Community Resources - Part 2 - Swap, Eat, Save

Here are 3 things you can do in your community to have a little less, meet new friends, save some money and, of course, have some fun while doing it all!

Have a Swap Meet: Have everyone bring things that they do not need or want any more to a central location and “swap.” Old things to you will become new things to someone else! We just had our 2nd Swap Meet here in our little community. It was held in the gym of a local church. Everyone was told to bring their items to donate during a set time the night before. Volunteers sorted all the donations into categories. The next morning they opened the doors for a few hours and let the community in to take what they needed. Anything leftover was donated to a local thrift store. The first time they had the Swap Meet they tried to limit the number of items taken by each individual to allow everyone to benefit, but they discovered that there was going to be a lot of leftovers and changed their policy. It went much better with the 2nd Swap Meet! They also used Freecycle.org to advertise it and let others know that they could donate.

Neighborhood Barbeques are a great way to get to know neighbors. We lived in a neighborhood once where the yards were taken care of by the HOA and so consequently no one really saw other neighbors much. During the summer months we started having BBQs in the front yard of a house and all the neighbors were invited. Everyone was asked to bring their own meat and something to share with everyone else. A neighbor or two would bring their grill out to let everyone cook their meat on. It was a lot of fun and we were able to meet some great friends.

Bountiful Baskets…Have you heard of it? Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op who has pickup locations in various cities within Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho and Washington. You have to reserve your order online early in the week and then pickup is on Saturday. If you are looking for a great deal on fresh produce and a lot of it, you should check them out and see if there is a pick-up location near you. If they do not have a site near you, volunteer to be a Site Coordinator and bring the great deal near you and your friends!  

Teaching Young Children To Use The Mouse

I do not know about anyone else, but my kids like to do everything I do, including using the computer on their own! I used to work for a company where I taught computer classes for children as young as 3. Since I did a post a couple of weeks ago on some fun computer programs, I thought I would add a few quick tips that I learned to help teach a child to use the mouse a little easier.

The first and easiest tip I can give is to find a small sticker and put it on the mouse for the main mouse button (usually the far left). I use a happy face sticker. Something easy so when my son is using the mouse he knows that his "clicker finger" goes on the happy face and when he is trying to select something on the screen all I have to say is, "push the happy face." It's a simple tip, but it seems to make using the computer less stressful.

The only other problem I have now is that my 2 year old daughter sees her brother using the computer and she wants to do it, too. Her problem was that she had a general idea that her finger (or more like fingers in her case) needed to be on the happy face, but her other fingers kept pushing the right button causing other screens to pop up. The solution? I put a sticker on the other key to help her know that her middle finger needs to go on the right mouse button. That did not help her as much as I hoped until I put a sticker on the side of the mouse where her thumb is supposed to go. That was the key! She now knows where her thumb and first 2 fingers go and it makes things a lot easier for her. Also another bonus is my son likes it, too. I'll see him match up his fingers before he uses the mouse.

As much as I do not like to encourage computer use in children so young, I can not avoid it and there are a lot of educational programs out that he can explorer when I need him to be occupied for a few minutes here and there.

Additional Tips: If you are going to use more than one sticker and try to make each one different. I use a spiral sticker, happy face sticker and a heart sticker.

What's On Your Computer?

I have been a clomplete slacker this past week! I have been all wrapped up in trying to make my summer plans (and to be honest, a bit too antzy to sit at the computer with our weather highs and lows) that I lost track of my 2 posts a week goal. I have been collecting stuff to post, so I will have to catch up!

Today I thought I would share a few programs/sites that we have been enjoying lately.

The First is Tux Paint  and it is FREE! If your child knows how to use a mouse then they will love this! It is great for any age that likes to doodle. My son will stay busy on it for at least 10 minutes and if I'm lucky 20. It has lots of tools that your child can use to create anything they would like.  Most of the time my sons pictures are a bunch of scribbles, but right now he discovered the Rubber Stamp Tool and is having a blast with all of its shapes.

They can also create fun like this

Or even this...probably for the more advanced hands!

The Best Part about this is that your child can't click out of it by hitting the wrong key on the key board. You have to go to the "Quit" button on the right side of the Tool Bar. No more worrying about whether they are changing your desktop while you are trying to get dinner ready!

Second, is Preschool Pioneer.  You probably already know about this site, but just in case I will mention it. We just discovered this within the last week and my son, since he has learned how to master the mouse, loves to click around and explore all the sites. What this site does is link up all the other educational sites by categories (letters, numbers, me, watch, me, etc), as well as it gives parents resources, like activity calendars (I'm going to have to check that out!). It links to PBS and other sites. It saves me the time of having to go through all the sites and figuring out which games/activities will work for my kids. My daughter is still learning to navigate the mouse, but still has fun helping her brother. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Last, is SharpKeys. One of the most frustrating things for me is when my kids start hitting the keyboard and start opening screens and programs that I have never seen. Sometimes they even turn the computer off when I am in the middle of typing something. Ugh! My brother-in-law uploaded this program to my computer and I love it! It even helps for those times when the kids are playing a computer game and they keep missing the keyboard and hitting the windows key and stopping their game.

What Sharpkeys does is that it allows you change the reaction a certain key has or even turn the key off, so it has no response. My kids always hit the Windows key to the left of the space bar so, I turned that key's response off. Problem solved!

Once you download the software and open it. All you will do is click on the "ADD" button on the bottom. Another box will open. Choose the key you want to change from the left column and choose the response you want it to have on the right side. Then click okay. (hmm...this is starting to sound like it would be a pretty good joke to pull on someone!)

I know there are other programs out there that have been recommended, but since I have not seen a recommendation from someone I know or a site that I am comfortable with, I will not try those other ones.

Warning: I recommend the program, but not his blog...it uses foul language and such, so don't waste your time!

Baking with Youth - Part 2

Now baking with your young children can be a lot of fun and a challenge at the same time, but I really enjoy baking with older children/youth. It is a great confidence builder when they are able to finish something with success and baking can be easy to create success in.


Let Them Take the Wheel

I like to let them do as much of it by themselves as possible. The adult just supervises ( I know, this is very hard for some of us control freaks!). Here are some ideas you can do:

• Let them read the recipe and tell you what to do. i.e “Mom, can you please go get the sugar?” (This reminds me of the “how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich” write up I had to do in 6th grade and then my teacher followed our instructions. It was pretty hilarious to watch your teacher try spreading the PB on the bread with his hand, because we forgot to add the bit about using a knife!) You can make this as fun as you want!
  
  Have your youth do it all by his/herself and then ask you when they need help. Make sure they gather all the ingredients, so they know where each item is located and what it looks like. The best thing about this, is that if they are old enough, they will be making cookies all by themselves soon enough because you know they can do it!

• Make sure they clean up and put everything away properly. Teach them that part of the baking experience is cleaning up. It’s no fun if the kitchen is left a mess for mom (or aunt) to clean up.

Math is Fun

Once they can add it opens up another avenue of fun! You can use baking to teach them how to add and do fractions. My children are too young to do math right now, but I do have younger sisters and many nieces that I get to bake with every now and then that are old enough to do all sorts of math with.

I’ll admit, at first they see this as torture because I make them use their brain while we bake. But I love math and I love to incorporate it into anything. I will have them figure out how many 1/3 cups they will need to add 2 cups of flour to the mix or how many teaspoons they will need to add 1 tablespoon of water. For added fun, I’ll switch the teaspoons into milliliters (ml). For instance, “you need 30 ml of water. How many teaspoons do you need to add?” (there are 5 ml per teaspoon). But, I only do this when the ml are already written on the measuring spoons and cups so they do not get too frustrated.

By teaching them math in the kitchen you are teaching them skills for later on. I had a job in my early 20’s where I needed to be able to convert ml into teaspoons or tablespoons for medication or formula mixtures. It was very helpful to know! Plus, I do find it easier when I am changing the recipe into 1 ½ batch and there is some odd measurement to change it into ml to get an accurate measurement. To me it is easier than fractions, especially when you are limited on your measuring cups because you only have a 1/3 cup, ½ cup and a full cup due to one or two of the others getting lost in a move!

Learning Life Skills

By taking the time to teach your youth how to bake and cook you are teaching them how to be self sufficient. If they can understand basic instructions and terms from recipes, they will be able to eat when they are on their own! When I was a teenager, I mentioned in Part 1 that I loved baking out of our Hershey cookbook. Well, my friend and I decided to make a cake at her house with this book. I left the room, leaving my friend to follow the instructions and add the next ingredient. When I came back I found my friend with her hands in the chocolate batter. When I asked her where we were at in the recipe, she told me, “where it says to mix the batter by hand for 1 ½ minutes.” We had a good laugh once she realized her mistake!


Compliment, Praise, Be Positive

Make sure you compliment. Tell them how great they are doing and point out the positives. They are going to make mistakes and they are going to make you laugh, but the most important thing is to have them to leave the experience feeling good about it!


There is something satisfying about making food that everyone else loves. I find great enjoyment in watching my nieces’ faces light up as they watch their family gobble up the cookies they made because they taste great! Share this satisfaction with the youth in your life and just enjoy the process and many avenues of learning.

How to Enjoy Baking with Little Helpers - Part 1

If you couldn’t tell already, I love to bake! I remember when I was around 13 my mom let me run free in the kitchen to attempt baking from a Hershey’s cookbook all by myself. I had a major sweet tooth back then, so it was the perfect cookbook to grasp my full attention. I’m sure I made plenty of messes, but I learned many lessons and I learned to love baking. Now that I have my own children and since they love to help out so much, I try to let them in on the fun as much as possible.

Here is a list of skills that you are teaching your children when you bake with them:

Following Rules –  Have a few rules and stick to them. This will help everyone know what is expected of them and make it a little more enjoyable.

My rules are:

1. Only Mommy (or Daddy) can turn on the mixer. (This is only because they are still young and we have had them start it when a spoon or someone’s hand was still in the bowl.)
2. No hands in the mixer when it is running.
3. And no licking the measuring spoons and cups – Mom will give you a little spoon to taste after it is all mixed together.

Listening – It’s a skill they will be able to enhance the more they get to do and try new things

Sharing/Taking Turns – I make sure that my kids take turns when it comes to adding ingredients. This will save you from arguments on who wants to do what. My kiddos have done it enough now that they even make sure I get a turn.

Counting – When you are putting the ingredients into the bowl you have your children help you count how many cups of flour you put in, etc. Sometimes I choose a smaller measuring spoon or cup just so we get to count higher

Follow Through – this is a great opportunity to teach them that the fun is not over until you have added all the ingredients. I was great for many years and making cookie dough, but horrible at baking it. I can blame that on the fact that most of the people in my family growing up were dough lovers! Now that I am married, my husband would rather eat the cookies, so I have my inspiration to bake the dough.

Cleaning Up – Teach your children that cleaning up is part of the cooking/baking process. So while your treat is baking everyone helps clean up. Teach them to leave the area better than they found it. All containers get put away, dirty dishes go in the sink, the mixer gets wiped down (my biggest pet peeve!) as well as the counter. I always expect a fight when it comes to the, but am always impressed by the eagerness of all my little helpers to help out. Sometimes we make it a game by having a race. You got to do what you have to do keep them motivated!

(This is how I first started baking with my son. I would keep the mixer on the table and then bring the bowl over to him to add the ingredients. He was much too helpful and it was not an enjoyable activity if he wasn't in his chair while the mixer was out!)

Remember to Relax and Have Fun – Messes will happen, but with your few rules and guidelines things shouldn’t get too out of control! If it is too stressful for you, find a way to reduce the recipe to fewer steps. Like, if you were making cookies, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, oatmeal, etc) together in a bowl before you start the project with your kids. Or even by a box/bag mix from the store. Those usually have only 1 to 3 ingredients to add and are a great starter “recipe” when you are just beginning to bake with your little ones.

 (This is how I first started baking with my son. I would keep the mixer on the table and then bring the bowl over to him to add the ingredients. He was much too helpful if he wasn't in his chair!)

Flipping Your Mood on a Down Day

Have you had days where you felt like this?

I don’t know about anyone else, but we had a rough day yesterday with some unexpected weather leaving us cooped up indoors. Mom was crazy, Dad was crazy, kids were crazy… I think we were teased last week with some great sun and to be stuck inside again with yucky weather made us all realize we are ready for Winter to be over!

We all have down days Summer, Fall, Winter or Spring! Here are some tips to help us make those days a little better:

Emotion follows motion. Did you know that if you start acting like the mood you want to be in, your mood will follow! Seriously, it has to do with your physiology or the way in which you position your body. “The best thing you can do for yourself when you are ‘down” is to create the physiology of being in a good mood:

• Hold your head up high, shoulders straight, chin up, put a smile on your face
• Walk briskly, arms swinging by your side
• Breathe deeply
• Listen to uplifting music

If you try these simple things, your body will think you’re in a good mood even if your mind wants to talk you out of it!” (Sensory Secrets: How to Jump-Start Learning in Children)

Try it! The next time you’re child is having a rough morning, pump their arms for them or create a movement game to get them going, turn on some silly music and start dancing, or get them to laugh (which is breathing deeply). The results may not be right away, but you will notice a happier appearance soon enough. For me, my attempt won’t seem to work or even last very long, but I will notice within a few minutes after that all of a sudden I have a happier child.

Get outside. A walk or just being outside does wonders. It will lift the mood for not only Mom but the kiddos, too. Sun or no Sun… if you have to bundle up, do it! I know that even on stormy days a walk to the mailbox seemed to quiet my fussy daughter and she was even tired when we got back.

Studies show that 1 hour of exercise outside has the same benefits as 2.5 hours of light treatment indoors... Briskly walking to classes, taking a run, skiing, sledding and having a snowball fight have all be proven to help suffers of the blues feel better" (Cornell University's Gannett Health Services). And if you can't get outside, do what you can inside. Do chores, exercise with your kids, just move, move, move (which goes with the first tip!)

Do something nice for a friend or neighbor! Doing something for someone else helps you change the focus of your thoughts to helping someone instead of what is bugging you. Call a friend and offer to watch their child(ren) for a little time, send an email to let someone know you were thinking of them or make goodies for a neighbor and have some fun baking them with your kids (bonus!). I have been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of such services and I can tell you they flipped my extremely rough day by just randomly stopping by and asking to take my 1 year old to the neighborhood playground. I will never forget a friend once told me a little secret they discovered about their mom. They found out that their mom would go and do nice things for others on her really bad days! Hearing that changed my perspective on the effects of service forever!

Eat some healthy food. Also according to Gannett Health Services, when many people get depressed they will crave high-sugar foods "because carbohydrates are often effective in increasing serotonin levels in the brain.” Unhealthy snacks will only temporarily relieve your mood. Instead, on down days make a healthier meal with some pasta or rice and a side of fresh fruit and vegetables and you will create a longer lasting mood lift.

Getting to Know Your Community Resources

With spring and summer coming right around the corner I am finding myself starting to make plans for the fun ahead. I thought this would be a great time to review what community resources are available to my family where we live and share some tips to help you discover what resources your community has.

I love finding little surprises my community has. I discovered a couple of months ago that there is a free Mom and Me (dance themed) class that is every week. My daughter loves it! If you start to look around you too will find some activities that are great for your family at a very affordable price.  And with Spring Break and Summer right around the corner it’s a good time to start searching and making plans so you do not miss any important deadlines. 

A great place to begin is with your city/county newsletter.  Some will have them right on their city website or in a local newspaper or they may be kind enough to stick one on your door. Make sure you read it! I know I passed up many at our old place thinking it was junk and did not realize what was on it until it was too late. I would have loved to been able to participate in the community gardens. Too bad I did not read the info and signed up early!

 
Here is an example of a newsletter from The City of Mesa, Arizona Parks and Recreation (I used to work for them so it is an easy resource for me to use.) In it I discovered they were announcing free swim lessons during Spring Break for a variety of ages, but I need to register real soon or all the spaces are going to be full. And if I go to their Activities Brochure (click on the guest button under username and password), I can see that there are a variety of affordable classes (music, movement, tumbling, sports, etc.) that I can register my kids for now that would help us get through the rest of winter. I also discovered that if we want to go fishing this summer that we need to have a fishing license for anyone over the age of 14, but my son is free if he is the only one fishing. This is just a few of the things I found in a 10 minute search and more than enough info right there.

It may take a little research, but affordable fun is just at your finger tips. Here are some places to start your search:

• Check your city/surrounding cities/county website
• Check local colleges and universities for community education classes or other events they have. You may be surprised by what you find. (i.e. Our kids and my husband get in free to all sporting events and the indoor pool.)
• Check your local newspaper for upcoming events
• Check local gymnasiums, dance studios, jump/bounce places, etc. Some will have discounted classes/days where they open the gym to the public for a few hours for a nominal fee. Great for those days when you just need to do something different and get out!
• Check the local libraries, museums and zoos for programs, activities, and free/discounted days.  Some communities have amazing children’s reading programs at a local library or even at the museum. We had one at a nearby museum and it was within walking distance. It was a great day trip.
• And keep in mind while searching that some communities/places may have some discounts available, too. (i.e.  Signing up for multiple classes, income sensitive pricing, or a yearly pass. We had a year pass at a museum once because it was $8 a visit per adult or $15 a year per adult. What a great purchase! We ended up going all the time.)