bit it this week to use to help us keep track of our acts of kindness. We attempt to do 25 acts of kindness each week (at a minimum)... so that at the end of the four weeks we've accomplished 100.

For Kindness Challenge #3 this week we are supposed to "heart-attack" a friend... so we started cutting out hearts this morning and creating beautiful paint paper.

We used paint rollers and forks to make patterns and designs on plain cardstock.

The paint papers (along with plain colored cardstock) will be used to create hearts for the Toddler Approved party garland and the heart scraps will be used to decorate our house with kindness.

Each time we did a kind act today, we wrote the simple act on a piece of heart scraps and hung it up in our kitchen doorway. As we do more acts of kindness, the heart scraps will be hung from the tops of the kitchen windows as well. I love how they are a visual reminder of all of the kind things we've been doing. This will also make for a great Valentine's Day decoration during the month of February.

Do you have any fun or visual ways that you are using to keep track of acts of kindness around your home or classroom?

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}
Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}
Week 2- Kindness Round Up
Kindness Challenge #3: "Heart Attack" a friend {via Made on Maple}

Stayed tuned for our guest post tomorrow by Jamie at Hands On: As We Grow.

Kindness Challenge #3: Heart Attack a Friend... or two {via Made on Maple}

2012-01-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

I'm honored to be participating in the 100 Acts of Kindness Project! To be kind is such an important life skill, and I try daily to impart my wisdom on the topic to my children. Some days I do better than others. Just like some days I'm kinder to them than other days, but I'm always trying! One way that I show kindness to my family and friends is by sewing. I started sewing almost 4 years ago, and I stay up late putting my skills and love into projects for those around me.

Sew, I was a little bit nervous when Kristina asked me to participate in this project. I'm an elementary school teacher in retirement while raising my children, so I have the educational background to come up with ideas for children, but I'm out of practice. I do encourage arts and crafts as a daily activity for my little ones, but I wasn't sure that I could come up with a toddler approved idea for the 100 Acts of Kindness month. Then I reviewed my Pinterest boards, and I knew exactly what I would do.

I *heart* party garlands, and my kids and I *heart* friends. We don't live close to family, so our friends are our family. I talked it over with them and we thought we should show some love and kindness to our friends. For our act of kindness we "heart attacked" our friends letting them know that we love them and appreciate them.

Kindness Challenge #3 this week will be to "heart attack" a friend.

You can make and take some Party Garland to a friend, or choose another way to make your friends and/or your children's friends feel loved. Good luck! Try not to get caught!

Here's how we made our Valentine's Day Party Garlands:

Kid Version

My daughter made her party garland out of construction paper, glue and twine.

One sheet of construction paper (9"x12") turns into 5 pieces of party garland. Cut out the pieces and fold them in half lengthwise. I cut out all the party garland pieces.

Then I put Grace to work cutting out hearts. A favorite activity of my 5 year old.

Then we placed a long piece of twine in the fold of all the paper party garland pieces and glued the party garland pieces together.

I made arrangements for Grace to go to her friend's house when she wasn't there to "heart attack" her. Grace was so excited about doing this that she couldn't sleep the night before, and she woke up way too early the morning of. How great that she was so excited about showing kindness!

Mom Version

I made similar party garland for my friends, but I used fabric. I used the exact same dimensions with my fabric as Grace did with the construction paper. I used bleached muslin for the white party garland pieces, and fabric scraps for the colorful party garland pieces.

First I folded all my party garland pieces in half lengthwise.

Instead of colored construction hearts I cut tons of fabric hearts out of scraps.

I used a glue stick to glue the fabric hearts to the folded party garland pieces.

Then sewed a straight line down the center of each heart.

I repeated this over and over and over.

Then I sewed all the party garland pieces together up above the top of the hearts.

I hung it up in my house to make sure it was as cute as I was hoping it would be.

I loved the results, and I hope my friends do too!

I packaged up the Valentine's Day Party garland and "heart attacked" my friends.

I also added some very tasty treats to go along with my Valentine's Day Party Garland. Treats are always a kind thing to give away.

Participating in this challenge has helped me to reflect on ways to add kindness into my daily routine. Hopefully after doing 100 kind acts, I'll be a little better at modeling kindness for my children, and they'll be better at being kind to one another and to those around us.

My house is quiet now, so I must get back to my sewing room. You can find some of my favorite things I'm made with love here and here and here.

Thanks Liz!! Love this post! Both tutorials are awesome. We will definitely be heart attacking some friends this week and will probably try to make at least two party garlands (one to keep and one to giveaway). This would make my kitchen so festive for Valentine's Day!

How are you going to "heart attack" a friend this week?

(heart attack = secretly do something kind... decorate a friend's front door with hearts, drop off treats,... be creative!)

I can't wait to hear what you do!

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}
Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}
Week 2- Kindness Round Up

Stayed tuned for our guest post tomorrow by Jamie at Hands On: As We Grow.

Week 2- Kindness Round Up

2012-01-29T13:37:00.000-08:00

“Kindness is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have known. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes.”
― Joseph B. Wirthlin

When you think about your goals for your children or students, is being kind one of them? Do you want to raise or teach your child to be kind and gracious?

I attended a lecture on raising generous children last week. One of my favorite points made by the speaker was regarding how we model and encourage kindness and generosity in our homes and classrooms. She asked when our children come home from school or a playdate, do we ask, "Did you have fun?"

She recommended we tweak that and instead ask questions that reflect our expectations and goals for our children: "Were you helpful to your teacher/friend?" "Were you kind to your friends?" "Did you play well as a team?" "Did you respect the rules?"

It is remarkable how a little change like this can make a big difference in what our children think is important. It is nice to have fun, but it is more important to be kind. This is a great speech on kindness that I highly recommend reading.

This week I wanted to share three posts I found that go along perfectly with our 100 Acts of Kindness challenge.

14 Acts of Love via Make and Takes- This would be another great way to count down to Valentine's Day. Marie also shares some adorable free printables. She made a heart jar and stuck 14 acts of love to the back of each heart- one for each of the first 14 days of February!

The Bookmark Project via My Creative Family- This is a sweet service project for the local library patrons. We will definitely be doing this one!

Montessori Style Kindness via JDaniel4's Mom- This a great round up of ways to perform service for family members. I especially loved the way that JDaniel4's mom used montessori techniques to accomplish this week's challenge.

Drinking Kindness- One of our Facebook readers shared this list that her 3 year old class brainstormed. They decided as their act of kindness for the week that they wanted to bring drinks to 5 teachers. So they brainstormed what each teacher would like and then Tara went out and got the drinks for the teachers. I'm sure the children felt so special that their teacher listened to their idea and helped them make it happen. What a sweet service!

Do you have anything to share? How are you encouraging your children and students to be kind and gracious?

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}
Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}
Planting Seeds of Kindness {via Sun Hats and Wellie Boots}

Stayed tuned for a guest post on Monday and Kindness Challenge #3 issued by one of my best friends, Liz from Made on Maple. She sent me a peak at what she is sharing and I can't wait till tomorrow to post it!

Happy Sunday!

Make Your Own Paper Dolls (& Guys)

2012-01-28T05:02:00.000-08:00

In addition to all of the fun guest posts/weekly challenges to go with our 100 Acts of Kindness project - we will continue to post about our day to day activities.

Growing up, my sister and I would spend hours cutting out the people from the Sears Catalog and playing "paper dolls" with them. To this day I feel bad putting all of the beautiful doll/clothing magazines we receive in the recycling bin - so we often times choose our favorites from the magazines and make them into durable dolls for my daughter and me to play with.

We used images from a doll catalog for those pictured above, but have also used cuts outs from children's clothing magazines and my husbands sports magazines (pictured below). You can mount your cut outs on card stock or cereal boxes (I like using spray adhesive or Mod Podge) or you can cover them with contact paper as well as laminate them (this seems to work the best for us based on the frequency of use). I also have been wanting to try this idea for mounting magazine cutouts on magnets.

Playing with paper guys & dolls provide endless opportunities to develop language, sorting and comparison skills, and imaginative play.

Do you make your own paper guys or dolls?

Hard to believe we are about half way through our 100 Acts of Kindness Project - it's not too late to join in.

Planting Seeds of Kindness {via Sun Hats and Wellie Boots}

2012-01-27T00:30:00.000-08:00

We’re so thrilled to be a part of this amazing project! We try to encourage kindness & thoughtfulness in everyday actions throughout the year, & are often thinking of ways we can share a smile or two with others. Minnie (3yrs) enjoys creating, & regularly makes things to share with others. Recently she made sweet treats to leave on a neighbour’s doorstep, & helped to make craft goodie bags for children who were going through a tough time. She now suggests people she’d like to send things to, & it’s wonderful to observe her generous spirit.

The activity we’re sharing today grew out of some gardening Minnie was enjoying the other day. She loves digging & playing in the mud, & accidently dug up some small plants from her herb garden. I suggested we could share the plants with special people we knew, & she was so keen on this idea that she began listing the names of people we could give them to there & then!

After hunting around for plant pots for our freshly dug herbs, we found something completely different, but something that was sure to raise a smile!

These old mugs had been sitting at the back of a cupboard for years, so we decided it was time to utilize them once more. Minnie was keen to paint them, so with a little Acrylic paint, in her choice of colours, she set to work designing her upcycled herb planters!

Once they were dry Minnie planted a herb in each mug, & in another mug she planted basil seeds which should germinate pretty well on a windowsill.

Here are our Mugs of Mint

& Mug of thyme.

It’s always good to share thyme with friends! ;-)

Herbs are great to plant indoors any time of the year, & a neat way of bringing the outside into a home. Having fresh herbs to hand when cooking is a real treat, & they smell gorgeous too. Once the plants have eventually grown too big for the mugs they can easily be replanted outside.

I love the fact that this activity is something that will grow if cared & nurtured, just like acts of kindness. Great to think too that these plants could eventually help insects in your garden when transferred outside, & cuttings could be taken & herbs shared again at a later date.

Here are 4 other ways children could share some gardening smiles
1. If a relative lives away, how about sending some seeds through the post for them to plant.
2.. Plant & grow some vegetables/fruits/salad, & when ready to pick share them with friends & family. Home-grown veggies always taste better!
3. Make plant markers/labels to give to friends.
4. Offer to help an elderly friend or relative with their gardening, or offer to tidy their yard for them. (I know how much my little girl would love to collect leaves & sweep up!)

This project combines two of our favourite things; gardening & upcycling. You could of course use anything to plant the herbs/seeds in, this bottle for instance worked really well.

This is a really inexpensive activity & one where your gift of kindness keeps growing.

The 100 Acts of Kindness project has certainly made us as a family focus much more on the small moments of kindness that often go unnoticed or are taken for granted, & I’d just like to say a huge thank you to Toddler Approved for organising this amazing project. The seeds of kindness you’ve sown are definitely growing around the world!

Catherine is the founder Sun Hats & Wellie Boots, a blog that shares ideas for fun & frugal play whatever the weather; focusing on outdoor play, nature, upcycling activities, & creative fun. She is currently taking a break from teaching (Early Yrs) to be at home with her daughter. She also runs a baby & toddler group, & enjoys organising events & activity days for families in the local community.

You are so sweet Catherine! Thanks for sharing this beautiful project with us today! I love how easy and inexpensive this was to make... and I also love all of the other gardening kindness suggestions! You are raising such a generous and thoughtful daughter! I can tell you are a great model for her. If you haven't checked out Catherine's blog before, I highly suggest you head on over to Sun Hats and Wellie Boots right now. The Sun Hats and Wellie Boots Facebook page is also a great community to join! I definitely recommend you check out her recent post about Valentine's Cards- with Dot Markers as well as her Recycled Materials Hearts. Both of these projects are perfect for Valentine's Day.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}
Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}

Stayed tuned for a guest post on Monday and Kindness Challenge #3 issued by one of my best friends, Liz from Made on Maple. She sent me a peak at what she is sharing and I can't wait till Monday to post it! We also have an awesome post by EJ tomorrow and a Kindness Challenge #2 round up on Sunday!! If you have posted about Kindness challenge #2 this week, make sure to let me know. We'd love to include you!

Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}

2012-01-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

We are spreading kindness this month through our 100 Acts of Kindness project. We are challenging our readers to perform 100 acts of kindness between Jan 16th and Feb 14th. You can read more about our kindness challenge here. Many of our blogging friends have joined the challenge and will be sharing ways that you can spread kindness here and on their blogs. Today we are so lucky to have Allie from No Time for Flashcards as our guest blogger. Allie is a successful kid blogger and a great mom. I loved reading about these simple ways that she teaches kindness in her home every day. Welcome Allie!

Teaching children about kindness is never ending, and in a world that revolves around instant everything long haul lessons like how to show kindness can seem daunting.

Kids learn by example and there is sign at our coop preschool that says " There is no time when a child is not learning." It reminds me how everything we do is a lesson to them whether we have a lesson plan for it or not. Leading by example is the never ending part. Screaming " Get to your room!" is not the example I want to show to my kids but I have and know I am not alone.

Incorporating intentional activities and opportunities for your children to show kindness to others in their everyday makes this so much more manageable. Like setting them up for success with a challenging lesson by giving a few easy to complete tasks to start with, giving your kids ample opportunity to make the choice to be kind is setting the stage for more kindness.

The every day things that I try to incorporate are :

Helping each other with small tasks like putting on shoes. I won't ask them to help each other, instead I will say " If you need help with your shoes sit on the step." It's often greeted with siblings helping each other. There is no punishment for not helping just recognition that helping was kind.

A favorite "job" in our house right now is my son reading my daughter a bedtime story. Of course we are also thrilled he is reading and loving it but the nightly story has spun off into a way for him to really help us when we are in a bind. When we need her to sit for a minute or two ( like when we are cleaning a toilet or getting dinner in the oven) we ask him to read to her since she will always sit for a book. He feels proud for a job well done and he's also praised for being kind not only to us but to his little sister.

We encourage each other a lot. My husband and I thank each other for cleaning, cooking and thank our kids for any help asked for or not. We expect them to say please and thank you not just to us or other adults but to each other as well. Now don't get me wrong we aren't the Cleavers. We also use less than encouraging words when we are frustrated and I did once throw duplo at the wall when the sectarian violence over a red duplo in our playroom pushed me over the edge. My outburst did nothing positive but I'm human and the apology that quickly followed hopefully showed my kids that when you are wrong it's kind to apologize. Manners aren't just old fashioned they are a way of being kind to everyone with our words.

My son helps me read the board at grocery to see what the food bank needs. Then we decide what to add to our list to drop off on our way out. It's an important lesson and often only adds a dollar or two to our bill. What a deal! This fall when a local charity came door to door I declined giving and my son was perplexed. He ran upstairs to his piggy bank and I followed asking him what he was doing. He wanted to give the horse rescue his money he said. I went to my purse and grabbed a five dollar bill, he chased the guy with the horse (yes they brought the horse door to door) and handed it to him. I praised him a lot for that. I am not sure that if he didn't see us giving to charity often that he'd have been so adamant about giving himself.

The last every day way we try to teach kindness to our kids is to listen to each other. To put lap tops away, put phones down and just sit and say "I am listening." Being kind means being considerate and slowing down to hear our kids so they will slow down to hear us. This is the hardest one for me but my son has been giving me lots of thumbs up lately so hopefully I am on the right track.

Helping with shoes, reading stories and giving a few bucks here or a can of soup there might not seem like much but we are hoping that these examples at home create a foundation of kindness for our kids and they forget that duplo incident ...

It's all work in progress right?

What every day acts of kindness do you encourage in your kids?

Allison McDonald is the founder of No Time For Flash Cards, a blog filled with activities for early learning and play. A former preschool teacher and director she is passionate about how little minds work, how they learn and finding new ways to help them along the journey. She lives on an island outside of Seattle in a yellow house filled with craft supplies and picture books. When she is not wiping glue off the floor and paint off her camera she can be found playing Lego with her son, reading books with her daughter or watching The Bachelor with her husband

Thanks Allie for sharing these simple and fabulous ideas! I may or may not have yelled a bit too much yesterday. :( So glad today I started with a clean slate! I love the pics of your guys reading together. I need to encourage my son to read to his little sister more. What sweet siblings yours are! If you want to read more by Allie, head over to her blog No Time for Flashcards or her No Time for Flashcards Facebook page. Both are such great resources for parents and teachers. There is no way possible for me to pick a favorite post from her blog, but I do love all of Allie's Pretend Play posts- especially this grocery store one.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}

Stayed tuned for a guest post by Sun Hats and Wellie Boots tomorrow!

Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}

2012-01-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Kindness Jar

A kindness jar is a fun way to promote acts of kindness. The kindness jar is simply a clear jar that you can decorate and add a label. I have included a pdf of "Our Kindness Jar" for you to use if you would like to make your own jar. Simply click on the label shown below....

What to do...

At the beginning of your day, invite each child to fill out a kindness note (shown above) by completing the sentence, "I am kind when I....".

Print the child's answer on the kindness note.
Have the children fold their kindness notes and place in the kindness jar.
At the end of the day, reach into the kindness jar and pull out a kindness note.
Read each kindness note out loud to the entire class.
As you read each note, ask the children to raise their hand if they saw someone doing this act of kindness.
Invite the children to elaborate on their view or story of each Act of Kindness.
If you have a larger class, this process can be spread out over several days.

Notice that I didn't add a child's name to each kindness note. The notes should be used to promote the children's understanding and awareness of being kind rather than as a tool for accountability...

Celebrating kindness

If your students enjoy this process, why not do it all week then finish off the week by having an Act of Kindness celebration!

About Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed

Deborah has served in the field of early childhood education for over 25 years as a teacher, director, curriculum developer, consultant, and speaker. Deborah currently owns her own private preschool called the Teach Preschool Children's Studio. You can learn more about Deborah and enjoy the experiences and insights she shares on teaching young children over at her Teach Preschool Blog.

Thanks for such great ideas Deborah! You can find many ideas for promoting kindness in addition to other phenomenal teaching ideas over at Deborah's blog Teach Preschool and over on the Teach Preschool Facebook page. My favorite Teach Preschool posts include the Magnetic Marble Tube Run and M&M painting, since I am a big M&Ms fan!

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

Stayed tuned for a guest post by Allison McDonald from No Time for Flashcards tomorrow!

Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}

2012-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

When I first learned about the 100 Acts Of Kindness Challenge, I spoke with my son and asked him for ideas. When I asked him who he'd like to do something for, he quickly replied "daddy!" And his daddy does deserve an extra special effort. I'm a stay at home mom, and I place importance on appreciating my husband. R knows that his daddy works, sometimes long hours, so that I may stay home with him. What he does is appreciated and we should certainly show it more often.

Parents deserve recognition regardless of whether or not they work outside of the home, but I wanted to share ideas for working parents because this is our situation. I'm aware that not everyone has the same situation, and many of these ideas can work for various family dynamics. Here are our suggestions.

Five easy ways to show a working parent your appreciation and love.

1. Quite possibly the easiest way for your child to be kind and show their love would be to call the parent at work. If a phone call at work isn't possible, maybe they could leave a sweet voice mail to be listened to later. Anything from a simple "I miss you" to a cute little song. My husband loves hearing from us, when possible. It lets him know that even though he isn't with us, we are thinking about him.

2. Have your child make a card to slip into their lunchbox, bag, or car before they leave for work. R's favorite thing to do with his daddy is play computer games, so he decided to draw a picture of a computer on the front of his card. Inside the card, I wrote his message word for word. We will tuck this into his dad's lunchbox for a nice surprise.

3. Send a joke. Find a joke that relates to their profession or simply one you know they'd love. It's an easy way to make their day a little brighter.

4. Take a picture of your child holding a sign that says "I Love You" or "I Miss You" and have it printed to wallet size. Sneak it into their wallet or purse for them to discover later. This idea is sure to bring a smile to their face. It's a nice and unexpected surprise. And it costs less than a dollar!

5. Finish off the day by making a special dinner or dessert. Help your child plan a menu you know the recipient will love and cook it together.

These are suggestions that really show that you care, but don't require much planning or money. You could combine them all into one special day, do one for each work day, or spread them out over time. Either way, you'll be making someone special very happy.

Do you have any ideas to add to this list?

What have you helped your children do in the past?

What have been your favorite gestures to receive?

Thanks Joyce for stopping by and sharing these great ideas! We don't do enough kind things for my hard-working husband! These are great ideas to use for working parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. Make sure to stop by Dinosaurs and Octopuses and check out some of Joyce's other great posts. I love her recent post about Creating a Space for Dress Up Play and her Snowman Salt Art.

........................................................................................................................

Joyce is a stay at home mom of one four year old boy. She writes about her adventures in play and her adventures in parenting over at Dinosaurs And Octopuses. She enjoys finding new ways to play and learn, and loves to pass along her favorites. She shares a hodgepodge of activities, crafts, and recipes.

If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

Pop the Top for Kindness

Stayed tuned for a guest post by Deborah Stewart from Teach Preschool tomorrow!

Pop the Top for Kindness!

2012-01-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

As part of our 100 Acts of Kindness challenge, we keep track of the acts of kindness in a variety of different ways. Last week we used our Kindness punch box, which was a big hit.

This week we are going with a simpler route and created this Pop the Top for Kindness container.

Each time your child does an act of kindness, he gets to take off a heart sticker and pop the top and stick the sticker inside this little container.

I am having my son count each act and remove the numbered hearts in order so that we are also practicing counting and number recognition up to 25.

Check out the instructions below to make your own!

Materials Needed:
-Some sort of container with a pop top (This is a Gerber puffs container, but pringles, or many other simple food containers can be upcycled for this project. Use your imagination- and the junk you have lying around! :)
- Foam Heart stickers (though regular stickers would work too)
- Sharpie
- Scrapbook paper (or something to decorate your top with)
- Scissors
- Tape

Directions:
1. Write numbers to 25 on your stickers.
2. Peel off the container wrapper so that it is a plain surface (or cover it with something cute)

3. Have your child stick the stickers all over the container.

4. Cut out a circle for the top and stick it on with double-stick tape.

5. Put the container in a location where it is easily visible/accessible and enjoy your day!

6. When your child performs an act of kindness, have him pull of a sticker...

7. Then pop the top!

8. And stick the sticker inside and close the container back up!

I love this little activity to go along with our kindness challenge because in addition to being fun, it works on little fine motor skills (pealing stickers, opening containers) and number skills!

If you've missed any of our 100 Acts of Kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:

100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post

Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You

Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}

Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}

Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}

Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}

Week 1- Kindness Round Up

Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)

[Feel free to email us (toddlerapproved@gmail.com) or post photos to our Facebook page if you do a post about our kindness challenge.]