The Blog — early learning

We're getting super excited about the 2012 Summer Olympics starting in a few days, so get ready to hear a lot about it. First of all, the mascots - what are they?  And also, I think they're really cute (I have a thing for cyclopses).  And because I like them so much, I made them into a free paperdolls printable! Now you can dress Wenlock and Mandeville like London officials, put them in a USA shirt, or decorate the gray t-shirt for your favorite athlete!

My kids and chores are akin to gazelles and lions.  Because lions attack gazelles and eat them for breakfast.  except that my kids aren't the lions.  My kids are the gazelles, and the chores are what's eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's frustrating for all involved.  (Mostly for me.)  So I did something about it. I got all super organized on them and have a list of daily chores for each child, plus chore wheels for rotating tasks, plus I have listed the rules (which includes mostly stuff like "no whining"), and to top it all off I...

We're looking forward to summer and pool season.  And remember those paperdolls we posted a little while ago?  They're also looking forward to hitting the pool. Get your paperdolls some swimsuits!  This is a free download, but make sure you also get the original paperdolls download (which is also free).  All of these suits, shoes, glasses, and goggles will fit on the original dolls. Print these on cardstock and laminate them to last longer.  Or you can cut off all the tags and mount the pieces on magnetic strips to get the suits to stay on easier.  The magnets also...

Easter is literally around the corner, so have some fun with your kids by playing our free printable card game, Easter Egg Match. You can let the littlest kids find matches by looking at the cards face up.  Or turn the cards over and play Concentration.  You can also play Go Fish, or Old Maid, or whatever other card game you can think of.  And there are fewer cards than a regular deck, so you don't have to worry about the short attention spans of little kids. Just click to get the free download:

Craft stick puzzles are one of my new favorite things.  My kids love them, and they're cheap to make, and they don't get destroyed like paper pieces. If you haven't made craft stick puzzles before, let me tell you how tremendously easy it is. First, download this printable (because they're cute and sized right and just all around better than other craft stick puzzles): Just click to download this free printable. Print the pages on cardstock and cut around the whole puzzle (don't cut each piece out yet). This next step is optional, but I highly recommend it.  Cover the...