Daryl read in a book once that September is the month of winds and magic. I've always loved that saying and always loved this month (also the month of his birthday and our anniversary). Despite the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, it's a month of hope and new beginnings to me.
Here's to lots of wind and magic. And now, on with the newsletter....
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It's back to school time and families everywhere are starting a new year of school, sports, clubs and activities. Don't forget in all the scheduling to make room for one-on-one time for each child and for the family-- and for time for just you.
Remember, more isn't always better. Some of our kids' best memories are going to be the quiet times "doing nothing" -- watching the traffic, taking after dinner walks, having cocoa together after everybody else is in bed, just talking. Make doing nothing together the biggest priority of all. J
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magical
Mama Shari passed on this link to easily make your own Rebozo sling
baby
carrier:
http://borntolove.com/frugal-column9.html
Thanks Shari!
***********************
Kids can submit
their creative writing
to one of these sites
and see their
work published online:
Kids Writing
Forum
http://www.geocities.com/kidswritingforum/
CyberKids
http://www.cyberkids.com/
Kid Pub
http://kidpub.org/kidpub/
**************************
Magical Mama Claire shared this wonderful idea...
"My husband came home with a bag of about 200 1" square ceramic tiles that he got at the Home Depot on clearance. Last night, when I thought he was out in the garage preparing for the opening of trout season, he and my brother were painting letters, numbers and punctuation marks on these tiles. When we got up this morning, they were gone but there was a pillowcase with all these tiles and a note saying they were for Bekah. She has been playing with these all morning! She can spell her first name on her own, but wants to spell everyone else's name, too. I showed her and she finds the tiles and matches hers with mine. These tiles were CHEAP (200 pieces for under $3) and this is a "toy" that's going to get a lot of use here."
Older kids could have a ball with word tiles and make up poetry and silly stories too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I never failed once. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."
—Thomas
Edison,
responding
to a reporter who asked how it felt
to fail
2000 times before successfully inventing the light bulb
**********************
Victoria and I have a little secret project we work on when nobody else is around. The inside of one of the lower kitchen cabinet doors is her Secret Art Door. Sometimes if it's just the two of us, we get out some markers, sit down on the floor, and draw on her special door. She loves it!
When Annalee is a little older and can understand that we don't draw on all doors, I'll find a special one for her too. For now, she gets to draw with sidewalk chalk on the doors and walls, which delights her. Lucky for us all, she even likes to wipe it up!
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Summer's almost over (okay, on my side of the world anyway) so why not take advantage of the good weather with some games outside. Some fun ones for all ages include volleyball, frisbee, catch, basketball, leap frog, hide and seek, blowing bubbles, water balloon fights (toss at targets with little ones), sprinkler limbo, obstacle courses, tug-o-war and kickball. Another fun thing to do outside is to bring out a boom box, put on some music, and just dance with the kids on the lawn. They can do leaping ballet moves with trailing scarves or dance line routines to rock or interpretive art to something unique. And then of course, pretty soon there will be leaf houses and piles for jumping...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magical Mama Jackie shared these neat ideas to help babies remember loved ones...
A fun thing is to make a place mat out of colorful construction paper and pictures of family and friends. I used the bigger size construction paper. Then took all kinds of pictures of family and friends and put clear contact paper on both sides and voila a place mat that she can talk about everyday. I love it because of our family being so far away. It keeps their faces fresh in her mind. I did a similar thing above her changing table. She would always be looking everybody in the face while being changed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Each of
us must come to care about everyone else's children.
We must recognize
that the welfare of our children is intimately linked
to the welfare
of all other people's children.
After all, when
one of our children needs life-saving surgery,
someone else's
child will perform it.
If one of our
children is harmed by violence,
someone else's
child will be responsible for the violent act.
The good life
for our own children can be secured
only if a good
life is also secured for all other people's children."
- Lilian Katz,
Director of the
ERIC Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Education
and Professor
of Early Childhood Education at the University of Illinois
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magical Mama Julienne passed on this neat idea.....
This Summer we came up with the idea of creating our own Summer 2002 Album, consisting of scrapbook bound with ribbons, many photos taken during the Summer, little 'treasures' , height charts, hand/foot prints, well anything that will remind us of this summer all wrapped in one.
What a fun way to capture memories and let the kids be creative at the same time. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This
neat site has lots of creative ideas for parents, child care providers
and preschool teachers. Check out the magical places and creative
spaces ideas. Fun!
http://committed.to/curriculum
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P.E. and ABC's!
I love this idea from Magical Mama Kimberly:
A fun idea we've been doing to teach the 3 yr old his ABC's is to use sidewalk chalk on the driveway. I write the letters nice and big, sorta randomly all over the place. Then I ask him, "Where's the 'B'?" and he'll run around looking for it and then jump on it. Then I ask another letter, and so on. It's a great way to make a normally sedentary activity really fun and active.
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10 Ways to Make Today Magical....
1. Let the kids pick out several yards of clearance fabric in glamorous, funky and fun patterns. Help them make their own scarves, doll clothes, dress up clothes, throw pillows and more. Iron on fusible tape instead of sewing seams, if you like (you do this part for younger kids, obviously). If you're short on money, let them use old clothes or sheets instead and decorate with permanent markers.
2. Use a white crayon to write a different little message or fun activity on each square in the calendar. Each day, let your child color the square with a marker to reveal the secret message.
3. Mail your child a letter telling him all the things you're proud of him for right now.
4. Help the kids make child-size scarecrows for the front yard, one for each child. Make them as wacky and personal as possible. Here are easy instructions: http://www.dka.school.nz/scarecrow.html
5. Clear out a back closet or other out of the way place to become a secret hideaway for each child. Stock them with flashlights and let them decorate as they wish.
6. Hold a spelling bee and history quiz to help kids study their homework. Have the kids use the dictionary to look up words to try to stump mom or dad too.
7. String leaves into leis and make flower garlands. To make garlands, use your fingernail to slit a hole in the stem beneath each flower and thread another stem through. String leaves with a regular needle and thread. Don't forget to take pictures!
8. Bake bread together and eat it while it's still hot. Make extra dough and use it to make crescent rolls and other fun rolls for supper.
9. Stop at an appliance store and see if they have any extra boxes from refrigerators or other giant appliances. Let the kids fashion them into race cars, play houses, puppet theaters or TV's (they can anchor their own news shows from inside).
10. Have a paper airplane derby. You'll find free patterns for simple to fancy planes, helicopters, rockets, frisbees and more here: http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/planes.html and on his links page you'll find lots more.
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And with that, I'm off to resume my rightful place on the couch to whimper for a while. :) I have a date with a pile of kiddos and a pile of books. Kiss your sweeties and don't forget to take care of you!
Till
next time.....
Peace,
Alicia
.....................................
A Magical Childhood
http://www.magicalchildhood.com
Copyright 2002, Alicia Bayer
A Magical Childhood Newsletter is just something I throw together because I love children and those who love them. To subscribe, send a message to abayer@rrcnet.org. We do not use ads. It's not about money. :)
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