GiveAway: Simplicity Parenting Webinar

Winner of the Simplicity Parenting Webinar:

Karen of Ottawa, Canada!

Congratulations Karen!

Finding the support we need to help us connect with our kids is a great way to start the new year. Recently I posted about Kim John Payne's upcoming Simplicity Parenting Webinar here. And now I have some good news for all of you...they have generously offered us a free "seat" for the webinar to give to you!

Here's how to play: comment on this Play At Home Mom blog for one entry and share it on your facebook page for a second entry (be sure to let us know you shared it in a second comment). Giveaway begins today, December 29, 2012, and ends Monday, December 31, 2012.

Also, don't forget to check out the Simplicity Parenting FaceBook Page and Website for more information on how you can use "the extraordinary power of less to raise calmer, happier, and more secure kids."


Happy New Year!
PAHM

You have read this article Child-Guided Play / Connection / EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE THROUGH PLAY / Environment / Giveaway with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/12/giveaway-simplicity-parenting-webinar.html. Thanks!

New Simplicity Parenting Webinar!

As some of you know, I'm a HUGE fan of Simplicity Parenting and Kim John Payne. His message is very...well...simple: 

Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise

Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids

Sometimes in order to truly connect with our children through play we first must identify how we can slow down enough to do it. Which is why I love the work of Kim John Payne and his staff. I was introduced to the Simplicity Parenting concepts by the director at my daughter's preschool in 2010, and I can't even begin to describe how it changed my life and that of my family. We've simplified our home, our family rhythm, our schedules, our meals, and, of course, our play.

Here at Play At Home Mom we have all three written about some of the important Simplicity concepts, including simplifying the playroom, simplifying clothing and the environment, and simplifying  meals. We've written an article about slowing down, offered giveaways for creating a rhythms with our children, and written countless other blogs on the importance of simply slowing down and being with our children (see links to all these blogs at the bottom).

Now, I'll be the first to admit I find myself needing to "reset" my consumerism, our schedules, our home and what seems like everything sometimes - I'm not perfect; it's as if I suddenly stand up in the fog of life and say, "how did I get here again?" I've let life take over and it's time to simplify it again. I've found that having a goal sometimes means changing a habit, and for me this means falling off the path and finding my way back...over and over again. And in the world simplifying Kim offers practical tools to help me find my way back to my path within the reality I live.

So when my friend Traci McGrath contacted me to let me know Kim John Payne is offering an 8-week webinar beginning in January, I jumped at the opportunity to both sign up for the webinar and promote it. In Traci's words, "This is Simplicity Parenting taken to a deeper level, with plenty of practical application, and opportunities for parents to ask questions and have them answered by Kim himself." Which is exactly the support I need to further my goal. Here are the topics:

• Gift-Quirk-Disorder Spectrum: how to move your child's quirks towards their gifts and away from potential behavioral and disicpline problems
•  Soul Fever: How to cool the “soul fever” many children and families experience.
• Decluttering the Environment: Gain support to simplify books, clothes, toys, lighting, noise etc.
• Strengthen Rhythm & Predictability: Experience the powerful and soothing effects on the whole family when daily safety valves of rhythm are strengthened and made more predictable.
• Prioritizing Schedules: Receive support to dial back busyness and over scheduling. Rediscover the gift of boredom and the gift of anticipation.
• Screens…Filtering Out the Adult World: Taking a sensible and objective look at the effects of screen media and designing your own plan around what you feel is healthy.
• Adult Conversation…Filtering out the Adult World: Becoming increasingly aware of how to filter out the amount of adult conversation your child hears..
• How to Deal with Defiance and Intervene in Sibling Put-Downs

Kim John Payne's webinar begins Tuesday, January 22, 2013 and will be presented live for 8 Tuesdays. It's ok if you can't attend live because each session will be recorded and a link emailed to you the same day. The cost of the 8-week webinar is currently $129 (regularly $159), which I think is a worthy investment.

For more information or to sign up for the webinar, please click here.




Everything good,
Amy


Here are the blog links I mentioned:
Simplifying the playroom here and here
Simplifying clothing and the environment
Simplifying meals.
Giveaways for creating a rhythms with our children here and here.
Slowing down our daily rhythm

You have read this article with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/12/new-simplicity-parenting-webinar.html. Thanks!

Dry Ice Play

**There are precautions that need to be taken when playing with dry ice.  Please only do what you are comfortable with.**

You can read about safe handling of dry ice HERE.

My parents sent us some Omaha Steaks for Christmas and inside the box was some dry ice.  I was so excited to try to FREEZE SOME BUBBLES.  Yeah, that didn't work....at all.  We still had a ton of fun "making it steam", watching it "erupt", and watching the bubbles float on top of the carbon dioxide.  

"making it steam"
In a ventilated room

Watching it "erupt"

I thought maybe we didn't have enough dry ice to get the bubbles to freeze, so we picked up a large block of it today from our local grocery store.  Freeze bubbles - take two........

Very cool watching the bubbles hover

A few of them landed on the dry ice, but NONE of them froze.  BUMMER!!

"Mommy, look at that bubble!!"

We took the dry ice outside and put it in the sensory table (sight and sound are senses, too).  There were water beads nearby, so he decided to add them.  They sizzled and squeaked whenever they touched the dry ice....he thought that was pretty cool.

We flipped a piece over to find that the water beads had created craters.  "Its like the moon, Mommy."

DRY ICE IS FUN!!  

- AK (MESE, MECD)

You have read this article Outdoor Play / Science with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/12/dry-ice-play.html. Thanks!

Illuminated Ornaments

Obviously, our children are interested in all things Christmas right now....so we have been doing more "crafts".  While an end product is suggestive, we always allow our children to lead the way and follow the path of play/creativity that they choose.  There is no right or wrong way, and its still all about the process.

We have incorporated fill-able ornaments into our play for a few years now, but one of our readers (Alicia Odom) inspired this activity when she commented on our page saying they had glued gems to their ornaments.  Cool!  Its a lot like our GLASS SCULPTURES post and our GLASS PUMPKIN post, but we had yet to glue anything to the outside of the ornaments.  So............

MATERIALS:

large acrylic fill-able ornaments

gems

hot glue gun

finger lights

The invitation

Gluing on the gems

I had to stop taking pics here because my son said, "Mommy, I'm feeling nervous because last time I used the glue gun I burned my finger and had a blister.  Can you help me, please?"  So he squirt the glue and showed me where to place the gems.

First he wanted to hang the ornament without the light in it.

We added a finger light and he put it on his shelf

Then he decided to hang it from his shelf and that is where is stayed until bed time.  He moved it at bed time because he hates any amount of light in his room while he sleeping.

TIPS:

The ornaments get very heavy once you add the gems.  If you plan to hang it, you will need to hot glue gun the top on.  If you add a finger light, you will need to replace it once it burns out.  We found that it was easy to remove the glued on top, replace the light, and glue the top back on again.  If you plan to place it on a shelf or table, there is no need to glue the top on.

ENJOY


- AK (MESE, MECD)

You have read this article Clay and Crafts / Seasonal with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/12/illuminated-ornaments.html. Thanks!

Snowmen

Materials:

This is what we used but you can really use anything you have on hand. 

Styrofoam Balls

Sticks

Mini Hats (99 cents at JoAnn Fabrics)

Googly Eyes

Mardi Beads

Pipe Cleaners

Ribbons

Buttons

Pom Poms

Light Brite pegs

Glue (we used hot glue gun)

The Invitation

Close up of supplies

I hot glued a wooden craft square to the bottom of the ball to allow the snowman to stand up.  

We connected the balls together with a toothpick. 

Be sure to hold the toothpick in place when pressing down so it goes into both ends.  

"This scarf sure is tricky"

Then the frustration and feet stomping kicks in.

"I.... NEED..... SOME..... HELP!!!!!!!!"  

Adding buttons.

Eyes

After talking to my middle girl (2.5 years) about the glue gun being hot, etc.  She chose NOT to use it.  She asked me to squeeze out the glue while she placed her pieces on.  

My oldest (4 years).... the simple things in life.  :-)  

Singing and dancing.  

Finished. 

I also bought a foam seat cushion.  We cut out some shapes to decorate as well.  

Adding pom poms to her candy cane.  

Finished. 

You can thread a piece of string through these to hang on the tree.

RL  

You have read this article Clay and Crafts / Seasonal with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/11/snowmen.html. Thanks!

Baking Soda Clay Ornaments

This is the recipe we used to make as kids.  It includes Baking Soda, Corn Starch, and Water.  You can see the complete recipe here:

http://www.armandhammer.com/solutions/solution-20/Play-Clay.aspx

Recipe:

2 cups or a 16oz box of Baking Soda

1 cup of Corn Starch

1 1/4 cup of water.

Stir over medium heat until it thickens.  

Ingredients

Pouring everything in.  

Stirring.

What it will look like once you take it out of the pan.  They still should be a little moist and with a consistency of mashed potatoes.  After it cools, knead it for a bit.... then it will be more like a dough.  Be sure not to cook them to long as the dough will get dried out.  

My oldest wanted to color ours.  Here she is adding green food coloring.  

The invitation:

Beads

Cookie Cutters

Clay

Rolling Pin

Adding the beads to the shapes.

Poke a hole in the top if you plan on using them as ornaments.

You can either let these air dry or to speed up the process.... heat your oven up to 350, shut it off, and then place them in to dry. 

This is what they look like out of the oven.  

We decided to use beads but you can also paint them after they dry.  

We plan on putting a coat of modge podge on to seal them.  

RL  

You have read this article Clay and Crafts / Seasonal with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/11/baking-soda-clay-ornaments.html. Thanks!

Gum Drop Tree

This activity was so much fun!  I love watching him “work”.  Aside from being fun, it can also present some pretty fantastic “teachable moments” if you track their play (especially for little ones):  “You put the GREEN gum drop on the tree.”, “You put TWO RED gum drops at the top.”, etc.  It’s also great for fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, crossing midline, spatial skills, language development, etc.

Some other dialogue might look like:
“Does it taste sweet or salty?”
“Are the gum drops smooth or rough?”

Of course, finding “teachable moments” is not ALWAYS necessary, and we definitely encourage taking the personality of the child into consideration and just enjoying the time together.

MATERIALS:

Styrofoam cone (from craft store)

Toothpicks

Gum drops (we used 2 bags)

THE INVITATION

The first thing he did was put the "star" on the top of the tree.

Adding "lights"

"Wait, Mommy, my tree needs to be GREEN.  I need to paint it."
So he took off all of the "lights" and painted it with acrylic paint.

Busy at play.  The tree was still wet, so he brought out some wet wipes to clean his hands periodically.  This is soooooo my child!  LOL

Fine motor!

Pausing to wipe his hands.  LOL

Completed Tree

I asked him if he would like to document his work (I had to explain what I meant by this).  He took a picture of his tree with his camera and despite my attempts to have him show me how to draw a tree, I drew the tree for him and then he said “I can take it from here, Mommy”.  LOL  Here is his drawing....

When he was finished, we spent some time flying around the house like bats, leaving the tree and invitation out.  He revisited the tree about an hour later and began building things using the toothpicks and gum drops.  I LOVE that he took his play to a whole new place.  

Building

"I made a helicopter"

"It's a bow and arrow now."

"Mommy, look at my roller coaster."

For me, this activity was about so much more than making a Christmas craft.  The evolution of everything just makes me SMILE.

- AK (MESE, MECD)

You have read this article Seasonal with the title 2012. You can bookmark this page URL http://happychild2210.blogspot.com/2012/11/gum-drop-tree.html. Thanks!