Healthy Living Challenge

A new Feel Great in Eight Challenge begins on August 6th! I'm even giving away a free entry this round! Check out the blog for more details! :)

http://feelgreatineight.blogspot.com/

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Elementary Activities: Coloring the Flags of the World (Olympics Week)

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

Once you have found the countries on the map, it is fun to color their different flags. I love to watch  the American flag being raised during an Olympic medal ceremony, but it is also fun to watch the reactions of all the athletes who win gold medals. Point out to your children that all the athletes have special feelings about their flags and often cry when they see that flag being raised and hear their own national anthem is played. Print out a few or all of the flags below. Each flag comes with its own coloring key. Most of the flags were found at this terrific website: 

The Coloring Castle.

The Russian and Korean Flags came from the Activity Village.

Colorable Flags of Each Country: 

China

United States

Russia

*The Russian Flag doesn’t have a key but their flag is white on top, followed by blue in the middle and then red on the bottom. It is strange not to see the Communist hammer and sickle from my childhood memories. 

Great Britain/ United Kingdom

Germany

Australia

South Korea

*The South Korean Flag doesn’t have a key either but the Yin and Yang symbol in the middle is red on top and blue on the bottom. Then the bars around it are all black and the flag background is white. 

Japan

Italy

France

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Preschool Activities: Finding Countries on the Map (Olympics Week)

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

Enlarge your preschoolers world by finding and coloring Olympic countries on a map. Simply print the blank map located below. Then help your child find where each of the top ten Olympic countries are located.

China

United States

Russia

Great Britain

Germany

Australia

South Korea

Japan

Italy 

France

Refer to the labeled map below if you need a little bit of help. 

Then have your child color the countries you find or put a circle or star where those countries are located on the map. Make sure you also mark your little spot of the world! 

Blank World Map

Labeled World Map

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Toddler Activities: Marching Music (Olympics Week)

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

You have just watched the spectacle of the athletes marching in to the Opening Ceremonies, now stage an opening ceremonies of your own. Toddlers love to march around the house to music. All you need for this activity is a flag or two and some fun marching music. 

Find some great marching music here:

Marching Music

Or use some of your own. Just start the music and march with your toddler around the house. Any casual bystanders (i.e. kids to cool to participate) can become the screaming and cheering fans. 

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Mealtime Activities: Foods Around the World (Olympics Week)

by: Deborah Pace Rowley

In honor of the Olympics, fix a dinner of kid-friendly cuisine from around the world. Below are links to recipes from Greece, Mexico, China, Korea, Italy, Hawaii, France, and Germany. Or search for other kid friendly international recipes online or at Family Fun Magazine: Recipes

Appetizers: 

Greek Stuffed Cucumber Cups: Recipe Here

Mexican Sushi Bites: Recipe Here

Main Course:

Korean Chicken Fingers: Recipe Here

Chinese Peanut Sesame Noodles: Recipe Here

Italian Focaccia Bread: Recipe Here

Islands Tropical Fruit Toss: Recipe Here

Dessert: 

French Cherry Galette:  Recipe Here

German Chocolate Pretzel Cookies: Recipe Here

Set the table with a colorful table cloth and add a centerpiece of souvenirs you have collected from your travels around the world. You could even invite family members to come in unique hats or fun costume pieces from different countries. Dig out that old Sombrero, retrieve that Chinese fan, and let the feast begin! 

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Parenting Tips: Following the Olympics (Olympics Week)

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

I learned about this activity in a recent issue of Family Fun Magazine. This idea came from Wendi Brandow of Glenville, New York. See a snapshot of the article here:

http://familyfunmagazine.tumblr.com/

I knew I wanted to use it to kick off a fun blog week centered around the Olympics. With its unusual sporting events, unique views of the host country, and spotlights on athletes around the world, the Olympics make an irresistible learning experience. To engage your kids in following the Olympics, start by choosing a “home” country for each child. Below are the countries that traditionally win the most medals during the Summer Games so make your selections from these ten countries. You can have your child draw his country out of a bowl or simply choose his favorite from the list: 

China

United States

Russia

Great Britain

Germany

Australia

South Korea

Japan

Italy 

France

Next make a chart that lists the countries that you have selected next to each child’s name. Award coins to that child for each medal that his or her country wins: a quarter for every gold medal, a dime for every silver medal, and a nickel for every bronze medal. You can find the medal count on the internet each night where you can also watch highlights of the different events. Tape the coins to the poster and watch each child’s collection grow. At the end of the Olympics you could remove the coins and use them for a mini Olympic event of your own. Bike to a local burger joint for an ice cream cone, try horseback riding at a local farm or go swimming at a local pool.  Watch the Opening Ceremonies tonight and stay tuned next week for more ways to make the Olympics come alive in your home. 

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Elementary Activities: Math Game- Coins Under a Cup

by: Deborah Pace Rowley

The best math students can quickly add and subtract one-digit numbers in their heads. They don’t even have to think to rattle off 7 + 3 = 10 or 8 - 5 = 3. This quick mental calculation is immensely valuable once students start to learn more advanced math concepts such as 2-digit division and 3-digit multiplication. 

Making these calculations automatic doesn’t come naturally. It takes lots of practice. The most fun activity I have found to teach this skill involves 10 pennies and a large lid or wide-mouthed cup. (Make sure that the cup is not glass or clear plastic. That would be cheating!) 

Here is how you play: Lay out the 10 pennies on the table. Have your child turn his heard while you hide a few coins under the cup. When he looks back, he tries to quickly calculate how many coins are hidden by seeing how many coins are on the table. If there are 6 coins on the table- there are 4 coins under the cup. Remove the cup to check your answer. You are right! 

In the beginning, give your child as much time as he needs to come up with the correct answer. Then you can increase the fun and challenge by adding a time element to the game. Count to 10 in your head before picking up the cup. If your child hasn’t guessed the correct number of coins under the cup by the count of 10, you get the same number of points as hidden pennies. If your child has guessed the number of coins correctly, he gets that many points. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins. As your child gets faster, decrease how long you count, from 10 down to 5 then eventually down to 2 or even 1 second. Playing Coins Under a Cup for just a few minutes a few times a week will dramatically improve your child’s recall of these simple math facts. 

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Preschool Activities: Feel Bag

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

Preschoolers are getting more adapt at identifying things by touch alone. Capitalize on this developing skill by creating a feel bag. Any simple draw string bag or even an empty pillow case will do. All you need to do is gather 5 or 6 unique items to place in the bag. Begin with simple objects that your child sees regularly such as a a ball, a marker, a toy car, or a Barbie doll. Have your child reach his hand into the feel bag and try to identify an object without looking at it. If he guesses correctly, he can remove the item from the bag. Continue playing until all the objects have been guessed. 

Increase the challenge by putting less familiar and more similar objects in the feel bag. Can your child feel the difference between an apple and an orange or a pencil and a pen? How about a quarter and a dime? Let your child gather items to put in the feel bag so you can guess. Try to “feel” the color of an object before pulling it out! Now you can tell your preschooler you have “magic hands!”

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Toddler Activities: Texture Box

By Tiffany Rudd

It's rare for any activity to hold a toddlers attention for more than a few minutes, so I was extra excited when this super easy activity had Anniston playing happily for almost 20 minutes!

One of Anniston's favorite books is about animals on the farm and every page has a small section with a piece of fabric to feel. Anniston loves rubbing the different textures. This morning as I was reading this book to her I got to thinking how fun it would be if she could manipulate those textures and be able to feel them better. So, I started gathering. It took just a few minutes of searching to find quite a few different textures. Rough sand paper, soft felt and flannel, a smooth discarded costco card, a bumpy kitchen sponge, etc. I cut/gathered two of each item so we could do some matching together and threw them all in a box.

Anniston was absolutely inthralled with her new texture box. She felt each item, took them each out of the box and put them back in one by one, and even rubbed every item on her cheek saying "Oh" to the soft items and "ouch" to the rough. It was so much fun to watch!

After she had played alone for a little while I sat with her to play along. She rubbed items on my arm or cheek and I helped her label the different textures, I rubbed items on the bottom of her feet to enjoy some giggles, and we worked together to match each item with its pair. Priceless moments spent with my little miss that cost me absolutely nothing. :)

I hope you'll give this activity a try with your toddler or preschooler. No need to buy anything, just look around your craft room (fabric, ribbon, textured paper), bedroom (scraps from old clothing or socks), kitchen (spoons, tin foil, textured food items) and even bathroom (toilet paper, hair brush, curlers). I bet you'll have as much fun as we did! 

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Meal-time Activities: Time and Space Travel

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

Recently my oldest daughter posed this question to her younger siblings. If you could travel anywhere in space and time where would you go? Who would you want to meet? This daughter is a huge “Dr. Who” fan so I know where this question came from! Tardis, anyone? But I was delighted to hear my kid’s answers. One child wanted to go to Paris in 2012. One child wanted to go back to Jerusalem in 30 A.D. to meet Christ. Other suggestions that we tossed around included visiting China during the Ming Dynasty and attending a ball with Mr. Darcy during the Regency period in England.  Does visiting Hogwarts qualify as traveling through time and space?

Try out this fun question at your next family dinner. The experience will be out of this world! (How was that for a corny ending to this post?)

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