12 cool new water play ideas

12 cool new ideas for water play Hot, bored, grumpy. These are the sounds of summer, am I right fellow Mama’s? As July turns into August and some of our early favorite summer boredom busters get a little, well, boring. (Gasp. I know.) It’s time for some fresh ideas on how to entertain our youngsters.

I’m going out on a limb to guess that by now you’ve filled up the baby pool and yanked out the basket of tub toys for some outside play so many times that your eyes get a little crossed every time your youngster brings it up in conversation. Me too. Well now. Let’s think outside the box on this one, shall we?

How about:

• Paint brushes
• Scrub brushes 
• Paint roller
• Straws
• Ice cubes

(yeah, you didn't think I was going to post all 12 ways here did you? The rest of the article is waiting on Today's Mama)

Summer service toolkits for you!

So this week our friends at Adventures in Odyssey have the major hook up going on for families that are called to serve their community.

As a reward for a lucky family, we have the first three books from the Imagination Station ready to giveaway (lucky dog!) have you entered to win yet? Your chances of winning are still really sweet! Check out the details for that here

But wait, there's more!

So today we're talking about the summer service toolkit that AIO has put together. I almost overlooked this little nugget and threw it in the tail end of a different post as a little blurb. But then I looked at it.

A little blurb would not do this puppy justice, so it gets it's own post.

So this FREE resource is chocked full of stories, activities and lessons that all center around service. I honestly can't believe they're giving this away. Go print one out for your kids before they realize they should be charging us for this goodness. Here's the link - Summer Service Toolkit

I made a screen grab of the top half of the table of contents just so you could get a little peek-see of this serious goodness. Just incase you aren't already

sold :)

So hey, did you enter the giveaway for the Imagination Station books yet? Well, what are you waiting for?? I want to give you something good already!! Leave me a comment about how your family has served or is planning to serve this summer. Get to it already!

Unleashing imagination

Children are spending more and more time in front of TVs, iPads, computers, and video games. That doesn’t leave much room for kids to dream up their own visual images—like the ones that fill their minds when they hear a great story! Rather than passively receiving images, kids actively engage in making images themselves when they hear a good story. Their imaginations are enriched and stimulated, and the material becomes more personal and memorable.

This summer, Adventures in Odyssey encourages kids to write their OWN stories, as they join in ACTS: A Call to Serve! AIO is helping children use their imaginations to serve their family, community, and world this summer—maybe by sending a care package to a missionary or baking cookies for the local fire department. Check out www.whitsend.org/acts for details and a chance to win fabulous prizes, including a mission trip with a parent to Costa Rica!

More important than prizes are the stories your child will tell about the creative ways they served others, and how they grew as a result. And what they come up with really might change the world!

Looking for inspiration? Check out this story of how one child used his creativity to make a world of difference:  

Fourteen-year-old Matthew, a dedicated Adventures in Odyssey fan and natural tech whiz, was inspired by a trip to the Apple store to create a smartphone app for his church. Since then, he has created 21 apps for different ministries, including his local pregnancy resource center, Joni and Friends (an international ministry for people with disabilities), and even an “Adventures in Odyssey Fan News” app! Matthew used his God-given talents and imagination to bless others through technology. Which of your kid’s unique gifts are waiting to be unleashed for God’s use?

Oh, and have you heard? I have a super geeked awesome-sauce give away to share with you this week. You have until friday to enter to win the first three books in the AIO Imagination station series! Details here!

A call to service - giveaway from Adventures in Odyssey

So how is everyone doing in their acts of services so far this summer? Anyone have any service opportunities they'd like to share with us?

So if you haven't already heard, this summer my kids and I are doing this really fantastic service program through Focus on the Family. Last month's theme was Discover. You can read about the the joy your children will discover when they choose to serve here. (And be sure to check out all the fantastic freebies from our friends at Adventures in Odyssey)

This month's theme is imagination! Tomorrow we'll discuss the benefits of using your imagination and creativity as you serve.

But today I'd just like to make an announcement. A shout for joy and tap dance across the stage kind of announcement. I've had such a hard time keeping this one secret.

Ready?

M'kay. Here goes.

My beautiful and gracious friends at Adventures in Odyssey have given me not 1, not 2 but 3(!!!) books to give away. Killer right??

Squee!!

I have the first three books from the AIO Imagination Station series to give away to one lucky reader. We've read them, we loved them. We tap dance every time they give us the heads up that another one has come out.

I'm not the type of blogger who's giveaways come with a catch. You don't have to like my facebook fanpage to qualify (but you could if you'd like! Hello unabashed plea for new friends.)

Ahem.

The only thing you have to do to qualify is leave me a happy little comment about the creative ways you and your family have served your community (or are planning to serve) this summer.

Want to more know about these books? Check out our thoughts on Voyage with the Vikings, Attack at the Arena, and Peril in the Palace.

A moment to linger; a call to service

Last week we talked about service opportunities for kids. (I have a really fantastic list on this post if you’re new to this conversation). Anyway. The suggestion for this week’s service project was about recognizing those in the military.


Which was a very fine service idea. But we didn’t do it.

Not because we didn’t care about those who serve our country, heavens no. But because a different service opportunity presented itself.

Making encouraging cards for those affected by recent tornados.

As we prepared for our project I struggled (as we all do) to come up with words to reach out to my fellow sisters and brothers who are struggling to get back on their feet. To cope with their losses. To process the hand they’ve just been dealt.

Finally we just decided to let God speak on our behalf. He says it all better than we do anyway.

If you were affected by recent storms, just know that you’re still in our hearts and prayers. God hasn’t forgotten your pain and neither have we. When the media moves on to the next horrible tragedy we won’t. We’ll linger here, ready to listen. So will Jesus. He’s a linger-er too.

 

3 Creativity boosters for clever kids

As summer stretches out in front of us, I can already hear the whines of boredom coming from my children. Moan, groan and despair. I love those sounds. I view them as opportunities to engage my youngsters creatively, to invite them to see the world a bit differently for a few moments.

Here are some of my favorite creativity booster games for bored kids.

Play “what can you do with a…” this is a fun exercise I do with my own kids when they get the bored zombie look in their eye.  Challenge them to take a paper plate (or toothpicks, or fabric scraps etc) and make something. Anything. As a variation, give them three items, they can be related or random. This game can be played with art supplies, food, recycled items, items from nature etc.

Ready for more ideas to stimulate your kids creative neurons? Check out the rest of the article here...

Adventures in Odyssey blog hop!

So this week we're taking part in a blog hop with our friends from Adventures in Odyssey. Wee! Over the last few posts we've been talking about this month's theme Discover.

Discover how much fun service can be with Adventures in Odyssey’s A.C.T.S. challenge and contest!

We've already talked about why this project makes so much sense to me as a mother attempting to raise socially aware children. And the rewards the kids can get when they sign up for such a project on this post.

Yesterday we talked about why it is so crucial for our children to practice serving others as a way to help develop appropriate self esteem.

We also chatted a bit about service project ideas and I shared an exclusive link to a free AIO radio production titled The Business of Busyness (which my kids loved).

We just wanted you to know that we are just gearing up for a summer of fun and service! Check back to learn more about June's theme of Imagination which comes with it's own fun freebies, and in July our theme will be Grow (oh yeah, did I mention more free stuff?)

Family service project ideas

Hi friends!
There was so much to tell you about this summer project that Adventures in Odyssey has planned that I thought I'd break it up a bit and give you time to process each fantastic little nugget of possibility.
So last week we talked a bit about the scope of the project, today I'm going to share some more resources that they have available to help you as you serve your community. I particularly enjoyed this list of service ideas:

May 20: Serve Your Community- Go to a local park and pick up the trash or volunteer to plant flowers.

May 27:  Serve Your World- Take a field trip to a place that recognizes fallen soldiers.  Learn about the importance of the place and time of history.  Pray for our current military and their families serving around the world.

June 2- Serve As A Family- Host a garage sale at your house and then donate the money to a good cause.

June 9- Serve Your Family-- Wash your dad's car as part of his Father's Day present!

June 16- Serve Your Community-- Make some simple cards and deliver them to a local nursing home. Most folks would love a visit!

June 23- Serve Your World--Send a care package to a missionary serving in the world.

June 30-- Serve As a Family- Host an ice cream party or BBQ for your neighborhood.

View the complete list here!
They also have a free audio presentation of the AIO Service episode called the Business of Busyness that you can only find here.

So who's in!

A call to serve - a summer project that counts

I don’t know about you, but as I look forward to my summer vacation with my kids I’m seeing an awful lot of white space. A glaring, in your face, void of whitespace that is screaming to be filled with activity. While my natural inclination is to compulsively sign my kids up for every single summer camp the YMCA offers, the smart part of my brain wants me to look at the big picture for our summer.

Do I want busy children or am I striving for engaged children? Children not busily carted from one place to another in the interest of keeping my house in order, but children engaged in projects and activities that make a difference in the lives of others.

My lovely friends over at Adventures in Odyssey, with Focus on the Family, recently contacted me to share a free summer program that they have arranged titled A.C.T.S. (A Call to Service) challenge and contest. Here’s how it works:

This summer, Adventures in Odyssey is joining with Christian bookstores across the country, inviting kids to participate in a Summer of Service. They’re promoting the biblical message, “When you serve, everybody wins,” encouraging kids to serve their families, their communities, and their world. Whether it’s baking cookies for an elderly neighbor or putting together a care package for missionaries overseas, kids will discover that serving can be a blast!

Kids who join A.C.T.S. can pick up a service log and collect fun character stickers for hours served at participating bookstores throughout the summer, or download a serving log online at whitsend.org. At the end of the summer, kids can record and upload a short video telling how they serve and why they’d like to become an Adventures in Odyssey Ambassador.

A hundred winners will get the brand new AIO Album, and after online voting, two grand prize winners (one boy and one girl) will get to travel on an exciting Good-Goers Mission Based Adventure trip to another country with a parent! The out-of-country destination will be announced on a live podcast May 22—hosted by AIO actors Katie Leigh (Connie) and Chris Anthony (Chris)—which you can watch at whitsend.org/acts.

In the days to come I’ll share more information about the projects that we have set up, so check back for more details.

More than a toy, teaching and learning with a camera

Yesterday we talked a bit about teaching our kids (and ourselves) how to use a camera to express ourselves a bit better. Today we're going to think about using the camera as a tool for learning.

Enhancing art concepts
There are a great deal of art concepts that transfer into the world of photography: form, line, perspective, mood, detail, etc. Pick a concept and take your kids (or yourself) on a little scavenger hunt. On our last hunt my kids and I thought about lines, curved, strait, vanishing points, broken etc. After we brainstormed as many types of lines as we could think of, and items we could think of that would demonstrate each type of line (park bench, railroad track, power line etc) we made ourselves a little "to find" list before going out on our hunt.

Creative writing opportunities
We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, right? So why not use a little time with the camera as an opportunity to jump start the creative writing process? Why not challenge your kids to write a story and narrate it with photographs? Or "a day in the life of..." Put on your creative cap and think of some fun scenarios that the kids can document with words and images like "the day plastic frogs invaded our house". Your child has a wonderfully creative voice, let him use the camera to help him enhance the story he wants to tell you.

Now what?
With a hard drive full of photos, and a kid who doesn't particularly want to sit down with a pencil and notebook paper on his day off from school, you're not quite sure where to go next, right? I know. If you're a creative soul like me, your kids are probably a bit over fun posters and snazzy scrapbook stickers as well. Fortunately there are a host of ways for your story teller to share his tale. Think about a blog post, instant print book from snapfish, or an online photo album with Flickr or Facebook that they could forward to their friends...

So what are you waiting for? It's time to empower your little story teller to share his voice. Go forth and photograph!

Your child photographer

Y'all know I like my camera right? And y'all know I'm also a little fanatical about creatively empowered children right? Well these two crazy little passions bonked heads over a little article I wrote for one of my favorite family online magazines. Check it.

These days it’s fairly common to see youngsters carrying around a camera. Technology has made it both simple and affordable for our youngsters to record and share their memories. Sadly, most of the photos our kids take are less than stellar. More often than not they’re off kilter, out of focus and poorly composed. But do they have to be? The memories our children are making are so valuable that they’re worth investing a little time and elbow grease to improve. There are a handful of quick tips and tricks to help our kids improve their ability to show us the images they want us to see.

Let go of the “hey, cool snap!” mentality

The problem with most child photographers is that they generally don’t put a ton of thought into what they are photographing. My own children are guilty of running up to something of interest and snapping off a quick shot before they’re off to the next object of interest. The problem with this drive by shooting philosophy is fairly evident when you stop to look at the photos, many times you can’t even tell why the photo was taken. The best way to remedy this problem is to get your child photographer to slow down and be more intentional about the subject of their photos.

Read the rest .here... 

Creativity for a cause

I recently published an article in Rhythm of the Home titled "How to promote creativity in children". If that article helped you find this blog, welcome, it's so nice to meet you.

While it's true that I am passionate about instilling a love of all things creative in children, I'm even more passionate about teaching children to use their creative pursuits to make the world a better place. Most kids come with a dynamic little package of natural creativity, love, acceptance, and generosity. We, as parents and community leaders, need to capture that energy and run with it.

We need to learn to focus our children's creative efforts outward, not inward. We need to stop thinking in terms of having our children make "Sunday school crafts" or things that they make on Sunday mornings and are thrown away on Sunday evenings, and instead lets turn our energy towards coordinating "creative outreach events".

What exactly would it look like if your child's creativity sessions yeilded more than just a pile of papers to hang on the fridge for a few days before rotating it out for the next project. What if they made their creations as a way to encourage others in their community? Stick with me here, I'm thinking more than just telling them to make something for Grandma and Teacher.

Don't get m wrong, we love Grandma's, we love teachers and principals, they all need to be encouraged. But lets not stop with people we know. Lets take a real look at the big picture and see who really needs the love and encouragement that our children have to offer. What if they took it upon themselves to make something creative to encourage the elderly in the nursing home, or people serving in the military? Do homeless people in your community need a reason to smile? What about those ladies at the battered women's shelter?

In addition to the boxes of stuff we've taken over to the senior center, I personally have had my girls help me make fleece tie blankets for foster kids and battered women. And all of my kids (and my mother-in-law) have helped me make hats and mittens for people living in Pakistan. The sky is the limit as to what your children can create, and the joy that they can bring.

The list of hurting people on our planet far outweighs the tonage of goofy art projects (I mean wonderful acts of creativity) your child will ever be able to make. Look around and identify groups in your community that need what your child has to make. Make some phone calls.

Go forth and create change.

Have ideas for creative change to share? Post a link so we can see how your child's creative expression has changed someone's day.

Art class - self portraits with collage

We recently found ourselves with a free afternoon in which to make ourselves some self portraits. In the past we've made self portraits with a graphics program, which was super fun. So when I brought back the idea with old magazine collage, the kids jumped at the idea. Even Max, who didn't really have the slightest idea why we were cutting up perfectly good magazines.

So I started them with realistic looking portraits, trying to get them to match their hair and eye color and such. From there we let loose and made some really wacky ones, complete with fuzzy bunny slippers, yoda heads, and pignoses, just for good measure. Love it. What good is art if you aren't free to express yourself, right?

Drawing class - castle edition

So I recently picked up a drawing book titled "How to Draw Fantasy Castles", thinking it would be good to help the kids work on perspective and introduce some new architectural elements into the castles they already draw ad nauseum.

The book was great at teaching perspective and also gave instructions on how to draw themed castles, which my kids were all over.

After practicing our 3 point perspective and 3D drawing, we tried our hand at themed castles, which the kids then embellished to their little heart's content. Our themed castle collection included one inspired by the landscape in Lord of the Rings, and each child made a castle in the shape of his or her name. 

First photo walk

It's a right of passing. At least in this house it is. The first time Mom hands you the camera and says "have fun!" That day occurred for Max earlier this week. A zillion photos and a dead camera battery later, this is what we have...

  (this one's my personal favorite...)

What we really have here is more proof that this kid is truly a Peterson...

Melted crayon wax take 3

So it's no secret that I have a thing for melted crayon. We've melted it in pools over the George Forman grille to make patterned paper, melted tiny chunks of it with the embossing gun, now I hear that you can melt it over an open candle flame. Say it ain't so
.

Oh yes, it is.

The original idea for this project was to use it to teach pointillism. Although beautiful, pointillism isn't  really our thing. We just wanted to play. So we did. We started out with a candle, broken crayons and a variety of objects to "paint" on including scrap paper, old useless cd's, and soda cans. While yes, the candle did melt our crayon enough to allow us to make dots, it was time consuming, and fitting 4 crayons around a tiny candle flame without overwhelming it was an exercise in frustration.

So then we started getting crazy. What if our canvas was hot enough to melt our crayon on contact, so we could have a continuous flow of melted wax. Hmm.

Enter both the George Forman grille and a hotplate (covered in aluminum foil), as well as a canvas that conducts heat (aka handfuls of old cds). We turned our hot surfaces on their lowest setting and set to work, careful not to put the cd directly on the heat sources, (which fyi, makes it's own interesting artwork - don't ask). On the low setting we were indeed able to get the cd hot enough  that the crayon melted on contact, and though there was a bit of bubbling and warping, the finished cds turned out beautiful.

When they were cool enough to handle, we tied a string through them and hung them in the window.

Winter color palette challenge

It's February and we're a little tired of being less than inspired by the dismal winter color palette outside our windows. But my children need to recognize that every day is a gift, and each day has it's own unique beauty. If you're willing to look for it.
So with that in mind, I set out to create a winter color palette to inspire and challenge my crew to create. I selected these 5 colors based on what I saw outside my window and challenged them to do something with them.

Here's the palette they started with:

And here's the finished product:

 

 Louisa age 8

 

Annie age 8

 

Alex age 9 

Need help picking your own color palette? I found some great ones at Studio Press and Color Hunter. Check it out!

A little crafy love for Valentines Day

This year's plan for Valentines day - make something with hearts. Sorry I can't be more specific, I have yet to narrow down my creative options. Here are some that I"m considering:

Melted crayon wax sun catchers: take an old cheese grater and grate up some pink or red crayons (or if you have boys, smash them with a rock like we've been known to do). Place shavings between 2 layers of wax paper, and melt with an iron. When cool, cut into the shape of a heart and hang in the window.

Paint chip mosaic: pick up pink and red paint chips from your local home depot. Cut into squares and use as mosaic tiles on a construction paper heart. Even better? Use a heart shaped craft punch to make your tiles.

Garland: Who doesn't love a festive garland? From colorful paper hearts to felt squares to pink and red beads, the options are only limited by your imagination. I don't know about your kids, but even my bigger kids love to string things.

Beaded hearts: depending on skill level this can be done with craft wire or pipe cleaners. After the child fills his pre-cut section of wire with beads bend it into the shape of a heart, twist the ends of the wire together and hang from light fixture or the ceiling in a cluster.

Heart puffs: for little ones - 2 paper hearts hearts staple about 80% of the way around it, leaving an opening to stuff with tissues or paper towels and staple shut. For older kids use 2 felt hearts and a needle with thread, again leaving a hole for stuffing. Consider either paper towels or batting as stuffing. We've been known to use fabric scraps.

Doily pouches: Take 2 heart shaped doilies and stitch/staple/glue them together depending on whatever sounds like more fun... leave an opening large enough for red and pink treats to sneak into and clip shut. This would also work super well with craft paper or vellum.

These ladies have even more Valentine cuteness to drool over:
Shabby chic crafts
Tip Junkie
and Skip to My Lou has some tasty Valentine treats to share...

Story time - Peterson Style

One of our favorite gifts to give Grandma at Christmas time is a story that was written and illustrated by the entire family. Now that we've actually finished last years story and given it away, we'd like to share it with you. For instructions on how we made our little book check out last year's book.

The Peterson Family’s North Pole Adventure

Once upon a time there lived a family. There was Mommy, Daddy, Annie, Louisa, Maxim and Alex. They decided to take a vacation to the North Pole (brr!) so they started marching north.Pretty soon they came to a forest. None of them knew how large it was or how long it would take to get through it. They decided there might be something creepy in the forest (like a giant teddy bear or a huge beanie baby spider). So they decided to go around the forest. On their way around it, they discovered an ancient castle. Louisa thought they should walk across the frozen moat to get in. But Annie thought (since they had brought bows and arrows) that they should shoot the ropes holding the drawbridge closed, and then it would open by itself.But Alex thought that would make too much noise when it crashed down. He liked Louisa's idea of walking over the moat, but how would they get over the wall?
Dad thought they should break the wall down. Mom wanted to scale it. Max just wanted to do the "pokey pokey" (aka the hokey pokey). Alex suggested that they should blast the wall with dynamite (I think he's been watching too many episodes of Mythbusters). Just then they heard a strange noise, and they watched as the drawbridge began to lower itself, and out rolled Santa Car and Mrs. Santa Car! The cars gave the family directions on how to get to the North Pole, it turns out the family was headed in the wrong direction. Alex thought they were going north when they were really headed west. Silly Alex. So they turned and headed north, and soon they reached the Christmas Tree forest where they met Rudolph. They must be headed in the right direction now! Max wanted to take a ride on Rudolph, so those two went for a ride. When Max and Rudolph landed, they were at a big Russian castle, so they went inside. Santa Clause (the real Santa this time) was there with the rest of the Peterson family, and they were drinking hot chocolate. Fortunately there was enough hot chocolate for Max and Rudolph to have some too. Santa had a gift for everyone and then they all went home.

The End

(don't look at me, I just typed it)

Origami Yoda

Yoda made from origami did you make? 

Why yes we did.

Ours happens to like cheese.

And has a great meanie face. Don't mess with him when he has his angry eyes on. 

Why yes, he does have a light saber. 

I'll bet you didn't realize that Yoda's travel in packs, did you?

We found directions on how to make Origami Yoda in a funny little book titled The Strange case of Origami Yoda