Learning the alphabet letters is an important part of early childhood education but it can be fun, too. Here are some fun suggestions to make alphabet fun for your child.
A Fun: Make paper airplanes and fly them around, or line up chairs in 2 rows and pretend it's the inside of an airplane. Make up your own tickets, provide flags to wave when the runway is clear. Pretend to be alligators in a swamp.
B Fun: Make bead or button necklaces. Play with balloons or beach balls. Paint butterflies: Fold white construction. paper in half - cut out a butterfly shape. drop small amounts of tempera on one wing - fold and press together.
C Fun: Make cotton ball art projects. Paint clown faces on you and child. Play with clay. Play with cars.
D Fun: Color or paint pictures of dinosaurs. Play with stuffed dogs or real dogs (if you have them).
E Fun: Decorate envelopes to mail to a friend or grandparent. Pretend you are elephants. Pull out an art easel and make art. Make up your own episode of "Elmo's World".
F fun: Go fishing (for real or pretend). Pretend to be a frog. Decorate fish. Make foot prints.
G Fun: Cut a green sponge in the shape of a G. Wet the sponge and place in a shallow pan. Add water as needed to keep the sponge wet, but not soggy. Let the child sprinkle on the grass seed and watch the grass sprout and grow. Make art with glue and glitter. Make gingerbread people out of paper or cookies.
H Fun: Make hats from construction paper and decorate them with stickers or cutouts of things beginning with the letter H. Play a hopping game (frogs, rabbits, whatever you like)
I Fun: Go on an insect hunt and record your finds by drawing pictures. Have them make an "I" collage that is all about them and their favorite things. Ice cookies or freeze juice to make special ice cubes. Make or play with musical instruments.
J Fun: Make jewelry by stringing beads. Paint or finger paint with Jello. Play jumping games such as jumping races, jumping rope, jumping over things, jumping jacks. Pretend to be jet planes and zoom around.
K Fun: Make paper kites and decorate. Crown a "King" for the day. Make "kisses" on paper. Color or pain kangaroos.
L Fun: Make a lollipop tree with Styrofoam. Paste cotton on a lamb picture. Make a "love" collage of things they love.
M Fun: Make masks. Make a "Me" book. Make or play with magic wands. Make macaroni necklaces.
N Fun: Have some fun with names. Make necklaces. Make a "night" collage. Make up a bedtime story for the night.
O Fun: Trace a big O and a little O on a piece of paper then glue Fruit Loops inside the O's. Make an opposite book. Have an orange day (wear orange clothes) and find orange colored items around you. Make owl puppets or color owls.
P Fun: Make puzzles out of cards, postcards, photos or artwork. Make popcorn. Paint. Have a pajama party.
Q Fun: Make a Queen for the day. Paint with q-tips. Quack like a duck. Play quiet and loud.
R Fun: Let the child draw/color rabbits and add a cotton ball tail. Make rabbit ear head bands and give your child a cotton ball tail and pretend to be rabbits for a day. Paint with radishes. Make rainbows. Have a "Red" day.
S Fun: Sprinkle a painting with salt so it dries all sparkly. Make cloud pictures with white chalk or cotton on blue paper. Play Simon Says.
T Fun: Decorate T-shirts with fabric paints or do Tie-dye. Have a tea party. Build a tower with blocks. Play with trains, pretend to be trains, color pictures of trains, tell stories about trains.
U Fun: Make "U" shapes with pipe cleaners or play dough. Throw balls underhand. Go up stairs. Draw pictures or tell stories about uncles. Listen to the story of The Ugly Duckling. Draw, color or glue a unicorn picture
V Fun: Make Valentines. Find various velcro objects in your home. Make vests from the large size paper shopping bag or an old piece of cloth and decorate with glitter, ribbon, fabric scraps, vegetable stamping, etc. Talk about, color and/or eat different vegetables.
W Fun: Make a mural using wallpaper samples. Make a "W" using watermelon seeds. Using pipe cleaners and googly eyes, and lots of other imaginative doodads, make a pet/monster/whatever that has Whiskers using the "W" anyway they want.
X Fun: Max X-traordinary puppets using paper bags. Have a treasure hunt with a map where "x" marks the spot. Make or play xylophone music.
Y Fun: Have a "yellow" day. Make a "yellow" scrapbook using old magazines. Paint yellow flowers.
Z Fun: Use rick rack to make a "Z" mural. Play zany zoo animals. Walk in a zig zag.
Learn more about your child development and child education at http://www.squidoo.com/childsdevelopment
Planning a kids party is all about great ideas. So take advantage of the list I've put together below! Be sure to take a look at all the ages as many of the tips will work for any kids party!
1st Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Elmo, Farm Animals, Abby Caddaby, One Is Fun, Lady Bug
2) Bubble Machine instead of live entertainment - toddlers love bubbles.
3) Keep the party short. 1 1/2 hours is the max for a kids party at this age.
4) If there is only babies at the party then they can't play party games but the adults can so have a couple of party games for the adults. You'll have everyone laughing.
5) Of course you will take plenty of pictures of the birthday boy/girl and guests but don't forget to take pictures of the decorations and cake. It's a good idea to take pictures of both before the party starts. You want evidence of all that hard work!
2nd Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Yo Gabba Gabba, Cupcake Party, Little Einstein, Circus, Unicorn
2) Music - Kids love music at this age. Play popular toddler music that they will recognize (Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog from the Mickey Mouse Club, the theme music to Little Einstein, Sesame Street song) and watch the kids dance!
3) Keep the party short. 2 hours is the max.
4) Plan the party around your child's temperament. If your child is a bit shy then invite a few relatives and keep it simple. If your child is a party animal and loves attention then invite friends and family.
5) Play simple games like Simon Says, Ring Around the Rosie and duck duck goose.
3rd Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Hot Wheels, CARs - The Movie, Backyardigans, Go Diego, Dora the Explorer
2) Get your child involved. Let him pick the theme or help make invitations. At this age children love to be helpful.
3) Get the timing right - An early to mid afternoon party is fine. By late afternoon the tots are usually getting cranky.
4) Entertainer - At this age you can consider live entertainment. Some good choices are a puppet show, magician, balloon modeling or a face painter.
5) Another great birthday party idea is dress up! Kids love to dress up at this age. Provide an area with some old clothes the tots can play in. They will love this activity.
4th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Dinosaur Friends, Fire Fighter, Princess Party, Mickey Mouse Club, Madagascar
2) Plan in Advance - Today's children have busy schedules. Between the various classes and play dates some kids are booked months in advance. Therefore be sure to give the parents of your child's closest friends the date of the party well in advance.
3) Craft projects - At this age kids are able to take direction and participate in craft projects. Here's one fun idea - Have an Art show! Provide an area with craft supplies such as stickers, glitter, crayons, markers, paint (washable), glue, construction paper, pipe cleaners and anything else they can use to create a masterpiece. Hang their artwork and have an art judging. Award a prize to each child for something unique pertaining to their art such as best use of color, best drawing of a tree and so on.
4) Kids love parades and what could be more fun than participating in their own parade. Have the kids form their own parade by providing musical instruments (drums, maracas, bells, etc.) and streamers. Have the kids march around the party area singing popular kids songs or the birthday song!
5) Kids at this age (actually any age) have lots of energy. Be sure to have enough activities planned to keep them busy.
5th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Buzz Lightyear, Wizard of Oz, Crafts Party, Pirate Party, Scooby Doo
2) Since your child is in school now you can plan a celebration at school as well as a party at home.
3) For a school party bring cupcakes (note, some schools will only allow store bought food items). Pass out a small goodie bag for each child containing candy and a small toy.
4) For a home party have the children make jewelry out of pasta. Have the kids paint pasta (any pasta with a hole in it will work). When it's dry they can thread yarn through the pasta and wear it!
5) Make sure you get your child's input when it comes to planning the party. At this age your child will be thrilled to see their ideas incorporated into the party.
6th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Gymnastics, Karate, Cheer Party, Nascar, Space Mission Party
2) At this age you may want to consider an all boy or all girl kids party. After the age of 5 girls usually want to do different activities from boys. It's not necessary to have a gender specific party but it can make the planning a bit easier.
3) At this age you can consider having a destination kids party. Kids love parties at fun locales like indoor playgrounds, gymnastics studio, karate studio or Build a Bear.
4) If you're having a kids party at home and the weather permits consider a party rental such as a bounce house or ball pit. Kids at this age can spend hours bouncing or playing in a ball pit.
5) Party games are of course a must try a treasure hunt, hot potato, musical chairs or a relay race. Check out these games as well:
7th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Slumber Party, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Tea Party
2) A 7th birthday party seems to mark a milestone in maturity for kids; they can no longer be looked at as babies. So, if you're going to have a big celebration this is the birthday to do it. Prior to 7 they are too young to truly appreciate it, but this year they will.
3) Consider having a girls slumber party. Provide activities such as makeovers, doing their nails or Barbie playtime. Allow them to eat junk food and watch a pre-teen movie.
4) For the boys consider having a superhero party. Have the guests dress up as their favorite superhero and provide activities based around Spiderman, Batman, Superman, etc.
5) Party rentals are always a hit such as the bounce house, ball pit, pony rental or a mini put put course.
8th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Bowling, Barbie, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Skateboard
2) This is the only age you can plan a figure eight party! Make a figure eight cake - Take 2 round cakes and cut the center out using a glass (frozen cakes work best). Put the 2 cakes together to form a figure eight. Have the party at a skating rink where the kids can practice figure eight skating.
3) A destination party is a good idea at this age as well. Consider American Girl, Dave and Busters or Bowling.
4) Throw a crafts party. Provide all sorts of crafts for the kids to do it can be as simple as building with clay or Legos or painting pictures to jewelry making and model building. Have several different activities so the kids can move around. Be sure to have help with supervision, it can get hectic.
5) Remember to be enthusiastic with every activity and play lots of music. Your enthusiasm will get the kids excited about any activity and music always gets them going!
9th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Star Wars, Glamour Girls, Hawaiian Luau, Harry Potter, Transformers
2) If you have a budding cowboy or girl try a Horse Round Up Party. Provide the kids with bandanas or cowboy hats when they arrive, serve western food such as bbq chicken or burgers western style. Have a pony ride at your house or if possible take the kids to a stable.
3) Here are some unique ideas for live entertainment - caricature artist, karaoke, a water slide, Hip Hop or country singer, costumed characters, kids comedian, impersonator (such as a Hannah Montana impersonator), temporary tattoo artist (asks the parents first), ventriloquist, airbrush t-shirt artist, live animals.
4) Cupcake decorating is a fun activity for kids. Provide already cooked cupcakes along with the fixin's such as frosting (a couple different flavors), sprinkles, candy and writing gel. Allow the kids to decorate the cupcakes and then they get to eat their creations!
5) Girls love to play grown up at this age so have a tea party for the girls. Either find a locale that has tea time or do it at your house. Tell the girls in the invitation to dress up and then serve tea and finger sandwiches with the crust cut off. Discuss the ritual behind drinking tea such as putting your pinkie up!
10th Birthday
1) Popular Kids Party Themes - Hanah Montana, Twighligt, Wizards of Waverly Place, American Idol, Jonas
2) This is an ideal age to celebrate your child's birthday at an amusement park. Invite a few friends. The kids are going to be old enough or tall enough to get on many of the rides. And most of the kids probably have experienced an amusement park by now and know what to expect.
3) Plan a chocolate party. What kid doesn't love chocolate? A chocolate party is simple to plan because everything is chocolate such as chocolate birthday cake, chocolate, favors, chocolate treats, chocolate fondue or even a chocolate fountain.
4) A great place to get favors for girls at this age is Claires or any similar accessory store. You can pick up tons of inexpensive accessories such as clips, barrettes and jewelry.
5) Plan a girly party for your daughter. A girly party would entail manicures and pedicures along with snacks and a fun girly movie such as the Princess Diaries. Have a couple of games or Barbie playtime and your daughter will love it!
Kids Party Ideas - Clever Kids Party provides creative and unique kids party ideas for planning children's parties. We are full of helpful information related to party decorating, games, activities, food and more.
The San Francisco's Bay To Breakers Centennial Race
My nerves were shot as the day approached. In my mind's eye, I saw my mother's face. A conservative, religious woman, I could see her mouth pursed in disapproval. Costumed freaks, naked people, I could hear her echo scornfully. The question of why I would want to participate in such an event hung in the air like the odor in the neighborhood on a sweltering hot garbage day.
Thunderstorms were predicted to hit San Francisco the evening of the 100th Bay To Breakers Race, and to continue throughout the next day. The impulse to cancel jabbed at my psyche. The will, the curiosity, and the need to perform what I had trained for months to do, squelched the most unwelcome argument. Our brains are a funny thing. They can be our greatest motivators, our best cheerleaders, and our worst enemies. When training for a run, or any fitness regimen in general, the brain tells us at first all of the reasons why we shouldn't do something. Why it's easier to sit on the couch and chomp on a doughnut. How dare we change, how dare we dream, how dare we run with costumed freaks and naked people. At these times, we must let the mechanical part of our brain take over, and order our bodies to follow. There were days of training where I stop talking to myself, and simply lace my shoes, pull my hair back, and turn on the treadmill, letting nary a thought creep into my mind. Eat your rice, clean your bowl. So the old Zen saying goes.
I trained for weeks, sweating and groaning on the treadmill as my middle and pinky toes burned underneath me, and my knees felt so rickety I was sure leg braces were a part of my near future. Some people say humans were biologically made to run for miles everyday, chasing and hunting down their food. I must be a descendant of fat bottomed aliens who lived off the fruit of the land. As soon as I get up, a body part starts hurting. But I was determined to run this race on my birthday, resigned to perhaps walking a bulk of the course. With a maximum endurance strength of seven and a half miles two weeks before the race, I was going to get out onto the street and do the best I could. When I pictured running, I pictured grimacing faces, flying droplets of sweat, clenched fists, and feet pounding in a hard core beat on the pavement.
The night before, we ate at a popular restaurant called The Slanted Door, and my running mates and I loaded up on glass noodles with Dungeness crab and lamb chops with an exotic orange sauce. Diners were jovial and plentiful, laughing softly at their tables. They wore skinny jeans, scarves with a myriad of colors ties multiple times around their necks, and boots so high it seemed their legs would buckle under them any minute. When they pushed open the glass doors of the restaurant, it seemed as if they would take off as a group and fly into the blue sky dotted with clouds that hung over the Bay Bridge. The diners held a quiet aura of elegance, and to me, this momentum of peace was nerve-wracking. I wondered to myself if I blended in with my own skinny jeans and healed black boots, or if they knew I was a fraud raised to disapprove of individuality, yet fighting those feelings of disapproval in every moment of my existence. How could I have known that the mood of the evening was an absolute indication of what was to come at the race tomorrow.
As I peeked out of the curtains the next morning, the sky was glorious with puffy white clouds and rays of sunshine. I slathered on a handful of sunscreen and belted a provisions belt around my waist, the attached plastic bottles filled with an energy drink. On my head I secured a San Francisco Giants hat to show my city spirit. I took a last glance in the mirror at my meaty body, wishing I had the courage to carry off the Wonder Woman costume I had envisioned myself wearing, but remembering the waitress on Halloween at a local cafe in my hometown who wore the said garb, and spent the entire time her hands were free of plates yanking up the sagging red and gold bodice. My mother's face appeared before me again. Naked people, she intoned with disapproval.
I gazed out the window of my hotel room, and saw a parade of participants heading towards their designated starting points. From my vantage point, I could see a clown in full dress, red wig and striped suit, and a big painted smile. How better to start the race, then to receive a visual welcome from a childhood memory such as the circus. I safety pinned my bib number to my shirt, and headed downstairs.
Disks of an unidentifiable matter flew in a haphazard vertical pattern above the packed crowd in the street, as people cheered and called out to their friends as they herded themselves into the pre-designated corrals from which they were to start the race. A naked man, covered only by a bandanna wrapped around the black hair on his head, clutched the sides of his body and shivered, as he looked around presumably for his friends. Strangely enough, his nudity was not the threat I was originally apprehensive of. Instead, it enforced the vulnerability of every person running the race. It is a beautiful society we live in, where a lone, small boned man can stand naked in the street amongst a crowd energized by caffeine and energy drinks, and not be bothered by anyone.
There was a sense of return to childhood in the manner of people of all ages, from the Winnie the Pooh and Elmo costumes to the flowing skirts and princess tiaras. For perhaps the only day out of the entire year, people of all gender, creed, nationality and disposition, could perform an activity side by side and enjoy it.
As I walked towards Corral C, a light object came down and hit me on the head. I looked down at my feet. The object was a tortilla. For a millisecond, the memories of a childhood growing up in a small town filled with supremacists of varying degrees, I felt a sting as if I were the target of a racist joke. I looked about me again, at the crowd, a beautiful Seurat like vision of multi-colored dots making a myriad of faces, and shook the feeling off.
Entering the race felt like boarding an amusement park ride. There was an awning with a digital clock display, and a hamper with a sign that read Clothing. Only in an altruistic city like San Francisco is the shedding of clothing an ingénue idea to collect garments for the poor. My feet began to move, step after step, and increase in speed. Running at full speed beside me was a tall fellow in a wig and full rock star/robot regalia. His eyes were shaded by reflective aviator sunglasses, and his face was covered with full make up, lined lips with cheeks covered in bright pink. The long, flowing wig upon his face flew behind him like a cape, the crimped locks light as feathers upon the wind. I gave him a respectful "woot, woot," and continued on.
A hill rose before me, covered with a wave of people. I pressed on upwards, as bands played on the sidewalks, people hanging out of their homes toasted the runners with drinks in hand, and an emcee's voice carried over the loudspeakers, encouraging the participants up the steep hill. "That's it," a woman said as I reached the top. "That's the worst of it." I looked down and saw a gorgeous, sloping incline, and felt I had sprouted wings.
The miles began to tick by, and as I entered Golden Gate Park, I saw this city I had lived near for all of my life through different eyes. Dark clouds poured a most welcome, light mist upon my face, for sweat was coursing down the bodies of even those running completely naked. As I ran past the seventh mile marker, which was the last, a cheeky bystander held up a sign which read Way to Go! Only Eight Miles Left!
The white caps of the Pacific Ocean were now visible. I sprinted into a run as I made the turn towards the finish line, not wanting to get there faster than anyone, but to make my personal goal of finishing the best it could be. I had not a time in mind, but I had come this far, and I knew that finishing strong was how I wanted this race to end. My baseball cap blew off from the force of the mighty sea winds, and I grabbed it in my fist and continued dashing towards the line. As I crossed, I threw my hands up in the air and formed a peace sign.
Men dressed in drag, throes of people without clothes, so called normal couples, and beautifully fit twenty something year olds milled about on the other side of the finish line. The endorphins of running seemed to be coursing through the air, as smiles were plentiful and the brisk chill from the ocean was as cleansing to the lungs as a cold shower is to the body. A wagon with a sign asking for support for a local school sold pupusas, a thick corn tortilla stuffed with cheese and pork, and a delicacy from my father's country. To me, the sign was truly a welcome wagon. I had not only completed my first race, but crossed over to a new way of seeing the people I share this world with.
If we exist on a macrocosmic level as well as a microcosmic level, the San Francisco Bay to Breakers race is one place where these points of existence gel. We are all humans, running in the same vein of time in which we are blessed to exist. Some will stagnate, some will dare to stop and force against the stream of people, shouting rules and curses upon those who are there to flow, who are not hurting anyone. Some will continue on, energized by the others who share their presence, who press on towards the same positive goal, and no matter when they cross the finish line, it is these people who have truly won the race.
Liz R. Newman, Author of An Affinity for Shadows
http://www.lizrnewman.net/press-room.html
Cute pick up lines when delivered with confidence and a smile on your face will help you look unique in her eyes and possible squeeze a laugh out of her.
Confidence is the key when delivering a cute pick up line, you can't be to serious or even worse stutter and stammer when you approach her when delivering cute pick up lines. You should maintain eye contact and also let her know with your tone that your pick up line is meant to be cheeky. With that in mind; here are the top 10 cute pick up lines:
1.) Your shoe is untied. Can I tie it for you?
2.) Have you ever had a guy follow you across the street (or into a coffeehouse, onto the Metro) because he liked your smile?
3.) Say...didn't we go to different schools at the same time?
4.) Do you have a quarter? I want to call your parents and thank them.
5.) My name is Elmo. You can tickle me anytime.
6.) You're someone I could really blog about!
7.) Were we lovers in a past life?
8.) Did you drop this? (Hold out a dollar or a pen.)
9.) I've heard sex is a killer. Want to die happy?
10.) The body is made up of 90% water and I'm thirsty.
Some of these pickup lines are funny and some don't make a lot of sense but if you deliver them right they will make her laugh provided you deliver them with a fun-spirited attitude and of course a smile on your face.
Remember if you have the right attitude, and your body language says you are confident; you can use acute pick up line or any other pick up and be successful. There is no need to make it more difficult than it is, remember she will feel flattered you made the effort to amuse her, as long as you don't do it in a creepy or desperate way.
If you are truly serious about mastering the art of attraction and being able to date and seduce ANY girl you want, visit this free website now and get a free report at: Master Online Dater
