'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

Summary:

This book cleverly follows the classic rhyme 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Some school children head to Farmer Mack Nuggett's farm for a class field trip to see the turkeys. They soon discover what Farmer Mack Nuggett's plan is for those turkeys, and they don't like it one bit! They find a way to hide those turkeys and end up having a vegetarian Thanksgiving instead. And those turkeys?! They lived!!

Activity:

Have your children disguise a turkey to keep it hidden from Farmer Mack Nuggett!

My son's turkey, disguised as an alien!

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What a fun game to play with your little ones! I think my kiddos will get a kick out of Mommy gobbling frantically like a turkey.

The videos put together by Cullen's ABCs are always so thoughtful and fun. You can see more at their site Cullens ABCs

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Connect with Your Child & Feed a Hungry Child

Do you remember 'The Lunch Note?'

When I was a child in grade school, everyday, I would open my lunch box and see a simple note from my mom.

I still have a couple of them. They always said she loved me and was thinking of me. That she and Wonder Woman (my favorite show) would be waiting for me after school.

When my oldest started Kindergarten this year, I started including a little note in her lunch box. It's just a little way I can connect with her during the day to let her know I love her and am thinking about her.

Lunchables has just launched a fantastic campaign involving 'The Lunch Note' and a way to feed hungry children. You can check it out here. If you promise to send a note in your child's lunchbox, they will give a lunch to a child in need.

We have compiled a fabulous list of free printable lunch notes online:

• Printable Disney Themed Lunch Notes
• Fun Printable Lunch Notes from Alenka's Printables
• Kid Printable Lunch box Notes
• Blank Lunch Box Notes from Family Education
• Free Printable Lunchbox Notes, Tags, and Stickers
• Fun Back Pack Notes from the Gingerbread Nook

Make a connection with your child they will always remember and feed a hungry child. Easy and Fun!

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• Need encouragement to drink milk? He's got it covered! (How Now Brown Cow)
• Taking that big step from tricycle to bicycle? Done! (Bye-Bye Tricycle)
• A little nighttime fear? No problem. (Sleeping Til Morning Time)
• Picky eater? He feels your pain! (Roll Model)

This album has taken up residence in our car's CD player and is requested daily by my five-year old. His favorite is All Cleaned Up, a fun bathtime song, that will have everyone humming along!

My favorite (yes, mine!) is Goofy's Barnstormer about the roller coaster in the Magic Kingdom. It has that Beach Boys Little Deuce Coup sound. It brings back fond memories of our trip to Disney World a few years ago; we arrived at Mickey's Toon Town right when it opened and got to ride the Barnstormer with Goofy himself!

You can listen to clips of Taft's songs and purchase the CD or digital album (iTunes & MP3 player compatible) on his website. You can also enter here to win one of two copies of How Now Brown Cow! That's right, Taft has provided us with two copies of his album to giveaway to two of our readers.

OK, here's the scoop. To enter this contest simply leave a comment on this post.

For extra entries you may:

1. Follow Taft on Twitter (leave a comment with your Twitter handle saying you're now following)
2. Tweet about the contest (leave a comment with a link to your tweet)

3. Become a fan of Taft's on Facebook (leave a comment proclaiming your fandom!)

The contest will run from Wednesday, October 28, 2009 through Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Contest winners will be chosen by a random number generator and notified by e-mail. This contest is open to residents of the United States.

~Contest is now closed~

Congratulations to Lisa L. & Ramona! They are the winners of the 2 giveaway albums. Thank you to everyone who entered! Please be sure to visit Taft at his website, on Facebook or on Twitter!

Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by the artist.

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But these days, thanks to a poor economy, many moms- and dads-to-be are skipping out on the Buy Buy Baby extravaganzas in favor of hand-me-downs from friends and gently used items purchased on Craigslist or at yard sales. According to a recent New York Times article about the phenomenon, the kid-toy giant Mattel saw a 15 percent drop in first quarter sales in 2009, and even Bugaboo, the Rolls Royce of strollers, has seen its sales slow to a crawl.

“The recession has liberated us from a lot of the consumer expectations so that we can have a big enough space to feel really comfortable just giving our kids a pot and a spoon,” cultural anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff told the Times.

As it turns out, buying secondhand isn’t just practical—it’s better for our babies, too. A new report from Germany’s Bundesinstituts für Risikobewertung (BfR, or National Institute for Risk Assessment) claims that many new toys, clothes, and nursery items contain high levels of chemicals that can be dangerous to a newborn’s fragile lungs.

The solution, they say, is to purchase baby products secondhand. Generally, used baby clothes have already been through enough wash cycles to rid them of any hazardous chemicals, and the flame-retardants used in strollers, cribs, and other products will no longer create emissions that could be harmful to a young child.

When buying used, however, it’s always important to make sure that your purchases are up to par. Before making a purchase, read JPMA’s baby product safety guidelines, and check Recalls.gov to verify that the product you’re thinking of buying hasn’t been recalled by the company that made it.

Continue reading>>

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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault

Summary:

I love, love, love this book!! The lowercase letters decide to climb the coconut tree. But when all the letters get to the top, the tree can’t hold them all and CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM, they all fall down! But, all their adult friends (uppercase letters) are there to the rescue! So fun. So catchy. There is also a CD that puts the whole book into song, which I love!

Activity Ideas:

• Find a copy of a coconut tree, color, cut, (and laminate). Tape to a cookie sheet. Put your magnetic letters out, as well as the book, and let your children play. Some will find the letters in the story, others will find the letters they know, and still others will find random letters.

• Have your child make a coconut tree out of construction paper. Then, using letter stamps or sponges (I found mine at Walmart), help your child stamp his name on his coconut tree. Adorable! (this tree was done by a 2-year-old with help from his dad)

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We all love our children, and we go to great lengths to protect them.  Few examples of this are as obvious as the car and booster seats we purchase for our vehicles to keep our children as safe as possible.

Yet, did you know that 3 out of 4 car seats are either not installed correctly or not being used correctly? This can have disastrous consequences to children, especially (but not limited to) in a collision.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is kicking off a week dedicated to child safety with National Seat Check Saturday (September 12). There will be stations all over the country where you can bring your car in to make sure car seats are appropriately installed. Find the nearest station to you!

Want more information on child passenger safety? The NHTSA has created a wonderful site that is a great place to start.

Now go hug your most precious of cargo.

image credit

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That's right it's that time where we hit the stores, enjoy deep discount prices and get the young ones ready to be shipped off to school!

But before you buy those trendy flip-flops or 3-inched wedges, boots or heels for your teen, here's a little something to consider: her back health.

Did you know that researchers believe young girls and women suffer from lower back pain because of the kind of shoes they wear on their feet? In fact, backless shoes (like sandals) and shoes without adequate heel support (flip-flops) causes body weight to be distributed unevenly, thereby causing pain in the lower back. Ouch!

So what can you do? Aside from banning the trendy footies–which is sure to get a thumb's down in any household–you can:

• make sure you use sneakers and sole supportive shoes for walking long distances. Wear your cute shoes for shorter distances.
• buy sole and back friendly shoes from the start. You may not be able to find them in 3-inches but they'll be fashionable and more importantly comfortable.
• insert comfort cushions into your favorite shoes. It may not feel as comfy as your bed slippers but it will help to distribute your body weight more evenly.

With comfy, back friendly shoes, you and your teen are sure to have a stomping-good start to the school year!

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The Kissing Hand

Summary:

Chester Raccoon doesn’t want to go to school; he wants to stay home with his mother. She reassures him that everything will be fine… because she knows a secret! It’s the secret of the Kissing Hand. She then spreads his fingers and gives him a kiss right in the middle of his palm. He feels warm fuzzies go throughout his body. Whenever he feels lonely, he simply puts his hand to his cheek and will know that his mom loves him. Chester loves the Kissing Hand so much that he gives one to his mom in return!

Activity:

Make your own kissing hands!

1. Put paint on your child’s hand and help them place their handprint on paper.
2. When dry, place a heart sticker in the middle. I didn’t have a heart sticker so I used an adhesive label and drew a heart on it.
3. Be sure to do one of your hand, too!

And be sure to really kiss your child's hand that first morning before they leave!

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Because we can only use crayons and markers so many times to make letters, I’ve come up with five new and interesting activities to help your preschooler build letter recognition.

1) Cool fun

My favorite go to outdoor activity is writing with ice cubes on the driveway. Really. It’s a little bit messy and a little bit fun and you stay cool while you do it. Use the ice cubes to draw letters and have your kids copy them or trace over what you wrote.

2) Get in the sandbox.

Use a stick (or your finger) to draw and trace letter shapes.

3) Stick to it.

Use sticky notes to label things in your home. Door, wall, chair, stove, table, mirror, fireplace, window, etc. Pick a letter your child can recognize and ask them to tell you all the words that contain the letter. Or just spend some time finding the labels and reading them with your child. This is a PERFECT activity for an older sibling to do with a younger one.

4) Bath time!

Strip your kiddo down to their undies and stick them in the tub with homemade bath paints. Weelife has a great recipe on her blog. They can trace, draw or just have fun while improving hand eye coordination. They might even get clean in the process!

5) Play in the kitchen.

If your home is like mine, you have dozens of those little magnetic letters lying around. Use them to make words and have your child identify letters.

Finally, if you aren’t reading with your child every day, start doing it now. If you are tired of the books your child has, visit the library and get more or talk with other moms about a book swap so you can grow tired of a new favorite book your child requests over and over again.

Photo: Vera Lucksted

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