10 Rainy Day Activities

As the summer draws to a close for most kids, they may have gotten bored with the same old indoor activities on rainy or sweltering days.  Here are some new ones provided by my friends at www.summernannyjobs.com, which is a wonderful website for college students looking for summer nanny jobs in exotic locations!

1. Create bubble fun in the sink (or tub!). Pull up a chair or a step stool to the sink for little ones to reach. Fill the sink half full with room temperature water and soap suds. Bring in spoons, cups, funnels, egg beaters, whisks, and other water friendly toys. The kids will enjoy playing in the water with all of the bubbles. If you are worried about her getting wet just throw on an apron or cut some holes in a garbage bag and put that over her clothes to protect them. Splashing in the bubbles is good, clean fun.
2. Fashion a sand box with rice instead of sand. Gather some toys that would work well for sifting and sorting. Throw in measuring spoons and measuring cups as well. Take a large plastic storage container and fill it about 1/3 full of rice. Most grocery stores sell the giant bags of rice for a few dollars. When the kids are done playing just snap the lid on and put it in the closet for the next rainy day.
3. Go on a treasure hunt. No matter what stage your kids are in they can enjoy a good treasure hunt. Use pictures for little ones who can’t read clues, clues for those kids that can read, and riddles for those kids that are older. This will take a little planning, but while the kids are watching a movie or playing a board game you can be creating the treasure hunt.
4. Play indoor Ping-Pong using paper fans instead of paddles. Blow up a small balloon and after the kids have created their own paddles out of a paper fan they can start blowing the balloon back and forth to their opponent. Make up rules like the first person to get the balloon past their opponent’s head gets a point. Players must only use the wind of the fan to move the balloon. No hands can touch the balloon or you lose a point.
5. Create a robot out of recycled materials. Using only items found around the house have the kids build their own robot. Have a contest to see who has the biggest robot, who has the most complicated robot, and whose robot does the coolest stuff. Print out certificates for these honors while the kids are making the robots. Once the robots are done encourage the kids to sit down and write a store about their robot and how it works and see if they can come up with a whole world where other robots live as well.
6. Play an indoor game of horse using wads of paper and a trash container. Just like in real horse the players each get a chance to shoot a basket from around the room. The youngest kid goes first and the older ones have to make the exact same shot if she makes her first shot. House rules can apply and the little kids can get two tries at the shot before getting a letter. If you miss a shot you get one letter and ultimately the person who spells H-O-R-S-E first loses. The last person in is the winner.
7. Roll out the marble is a game of speed and skill. Grab some paper towel or wrapping paper tubes and cut them in half. Make sure that everyone that is playing the game has an equal sized track. Line up the players in a line and give the first person in the line a marble. The object is to roll the marble down the track without touching it and pass it to the next person in line. Next, that player passes it on until the last person has to pass it on to the first person in line. If you drop the marble you are out and play starts at the beginning again.
8. Building a fort in the living room can keep the kids busy for hours. By using sofa cushions, blankets, sheets, chairs, and other items from around the house you can challenge your kids to build a fort in the living room. Fill the fort with cushy pillows and once the fort is complete you can climb in with them and read them a story.
9. Bake a batch of cookies or brownies with your kids. Kids enjoy spending time with you, and who doesn’t love a nice warm cookie and some milk on a cold rainy day? Use baking as a chance to talk about measurements and proportions, and cleanliness. Use your favorite recipe, and if you have a big kid ask them to read the recipe to the rest of you.
10. Turn up the music and have a dance party. Active kids will get a little restless if they can’t go outside to play. Here’s the solution: crank up some music and let everyone dance and sing until they have gotten their wiggles out.

Happy parenting!

Top Five Ways Teachers Can Save Money for Classroom Resources

           

You are already familiar with requesting freebees from local companies that are happy to help the schools. And you probably save a variety of items from egg cartons to L’eggs containers for craft projects. But in today’s economy, it becomes even more important to find other ways to save money so you can have more resources for your classroom. Here is the Letterman-style countdown:

5. Design group projects. When I was teaching, this was my favorite way to save time and materials while encouraging students to cooperate and arrange an order of values. With a group of three working together, you use 1/3 the materials and take 1/3 the time to grade their projects. (Note: I never used a group of four because in that situation, inevitably one student always ends up sitting back and watching the project unfold.)

4. Find retired or retiring teachers. Many times, the retirees are looking to downsize or clean their supply cabinets. Approach the retiree with the thought that their materials will live on through the next generation of students. I’m sure that teacher will be very glad to share what she has stockpiled over twenty or thirty years. (After she has retired, feel free to discard unusable materials and save what you need!)

3. Post a teacher’s wish list on your website. You do have a website, right? Where you post assignments and extra credit offerings? If not, start one. Then let parents know that the homework will be there for their review every night. You’ll be more likely to get finished homework in the next day. Part of your website should be a wish list with a deadline if you have one. Suppose you need 40 toilet paper rolls by February 4. Post that request on January 20 and watch the donations come in. Remember to post a thank you when you reach your quota. Don’t be afraid to ask for things that cost money. Maybe you need two dozen black sharpies and three packs of construction paper for a map project. Let your parents know what you need, how many, the deadline, and what the materials will be used for. Remember to post pictures of the finished products.

2. Write a grant. In my 25 years of teaching, I brought in over $25,000 for my classroom from assorted grants. The money is out there for special projects. Look at the government site: http://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/grantapps/index.html . Then click on Innovative Approaches to Literacy Program. This program deadline for 2012 has passed, but is available every year. You might apply for classroom sets of books for use in your classroom because they fill the need to provide hi-lo reading material for your reluctant readers. Grantmakers love this stuff! See how many creative grants you can write to gain materials.  

1. And the number one way for teachers to save money is: Combine curricula. You could get a book on rainbows to use during the science block, another one on responsibility because you find a number of your students lack this quality, and a third on suffixes for your literacy corner. Visit my new company, www.entelechyed.com to see how we have combined STEM topics with character education in a literacy platform for K-5 students.

Happy Teaching!

Crock Pot Meals for Families

During the busy school year, working moms like to make dinner in the morning and let it cook all day long in the slow cooker.  These links to yummy recipes come from my friends at www.gonannies.com...

1. Freebies 2 Deals You can find more than kid-friendly Crock-pot recipes on this blog. You’ll also learn a method to freeze the meals ahead of time so that all you have to do is get up in the morning and dump a bag into the Crock-pot before leaving for work.
2. Justfindit4u This blog posts new kid-friendly Crock-pot recipes every Wednesday.
3. Crockpot 365 Blogger Stephanie is cooking in her Crock-pot every day for a year. There are tons of recipes on this blog that appeal to families who have kids to please when it comes to meal time. She has 3 kids and will tell you what her kids thought of each recipe and you can choose which ones to try from there.
4. Cookingwithmykid Great recipes abound on this site, not all for the Crock-pot, but still well worth a look.
5. Mommyskitchen An awesome blog written by a mom who uses her Crock-pot a lot in summer and winter alike. Check out the many recipes found on this blog and get some ideas from her month of menus.
6. Just a pinch There are tons of recipes on this blog, and it’s got a great search feature on the side that allows you to search for kid-friendly recipes, Crock-pot recipes, chicken recipes and more.
7. Semi Homemade Mom Taking a little help from the store while still using her Crock-pot, this blogger has tons of great recipes with the family in mind.
8. The Farm Girl Great recipes and stories from this Idaho mom of 4. She has lots of Crock-pot recipes – just do a search for them on her blog.
9. A Busy Mom’s Slow Cooker Adventures This working mom found that she didn’t have time to get dinner on the table with all of the things she was involved in. So she turned to her Crock-pot for the answer and she is blogging about it.
10. Living a Changed Life You can eat healthy while cooking meals in the Crock-pot. Check out this blog from a lady who lost 90 pounds!
11. Ring Around the Rosies From the freezer to the Crock-pot, this blogger shows you how to make up 12 meals for the freezer during only a 2 hour naptime. Lots of ideas to save you time and money making healthy meals for your family.
12. Get off Your Butt and Bake Tons of recipes for the Crock-pot, just do a Crock-pot search to pull them up. Lots of other yummy recipes as well.
13. Get Crocked Did you think that Crock-pots were just for cooking dinner? Here is a blogger that not only has lots of dinner recipes, but she has lots of breakfast Crock-pot recipes too. How about Crock-pot cinnamon rolls? Mmmmm.
14. Moms with Crock-pots Find a recipe for green eggs and ham for the Crock-pot on this blog. Plus tons of cheesy Crock-pot potato recipes, as well as many others.
15. Family Fresh Meals Crock-pot recipes for everything from vegetarian stuffed peppers to Mexican Lasagna on this blog.
16. Crockin Girls These bloggers have even written and published their own cookbook! The blog is great because you can find recipes by main ingredient. If you’ve got some chicken you need to use up just click on chicken to pull up those recipes.
17. Six Sisters Stuff Just as you’d expect, there are 6 sisters writing this blog, and together they share Crock-pot recipes, kid’s crafts, and much more.
18. Crock-a-doodle-do This working mom with two kids tells other working moms how she gets dinner on the table every night using her Crock-pot. You can serve up dinner each night too with her help.
19. Chef in Training There are many interesting recipes on this blog, starting with soup and ending with Honey Sesame Chicken. Give them all a try.
20. Plain Chicken Not all of the recipes on this blog are Crock-pot recipes, but quite a few are, and the others are pretty delicious looking too. It’s worth a gander.
21. Weight Watchers Crock-pot Recipes Trying to get back your girlish figure after having kids? These recipes offer the perfect combination of both delicious and nutritious. And as an added bonus, they’re all simple to make too.
22. Tasty Planner This is a great place not only to find Crock-pot recipes, but also to put together menus and create grocery lists.
23. The Lady 8 Home An insightful blog about home life, chores, and Crock-pot recipes.
24. Practical-stewardship This blogger has a slow cooker Saturday routine so there are plenty of recipes to choose from on this site. There’s also little bits of other interesting stuff too.
25. Crystal and Co. The mommy resource is what this blogger claims to be. She has a killer recipe for Crock-pot mac and cheese that the kids will love, plus many others you can try.
26. The Mom Initiative 10 Sanity Saving Crock-pot recipes on this blog. Many other mom tips are here as well.
27. Blessed Beyond a Doubt This site has several Crock-pot recipes posted by this homeschooling mom. All recipes have been taste-tested by her kids and were favorites.
28. Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures Lynn shares recipes for Crock-pots meals that her family loves. She also has an allergy section if you need help with cooking for people with allergies.
29. Jamie Cooks it Up This blogger has posted more than a dozen different family-friendly Crock-pot recipes as well as other healthy recipes.
30. Crock-pot Ladies This isn’t just any site about Crock-pot recipes. There’s a recipe for making sweet tomato butter in the Crock-pot, Peach vanilla butter, blueberry angel food cake and many other sweet treats. If you are looking for unique recipes for your Crock-pot, this is the place to go.

Happy parenting!