ART: Rain Stick - musical instrument

You will need:
1 thick, long wrapping paper roll
hair pins
beans and rice
posterboard
tissue paper
glue

Cut slits all along the roll. Cover one end with posterboard and secure. Pour in several beans and a handful of rice. Insert hair pins in each of the slits, pushing in all the way through. Cover the other end and glue. Cover the roll with tissue paper, let dry. Once dry, you can hear rain as you turn the stick upside down and downside up.

ACTIVITY: Family Book Club

Reading is an important part of growing up. We should encourage our children to read using different tips and ideas (reading to young children every night, for example). When your family gets into the habit of doing this you can start a family book club. One night a week get together after dinner or after Sunday breakfast, for example, to talk about a book or a chapter of the book you´re reading. Get children excited by having them name characters and what the book is about, if they liked it or not and why. Great topic for conversations, extra family time, reading encouragement, public speaking skills and basics for book reports and reviews: all developed with this activity that won´t take you more than 15 minutes of your time!

DAILY RECIPE: Ranch Pasta Salad

1 bag short pasta, cooked and drained
1 cup turkey breast strips
1 cup cooked zucchini (diced)
1 cup bell pepper strips
1/2 cup onion (diced)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 bottle ranch dressing

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate and serve.

TIP OF THE DAY

Natural anti-mosquito spray: Place several bay leaves in water and bring to a boil. Boil for several minutes. Remove leaves, cool and place in a spray bottle.

ARTICLE: Toddlers´First Time Offense!

Toddlers have great imaginations and wonderful ideas and we never know what they´ll think of next. However, when one of their innovative ideas means danger or a mess that we do not want, we must stop them immediately. For this behavior one may think a consecuence or punishment is in order, but no. If our child did not know that his or her behavior was inadecuate, we have to stop them, be firm, explain, but the consecuence or punishment has to come only if they repeat this act. This is so they are clear on what the rules are. If we punish them for things they did not know were wrong, our act/consecuence system will fail to function. So, next time you walk in to a crayon decorated wall, take a deep breath, stop your child from being Picasso for the afternoon, explain that we don´t do that and pass them a coloring book. If he repeats the action (hopefully no, for your sake) then apply the consecuence. Good Luck!

DAILY RECIPE: Flan (Custard dessert)

5 eggs
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients in blender. Pour into a white corning ware microwable pan. Microwave for 8-10 minutes on Hi until set. Let cool and serve.

TIP OF THE DAY

1-2-3 art smock? Cut 3 slits on an old pillowcase (1 on top for the head, and two on the top cormers for the arms). Voilá!

ACTIVITY: Halloween Ghost Decoration

October is just around the corner, and with it: Halloween! Try this fun project to place outside your house and start preparing for trick or treat season.

You will need:

White posterboard

Black markers

White plastic bag

Scissors

Glue

String

Cut a long piece of posterboard and roll up. This is the ghost´s head. Decorate it with eyes and mouth, it can be scary or funny. Cut long strips of plastic from the plastic bag. Glue to the bottom of the head, all around the posterboard. Glue or staple a string on the top. You are ready to hang up your ghost decoration and start scaring up for Halloween!

DAILY RECIPE: Fresh Fruit Pie

1 can condensed milk

1 cup of water

3 egg yolks

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup water

1 can half and half

10 strawberries (washed, trimmed and cut in half)

1 kiwi fruit (peeled and sliced)

orange slices

1 prepared pie crust

Bring condensed milk and cup of water to a boil. Meanwhile beat egg yolks with cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water. Add to boiling condensed milk and beat until thick. Remove from heat and stir in half and half. Pour into pie crust. Chill and decorate with fruit slices.

TIP OF THE DAY

Give yourself a hand and help young children stimulate their visual discrimination skills by having them pair up socks after they come out of the dryer!