Make Your Own Dry Erase/White Board

DIY Dry Erase

A dry erase board is a useful tool in any household, and location is key to it's being useful or useless. Dry erase boards are a great alternative to chalk boards for children's art projects, letter practice, or working out math problems. For the older child, a dry erase board is a great place to work through that tedious algebra equation. And for the parent, it can be the perfect way to keep information at hand for kids, babysitters, and your spouse. Various sizes can be purchased in stores, but sometimes, it's nice to be able to customize the dry erase board for a specific need or space, without spending a fortune. There is a method that is really quite simple and inexpensive.

White Contact Paper

With a roll of white contact paper, you can make your dry erase board lightweight, and inexpensively. The most simple method is to simply cut to the size you need, and thumb tack to the wall. For a sturdier backing, adhere the contact paper to a piece of posterboard, and tack up. If you want to be a little fancier, you can certainly use a piece of thicker material, such as plywood, and wire the board for mounting. Regardless of the sturdiness or size, the covering is simple enough. This can also be used as a wet erase board, in combination with a set of Vis a Vis markers.

More Alternative Wet/Dry Erase Surfaces

The refrigerator can be used for both wet and dry erase. Work the problems or make the notes, and when finished, wipe clean.


Your bathroom mirror will function as a wet or dry erase board. Leave a reminder for the kids to pick up the wet towels. Or, leave a love note for your spouse. Wipe clean when the note is no longer needed.


Windows, likewise, work as wet or dry erase surfaces. Any glass surface, really. I don't suggest the television screen, though. That might be getting a little carried away!
For a portable surface, a plastic covered binder. Or, make a book cover from the white contact paper, and the book now has a nice surface for doodling or working those algebra problems. Don't remove the adhesive from the contact paper, though, when covering the book. Rather, tape corners of the contact paper together on the inside cover. You really don't want the cost of text book replacement, after all.

Fun Pretend Play with Little Tikes Role Playing Toys and Furniture

Pretend Play

Role playing toys are a great source of inspiration in the pretend play of young children, in that a well designed role playing toy doesn't do everything for the child, but rather opens the door to using the imagination. While many toys lend themselves to role playing, the best pretend play, I think, is very open ended, giving room for a child to express his or her interests and talents in the use of their toys. Little Tikes makes many play sets and items which adapt to individual interests, providing a simple, sturdy source of hours of childhood entertainment.
Whether it's a Little Tikes car, a Little Tikes Kitchen or Little Tikes Shopping Cart, or a Little Tikes Swing Along Castle, your youngsters can have hours of interactive pretend play. Furthermore, Little Tikes is known for the sturdiness of its materials, lasting beyond your first child.

Strong and Sturdy

Little Tikes has served our family well through the years. Some of the most popular pieces are Little Tikes Toy Boxes, shaped as miniature furniture pieces. My daughter's pink Little Tikes Toy Box Couch is still in use in our home for storage, some 16 years after its purchase. It's easy to clean, and has stood, not only the test of time, but also the rough and tough treatment of active children. The furniture aspect has made it great as a part of role playing activity, whether the kids played house, or rocked their baby dolls while Mom rocked a new baby. They have covered this, and accenting pieces, with blankets and books to make tunnels and tents. Little Tikes Storage, and Little Tikes Furniture, work into pretend play, without doing it all for your kids.

Little Tikes Playhouse Sets

Little Tikes Playhouse Sets are great doors to pretend play, as children are free to create their own adventures, based upon their favorite characters, or creating their own. These Little Tikes sets provide a loose theme, upon which children easily expound. Youngsters can simply act out the everyday routine of parents, with a cottage style playhouse, or they can rescue damsels in distress in their Little Tikes Castle. These are role playing toys which provide for safe pretend play, as the materials are solid, and the themes, fun. The designs of Little Tikes Play Sets are creative and colorful, at times combining the house portion with swing set features. The sets last for years.

Little Tikes Playground Sets

Little Tikes Playground Sets are decorative enough for indoors, in many cases, sturdy enough for outdoors. I have a friend whose living room was half consumed with such a playground climber, an indoor play area during her kids' early years. Our outdoor Little Tikes Slide is still sturdy and useful, after nearly a decade of rough and tough use. Jungle Gyms and Playground sets are fun places for role playing activities of childhood, and foster fun pretend play in kids.

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe

The Cozy Coupe by Little Tikes is a classic, and young adults of today may have fond memories of this first set of "wheels"! A little less stressful on Moms and Dads than real driving, its fun to watch your youngsters scoot around and rev and roar in these popular ride on toys.

Little Tikes Tool Bench

Unless you have a youngster who insists on real tools, a Little Tikes Tool Bench is a fun role playing toy for boys who want to build. Daddy would much rather they had their own tools, and these are much safer. Inspire your future architect with great pretend play.

Pretend Play with a Little Tikes Kitchen

Little Tikes makes many clever play kitchen sets, and these are all fun for inspiring your daughters. As a role playing toy, this is a childhood favorite theme, and pretend play in a real looking kitchen setting is so much fun. It's not a new concept, but Little Tikes kitchen sets are so much more durable than the brittle plastic kitchen sets of my childhood. Little Tikes stands the test of time!

10+ Flying Toys for Kids

15 Flying Toys Boys and Christmas means fun. Even the big boys need their toys, and flying toys are a sure fire way to encourage the pilot or astronaut in each one. Further, the flight themed toys are not restricted to boys, but are also great fun for many girls, and there are even those which are specifically designed to appeal to young ladies.


There are many fun options on the market, some remote controlled, some requiring adult supervision, some highlighting simple aerodynamics in one of the oldest flying toys known to youngsters. Regardless of your selection, you can rest assured that your Christmas morning will be a blast with an aerodynamic element!

Stomp Rockets

Stomp Rocket Super HighPerformance Stomp Rocket







A fun version of a favorite childhood theme, Stomp Rockets are safe, requiring no fuel or engines. Youngsters send the rockets skyward by jumping on the stomp pad, which sends air through a hose, to project the rocket into the air. Glow in the dark rockets make this a fun night activity!

Estes Model Rockets



Estes 810 220 Swift FlyingModel Rocket Kit

Probably the biggest name in model rockets, Estes provides a variety of levels, from beginner, to enthusiast. Spur your future rocket scientist's passion! My tween son enjoys the thrill of the launch, and the only drawback is the lack of foresight in purchasing enough engines to keep the fun going! My younger brother loved rockets in his upper elementary years, and even had the opportunity to a rocket camp one summer. Later, he went on to achieve his aerospace engineering degree! You never know what kind of future a flying toy, such as rockets, can inspire.

Remote Control Helicopters (Air Hogs)

Air Hogs Havoc Heli - ColorsMay Vary

These are tremendous fun for older children, teens, tweens, and dads, too! My husband's set of Air Hogs is a load of fun, for operators, and observers. It's a little advanced for younger children. I actually picked up the set featured below for my husband, and the chaos with two copters flying through the house is crazy...fun for the boys, but it might make mom think twice!

Radio Controlled Airplanes



Estes Xenox RC

You see them at the park, or even on a special airstrip as you are out for a Sunday drive. Remote control airplanes seem amazing, and they must be. Most of the time, it's grown up men flying them! The planes attract the attention of all the boys...including the grown up ones! Airplane withMotion Sensing Control

Kites

Prism Flip Rotor Kite,Spectrum

So much fun to watch, definitely fun to fly! Early springtime appearance of paper kites in stores is fun...for the older kids, and definitely for tweens, teens, and adults, specialty kites can be tons of fun! For educational applications, take a little time to read about the history of kites, or to actually explore a kitemaking book.

Frisbees and Boomerangs



Ultimate Bundle - 6

Not just for kids, frisbees are great therapy and exercise for people of all ages. Frisbee golf, or disc golf, is a great activity, and many parks have courses. Grandpas and grandsons can enjoy the activity together. If you have space at home, set up an obstacle course, or through the neighborhood, with some cautions for windows, of course! DiscraftUltra Star Ultimate Discs

Remote Controlled Tinkerbell



Wow Wee Flytech TinkerbellIndoor

If you have a little girl, or not so little, who loves Tinkerbell, or Disney Princesses, then a flying remote controlled Tinkerbelle could be a huge amount of fun.

Flyer Fold N Fly Paper Airplanes Kit

Nova Design Airglider 40 -Blue/Orange

Set of 4 Guillow's GuillowBalsa Wood Airplanes & Gliders

Flingshot Sling shot fun, with animal humor!

Playmaker Toys FlingshotFlying Animal - Flying CowWith Mooing Sound, Model# 4551

Great Gifts for Kinesthetic Learners: Sonic Slam

Sonic Slam:  Electronic Tennis Game without the Ball

Tennis, anyone?

If you have active children, particularly those with a bent toward hands on learning (kinesthetic, or tactile learners), then you know that sometimes it's very difficult to harness that energy, never mind channel it in a positive direction. There are lots of toys and games available which are well suited to this type of youngster, many of which I'll highlight later in the article. However, I'll begin with one that caught my attention recently, Sonic Slam.

No ball!

Sonic Slam is essentially virtual tennis, but without the need to be tied to a gaming console. Whereas activity based video game systems such as Wii require use of the television screen, Sonic Slam simply includes electronic tennis rackets. The ball is seen as a light, which is bounced back and forth between players. No running after that stray ball! This isn't strictly of interest to the young crowd. If your better half is a tennis fanatic, this is a way to tap into that interest.

My husband faithfully watches all of the tennis tournaments, and I often wake to middle of the night showings of tournaments when it's the right season. In our first year of marriage, his delight in my owning a tennis racket quickly turned to disappointment when I couldn't keep his pace. Sonic Slam provides an opportunity to enjoy his interest, without frustrating things by constant misses!

Of course, there are some plug and play sets which focus strictly on tennis games, played through television. Not nearly as intriguing as Sonic Slam, but nevertheless, another tennis option. There are also many tennis options for the major video gaming systems, including Wii, XBOX, and PlayStation.

Sports Minded Kids

Of course, if you have sports loving children, there's no absolute replacement for real sports equipment, and with tennis type action, you will want to consider a real tennis racket and ball, or perhaps a table tennis set. Electronic tennis is a hit with my children, and I see this as potentially translating into a great interest to pursue as an outdoors activity.

Kitchen Math: Education Through Discovery

Education in Experiences

The kitchen lends itself well to all manner of experience. From smell to taste to temperature, we become acquainted as youngsters with the things we later study in science. We observe the changing of a variety of ingredients into solids such as cakes and brownies, and we appreciate the importance of this hub of the household when our tummies rumble, informing us of mealtime. Equally important are the beginnings of important mathematical principles, as we learn to count, sort, identify, and compare. Sets and subsets are not important, but stacking of cans of like sizes, or arranging of silverware according to size and type are the beginnings of our understanding of relationships that will later enable us to compute and solve the most basic to the more complex problems.


In the modern classroom, all too often, test scores trump understanding. What I mean is that, while intended to measure a student's understanding, most testing tools are limited to easy-to-grade answers of multiple choice or true/false. There is little opportunity for a student to provide his thinking on a topic, or to defend his answer. Further, time to develop the tactile understanding through hands on experience is limited by needs to comply with the schedule at hand for the curriculum. While the basic information needed to pass a test might be communicated, the understanding needed for essential application of these concepts is bypassed.

As parents, we can fill in some of those missing gaps by allowing our children to explore and experiment with materials that allow them to see, touch, and experience in a way that brings understandings of quantity and qualities.

Head Chefs Measuring Cup for Junior Chefs

Counting and Sorting

The activities of counting and sorting really come naturally. If a child is presented with a set of items, it won't be long before they are doing one, or both. Allow this to happen naturally in the kitchen. Encourage your child's presence as you prepare meals. Allow them to taste, touch, and smell the ingredients in your recipes....within reason, of course! Of course, we aren't going to have little ones handling raw meat or hot peppers. Nevertheless, there are many things in our kitchens that little ones can do to participate. While it may be loud and annoying for a child to play with pots and pans, these are beginning opportunities to experience sounds.
Youngsters love to help in putting away groceries. What a fantastic means to allow sorting. As cans are separated from vegetables, as pantry items are stored with like items, it's the opportunity to develop a sense of attributes and sets. Fruits are separated from vegetables, and separated from each other, as they are stored, again providing the opportunity to experience attributes and relationships.
Small materials such as rice or pasta or marshmallows may provide a great opportunity to compare or conserve. Some measuring cups, a bowl of grain, and some other assorted containers, and a pre-schooler can easily be entertained. The bonus is the understanding that is being developed.

Learn to Ask Questions

A parent who asks great questions will encourage understanding. Rather than telling the youngster how many marshmallows there are in a bowl, ask. If an incorrect quantity is reported, count together. Allow the child to have his "aha" moments. If he asks how many of something there are, encourage him to do the counting. Help him to attain understanding by enabling him to do it himself.

Fun Materials

Depending on the child's age and ability to eat certain sized foods, it's fun to purchase some special items for the purpose of encouraging sorting, counting, and measuring. For example, a bag of M&M's is lots of fun to experience. It need not be a large package, but could be a small individual sized bag. Gummy bears, gumdrops, marshmallows, and cereals are all fun materials to work with, which can be consumed during or after a planned activity. These provide lots of fun in sorting, counting, and of course, consuming! Not only are these great for mathematical understanding, but also, are nice means of discussing textures, weights, and other characteristics. Vocabulary will develop in the discussion. Comparisons and contrasts may naturally develop, for example, as large marshmallows and small are experienced. The opportunities are limitless. Many of these same food items are often used in crafts, whether stringing Cheerios and Fruit Loops, or glueing pinto beans and rice to a picture. The encouragement of exploration may ignite an artistic interest or a musical interest. As your children grow, many of these same materials may allow for understanding more advanced ideas and concepts, such as ratios and proportions, and may lend themselves to charting and graphing. The most important thing is to have fun as you facilitate learning.

You Can Do It

You do not need a credential to encourage your child's learning. You are your youngster's first and best teacher. As you learn and experience together, you are key to his or her confidence, and you are able to make a huge impact before school years approach. Take advantage of the inexpensive and ample opportunities in your own kitchen to encourage mathematical understanding and more! Learn together!

Fun Educational Kitchen Gifts

Head Chefs Measuring Spoons and Tools Make Fun Gifts

Whether you need a fun set of activities for your children for the summer or a great birthday gift, a junior cooking set can provide the opportunity for your youngsters to explore measurement and cooking at the same time.  There are play sets and there are sets of real kitchen tools for junior chefs.  Involving your youngster in kitchen activities will allow for familiarity and confidence in culinary skills and will allow for an intuitive understanding of measuring, number significance, fractions, and counting. 

Educational Tech Gifts in 2012

There are many considerations for educational tech gifts in 2012, and much of the focus will be on the improvement of existing tech items.  Tablet computers are among the most popular tech items for kids, and I really love touchscreen technology because it involves the tactile modality in the learning process.  While Apple products like the iPad and iPod Touch are the leaders, the Android selections have become viable alternatives due to affordability.

The iPad 3 is due to be introduced to the world March 7, which will certainly impact things.  Watch for lower costs on older models.  However, keep in mind the Kindle Fire and the Nook Color and Nook Tablet as alternatives.  These are much lower in price than iPad, and provide a huge selection of apps and activities.  The Meep! Tablet is due to be released in the summer of 2012, an Android tablet aimed at kids.  Pricing will be an important factor in the reception of the device, but it provides an advanced alternative to the touchscreen toys that took center stage last year.



Interactive iPad Games
incorporate iPad, Apps, and
popular Hasbro games.

Many games and toys are on the horizon that involve apps for different touchscreen devices for kids.  "Zapped" versions of popular games will integrate with iPad tablets.  The Life version is already available, and Monopoly and Battleship are due out later in the year.  iPod/iPhone laser tag games are on the horizon, as well.  Many external devices for music playing are in development.  AppTivity toys are interactive toys created for playing on the surface of iPad in concert with related apps.  Watch for Hot Wheels, Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds Apptivity Toys.