The Preschooler’s Busy Book (18 page)

Make a vest from a brown paper bag by cutting a head hole, arm holes, and a fringe along the bottom.
Your child can paint and decorate the vest.
When the vest is dry, your child can wear it.

Empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls

Scissors

Crayons, paints, stickers, or glitter

Make napkin rings for a special occasion or to give as a gift.
Cut empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls into one-and-a-half-inch pieces.
Have your child decorate them with crayons, paints, stickers, or glitter.

Baby food or other jar lid, or metal lid from frozen juice cans

Photograph

Pen

Scissors

Glue

Ribbon

Magnets

Place a jar lid or the metal lid from a frozen juice can on the photograph you wish to frame and trace around it.
Cut out the photo and glue it inside the lid.
If you use a jar lid, tie a ribbon around the outside of the lid.
Glue a magnet to the back of the lid and place it on the refrigerator.

Construction paper or poster board

Scissors

Stapler

Glue

Feathers (optional)

Markers or crayons (optional)

Cut a strip of brown construction paper or poster board about one and a half inches wide.
Measure the length by placing the headband around your child’s head and stapling the ends together to fit snugly.
Cut several feather shapes out of colored construction paper (or gather some real feathers on a walk) and glue to the headband.
Your child can draw a design on the headband with markers or crayons if she wishes.

Bar of soap

Glue

Photograph or other picture

Canning wax

Small empty can

Pan

Hot water

Paintbrush

Glue a photograph or any other picture onto a bar of soap.
Melt canning wax in a small empty can in a pan of hot water.
To waterproof the picture, dip a paintbrush in the melted wax and paint it over the picture.
Your child can take a bath with her special soap or save it to give as a gift.

Empty egg cartons

Scissors

Paint, markers, or crayons

Paintbrush

Pipe cleaner

Green construction paper

Glue

Cut apart an egg carton into individual sections and have your child paint the sections with a variety of colors.
(Markers or crayons can also be used.) Poke a pipe cleaner through the bottom of each section to make a stem.
Cut leaf shapes out of green construction paper and glue them onto the pipe cleaners.
Several colorful flowers in a bud vase make a great gift or a decorative table centerpiece.

Paper towel roll

Stapler

Crepe paper

Scissors

Decorate an empty paper towel roll by stapling several twelve-inch strips of crepe paper to each end of the roll.
Cut each strip into thirds, lengthwise, to make each strip into three narrow strips.
Scrunch each strip with your fingers to make the shaker look fuller.
Let your little one have her own parade by holding onto the roll and shaking the streamers.
If you use toilet paper rolls, attach the streamers to only one end, so your child has plenty of room to hold onto the shaker.

Pine cone

String

Peanut butter

Knife for spreading

Bird seed

Make your own bird feeder with peanut butter, a pine cone, and bird seed.
Tie a string around the top of the pine cone under the ridges, so the string stays in place, and knot it, leaving enough string for hanging.
Thoroughly cover the pine cone with peanut butter, then roll it in bird seed.
Hang the feeder outside near a window and your child can watch the birds eat.

Large sheets of paper or newspaper

Scissors

Crayons or markers

Fold a large sheet of paper like a fan (newspaper, a cut-open paper bag, or computer paper works well).
The fan folds should be as wide as you want your dolls to be.
Draw a doll shape with arms and legs extended from the body, so that the hands and feet fall on the folds.
Cut out the doll shape, taking care not to cut through the folds at the hands and feet; if you cut through, you will end up with a lot of single paper dolls instead of a chain.
Unfold the chain and let your child decorate each doll with crayons or markers.
With a little practice, your child will soon be able to make a doll chain on her own.

Rocks

Glue

Paint

Paintbrush

Playdough or fabric scraps, ribbon, or lace

Make rock people or rock animals by gluing together rocks you have collected on walks.
Your child can then paint her rock art and add accessories made out of playdough or fabric scraps, ribbon, or lace.

Styrofoam meat trays

Straw

White construction paper

Scissors

Tape

Make toy sailboats with clean Styrofoam meat trays.
Insert a straw into the tray for the mast.
Cut triangular sails from white construction paper and tape to the straw.
Your child can sail her boat in a bathtub, a swimming pool, or a tub of water.

Four eight-penny nails

1-foot length of 1-by-2-inch wood

Hammer

Tempera paint, markers, or crayons

This is something your child can make that is useful, and it makes a good gift for someone special.
Show your child how to hammer a row of four eight-penny nails into a one-foot length of one-by-two-inch wood.
The wood can then be painted with tempera paints, markers, or crayons.
Be sure to display this in a prominent place.

This is a great project for a special occasion or holiday, or just to make any day special.

Thin cardboard

Scissors

Hole punch

Crayons, markers, or stickers

Straws

Use thin cardboard (a paper plate or file folder works well) to cut out a square, circle, or special shape (like a heart for Valentine’s Day).
Use a hole punch to make a hole at the top and bottom of your cutout, then have your child decorate the cutout with crayons, markers, or stickers.
Insert a drinking straw into one hole and out the other.
Your child can then use this to drink her favorite beverage.

Newspaper

Tape

Scissors

Empty toilet paper or paper towel roll

Piece of heavy cardboard

Roll up the long side of one sheet of newspaper and tape it closed.
Cut one end of the roll into a fringe using long snips, fairly close together.
Reach inside the fringed end of the roll and carefully pull out the center to make the tree spiral up until it’s tall.
The fringes become the leaves of the tree; curl them or dress them up with paper flowers.
To display your tree, stand it on an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll taped to a heavy cardboard base.

“The first holiday may have been invented to celebrate fertility or planting or harvest, but we’re sure a mother was behind it.
Even then she must have known that nothing could cure her day-to-day drudgery as well as a holiday or brighten the eye of a small child so quickly.”

—Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons

Nothing can disrupt your daily routine like a holiday, yet nothing is quite so important.
Mothers and small children alike often need the lift of a special day on which we can focus energy and attention.
In addition to celebrating birthdays and traditional holidays, make the most of each small victory and accomplishment.
You don’t have to go all out all the time; put a candle on the dinner table and use your best china to make even an ordinary day extraordinary.
Most of the fun and excitement comes from the anticipation that builds as the celebration draws near, so be sure to allow your child to take part in the planning and preparation for each festivity.

For the first few years of your child’s life, a family dinner complete with birthday cake and candles is usually sufficient for a birthday celebration.
But somewhere around the third or fourth year, your child will probably want to invite a few friends over for a “real” birthday party.
This will usually be about two hours long and consist mainly of eating and opening gifts.
Keep the food simple; sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, carrot sticks, fruit, juice, and chocolate milk are some suggestions.
Older children will enjoy a few simple games, such as London Bridge, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Follow the Leader, Red Light/Green Light, or Simon Says.

If you really want to go all out and organize a theme party for your child, many excellent birthday party books are available in bookstores or at your local library.
In fact, Meadowbrook publishes a number of great books for kids’ parties and holiday celebrations, such as Penny Warner’s
Kids’ Party Games and Activities, Kids’ Pick-A-Party Book, Kids’ Party Cookbook
, and
Kids’ Holiday Fun
.
(Take a look at the order form in the back of this book for more party and activity books.)

If you find the commercialism of even a small child’s party appalling, you may want to consider asking parents to spend not more than a few dollars on a present.
You can also be good to the environment and avoid spending a small fortune on matching hats, plates, cups, napkins, and tablecloth by using brightly colored linen and unbreakable plates.
Have each child
make his own party hat with construction paper, markers, stickers, and glitter (see
Chapter 8
) and substitute a small, wrapped gift for each child in place of a goodie bag (or dispense with this custom altogether).
Store-bought thank-you notes for gifts received can be replaced with your child’s original artwork.

Envelope

Writing paper

Pen

This is a wonderful tradition for young and old alike.
Each birthday person prepares information to be put into their “time capsule.” Ask questions of young children and write down their responses.
You may want to ask about favorite foods, songs, activities, friends, and so on.
Ask what your child looks forward to over the year, and what he expects life to be like next year on his birthday.
When everything is written down, place the paper in an envelope labeled with the birthday person’s name and the Date to be Opened (next year’s birthday).
You’ll all have a lot of fun when the time capsule is opened.

Video camera

Videotape

If you have access to a video camera, consider taping your Birthday Time Capsule instead of writing it down.
Ask questions of younger children.
Older children may enjoy just talking about themselves and their day-to-day life.
Once the time capsule is taped, put the tape away and don’t watch it until the following year on your child’s birthday.
If you do this for more than one child, use a different tape for each.
Add a new segment each year, keeping the previous ones, as well.
Over the years, you will be able to watch your child grow up on his time capsule tape.

This chocolate cake is quick and easy to make, and it is absolutely delicious.
After the cake is baked and cooled, insert foil-wrapped coins into one of the layers before frosting.
When cutting the cake, be sure each child receives a piece with a coin in it.
You may not want to include coins in a cake for very young children because of the danger of choking.

2 cups white sugar

6 tablespoons butter

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cocoa

Boiling water

1 teaspoon soda

1 cup boiling water

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 8- or 9-inch cake pans, greased

1.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.
Cream sugar and butter; add beaten eggs.

3.
Add enough boiling water to the cocoa to make 2 cups of liquid.

4.
Add the cocoa liquid to the sugar mixture.

5.
Mix soda and 1 cup boiling water, and add to the sugar/cocoa mixture.

6.
Add flour and baking powder, mix well, and pour into 2 greased cake pans.
Bake for 30 minutes.

This recipe frosts one two-layer 8- or 9-inch cake.

3 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ cup cocoa

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1.
Combine melted butter with cocoa.

2.
Blend in milk, vanilla, and sifted icing sugar until smooth.

The beginning of a new year is a time for a fresh start, a time for new beginnings.
Whether you celebrate with a traditional family dinner or eat take-out Chinese food, the arrival of a new year is indeed an occasion worth noting.

New Year’s Day is often the time we assess ourselves and set goals for our future.
Consider adapting the Birthday Time Capsule or Video Time Capsule ideas (
pages 266
–
267
) for New Year’s.
Tape- or video-record or write down each family member’s resulutions and hopes for the new year to begin a New Year’s tradition for your family that you and your child will cherish for years to come.

Christmas cards you have received

Basket

After Christmas is over, place the Christmas cards you received into a basket and set it on your table.
Starting in January, take one card out of the basket each day and talk about that person or family with your child.
If prayers are a part of your child’s bedtime routine, this is a good way to include someone special each night.

Valentine’s Day is the day to celebrate love.
Start your preparations several weeks in advance as you make heart-shaped cookies, cards, and valentine crafts.
On February 14th, dress the whole family in red, and put your heart-shaped cookie cutter to work for toast, sandwiches, apples, cheese, and Finger Jell-O (
page 85
).
A small Valentine’s party can be a simple and fun way to celebrate this special day.

Construction paper in red, white, and pink

Glue or paste

Cut strips of red, white, and pink construction paper, three to four inches long and one-half to one-inch wide.
Give the strips to your child and have him form a circle with one strip, gluing the ends together.
Take the next strip and loop it through the first circle, again gluing the ends together.
Tell your child to make a chain as long as he wants.
Use it to decorate doorways, walls, and so on.

Valentines your child has received

Construction paper or light cardboard

Glue or paste

Clear contact paper

Have your child glue his favorite valentines onto a large piece of construction paper or light cardboard.
Cover this collage with clear contact paper to make a place mat.

Construction paper in red, white, and pink

Glue or paste

Using red, white, and pink construction paper, trace and cut hearts, ranging in size from two to six inches.
Glue the hearts together in different combinations to form heart people, using large hearts for heads and bodies, smaller ones for arms, legs, and so on.
You can also try making heart animals.