ACTIVITY: Homemade play dough

Playing with dough is always fun. But what about starting the fun a little earlier? Try making the dough from scratch. Mix 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup salt in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup water and stir. Knead in a drop of food coloring, and you´re ready to play! Let your children help with the mixing and kneading.

TIP OF THE DAY

If you speak a foreign language, or at least know some words in another language, try using it at home from your baby´s first months. Children will become familiar with it and when they do study it, it will be much easier for them.

DAILY RECIPE: Busy Day Cheesecake

2 pkg. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. lemon juice

graham cracker crust

Beat all ingredients together and pour into a graham cracker crust. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until set. Chill and serve or top with your favorite fruit topping when cool.

TIP OF THE DAY

Pack non-sugared breakfast cereal, such as Cheerios in small zip-loc bags and drop in your purse. Hand them to your child to snack on when on the go.

DAILY RECIPE: Easy Corn Flakes Chicken

1 chicken, cut up
2 cups buttermilk
Crushed Corn Flakes cereal
Salt and pepper

Clean chicken and remove fat. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dip into buttermilk and roll in the crushed corn flakes. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until done.

ACTIVITY: Mirror, mirror

Mirroring your baby´s gestures, noises or expressions is a great way to stimulate development and enforce mother-to-child bonds. Hold your baby in your arms and mimic his hand movements, the faces he makes and the noises he babbles, too. Don´t stop this activity, however, as they grow older. Toddlers love this activity too. Only at this age, movements can be much more elaborate, and faces and expressions more varied. Also, now you can play this both ways. You can mirror your child, and your child can mirror you. It´s a simple activity that can take place at any time and any place, without previous preparation. Try it. You have no idea how this simple action can help you and your child bond and laugh together.

ARTICLE: Setting Cause and Effect Corrections

Many times, when we correct our children, we set an inappropriate punishment for their action. We must keep in mind that it should be a cause and effect situation. This makes the action clear to young children and we have a better chance of it not happening again. For example, if they ate cookies before dinner after being told not to, the punishment cannot be that they don´t go to the park the next day. That won´t make any sense to them. However, if the punishment it that there is no dessert, we do enforce a cause and effect action. Each household is different and each mother knows what can be allowed and what can´t, so only you can set corrections. Just keep in mind that the clearer we are with our children, the better. Next time you have to correct your children remember cause and effect, their misbehavior must have a logical consecuence.

STORYTIME: The Ant and the Tree --- Final Part

.. The little ant was running out of time, the men were getting ready to cut down the tree. Suddenly she had an idea: the little ant ran as fast as she could to the man with the biggest ax. She carefully and slowly crawled onto his shoe. Then she went up his sock until she was standing on his leg, and then, she bit him as hard as she could. The man screamed and shook his leg. The little ant fell down and crawled up the man´s leg and bit him again. One more time the man screamed and shook his leg. The little ant did this again and again until she grew very tired. The man´s leg started to get swollen and he angrily walked away from the forest. The tree was saved. It shook its branches and looked for the little ant. The tree saw it clinging from some grass. It bent down one branch and held the tired little insect. The tree cradled it softly until the little ant was feeling better. "You saved my life," the tree said, and the little ant happily replied: "I´m glad I could help."

THE END

STORYTIME: The Ant and the Tree -- part 3

... Every day, after work, the little ant would walk up to the tree, enjoy its shade and sometimes the leaves it dropped. Every day, the tree was happy to help. One day, when the little ant finished her work and walked up to her tree, she found it crying. "What´s the matter my dear friend? ", asked the ant. "Oh, do you see that man over there? He´s going to cut me down to make some firewood," the tree sobbed. The little ant turned around and saw a mean faced man walking towards them with a huge ax. The little ant walked desperately in circles. Why was this happening? Men weren´t allowed to cut trees in this part of the forest. What could she do? What could she do?

(More tomorrow)

DAILY RECIPE: Beef and Noodles

1 lb. cubed beef
1 can onion soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag frozen peas
Cooked noodles

Mix both soups. Add cubed beef and place in a casserole dish, covered. Bake at 225°F for about 4 hours. Add peas for the last half hour of baking. Serve over noodles.