Holiday Thank You Cards as a Family Ritual

Gratitude is a gift you give back lovingly, not a chore to be forced.   SO, how can we, as parents, set this up for success for our children to take on this task with pride and wholeness of heart?   We make it into a full family ritual, complete with sounds, smells, tastes, and a Thank [...]

Bunny Rabbits – Funny Habits

   Bunnies just look soooo cuddly that it is a natural  impulse to want to pick them up and hug them.  Luckily we have a lot of stuffed animals for little children to do just that.   Wild rabbits are actually very timid creatures (some children can really relate to them), and it is fun to explore [...]

Spice your Summer with Family Storytelling

Storytelling IS the ORIGINAL way to help children learn about values, people, history, concepts, almost anything.  The best teachers throughout history, and across cultures, were good storytellers.  Stories may now be presented in books, in movies, or even on CD-ROM, but the joy of telling the story person to person goes beyond the story, it [...]

Connecting with a child, a hand, and a story

“Connection… is the key to cooperation.”  These are powerful words by Becky Bailey.  As most of you know, I fully believe she is heaven sent to help all of us adults (parents, teachers, etc) learn the best ways to help ourselves and our children develop successful life and relationship skills.   The following is an excerpt [...]

Christmas Bells – The Sound of Pure Love

Bells for hundreds of years have served many purposes.  Bells call people to worship and prayer.  They sound warnings and alarms.  They beckon ships to safe harbors.  They celebrate birth and new life, and they peal in announcement of death.  They are rung during Christmas to announce the arrival of the season, to proclaim the [...]

Thanksgiving Games for Family Memories

Thanksgiving Rituals are for making memories, and GAMES are memorable.  NONE of these ideas cost a thing, except a little time.  And to children, love is spelled T-I-M-E. Thanksgiving Song Writing Try out this song that is included in “A Year of Fun,  Just for Fives” by Theodosia Spewock.  (This is a fabulous series by [...]

Mother’s Day Sing-a-long and Traditions

This sweet animated clip features a mother spider and her loving child, who is singing about how his mother loves him just because he is her child.  The words are included, and I know you and your child will enjoy watching and singing along with this one! You may even enjoy coming up with your [...]

A Musical Outing at the Park

Family Time – Here, There, Everywhere                               An Outing at the Park   Play is the most powerful learning tool for a child’s intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. Young children are natural explorers. They learn by trial and error as they play and experiment.         Play has several important and universal characteristics.  [...]

Kindermusik Village – Wk.6 – The TOUR ritual

“Go into the Kitchen and take a peek…”  This is a fun circle dance in class.  I love it when all the babies are held up in the center of the circle to look at each other.  They are fully entranced by this social opportunity, and are gaining a real sense of togetherness each time [...]