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How to Make a Homemade Puppet the Creative Way!

Stuffed animals and I do not get along, in fact I down right despise them! You might be wondering where all this hostility towards these "furry friends" is coming from .Well, I will tell you , in my opinion, they are useless, impractical toys that should be outlawed. It's not like you can really "do" anything with them, like you can with a doll. I mean really, how many times have you ever seen your little girl feeding her stuffed elephant a bottle and pretending she is their "elephant mommy"? They just sit there collecting dust mites and act as a tripping hazard to me every time I go into my kids room. Funny, I never actually "see" the kids playing with them (hmmmmm, I wonder how they get on the stairs, under the table or in the bathroom anyway!) Well, today I have a new found appreciation for these formerly "worthless" fur bags and it fits with my Creative Learning mission....it is to turn these dormant animals into alive, talking (with the help of their puppet master) furry friends. This activity for kids is hands, visual, creative and most important, it makes these "toys" actually "do" something,!

How to make stuffed animal puppets:

1. Cut a slit in the back of the stuffed animal aprox. 4-5 inches long
2. Take out all the stuffing except for a little in top of head and ears to keep its shape.
3. Insert hand, and voila! you have a homemade puppet!

Tip! You may need to attach an old sock inside to some depending the mechanics of how it can or can't be manipulated.

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How to Make a Choreboard Inexpensively
How to Make a Choreboard Inexpensively

Last week I was asked how to make a Chore Board that I referred to in one of my articles. Once we incorporated this type of chore system in our house, there was a significant decrease in episodes of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Materials Needed:
- Peg Board (can be found at hardware store)
- Wooden Dowels (the size must fit snugly into peg board holes)
- Carpenters Glue
- Durable cardboard or plastic that can be cut (we used left over peel and stick vinyl floor tiles)
- Hole Punch

The chore board is simply a row of dowels (one row for each child) that are stuck into the peg board with the chores hanging from each dowel. The very first dowel of each row, should have a chore piece with the photograph (glued to it) of the child to indicate that is his row of chores. You will need to cut the dowels to approximately 1 inch pieces. Then, apply glue to the end of dowel, and stick the dowel pieces into the pegs making a horizontal row for each child (you may need to tap in with a hammer); be sure to skip ever other hole to allow enough width for each hanging chore piece. The chore pieces need to be cut into aprx. 2 in x 1 in. rectangles with a durable cardboard or vinyl substance (see above). Punch a hole on top of rectangle that is large enough to accommodate the dowel size. Each chore should be on one side of the chore piece. This can be done by either writing it, drawing a picture or both. For example, you can write "top dishes" and draw a picture of a set of dishes to indicate the chore is to unload the top dishwasher, the word "bed" with a picture of a bed to indicate making their bed. Make as many chores as needed. When the day begins, the chores are all exposed, hanging on the dowels. As the children complete the chores, they simply flip them over to the back side to indicate that chore was completed. This system will do away with having to tell your children to do the same thing every day and the parent can visually see what has been done.
For pre-school aged children that can't read, pictures such as a dog dish, bed or garbage can may be substituted for words. You can even cut pictures out of a magazine and glue them on the chore pieces. There are certain weekly chores that get rotated between my boys at the beginning of each week. For instance, one gets the dog chore piece and the other gets the garbage chore piece to hang on his row for the week, When the first day of the week comes around, they simply switch those pieces. No more confusion about who's turn it is to feed the dog this week!

Example of some chore pieces that we use:

Bed, Dishes, Feed Dog (picture of our dog glued on), top dishes, bottom dishes, vacuum living room, bed, garbage, Extra Chore, dust, main bathroom, etc.

Happy Helpers Help Make a Happy Family

Which "there" do I Use?
Memory Tip of the Month:
Jennie von Eggers

There, They're, Their.......which "there" to use???? My children and even my dear husband struggle with those confusing "theres" all too often. Unfortunately for many adults who rely on spell-check, a misuse of the word "there" won't be discovered when the word is spelled correctly but not used correctly in the sentence. Well fret no longer, here are a couple simple tricks to help remember which "there" to use. *These memory triggers are not accurate in all cases. They should simply serve as a quick reference to remember the "general" meanings of the word "there".

THEIR: This "their" is usually used when referring to people owning or possessing something (although it sometimes refers to animals or other types of nouns) .
For example: "They put their shoes next to the door." (The shoes belong to them.)
Memory Trigger: Do you see the hidden word "heir" in this their? An "heir" is a person that will inherit or possess something. For kids, they can remember that a prince is an "heir" to the throne. The throne will belong to him.
THERE: This "there" is *usually used when referring to location.
For example: "The team practiced over there."
Memory Trigger: Do you see the hidden word "here" in this there? "Here" is a reference to location just as "there" is.
THEY'RE: This "they're" is referring to people that are something. It is a short (contraction) way of saying, "they are".
For example: "They're not happy today."
Memory Trigger: This "they're" can be replaced with the word "they are". This doesn't work with the other "theres" mentioned above, only with this particular "they're". For example: " They put THEY ARE shoes next to the door" or "the team practiced over THEY ARE."
Notice how this "they're" has the hidden word THEY ARE if you replace the apostrophe with the letter "a'.

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