Fun Activities for Kids, Families, and Teachers

Hello parents and teachers out there! I came across a great article/radio bit produced by National Public Radio that I just had to share! Since the product I sell, Story Time Felts, facilitates what this research suggests is necessary for kids, I was particularly interested! Here is just a snip, visit the NPR site to read the rest or listen to the 7 minute radio segment:

“It’s interesting to me that when we talk about play today, the first thing that comes to mind are toys,” says Chudacoff (Howard Chudacoff, a cultural historian at Brown University).

“Whereas when I would think of play in the 19th century, I would think of activity rather than an object.”

Chudacoff’s recently published history of child’s play argues that for most of human history what children did when they played was roam in packs large or small, more or less unsupervised, and engage in freewheeling imaginative play. They were pirates and princesses, aristocrats and action heroes. Basically, says Chudacoff, they spent most of their time doing what looked like nothing much at all.

“They improvised play, whether it was in the outdoors… or whether it was on a street corner or somebody’s back yard,” Chudacoff says. “They improvised their own play; they regulated their play; they made up their own rules.”

Continue reading this story at NPR.org…

My daughter had this poem written in her journal from her religious education class. Use this as a discussion starter with kids for how we should choose how we spend our time wisely!

Karen

Only a Minute

I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it,
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,
But it’s up to me to use it,
Give account if I abuse it,
Answer for it if I lose it,
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it!

Hi everyone! A fellow MomPacker, Peggy from the Expo Connection, wrote the following idea in response to someone asking what to do with old cards. I just loved this idea so much, I had to ask if I could share it! Thanks, Peggy!

Story Time Felts
Executive National Director

Keep Those Cards

This is something that touched my heart last November more than I ever expected. My mom passed away Oct. 29th last year and then a few weeks later while going through her things, we found boxes with each of our names on it, all of her 4 kids had their own box.

Inside these boxes were every card we gave her and my dad, plus report cards, notes, letters and so on… We were all overwhelmed that she kept all of this.

There were my kindergarten and up report cards, birthday cards I made and, in later years, bought her. Mom’s day cards, and so many had little notes in them that I wrote at the time. Plus the ones my 3 kids and even my grandson have given her.

Just knowing how much those cards and everything meant to her even though she never mentioned it to any of us is something I am so blessed to have!!

There was a card I gave her in the early 70’s that said to my MOM on Fathers day! I had long forgot doing that until I saw it and then the flood of memories came back.

There were even post cards from when we went on vacation and sent them cards that we wrote little notes on.

The list goes on!

So don’t throw those cards away! Get an expanding folder and start organizing them by your kids’ names.

I know from my own mom, that now that I am doing this I am leaving my own kids and grandson a gift of love by doing this also.
She left us, her kids, grand kids and even great grand kids all some treasured memories by doing that!

I never even thought of doing anything like what my mom did until I was handed the boxes. It still overwhelms me to look at all of it… My oldest is 32 and I wish I had every card she made and bought me, to give back to her as a gift of love, when I am not here anymore, just like my own mom did. She was an amazing woman, friend, and mom to me.
Peggy
TheExpoConnection.com