The following post is by contributor Christen Babb.

My family and I are in the middle of a move across town. While a bit chaotic, it’s fostered the opportunity to sift through years of accumulated things to determine what is trash and what is indeed treasure.

Amidst the clutter, I re-discovered a true, vintage gem – the McCall’s Make-It Book. My grandmother purchased this book in the early 1950′s to craft with my mom. It was then passed down to my mom to craft with me.

Today, I’m delighted to re-create these third-generation crafts with my kids while also sharing with you.

Wrought with authentic charm and old-fashioned expressions, I loved riffling through its well-worn pages to pick out crafts to suit both my daughter and son. Beyond the nostalgia, I love these two crafts because they are honest, simple, and timeless.

Make a paper rose

Taken straight from the pages of the Make-It Book, here’s a delightful tutorial on how to make a paper rose.

You will need:

• Construction Paper (red, pink, or yellow and green)
• Scissors
• Wire (or pipe cleaners)
• Green Crepe Paper

1.) Trace the red pattern on this page into a piece of pink, red, or yellow paper. Then cut the rose all the way down the spiral. Roll the full length of the spiral over a pair of scissors until paper becomes very flexible.

2.) Roll the spiral by hand starting from the outer end. Now push the the outside edge of the rolled spiral down through the center so that the original inside curve forms the outer petal of a rose. Paste or staple the base together. You can get many different effects by varying the size and shape of the original spiral.

3.) To make the leaves for rose, trace the green pattern at bottom of page 34 onto green paper and fold along dotted line. Cut out and roll edges slightly.

4.) Fasten several leaves and a rose bloom onto a piece of wire for a stem. Cover stem by winding a long strip of green crepe paper along full length of stem.

Handkerchief Parachute

And an easy, straightforward craft for your lil’ adventurer, here’s how to make a Handkerchief Parachute. You will need:

• String
• Handkerchief
• Clothespin
• Poster Paints/Acrylic Paints

1.) Cut four lengths of string, about 12 inches long. Tie one piece of string to each corner of the handkerchief.

2.) For the person who jumps, paint design on the wooden clothespin using poster paints (or acrylic paints). Then tie the loose ends of all four strings to the top of the clothespin.

3.) Roll up the parachute and throw it as high as you can. As it comes down, it ill open up just like the real ones!

Do you have any crafts you did with your mom or grandmother that you do with your kids today?

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© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

• Easy recipes that kids can cook ::: Simple Bites
• The Inspired to Action podcast: Episode 1
• 12 Ways to Save on Vacation ::: Life As Mom (be sure to check the links at the end of the post, too – lots of great ideas submitted to the link up)
• Behind the Blog: episode 7 with Jamie Martin ::: Behind the Blog podcast
• Cool Kiddo Wall Art ::: Simple Design

The UPrinting Canvas Winners

The winners of the U-Printing.com canvas giveaway are:

1. Keri
2. Sally
3. Rob O.
4.  Nikki S.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
• Sparkle Stories - Audio stories for children and families.
• A.Vogel - Help your immune system fight colds and flu.
• GNOWFGLINS - Enjoying God's natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally in season.

© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

Today’s weekend giveaway is from U-Printing.com, an online printing, marketing, and technology firm who aspires to help you “spread your message.”

Whether you are seeking business cards, stickers, or labels for your business or are perhaps seeking beautiful prints of your family family photos, U-Printing has a service that can meet your needs.  The company is  “committed to social responsibility and eco-friendly printing initiatives that support non-profit organizations and environmental sustainability.”

This giveaway is now closed.

The Giveaway

Four (4) Simple Kids winners will each receive one 16″x20″ rolled canvas print:

with 2-inch border or no border
1 Business Days Turnaround time
Free US shipping only

To Enter

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post.

Bonus Entries:

• Like UPrinting on Facebook and then come back here and leave a comment letting me know that you did so.
• Like Simple Kids on Facebook and then come back here and leave a comment letting me know that you did so.
• Follow UPrinting on Twitter and then come back here and leave a comment letting me know that you did so.
• Add UPrinting on your Google+ Circles and then come back here and leave a comment letting me know that you did so.
  

This giveaway will end at midnight EST Saturday May 26, 2012. Good luck!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
• Sparkle Stories - Audio stories for children and families.
• A.Vogel - Help your immune system fight colds and flu.
• GNOWFGLINS - Enjoying God's natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally in season.

© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

The following is a guest post by Jessica Fisher of Life As Mom. Don’t miss the sweet deal she is offering Simple Kids readers on her Summer Survival Guide in this post.

Summertime approaches! Just the idea of it makes me smile. The word evokes memories of my childhood — carefree days with no agenda. I long to give my children the same happy memories of summer.

You know the chant: No more papers, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks? Since I happen to be my children’s teacher, I’m more than happy to wipe some dirty looks off my own face, to kick off my shoes, lie in the hammock, and drink cool beverages poolside. As summer vacation approaches, I look forward to a lessening of my work load and to being more “plain old mom.”

However, all moms, regardless of their schooling choices know that summer with kids is not all bare feet, carefree days spent lazing in a lounge chair. The kids are on vacation, too!

And so thoughts may trickle in like, “What am I going to do with the kids all day long?”
The truth is that boredom can drive any man, woman or child toward mischief, wreaking havoc on the household. All the more so when the weather is hot and neighborhood friends have dispersed on vacations.

The remedy? Plan some simple summer fun into every day that gives structure and intentionality as well as leaves room for those lazy poolside moments.

After fifteen years of motherhood, I’ve found that routines help us all to stay on a even keel. And summer lends itself to some very cool routines.

Here are a few:

1. Read some great books.

No matter your child’s reading skill, summer is the ideal time to practice reading and reading comprehension. Consider instituting a daily time of reading in your home. Kids can curl up with a good book and take a trip in their imaginations. Older kids can read on their own while younger ones might “read pictures” or be read to by you or an older sibling. Discuss the books together and see if you can help your children make connections to real life.

Make the library your friend this season. Participate in summer reading programs where kids earn incentives or institute your own reading club at home.

And be sure to jump into some family read alouds. Kids of all ages love to hear a great story in community. I’ve had certain husbands and teenage sons stop in their tracks to listen to a rousing rendition of Old Yeller.

2. Cook together.

Schedule a cooking lesson a few times per week where you encourage your children to help out in the kitchen, stirring batter, setting the table, making a salad. It doesn’t have to be dinner; breakfasts, snacks and lunches are low-key moments to spend some time in the kitchen together.

Encourage your children to help you with the meal planning by asking them about their favorite meals and side dishes.

Do yourself a favor and teach each person to clean up after himself.

3. Get outside.

Fresh air and exercise is great for every member of the family. It’s especially helpful in using up pent-up energy.

Plan for time spent at the pool, beach, or park each week. Make after dinner walks a nightly family ritual. Work in the garden or wash the car together. Consider dining (or breakfasting) al fresco to enjoy the great outdoors a little more.

Last year I packed a suitcase-full of ideas into an ebook, titled The Summer Survival Guide  This manual for moms includes a range of ideas and activities to enjoy with children from toddler to 12. It is 180 pages of book and film recommendations, craft ideas, recipes, and loads of activities to help give structure and a taste of fun to your summer daze. (Note from Kara: we used the Summer Survival Guide last year and had a great time with it!  We’re looking forward to more fun this year.)

Use the code SIMPLEKIDS to buy The Summer Survival Guide  for $5. (This code will expire on May 30th.)

How do YOU plan to have a simpler summer?

Mother of six, Jessica Fisher writes about parenting hacks at LifeasMOM and posts delicious ways to act your wage at Good Cheap Eats. She is also the author of Organizing Life as MOM – a 170+ page e-guide complete with customizable planning pages and inspiration for home management as well as Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
• Sparkle Stories - Audio stories for children and families.
• A.Vogel - Help your immune system fight colds and flu.
• GNOWFGLINS - Enjoying God's natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally in season.

© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

The following post is by contributor Amanda Morgan of Not Just Cute.

I have vivid childhood memories of trekking down to the pond near our home and catching as many tadpoles in my bucket as my scrawny arms could carry.  I was fascinated by the process of metamorphosis and would check on them every day in the shed where I kept them, marveling over each limb as it appeared.

Once the tadpoles had fully transformed into tiny toads, my sibling and I would line them up in our driveway and race them down the lane as they made their way out in to the wild world of pastures, fields, and ditch banks that surrounded our rural home.

I was passionate about toads.

And my mother hated them.  But I never knew.

This was the woman I had seen pick up a snake by the tail and toss it out of her way.  She wasn’t afraid of anything.  At least that’s what I thought.  It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized toads made her feel skittish.  Repulsed.  Almost phobic.

As a child who was perpetually on the hunt for another amphibian, I never once remember her telling me that they were disgusting.  Or that nice girls don’t play with toads.  Or that I needed to find something “cuter” to spend my time on.

We have a powerful influence as parents.  Our words and our attitudes are often reflected back to us by our children.  This can be a great thing.  It’s often how we communicate what our family values and what our expectations are.

But our comments and actions can transmit negative attitudes as well, sometimes unintentionally.  And the significance may be greater than we realize.

In her book, Mind in the Making, Ellen Galinsky outlines seven essential skills every child needs.  One of those is self-directed, engaged learning.  One key aspect to building this skill is to encourage children’s genuine passions and interests and to guide and support them as they pursue them.  These passions are powerful motivators and efficient vehicles for so many positive learning outcomes.

The alternative, it seems, may be educational apathy.

We may not like math, or bugs, or messy art, or toads, but for our children they may be the sparks that kindle a fire of curiosity and a love of learning.

Photo by USFWS Pacific Southwest Region

My mom didn’t exactly throw on her galoshes and traipse down to the pond with me, but she never let her own attitude about toads get in the way of my curiosity.  Even if the interests of our children seem diametrically opposed to our own dispositions, there are ways we can still encourage them to be passionate learners.

Give Attention.

Listen to them describe their discoveries.  Ask questions and encourage them to take their exploration one step further.  If your fears make it hard for you to even hear about your child’s adventures (as genuine phobias may), excitedly encourage them to share their discoveries with another significant adult in their lives.  (“I bet Grandma can’t wait to hear all about the snakes you saw!  Let’s call her!”)

Give Supplies.

Help them find books, websites, and videos that will fuel their search for more information. Prepare them with simple tools like notebooks, collection boxes, magnifiers, or art supplies.  Small things can make a big difference not just in helping children extend their learning, but also in communicating your support.

Give Space.

Maybe your child could use a place to display his rock collection.  Maybe she needs a corner at the kitchen table for her writing center.  Giving your children space for their passionate exploration not only creates an open invitation for learning, but it can also give YOU the space you need.

I was never discouraged from collecting tadpoles, but they didn’t exactly have a spot at the kitchen table.  A shady corner of our shed was just right, not only for me and my tadpoles, but for my mom as well.

If you’re not a fan of messy art, set up an outdoor art table for easier clean up.  If you your child’s spider collection makes your skin crawl, set up a terrarium in a corner of your yard.

Luckily for my mom, I didn’t carry buckets of tadpoles around forever.  My passions shifted from toads to dancing, and on to cooking, the Civil Rights Movement, running, Spanish, and on and on.    Your children may not always be obsessed with the objects of your repulsion, but their love of learning will last a lifetime.

What are your kids passionate about, and how do you encourage their discoveries?

Kara here. I wanted to be sure to direct you to Amanda’s recent read-along series on Not Just Cute with the author of Mind in the Making, Ellen Galinsky. I think you’ll really enjoy it.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
• Sparkle Stories - Audio stories for children and families.
• A.Vogel - Help your immune system fight colds and flu.
• GNOWFGLINS - Enjoying God's natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally in season.

© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

We are on the road today, the first road trip of the Summer season for our family. This is the perfect time to re-post this question from 2010: I would love to hear your tips on traveling with kids and how you make it simple. Happy trails! – Kara

This month at Simple Living Media we’ve been talking about travel.  It has been a while since I’ve done a Link Love Showcase, so I thought I would list some of my favorite travel related posts and then open up the comments for some discussion.

Here at Simple Kids, contributor Catherine,  of Adventures With Kids, discussed letting go of expectations and relaxing in The Art of Travel with Young Children. Emily, the Pilot’s Wife, gave us some tips for Stress Free Flying with Infants and Toddlers.

Over at Simple Homemade, Megan discussed Incorporating the Art of Babywearing into Summer Travel Plans.  My youngest is an active toddler now, but we use the sling  when she is tired of walking or if the crowds are overwhelming her.

I loved Jamie’s post on 4 Natural Ways to Learn While on Vacation over at Simple Homeschool.  Renee Tougas’ article on Lessons Learned While Camping has good advice, too:  “Food, Clothing, and Shelter is all you really need.”

Speaking of camping, did you read 8 Tips for Stress-Free Camping?  Amy’s got a checklist of stress-free camping essentials and there’s lots of good advice from Simple Mom readers in the comments, too.

They are camping at Simple Organic, too with 10 Tips for Successful Camping with Young Children, including six things to do with preschoolers and toddlers and survival tips for family camping.

Tsh, Simple Mom, is an expert on travel around the world with children.  One of my favorite posts on travel from her comes from a few years ago where she gave advice on How to Travel Long Distances with Little Ones (and not go insane!)

Let’s Talk

Now, we’d love to hear from YOU:

• What are some of your favorite tips for simplifying travel with kids?
• What are the essentials you take with you?
• How do you stay organized while on the road?
• Any tips for making a hotel room more cozy and kid-friendly? Your camp site?
• How do you keep your kids entertained during delays?

Do you have questions about traveling with kids? Need some advice? Leave a note in the comments and see what other Simple Kids readers have to say – maybe someone has a solution that will work for you and your family.

Leave a comment with your tips and questions for other readers.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
• Sparkle Stories - Audio stories for children and families.
• A.Vogel - Help your immune system fight colds and flu.
• GNOWFGLINS - Enjoying God's natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally in season.

© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

The following post is by contributor Emily Carter, The Pilot’s Wife.

The day had already been a long one.

What I wanted most from the evening was to put my feet up and watch a movie, but my three-year-old pleaded from the backseat,

“Can we play outside for a little while, Mama?”

The weather here is perfect, and I couldn’t think of any good reason to say no. So I caught his eyes in the rear view mirror and said, “Sure.”

I told him there was a special project we needed to work on called Cloud Dough, and asked him if he would like to help?

The response was a beaming grin and an enthusiastic, “YES!”

 I have had this activity tagged on Pinterest for awhile now, but the thought of doing it inside gave me some pause. The glorious weather and longer evenings of the season made this the perfect choice for a back pork activity.

The ratio we used was about 4 cups of flour to 1/2 cup of baby oil, but we continued to mix in a little more baby oil until we reached the consistency that we liked.

We had so much fun squeezing it into shapes and pressing it into cookie cutters and other plastic kitchen items.

And yes, we got very, VERY messy.

I try to get outside with my son in every season, but Spring and Summer are just made for getting outside and even making a mess.

Cleaning up is as easy as breaking out the water hose!

I can’t wait to start trying some of the other messy play activities I have pinned, but I’m always looking for more. What are some fun ways you get messy with your kids?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

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© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

One of my Mother’s Day treats over the weekend was time by myself at the thrift store.  Wonderful! (And, does my husband know me well, or what?)

I picked up some more frames for my growing family gallery and I also came across a treasure: a high chair!

We’ve been using a simple plastic travel booster seat since my oldest daughter Jillian was a baby, but I’ve always wanted a real wooden high chair.  It has never been in the budget, though, and I never could bring myself to borrow one of those giant plastic ones from a friend or family member.

Don’t misunderstand:  I’m all for using what you have, and for being frugal, and I’ve done that for over a decade now when it comes to children’s things.  But, I’ve always wanted for my babies to have one of those nice, sleek wooden high chairs or a charming vintage one, like the ones at my parents and grandparents’ houses.

So, I was pretty delighted on Sunday to run across this one for eight dollars! It is perhaps more of a booster seat than a highchair since it has no tray, but to be honest we’ve been pulling Amelia right up to the table for a few weeks anyway.

She still isn’t very interested in eating table food, (anyone else’s nine month old like this?) but she likes to squish things between her fingers and smash it into her plate and she loves socializing with all of us at the dinner table.

I have plans to give the chair a good sanding and a new paint job but for now Miss Amelia perches in a new, to us, high chair that is lovely to look at and functional.

A definite thrift store score!

This post will be linked up to Thrift Haul at Simple Design. Have you had any thrift store scores for your kids lately?  What do your kids sit in at the table?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
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© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

My Lucy turned four years old over the weekend.  Four! An age that seems to be so big and yet still so very little at the same time (which is probably one of those statements that only a parent or a grandparent can understand).

I did it again.  I blinked.

I blinked and this teeny, tiny, little pink bundle …

… turned into this singing, dancing, laughing girl of four.

This girl of mine, who loves hats, dress up clothes, purple, and baby dolls and, most importantly, horses. The girl who is going to be a cowgirl when she grows up. The girl who picked the Kentucky Derby winner by the color of the jockey’s clothing.

The girl who recently told me she was having a hard time deciding whether she should grow up and have a horse or grow up and be a horse.

The girl who, from the age of two to about three and a half never, ever, ever sat still (unless she was sleeping) who has lately turned into my quiet, soft-spoken, often shy  sidekick.  A daydreamer who, more often than not, can be found looking out the window watching the world going by or laying on her back on the swing in the backyard watching the clouds.

Unless, of course, she is pretending to ride a horse.  Or pretending she is a horse, and then off she gallops, wind in her hair, wild and free!

Both little sister and big sister, and always my baby.

What I don’t talk about too often, outside of family and a few close friends, is that Lucy has had a hard year.  Three isn’t always an easy age, by well-earned reputation, but it is even more bumpy and emotional when you don’t feel well and spend much of the year sick.  (She’s going to be okay, just some minor health concerns which seem to be behind her now).

And, it isn’t easy when a new baby comes to live at your house and you lose your place as the baby of the family.  Sometimes age three needs extra reassurance and patience.

We’ve done a lot of rocking and cuddling and comforting this past year, Lucy and I. We’ve both done a lot of growing, too.  I feel like this birthday is not just her milestone, but my own as well. 

We celebrated simply, with brother and sisters and grandparents.  It was a lovely weekend and I’m so thankful I got to share it with my favorite four year old in all the world.

Simple birthday gifts: want, need, wear, read

Something she WANTS … she asked for a real horse, which we aren’t quite in the position to do right now, so we gave her a hobby horse instead. I am happy to report the hobby horse was instantly loved and will definitely do “until I save my monies for a real horse.”

Something she NEEDS … a set of grown-up dishes, like the rest of the family, in her favorite color.  When she opened them her big sister Jillian told her, “and now you get to wash your own dishes, too.”

Something to WEAR … a purple tee shirt from Happy Family with one of her mama’s favorite quotes on it.

Something to READ … this sweet book whose illustrations I could not resist because they so remind me of my little girl.

Another favorite birthday present?  A small collection of ponies and horses that Grandma Kathy gave to her, which had belonged to her once upon a time when she was a little girl who loved horses.  Pretty wonderful!

Happy Birthday, my sweet Lucy girl!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

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© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.

• When to Step Back, When to Step In ::: Mommy Coddle
• FREE Mother’s Day Story ::: Sparkle Stories
• The road to simplicity is marked by complexity.  But it is still worth it.  ::: Simple Mom
• 9 Essential Skills Kids Should Learn ::: Zen Habits (hat tip to Let’s Explore)
• Kids Sharing a Bedroom: Pros and Cons ::: Play.Fight.Repeat.
• Where is the Mommy War for the Motherless Child? ::: Rage Against the Minivan

You guys are so funny and sweet!  I was a bit nervous about my post on Monday, I think because it is perhaps the most open I’ve let myself get in this space, postpartum in pajamas even, and you received me in all my imperfection so kindly.  Thank you!

Thanks to my husband, I was able to add another photo to the collection when he took this picture of the kids and I.  It isn’t perfect, but it is us – exactly as we are in the moment.  That, my friends, is something to treasure.

I hope you found some moments this weekend to treasure, too.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• UPrinting - Spread your message.
• Sparkle Stories - Audio stories for children and families.
• A.Vogel - Help your immune system fight colds and flu.
• GNOWFGLINS - Enjoying God's natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally in season.

© 2009-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Kids subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplelivingmedia.com to let us know. Thanks.