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We had lots of little goblins and ghoulies this Halloween and once again, made it all home safely with our overstuffed bags of candy! Aside from another scorpion sighting, we made it through this spooky holiday unscathed! We hope your Halloween was equally safe and full of more treats than tricks.

Looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, it is easy to start reflecting on the many blessings in our lives. In this difficult economy with financial stresses and economic woes, it is sometimes easy to forget the important things in our lives. It is equally difficult for our children to appreciate the small but important blessings in their lives. We’ve got some fun family activities that might help everyone count those most important daily blessings in our lives. Hope this gives everyone some positive family fun!…

Create a Thankful Paper Chain

Similar to a  regular paper chain (cut strips of paper and connect them together as loops) but a Thankful Paper Chain has things you are thankful for written on each paper strip. Take a moment each day of November to add chains and by Thanksgiving, you’ll have a unique reminder of the blessings in your lives! Use green and white paper and keep it up as a Christmas decoration!

Giving Thanks Placemats

The goal here is to create something that can be a reminder of each year of your childs life and the things they were most thankful for that year. Help your kids cut out pictures, draw, paste special items or photos and make a collage of all these materials. Take the completed collage to a copy shop and have it laminated! Don’t forget to put your childs name and the date on it!

Basket of Leaves

Create a small paper box and cut out leaves from different colored paper (fall colors of course!). This will be their Basket ‘O Blessings! Have your kids write something they are thankful for on each leaf and put them in each others boxes. Keep collecting leaves through the next few weeks. At Thanksgiving, have each child read through the leaves in their boxes and see if they are thankful for the same things or maybe they missed a few! It will be a good exercise for your kids to see what each of them is thankful for and how their blessings differ. Also a great opportunity for each child to anonymously tell their siblings things they are thankful for about that person…great esteem builder!

We hope this gives you some fun ideas for this Thanksgiving season!

Tags: arts and crafts for kids, Crafts, easy crafts, education, Family and Home, holiday activities, holiday crafts, parenting
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Ok, I know this is somewhat limiting to all of you out there not currently in Arizona. But for those of you burned out on the traditional pumpkin patches of Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek or Mother Nature’s Farm in Gilbert, we’ve got a new alternative for you! Hop on over to DeWitt Stables and let your kids enjoy “The Patch of Pumpkins, Pets and Ponies”! You definitely can’t beat the price! Kids under 3 are FREE and admission is $5.00 for 3 and up. Families can purchase a group ticket for only $25.00! They also have special rates for larger groups.

Besides picking out that perfect pumpkin from their pumpkin patch, kids can enjoy hayrides, a petting zoo, pony rides, a hay maze, a craft fair, games and even more rides! The festival hours are Fridays from noon until dark and Saturdays from 10:00am until dark.

DeWitt Stables is located at 2211 E. Quince in Mesa, just 1/2 mile north of the 202 Red Mountain on Gilbert Rd. For more information, call (480) 717-9540 or visit their website at www.dewittstables.com

Be sure to mark your calendars with our pumpkin graphic to help remind your little ones of the upcoming holiday fun! Halloween is almost upon us!

Kids will love this great petting zoo!

Pony rides are sure to delight those little western rustlers!

Don't forget to stop by the pumpkin patch for the perfect holiday pumpkin!

Tags: arts and crafts for kids, Crafts, easy crafts, entertainment, Family and Home, fun, halloween crafts for kids, holiday activities, holiday crafts, pets
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Our Halloween book suggestions were so popular that we wanted to follow up with some great suggestions for your little ones for Christmas time! Here are some of our favorites and a few new finds for this holiday season. Read your tots into the holiday spirit and bring some of the magic of great stories into your home!…

“Night Tree” by Eve Bunting
This book was a new find for us this year. With great illustrations by Ted Rand, this story gives an account of a families tradition of venturing out into the woods to find “their tree” which they then decorate with popcorn strings, apples and other fun edibles. They drink hot cocoa and sing songs around the tree before heading in for the evening. The kids dream of the many animals that have Christmas dinner around their tree.

“Room for a Little One” by Martin Waddell
Brilliantly illustrated by Jason Cockcroft, this short but very touching tale gives the story of the first Christmas from the animals perspective as they each make room for a new “little one” this very special night. As the Kind Ox maintains throughout the story, “there’s always room for a little one here”.

“The Legend of the Christmas Tree” by Rick Osborne
If your little ones have ever wondered why we have Christmas Trees, this small board book adapted by Pat Matuszak and illustrated by Bill Dodge gives an account of how the evergreen tree became a symbol of Christmas as well as a way to tell people about God.

“Merry Creature Christmas” by Dandi Daley Mackall
It’s Christmas Eve, and all the animals in the forest are decorating the trees, hanging icicles, and building a nativity to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But Star, a wild colt, is too joyful to be still and decides to wake up Big Bear! Soon all the animals are dancing together on the night of the Creature Christmas! A very fun book that has an accompanying narrative and great rhyming cadence for your little ones!

“Santa’s First Flight” by Sam Beeson
This is a very fun spin on the traditional night before Christmas which takes place during Santa’s first year, when he traveled by penguin, and not by reindeer! Playfully and richly illustrated by Tom Tolman, this story will have your kiddo’s giggling at Santa’s crazy penguin crew that helped set the tone for the first Christmas sleigh ride and create the true spirit of Christmas!

We have many more suggestions for you but these are a few of our favorites to get you started! Check back for more suggestions and we would love to hear from our readers about some of their favorite books! Send your suggestions to info@mytimecalendars.com with subject “Christmas Books for Tots” and maybe some of your favorites will work their way into our next post!

Tags: education, entertainment, Family and Home, holiday activities, product reviews, toddlers
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Looking for some fun books to help your little ones get in the spirit of the Halloween season? We’ve got some great pics for you! Check out some of our recommended reading for this upcoming holiday and share the adventure of a new book with your child!…

Scaredy Mouse By Alan MacDonald and Tim Warnes

This book follows the story of a “small mouse, a scared mouse, a stay-at-home mouse” as he gains courage from his big sister to venture out into the scary territory of “the big ginger cat with green eyes”  in search of a special chocolate treat. Your kids will love this cute adventure as he “runs this way and that, harum-scarum, round and back” on his way to becoming a “bold-as-a-lion mouse”! The clever illustrations and misunderstandings as Squeek tries to understand the world around him are truly priceless and will have your kids giggling as he overcomes his fear of the unknown with the help of his sister.

Disney’s Scary Storybook Collection

This book is a treasure trove of 5 minute Halloween spins on traditional Disney stories. If you’re kids are even remotely fans of Disney’s arsenal of creative characters, they will love seeing their heroes and villains figure out their Halloween fears with humor and wit! Each story is only about 5 minutes long, making this a favorite bedtime choice for my kids since each one can pick out their own story and we can fly through them before bedtime with no trouble at all! The illustrations are of course first rate (after all, it’s DISNEY!) and are in several different styles appropriate to the stories and characters they are depicting.

John Pig’s Halloween by Jan L. Waldron and illustrated by David McPhail

This is by far our favorite pick of the season! We have read it so many times, it has now become a memorized favorite! The rhyming cadence of the story lends itself well to a singsong story telling adventure! David McPhail’s incredible water color illustrations truly capture the imagination and the excitement of the story. Follow John Pig as he decides he’s too scared to go out trick or treating with his friends and instead commits to “sit in the shadows, with no costume on”. But he gets a spooky fun surprise when a witch arrives at his door and decides to teach him what Halloween is all about! She invites her ghoulish friends and shows John some “tricks” for his “treats” as they whip up a monster bash not to be forgotten! You be the judge whether John missed out on trick or treating or whether his friends missed out on staying at home!

Tags: children's books, education, entertainment, Family and Home, fun, holiday activities, product reviews
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Looking for a new spin on kids birthday parties? We’ve got a great idea for you courtesy of Cheryl Tallman of “Fresh Baby”! When her son turned 5, she decided to play off his particular interests and strengths by providing a cooking party for him and his friends! She hosted a 2 1/2 hr party in their kitchen which she entitled “Cooking School for Brilliant Kids.”

Cheryl’s party was complete with disposable chef hats, aprons and a few kid sized cooking utensils which she used in take home gift bags for each child. The recipes were simple consisting of pizzas, green beans, carrot sticks, pigs in blankets (hot dogs rolled and baked in crescent rolls), and home made ice cream. She had her husband do a short little magic show during the baking time (he read up earlier in the week at the library!).

At the end of the party, she took a picture of her “class” and mailed each child a certificate of completion from the “Cooking School for Brilliant Kids” that had their class picture in it! What a fun idea!

As a former Pampered Chef consultant, I actually did many child birthday parties that were a huge success! Sometimes the mothers even tagged along for a brush up on some kid friendly recipes and demos! These types of parties were certainly a departure from the norm and gave each child an opportunity to participate, start good cooking habits, enjoy some great food, and take home not only fun memories but some actual cooking skills and recipes they could use at home!

Some tips for hosting this kind of party:

1) keep it simple!…easy recipes with a short list of ingredients are best. Mix and match things you can cook with things you can serve right away.

2) keep the party list small!…smaller groups definitely work better in this situation. Keep the number of attendees to 5 or 6 depending on the age and maturity of the group. This gives everyone a chance to participate and helps you maintain some order in the kitchen as well as safety.

3) have a time filler to keep kids busy while the food is cooking…in Cheryl’s case, she had her husband prepared with some “magical” interlude but you could have any number of fun party games prepared. Some oldies but goodies are “pin the hat on the chef”, musical chairs at the dinner table, and hot potato.

4) keep mess in mind…remember to prepare an area where you can have everyone gather and be able to see and participate. In Cheryl’s case, she prepared a ping pong table with a themed table cloth and had everyone gather around it.

5) always be safe!…teach the kids good hand washing and surface cleaning habits. Make sure that no child is left unattended around hot surfaces. It is best to leave the oven and stove preparation to the “master chef” (i.e. the adult!).

And probably the most important tip, cater to your childs interests and food preferences so they and their friends can have a great time making cooking memories together!

Tags: arts and crafts for kids, easy crafts, Family and Home, halloween crafts for kids, holiday activities
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One of the most important lessons kids teach us is to take time in our day to observe and appreciate the simple things in life! For instance, one of my favorite games to play with my kids is the “cloud game”. We lay out on the grass or the trampoline and we try to find pictures of things in the cloud formations. Sometimes, we even make up stories about what we see. It really gives you and your kids a chance to show off your imaginations! Even my toddler will sit back and play this without getting bored! While my kids get a kick out of observing the clouds changing, I get a moment of near  meditation as I listen to my kids, breath in the air and enjoy the sun. It also reminds me of how small and yet how important we each are in the grand scheme of things.

So in honor of  ”Look Up at the Sky Day”, I suggest a few opportunities for kids and parents to appreciate this simple pleasure in life…our beautiful sky! Whether it is by night or by day, there are some visual adventures to be had from this amazingly huge realm hovering above us!

If your kids get a kick out of the night sky wonders, we’ve got a great reference for you. Check out KidsAstronomy.com for some great tips on observing and finding objects in the night sky. Susan Caplan of Kidscrafts Suite 101 has some additional fun nocturnal games for your little ones!

So grab some binoculars, head outside and LOOK UP AT THE SKY today!

Visit our forum and share your ideas of outdoor games that your kids love!

Tags: Family and Home, holiday activities
Posted in Family and Home, General, Parenting Tips, holiday activities | 1 Comment »

Get your kids ready for all the April activities by creating a custom calendar marking all their important activities and celebrations!

Looking for a little help on marking your children’s calendars this month? Well, we’ve got a good start for you! We’ve compiled a list of some of the observances that make April so special! There are some great links to help give you ideas on how to get in on the fun with your kids so check ‘em out. We’ve sorted them by month, week and day. Remember, every day is special because today is a gift…that’s why they call it “the present”!…

April Monthly Observances…

• National Humor Month
• Internation Guitar Month
• Keep America Beautiful Month
• Lawn and Garden Month
• Poetry Month
• National Pecan Month
• National Welding Month
• Records and Information Management Month
• Stress Awareness Month
• Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• Autism Awareness Month

Weekly Breakdown:

• Week One: Library Week, Read a Road Map Week
• Week Two: Garden Week
• Week Three: Organize Your Files Week, Medical Labs Week
• Week Four: Administrative Assistants WEek, National Karaoke Week

Celebrations By Day…there’s something for everyone! :

1. April Fool’s Day, International Fun at Work Day, International Tatting Day
2. Children’s Book Day, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, national Walk to Work Day, Reconciliation Day
3. Don’t Go to Work Unless it’s Fun Day, Tweed Day
4. Easter, Hug a Newsman Day, Walk Around Things Day, School Librarian Day, Tell a Lie Day
5. Passover begins, Dyngus Day, Go for Broke Day
6. Plan  Your Epitaph Day, Sorry Charlie Day
7. Caramel Popcorn Day, No Housework Day (YEAH!!), World Health Day
8. All is Ours Day, Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
9. Name Yourself Day, Winston Churchill Day
10. Golfer’s Day, National Siblings DAy
11. Eight Track Tape DAy, Barbershop Quartet Day, National Submarine DAy
12. Big Wind Day, Russian Smonaut Day
13. Blame Someone Else DAy, Scrabble DAy
14. Ex Spouse Day, International Moment of Laughter Day, Look up at the Sky Day, National pecan Day, Reach as High as You Can Day
15. Rubber Eraser Day, Titanic Remembrance Day
16. National Eggs Benedict Day, National High Five Day, National Librarian Day, National Stress Awareness Day
17. Blah, Blah, Blah Day, National Cheeseball DAy, Pet Owners Independence Day
18. International Juggler’s Day, Newspaper Columnists Day
19. National Garlic Day, Patriot’s Day
20. Look Alike Day, Volunteer Recognition Day
21. Kindergarten Day
22. Girl Scout Leader Day, National Jelly Bean Day
23. Lover’s Day, National Zucchini Bread Day, Take a Chance Day, World Laboratory Day
24. Astronomy Day, Pig in a Blanket Day
25. East Meets West Day, World Penguin Day
26. Executive Admin’s Day (Secretary’s Day), Hug an Austrailan Day, National Pretzel Day, Richter Scale DAy
27. Babe Ruth DAy, National Prime Rib DAy, Tell a STory Day
28. Great Poetry Reading Day, Kiss Your Mate Day
29. Greenery Day, National Shrimp Scampi Day
30. haristyle Appreciation Day, Natioanl Honesty Day

Have fun celebrating this month and remember…play with time so you have time to play!

Tags: Calendaring Tips, education, entertainment, Family and Home, holiday activities
Posted in Calendaring Tips, Events, Family and Home, General, holiday activities | 3 Comments »

Get inspired! Write a poem for your pet and win!

If you have a child that loves to write and loves animals, we’ve got the perfect combination to help them celebrate National Poetry Month! The 3rd annual “Paws for Poetry” contest is in full swing and is a great opportunity for children ages 5-12 to showcase their poetry prowess! To enter, kids need only to write a poem to, and provide a photo of, their favorite animal friend.The contest is co-sponsored by kids’ virtual field trip web site Meet Me at the Corner and Flashlight Press. Teachers and parents, this is a great opportunity to not only encourage your kids to write but also get them excited about it!

Poems must be original work and can be submitted in one of two categories: Group One (ages 5-9) and Group Two (ages 10-12). One grand prize winner ine ach category will receive a $50.00 Amazon.com gift card. Two runners-up in each category will receive a $25.00 Amazon.com gift card. Winning poems and pet photos will also be highlighted in an upcoming Meet Me at the Corner video pod cast. The pod cast will be videotaped at New York’s Angellicle Cat Rescue Center. Local students will present the winning poems.

The contest judge will be Thad Krasnesky. Thad is a children’s author and poet as well as an Iraqi war veteran. He will also be providing contest winners with an autographed copy of his new book, “That Cat Can’t Stay”.

Celebrating the 3rd annual Paws for Poetry contest inspiring kids to celebrate National Poetry Month!

The contest deadline is April 15, 2010. All submissions should be mailed to:

“Paws for Poetry” contest
c/o Meet Me at the Corner
20 West Del Norte
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

Good luck to all our young Emily Dickensen’s and Edgar Allen Poe’s! We hope you will all take a crack at this contest as we take a moment this month to appreciate poetry in all it’s literary forms! wRite on!

Tags: announcements, education, Family and Home, holiday activities, pets, teachers
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I love celebrating birthdays with my kids. It is so much fun to be able to rub elbows with their friends and just have a crazy good time! I loved that the hardest decision was how to coordinate the schedules of their four friends that would be coming. Pirate parties, princess dress-up parties, spider-man parties…we’ve had some real fun!

Of course, that was when they were 4.

Now that I have an almost 9 year old and her circle of friends (not to mention the social ramifications of said “circle of friends”) has increased exponentially, I have to admit that the upcoming celebration had me somewhat panicking. Who do we invite? Just her friends from church? But then the two friends that go to school with her will talk to their school friends and everyone will wonder why they weren’t invited too. What about her basketball friends? Will her dance friends find out and feel excluded? Before I know it, the guest list has started to top the fire martial’s capacity limit on my home!

And lets admit, the gifts are definitely fun to receive. But amidst the daily clutter of accumulated papers, books, toys, clothes, and everything else that somehow winds up in neglected piles all over the house and most especially in their not-so-large bedrooms…who really wants more “things” to have to organize and maintain?!!

With large party numbers, it is financially  unrealistic to look at a paid venue. But isn’t it also totally unrealistic to invite everyone that your child knows for fear of alienation? YES to both questions!

Alas, my salvation is at hand in the form of one of my much wiser and more experienced friends that discovered the solution. She told her daughter to pick two friends and they would spend the better part of a day doing activities like pedicure/manicures, build-a-bear, jewelry shopping, movie, lunch or whatever struck her daughters fancy (within a predetermined budgetary constraint, of course). They had an absolute blast and no one she knew had any hard feelings at not being the “one” selected. On the contrary, they wanted to hear all about it! It was a smashing success!

I am anxious to give this one a try. In this day of financial crisis, what are some of your ideas for helping your kids celebrate while not breaking the bank or alienating their social crew? We’d love to hear your success stories! Visit our forum on this article and give us your thoughts!

Tags: Family and Home, holiday activities, parenting, tips and tricks
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Valentines Day is about showing other how much we care about and appreciate them. This is such a wonderful holiday for helping kids to think outside of themselves. To consider and show appreciation for the talents, abilities, and importance of others is a difficult but very important skill we all struggle with. Sacrificing time and energy (rather than just mom and dad’s money) to create these messages of thankfulness helps children (and adults!) show a spirit of true consideration. Are you scrambling for some fun, low budget ideas for helping your kids make this Valentines Day truly memorable? Well, we’ve got a few winners for you!

Buying Valentines Cards is certainly easy and sometimes affordable. If you’re little one is working on writing their name, it can be a great way to practice this skill since they will have to write their name several times over in one sitting. If this is a skill you are working on, it can help if you have fairly large valentines cards so that they will have room to write (early writers rarely have the control and coordination required to write very small). It might also help if you draw a line if one does not already exist so that your little one has a reference as they practice their name writing. Without the guidance of lines, you may find this to be a very unproductive and frustrating practice time.

But for those who have mastered their name writing and are looking for a fun alternative to the standard “card”, we suggest a “Valentine’s Mouse”. This little critter requires very little cost for a very fun outcome! The materials you will need are:

• colored paper
• red/black marker or glitter glue
• pipe cleaners
• bag of Hershey Kisses
• glue/tape

Take the colored paper, fold it in half, and begin cutting half-heart shapes along the fold (this will ensure your finished heart will be symmetrical). These small hearts will be glued to the bottom of the Hershey Kiss to form the “ears” of our mouse. Next, take a pipe cleaner and curl it around a pencil. The will be taped to the bottom of the Hershey Kiss as well and bent to resemble our mouse tail. Next, take the marker and make eyes (using a black marker) and a nose (using the red marker or red glitter glue)  for your mouse….and voila! You have your very own valentine critter to deliver!

For a fun surprise for a teacher, parent or grandparent…consider giving them a “heart attack”! This is a simple, easy and inexpensive craft that is lots of fun for the giver and truly memorable for the receiver. First cut as many hearts as possible from several different colors of paper (the more sizes and colors, the more fun!). Next, take a marker and write on each heart something you like, admire, or a special memory about the person. If you have children that are not writing, special pictures are also wonderful. Again, the more, the merrier! Take the finished hearts and tape/post them all over the person’s bathroom, bedroom, front lawn (be aware of sprinklers!), office or any other space that the person spends a lot of time in. The key to success here is to not get caught posting the hearts! When the person returns, they will be greeted with their “heart attack” of special messages from their children. This is a wonderful way for kids to learn to “count their blessings” and be truly thankful for this special someone by remembering all the things they love about them and writing them down. The best reward is the look on the person’s face when they enter the room!

Whatever crafts you decide, make sure you take the time to explain why this holiday is so important. Help your kids remember that showing someone you love and appreciate them is truly one of the best ways to not only make their day, but also make your day a little brighter!

Do you have some fun crafts that have worked well with your family or classroom? Share ‘em! Visit our Teachers Forum under classroom activities!

Tags: arts and crafts for kids, Crafts, education, Family and Home, fun, holiday activities, holiday crafts, tips and tricks
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