Busy Bags

With an upcoming trip to California in November, I am actively hunting out busy bag ideas to keep the girls entertained on the flight and during quiet evenings in our time share. I need ideas!!!

Example of the Pre K swap contents from unsolicited Advice's site

Busy bags are basically little plastic baggies (although some people use those zippered pencil cases) with self-guided activities in them that the kids can work on themselves or with very little help. They help with skills, learning or may just be for fun. Activities include such things such as lacing cards, matching games, drawing and coloring, paper dolls, etc.

 So while Googling "Busy Bags for Kids" I found this wonderful momma blogger who is giving away a box of 10 toddler busy bags! How cool is that?! To enter into this giveaway you must become a follower of her blog, check out her buddy's blog, share this giveaway on your own blog or social networking site, then leave a comment on her post with a little info. Easy smeezy!

A few of the busy bag activities include Brown, Bear, Brown Bear activities,
a button snake, pompom stuff &  MANY more!

The giveaway ends September 23rd at 6 am so hurry and enter! I know I am!

Don't Be A Bucket Dipper!

"Don't be a Bucket Dipper, be a Bucket Filler!"

I can't even begin to tell you how many times a day I hear this phrase from Sassy Britches. The metaphor of the bucket and dipper and the idea of a Bucket Fillers program is based off the educational programs of Merrill Lundgren, the "Bucket Man". The children's book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?( A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids)" by Carol McCloud is based on his programs and pioneering work in schools all over the country.

My daughter's school, of course, has adopted this program as part of their school-wide positive behavioral support program. It is designed to establish a culture of positive interaction. The expectation for all staff and students is to be a "Bucket filler" and not a "Bucket dipper". The bucket filler metaphor is used throughout their classrooms and campus to help remind them that as they continue to fill the buckets of others, they also fill their own.

We all carry an invisible bucket. This bucket contains our feelings. When our bucket is full, we feel great; when it’s empty, we feel empty. A bucketfiller is someone who says or does nice things for other people. By doing this, they are filling other people’s buckets and filling their own bucket at the same time. On the other hand, a bucketdipper says or does things to cause other people to feel bad. This simple but profound philosophy applies to every aspect of life.

Different classrooms have various cutesy ways of incorporating this such as cups or buckets which the children fill with pom-pom balls (AKA little warm fuzzies, like the warm fuzzy feelings being a Bucket Filler brings), marbles, gems, etc. Usually there is some type of reward. Students can add pom-poms to others who have shown them acts of kindness and it adds to their buckets as well. If a student said someone "dipped" from their bucket, a pom-pom was taken out of both the dipper's bucket as well as the dipp-ees bucket. This discourages tattling because a pom-pom would be taken out of their bucket as well.

Since Sassy Britches kept bringing it up, and it obviously was working in the classroom, I figured we might as well use the concept in our home as well and I thought it would be very helpful in reinforcing the concept with interactions outside of school.

 Since the  buckets would be set out for all to see, I decided to make them simple but attractive. As cute as the little neon sand pails were, they did appear a bit tacky in a home setting and were much better suited for a colorful classroom. I used glass containers I found in the small floral section of my local dollar store. To fill the buckets, I used those little glass gems also found in the floral section. To assign each person in the house a bucket, I used little scrapbook stickers- "S" for Shaylee (aka Sassy Britches), "K" for Kaylyn (aka Little Big Stuff), a "D" for Daddy, and a "M" for myself, Mommy. The whole project for all four individual buckets, the gems, and the big glass vase to keep all the gems in cost me $10. I am thinking I might add a little ribbon at the top to not only dress them up a bit more but also serve as a "filled line".

Even Little Big Stuff, only being 10 months old, can earn gems for her bucket by touching the dog gentle, giving kisses, not pulling Sassy Britches hair, etc. While she has no concept of what is going on, Sassy Britches does. It's just as important to be sure she understands that everyone must treat people kindly...and besides, the program will grow with them both and we want the program to be fair for all right from the start.

Our filling and dipping concept is the same as it is in school. If she plays quietly while Little Big Stuff naps or helps entertain her while I use the restroom, she earns a gem. While my husband and I could care less about earning a reward in the end, Sassy Britches is very concerned! If Sassy Britches gets mouthy or an attitude when we ask her to do something, a gem is removed from her bucket as well as ours. She is quick to tell us we are being bucket dippers when she is being scolded for something or when she doesn't get her way, as if that somehow gives her the upper hand, but quickly changes her tune when we tell her that is she feels that way she needs to take a gem out of our buckets as well as hers. If she wants to add a gem to someone's bucket, which will also add one to her own, she must state out loud why that person filled her bucket, just to keep her honest and not just adding gems to others buckets just to assist in filling her own. I am not sure if these details are incorporated in her classroom but I find they work at home.

So far we have been using the program only for a few days but it seems to be working! Sassy Britches is eager to help out and offer compliments. The Hubs and I are still working out what rewards we might offer but we do have things like 'go get ice cream', 'stay up 30 minutes later than bedtime', 'pick a treasure from the treasure box', and stuff like that. We just need to decide when it comes time to cash in her gems, what monetary amount the gems have. Obviously bigger rewards like '$10 spending limit at Build-a-Bear' would be worth more gems than, say, 'pick out movie for family movie night'. I can see this being a very good way to teach my girls how to treat others.

Moms- what type of positive reward incentives have you used or are using? Do they work?

Recycling Crystal Light Containers

My youngest daughter, Little Big Stuff, loves these rice rusk baby treats called Mum-Mums. I love them because they are made especially for teething babies and dissolve easily in their mouth, with no mess. I like that I can give them to her with little fear of her choking on them. Anyhow, since they are so awesome, I find myself always reaching for them to put in her diaper bag.

However, by snack time, when I go to open them, its all broken small pieces and crumbs. SO ANNOYING!

The Crystal Light container holds 3 packs of Mum-Mums, with each pack
containing two rice rusk treats.

That's when I got the idea to use the Crystal Light container I had been saving (I was intending it to be an eyeglass/sunglass case, but I can always make one of those later-another blog post, I am sure!). It was the perfect size! And since the container is hard plastic, it protects the Mum-Mums (and other similar sized snacks, such as granola bars) from being crushed under toys, wipe containers, bottles, and the other necessities I tote around in my diaper bag. How neat is that?! I might get around to decorating it all cutesy, but until then, I know my daughter's favorite snack will continue to be readily available during all of our outings.

Oh and here is a little video review I made of Baby Mum-Mums (pardon the no makeup, un-did hair, LOL):

Moms- what other uses have you found for Crystal Light containers?

Back To School- An Organizing MOMent

Can you believe kindergarteners have homework? I don't remember ever having it when I was in school. But then again, that about 25 years ago! I am kinda glad Sassy Britches has homework though. It gives me a chance to see what she is learning daily and to help her in areas that she needs improvement (currently that area is knowing her left from her right, but other than that, she's doing great!). The Hubs and I both believed in being an active part in our children's education- from helping and being hands on with their homework to volunteering at their school, to being attendees to their PTO meetings.

To make homework time a bit more organized, I made this cute little homework station, AKA our dining room table. I purchased one of those shower caddies you see everywhere during Back to School shopping, intended for dorm residing college students I assume, but I found they are perfect for housing crayons, markers, glue sticks, pencils and other school supplies that may be required for various homework assignments. It cost me a whopping $2, LOL! It sits smack dab in the middle of our dining room table which has taken on as many roles in our house as I have!

I also purchased a large desk calendar, which I hot glued magnets to the back of to hang on my refrigerator, in my assigned "family command center". Its the go-to place for everyone to know whats going on and when. While colored Sharpie markers were on sale, I assigned a color for each family member, one for school events, one for birthdays, one for cheerleading, one for my Jafra parties (I am a beauty consultant), etc. It makes knowing what is going on so much easier for everyone.

Moms- what are some things you have done to make going back to school more organized in your household? Do you have a family command center designated in your home?

Perpetual Learning Workbooks

Annoyed with the cost of learning workbooks for children, I decided to turn Sassy Britches' Kindergarten workbook into a perpetual learning workbook- one that she could practice the subject objectives repetitively
and still have it available to pass on to Little Big Stuff (even though we have years to go!).

 This idea would be perfect for moms who have children with less of an age difference for sure!

To do this I tore all the pages out along the perforations then carefully slid each page into one of those plastic page protectors (get the smooth surface ones!) which I bought conveniently during the back to school sales. Then just put all the pages in a large  three ring binder. You'll want to buy a 3 inch width binder or greater.

To use the perpetual learning workbook, provide your children with dry eraser markers. Purchase a variety of colors as many of the activities in these types of workbooks require the kids to color various parts. Staples had a pretty good selection of these Quartet Enduraglide dry erase markers that you can purchase individually (so you only have to purchase the ones you actually need). Office Max has a pretty good deal on a pack of 16 different color Expo brand markers that I am thinking of getting soon, for even more variety. Keep all the markers in one of those three ring binder pencil pouches in the front of your perpetual learning workbook. For an eraser, just purchase a sheet of felt from your local craft store (these are usually under $1 per sheet). It too can be folded and stored in the pencil pouch.

Now your kids can get definitely your monies worth out of their learning workbooks, using them over and over!

Moms- do you use learning workbooks for your kids?

My Baby Starts Kindergarten!

I just realized how incredibly big her lunch box was and have
since replaced it with a much more manageable sized one! LOL!
Oh, and that headband, I made that! :)

I can't believe my baby is in kindergarten! She's getting so big so fast! I thought for certain I would be one of those mommas that teared up but actually surprised myself! No tears from either of us! I think Sassy Britches being in Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten helped (I cried in the parking lot on her first day of VPK) so her first day of Kindergarten just felt like another school day. But deep down I did have that pain in my heart knowing that my baby was growing up before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it or even slow it down! I keep thinking back to her little baby voice and how I never thought she would grow any hair and here was a beautiful, articulate child with the heart of gold. My heart beamed with pride, I just knew right then she would do great. I didn't want to make too much of a fuss over her so I typed up a very special love note which she keeps folded in the little zippered ID tag pouch on her backpack which reads:

"Dearest Shaylee, I wonder what you're doing right now, and if everyone is treating you kind. I hope there is a special person, a nice friend you can find. I wonder if the teacher knows just how special you are to me and if the brightness of your heart is something she can see. I wonder if you are thinking about me, and if you need a hug. I already miss the sound of your voice and how you give my leg a tug. I wonder if you could possibly understand how hard it is for me to let you grow. On this day know my heart breaks, for this is the first step in letting my baby go. Have fun on your 1st day of Kindergarten! Mommy and Daddy, and sister Kaylyn too, are proud and love you!"

I wish I could take credit for this poem but I did find it online somewhere and hung onto it in anticipation for this huge milestone in my little girl's life. So whoever out there that wrote this- thank you!

Moms- did you cry when your child started kindergarten? How did you make the first day special?