And I love art projects that:

• Are fun crafts for my kids
• Teach a lesson
• Make a memory
• Are something I want to keep

Handprint crafts are some of my favorite because it reminds me just how small they were at one point. So, combine that with a dinosaur kids craft about nighttime and daytime–and we’ve got a winner.

My kids are always thrilled to use paint. They love anything that could potentially destroy the house.

How to Make Dinosaur Handprints (And Dinosaur Footprints too!)

For this dinosaur kids craft, the supply list isn’t long:

• Acrylic paint (I personally use professional paint and avoid “washable” kids paint that isn’t really made for long-term value)
• Paintbrushes (large and small)
• Cardstock paper (I used black and parchment)
• Paper plates or bowls (to hold paint)
• Baby wipes

Start with Handprints (or Footprints)

Pro tip: practice having them keep their hands open before you paint. Mix colors to get a more textured/dynamic dino. Talk about how cold the paint feels and keep reminding them to keep their hands open.

We also talk a lot about not touching anything else. Tell them just to focus on holding their fingers open and not trying to touch the paper. You do all the work of placing their hand and gently pressing up each finger. Pull the hand straight up to get a clean handprint.

Wipe down immediately with wipes (and keep an old grocery sack on hand for the messy wipes. Wash hands after most of the paint is off. So far (fingers crossed), we’ve never made any messes with handprint art projects.

Add a Simple Prehistoric Background

Before adding details to the dinosaur handprints, I had the boys help me add backgrounds. We kept them very simple with a line of brown paint for the ground (and maybe a few green leaves). We added stars and moon to the black paper while we talked about night time, and we added the sun to the parchment when as we talked about day time.

My preschooler had to be more “accurate” with his sun, moon, stars and plants, but I gave my 2-year-old more freedom. Klay added lots of yellow “sun” to his and I love it.

Add the Details

I helped them add tails, legs, spines and teeth to their dinosaurs as needed. We waited until they were dry and then added faces with an extra-fine Sharpie marker.

They really loved this dinosaur print project and it went on the fridge as soon as it was dry and dated. (Pro tip: always add names and dates in the bottom corner because you will always forget. Always.)

Check out more adorable handprint and footprint projects!

Pin This Dinosaur Kids Craft for Later!

The post Dinosaur Kids Craft with Handprints and Footprints appeared first on MidKid Mama.

Check out my latest podcast on chalk walking with kids:

We spend an entire day sweating over 8’ squares in the middle of Main Street. It’s intensive and grueling. We might be a little crazy to have done it for 10 years.

And, yes…since I’m the only one pushing it, I realize I’m basically talking about myself in plural. But, technically, I’ve drug my husband and kids into it as well.

Anyways.

This year was a little different…and WE WON!

Check out this blog for a brief history of our (my) street drawings and tips for chalk walking yourself!

Chalk Walking Since ‘06

If you didn’t know, I have my degree in art. It’s been a passion since I was little, though that is a topic for another post. In college, I heard about our local chalk walk because a sponsored opportunity came up.

That first year, our piece was semi-terrible. There is a bit of a learning curve for working that big and working in chalk. But it was still fun and I came back the next year ready.

There are a few things that make chalk walks really fun. In our city, the chalk walk is part of our biggest festival and our biggest art-centered event. Thousands of artists flood our street to create eight foot blocks of art.

Tips for a Chalk Walk

If you’ve never worked on an eight foot square, you’d probably be surprised at just how much work it is and how many things you do differently than with a normal drawing. There are things you have to remember or you will either burn out, hate your final result or regret it the next day. Here are some things I’ve learned from more than a decade of experience.

1. Skew the Image

In our Trolls piece, for example, their heads had to get larger toward the top of the square. If you viewed it from straight above, it looked warped with a larger top and their legs tiny in comparison, but from the sidewalk it looked right.

To get the shapes right, I used a trick from art class: take a picture. For some reason, when you look at the picture of your picture, you get a new perspective and it highlights your proportion or shape flaws.

• We did this all the time with our still lives and paintings—especially if they were big or you had been working on them a while. It gives you fresh eyes somehow.
• Draw a quick outline sketch on your square in a mid-tone color (nothing that’s hard to cover over.
• Take a picture on your cell phone from where most viewers will be standing.
• If it looks warped (i.e. you want to get higher for a more accurate picture), adjust for the proportions by enlarging the top of the image.
• Take pictures as you go to make sure the proportions are staying correct.

2. Paint a Base Layer

Cement will literally eat your chalk. Using tempura paint will give you a base layer to work on for better color accuracy and the good of your paint. You can see those first two examples above from college that I overdid the paint and we didn’t use much chalk at all. Now, I’ve learned to put down a more basic base that helps conserve colors but allows for the chalk medium.

3. Tape Your Square

Use tape to create a clean edge for your square. You might not think it’s a big deal, but when you are done and you pull away the tape, you have a very clean edge that gives the square a professional look. I have used most types of tape and duct tape is my favorite because it holds the best despite the wet paint and dirt. Have someone help you if possible and you will speed up the process for an 8’ square.

4. Pack the Right Chalk Walk Supplies

Aside from the obvious chalk and paint, there are a number of things you will want to bring to an intensive chalk walk.

Bathroom towel: You might want to sit on something besides the concrete (which gets very hard and very hot) You may want to wipe your sweat. Pick old towels you don’t care about—we have “garage” towels for this kind of thing (the place towels go when they are no longer fit for the bathroom).

Wear real shoes: Not everyone does this, but I find it incredibly important to wear real shoes that I will be as comfortable as I can be on the hard pavement all day. I bring flip flops for as soon as I’m done and ready to just walk around.

Water: Our chalk walk supplies ice cold water and wash stations, but you almost can’t have enough. I also bring a gallon jug of water for rinsing, mixing and whatever, and a canteen of ice water for drinking. You never know when water will run out and it’s just not worth having that happen!

Snacks: Preferably ones that won’t make you thirsty. Fruit snacks, celery, cheese (in a lunch cooler) are all good picks. You won’t want to eat a lot if it’s sunny, but you should take a few breaks.

A cart: Or, in my case, I’ve taken a stroller. It’s super helpful when you can roll all your stuff to your spot from wherever you finally found for free parking. I’m not sure what I’ll do next year when I have no strollers…not sure I’m ready to drag out a Radio Flyer, but it might come to that.

SUNSCREEN: I can’t stress this enough. Layer it on. Multiple times in the day. You will still get burned (especially if you are as white as me). My husband and kids have so far, never burned.

Printed reference images: It is SO hard to really see your phone in the sun. Do yourself a huge favor and print out a page of reference images for whatever you are making. All the cool kids do it. You can print it pretty cheap somewhere like Fed Ex Office if you don’t have a color printer. Take two copies in case you spill paint, or water, or smear chalk dust on one. Pin it down with a bottle of paint or box of chalk because it will always try to blow away from you no matter how dead and sweltering the air.

Paper towels: Take a whole roll. They are helpful for smearing chalk to preserve your fingers (and you NEED to preserve those fingers because they will go raw).

Shade: The jury is out on this one for me. Some chalk walkers bring their own tents, but I’m usually setting up by myself and don’t want the hassle. It would be awesome to have protection from the abusive sun, but I’ve also seen peoples tents blowing down the street when a quick wind picked up. And at a certain point, the sun will move to where the tent isn’t helpful to anyone but your neighbor (though it does a nice job during high noon).

Extra pastels: Save all your pastels that you don’t use so you have more for the next year. I have a whole box of pastels and I reorganize them after every chalk walk to condense my boxes and throw away any tiny nubs.

5. Start Ahead of Time

If you are putting down paint (which I highly recommend), then you will need to give it time to dry. This doesn’t take long, but you waste precious cool early morning hours if you do it the day of the event. If at all possible, go as soon as they give away the squares (ours allow us on the squares the Friday night before the Saturday chalk walk) and get the paint layer done.

If you are doing really big characters (like our Pikachu), you will need to do your quick sketch and paint the different sections accordingly to save time and resources. We could save a lot of yellow (Pikachu) by painting his whole shape yellow. The smaller characters could just be done on white. For the mermaid and Cinderella, I painted the background blue to save on the chalk too. Do big sections of color, not the whole thing white, if you want to save on chalk.

6. Create Something Recognizable

One of the most irritating questions you will hear over and over during the blistering hot experience is: “What is that????”

Now, it isn’t really the fault of the people passing by…they are just wandering around and talking about the art. But, in my opinion, it’s repetitive, semi-distracting and makes you feel like you need to tell them.

On the flip side, when they can immediately tell what it is, you get to hear how much they like it.

Maybe you don’t care.  And that’s cool too. Part of the experience for me is trying to get it to where most people can enjoy it for as much of the day as possible. I’ve realized this makes the whole process even more enjoyable.

Main character first: This feels so counter-intuitive to how I do art. Normally everything leads up to the focal point for me. But, start with the character sketch. When you like the proportions start detailing that character before you build in the background much at all. It also gives you an important boost to get something done before it gets too hot.

Start early: For our chalk walk, the bulk of people come around 10am-1pm. But many artists aren’t starting until 9! I try to get there early and I try to get my character pretty close to done before most people are walking through. Again, totally so I can hear the “ooh” and “ahh” over “Huh???” So, vanity purposes only…well, that and it’s cooler until around 10 anyways.

FACE THE RIGHT DIRECTION: Most people are walking on one side (the side walk side), but so many face toward the center of the street. Face where people are walking and they’ll be more captivated.

Don’t leave your reference paper out: Okay, totally differences of opinion here…I do NOT like to feel like I’m being compared to the reference I’m using. Some people tape a big version to the bottom of their square so passers can see it. I’m guessing it’s definitely so people won’t keep asking what they are working on. But, then you get to hear them mumbling about if you are off or not.

Choose something identifiable: It doesn’t have to be a cartoon character—it could be a beautiful country scene, animal, logo or artwork. People love pop culture references and movies, though. They get excited when they know what you are working on. Especially the kids. And, as much as you don’t turn around (there are just too many in the constant flow), it’s really neat to hear a little girl scream, “MOMMY, ARIEL! SHE’S SO PRETTY! AND FLOUNDER! OOH POKEMON!” and that happens a lot. I appreciate recognizable characters even more now that my own kids are that way. As I’ll share, they weren’t super jazzed by my latest square in tribute to Ernie Barnes).

My Little Mermaid square is a good example of what I’m talking about here. I wanted to reference the fact that Disney had just announced the live action Ariel will be played by Halle Bailey. We were excited about it, but I didn’t want her to be mistaken for “just some mermaid” because she isn’t the traditional Disney Ariel yet (and the movie itself hadn’t been made).

So, to help with the recognition and validation factor, I drew Flounder and Sebastian. So, clearly I didn’t draw Ariel’s face wrong because I know how to draw a character. It was a popular square and I got mostly positive feedback from people passing by.

Ooh and did you notice Goldeen in the corner? Yep, we had a floater come over from our neighboring Pokemon square, which only the truest of Pokemon nerds caught.

And the Pokemon square was another example of recognition because everyone knew Pikachu, most saw Charmander or Squirtle, and only a few knew background characters, like Meowth, Psyduck, Muchlax, Haunter and Wobbuffet. So it combined easy recognition with that deeper layer for the true fans.

7. Don’t Really Take a Break Until the End

It is super tempting to stop and walk around or go take a break. Take short breaks, but know it’s going to be a lot harder to come back. Once you go into the air conditioning, it’s basically over.

Stand up and stretch your back or sit down to give your feet a break, but don’t get too comfy. When it’s all over, you will have plenty of break time. The cold shower might be the best part of the day.

Chalk Walking with Kids

The big change came with the kids. There were a couple of summers where I had a tiny baby or was too pregnant to do it. But I missed it.

But, taking kids is hard. They don’t last nearly as long (heck, I barely last), and they either do their own thing or need to be told every step. I really wanted them to be able to participate so they would learn:

• Focus: it’s hard to stay focused on something big for so long
• Flexibility: You never know what the weather will be like. Last year, ours got washed away. This year, we did a virtual version. They have expectations, but they learn to adapt.
• Letting go: It’s hard to spend so much time on something and watch it get destroyed in the next day or two. It’s a great way for them to learn that we can spend a lot of time and effort on something and not have to keep it.
• Family Bond: We do this as a whole family (even including extended family!). So it has become a really fun tradition and the kids look forward to it. This year Kniya told me she would “never forget doing it on The Main Street.”

I could not do this without my MiL, FiL and husband, though. There is just no way I could do something very complicated if I had them all the whole time. Most years, we all go get the square(s), tape and paint the background on Friday night. Then, Saturday morning I get up early and leave to start.

Knick’s parents come to help with the kids while I’m free and clear at the chalk walk. A little after noon, the bring the kids over so they can help. Last year I had their square ready!

And, while they are helping, the other adults watch the babies (so far there’s always been at least one too young to help) and Knick helps the kids with their coloring. I’m usually still working on a different part (last year I was working on Ariel’s background).

This year it was a bit different because it was virtual. We still packed up and headed over to my aunt’s house to work in her driveway. The kids were not focused or into it! Ha. But they had a blast in her yard. And, when Knick came later with Klay, he helped me smooth in some backgrounds and got the kids to help me finish up.

Definitely not my best squares ever, but for four, I felt like it went well. And technically, my square was just the huge giraffe.

A Tribute to a Master

Normally, I don’t do the categories. I just get too competitive.

They usually aren’t really things I would naturally work on and I’d hate to work extremely hard all day on something I picked for a category with the sole purpose of winning. I tell my kids that’s not the point of the chalk walk at all. I’m not sure I’ve ever really entered unless I happened to do one that fits a category. I know in more than 10 years of chalk walks, I’ve never won before!

But, this year, after finishing four, I saw the category I couldn’t pass up.

I was preparing to submit my work for the virtual online gallery, when I noticed “Olympics” was one of the categories. Ernie Barnes was my favorite artist for a long time and has been one of my biggest influences. His fluid and powerful figures are not fake, but their realism is exaggerated. I was drawn to the elongation and how he seemed to capture the feeling of the moment.

In college, I had an assignment to contact a professional artist and interview them. We were supposed to try and pick someone famous and they had to be living (so we could actually interview them). I sent out requests to Kadir Nelson and Ernie Barnes.

Kadir Nelson emailed me back and was willing to answer my questions via email. Ernie Barnes’ assistant responded by passing me to another assistant. I’m not sure who I talked to or how many layers, but I finally convinced them that I had read every book on him (I owned them!) and just really wanted to talk to him. They had me send over a list of questions and told me I could call at a specified time for a 10-minute interview.

To say I was over the moon is an understatement. I floated on clouds.

The interview with Mr. Barnes started off a little stiff. He seemed unsure of why I wanted to talk to him or what we would have in common. I had read how much he didn’t like the more abstract and modern forms of art. I led with how I shared his perspective. As soon as I told him that, he opened up like a fire hose and told me so much. How he would take in a scene and just feel the rhythm before attempting any shapes. How important the feelings conveyed were and not just realism. I respected the 10-minute limit, as much as I could have listened to him talk for hours.

It is the 16^th century master painter Michelangelo in whom Barnes can be said to have found his strongest influence both spiritually and philosophically. Michelangelo’s figures of heroic proportion and spiritual nobility are far removed from the heretofore classical concepts of bodily movement and heft. Barnes’ symbols, like Michelangelo’s, derive their power from portraying the convolutions of the soul through the contortions of movement.

(Preface by Joan D’Arcy for From Pads to Pallets Ernie Barnes)

He was the 1984 official Olympic artist. This was a big deal, considering he grew up during Jim Crowe laws when he didn’t have access to museums and finding famous artists as inspiration. When he asked about where he could find “paintings by Negro artists” as a senior high school student on an art trip, the museum docent responded, “Your people don’t express themselves that way.”

He went on to become an NFL player before having the connections to start opening doors for his art! After retiring, he connected with NFL owners before eventually picking up commissions and getting a gallery opening.

He so influenced my own style, that I had to do a tribute.

So, during nap time, I grabbed my pastel box and got to work on a pavement section in our back yard during nap time. When my kids saw it, they were highly disappointed it wasn’t a Mickey Mouse square. But that’s okay. I did this one for myself.

I updated the jerseys a bit and I swapped out his lead runner for a Ussain Bolt reference. And I did it in my own style, which is a little softer.

Two days later it all washed away.

The post Participating in a Virtual Chalk Walk with My Kids appeared first on MidKid Mama.

So far, I’ve done two years of pre-k and one year of kindergarten at home before sending my oldest to school at the age of six. Whether you want to keep homeschooling or not, getting in at least a couple of early years at home has been great from my perspective. Not only does it help prepare them for the classroom and teach them to love learning, it doesn’t push them to focus too hard too fast.

Reasons for Schooling Early Years at Home

Not everyone is able to school at home. For various reasons (work requirements, health, etc.) you might not have the option, so schooling at home is not for everyone. But for the vast majority, holding off kids for school until age six has shown to provide better results.

Newer studies have shown that holding kids off for just one year (until age six for kindergarten) has resulted in a 73% increase on test scores for hyperactivity and inattention over the next four years. Kids need time to explore and play.

I’ve posted before about giving your kids time to be bored. Kids need a time for structured and social play, just as much as they need a time to explore on their own without many restrictions or distractions. They get exhausted by school that can be done simply over the course of everyday life.

Don’t Get Overwhelmed with Early Education at Home

Before I list ten ways to do education at home, I want to stress that this shouldn’t be overwhelming. At age 2-6, school should be easy and mostly natural. There are a lot of resources online, but there is also a lot of pressure on sites like Pinterest (and even blogs like my own). Focus on the small, daily moments that will build into larger learning skills.

It can be really fun to do extra, in-depth activities, but don’t feel like that needs to be an everyday thing. It takes baby steps to learn to run—let your kid take baby steps with early education by starting slow and steady. Anyone can teach early education to their kids. Here are ten great ways to work on early learning topics at home.

10 Ways to do Early Learning at Home

Whether you are working with a preschooler or kindergartener, you can use these simple tips to work on education at home. Give your kids a kickstart to learning without sacrificing their free time for playing and exploring.

1. Appreciate the Art of the Scribble

I’ve always loved teaching early art education and I can’t stress how important scribbling is. Kids need to be able to confidently explore their control of the pencil. Make sure your child has time to scribble until he or she developmentally is ready for moving towards representational drawing.

Encourage your child by expressing how good the lines or shapes are, not pushing them to represent shapes or people before they are ready. Scribbling is the first stage to writing and drawing. Your child will likely scribble into age three, though all kids are different. You will know when your child is trying, verses when he or she is stabbing the paper with a pencil and not putting any effort into it. Focus on the expression and focus, not the end result for early learners.

There may be times you focus on other forms of progress, like coloring in the lines or creating letters—if you feel your child is ready, but there should be plenty of time for them to express themselves on paper without much restriction or critique.

2. Teach in the Car

One of the biggest potential time wasters in our life is the car. Even though we aren’t in there that much, it can also be one of your biggest assets as an early educational resource. The car is a time where you are kind of stuck and so it can make the perfect place for learning.

Turn down the radio and keep devices out of your kids’ hands…instead, sing songs, find letters on signs, count to 20, talk about clouds, talk about where things come from, tell stories…you get the idea. There is so much you can do and talk about in the car. The best part? Your kids won’t notice it’s “school” and you will be able to multi-task your time. This is one of the easiest places to practice “boring” things, like counting and sounding out words for early spelling.

3. Get Simple Workbooks

The dollar spot at Target is one of the many places that offer simple workbooks for a very low price. With early learning, expensive textbooks or curriculum aren’t needed. Look for books that focus on one skill per page and make it clear for a focused learning opportunity. Doing a workbook page every once in a while (once or twice a week is what I shoot for) will help work on focused desk learning.

4. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Don’t underestimate the amount of repetition kids need to learn new things. Songs and fun picture books are a great way to repeat skills until they are learned without much effort. Most parents practice the ABCs song with their kids, but there are also songs for the seasons, rhyming books on numbers and more. By repeating songs, spellings, sounds and more, you will slowly move your child towards remembering those things without thinking about them.

5. Simple Educational Videos

I’m not a huge fan of TV or devices for kids, but they do offer a useful tool for specific things. YouTube has videos that can be put on repeat several times while you make breakfast or drink your coffee. I really like videos that focus on one sole thing, like one letter or number. Sesame Street has some great clips of just one letter. I also love the sole-letter videos from HobyKidsTV like this one:

6. Tracing Practice is Your Friend

It’s so easy to draw your child’s name with yellow marker on a paper and have him or her trace it with a pencil. Letters, numbers and simple words can easily be traced to work on handwriting and practice recognition. These are the moments where you will want to focus on them doing the assignment “correctly” before adding any scribbles or flair.

While I want them to have plenty of time for creativity and expression, it’s really good to have times where they have to do it “the teacher’s way” too. It will help them get better at following instructions, but more importantly, it will help them try things they wouldn’t naturally do on their own.

7. Find Books for Struggle Topics

You will notice at different times, different things are harder for your kid to remember than others. I’ve had kids good at numbers and struggle to remember or recognize letters. Other kids might be great with school topics, but struggle with a partial phobia (I had two that hated bugs). Get fun books on topics that will challenge your kids.

There are great books on any topic you need to cover. Here is a list of my favorite picture books for early education. Before buying a book, I always find page examples online or someone reading it on YouTube to make sure it has good pictures, is a good storyline and is fun to read. There is nothing worse than a cute book that is so boring you dread reading it.

8. Teach Nursery Rhymes

It can be easy to forget about the fun games and songs that are often taught in nursery school. Songs like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or rhymes like Humpty Dumpty are childhood favorites that have been around for generations. The songs and rhymes may seem pointless, but the rhyming, vocabulary and cultural point of reference are all good reasons to include them. While you might have to look up some words, this is ready-made content you can easily pull out for learning opportunities (and, remember, the kids will need lots of repetition to remember).

9. Explore Beyond the Textbooks

Probably the thing I love most about homeschooling is the opportunity to go way beyond the textbooks with your kids. Spend time gardening, cooking, exploring nature, building things, making music and more. Even household chores are a great learning experience. Let your kids learn by doing new things. Important skills, like gardening or sewing, should be passed to the next generation and homeschooling gives you plenty of time to focus on those things you find important.

10. Focus on Social Skills

Your kids are going to interact with people all day long. How they talk to adults at the grocery store can be a great time to teach them about how to talk to strangers without being rude, giving away too much information or getting too comfortable. You will want to start teaching them privacy at a young age, especially about their own bodies. Another issue you will likely run into is either tattling or not knowing how to stand up to other kids. This is a great time to teach your kids how to clearly tell another kid not to hit/take their toy/keep poking them and then tell an adult if the other kid persists. Use these opportunities to also teach your kids about bullying and help them learn empathy.

Each of these ten ideas are things you can easily incorporate into your daily life without a lot of expense or pressure. School at home can be fun and easy!

The post Pre-K at Home: 10 Easy Ideas for Early Education appeared first on MidKid Mama.

Making a Valentine’s Day Chain

Start by cutting strips of paper. I picked red, pink and lavendar paper. All of the strips were cut quickly at about 1″ thick and across the short side of the paper. We did three types of rings:

Collage: I picked out red, pink and white tissue paper from my stash and cut it into various squares and triangles. I gave each kid a whole sheet of paper, then the kids used glue and a paint brush to paint their papers and stick on the tissue paper. When they were done and dried, we cut the strips for the rings.

Markers: I only let the kids use pink, purple and red markers. It felt very limiting to my son (who loves black), but it can be a fun challenge for some projects. Limiting the colors made these look a little more Valentinesy and helped the chain look cohesive.

Stickers: I grabbed a few sheets of fun hearts and love-themed stickers. They were only allowed to use a few per strip and only on certain strips (otherwise everything would have been all stickers).

Assembling the Valentine’s Day Paper Chain

I tried to mix up the colors and get a somewhat even amount of each style. Once we had the strips done, we just created interlocking circles, securing the ends with clear tape.

It took a bit to get it all put together, but it is one of those projects that will last for a long time if cared for. We started it two years ago and made it longer this year. It has so many cute illustrations and misspelled words. I love it.

Creating Memorable Holiday Decor

I thought about adding dates and names for who did what when, but I decided against it. While I name and date all their paper artwork, I wanted this to just be more of a group project.

I absolutely love seasonal crafts that showcase a child’s abilities/stage/creativity while being useful. So many of their amazing creations on paper get hung on the fridge for a while and then stored in a big box for the future. But having these kinds of projects means pulling out their amazing work every year for a purpose (decorating the house). It makes things fun and personalized, while creating memories.

The post Valentine’s Day Kids Craft: Sweet Link Chain appeared first on MidKid Mama.

“This post on getting green foods into your baby’s diet has been sponsored by Gerber. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

As a parent, you want your kid to eat plenty of green things and have a balanced diet. But babies often have an opinion about food as well. Out of our four kids, two did not like anything green when they first started trying out foods. Sometimes as a parent, you have to be strategic in order to get green foods into a baby’s diet. The NEW Gerber^® Lil’ Mixers are one way I can help my son expand his taste pallet.

Getting in the Green Foods

The first food I usually tried introducing to my babies after rice cereal was peas. Sweet potatoes and fruits are usually easier for babies to like, so the doctor recommended waiting to introduce those sweeter tastes until the baby ate veggies. Both Klay and Kaleb absolutely hated peas, green beans, spinach, or anything that even looked a tad bit brown (the color of orange baby food when it is mixed with anything green). So, I started mixing together just a couple of the 1^st Foods^® together. I might take peas and add just a spoonful to a container of sweet potatoes.

I’ve also made my own green veggie powder to mix into sweet potatoes but with Gerber, I can get this done quickly. Gerber 2^nd Foods^® made this mix and transition really easy because they often mix those flavors themselves. When they add in the green foods, the baby still tastes the sweeter veggie or fruit paired with it. Klay’s favorites were:

• Sweet Potato, Mango, Kale
• Apple, Avocado
• Carrot, Sweet Potato, Pea

Eventually, we even worked our way up to peas, carrots, and spinach (which were more green than he could handle at first).

Working Up to Food Texture (While Still Getting in Green Foods!)

Many kids struggle with texture, too. According to one study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and looking at the eating habits of infants, 19% of 4- to 6-month-olds are picky eaters. That number jumps to 50% for 19- to 24-month-olds and only gets worse through toddlerhood. The dislike of vegetables starts early and often persists through childhood.

To combat this, many professionals encourage parents to avoid the “easy” solutions of the common children’s food menu (chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, etc.) and opt for as many nutrition-focused meals as possible. While the occasional “children’s meal” is okay, it is the consistent exposure to new tastes and textures that helps them develop a diverse palette. But, it can be really hard not to turn to the quick foods you know your baby likes.

Gerber does a really good job of helping babies move from the blended tastes to experiencing new textures by remixing mealtime with the Lil’ Mixers. There are 8 combinations inspired by homemade tastes with no artificial colors or ingredients.

They are so easy, and I know he will get nutrition in every bite! Lil’ crisp? Lotta crisp! Add texture your way. The texture is in a separate container, so you can custom mix the amount you want in the food (the food isn’t wasted if your baby isn’t feeling the extra texture!). Plus, some textures are best kept dry to keep them from getting mushy from being premixed in the food.

Klay is a huge fan. They offer the flavor of other Stage 2 foods, but with an additional texture for toddlers like him that are starting to outgrow purees.

You can explore the whole range of Lil’ Mixers by heading to Walmart and using this Ibotta offer! I go to Walmart for a convenient one-stop shop. We grabbed some of these while the auto center replaced the battery on our van. They are located in the baby food aisle, on the end of the Gerber food section.

Offering Green Foods as Snacks

Another tip is to make healthy foods (especially vegetables) the only option for snack time. Just offer whatever vegetable you are cutting up for dinner. If your kids are at all like mine, they will actually start to enjoy raw green beans, sweet peppers, celery, and carrots.

For babies, this can be difficult because they are hungry and don’t fully understand dinner is right around the corner. Gerber also has all kinds of snacks, like Veggie Melts^® snacks or veggie-filled granola bars, that even make snack time nutritious.

Once they are old enough to understand they can either eat the fresh vegetable snack offered or wait for dinner (around 2.5 or 3), it gets easier to make the vegetables an exciting treat. And they learn from each other. Klay has been more willing to gnaw on a green bean when he sees the older kids think it’s cool.

Keep offering the green foods and textures. Use Gerber to help with the transition. Over time, they will become familiar and your child won’t be as limited with taste. Use Gerber to help with the transition. Over time, they will become familiar and your child won’t be as limited with taste.

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I was recently included in an article on Thrive Global with several other bloggers collaborating to come up with 100 Ways to Make Someone Smile from Mom Bloggers. I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about 10 easy and inexpensive ways you can smile with your kids.

1. Record Everyday Moments and Activities

Set up a tripod and read your kids their favorite book or sing a song with them on a selfie video with a timer. Right now it might feel silly, but you will cherish those memories of everyday moments. If you are the mom behind the camera, you probably aren’t in enough of the family memories.

And, please, don’t let your weight or self-esteem stop you. Even if you feel a little uncomfortable, you will one day look back and be glad you are at least pictured as part of the activities. Your kids love you the way you are, so don’t deprive them of having photo and video memories to cherish. More than likely, you will cherish the “dull” everyday moments being captured more than the occasional birthday or sporting event video.

2. Add Their Names to a Familiar Story

Do you have a favorite book? Read it, changing one of the character’s names to their own without any warning. They will likely find this hilarious. You might even change a few parts to better fit their own personality, habits or possessions. Or you can also change up familiar songs if you are quick on your feet like that.

3. Celebrate the National Day

Did you know October 24^th is National Bologna Day and October 25^th is National Breadstick Day and National Frankenstein Day, among other things? Each day has a handful of somewhat unknown holidays that you can find fun ways to bring to light. Check out what today’s National Day is by looking at the National Day Calendar. Then have a blast finding the most ridiculous one and celebrating it!

4. Try a Balancing Contest

One foot? No problem! Try tossing a small ball up at the same time, or reaching your foot back to hip height with a straight leg. Improving your balance can help with core stability and the small exercise will even help boost your mood by getting the blood flowing. More than likely, you will find it easy to crack a smile as your watch your little try to balance on wiggly legs.

5. Make a Fun Plate

Mix up lunch or dinner a bit by making a face with the food! From bananas to sandwich triangles, you can start with the mouth. Then add fruits or veggies to make eyes. Or go the IHOP route and use whip cream and a few chocolate chips on a pancake for a fun and easy pancake. This can be as much fun to make as it is to eat.

Or, a simpler spin on this could be to just make a whip cream “worm” on their finger as a really fun and silly snack! A restaurant did this once while we were on a vacation and it was a hit for everyone from the small kids up to the teens.

6. Make Snacks or Treats to Share

Have your kids help you make cookies, soap, bath salts, bread or really anything they can take to share with their teacher, neighbors, coach, etc. Put it in a cute bag (there are usually several options in the baking isle) and help them deliver it with a small note. This one may be a bit more in-depth, but my kids love doing things like this for other people.

7. Take a Toddler Survey

Got small kids? For children ages 2-6 (maybe even older!), a survey can result in some really funny answers worth recording. Share them to Facebook or write them down in a journal to laugh over later too. Here is one I did with my 3-year-old and the outcome was pretty funny:

**TODDLER INTERVIEW – No coaching..**

• What’s your name?
• How old are you?
• How old is your mommy?
• What’s your favorite color?
• What’s your favorite food?
• Who’s your best friend?
• What’s your favorite song?  
• What do you like to watch on tv?
• What’s your favorite animal?
• What are you scared of?
• What makes you happy?
• Where’s your favorite place to go
• What do want to be when you grow up?
• What is love?
• Who loves you the most?

8. Recreate Old Memories

Have slightly older kids (3+)? Try remaking an older picture with a fun memory. Whether your picture is from one year ago or 10, try to get in the same position and make the same faces as the original picture. Hopefully you will smile with your kids and get some fun comparison memories as well out of this silly shoot. The more absurd the original picture, the better!

9. Go Outside and Collect Something

Leaves? Flowers? Bugs? Sticks? Rocks? Whatever is outside and in-season, go collect it. Explore your surroundings and then compare what you’ve found. You can use crayons to stencil leaves onto paper, trace rocks and turn them into faces, paint on rocks, use a magnifying glass to examine bugs/leaves/flowers and so much more.

10. Give a Ridiculous Answer

If you are a slightly frazzled mother like me, then it might also be due to kids asking silly things 24-7 and frying all of your brain cells. I have a rule that a ridiculous question gets a ridiculous answer. Most of the time, this leads to smiles instead of irritation or exasperation. It not only helps them to develop a sense of humor, but it also helps them to think about what they are asking and if the answer is something they already know.

“Are you going to make us lunch?” My three-year-old asks. “Nope,” I reply. “Never again. I decided we don’t need ANY more food. Ever.”

If they look concerned I giggle and tell them that was a silly question. They catch on quick. If it isn’t done in a mean-spirited way (really trying to trick them and get a rise out of them), it can be a lot of fun. Smile with your kids and teach them at the same time!

Kid watches me drop my phone and asks immediately, “Did you DROP your PHONE??” Me: “Nope, it flew out of my hands because it yearns for freedom.”

The more ridiculous the answer, the more funny I find it deep in my soul. An extra five points if you can keep a dead straight face while responding.

Smiling is Free

You might not always feel like smiling, and that’s okay. But look for reasons to create joy and smile with your kids on a daily basis. Happiness is good for you on a mental and physical level. The more we can find reasons to smile, the better we are going to feel. You don’t need to go spend money or do something elaborate to build good memories with your family.

The post 10 Easy Ways to Smile with Your Kids appeared first on MidKid Mama.

When I taught at a local preschool, daily repeating nursery rhymes and songs way to teach the kids these songs. Can you imagine growing up and somehow not really knowing how Ring Around the Rosie went or the Humpty Dumpty Rhyme? As a homeschooling parent, your kids aren’t going to hear these unless you include them in the curriculum.

Kids love to be involved, so making this an interactive time in your school day will make it really fun. This is an opportunity to get up from the table or desk and play a very simple kind of game.

The Nursey Rhyme Cube

I made my own cube because I love illustration. This is a pretty complicated project, but if you are up for it, you can look up instructions on how to make a paper cube (or wrap paper around a wooden block) and illustrate each side. For my first song cube I chose:

• The Muffin Man
• Six Little Ducks
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Old Mac Donald
• Twinkle Twinkle
• Three Blind Mice

These are all old nursery rhyme songs I felt were important for the kids to know. I also have a learning song cube and a nursery rhyme poem cube. I think the pictures help get the kids thinking about the songs they are singing, but they aren’t necessary.

If you don’t want to make a visual cube, you can just write down your list of 6 songs on a paper (maybe add some clipart from online or marker doodles to illustrate the different songs or poems) and use a dice.

Pre-K or Kindergarten Nursery Rhyme Game

The game is very simple. Each kid rolls the block or die and the whole group sings or recites the rhyme landed on. If it is a newer rhyme and the kids don’t know the words, repeat it a second time. This works with just one student or several. In a full classroom, it can be considered a daily task that kids rotate turns doing.

Adding on to the Game

You can take this another step further by acting out or drawing the nursery rhymes. Kids can dress up and pretend to be the cow jumping over the moon or the three blind mice running around. We rolled for a nursery rhyme to illustrate and got Old Mac Donald. The kids then created their own versions of the farm, Old Mac Donald and some of his animals.

For this project, I encouraged them not to look at the picture from the cube, but to make their own farm, farmer and animals. There is no right or wrong way for kids to draw, as long as they are trying. We focus on doing our best and then not feeling like it needs to be perfect. I am always impressed with what they can do for their ages.

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First we ran through the letter names just to make sure she remembered all of them. Then we did the sounds. Kniya is going to be going to Kindergarten this year, even though she really did it last year at home. We wanted her to be 18 when she graduates and not 17, though with her June birthday, it’s kind of a grey area.

Back to School Spelling Game for Kindergarten or First Grade

After running through the names and sounds I had her make a word with the cards. This was easy enough, but to make it harder I had her keep making words with the remaining letters. Starting with a vowel and consonant of her choice, she would sound them together and see what should be added in front or behind to make it a word. It was tricky, but she got quite a few words.

We will be doing this a few more times and see what else she comes up with! What are your favorite back-to-school games?

The post Alphabet Flash Card Game for Kindergarten or First Grade appeared first on MidKid Mama.

Here are three really fun and quirky books on friendship that don’t fit the traditional mold of two best friends hanging out. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories are thoughtful in different ways. Then, check out the bottom for five classic friendship stories you will want to have in your library.

*Please note all Amazon links are part of the Amazon Affiliate program and I can make a small commission for purchases through my links. All book choices and opinions are my own.*

3 Quirky Books on Friendship

1. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

This backwards fairy tale is about three close siblings that have to build smart to outwit a Big Bad Pig. Not only do they meet friends who help them out along the way, they work well together (yay for a sibling win!). Not to give any spoilers away, but even the bully has a slight change of heart when the wolves change up their tactics. Funny story and beautiful illustrations for this friendship tale.

2. Mother Bruce

This is the first book in the newer Bruce series and I completely got sucked in by the fabulous illustrations. What is Bruce going to do when his breakfast hatches? Ugh. He has to put up with some pretty pesky visitors. He might be a grump every unwilling step of the way, but Bruce pulls through as a great friend and mentor. And, he may find himself a little better off for all his trouble.

3. The Old Woman Who Named Things

Slightly crazy, wispy white haired old ladies that wear lots of layers and have fabulous gardens are basically my spirit animals. This woman has lost a lot of friends over time, so she’s decided no more friends that might not outlive her. Instead, she names her chair, car, bed, house and other familiar items that are sure to last. In a change of pace, this slightly sobering story is thoughtful and beautiful. She finds herself making a friend she doesn’t want and needing him as much as he needs her.

5 Classic Friendship Picture Books

1. Horton Hears a Who! – Horton happens to have great hearing and overhears an entire city living on a speck. He goes above and beyond to help out his new friends.
2. Just My Friend and Me – Little Critter is the master of self confidence. This book on friendship may show an angle of a few things you should not do as a good friend (much to the delight of young kids).
3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie – This book teaches a bit on boundaries just as much as it teaches obnoxious friend behavior. Are you the mouse? Do you know a mouse? You can still work through your friendship. I find this story line all to familiar with a bunch of young kids (if you give a kid a cookie…).
4. The Rainbow Fish – Is being cool, admired and beautiful better than having friends? This fish finds that sharing gets him what he really wants, while being conceited and selfish leaves him feeling sad and lonely.
5. Ginger and Petunia – I grew up inspired by the artwork of Patricia Polacco and so this book is a classic for me. Pet or best friend? I’ll let you decide as Petunia acts in Ginger’s stead for the day.

It was hard to narrow down books on friendship (Little Blue Truck and Explorers of the Wild were hard favorites to cut). What are your favorite picture books on friendship?

The post 3 Quirky Picture Books on Friendship (Plus 5 Classics) appeared first on MidKid Mama.

One meal they eat like they haven’t seen food in weeks and don’t believe you are planning to feed them again, but the next three meals they just pick and push. And they are always asking for a snack between meals!

What’s a poor mom to do?

Healthy Food at Set Meal Times

At first, I tried to force it, but then I read an excerpt from a book that totally changed my thinking.

Someone in a moms group passed it on, and now I can’t remember the book at all. It says kids in this early toddler stage are just starting to explore their bodies and learning how to care for themselves. They don’t really understand hunger or that they need to eat.

The book encouraged parents to let kids eat as much or as little as they wanted during this stage (about 14 months to around two years old), but it discouraged snacking. Set meals at set times so the kid would learn how to eat.

I did it, and the stress of food suddenly eased up a lot.

When the child is too young to fully communicate a want (or even understand it), offering about three choices on the tray three times a day has worked well.

Klay (16 months) is in this stage right now. The other day I put shredded chicken, bananas and cooked brocoli on his tray. At first he wasn’t thrilled, but I left him with it for a bit and he gave in and ate the bananas. Some meals he cleans the tray. Eventually, over the course of days, the kids get enough to eat.

The book said even if the toddler seems to barely eat for two or three meals/days, it’s completely normal and they will make up for it later.

Early Childhood Food Choices

My kids absolutely love “good food.”

And by that, I mean boxed mac&cheese, PB&J, chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas and pizza rolls. When I put time and effort into my cooking (which is about 80% of the time here), I also have to put time and effort into getting them to eat it.

Now that they are a little older, I have expectations for the minimum they should eat each meal. Usually, they have to stay in their seat until it’s gone. Common exceptions are at parties and get-togethers where they are just really distracted. Of course, it’s also different if they aren’t feeling well.

Sometimes I save rolls, fruit or offer a dessert that they can only have if they finish their food first.

To give an example of their dinner plate: I typically give them about 1/4 c of meat pieces, a few (like 2 or three) veggies and then a starch (pasta, potatoes, etc.). In total, there is less than a cup of food on their first plate and they can always have more. Even the kid that doesn’t like broccoli is supposed to eat his two pieces. These two excerpts from the NCBI explain how important it is to not give up on offering those unliked foods:

“Parents act by teaching children in different ways how, what, when, and how much to eat and by transmitting cultural and familial beliefs and practices surrounding food and eating. Parents’ influence is significant: it is reflected both by what is on the plate and the context in which it is offered.”

“Neophobic tendencies can be reduced and preferences can be increased by exposing infants and young children repeatedly to novel foods. Children need to be exposed to a novel food between 6 and 15 times before increases in intake and preferences are seen. A recent study found that repeatedly exposing children to a novel food within a positive social environment was especially effective in increasing children’s willingness to try it. These findings suggest the importance of both the act of repeatedly exposing children to new foods and the context within which this exposure occurs.”

National Center for Biotechnology Information, Early Taste Experiences and Later Food Choices

They still get McDonald’s or a peanut butter and jelly picnic with a side of grapes and string cheese. But I already know they like those things. It’s the grilled asparagus, fresh spinach salads and raw tomatoes they need exposure to.

As a kid, we didn’t eat a wide variety of things because my dad was a very picky eater. It took me a while into college and adulthood to expand my taste buds (and my brother is still a very limited eater). I want my kids to have a healthy appreciation for good food. And I hope they won’t be afraid to try new things.

The Power of Snack Time

There is something magical about snack time, though. I realized when they were still pretty little that they got desperately hungry as I was cooking dinner. At first, I would tell them to wait for dinner because I didn’t need anything making that harder or taking longer. I definitely didn’t need them less hungry for dinnertime.

But, then I got a great idea. I started offering them whatever vegetable I was cutting up for dinner. Hungry? I have raw broccoli right here. Or, you can try a raw onion piece. I almost always have a vegetable that can be eaten raw.

When they wrinkled their nose and ran out–no problem (I didn’t really want to give you a snack anyways).

And do you know what happened? These crazy kids started taking me up on my offer. They were eating raw mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans and more. And they were excited about it! So was I, but I didn’t let on…

When they saw I didn’t care (and was almost begrudging about the vegetable snack), it piqued their interest. Even though I was happy they were eating veggies, I never let on that it was a good thing (reverse psychology here). And there was a power about snack time that made those foods seem especially tasty.

And, when one thinks it’s an appealing offer, it rubs off on the others. Kniya liked it first, so the boys started trying it too. Last night, Klay and his 4.5 teeth gnawed a green bean to bits just so he could be one of the big kids. And, he ate that raw bean like it was a piece of candy.

Occasionally, they do have “normal” snacks. Granola bars, pretzels, goldfish, animal crackers, fruit and other snacks are special around here. I really prefer to include them on the lunch plate, rather than give them their own spotlight in the afternoon. Kids love to fill up on processed foods. I also take snacks like that to the park or zoo, since they are easy to pack.

They still sometimes balk during meal time at those same vegetables, but it has gotten a lot better. And, I found that outside, they love to try new things straight out of the garden. Growing our own food has added even more excitement to trying raw foods.

If they eat a bunch of raw veggies for snack, I usually let them choose if they want any more on their plate for dinner. Usually, after about 10 raw green beans, I will let them pick.

It also helps a ton when they see us eating the vegetables. Like they want to watch us eat it first to ensure it isn’t poisonous. Dad has about 2x the cred I do.

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