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Three things to make with toilet paper rolls.

September 5, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Entertainment, Preschoolers, Swell Activities, Toddlers | 1 Comment

Binoculars, flowers, shaker. Recycling reuses. Toilet paper rolls can be fun to use just as they are as a spy glass, escape shoot for Star Wars figures and princesses, and blasters on a ship. They are also fun to craft with. Three ideas:

Binoculars. Punch a hole in one place on two toilet paper rolls. Glue the two rolls together with holes on the outside. Paint the binoculars. String yarn or string through the holes to wear them around your neck. My kids made these at daycare and had so much fun pretending to camp and hunt with them.

Shaker. Cover one end of a toilet paper roll with duct tape or tape on paper. Put in some beans, dried pasta, beads, or sand. Cover the other end. Shake!

Flowers (pictured above). I just found this one and think they are so clever. With scissors, bamboo sticks, green paper and paint, toilet paper rolls can be transformed into blooms. For directions, check out Recycled Blooms.

Crayola vs. Rose Art

August 24, 2010 at 9:38 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Preschoolers, Swell Products, Toddlers | 2 Comments

Who’s more washable? Not all art supplies are created equal. With the beginning of school, there is the infamous school supply list. Last year, my son’s list did not specify a brand of art supplies so I saved a few pennies and bought Rose Art markers. I have no other complaints about Rose Art (I can’t tell which lasts longer because my kids always forget to put the caps back on markers), but when his shirts (and him) came home with marker marks, a normal wash didn’t get the color out. My daughter’s list, however, specified Crayola. And when she came home with marker marks, they washed right off. I have been happy to see over and over again Crayola products (markers, crayon, paint) delivering on “Washability you can trust.” Now I really have no excuse for getting the crayon art off the walls in the kids’ room.

Guilt free, fun to make popsicles.

August 6, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Food, Preschoolers, Toddlers | 2 Comments

Confetti Yogurt Pops. A dose of probiotics and antioxidants included. My older kids and I made these popsicles a few weeks ago. The kids mixed blueberries and yogurt (we used Mountain High’s vanilla flavor) in two batches and filled the popsicle molds and plastic cups. It was hard to wait until they were frozen (took a day), but they sure were yummy when they were done! I’d recommend using a popsicle stick instead of the pretzel sticks, which look fun but break too easily to get the popsicles unmolded. Plus, when the kids asked for a popsicle, I had no guilt over them eating these.

To make: Recipe for Confetti Yogurt Pops

What are your favorite back-to-school products and tips?

August 2, 2010 at 9:37 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Gear, Swell Tip | Leave a comment

Where did summer go? The smell of freshly sharpened pencils is in the air. Here in Longmont, CO, our kids start going back to school in two weeks. This is our first summer break, and I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by! As I look over the lists for school supplies, I’m wondering what your favorite products and tips for the school year are. What makes your (and your kids) lives easier during the school year? Send me your ideas through Facebook, comments on this blog, or e-mail avbehmer@msn.com. I look forward to hearing about some swell things.

Nice kids pajamas for a song.

July 16, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Clothing and Footwear, Elementary Age, Great Gifts, Preschoolers | Leave a comment

Faded Glory Two-Piece PJ’s. Wal-mart strikes again. As much as I try to avoid Wal-mart, the store has become a good buddy (can’t say new best friend, just can’t) since the birth of our third child. I just have that much less time to get to the store, and at Wal-mart I can get most of what we need with one stop. In any case, my daughter received two pairs of pajamas for her birthday. The pajamas turned out to not only have the characters she loves but they’re really soft (not itchy, scratchy or stiff) and only $5.00 at Wal-mart! I expect they’ll last as long as our daughter can fit into them. On a recent trip, I found a large display of the pajamas with lots of options for boys and girls preschool and elementary age and without any characters.

To buy: Wal-mart. $5.00

Me Love Cookies.

July 14, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Food, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Leave a comment

Ice Box Bakery. Cookie Monster’s dream. Just to be fair here, to put all the cards on the table, I have to share that I love cookies. They are by far my absolute favorite dessert, and I will eat them over any other offering (though good, dark chocolate is hard to pass up). I have been thinking about doing a tour of bakery bought cookies and sharing my favorite, but, until I get to do something so yummy, Ice Box Bakery came strongly recommended by a friend, Page. In the sea of locally produced food products that Boulder is, Page met Ice Box Bakery owner’s husband at a park and was fortunate to try Ice Box Bakery’s product – wholesome, all natural, ready made cookie dough. Can’t wait to try them!

To buy: Available at Boulder’s Whole Foods Store and nationwide.

Craft, garden ornament, gift, and keepsake all in one!

June 27, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Great Gifts, Preschoolers, Toddlers | 1 Comment

Stepping Stone Kits. A barrel of fun in one package. We try to buy very few toys for our kids. But somehow, between our two older kids, we have become almost overrun with toys. We actually have overflow into our garage (granted our house is small and there’s no playroom, but the kids’ room is spilling over). So, for birthday gifts I like to give something less toy-ish. On a recent birthday gift hunt for a – five-year-old girl, I came across a great, toyless gift – a well-priced garden stepping stone kit at Target. Seeing this kit, I remembered when I received my stepping stones from my kids, with their handprints, for a mother’s day gift. I love uncovering them every spring. And my mom has done one every summer of the grandkids’ hands for the last 5 years. The kids can literally walk down memory lane, remembering when they made their stones and comparing their hand sizes. I love this as a gift, craft, garden ornament and keepsake!

To buy: Target. $9.99 in store or make your own kit for even less

A cartoon series for the whole family.

June 25, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Entertainment, Preschoolers | 2 Comments

“Avatar: The Last Airbender.” 12 Year Olds Saving the World. Today I was an unmotivated, tired momma. After a less than average sleepful night with our youngest, I let the two older kids watch some television this afternoon (hoping the morning trip to the library offset the television watching) while I napped. We saw the preview for the movie “The Last Airbender,” coming out July 1. I was reminded about how excited for this movie! For those who haven’t seen the cartoon, the movie is an unanimated version of the cartoon, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (not to be confused with the James Cameron movie). While I was pregnant (i.e. also unmotivated and tired) and during the winter, we as a family watched the entire three seasons (or Books) of “Avatar.” And they are really good! Michael and I really liked watching them and were sad when we finished the series. One of the things I like best is that the two main female characters have strong personalities and play important roles in the show (no wimpy girls here!). Our kids play “Avatar,” and our daughter is especially at the beautiful moves of “bending.”

From Nickelodean about the cartoon, “Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Only the Avatar was the master of all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless Fire Nation from conquering the world. But when the world needed him most, he disappeared. Until now… On the South Pole, a lone Water Tribe village struggles to survive. It’s here that a young Waterbender named Katara and her warrior brother Sokka rescue a strange boy named Aang from a cavernous iceberg. Not only is Aang an Airbender–a race of people no one has seen in a century–but they soon discover that Aang is also the long lost Avatar. Now it’s up to Katara and Sokka to make sure Aang faces his destiny to save the tribe–and himself. Did we mention he’s only 12?”

To watch: “Avatar: The Last Airbender” cartoon on Nickelodeon on demand, Netflix, and Blockbuster and “The Last Airbender” movie out July 1 (yeah!!)

A game kids and parents enjoy.

June 22, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Great Gifts, Preschoolers, Swell Activities, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Bean bag toss. AKA cornhole. Soon after our youngest was born, we received a bean bag toss game as a gift for the kids. They had a blast aiming the bean bags and trying to get points. Michael and I tried the game out and also had a blast. I have recollection of spending a holiday at a friends’ house, and the adults having a good time competing in cornhole. Sitting down with drinks in hand. This is one of those games you can easily play when you have energy or very little energy – just tossing. And the younger ones can do all the picking up!

To buy: Bean bag toss games are available from a number of stores, including Target, Walmart and Amazon. $20.00-85.00. There are plans online to make your own. We love the three different level holes in ours, from Dick’s Sporting Goods. $39.99

Everythings even better with this healthy ranch dressing.

June 21, 2010 at 8:00 am | Posted in Elementary Age, Food, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Leave a comment

Whole Foods 365 Organic Light Ranch. Bring on the broccoli. My kids love ranch. They love it with their favorite foods (chicken nuggets and pizza), and they love it with their not so favorite foods (salad and broccoli). One day, I looked at the nutrition information on the ranch they were eating and was a little appalled by the fat content. So I got a light ranch. And then I read the ingredients. Appalled again. This time by the chemicals. On the search for the perfect ranch, I found Whole Foods 365 Organic Light Ranch. This ranch has 6 grams of fat per serving, and you can pronounce and identify every ingredient.