February 27th is Polar Bear Day!

Celebrate Polar Bear Day with these fun activities! Use this day to discuss other bears as well as polar bears. Now is a great time to visit the zoo and share the wonders of polar bears with your kids.

A few quick links:

• 5 Sense Bear
  
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
  
• Bear Hunt Book
  
• Ocean Cups With A Twist
  

Bears on the Beach

Adapt this to polar bears by dipping the teddy grahams in white chocolate!

teddy grahams
graham crackers
white frosting
gummy lifesavers
blue food coloring

Take a few tablespoonfuls of frosting and place into a small dish. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to create a nice blue color. Break the graham crackers into squares. Have the child spread the blue frosting onto 1/2 of the cracker - they can be generous! The rest of the graham cracker will be the beach! Stretch out a gummy lifesaver and place around the waist of a Teddy Graham. Then have the child place the teddy into the water (blue frosting).


The Bear Went Over the Mountain

This song is sung to the tune of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"

The bear went over the mountain, The bear went over the mountain, The bear went over the mountain, To see what he could see

To see what he could see,
To see what he could see

The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
Was all that he could see

Was all that he could see,
Was all that he could see,

The other side of the mountain,
Was all that he could see!

More Resources:

We found this fun craft at FamilyCorner.com: Make a Salt Sough Bear Magnet, instead of painting it brown, paint it white!

They also had some cute coloring pages of a Bear with a Beach Umbrella, one of a zookeeper, and several of zoo animals.

Here's some great ideas for making a Day Trip to Visit a Zoo as well as some advice and zoo tips if you live near Chicago or San Diego and a list several places where you can visit a wildlife refuge.

Have fun on Polar Bear Day, be sure to share any ideas you may have!

Questions of the Week

Due to Valentine's Day last week, we didn't get our forum questions posted until now. Please stop by and visit and help out our members or ask a question yourself!

Here are just a few topics that have been started and questions that have been asked in the last few days. Can you help any of these members? Hope to see you soon!

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL :)
Well I just signed my 10 year old up for little league. He has played tackle football, soccer and basketball, but never baseball. He never showed an interest until this year. I'm looking forward to it, I miss watching the practices and the games!

HI FROM PENNSYLVANIA
I am excited to join this group of creative ladies. I enjoy scouring the internet for craft ideas for my preschool class.

FAVORITE SONG
Right now I'm listening to, "It's a Wonderful World" by Louie Armstrong. This is one of my all time favorite songs. What song are you listening to now or wish you were playing??

NEW TOO
I am Wendy and I will be 39 years old and I have 4 children, Kris, 22 (My beautiful granddaughter Isabela will be 1 year on Valentine's Day) Ken 19 , Amanda 16, and Dante` 9. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats and 1 turtle.

ANYONE HAVE A RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE CHESS PIE?
I've been searching for a while now for a recipe for chocolate chess pie. If you know of one that is really good, I would love it if you would share it with me.

DO YOU HAVE A BUCKET LIST?
A bucket list is basically a list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket".

SPRING CLEANING
Oh I just can't wait to get a warm spell long enough to do some spring cleaning! My carpets need to be shampooed bad after a winter will all my animals inside.


Hope to see you around soon!

Amanda
Chief Editor
The Idea Box Crafts & Activities
The Idea Box Community

Valentine's Day Ideas

Valentine's Day is February 14th! Here are a few last minute ideas for crafts, activities, songs, and more. Have a great Valentine's Day with your kids. 

A Sweet Flower

wire stem
green floral ribbon
2 hershey kisses wrapped
clear colored cellophane or tissue paper approx. 4

Place hershey kisses one on top of the other with flat bottoms together. Place tissue or cellaphane over kisses and twist the ends of the paper or cellophane at the top of one of the kisses to make a colored blossom. Wrap bottom of the paper or cellaphane with a piece of floral tape. Tape kiss flower to floral stem with floral tape- put floral leaf in last wrap of the tape. Put ribbon bow on the stem. Voila! A SWEET flower for your favorite person.

More ideas...

• Candy Cane Hearts
  
• Valentine Ornament
  
• Heart Prints
  
• Paper Plate Valentine Holder
  

Valentine Handprint Poem

poem
red washable paint
conversation hearts
glue
paper
poster board paper
glue stick

Type or copy the poem below allowing a space at the bottom for the child's handprint. Using a glue stick, glue the poem to a piece of poster board cut to the size of the paper. Put child's handprint below the poem and write the child's name on one side of handprint and the date on the other side. Glue conversation hearts around the edge of the paper creating a "frame". You can glue magnets on the back for the frig.

POEM:
This isn't just any handprint as you can plainly see.
For it is a special handprint
Made by Me!
Along with this handprint
I send lots of hugs and kisses your way.
And ask that God bless you
On this Valentines Day!

More ideas...

• Footprint Valentine
  
• Picture Card
  
• Thumbprint Hearts
  
• Memory Hearts Game
  

See all of our Valentine ideas on The Idea Box website!

February 10th is Umbrella Day!

February 10th is Umbrella Day! We don't know why it is, nor do we know who dubbed it this day, but we've decided to share some fun activities nonetheless :) Try these finger play, crafts and songs with your kids.

Rain Fingerplay

Pitter Pat, pitter pat (drum fingers on floor), the rain goes on for hours. And though it keeps me in the house, it's very (hold hands palms up and closed into fists in front of you) good for (open fists) flowers (lift hands imitating flowers growing up).

Try these fun ideas from The Idea Box website!

• April Showers Umbrella activity
  
• Itsy Bitsy Spider fingerplay and song
  
• April Shower craft
  

Rainy Day Fun

Warm, rainy, summer days are great for exploring puddles. Put on rain gear or clothes that will not be harmed by water and go puddle stomping. Young children delight in splashing. Build a dam near the curb of a quiet street to create your own mini-lake. Float leaves down the gutter. Study reflections in the puddles. Look for special shapes in the clouds--animals, bug, etc. Measure puddles--length, width, depth. Use chalk to outline a puddle. Return to puddle later and compare its size with outline you made earlier. Learn a song or poem about rain. Many are available in childrens poetry book and song books. Have fun!

Here's some added goodies from Old Fashioned Living for the parents and teachers out there:

• Season of Spring Rains
• The Robin's Rain Song & The Cookie Lady
• Caring for an Umbrella Tree
• Make a Barbie Umbrella
  

Do you have any fun ideas for Umbrella Day?

Questions of the Week

Here we are again, at the end of the week and our forum members need your help! See what questions and conversations took place this week. Come see the all new forums, try out the new features and make some new friends!

CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROFILE :)
You can customize your profile to show your choice of font, you can change the background and tab colors, you can even use background images! Check out mine by clicking my name and visiting my profile. Go to your User CP (upper left side of the nav bar) and then click on Customize Your Profile.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SECRET ADMIRER?
Have you ever had a secret admirer? If so, did you like the person when you found out? Have you had a secret admirer but never found out who it was?

WHAT'S THE BEST GIFT YOU'VE RECEIVED FOR VALENTINE'S DAY?
I met my husband on Feb. 10, 1996..so our first "official" date was Feb 14. He sent me a beautiful silver-colored, wired basket of flowers to where I was working and then he showed up with another HUGE wicker basket that had a huge teddy bear in it. He took me to dinner that night, too. By the end of that week he asked me to move with him and we've been together ever since.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOWS?
I like all the CSI shows, The Mentalist, Eleventh Hour, 24, Survivor, Amazing Race

COLD!!
It's 20 degrees and cold in my corner of the world. I guess in a few months I'll be saying how hot it is. I like the Fall of the year best. What is your favorite Season of the year?

THINKING OF GETTING A BUNNY
It's been many years since I have owned a rabbit. I think I was a senior in high school when I had one last. We've had guinea pigs over the years, but we've really been considering getting a couple of bunnies. My dad said he would build me a good hutch so they could stay on the back of the house, but I would still bring them in daily to get socialized. Anyone else own rabbits?

CANADA NEWBIE
I am a mom of two beautiful girls ages 8 and 10. I live in Calgary, Alberta Canada. I am 33 years old...married for 13 years. I love children and am into scrapbooking and doing plastic canvas in my spare time. Looking forward to meeting some wonderful friends.

BIRTHDAY THEME HELP
My son will be turning 9 and he is having his bday party at a local gymnastics place where the kids have 60 minutes of gym time with an instructor and then we get the party room for 45 minutes after that. He wants a batman cake/decorations. I'm trying to find a catchy invitation connection between batman and gymnastics. . . anyone have any ideas?
"Come practice your superhero moves" "Flip like a ninja" Okay, it doesn't work, but I like it... Anyone, anyone??

DAYCARE CONTRACT?
I'm am new and will be opeing an in home daycare. I am currently putting together a contract and I would love for some ideas and tips from those with some experience. Or even a sample of their's. I just want to make sure I don't miss anything that might bite me later.
Thank you.

---

Hope to see you around soon!

Amanda
Chief Editor
The Idea Box Crafts & Activities
The Idea Box Community

February is International Friendship Month

February is International Friendship Month! This is a great opportunity to enforce feelings of happiness and kindness towards others. Children are naturally kind hearted, so this is a great opportunity to mold them into friendly adults.

Try some of these activities in honor of International Friendship Month:

Friendship Wreath

colored paper
glue
cardboard
scissors
markers

Give children small pieces of brightly colored construction paper to trace one hand on. Cut them out. Once cut out trade the hands with your friends. Once you have one of everyone's hand, glue them in a circle shape onto a circle of cardboard. I used a paper plate rim. Once done, hang up, or give to the children to take home to remember their friends by.

Paint, construction paper, scissors and glue is all you'll need to make a Friendship Flag or put together these cute Friendship Pins with safety pins and colorful beads.

February seems to be the month of love! Aside from Valentine's Day and Love Your Pet Day (watch for our posts on those coming soon!), February is also home to Random Acts of Kindness Day on the 17th. Our message boards have some wonderful ideas for themes based on feelings. Visit the link to see all the ideas, here are just a few of them:

Feeling Fingerprints

Materials
Stamp/Ink Pad
Small Index Cards (cut in half)
Black Pen

Use fingers and print one or more fingerprints on each card. Use a pen to draw different "feeling faces" on each card. Teachers might help children label drawing if desired. Post finger print feeling cards around the classroom.


Acting it Out

Materials
Masks
Puppets
Crayons
Markers
Socks
Paper bags

Sometimes children feel uncomfortable exploring their own feeling, but are able to act out their feeling when they are allowed to pretend to be someone, or something else. Pass out masks or have children design their own. Encourage them to draw faces that represent the way their puppet or mask might be feeling. During a large group meeting time have the children act out a story. You might choose to scaffold the action by beginning with a story starter such as: "Once upon a time their was a group of animals that were feeling very very...." After you begin the story starter go around the circle and encourage them to continue it. Children can use their puppets or masks to "act out" their part of the story.

Do you have any ideas to share? We'd love to hear from you!

February 4th is Rosa Parks' Birthday

Rosa Parks is known for her role in the abolishment of the segregation law that forced black people to sit in the back of a public bus. When Rosa refused to give up her seat for a white man, that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955.

Teach kids about civil rights, living in harmony and kindness to others. Try a few of these fun activities with your little ones:

Make these Bus Cookies

Sing The Wheels on the Bus

Make a Friendship Wreath

Rosa Parks Timeline:

1900
Segregation law becomes official part of Montgomery City code

1913
Rosa Louis McCauley born in Tuskegee, Alabama

1931
Rosa becomes highly active in defending the Scottsboro Boys

1932
Rosa Louis McCauley weds Raymond Parks

1943
Rosa joins NAACP

1943
Forced off of segregated bus for accidentally sitting in seat reserved for whites

1944
Took a job on the un-segregated Maxwell Air Force Base

1955
Arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat to a white man

1955
Beginning of Montgomery bus boycott

1956
Browder v. Gayle filed in U.S. District Court

1956
Segregation law ruled unconstitutional

1956
End of Montgomery bus boycott

Timeline source: Rosa Parks Facts.com

Groundhog Day is on February 2nd!

Groundhog Day is on February 2nd. Teach children about this special day with these fun activities, games and recipes. Here are some examples:

Groundhog Day Song and Puppet

popsicle stick
stryofoam cup
brown round piece of construction paper (groundhog head)

Let the children color the outside of the cup (usually green) denoting the grass. Draw a face on the brown paper (groundhog face), they can also add brown ears. Glue the groundhog face to a popsicle stick. Poke the popsicle stick through the bottom of the cup.

Sing this song with your puppet:

I'm a Little Groundhog (tune: I'm a little teapot)

I'm a little groundhog
furry and brown,
popping up my head and looking around.

If I see my shadow
then down I go,
six more weeks of winter - OH NO!!!


Other fun ideas for Groundhog Day include:

• Holiday Hopscotch
  
• Groundhog Day Shadow Screen
  
• Popping Groundhog
  
• Groundhog Tunnel Game
  

Try this tasty treat with your kids!

Ground Hog Snack

Shredded wheat cereal
pop open biscuits
brown sugar
margarine
raisins

In a 13x9 inch pan crumble 4 to 5 large shredded wheat pillows, press bicuits into the shredded wheat and poke raisins into them like eyes of the little groundhogs. Sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar over the top of the entire pan. Drizzle melted margarine over the top and bake for 15 to 20 minutes on 350 F. These darling little groundhogs look like they are snug into their little nests of hay!

If you have any great ideas for Groundhog Day, post a comment on this blog or visit our forums and share with others!