Sock Puppets on the Road

Traveling with children, especially small children, can be difficult. You know they're going to get cranky and you're really not looking forward to it. Make and take some sock puppets on the road to help keep your child happy on the trip.

Almost everyone has lost a sock while doing the laundry. Some people have lost more socks than they'd care to admit. What do you do with all the unmatched socks? Create sock puppets, of course!

Before you plan a road trip with your children, let them create sock puppets out of some of the sock monster's leftovers. With some simple craft items, your child can make a number of sock puppets that they can play with at any time. They're particularly great for taking with when you're going on a trip.

What do you need to make sock puppets? In their simplest form, children can play with sock puppets made merely from an unmatched sock. They can be embellished to include eyes, hair, and even clothing. It all depends upon how creative and resourceful your children are. Here are some common craft items you can use to make your sock puppet:

Adult-sized socks
Buttons or wiggly eyes
Felt scraps or yarn
Pipe cleaners (also known as chenille stems)
Fabric paint
Craft glue
Needle and thread

If your child has a favorite story, you may want to help them create different puppets for each of the characters in the story. They can act out the story with their sock puppets on the road or make up stories of their own with the same characters. In fact, if you're going to be on the road for very long, your children can plan a whole story to share with the family that you're planning on seeing.

To give the sock puppet a little bit of weight and to help give them shape, push crumpled up tissue paper or cotton balls into the toe where the fingers are. You can then create nostrils for a dragon or horse by sewing and shaping the cotton balls to keep them in place.

Bring along stories on CD and let your children act out the stories while you're driving. Not only will this give them something to do, it's something that everyone except the driver can participate in. Practise the movements so they can put on a sock puppet show, with your help, when you arrive at your destination.

It has been proven that the act of creating things is good for your child's creativity and imagination. By taking their sock puppets on the road with them the next time you're traveling, you're encouraging them to use their imagination. Not only will they enjoy playing with their sock puppets, they'll be too busy to ask you if you're “there yet” - which will help you enjoy the trip, as well.

Crayon Wax-Melting Art

What mother of preschoolers or other children hasn't found broken crayons in the couch, under the couch, and all over the floor? You may even have been frustrated to find a crayon in the laundry, way after it's too late to salvage the clothes in that load. Help your child create crayon wax-melting art to keep from having to throw all the broken crayons away.

Melted wax is dangerous for anyone, especially for children. Please be careful when trying any of the following crayon wax-melting art projects. Adult supervision is definitely a must for melted wax artists. Here's how to do it:

In the oven: Set your oven to 250 degrees. Create new crayons by melting the old broken pieces. Break the pieces up into smaller pieces and sort the crayons with like colors. Place the crayon pieces into an old muffin tin. Put the tin into the oven and then turn the oven off. Watch the crayons so they don't melt entirely. When the crayons have melted sufficiently, remove them from the oven and then place the tin into the freezer for half an hour. Take the tin out and then pop the new, larger crayons out.

Double Boiler: Another way to melt peeled crayons is over a double boiler. Use an old pan that you were going to throw away. Get a larger pot and place water in the pot to boil. Put the old pan into the water so it floats. Put the crayons into the upper pan and allow them to melt. You can then use a ladle or measuring cup to remove small amounts of wax. Dribble or paint the melted wax onto paper or into old candy molds. You can also dribble or pour melted wax on wet sand.

Color on Fabric: On a blank sheet of paper, create a design you'd like to have on a T-shirt or other piece of fabric. Color the design heavily, using plenty of crayon. Set your iron to cool and allow it to heat up. Place newspaper between the layers of fabric so the colors don't bleed through. Then iron the paper until the design shows through. For best results, use 100% synthetic fabrics.

Sun catchers: Children love the colors that are thrown across the room through sun catchers. You can help your child create a melted crayon wax sun catcher. Give your child a pencil sharpener and let them make crayon shavings. Fold a large sheet of wax paper and sprinkle crayon shavings on half of it. With a warm iron, run the iron over the wax paper quickly. Allow the wax paper to cool and then cut it into various shapes. Make butterflies or flowers with holes in them where you can tape the melted crayon wax sun catcher on the back so the light and colors shine through.

Let the artist come out in your child. However, since you're working with crayon wax-melting art, be sure to supervise closely to keep your child from injury. The artwork they create will spread colorful light across your room and into your heart.

Best Games for Preschoolers

Preschoolers have more energy that most parents. It's just a natural fact. When winter comes and you can't take your younger children to the park to play as often, you may want to find games to play indoors.

If you’re like most people, you remember playing board games with your brothers and sisters, maybe even your parents. This was before nights where families played games together became known as “Family Fun Night” or “Family Game Night”. You may remember hours spent playing Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, or Sorry. Maybe your family had Operation for when you got older, then you most likely graduated to games like Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit.

Those games are still around if you want to share them with your children, but you may also want to find newer games to play with them. These are some of the best games for preschoolers that are recommended by experts and parents alike:

* Goodnight Moon Game – This is a game based on the popular preschool book by the same name. Made by Briarpatch, it is recommended for children 3 to 6 years old. The game encourages the use of matching and remembering where things are. Children playing do not have to be able to recognize letters or numbers, so it’s good for very young children. Everyone wins in this game so you don’t have to worry about one of the children being a poor loser.

* I Spy Preschool Game, also developed by Briarpatch, is based upon the book series “I Spy”. It’s a matching game, but there are five ways that it can be played. It can also be played with rhymes. It was designed for 3 to 6 year olds and is an award-winning game.

* Chutes and Ladders – This board game has been around for years. Children move their game pieces up and down a board of 100 spaces that has chutes (slides) and ladders that the pieces land on. The game teaches beginning counting, taking turns, and the concept of losing.

Of course, there are other types of games to play with your preschooler. Children love to play games that allow them to move. Duck, Duck, Goose is one game that children enjoy. It teaches children to take turns and how to listen carefully. Another game you can play with your preschool child is Simon Says. Remember that game? You listen to what “Simon” says and do it. If “Simon” didn’t say to do something and you still do it, you’re out. This is a great game to teach taking turns and listening, and is a game you can play with your child.

Many experts recommend not allowing your young children to play computer games because it doesn’t develop a young child’s imagination. However, there are other aspects to a child’s mind that needs to be developed as well. Of course, you don’t want to plop your infant in front of a television or computer screen for long periods of time every day. However, there are many good quality computer games your child can play that will encourage their thinking, introduce them to learning concepts, and teach them skills they’ll need in the future.

The best games for preschoolers come in a variety of formats – board games, active games, and computer games. Your task as a parent is to find the best games for your child and to help them enjoy them.

Potty Training Made Easy – Strategies That Really Work

Potty training can be a process of trial and error. It can be both exciting and quite frustrating. Rest assured, eventually your child will be potty trained. There are very few teenagers running around in diapers!

That being said, there are proven potty training strategies that have worked for parents over the years. Let’s take a look at a few of them to make the potty training process as easy and painless as possible.

1. Avoid "nappy training" your child. Nappy training occurs when a child associates the presence of a nappy with going to the toilet and becomes distressed if they need to "go" when the nappy is removed. Encourage your child to go if they need to while you are changing nappies so that they don't form this association. This can be done from a very early age; some parents practice "elimination communication" from a few weeks or months old. Using elimination communication full time is quite a bit of work for the parent, though, as it is toilet training for the parent, not the child. But once you are in tune with your child's rhythms and toileting cues, you can cut down on the number of nappies you're using.

2. Remember that you are training yourself as well. If you're not paying attention to your child's cues, it's not fair to get frustrated if you're too late to help them avoid an accident. Eventually both you and your child will get into a routine that makes the process a lot easier.

3. Have a positive mindset. Mistakes will happen and children will make huge leaps forward only to then have really bad potty days or weeks. Stay focused on having a positive attitude. Recrimination, punishment and yelling only makes a child feel bad about themselves, it doesn’t further the potty training process.

4. It also helps to have potty training friendly clothing. There’s nothing more frustrating than a child who tells you they have to go potty and then having them wet their pants because it took too long to get their clothing off. Slips on pants are the easiest and of course skirts and dresses make it easy for girls.

5. Know that it’s much easier for a child to be aware of their body during the daytime and nighttime accidents can happen well into elementary school. Be prepared. Protect your child’s pride and their belongings with a mattress pad, rules about drinking before bedtime and support and understanding.

The potty training process can take a while and each child’s experiences are different. Be patient, be positive and be prepared!

Fun Toddler Craft Ideas

Getting a toddler to sit still can be a near-impossible feat. They're constantly exploring the world around them. That's a good thing, but sometimes they need some creative downtime. That's where toddler crafts come in.

Crafting is great for toddlers for a number of reasons. It can help them develop longer attention spans. Most crafts help develop hand-eye coordination. And young children can benefit from learning how to follow simple instructions. Here are some craft ideas that your toddler can do (with supervision).

Craft Stick Puppets

Puppets are fascinating to toddlers. Creating their own puppets is easy, and it's lots of fun. All you really need are some craft or popsicle sticks, construction paper, safety scissors, markers and glue.

Help your toddler cut animal shapes out of construction paper. He can draw faces and other details with washable markers. Glue the stick to the back of the shape, let dry, and he's ready to put on a puppet show. If you want to make more elaborate puppets, try cutting shapes out of foam. Glue on a pom pom for the nose, and add some googly eyes.

Paint with Pudding

Kids love to fingerpaint, but it's so messy. And there's also the concern about them eating the paint. Even if the paints are nontoxic, it can make cautious parents uneasy. The solution? Let them paint with pudding!

You don't need different flavors to make different colors. Just use one serving of plain vanilla pudding, divide it up into small portions, and add food coloring to create various shades. Give your child a paper plate to use as a canvas for his masterpiece. When he's done, he can eat it with no worries.

Design a T-Shirt

If your toddler sees you sewing or painting clothes with fabric paint, she may want to try her hand at designing clothes. But needles are small and sharp, and fabric paint is messy. What to do? Break out the markers!

Kids can have a blast decorating a plain white t-shirt with colorful markers. If you use washable ones, they can create a design, wear it, and start over after you wash the shirt. If a permanent design is desired, however, you'll have to let him use non-washable markers. You can avoid a mess by covering the work area with newspaper and putting a smock on your toddler.

Placemats

Making placemats out of contact paper is very easy. Have your toddler cut shapes out of construction paper and glue them onto a whole piece with a glue stick. He can add detail with markers or embellish with stickers. When he's done, place the artwork on a piece of contact paper, sticky side up. Place another sheet of contact paper on top, sticky side down.

Most toddlers will only have the patience to make one placemat at a time. But he can make another one tomorrow, continuing until there are enough for the whole table. He'll be so proud to know that everyone sees his artwork at every meal!

Crafting can help your toddler learn important skills while keeping him quietly occupied. Whether it's a rainy day or he's just feeling creative, seize the opportunity to let him channel his imagination into something you can both admire.

Taming Toddler Tantrums: Tips that Really Work

Young parents get scared when they hear stories about the “terrible twos”. Take courage, though, you will survive the toddler stage. It’s not easy to understand why your toddler has a tantrum but at such a young age, a child is consumed with thoughts of themselves. Everything is about them and how they feel. Until they are taught how to share, every toy or piece of food they see automatically belongs to them.

Toddler temper tantrums can have a variety of effects. Your first thought might be that everyone is focused on you and your screaming child, but getting embarrassed won’t diffuse the situation. Besides, as a parent, you have many more years of embarrassing situations to look forward to courtesy of your children. So worrying about what others think during this situation is simply going to stress you and make you feel worse.

Here are a few tips to help you cope during tantrums:

1. Don’t get angry.

When you scream and they scream the situation is wildly out of control. You’ll end up crying and your toddler will still be screaming. In any situation, raised voices mean civilized conversation has ended in favor of basic primal instincts. Don’t revert back to the days of early man. Keep using the same calm voice you use when they are behaving to get your child to calm down as well.

2. Do NOT praise your toddler when they behave well!

Many people believe that positive reinforcement is better than negative, but this is not true. Praising desirable behaviour creates a child who only behaves well because they are seeking praise. In the absence of a parent or figure of authority such a child will have no reason to behave well. Instead encourage your child to understand how their behaviour affects others and to try to act with that in mind. It will take time, but eventually you will raise a child who has empathy and self-discipline.

3. Show your child how to deal with emotions

Toddlers need to "cause" us frustration so that they can learn from us how to deal with it. Try to remember this and model how you want your child to behave even when they are tired and emotional.

4. Apologise to your child

If you slip up and your behaviour is not what you'd want your child to emulate, apologise and admit your error. Hitting, swearing, and shouting are often bad habits picked up from parents. Never hit your child as this only teaches them that violence can be used to manipulate someone who is weaker; it is an awful thing to teach a child.

5. Rethink "No"

Toddlers have very little control over their lives; everything is organised for them by their parents. It's little wonder that they begin to feel frustrated and manipulated as they become increasingly aware of these things. It doesn't escape their notice that adults are not always bound by the same rules.

This doesn't mean we should totally abandon rules and restrictions for toddlers and live in anarchy. But often we parent on auto-pilot and say "No" because it is more convenient for us rather than preventing a true danger. When "No", "Don't", "Stop" is all you hear all day it leaves very little space for exploration and by the end of the day you, too, would feel like yelling "Well, what CAN I do then?"

6. Offer alternatives and redirections

"Don't" is also a difficult concept for a toddler to really grasp. It is the absense of an action. Sometimes they genuinely do not understand what you want them to do because you're not telling them.

Try phrasing your instructions in positives. "Stand still", "Come to me", "Lift your hands" might be alternatives for a child about to touch something they shouldn't. Likewise, "Draw on the paper instead of the wall" and "Play with soft toys inside the house; take the ball outside if you want to play ball" can diffuse these common situations.

You will survive the toddler years. Nip temper tantrums in the bud with the above tips.