Fabulous Finds Friday - Edition #2

Happy Friday, All!!! Just a few more hours until the weekend officially begins.... Yipee!

I'm going to kick of the weekend with another Fabulous Friday Find. :)

I have a confession to make to y'all.... I am not creative at all when it comes to doing things with my kids. It just doesn't come naturally to me. I am so in awe of those moms that just think up activities and ooze with creative projects. I sometimes wish that I had majored in Elementary Education just so that I would have been taught ideas and tricks for kids. I mostly rely on what my mommy friends are doing and what I have learned from my own Mom.

I feel strongly that it is my responsibility to teach Clayton right now. I never want to be that parent that just sends their kids to school and expects their teachers to do all of the work. However, I don't want Clayton to feel pressure from me. I want to make learning fun and pick things that are age appropriate.

A few months ago I stumbled upon the site www.productiveparenting.com. I clicked on the "Join" button and filled out some info on my kids. So, now everyday it emails me with an activity that is age appropriate for Clayton and one for Drew. It is so helpful! Some of them, of course, are not great. I just delete those. But, most of them are really good. I keep a pad of paper by my computer and jot down the ideas that I want to try. Here are some of the examples that I have on my list right now:

• Clayton - make a grocery list using items that he has cut out of magazines, take it to the store and let him check off items as we put them in the cart
• Drew - let him use a mallet or play hammer to pound on bubble wrap
• Clayton - trace his shadow on the driveway at different times of the day and explain the earth's rotation around the sun
• Clayton - look at a map of the world and point out Japan, talk about their culture and dress, then go to a Japanese restaurant for dinner or lunch, ask the waiter/waitress to teach your child a Japanese word
• Clayton - gather 5-7 objects of various weights, have your child feel them and arrange them from lightest to heaviest

I just really like that website. It has helped me so much in realizing what my kids are capable of at their respective ages and what I can be working on with them. I hope you all enjoy it, too!

P.S. I know that the "mommy blog" type of entries aren't fun for everyone. I'm so sorry - that is just the stage that I am in right now. I'll try to make next weeks find a bit more generic. :)