Wouldn’t it be great if the kids were able to do more for themselves during the holidays?! 

I know, most parents think it would be great if the kids could do more for themselves all the time but I think it’s extra nice if it happens during the busiest time of the year. 

So we rounded up a few ideas about how to help the kids be more independent from some wonderful activities shared at the Discover & Explore Life Skills linky last week.

There are so many benefits to getting kids more involved in the kitchen — kids are more likely to try new foods, more likely to eat a wider variety of foods and less likely to complain about what’s being made for dinner 🙂

But what to cook?

I’m sure your kids love to pretend just like mine — sometimes they dress up for pretend play and other times they employ the use of toys to create their own little worlds.

My daughter really enjoys playing with the small figurines in the Toobs^® from Safari Ltd^® – her favorites are the Mythical Realms and Ocean.  As we were exploring Ancient Greece, we thought it would be fun to build a playscape for the mythical creatures figurines.  Hands-on opportunities to create are always a big hit with kids 🙂

I really love this time of the year because there are so many natural items that can be used in craft projects and decorating.  Last week’s Discover & Explore linky highlighted fun ways to create with natural items and I was blown away with the creativity of some of the projects — and yet, they …

“Fall back” is this Saturday — yep, daylight savings time. 

I was recently thinking it would be great to have some extra time; and then I realized, we get an extra hour this weekend!

Ever since my daughter read the Percy Jackson series, she has been crazy about Greek Mythology!  The I-want-to-learn-everything-I-can-about-it kind of crazy.

It’s so important to introduce our kids to the amazing people in our city who keep our community safe and healthy.  Kids need to learn who they can go to for help and also a little about the work of community helpers. 

There were some excellent ideas for play & learning shared at the Discover & Explore linky this past week.  Here are a few of my favorite activities for fun ways to learn about those who serve and protect us —

Have you ever done something brilliant (I mean absolutely amazing!) but you just didn’t realize it until years later?

I recently had one of those moments last month but it didn’t start as happy as it ended.

What a fun week!  So many great pumpkin ideas and activities were shared on the Discover & Explore linky — it was really hard to choose which to feature.

So I thought I would share a little bit of everything pumpkin — crafts, activities, art, learning and a great recipe too!

Today I need to tell you a story.

It’s all about how sometimes life can move too quickly and you may miss one of those “this is important — PAY ATTENTION” moments.

They don’t all scream out at you like that, otherwise we wouldn’t overlook them, right.

But this was a biggie — and it had an impact on my child’s health.