I’ve decided to participate in the Green Mom’s Weekly Blog Carnival, and this week the question is, “What are some fun, simple and interactive activities that you engage your children with?”

1. The Calendar

After breakfast we sit on the floor in front of a pocket calender with patterned date cards that I purchased with my own money back when I was teaching Kindergarten. Each month, the cards have a different pattern – one month the pattern is A-B, the next, A-A-B-B, another month A-B-C, etc. – with pictures that go along with the particular month.

For example, the October pattern is A-A-B-B, and the pictures of scarecrows and pumpkins. So the pattern for the first four days of the month goes like this: scarecrow, scarecrow, pumpkin, pumpkin.

We start out singing a “Days of the Week” song I made up a LO-ONG time ago, set to the tune of “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.” I ask what day is it today (Benjamin usually needs help with that), and then we count to see what the date is. I hide the front of the card from him as I ask him to figure out what picture will come next in the pattern today (he’s doing a lot better with that now at five than he did at four).

We conclude the activity by saying the entire date: “Today is Monday, October tenth, 2011.”

2. Simple food prep

We don’t do this as much as we used to, but before B insisted on being with J every  moment before J went to work, he would help me make the breakfast green smoothies. I would put the kefir in the Vita-Mix container and cut up the ingredients; B would put in the ingredients and run the blender as I instructed. He also likes to help with the yogurt I recently started making.

3. Sowing seeds

B loves to help me smoosh together moist dirt into balls and then put seeds on top of them. In fact, I am happy to say he is generally enthusiastic about growing things.

Which reminds me, I promised him a pot of dirt for him to grow some fall veggies…

4. Building “castles”

Basically, whatever non-airplane structure B makes out of wooden blocks is a castle. Sometimes, we will sit down together to build.

This is one activity I don’t get bored with. I think there is something cathartic and relaxing about creating something.

5. Washing dishes

I reallly should ask B to help me with this chore more often, as it is one I plan to hand over to him one day.

While him handling so much glass in the sink makes me a bit nervous, he so far has been very careful and is getting better at actually cleaning and rinsing things.

6. Tickle Chase

I think we’ve been playing this game since B was about three years old, and it’s still a winner.

And as simple as you can get. B will announce, “Tickle chase!”, thereupon Mommy or Daddy is expected to chase him around the house and try to catch him to tickle him. If i have  a lot on my mind and/or to-do list, it’s hard for me to enjoy this game, but I usually find it quite fun and it brings me that vital medicine so many adults are lacking: laughter.

These are the main ways I connect with my son with interactive activities. How do you connect with your children? Share yours in the comments below, or write your own blog post for this blog carnival!

Traveling with children can be either a joy or a nightmare. As decreased stress results in a decreased risk for cancer, we parents much prefer the “joy” result.

Today’s technology – bringing us mini-DVD players, hand-held video games, and the like -  has been a blessing to parents who take long road trips or fly on airplanes with their kids. Still, some of us, for various reasons, don’t like the idea of using such devices to keep our children entertained.

In that case, how are such weirdos as we are, to travel with children and still have our sanity at the end of the trip? Traveling with children doesn’t have to a be a miserable experience in the absence of electronic gadgets. The point is to give the kids something to do. Following are seven ideas of how to occupy children while you are traveling without using a single kilowatt.

1. Crayons and paper.

If your kids need guidance, ask younger ones to draw their favorite animal and challenge older ones to create geometric patterns, for example. Make sure they have a hard surface to put their paper on, or provide each one with a tablet.

2. Puzzle books.

Word finds, age-appropriate number puzzles, pencil games that can be played with two – all can keep your older children busy for an extended period of time.

3. Together car games.

The old-fashioned games led by Mom and Dad are still in vogue! “I Spy” or counting how many red/blue/out-of-state/etc. cars keep the intellect going and helps the time go faster.

4. Sing.

Do I have to describe this time-honored way of traveling with children?

5. Etch-A-Sketch.

This is a great non-electric way to develop eye-hand coordination and is likely to hold any age children’s attention longer than crayons and paper.

6. The quiet game.

If you haven’t played this one yet, you either don’t travel much or only have one child! The game is simple: offer a reward to the child who can be quiet for a specified period of time. If anyone provokes their siblings to make noise in a any way, or acts obnoxiously at any other time for the rest of the trip, they will forfeit the reward.

Make it clear that it is possible for everyone to win, and make it easier by playing music or listening to talk radio during the time the children are competing for quietness.

7. Flash cards.

There are tons of flashcards available, from simple numbers and the alphabet to multiplication and division facts. You can even create your own before you leave on the trip, basing them on what your children are currently needing or interested in.

Traveling with children can be fun without the help of technology! Try all seven, and your kids may never even ask once how long until they get there. (Hey, a mama can dream…)

“Almost four.”

That’s my response these days when someone asks me how old my son is. As I write this, Benjamin is about ten weeks away from making the transition from a three-year-old to a four-year-old.

And I couldn’t be more relieved.

See, I’ve never been a baby/little kid person. Never wanted to hold other people’s babies (still don’t). Never babysat when I was a teenager.

The day my principal told me I would be teaching PreKindergarten I flipped. That never actually happened – thank God! – but when I was subsequently moved from second grade to Kindergarten I detested it for about five years.

Really.

So these past three-and-some years have been a challenge.

A HUGE challenge. Made even larger by the fact that my son never stops and is often into some sort of mischief. In short, he is about as far from being an “easy” child as they get. I have experienced major struggles during the past few years.

But now…

Benjamin responds much better to requests and commands.

He can make himself understood.

He can play by himself, pretending to be a cat, or the neighbor’s lawn maintenance man.

He can and will truly help with with basic chores.

Love And Logic is starting to work with him.

He “reads” story to himself, and can use crayons and scissors without destroying the house.

Benjamin is not a perfect child, and he is still the neighborhood Energizer Bunny. He still gets into trouble. Sometimes.

But he is older.

Almost four. And I think that this mothering thing may not be so bad, after all.

I love being a stay-at-home mom. Even if it weren’t coming back into style, I have discovered many advantages for being a stay-at-home mom versus working.

If you’re a mom-to-be, or hope to be one someday, consider these reasons for forgoing a career – at least for a few years – and raising your child.

1. You can breastfeed as long as you want.

So you can keep providing your child with the antibodies and great nutrition your milk gives as long as you want to, without any outside pressure to wean by a certain age.

2. You save money.

Most couples find that after daycare expenses, it’s hardly worth Mommy going back to work as far as adding to the family income.

3. You develop stronger bonds.

There is a much better chance of bonding with your baby and strengthening that bond with your toddler and preschooler if you are her primary caregiver.

4. You understand your child better.

The person who is around your child the most will understand him best – and be able to respond to him more appropriately in various situations.

5. You have less stress.

All mothers have “those days”, but in general, a working mom will experience much more stress than one who stays at home.

6. You have more flexibility in your schedule.

Of course, this depends on the age of your child and whether she is still napping. However, you have more hours in your day than if you were working, even if you are having to prepare several meals and snacks a day.

7. You get to meet new people.

When you are confined to a job all day long, your circle of friends is largely limited. A resourceful SAHM, though, can meet other SAHMs at parks as well as join local Moms clubs.

8. You have the chance to develop a business from home…if you want.

When your child is old enough to spend an hour or two a day entertaining herself – even if not all at once – you can consider writing the Great American novel, starting a blog, or joining the army of network marketers. (You can make money doing both, if you follow the simple steps outlined in my e-book, Residual Wealth Dreams.)

9. You have more energy for your husband.

Don’t underestimate this one! I, of all mothers, know how draining and exhausting running after an active toddler can be. Still, I would be that much more drained and exhausted if I had to work all day then deal with a tired kid until his bedtime. And then do housework. As a SAHM, I have much more energy to be -shall we say - flirtatious with my husband at the end of the day.

10. You have more time and energy to develop a hobby.

A stay-at-home mom has more time to plunk on the piano, knit, or bake healthy goodies than one who works.

Surely I have not exhausted the list of advantages of choosing stay at home versus going to work. Feel free to add any in the comments!

Every family has its rules. Some families do a better job of articulating and enforcing them than others, but every family has both implicit and explicit guidelines.

Since my son is not yet four years old, our family rules mostly consist of how to continue on our path of living more simply and sustainably in an increasingly fast-paced society.

Rules like:

• Use the car as little as necessary.
• No T.V. (including DVD’s).
• Don’t waste water.

But recently, I came to a place where I realized that I was going to have to start making some exceptions to the rules, sometimes, or go insane.

I decided that it would be okay to budget fifty or seventy dollars a month to take Benjamin to fun places so that he doesn’t tear the house apart in boredom.

I decided that it would be okay to let Benjamin watch thirty minutes or so of videos to help calm him down at the end of the day when he’s bouncing off the ceiling and driving Jerry and I up a wall.

I decided that if Benjamin runs water in the sink for five minutes, the oceans won’t dry up.

I decided, in essence, that as long we live in house with a teeny backyard that does not provide the exploration space an active little boy needs, I am allowed to take advantage of modern conveniences.

What are some family or personal rules you have had to back away from because they didn’t quit fit with the current needs of your household? (I hope it wasn’t away from healthy eating!)

My husband and I – and a few parents before us – have discovered the best way to teach our son to ride a bike.

Ready? The best way to teach a kid to ride a bike is…drum roll, please…

Not to teach them! Instead, forget the tricycles and training wheels and allow them to figure out the balancing act as a toddler.

Sound tricky? Impossible, even? Well, it is tricky in the beginning, but not at all impossible. Here are the steps:

1. Buy your child a Skuut – or any wooden or metal balance bike will do – when he or she is around two years old. (Benjamin is small for his age, so he couldn’t ride it well until he was about 2-1/2.)
2. Take them outside and let them sit on the Skuut and learn to move on it with their feet.
3. Repeat number two as often as possible.

Some toddlers pick up the balancing act quickly, while others need more practice. Benjamin liked the Skuut for a short time, then ignored it for a while because he couldn’t go as fast as he wanted, then suddenly one day started on it again and now…well, watch the video.

He can actually go three times faster than he did in the video, but in typical three-year-old form he was more interested in what Mommy was doing with the Flip Video Cam than in racing down the hill.

The bottom line is, since before age three Benjamin has been zooming down that hill with his feet in the air like a pro. In a couple of years, he will get on a regular bicycle and be on his merry way with no falls, parental supervision, or training wheels needed.

I like inventions that save me time, money and headache in the long run, don’t you?

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Ah, winter. A time of gifts and carols. Of snowfalls and snowballs. Of ice-covered trees and frosted windowpanes.

A time to curl up on the couch and lose precious brain cells while staring at a large, flickering screen filled with images that do absolutely nothing to help you improve your marriage, bond with your kids, or fulfill your purpose in life.

Now, before you start throwing snowballs at me, let me tell you that I used to be a T.V. addict, spring, summer, winter and fall. And I understand that some evenings you just don’t feel like doing  anything else other than to veg in front of the T.V.

Doing so once in a while is fine. But doing it every night is good for neither your health nor your relationships. So before we get too deep into the winter season, I would like to offer you a few activities you can do with your family during the chilly evenings, instead of T.V.

1. Read.

If you have preschool and younger children, read together. If not, you can read individually, then after a set time come back together as a family and share what you have read. This page is a good start to finding age-appropriate books for your children.

2. Be musical.

Put on a CD and dance, or sing along. Eric Herman is amusing for kids of all ages. 100 Singalong Songs for Kids
is a treasure trove of children’s songs.

You might also sing songs your entire family knows a cappella. Experiment with musical instruments. Etc.

3. Play age-appropriate board games.

Sorry and Candyland will do, as well as Chinese Checkers and plain old checkers. But how about trying a spin on an old favorite? Bug-Opoly, for example. Or Wild Animalopoly and Garden- Opoly.

4. Do an art activity.

Paint with watercolors or tempera, or make a craft together.

5. Play indoor sports

Push the furniture against the wall, lay out some rules, and play a game of soccer with a light ball. Or make basketballs out of waste paper and shoot “baskets” into a trash receptacle.

Pick one of these activities and try it tonight. I guarantee it will bring a lot more fun and comradery to your family than watching T.V.

Parents kissing girl.

Bonding with family members has become a challenge in our society today, especially as children grow into their adolescent years.

“I need my space!” is a common cry in many Western families, and it comes not only from teenagers. Spouses will often say it to each other. Even if they don’t express it directly, will either think it with bitter resentment, or act on their desire to have “more space” by going out with co-workers after work instead of coming home or spending Saturdays on the golf course or at the mall.

I believe the root of this modern-day behavior is fear.

• Fear of relationships.
• Fear of getting hurt.
• Fear of not having “my way.”
• Fear of conflict.

However, families were meant to bond together. If you research so-called “primitive” peoples, bonding with family members–including extended family members crossing several generations–is a prized cultural practice. And in those societies, the elderly are looked up with great respect and taken well care of by the younger generation. There is more security and trust among family members, and resources are shared openly and generously.

How can you teach your children the importance of family ties?

The ways are many; following is a list of just a few techniques you might begin to apply.

1. Practice attachment parenting.

This is best begun when your children are infants, by spending a lot of time holding them, sleeping with them or in the same room with them, and breastfeeding. But if you got off on the wrong foot when your children were small, you can bond with older children in several ways.

1. Choose gentle and respectful methods of discipline over punitive methods (the e-book Positive Parenting Using the G.O.L.D. Standard will be especially helpful as you transition into more nurturing discipline techniques).
2. Make time every day to talk with each of your children one-on-one.
3. Listen fully to your children when they talk to you. Mute the T.V., get down on their level, and look them in the eyes.
4. Give thoughtful consideration to reasonable requests. You expect your children to respect you; do the same, and don’t automatically say no to everything that might spell inconvenience for you.

2. Insist on having dinner together as a family.

Restrict extra-curricular activities (including yours!) accordingly.

3. Plan vacations together.

If your child is as young as three and given two or three choices, she can give input as to specific activities she’d like to do in a given location. Older children may write out the pros and cons of going to the beach versus going to the Grand Canyon. When you involve your kids in deciding how you are going to spend an entire week or two together, they will feel some ownership in the trip itself and be more likely to enjoy it much more than when they are arbitrarily commanded what to do.

4. Make after supper clean-up fun.

Nothing like housecleaning for some bonding with the family! Assign every member of the household–and I mean each and every person over the age of two–a different chore every evening. These might include collecting the silverware, putting the plates in the dishwasher, scrubbing pans and wiping down counters.

Put on a CD with upbeat kid-friendly music, and play little games while everyone gets busy. For example, you might randomly shout commands such as, “Everybody tiptoe now!” Or, with older children you might play silly word games, like coming up with rhymes or “I Spy.”

Give an incentive for the entire family completing kitchen clean-up without any complaining or bickering, such as a small dessert or a funny 30-minute DVD.

Use these ideas to spark your own anti-”I need my space!” attitudes, and watch your family become happier and more loving than you ever thought possible.
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Resources you may enjoy:

As this post debuts on this blog, it is Black Friday. The day that has become–in the U.S.A.–a traditional major shopping day. A day to get deeper in debt. A day to fight crowds and long lines. A day to be inundated by all the chemical smells of new plastics and synthetic fabrics in the stores so that you go home with a headache.

A day to get sucked in by materialism and buy a bunch of stuff neither you nor your loved ones truly want or need. (But it’s on sale, so you can’t resist.)

You may say the sales are one of the great ways to save money. You may argue that going shopping the day after Thanksgiving helps you burn some of the excess calories you consumed the day before. But  if your kids attend school, they have the day off, and one or both parents may have the day off as well. Why not start some new Black Friday Family Traditions that will bring your family closer together while helping to keep you in the simple living and eco-friendly vein?

Here are some ideas:

1. Spend the morning baking Christmas cookies together.

Give each family member a specific job. Even toddlers can participate by dumping pre-measured ingredients into a bowl and helping to mix. Of course, you will use (or modify) one of the recipes in Nourishing Traditions, which use pre-soaked flour and natural sweeteners…won’t you?

2. Begin decorating the house for Christmas.

If you celebrate Christmas but don’t normally put up your Christmas tree until December, pull the family together and get up the smaller decorations, such as garland on the stair rail or bowls of ornaments. If you have crafty little mice in the house, put together a simple Christmas project they can make that will subsequently hang from a doorknob, ceiling, refrigerator, etc.

3. Browse a bookstore.

If you need to get out of the house, bookstores will probably be more crowded than usual but not as frenzied as department stores. Give everyone an allowance, and take the time to help younger children to decide what book they would most enjoy over and over again.

4. Spend part of the afternoon outdoors, playing together.

Unless there’s a blizzard, ice storm, or non-stop thunderstorm, bundle everyone up as necessary and play ball in the back yard (snowball fights if you had a white Thanksgiving). Or go to a park and play some kind of tag or relay races. If you can get your neighbors to go with you, so much the better.

5. Throw a game party.

Call your kids’ friends’ parents and invite the entire families over for a game party. Knock on neighbors’ doors. Have each household bring their favorite board game, then spend two or three hours rotating between games. Have some Larabars, fruit, or healthy cookies from the morning on hand as munchies.

Use these ideas as a springboard, and create your own Black Friday Family Traditions. At the end of the day, you will be more bonded, more refreshed, and healthier–both mentally and physically–than you would by spending the day in shopping malls.

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Trying to find exciting and new activities for young children is a challenge for us stay-at-home-moms. Well, anyway, it is for this SAHM. Although I would just as soon stay in the house and write half the day, I also want to make sure Benjamin gets out and experiences life. And I also want to make sure that if I take the time to drive somewhere, it will be to a place he actually enjoys.

Happily, finding “exciting and new activities” does not always have to mean driving somewhere. Listed below are nine activities for young children that are not only fun and enriching to your child’s mind, but relatively easy and (usually) inexpensive for you to implement.

1. Water/sand table.

A winner for kids of any age below six years, a sand and water table can keep them entertained for a longer period of time than most toys–and they began to develop concepts of measurement to boot!

2. Bike rides.

If you have a bike, like to ride, and the weather is generally favorable for bike-riding, a bicycle trailer may be a good investment for your family. Most kids love the ride, and taking a bike allows you to explore your surroundings at greater distances than simply walking.

3. Trip to an urban farm.

Boy feeding horse on farm

If you live in an urban area, there is probably a farm somewhere around either created specifically for urban kids to experience farm animals, or a small family farm that encourages visits. I recently had to nix our trips to a local farm that was an hour away because Benjamin screamed the entire way home the last time we went. After he asked to “see the goats” numerous times, Jerry and I finally took him to a suburban farm that a friend had told us about. With horses, goats (which Benjamin got to feed), chickens, cows and donkeys galore, Benjamin had the time of his life. And it took less than fifteen minutes to drive there.

4. Local arts and crafts festival.

I remember being fascinated as a kid, watching a glass-blower create a beautiful vase at an art festival. As well, these types of festivals usually include specific kid-friendly activities, such as face-painting or pantomime artists. If your child is at least three years old, he or she would probably enjoy it for at least a little while.

5. Chalk drawing.

Benjamin enjoys scribbling all over the deck in our back yard with sidewalk chalk. Although it’s a bit too sedative of an activity to keep him engaged for very long, it keeps him out of my hair for ten or fifteen minutes a few times per week. He might even stay with it longer if I bought him some Crayola 3-D Chalk. Hmmm…

6. Baby basketball.

Get a few small, soft balls together (crumpled up used paper would work, too) then something to serve as a basket. A cardboard box or empty and clean wastebasket will work fine. Take turns throwing the balls in with your child. Make it even more fun by throwing the balls in backwards or with dramatic flourishes.

If your child is old enough to understand, you could also do a relay. Each one of you has an equal number of balls, then you try to throw in your balls as fast as possible. Hint: Let your child win once in a while.

7. Bubbles.

Blowing bubbles

Nowadays, you can buy all sorts of contraptions that blow bubbles. Whether using a more high-tech version of bubble-blowing, or the old-fashioned bubble wand, kids of all ages can spend hours playing with bubbles.

8. Balloon kites.

Kites can be frustrating for the little ones, as they don’t stay up without proper cooperation from the weather and skillful handling by the kite operator. So why not run to your nearest grocery on a nice but windy day and buy a helium balloon? Tie it to your child’s hand, and run together through the yard or a nearby park.

9. Nature walk.

You don’t have to go into a forest for this one–walking down a neighborhood sidewalk will do. Simply arm your child with a bag and give her permission to fill it with whatever stones, sticks, seeds, etc. strike her fancy as you walk down the street or through the park. Talk about what the objects are and where they might have come from as she picks them up. Depending on the age and maturity of your child, let her play with them for a while when she gets home. Be sure to give some guidance and safety rules, and keep an eye on her as she plays.

There you have it–nine activities for young children that are engaging, educational (mostly) and sometimes even fun for you! Any you would like to add?

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