By Shara Lawrence-Weiss (Originally posted on http://www.earlychildhoodnews.net) Are you looking for a few indoor rainy day ideas? Here you go! Here are five ideas for a rainy day, submitted by Susan, owner of Splendipity: 1. Finger paint in the bathtub with your FEET! 2. Draw with shaving cream on your shower doors (if you don't have shower doors, use shaving cream to read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss Teachers (and many parents) have long known the value of engaging children/students in craft activities. While it may appear to be nothing more than ‘child’s play’ there’s actually methodology applied. Crafts serve a number of wonderful purposes: Helping children to be creative Cutting = use of fine motor skills Hand-eye read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss I’m always seeking new ways to reuse and recycle products from around home. If my kids can turn these items into crafts, even better. Lately I’ve stumbled upon numerous blog posts demonstrating how to re-use toilet paper rolls in craft projects. From the simple to the elegant and elaborate, these crafty moms and teachers are something to reckon with! Our read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss For years I’ve melted down bits of broken crayons for my kids. I generally use cupcake baking pans and place the crayon pieces into the round cupcake slots. The crayons melt into circular shapes. Today I attempted to melt down crayon pieces and create long pencil-like crayons. That did not work well because the crayons in the center never melted and the outside read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss After working with children for as long as I have, there are very few ideas that really WOW me. If you also work with kids you probably know the old saying, “There is nothing new under the sun." Most teachers and educators have seen - or invented their own - ideas, crafts, curriculum add-ons, and more. I think it’s safe to say, however, that with our read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss Does baking with your kids make you shutter a little? I’ll be honest – I feel that way. I love to bake and in fact, I used to work for both Safeway and Albertsons; in their bakeries. For me, baking is a stress reliever much like gardening is for my parents. I don’t always bake as well as I want to (see my car cake!) but the act of creating something from scratch read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss What does Sensory Play mean? Sensory Play often refers to play-based activities experienced by children with special needs. Sensory Play can be for all children though, really. Exploring the world around them is a wonderful way to introduce kids to textures, colors, sounds and more. Here are a five fun and simple examples: Sift through the dirt. Don’t be read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss This is a sample of a dedicated blog post. Each post is different and focused on a specific business, written with the business in mind, and geared towards the business being featured. To learn how to get a dedicated blog post about your business, visit here. The post was used as a sample only and The Preschool Toolbox was chosen by Simply Cy-Fair for this read more

By Victoria Armijo When it comes to doing homework, chances are that you don’t get a big smile and a HOORAY from your children. Most kids prefer to go home to watch television, play video games, play sports, or anything else that does not include homework - no matter what age they are. When you think of homework you don’t think of fun, and neither do your kids. Your goal is to make read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss Not long ago a funny thing happened. I read a note on LinkedIn, from someone I know, promoting back-to-school ideas along with coloring pages. I replied, stating that Kabongo was creating custom coloring pages at my request for back-to-school; to benefit my readers. Soon after that someone else replied, complaining about the fact that “people are still pushing read more

By Victoria Armijo Food allergies is something that is very close to my heart and has changed our lives. Our almost two-year-old daughter was diagnosed with food allergies at 6 months old after we found out she was having an allergic reaction to the foods I was eating and was being processed by my milk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 out of every 100 read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss - Did you know that using photographs has been shown, in research, to increase awareness and learning? Photos can teach facial recognition, numbers, letters, colors, concepts, feelings, sequencing and more.

Teachers and early childhood providers have long known the value of utilizing photos in teaching. You can put that research to good use in your own home, car, at the post office or on a plane ride!

read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss Today is Independence Day in the United States. Learn more about Independence Day and explain the history to children: Kaboose.com. Hang and Seek Game: A fun way to teach word match up and reading! Pledge: Help your child learn the Pledge of Allegiance. July 4thMaze Older children may enjoy a little maze action. July read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss When I was growing up, most fathers were around. This is not the case today. When volunteering with young mothers one of the recurring themes I hear is, “My father wasn’t around.” In fact, I would say that 90% of the moms and dads I volunteer with grew up without a father and 10% without a mother. As Martina McBride sang, “No one there to show him the read more

By Victoria Armijo Summer break is a great time to encourage and help your struggling reader. Practicing reading skills are very important for beginning readers because it begins building confidence and literacy skills. There are many ways in which you can help your child be a great reader by the end of summer, just be patient and encouraging! Here are just a few tips that I have given read more