Make a Statement!: Create a What a Statement! Mouse Pad That Celebrates Your State Pride!

Show off your state pride by creating a state mouse pad. It's sure to make quite a statement about your state of mind!  If you would like your preschooler to create this mouse pad, make sure all the items are cut beforehand or have your child use children's safety scissors to cut items out. Laminators should be used by adults only. 

To Make What a Statement! State Mouse Pad 

1. Select two color-coordinated scrapbook papers in different patterns. Cut 1st paper into a large square shape as desired by the surface area available for your mouse pad. Put other paper to the side. 
2. Choose two pieces of colorful cardstock. Cut one a little smaller than the largest square you just cut for the bottom of your mouse pad and glue on top of bottom scrapbook paper. Place your other piece of cardstock to the side. 
3. Find a large metallic piece of cardstock and cut slightly smaller than the piece of cardstock you had glued to the bottom piece of scrapbook paper. Glue the metallic piece of cardstock on top. 
4. Cut the other piece of cardstock you placed to the side in a slightly smaller square than the metallic cardstock you had glued on. Glue the cardstock on top o the metallic piece of cardstock. 
5. Use the other piece of color-coordinated scrapbook paper to create a top focal point. Cut the paper into a small square and turn on its side to create a diamond shape. Glue on top of metallic cardstock. 
6. Find a map of your state. The one I found was on the Rand-McNally site and cut around the state’s shape to give it dimension with scissors. 
7. Use antiquing medium to give your state a burnished, aged old-world look. 
8. Go on the Internet and find some of your states symbols. I found mine by using clipart from clker.com 
9. You can use stamp pads to create colorful embellishments on the state symbols you select, such as the peony (which is Indiana’s state flower) on the right-hand side of the mousepad. 
10. Find out your state’s nickname. Indiana is the Hoosier State and those that reside in Indiana are nicknamed Hoosiers. I used stickers to spell out the word Hoosier and the state name. Other ideas for possible titles include using your state’s admission to the union, a quote made by a famous person who was born in the state or pictures of places you love in the state. 
11. Laminate mousepad for durability. 
12. Place a non-skid pad on the back of the mouse pad. 

Preschool Pep Talk: Want the truth? Speak to a Preschooler

If you truly want to know the truth about something be sure to ask a preschooler. Preschoolers are known for their somewhat biting, less than complimentary, and ulterior-motive free viewpoint of the world. Their innocence and lack of  experience gives them an unskewed and natural look at life. 

Favorite Comments From Preschoolers 

Your name is not Miss Hatcher, your name is Miss “Beautiful” Hatcher. (Perfection, I tell you, perfection). 

I wish I were you. 

You have goofy sunglasses. I like them, but they are goofy. 

I like you, but I love my mom. (This is how it should be. Moms definitely rock.) 

Ponderings of a Preschool Teacher: Kiddie Kouture: Kid's Clothing that Screams Preschool Posh

As a preschool teacher, I often wonder why parents obsess over their children's clothing remaining pristine and utterly perfect after a long, hard day of preschool play. While I do feel smocks are adequate to reduce a great number of messy mistakes, I also feel that the childrens' worry over "keeping clean" limits their overall learning experience.

Getting down and dirty with play-doh, paint and glitter are just some of the wonderful things about childhood. These activities teach them about cause and effect, weight, measurement, spacial concepts, the bending of light within the color spectrum (glitter's prismatic effect), color mixing (creating tints, shades, primary, secondary and tertiary colors) and so on.

I say hooray to the Free Play Movement (Be sure to read Effort to Restore Children's Play Gains Momentum by Hilary Stout from The New York Times to learn more about this movement). Children deserve to smell the daisies, get a little dirty, and use their good old fashion imagination.

I've compiled a list of quality resale shops in the Chicagoland area that help dissuade the "Clean Clothing Epidemic" that is reaching monumental proportions.

These shops offer clean, slightly worn clothing, that are generally free of rips and tears. The majority of the items look brand new and the prices are so low that no one needs to worry if a dreaded grape juice or paint stain occurs.

I've also selected a few commercial department and discount stores that offer new, never worn merchandise.

Resale Shops

The Hope Chest La Grange, Illinois
See my review on my fashion blog: Inpurse-suit of Happiness

The Carousel Shop La Grange, Illinois

Saver's (Various Locations)

Small Change La Grange, Illinois

Goodwill  (Various location)

Salvation Army Stores  (Various Locations)


Department and Discount Stores 

Tuesday Morning (Various Locations)

T.J. Maxx (Various Locations)

Marshall's (Various Locations)

Target (Various Locations)

Put on a Happy Face: It's National Smile Power Day

Image Source: http://bitsofpositivity.com/

First off, Happy Father's Day! Dads everywhere are ripping open packages full of ugly ties and receiving lots of hugs and love on this very special day.

But guess what?.... there's another holiday that we can celebrate today. It's National Smile Power Day, a day when we show our pearly whites off to the world! A day of grinning solidarity. The best thing about smiling is that it is free and it is guaranteed to lift everyones' spirits!

Here are a few smile-worthy ways to make someone grin from ear to ear:

• Pay someone a compliment
• Give them a hug 
• Tell a joke 
• Make a funny face 

See below for more ways to have your family and friends grinning like the Cheshire Cat, including some fun crafts that kids can easily whip up in a flash!

Crafts and other smiley ideas from About.com
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/holidays/p/powersmileday.htm

Artsy Momma  Paper Plate Smiley Face Craft

All Kids Network Smile Button Greeting Card

Games and Activities
http://childfun.com/index.php/activity-themes/people-house-home/233-smile-activity-theme.html#sthash.yxbsnHbs.dpbs

Read your little wiggleworms a snappy, happy book about the joys of a smile!

Bobo's Smile by Seymour Chwast 

Smile, Lily! by Candace Fleming 

Smile! by Leigh Hodgkinson 

I Love It When You Smile by Sam McBratney 

"Smile," says little Crocodile : a Book About Good Habits by Jane Belk Moncure 

Smile by John A. Rowe 

Grandma's Smile by Randy Siegel 

Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein 

How Do You Make a Baby Smile? by Philemon Sturges 

Learn about the health benefits of smiling from About.com

http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongbeauty/tp/smiling.htm

Smiley Face Facts that will make you giddy from the Huffington Post 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/smiley-face-facts_n_4810431.html

Make sure to celebrate National Smile Power Day today and the whole year through!

Treasures In Your Attic: A Parent's Alphabet Poem Given To My Parents From A Past Teacher

The following poem, A Parent's Alphabet by Carol Hurst, was found while my mother was dodging dust bunnies during a major attic cleaning. It was hidden away in a box of old schoolwork and mementos that were pushed to a far corner of the room.

Just read the poem in order to learn the Parents' Alphabet.

A Parents’ Alphabet by Carol Hurst 

A is for arms, Arms that hold and arms that support and arms that push when they have to. 

B is for Books, which should abound in every home; and for Boredom, which can’t stay long if books are there. 

C is for the Children, and the Caring and the Crying which sometimes come together all at once. 

D is for Doors, which you sometimes have to help them open and through which they have to go someday never to return unchanged; and for Discipline and Dignity, which you owe every child. 

E is for Everything you hope for them; for the Easier you hope it will be for them; and for Education, which takes place at least as much at home as in school. 

F is for Foolish mistakes you make with your kids; and for the Freedom they must have to make their own. 

G is for Grandparents, who can add tradition and wisdom to children’s lives; and for Growth, which parents and kids can experience together. 

H is for Home, which is only sometimes a house where a child feels wanted and loved. 

I is for Ignorance, which darkens the world and is sometimes mistaken for innocence. 

J is for Jealousy, which creeps into so many relationships; and for Joy, which can push it out. 

K is for Kickball, and tag and hide-and-seek and all those other adult-less games kids need to play; and for Kissing, and hugging, which nobody does enough of. 

L is for Love, of course. 

M is for the Memory all parents have of what childhood was like for them; and for Money, which can never substitute for love no matter how lavishly given; and for Manners which make living easier. 

N is for Nurturing, the giving of love and care which only sometimes comes naturally. 

O is for Occupation, which takes so much of your time; and for the openness which exists when kids and parents really work at it. 

P is for Presents, which are easy to give; and for Presence, which is harder; and for Parenthood, which is only partly biological function; and for the Patience it takes to see you through it. 

Q is for Questions, which are so easy to turn off and so hard to turn back on. 

R is for Rest, which it seems never comes while the kids are young; and for Reward, which you get when you look in their faces or hold their hands. 

S is for Summer, which seems endless; and for School, where you ought to feel welcome; for the Stories you know but seldom tell; and for Shoulders, which sometimes are drenched with tears. 

T is for Time, which there never seems to be enough of; and for Teachers who try to understand. 

U is for the Upper hand, which you try so hard to keep; and for the Understanding that you try so hard to have. 

V is for the Virtue of overcoming all those roadblocks life seems to throw just when everything’s going well. 

W is for the Whys, which can drive you up the wall; and the Wisdom it takes to answer them. 

X is for the X-ray of the broken bone you both cried over; and for the Xtra love it takes to be a parent. 

Y is Yelling, which helps only temporarily, and for being Young which is only partly a matter of years. 

Z is for the end, the end of the alphabets, the end of child-hood, but never the end of love. 

Illinois Kiddie Car-Hops: Daytrips: Cantigny Park

Some of the best sites are right in your backyard! Whether it be in Idaho or Kalamazoo, fabulous family fun is right around the corner. Make sure to look at your local paper, t.v. channels, state visitors guides and websites to see all the fun your missing in your own ‘hood. 

In Illinois, I recently visited Cantigny Park, the former home and gardens of Robert McCormick of Tribune Newspaper fame. I was slightly disappointed, that due to a wedding, I was unable to tour his home and the gardens were lackluster because of a horrific winter for horticultural beauty, but all in all the trip was lovely. The weather was warm, the bugs were at bay and park visitors were happily strolling with strollers and tots in tow. Even the on-site war museum was packed with children enthralled by the military uniforms and chillingly life-like creations of landscapes scarred by wartime battles. 

Below you will find some of the photos I had taken of the gardens at Cantigny Park. So go ahead and investigate the local color and sites with your kids this summer. 

For more Illinois excursions, check out my past post Site Seeing: Cheap and Fun Things to Do With Kids in Chicagoland.

The Idea Garden Puts a Smile on Your Face! 

On the Beaches of Normandy: Picture Books About WWII to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

D-Day is a solemn day when American and other Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight the Nazi occupation. “More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitler’s crack troops.” (Source of quote: http://www.army.mil/d-day/). 

This picture book list commemorates the heroic and selfless acts of these soldiers, living and dead, whose names are lost in the passage of time. 

All the picture books pertain to events in the 1940’s and depict the struggles of living through one of the bloodiest and most terrifying moments of world history. 

My Daddy Was a Soldier by Deborah Kogan Ray (This was one of my favorite books to read when I was in elementary school). 

Nim and the War Effort by Milly Lee 

A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David Adler

The Greatest Skating Race: A WWII Story From the Netherlands by Louise Borden 

So Far From the Sea by Eve Bunting

The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse

Running With the Horses by Alison Lester 

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki

The Grand Mosque of Paris by Karen Gray Ruelle 

I Will Come Back for You: A Family in Hiding During WWII by Marisabina Russo

• My selections were based on a book list from LibraryThing. To view the entire bibliography, please click on the following link: http://www.librarything.com/list/400/all/Childrens-Books-about-World-War-II-1939-1945-

Please note that these books may be too graphic or emotionally overwhelming for preschoolers, but would perfectly suit older children such as those between the second and fourth grades. Since I have not personally paged through each of these books, I would suggest that you use your own judgement when choosing picture books based on your child’s developmental level. 

Site Seeing: Cheap and Fun Things to Do With Kids in Chicagoland

School's out and summers in! Time to explore your community through budget-savvy travels!

Has the economic downturn left you feeling "stuck" in a rut? Does it seem like everything fun for kids seems to break the bank? Check out the following Chicagoland gems that will leave your wallet thicker and your kids happier than ever before!

Library Storytimes and Programs: Libraries often offer a wealth of free programs to their patrons from storytimes, lego programs, puppet shows and even foreign language storytimes.  Don't worry  about the shushing of bespectacled librarians which is totally a thing of the past. So go ahead and give your local library a try!

Lincoln Park Zoo: A beautiful zoo nestled in downtown chic and happening Lincoln park that is just a car ride away.

 Historical Societies: Jump into history at local historical societies such as the Du Page County Historical Society in Wheaton. In July, you'll even be able to meet the lovable, mischievous monkey Curious George for free!  Visit: http://www.dupagemuseum.org/ for more details.

Park Districts: Generally most people think of park districts as places for sports and exercise enthusiasts to sweat out it out, but you'd be wrong! Park district's programs are a smorgasbord of kid-friendly programming that won't break your budget. From computer, sports and art programs the park district has you covered!

Forest Preserves: The Little Red Schoolhouse in Willow Springs, Illinois is one of the many fantastic forest preserves found in Cook County which offer a variety of classes for children and adults. Little ecologists will be mesmerized by their upcoming Spittlebug Nature Camp for 5-6 year-olds that costs a measly $25 or go native by creating a Native American Sand Painting. Make sure to take a trek to this naturalist's delight! Take a peek at the Forest Preserve's 2014 Summer Schedule for more enticing programs http://fpdcc.com/events/.

Cantigny (Wheaton, Illinois): Step back into time by visiting newspaper magnate Robert McCormick's estate, gardens and war museum that will leave you and your family breathless with glee! Events for children include a Vintage Baseball Match on June 8th and a bird walk for avid aviary experts 10 and over!  Vist http://www.cantigny.org/ to learn more.

Other Spellbinding Sites: 

Oak Lawn Children's Museum: http://cmoaklawn.org/

Naper Settlement: http://www.napersettlement.museum/ (Living History Museum in Naperville, Illinois)

*All Images from museum and zoo websites*