Scrapbooking Ideas - 7 Scrapbooking Projects For Kids

When you think of scrapbooking you usually think of making scrapbook albums.  Have you tried using your scrapbooking materials for other projects?  These project ideas are great for scrapbooking with kids.

1. Decorate jars and use them as small storage items in your children's bedrooms, like marble collections or collectible game cards.  Look in your scrapbooking supplies for stickers and rub-ons to embellish any size jar. Baby food jars and Mason jars work well for this project.

2. Make greeting cards when scrapbooking with your children.  Nearly any type of scrapbooking material can be used for making cards.  Children will love creating their own Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day or birthday cards.

3. Holiday decorations are easy to make with scrapbooking materials.  For example, Thanksgiving embellishments and cardstock can make name plates for the holiday table.  Use your creativity and help your children make a centerpiece for the table out of paper and scrapbooking supplies.

4. Help your child keep a vacation journal.  Before you go on vacation, create a scrapbook album to take along and have your child complete the album while traveling.  Select a small album so it will be easy to pack in a child's carry-on bag.  Have pages pre-designed for some of the places you are planning to visit.  You could even include some journaling prompts throughout the album.  Some examples are "My Favorite Ride at Disneyland" or "The Best Thing about Staying in a Hotel."  Then attach a small plastic bag filled with colored pencils or markers, lots of vacation-themed stickers and some adhesive to attach memorabilia and photos from the trip.  Let your child do the rest!

5. Scrapbooking for children is an opportunity to make gifts for your family.  Flip through any scrapbooking magazine, and you are sure to see a gift project.  Your child can use scrapbooking supplies to make picture frames, pencil holders, photo cubes, or note cards.  Children also can design pre-made gift scrapbooks, like a recipe album for grandma or an ABC album for a new baby cousin. 

6.  Christmas ornaments make great scrapbooking projects for gifts.  There is no limit to the kinds of ornaments you can make from scrapbooking supplies.  Don't be afraid to get messy and use glitter for this project.

7.  Birthday parties and sleepovers are the perfect project for using your scrapbooking supplies with your children.  Begin with crafting invitations out of paper and embellishments.  Have enough materials to keep the same theme throughout the project.  Take the time to create thank you notes at the same time.  Then use your scrapbook materials to make napkin holders, name plates, centerpieces and party decorations.  Finally, using the same theme, decorate goodie bags for your guests to take home.

You'll find hours of fun in these scrapbooking for kids projects.  In most cases, you have everything you need in your scrapbooking supplies right now.  Scrapbooking for children is a chance to spend quality time with your kids and encourage their creativity and imaginations.  Try one of these projects today with your child.

Christmas Decorating For Kids

As parents we know how much kids love the holidays, especially Christmas. We've all seen the joy on our children's faces as the Christmas decorations are hung. As children ourselves, we experienced the joy of helping our parents hang the decorations on the tree. What wonderful memories those are.

There are still many great Christmas memories to make with our children. I remember as a child visiting Grandmas house and stringing popcorn for the Christmas tree. That is such a fond memory from my childhood, but stringing popcorn is so rarely done anymore. Why is that?

Stringing popcorn for the Christmas tree is just one of the great holiday projects you can share with your children.

Handmade Ornaments - Children can be very creative when given the chance. Letting them create their very own ornaments, encourages them to express their creative side. It also makes for a warm family memory. The ornaments they make can be made from construction paper or any number of materials.

Christmas Drawings or Signs - Many of us hang Christmas pictures or signs about the house. Just think of how much more special they would be, created by the hands of our children. As with the Christmas tree ornaments, your children can create their signs and drawings from any material they desire. Just let them be creative and guide them along the way.

Christmas Centerpiece - This is another great project to share with your children. By purchasing a large bowl or vase, a few artificial flowers and other various decorative items, your children can create a one of a kind centerpiece. Encourage your children to be creative and express their individual personalities.

These are just a few of the great family projects you can share with your children this holiday season. You can find many more online or at your local library. The most important point to remember is to have fun with your children. The memories you create now will last a lifetime.

3 Great Valentine Crafts For Kids

Valentine's Day is just a few short weeks away. Get in the spirit by making some fun Valentine's crafts with your kids. Use them to decorate the house, or make little cards that your child can exchange with friends and family. This is also a great time to talk about the people that are important to your child like grandparents and friends at school. Teach your child the importance of showing these people how much she likes them. Make a special card for each of them together, then mail them or hand-deliver the cards together.

Heart-Shaped Cards

Fold a piece of construction paper in half and trace a large heart on it. Draw the heart so one side touches on the folded side of the construction paper. Cut the heart out, being careful to keep the folded area intact. This makes a foldout heart-shaped card. Let your child decorate the card with markers, stickers, glitter and cutouts from magazines. When she is done, help her write a note for the recipient of the card inside. Stick the card in an envelope and it is ready to be mailed or handed out.

Valentine Collage

Start with a large sheet of paper or construction paper. Grab some old magazines and the advertisements out of this week's paper. Look for anything Valentine's Day related, such as hearts, flowers, and candies. Have your child create a Valentine Collage with these magazine cutouts, then use markers, crayons and stickers to further decorate it. Hang the finished collage up - it makes a great Valentine's Day decoration.

Heart Garland or Banner

If you'd like to decorate even more for Valentine's Day, make a heart banner or garland. Cut heart shapes out of red and pink construction paper or craft foam. Use a hole-punch to make a hole in each side of the heart. Then use pink ribbon to tie all the heart together into a garland.

If you'd like to personalize this banner, take a marker or pen and help your child write the names of the people she loves in each of the hearts. This also makes a cute classroom craft with each child writing their own name on one of the hearts.

Make Valentine's Day Special

Valentine's Day. Each year, the couple get their brains for the perfect gift for a loved one. It does not matter if it's a new relationship or old, is a task that must be made more accurate or her anger.

The best gifts for Valentine's Day are the gifts that can be used as a pair enjoyed together. After all, what was the intention of the special day, right. To celebrate the relationship.
As this year for a special evening of poetry and romantic love! Not just abook of poems but an audio book of poems that are professionally narrated. Or maybe some of Shakespeare's romantic Sonnets. You can download them right to your computer, iPod, MP3 or even burn top a CD.

Imagine snuggling on the couch while enjoying the deep baritone narration of a lovely poem, a private dinner with a bottle of wine while the Shakespeare sonnets are played softly in the backdrop.

If you use your imagination, you can have some fun with this. Create anticipation by extending an invitation for a very special romantic evening. Why not slip a sample of love poems in the car CD player or load a love poem right onto their iPod to help warm up your special someone before they even get home. Make sure the kids are at Grandmas and you will have time alone. Create a romantic mood with candles and a sexy new outfit.

Start your evening off with a few strawberries dipped in chocolate that you feed to your Valentine. Strawberries act like an aphrodisiac and will help set the mood. Make sure your romantic dinner is light, not to heavy. Maybe you can make a picnic dinner in front of the fireplace or on top of the bed.

Your Valentines Evening should be special and not rushed. Take the time to enjoy each other and you will make memories to last a lifetime.

Valentine's Day - Ideas For the Perfect Day With Your Loved One

Valentine's Day is upon us once again, and the time has come to think about gifts and a special evening with that important person in your life. There are plenty of ideas for gifts and activities, so let's take a look at a few ideas to help you have the best Valentine's Day you can.

Something very important about any Valentine's Day celebration is that it should be personal to you and your loved one. It can be very easy to grab any old card and any old box of chocolates and have done with it, but that doesn't really make your day special, does it?

A suitably personal (and also rather economic) way of giving a great Valentine's Gift would be to create something by yourself. This could maybe take the shape of a scrapbook of favourite pictures and mementos of your time together, a poem (possibly framed), personalized original artwork, nice pottery or some garment of hand-crafted clothing (knitwear, for example).

Something that has been created by you, especially for that special someone, will be cherished and appreciated for years to come, and serve as a reminder of a lovely Valentine's Day. How about having a favourite photograph of both of you enlarged and framed? There are even a number of independent photo studios where you are able to get a professional portrait shot and mounted, which would be a Valentine's gift you could both enjoy.

If your loved one has a particular interest or hobby, then a gift that relates to their interests will go a long way to making this Valentine's Day special for both of you. If your other half loves a particular film or popular TV series, maybe a DVD box set would be a good idea, or related memorabilia such as art prints, collectibles, statues and the like. How about a nice edition of a book by or about someone involved in their particular hobby?

Books are a great Valentine's Day gift idea, but bear in mind you must put some thought into your choice. Take into account their tastes and their particular area of interest. How about a biography of a favourite actor, or a coffee-table edition of a 'Making of' book from a favourite film?

If your loved one paints or draws, or has a liking for a particular craft, a little covert investigation will help you find the kind of craft materials they prefer. Wool for knitters, pencils or paints or brushes for artists, new utensils for cookery fans, computer peripherals for the geek in your life, you get the idea.

Make the gift and the Valentine's activities personal to you and your partner, and it will go down a treat. Personalizing your Valentine's Day celebrations is the key to enjoying something truly special this year.

10 Great Activities For Autistic Children

Sometimes trying to come up with activities for autistic kids that will be fun, educational and not cost a lot can be a struggle. So it's reassuring to know that there are a number of possibilities out there, it's just a matter of finding some that will appeal to your child's personal tastes. The following are examples of popular activities for autistic children between the ages of 7 and 11.

Indoor Activities:

- Singing - autistic children gain a number of benefits from singing. Children who are non-verbal can hum, make sounds, or play musical instruments such as whistles, tambourines, drums, kazoos, or small keyboards. Repeating sounds, making up new tunes, or even learning educational lyrics can be very useful for helping kids to learn and may also provide them some much-needed sensory stimulation - the same they would get from yelling, only more pleasing to the parental ear! Mimicking one another's notes and tunes can be an important social experience that encourages interaction. Experiment with different sounds and different types of music to find the ones your child enjoys and responds best to.

- Funny Sounds - making and mimicking funny sounds can be a laughter-filled social learning experience for autistic kids and their parents. Children enjoy the sensory outlet and repetition element of this game. You can try writing down a number of different animals or items on different pieces of paper and whichever you choose you have to make the appropriate noise.

- Castles - building castles out of just about anything can be a great deal of fun. The type of building "blocks" depends on the motor skills of the child. It can range from plastic or wooden alphabet blocks to large "Lego" or "Duplo" style blocks, or even playing cards if they're manually dexterous.

- Safe Emergencies - these games are educational based but can also be fun to. They involve enacting the right procedures for what to do in an emergency event. This includes what to do in case of fire and other urgent situations. The important part of these games is to build a calm routine around them.

- Simple Board Games - Begin with simple or basic board games and increase the difficulty level as your child gets older and learns how to work with the rules of the games. Many board games are enjoyable activities for autistic kids because they are relatively predictable and provide a routine. They also encourage turn taking, but make sure losing is never a big deal, it's just an outcome. Otherwise they may associate negative emotions with the game and refuse to play.

Outdoor Activities:

- Simple Childhood Games - think back to your childhood and the games you used to play. For many children there's no reason why they can't take part in basic childhood games. As long as they are not too socially complex, many autistic children can have a lot of fun playing games such as tag or follow the leader. Keep in mind that the best activities for autistic children don't require them to keep close or extended physical contact with other people. You may want to make sure that you stick to games that focus on your child's unique skills to add comfort and confidence to the playing.

- Organized Sports - many children enjoy taking part in organized sports like any other children their age. Aim for sports that allow them to take part without too much sensory stimulation and that doesn't require lots of equipment. Golf and baseball are good activities for autistic kids, whereas sports such as tackle football may not suit.

- Water Balloons - autistic children can often benefit from various sensory stimulators and water balloons can fit the bill. Tossing them about, or holding and squishing them can be lots of fun. This also encourages children to play with others when it comes to games such as "hot potato" - tossing the water filled balloon to one another pretending it's a hot potato.

- Skipping Rocks - if you are fortunate enough to live near water and your child is responsible around water, skipping rocks can be a great way to have fun and use arm muscles, encouraging the development of motor skills. If you have a swimming pool that is large enough, you can try skipping plastic floating disks instead.

- I Spy - whether trying to pass the time in the car or sitting in the yard, this game is a great way to learn colors socially interact with others.

These activities for autistic children are a great way to have fun, learn important lessons, and develop basic social skills without spending the earth.

Top Five Tips For Getting A Valentine's Day Babysitter

Want to take your honey out for Valentine's Day but can't find a sitter? Here are our top five tips for getting a Valentine's Day babysitter.

1. Call ahead.

Don't wait until your neighbors and friends have already called and booked the neighborhood sitters. Call now to mark his or her calendar for that special day!

2. Pay your Babysitter Well.

Your babysitter is giving up the night to watch your kids, so pay really well. Whatever the going rate is for babysitters in your area...offer a little bit more. You will need to make it well worth your babysitter's time to mark you on the calendar when you call.

3. Consider a Swap.

If you have friends who also have small children, just ask them if they would like to swap. Friday night one set of parents goes out and then Saturday night the other couple takes a night off...and the kids get some great play dates.

4. Offer to Go Out and Get Back Early.

Let's face it, your sitter may want to make plans for the night too. If you offer to take your sweetie out to an early dinner and return early, then your sitter may still have time to make later plans too. This way you both win.

5. Use the internet...to find a babysitter.

The internet is also a great tool to find local sitters. Online sites, like Sittercity, have great babysitters available and you can search your local area for free before you ever have to sign up.