Puzzles that are appropriate for a child’s age and developmental level provide a fun yet challenging learning experience. 

Puzzles for toddlers are very different from puzzles for school children. 

Here are some things to look for in puzzles for every age.

Babies and Toddlers

Babies and toddlers can learn a lot from the right kind of puzzle.

Shape stackers are a good type of puzzle for babies because the pieces are easy for small hands to grasp. 

ABC and Number Wooden Puzzles that have a board with pictures of the corresponding pieces allow a toddler to learn how to match objects.  The pieces fit loosely, so they’re not too hard for small hands to put together. 

Foam jigsaw-type puzzles are also good for babies and toddlers.

Hand-eye coordination is another important thing that puzzles teach.  It can be tricky for a little one to get the pieces where they belong at first, but after a few tries she will be delighted to see that she can do it.

Another benefit of toddler puzzles is that they can help teach the names of colors and shapes.  You can help by pointing out the colors or shapes of the pieces that your child is matching.  Some puzzles have pieces with letters, numbers or animals on them, and you can use those in the same way.

Preschoolers

Puzzles for preschoolers may be a little more advanced.  Jigsaw puzzles with a few large pieces are good for this age group -  Like this Search and Learn Farm Animal Puzzle.

 They are still developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, so they are probably not ready for puzzles with small pieces yet.

At this age children can benefit tremendously from working together to solve puzzles.  They might share strategies such as sorting pieces by color or searching for patterns. 

This aids in social development and communication skills as well as intellectual development.

Schoolchildren

Elementary schoolers can move on to more advanced jigsaw puzzles.  The pieces can be smaller and the designs more complex.  Many children love the Map of the World puzzle. 

Children of this age can still benefit from the teamwork lessons learned by solving puzzles together.

Once your child has become adept at putting together flat puzzles,  he or she might enjoy working on three-dimensional puzzles.  These add new challenges and make nice bedroom décor when they’re finished.  Many of them do not even require glue to stay together.

Puzzles are a fun way to learn important skills.  They also provide a great opportunity for your child to work with you or other children toward a common goal.   The educational benefits of puzzles are greater than those of many more complex and higher priced toys and they can be reinforced with each new puzzle your child completes.

Check out PuzzlesUSA.com Deal Of The Day!

Puzzles can be great FAMILY FUN!

Till next time! 

He would play with them constantly. He never ran out of unique things to build.

He would build houses and building and cities – as well as people and cars and anything else you can think of.

Even though I never thought about it when he was small, he was actually preparing himself for his future….

Brian always loved shapes, putting stuff together, and math. When he was small he used to say he wanted to be an architect. And you know what? He went into drafting. I don’t think he wants to be an actual architect anymore, but he has drawn some awesome homes and buildings. He makes good money and loves his job!

So let your child DREAM BIG DREAMS. Let your Childs imagination soar. With Legos your child can build and create. And through their play they may actually be shaping their future life. Visit the LEGO Holiday Gift Shop!

You have so many Lego sets to choose from. Choose a set from one of your childs favorite characters such as Star Wars, Batman, SpongeBob Squarepants, Bob the Builder, Harry Potter, Thomas and Friends plus so much more ….

You never know, your child could become a builder of a spaceship, a rocket scientist or an astronaut. You can never tell what will spark a child’s imagination. Let your child find his/her creative side with a Legos set today.

You’ll find Legos for people of ALL ages.  More than 400,000,000 children and adults will play with LEGO bricks this year.

FREE SHIPPING on LEGO orders of $99 or more placed before 30-Nov-07. Use Code FSA99 at checkout. Valid in US only, exclusions apply.

Till Next time!

Imagine how exicted your child will be when he or she gets a personal phone call from Santa.  And best of all Santa will know things that only Santa could know …..

When you place your Santa phone order, you’ll be given the choice of the time and date of the call.  You can also personalize your call.

I love this concept!!!  It reminds me of a funny story about my nice Rosie.

When Rosie was 8 years old, “Call Santa” commercials were constantly on TV.  They were 900 numbers and back in those days, there wasn’t much restrictions on 900 numbers.  The commercials always said “Get your parents permission” but come on now ….

When Rosie would get home from school she was usually alone for about a half an hour … and she loved the phone!  Since she was in the Holiday spirit she would spend that time talking to Santa … To my brothers horror when he got a $900. phone bill …

It just goes to show you how much children love speaking to Santa.  When you order your childs personal phone call from Santa, you can also get a recording, for your child to listen to over and over again.

 You’ll Love this site …

All kinds of neat things for parents and for kids!

Share your favorite Santa – Kid stories with us

Start off your thanksgiving holiday right with some fun and free thanksgiving games to keep the guests entertained. These are easy little activities that help remind everyone of the point of the thanksgiving holiday while keeping everyone involved.

Its autumn and outside there is a veritable wonderland of interesting stuff. Have the guests get all bundled up and head outside while waiting for the food to cook with this Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt. You’ll need to make up a list of the following items that the guests can find by themselves or they can break up into groups to scavenge. They are:

• a red leaf

• a brown leaf

• an orange leaf

• a yellow leaf

• a pine cone

• an acorn

• a walnut

• a dried weed or pod

• a seed

• a piece of bark

• a sweet gum ball

• dried berries

• feather

The first group to get all of the items or to get the most items wins. You can hand out special prizes for winning such as feather boas which are made from turkey feathers.

The Giving Thanks game is a fun activity that also helps to remind the family what the point of Thanksgiving really is all about. Have everyone sit in a circle and start off the game with a sentence that lists something really unusual that you are thankful for such as, ‘I am thankful for Hotdogs because…’ and then the person to your right has to finish the sentence with the reason why they are thankful. When they’ve completed the sentence they get to begin a new one with the wildest subject they can think of to be thankful for. This can be anything, aliens, feet, or even sneezes. Try and keep the circle going as long as you can.

Children love to watch their movies over and over again. As a parent you should sit down and cuddle with your kids during a movie ever now and then. Or better yet why not have a family night?

When Amy and Brian were growing up we would often cuddle on the couch and watch movies.  Sometimes we would have hot chocolate and/or popcorn during the show.  It was truly a bonding moment.

 As they got older we would often go to the movies together. There’s just something special about sharing a movie with your kids.

In my opinion Disney Movies are the best family entertainment.

What better way than by joining the Disney Movie Club? You can get 3 Disney DVDs at only $1.99 each. The biggest problem you’ll have is deciding which 3 to choose ….

Do you like the animated classics like “Winnie the Pooh” and “Mickey Mouse”?

Or do you prefer the newer animated movies like “Nemo” and “Pokemon”?

Or do you prefer the Disney Classics like “Horse in a Grey Flannel Suit” or “The Parent Trap”

There are movies for preschoolers as well adults.

Disney Movie Club Members enjoy special offers, discounts, and exclusive merchandise and collectibles!

One of my all time favorite movies is “One Magic Christmas”. It’s a delightful movie of how a stressed out mom – Ginny, rediscovers the magic and love that surrounds Christmas. At the beginning of the show she almost appears to be anti-Christmas … and she never ever says “Merry Christmas”.

See how she is taught the true meaning of Christmas joy with the help of her Guardian Angel Gideon and her 6 year old daughter Abbie.  This is a must see movie …

Tell us what your favorite Disney movie is …. This will help us all determine which Disney Movie to get next.

Get Your Favorite Disney DVDs Today – Join Disney Movie Club!

My mother-in-law believes Halloween is evil so Mel never got to experience picking out costumes, dressing up, and trick-or-treating.

He has always made sure our kids got to experience it in the best way possible. We are usually out trick-or-treating with them so long that we’ve never really handed out candy. (two different years we tried to)

This year, since the kids are a little bit older, we’re having them hand out candy for an hour or two then we’ll trick or treat for an hour or two.

Or maybe we’ll just take them to a Haunted House instead???

They still haven’t decided what they want to be! I’m trying to be responsible this year and get their costumes early but they aren’t helping! lol  So, again, the Haunted House is sounding like a great idea!

So…share with the rest of us…how do YOU feel about Halloween? What are your kids going to be??? Do you hand out candy? What’s your favorite costume (one you’ve seen, your child has worn, or even you yourself has worn)?

Til Next Time,

Amy

I’m sure there will be lots of ghosts and goblins wandering the streets and or going to parties. These days it seems more and more parents opt to be safe by going to parties or Halloween events at schools, fairs and churches.

Kids also like to dress up for school. So what’s hot this year? Shrek, Simpsons, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman or other superheroes? And naturally a lot of little girls also like being a fairytale princess.

If you haven’t got your kids costumes yet …
Or if you’re tired of running all over town trying to find the perfect costume ….

Shop over 15,000 costumes – CostumeHub.com
They have it ALL! From Toddler Disney costumes, and a Cat in the Hat costume too. To kids, to teens to adults, including sexy costumes.

Costume Hub has a Giant Selection, Great Prices, FREE Shipping on orders of $50. if you order by October 12th.
So what are you waiting for? Find Your Costume Now!

Wishing You a Happy Safe Fun Halloween!!!

We instructed Mel to keep his violin in it’s case in his bedroom (actually under his bed so it would be out of the way) when he wasn’t using it. We also told him to play in his room when he felt the need.

Thinking we were being smart by implementing these “rules” so that his little brother, Lamont, wouldn’t try to touch it and inadvertently break it. (they are not allowed in each others bedrooms)

Saturday morning…for those of you that are counting…TWO DAYS after we bought the thing…Mel thought it would be great to “practice” (he still doesn’t really know how to play since he’s only three weeks in and none of that time has been spent learning any music yet) in the boys’ game room.

Big Mel and I were downstairs playing cards and heard the music a little closer than we should have…so we called Mel down to remind him of the bedroom only rule.

Of course my son would bring the violin downstairs with him-out of it’s case! So when we sent him back upstairs all we heard was….

A big boom and thunder sounding noise. Then his cry “‘Mont look what you did!”

Somehow between the two of them Mel tripped on the stairs and broke his fall with the violin-strings first.

I took it back to the music store yesterday and they only had to re-string it thank goodness!

The store didn’t even charge me since it had been less than a week and they understood how frustrating the situation was for us. They did warn me that it will be $30 next time, though!

Now the violin is kept in our bedroom and only comes out to go to school and with our permission. I don’t think he’ll be making the same mistake though. I hope not.

Anyways, I did get the insurance on the violin but it doesn’t cover strings because those are a wear and tear item…but if you have to buy or rent an instrument….GET THE INSURANCE!!!!

And if you have ever experienced anything similar (even if it didn’t have to do with an instrument) please feel free to share what happened and how you resolved it as a parent to avoid the same thing from happening in the future…remember we can all learn from each other!

Until next time,

Amy

Orchestra was his third choice for an elective…and of course the one he ended up with. He was quite disappointed at first but now he’s glad he ended up with it. Mel loves his orchestra teacher and can’t wait to really learn how to read music and play his instrument.

Well, on top of Mel’s $30 lab fee for his orchestra class, we had to either purchase a violin (his instrument of choice), rent one or pay an additional fee to the school to borrow one. If we chose the latter option he would not be able to bring it home to practice.

So…of course he tells me Tuesday night that he needs it by Thursday night…

When Mel got home from school Thursday afternoon we gave him a brand new $400 violin and his face lit up. He looked so happy and sophisticated when he *VERY* carefully took it out of its case and started to play.

My son has had no training and is barely getting a crash course in learning to read music…but it wasn’t all screechy like I thought it would be. A couple of times it sounded very beautiful and I had to ask if he was just playing around or if he really knew any songs yet.

Due to the initial investments of this new extra curricular activity I certainly hope that he loves to play and learns how to play well…and I most certainly can’t wait to attend his first concert!

Do any of your children (or the children in your life) play any instruments? If so, what do they play? How has it affected their lives? (if it has) or yours?

Studies show that kids that are heavily involved in extra curricular activities, such as sports, band, orchestra, drama, etc. tend to get better grades and excel more than kids that don’t. The reasons can be varied and argued, but the facts remain the same. Encourage the little people in your life to get involved in things that interest them!

Til Next Time,

Amy

OK…so the point of this post is basically about Halloween. I have to start preparing for it now (at least I’m trying!) since I usually rush out and buy costumes on the 30th or 31st. I have promised my boys I won’t do that this year!

So of course they need to begin thinking of what they want to be so I can buy their costumes early and stick to my promise. I believe in letting them choose their own costumes-to a point.

Since maybe kindergarten or a little before that we started letting them pick. Before that, they were cowboys, a boxer (I wish I had pictures from that one!), a skeleton (Lamont was about 4 and kept calling his costume a “bone monster”), etc.

Once they got to pick….we’ve been through about 3 ninja costumes, 2 or 3 more cowboys, about 4 army/military personnel, and a couple of Star Wars characters. So I’d like to basically encourage them to pick something a little more “original” this time around.

I don’t really know how to sew or I think I’d really enjoy making them costumes…I’ve seen quite a few really cute home made costumes (although by this point they’d probably do better for girls than boys).

We don’t let them pick out anything violent or bloody…although there has been talk of vampires and zombies…and of course, the golden question…how old is too old to dress up and go trick-or-treating?

We always take the boys ourselves because….well…they’re our babies. But with Mel in middle school already and Lamont closing in fast…we have to find a “happy” medium between protecting them and letting them have their space to be “cool”.

Ok, I’ll stop rambling now…but I’d like to know what your kids are going to be? Do you prefer handmade or bought costumes? How old is too old to go trick or treating? Do you still take your kids? When are they old enough to go on their own? Feel free to post your favorite costumes from years past or the most creative costumes you’ve seen!

Amy