Enjoying Children

Kids are so much fun... and there is so much to do with them!  We hope you enjoy these sites!

• Click Mazes - interactive puzzles and mazes

• Paper Dolls 

• Betsy McCall Paper Dolls
• Alphabet Soup -- for the young and the "young at heart"!  Alphabet Soup contains thematic units, holiday units, games and activities for kids; teacher and parent resources; and crafts, humor and recipes for all!  Be sure to check out the Kindergarten Kafe, recipes dictated by 5-year-olds!
• If you can't listen to Adventures in Odyssey on the radio, try listening on the Internet! We also love listening to Your Story Hour!
• Do your kids like mazes?  Try this Maze Maker for your own, or go to Maze Box for some mazes that are ready-made. 
• Fun School - free interactive, educational software for kids
• The Trivial Portal, the world's largest trivia site
• Chess Kids Academy -- Teach your children how to play chess with their free online course
• Free coloring pages for kids
• Boys' Life -- The website for the Boyscout magazine, complete with activities, video games and more fun stuff for boys.
• Play Clay Factory -- Melissa P. writes, "This is the best play clay I have ever used.   A little pricey but the last bucket (I buy the preschool size buckets) lasted me about 3 years.  It smells great and it doesn't make a crumbley mess everywhere."
• King's Call is a fun, online adventure game, from Children's Bible Hour
• Webrangers is a kids' site from the National Park Service
• Horse lovers will love these coloring pages from the Windt Im Wald Farm.
• Grandma sent us this fun Sand Art Painting site. My kids love it!
• My son and daughter love to track the money they spend at Where's George.

Toy Shops on the Internet...

Toys aren't cheap, and young families usually can't afford to buy the newest and greatest toys for their kids.  But these toys looked so wonderful, we decided to include them anyway!  (Maybe you're one of those creative people who could get some ideas for toys that you could make from things around the house -- or from garage sale finds.)

• I absolutely LOVE Love to Learn's catalog and website!
• Any boy (or girl) who loves Legos will love their website!
• Discovery Toys is the undisputed leader in quality educational toys.
• Brio 
• Pedal Cars -- "Still Bringing Joy to Children Everywhere"

Fun Activities...

One of our favorite ideas -- Preschool Activities in a Bag is a great book written by two homeschooling moms and tested by over 70 families with small children.  Very practical, great ideas for grandparents and babysitters to use with little ones, or wonderful for families who travel a lot (such as missionaries)! 

• Danielle's Place of Crafts and Activities
• Making Friends and Other Crafts for Kids -- these little paper "friends" are adorable and can be printed from your computer.  We've used the Bible friends to act out Bible stories.
• Crayola has a great site for kids (and their parents) who love to color and make things!
• Nothing's more fun than a box of chocolates!  I think See's Chocolate is the best -- if you like Russell Stover, than I dare you to try See's!!
• Making an Art Book (from KinderArt, a site which happens to have even more great ideas!) 
• Coloring Book Math (plus other games & puzzles)
• KinderCrafts has projects for preschool, kindergarten and elementary children
• Activities to do with Toddlers
• Cookie Recipe Club -- fun cookies to make with the little ones

To Make You Laugh and Cry...

• Marilyn's Ribtickler
• The Last Page of the Internet
• All Clean and Family-Safe Christian Jokes

Penny's Kool-aid Playdough Recipe

1 cup sifted flour

1/2 cup salt

3 Tbsp. oil

1 pkg. of Kool-aid

Mix all of these together, then add 1 cup boiling water.  Knead it together -- this makes very pretty colors!  Be careful with the boiling water around the little ones!  You might knead it for a minute or two and then it will be cool enough for the kids to handle.  I don't know if you can bake this and make permanent ornaments or not.