Archive for October, 2010
Let Shutterfly Help You Personalize Your Holiday Cards This Season
Oct 31st
Christmas is one of my favorite Holidays! And this year it is extra special because we will have a new addition to the family joining us in the beginning of December. So I have already started thinking about how to handle the Christmas Card for this season.
How about you? Are you starting to plan out the holiday season, from Christmas Cards, to holiday parties and gifts? Well, one thing you can accomplish before the holiday is in full swing is to prepare your Holiday Cards. I personally love Shutterfly, I have used them every year for my Christmas send outs. I love the personalized holiday photo cards of my family. This way the family and friends who we don’t see very often can get an updated picture of the family, and it allows us to share our holiday cheer. You will not be disappointed by Shutterfly, no matter what type of Holiday you celebrate, Shutterfly has a card for you! The Christmas photo cards have several different designs, it is almost hard to choose what backdrop, or how many photos I would like to display in the card.
Our shutterfly holiday photo card from last year!
I really enjoyed looking around the selection of cards at Shutterfly. There were so many styles, but I liked the ones with places for multiple photos best. I chose this style because it is too hard to choose just one photo, and now that we will have two littles, I like the idea of a group picture and a spot for a picture of each child.
The Peppermint Pink Christmas Card
I also love the Picture Joy Christmas Card
Really they have so many choices, and I love them all, the hardest part is which card to choose!
I really like the ease of ordering the cards too. Uploading the pictures is simple and on my computer quick! Having been a Shutterfly fan for awhile, I can attest to the ease of ordering the cards, uploading the pictures, and checking out. For a family who loves to take pictures, Shutterfly is a great place to share your photos, or create photo books and personalized gifts, or send out personalized cards regardless of the season. I highly recommend checking them out for your holiday cards this season!
This post is sponsored by Shutterfly and She Blogs. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions stated are my own.
Facebook Friday!
Oct 29th
Thanks to Mom Vs. The Boys and Smookie Style we have a new Friday Facebook Hop. Please stop by and check out their blogs!
If you are looking for new Facebook Followers, Hop on Over and Linkup!
Giveaway with Low Entries Ending Here Today
Ghost and Spider Halloween Crafts
Oct 28th
Mr. Toddler has a few Halloween parties to attend, and I wanted him to be able to make something to give to the other children. And while this is a super easy idea, it is perfect for my 2 and 1/2 year old to do with my help. He definitely enjoyed making the ghosts, and of course having a lollipop too!
What you’ll need:
- Kleenex
- Suckers
- White yarn
- Scissors
- Black marker
How to make it:
- Cut a small length of yarn.
- Center the Kleenex over the top of the sucker.
- Tie the yarn in a bow right under the sucker.
- Draw on eyes and mouth with black marker.
- Give as a party favor.
Tips:
Quick and easy is the key to this favorite classroom favor. These make up so fast you can create them for all your trick-or-treaters.
Here is another super cute Halloween Craft to do with your little one! I found this idea on Kaboose too.
- 9″ paper plate
- 4 black chenille stems
- Three 36″-long pieces of green yarn
- Black, white and light green acrylic paint
- 3″ x 5″ piece of orange construction paper
- Black marker
- White craft glue
- Scissors
How to make it:
- Paint paper plate with black paint and let dry. (See photo.)
- Fold paper plate in half and cut along the crease. (See photo.)
- Pipe glue along the rounded edges of the two pieces of plate and stick the plates together, unpainted sides should be facing each other. Do not glue the cut sides; this is the opening of your plate pocket. (See photo 1, and2.)
- Cut chenille stems in half. (See photo.)
- Set aside two of the chenille stems. Bend the ends of the remaining chenille stems, about 1″ at each end. Bend one to the left and the other to the right. For the remaining two chenille stems, bend one end about 1″ and the other end about 2″. (See photo.)
- Place plate pocket in front of you, with the open end at the top. Glue three chenille legs on the left (glue to the underside) and the other three on the right. (See photo.)
- Take the remaining two stems and glue the 2″ bend under the plate about 1/3 of the way down from the left, and 1/3 of the way down on the right. Allow to dry.
- Make eyes from white construction paper, or paint a section of any color construction paper with white paint. Use a black marker or black paint to draw in the pupils, then glue eyes on the body. (See photo 1, 2.)
- Paint a wiggly smile on the front of the plate using green paint. (See photo.)
- Write “Happy Halloween!” on the orange construction paper with black marker. Glue the paper underneath the spider’s “hands” so that it appears that it is holding the sign. (See photo.)
- To make the handle, line all three pieces of yarn up together and tie one end in a knot. Braid the strands together and knot at the other end.
- Open the pocket and pipe some glue into the creases then press the ends of the yarn handle inside and let dry.
- Fill with candy or other treats and hang.
Is the iPad going to be one of the top children’s toys of the year?
Oct 27th
Why is it that kids take to the iPhone’s multitouch user interface like they do their other toys? And how is it that they know how to use the interface and find exactly what they are looking for, or want to play. I do not know one child who doesn’t love to play on the iPhone or iPad, mine being one of them. It seems that the interface is easy and appealing for a child, and they just seem to instantly know what to do. I really think the iPhone and iPad will create a new cultural phenomenon in the lives of our children.
Why?
Well for parents, it is an electronic babysitter so that they can drive in the car, or make dinner/clean the house. The parents are able to select the applications they would like their children to be playing with, and with the array of education applications and games/movies you are never at a loss of choices.
Children are tech savvy and instantly know how to work the iPad, they easily can navigate around the device to find what games or movies they would like to play. They can change from a movie to a game with a finger motion, and they love the iPad! It is interactive and keeps their attention.
I watch Mr. Toddler play on the iPad or my iPhone daily, and I am amazed at how well he navigates the screens. What I am more amazed about is that these games are truly educational. I much rather him playing on the iPad then watching TV. For example, he is learning his ABC’s, 123′s, and colors from the little games. He has learned how to match two objects, and how to do simple puzzles. He loves to color in the “virtual coloring books,” and have the virtual stories read to him. He also loves the fact that he is playing with his favorite TV characters in the games on the iPad. He just really loves to “learn” on the iPad, although he just thinks it is FUN!
I only see the iPad market continuing to grow, it seems that there are new games being created daily, and I think that the multi-touch user interface is going to be with our children for years to come!
Some of My Favorite iPad applications:
Super Why: I love this application! It focuses on sentence completion, rhyming, spelling and a letter hunt.
Cookie Doodle allows kids to bake and decorate cookies, and pretend to eat them too!
Fish School HD: The fish swim into place to display letters and numbers.
Toy Story Read-Along: A great read along book with the Toy Story gang.
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox: presents the alphabet in fun learning activities.
What are your children’s favorite applications for the iPad or iPhone?
Our Attempt At Potty Training
Oct 22nd
With a baby on the way in December, one of my goals is to get Mr. Toddler potty trained. One of my friends just successfully trained her 23 month old little boy using this method. Little Llamas: Potty Training 101, it is fairly aggressive, it requires you throw out the diapers and basically put them in underwear. So I thought if she could do it–so could I.
Before we started training, I had taken Mr. Toddler to the store and he picked out big boy underwear. I picked up pull ups for naptime, and bedtime. We bought two potty chairs, and one for the toilet. Mr. Toddler was eager to sit on the seat with his clothes on, and would tell me when he “pooped” in his diaper so I thought maybe he is ready. I bought stickers and made a potty chart, and bought some dollar store prizes for when he goes in the potty.
(picture from personallyyoursbooks.com)
Well, this week was GO time. We have been talking about it for weeks. ”Mr. Toddler is a big boy now, and big boys wear underwear! Big Boys go to the potty on the potty!” etc…
Well it was GO time, and Mr. Toddler is not a fan of his big boy underwear, so we decided to go without. I gave him juice which was quite the treat, since he normally doesn’t get that at home. After my asking him every 5 minutes for about 1 hour, he finally said, yes I go potty. I think he was motivated by my bribe, a Hotwheel car! So we sat, and he went, although he missed the toilet. But that is okay! I was excited with our progress. He was excited to get his toy! I thought we were on a roll…well fast forward 30 minutes.
And he now really has to go and is dribbling around the house because he cannot hold it. But for some reason he is afraid to sit on the potty again. He refuses, and is dancing around, crying, and obviously has a full bladder, and is uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to coax him onto the potty. So after a bit more, I decided to allow him to have a diaper again. Well, he soaked it in about a minute. And became happy and playful.
Day 2 went very similarly…he is still afraid to sit on the potty. He will sit, when he really doesn’t have to go…but not when he does.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help my little man not be afraid of the potty?
I Love Autumn
Oct 19th
Autumn is definitely one of my favorite seasons here in Illinois. The leaves on the trees change, and we generally have an Indian summer with a week or two of beautiful weather! It also is a time for fall festivals, visiting apple orchards and pumpkin patches!
Mr. Toddler really enjoyed our visits to the pumpkin patch this year. Last year he was still a little young to really understand, and take it all in. But this year, he was super excited to ride on the pony, visit the zoo, and see the pumpkins. Which makes it all the more fun for me, to enjoy his excitement!
Product Review: Rub a Dub ABC & 123 Toy by Alex Toys
Oct 18th
I recently had the opportunity to review a learning toy from Growing Tree Toys, the Rub a Dub ABC & 123 Letters and Numbers by Alex Toys. Splish Splash children love to play in the bath! And mommies enjoy when we can incorporate fun learning into our everyday activities. This toy certainly makes bath time fun, yet educational.
About the toy:
Each set comes in a reusable plastic tube with a handle, and features two colors of each number and letter for a total of 62 foam pieces. The foam letters are durable, and easily stick to the tub when wet. Easy for little hands to manipulate the letters. The toy is recommended for ages two and up.
Educational Activities with this toy: These letters and numbers are great to help your little one learn his alphabet and numbers, and to continue to work on recognition of these symbols. You can also work on learning sounds, and spelling activities.
My Review: Mr. Toddler thought this toy was great. He loves bath time, and was excited to dump the 62 foam letters and numbers into the bath to play! He instantly was sticking the letters and numbers on the tub, and telling me what they were. He then had fun singing the ABC song. I thought it was a great activity, and fun to work with him on letter and number recognition in the tub. Mr. Toddler didn’t even realize he was “learning.” I would happily recommend this toy to anyone with toddlers!
Alex Toys have several bath toys to choose from, please check out the website today!
The Rub A Dub ABC and 123 Bath Toys Set by Alex Toys is available online at Growing Tree Toys, for 11.95.
Thank you to Growing Tree Toys for providing me with this product to review!
Top 30 Preschool Songs CD from Kiboomu Review and Giveaway
Oct 15th
Closed
Children develop a love of music at an early age. I remember watching Mr. Toddler’s eyes light up, and he would smile as an infant when we would play music at home. Mr. Toddler is now in preschool, and learning fun songs, so when I was asked to review The Top 30 Preschool Songs CD from Kiboomu, I was excited to check it out.
This CD, which is available via iTunes, contains thirty tracks of child-friendly music that range from loved classics and nursery rhymes worked into more modern children’s melodies. Your child will definitely love this CD, and you will recognize several of the songs. Many of the songs are educational, and children will learn as they listen. I like The Days of the Week, I Love Colors, and One, Two, Buckle my Shoe. Mr. Toddler loved listening to some of his favorite children’s songs like The Wheels on the Bus, BINGO, If You’re Happy and You Know it, and his favorite, Ring Around the Rosie! We listen to the songs in the car, and he asks me repeatedly, to play his favorites over and over again. It is a great addition to our car rides to keep him occupied! Even when we are not listening to the CD, I find Mr. Toddler singing his favorite songs around the house.
The Top 30 Preschool Songs is just one of the many CDs that Kiboomu offers. The company focuses on providing age-appropriate music for children that is fun, and educational. Your little one will love any one of the CD’s offered by Kiboomu. Kiboomu also offers several fun iphone applications, check out these Kiboomu’s apps.
Buy It: To purchase The Top 30 Preschool Songs, check out iTunes today
GIVEAWAY: I have been given the opportunity to giveaway three copies of the iTunes CD to my readers!
Mandatory Entry:
Visit The Top 30 Preschool Songs and tell me what songs your littles love!
Extra entries:
1. Follow my blog.
2. Follow me on Networked Blogs
3. Like Life of A Modern Mom on Facebook
4. Follow Lifeofmodernmom on twitter
5. Tweet about this giveaway(may be done once daily)
6. Grab my button (3 entries)
7. Enter my other giveaways(2 entries)
8. Blog about this giveaway and link it back to me (5 entries)
Giveaway ends 10/29 at 1159 CST. Winner will be chosen by random.org, open to US and Canada.
Thanks to Kiboomu for providing me with the CD from iTunes to review. No other compensation was received, all opinions stated are my own.
Winners # 2: Lara
# 10 Tomi
# 18 Kristin
Congrats to my winners!
Parking Lot Numbers Game
Oct 14th
I have been working with Mr. Toddler on learning his numbers. And I came across this parking lot activity on Little Family Fun. This game is a great way to practice numbers, and better yet it incorporates transportation toys, which of course Mr. Toddler LOVES! He didn’t even realize it was educational. We had fun driving his trains around, and we worked on his number recognition as he parked his trains. I loved it because it was an easy activity to put together.
