Rings on his Fingers and Bells on his Toes

Well, the rings were made of playdough and the bells were actually around his ankles but.....

Lest We Forget

It is really hard to explain war and death to a pair of 3 year olds who've experience neither. I'm very glad that their lives have not been directly touched by either. But we have Remembrance Day (Veteran's day in the USA) for a reason. We need to remember and honor those who fought for us and because those who don't remember history, learn from it, are doomed to repeat.

Their first couple of years, when they were in strollers and portable, I took them to the services at the closest War Memorial. But they don't have it in them right now to sit through a service and I don't want to disrupt others. So I looked for ways to help them learn and still honor the Day.

They took a great interest in the poppies everyone was wearing, so I started there. I found this book at the library and we read it a few times and talked about it. I tried to explain war in terms 3 year olds could understand. We talked in terms of bullies and groups standing up to them and of course death and honor.

Then we did a craft. I cut squares in contact paper and put a black circle in the middle. Then the boys cut out lots of tiny bits of red tissue paper and put on the contact paper. I put down another piece of contact paper and cut the shape out. We talked about poppies and their meaning while we worked.

I hung one on our door and one in the window. And we talked some more about them.

Today, November 11, we managed, barely a moment of silence at 11:11.

Next year, I will explain more and maybe try to get to a legion in advance of the day to talk to some vets. And we'll read some more and talk some more. Our kids are the future. They will be the ones who work towards peace or go to war. The more we can share now and teach them about the past, the more tools they will have to make the right choices. Lest we forget......

Wordless Wednesday - Jack-o-Lanterns

Please remember to vote for me on Circle of Moms

Reusable felt Pumpkins and face 'pieces'. Fast and easy to make.

Stained Glass Art - Toddler Style

I've seen some different ways to make art that is like stained glass windows, some with glue and wax paper, some with contact paper, tissue paper for color, nature for decoration etc. I took from assorted ideas and decided to try what I thought would be easiest for us that would still be fun and produce nice results.

Supplies: contact paper, construction paper, tissue paper, glitter and some fun loving toddlers

Get some one who can handle scissors to cut out shapes from the contact paper, 2 for each 'design'. Cut out thin strips of construction paper to use to outline the shape.

Give the toddlers the tissue paper and let them go nuts tearing it apart. Encourage them to tear into small pieces, and if you can, ball some of them up.  Remember, confetti is lots of fun and they will figure out how to play with it this way too. Don't worry, it's only paper.

Once done, peel the backing off one of the contact paper designs and tape it (sticky side up) onto your work surface. You can put the outline on now or later.

Put your toddler in front of it, show him/her how it works and let them go to town (expect more confetti throwing here).

Once done, bored or the paper is all thrown around and none left in the craft area, you can add the glitter (expect more to be thrown around). 

Then you just peel the backing off the the other piece of contact paper and 'seal' your work of art. (note: if you didn't already, put the outline on now)

Tada - wonderful stained glass art pieces

I wanted to take more pictures during the process but we had so much confetti throwing that I didn't get to grab the camera. I loved this. The boys love both the process and the result. We will be doing it again for sure. I suspect by the time fall rolls around we'll also be doing nature inspired stained glass with the colored leaves that fall from the trees.

Wordless Wednesday - Gingerbread Train