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The other day, my daughter asked me if I was writing anything new for the blog.  She always gets excited if I tell her it’s a book review or there’s a new project we get to do together.  But this conversation went a little differently since my newest project is about how to clean and vacuuming for kids …

Me: “Actually, I’m writing a mini-series about how kids can help clean around the house.”

Kid (with deer in the headlights look):  “Mom! Kids don’t like to clean!”

Me:  “Guess what Honey, parents don’t like to clean either.”

Kid: “Really?!”  (yep, kids will never stop surprising me with their questions)

Today our Discover & Explore topic is Things that Go!  This is always a favorite topic for young kids — cars, planes, boats, trains — anything they can ride, drive or fly.  It’s always fun to take kids on a new adventure whether it’s their first train ride, flight on a plane or boat tour.  …

I grew up back east where you could drive for an hour and reach the next big city.  That’s not the case in the Midwest; the cities are farther apart and a day trip definately takes a whole day. 

But boy are there some wonderful Midwest cities to visit!

With spring in the air and summer on it’s way, I thought I would ask some of my friends to share their favorite places around the Midwest. 

Learn about some of the great day trips & weekend jaunts from Kansas City!

I know what you’re thinking — reading is a stationary activity.  Fortunately, that’s not always the case. 

There are a number of terrific kids books that encourage the reader to get up and move with the story!  These 10 reads are a great way to get the kids moving and introduce them to ways they can strengthen their muscles, balance and large motor skills. 

And once their done ‘reading’, they will surely settle in for some much needed rest 😉

  When my kids were young, they had no issues with their fine motor skill development.  I attribute it to the fact that they loved Cheerios and were always playing tug-of-war with the dog 🙂 But once they hit elementary school, they both began to have issues with their printing and writing.  I always thought …

Four-leaf clovers and rainbows are all the rage this week! Just check out any elementary school hallway, art room or any aisle at your local Target — you’ll see they’re all decked out for St. Patrick’s Day.

Discover & Explore is also celebrating the luck ‘o the Irish this week with these fun & fabulous activities shared on last week’s linky.

In our house, planning for a family vacation is a full-family affair!  It is called a ‘family vacation’ so we have always involved the kids in trip planning and prep. 

It’s a great life skill for them to learn especially if you travel often (even if it’s only day trips or weekends away).  Plus, vacations always see to run a little smoothier if everyone is hands-on from the get-go.

When is a book not a book?

When it’s an inspiration for a really awesome activity!

As I was browsing through the Discover & Explore linky from last week, I was blown away by some of the great ideas that were inspired by kids books.

I remember the first time my daughter had to do a math worksheet at school — she’s a rainbow kind of girl so a black-and-white worksheet full of numbers was just not her style.

Sooo… she decided to use a different color crayon for each of the problems on the worksheet 🙂  “When life hands you lemons, make it colorful” is her motto!

You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day.  Kids will revel in learning how snakes, leprechauns and four-leaf clovers are celebrated on this holiday.