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We have so many arts and crafts supplies at our house that I am always on a quest for how to keep them organized.  I have found a great way to keep all of my painting supplies organized and make it easy to take them out and put them away.  I thought I would share it here so that it might help you organized your supplies.  My goal is always to make it easy to get out and put away the supplies, and I want them to be easy to get to.  I also need to sometimes put them in the closet so it needs to be easy to move.  I found these great big tupperware boxes that have snap on lids.  I bought 3 of them and put all the paint in one box, and the plastic tablecloth we use as our drop cloth in another along with painting supplies.  The third box, gets all the extra supplies.  This makes it really easy to take in and out and I don’t get everything dirty in the process.

How do you organize your craft supplies?

photo credit: DaveBleasdale

Baby sign language is a way to start communicating with a baby that is too young to talk. Using hand gestures you can exchange simple messages which is not only great fun, but will also help reduce tantrum time, and has been show to have great developmental benefits.  A baby can start signing at six months, and have a small repertoire of signs at the age of one year old – about a year before they get a similar speaking repertoire. Best of all, you don’t need anything to get started – just a baby and a spare hand! To teach a baby to sign, we use a four part process we call FREE (Fun, Repetition, Encouragement, Expansion).

Fun – baby sign language should be a fun thing you do together.  Like all learning if it is fun, baby will learn a lot more, and will want to do more. Make it a game, and sign with baby only when she is interested.

Repetition – start by learning a few simple signs that you get lots of opportunities to use, such as mom, dad, milk, eat, or dog.   (The signs are easy to learn, take a quick video tutorial on the baby sign language dictionary Now make these signs at appropriate times as you and baby go about your daily routine, saying the word each time you do the sign. For example you might say, “look, it’s dad.” Or, “Time for milk.” Younger kids learn a bit slower than older babies.  Eight months is a good time to start, babies who start at that age begin signing back in around two months.

Encouragement – watch baby carefully for any hint she is signing back. At first the sides will be very simplified, so you have to be on the lookout. But, when you see any sign acknowledge baby by saying the word and making the sign back. “Yes, that is your dad.” Make a big fuss and give baby lots of attention – this will make baby want to do more baby sign language. Don’t worry that the signs aren’t perfect, baby is going to improve a lot in the coming months.

Expansion – once baby starts to get her first few words down, add a few more words. Keep adding words gradually and watch her vocabulary grow until you get to that bittersweet time when baby starts transitioning to words and starts dropping the signs. Sigh! And there you have it! You are on the way to become baby sign language buddies. To get more information including free video tutorials, craft your own baby sign language flash cards, or learn more baby signs check us out the Baby Sign Language website.

Thank you to Misty for writing this guest post.    Misty is a mom of a 2 year old boy who has been her baby sign language guinea pig.  It has been a great bonding  language between the two of them. She enjoys writing on her off time and relaxing with a good book.  Misty is the Editor of the Baby Sign Language website.

photo credit: crimsong19

It’s the end of the school year, summer time is almost here, do you know what that means?  It means it’s time to think about getting teacher gifts!!
I realized the other day that the end was fast approaching and it was time to get moving on finding my kids wonderful teachers a special gift to show
how much we appreciate all the work and care they have given them.  I wanted to share some teacher gift ideas for those of you who may be struggling with
what to get.

10 teacher gift ideas:

• A plant, like a cactus that is easy to care for.

• A dunkin donuts (or local coffee shop) gift certificate.

• A gift certificate to a book store

• A staples gift certificate

• A flower pen bouquet (this is one of my favorites!   I have ordered from this site and loved the pens!)

• A Home made Picture from your child and framed

• A lotion/spa basket

• A fragrant Candle

• A nice box of choclates

• A summer basket- sun lotion, bug spray, ice packs, picnic blanket etc

What are your favorite teacher gifts?

This is a another great video from Dad Labs!  They tackle how to make a fun family night free of bickering amongst siblings!

photo credit: phil41dean

This is a guest post by Alan Murray.  Alan is a parent of two boys and runs a baby names website. The site cover more than just baby names, it has sections on Pregnancy tips, Baby health, Breastfeeding and more.

What is the best time to put your toddler down at night?

There is no right or wrong on this. Suit the time to your child although most toddlers are in bed by 8pm. One of the most important things is to decide on the most suitable time and stick to it. Get your toddle into a routine at bedtime – read them a book – brush their teeth – all things that will help calm them down and get them ready for sleep. The last hour before bed should be a calm hour – especially if you do have a restless sleeper.

Naps during the day.

Naps during the day are important and I also recommend putting them down at the same time every day if possible. Depending on what time you toddler gets up in the morning then putting them down anytime between 11 am to 1pm should work. It does vary considerably from child to child. Basically you need to work out what suits you and your child the most. Some children may also go for a second nap around 3pm to 4pm.

Toddler an early riser?

Toddlers are never the same and that goes for sleep patterns as well! Some toddlers like to sleep past 8am and some like to get around 5 or 6 am! This can cause serious problems because of you the parent not getting your full allowance of sleep making you irritable and more likely to be less patient with your child.

Putting them to bed later is not always the answer – they tend to wake at the same time but because they have slept less, they tend to be irritable and more difficult to deal with. Cutting out the afternoon sleep again can just make them irritable during the day and night.

Toddler waking during the night

Some toddlers wake during the night and often want to play with toys. Parents need to be aware this will happen and make sure the dangers are limited as much as that is possible. Ensure all the toys within the cot are child friendly. Ensure there is nothing nearby the cot that your child can reach out to and grab. Damage limitation is the name of the game here!

Cot in the parents’ bedroom.

Most young children are kept in the parent’s bedroom till there are more than 6 months old. Safety and ease of feeding being the main reasons for this. Keeping them in your bedroom will of course break up your sleep. Some parents choose to keep their children in their room for longer and this can sometimes be forced onto parents if there is a lack of rooms in the house. I certainly would recommend moving your child to another room after 6 months but not before. Getting woken up repeatedly during the night is never the answer and also by this point your child will be moving themselves during the night.

If you leave moving them till later then this, it may cause anxiety in your baby and they will not be able to sense your presence and may not settle until they are back in the same room as you. 6 months is an ideal time for the transition for both of you so look forward to an unbroken sleep…not unless your other half snores of course!

Escaping from the cot!

Children even before they reach their first birthday are already working on their climbing skills! Escaping from cots is a popular thing with a child and one that you need to prepare for. Making sure the cot is high enough to prevent them getting out and if you can’t do this give them a soft landing by putting down cushions or a mattress.

It is when your child breaks a bone or hurts themselves that another solution has to be found such as moving them to a kid’s bed near to the ground. One that worked for us was to keep our son in a grow bag until he was 18 months old. The grow bag prevented him from climbing or indeed any real movement.