By Leslie Lindsay It has been a week of math, science, fun, creativity, and critical thinking for my 6 year-old.  “Camp Invention” was the place for my spritely redhead who loves inventing and creating.  A national program, a subgrop of Invent Now, this creative and motiving team of teachers, volunteers, and junior camp counselors made this an enriching week of hands-on problem-solving and brain-storming.  Held at a local elementary school and sponsored in part by our school district, I was more than pleased when my budding inventor asked, “Mom, can I do this again next summer?!”  Running like a school day–starting bright and early around 8:45pm and lasting till the quintessential 3:30 “school’s out” time frame, the schedule of events was divided neatly into classroom lecture and exploration, including modules (you know we’re talking nerds when the word “module” comes into play!) in wild animals, decoding and dechiphering, atomic journey, power play, and edison’s workshop.  Snacks, lunch, and friends round-out the day. Today was the Inventor’s Showcase, the grand finale in which kiddos lead us …

The end of the schoolyear is amongst us.  All differnt types of parents have all different  reactions to the “end-of-times.”  I fall squarely into the great-now-what-am-I-gonna-do-with-this-ball-of-energy-I-call-my-daughter-for-90-days?!  Easy.  She’s going to YMCA day camp.  (Yes, I finally got the tedious paperwork completed to send her).  But, that doesn’t mean I’m a completely hands-off parent.  In fact, my energetic 6-year old is also very crafty.  Something we have in common!  Sooo….with that in mind, we plan to make some creative art projects using all of last year’s art work.   Your child is likely bringing home lots of projects as they clean out desks and classrooms in preparation for the end of the school year.  Save them.  Set them aside.  Mark a date on your calendar to do something with them.  Here are some ideas: Turn them into placemats.  Get large paper, about 18″ x 12″ and make a collage, sticking with a theme, with her favorite pieces of art. Take it to an office suppy store and laminate for about $2-4. Don’t be afraid to cut apart projects …

If you are a parent of little girls who have hair–long or short, then you are probably all too familiar with the hair accessory chaos.  It has taken over my home and car…and sometimes even my bread drawer!  In fact, just today I retrieved two teeny-tiny hair clips that were wedged into the cupholder of my Honda (along with a plastic ring and a Squinkies bubble).  Sigh…. My first suggestion to  my daughter was, “Maybe it’s time to get your hair cut?”  “Noooo!!!” She screamed as she grabbed her head, cradling it between her hands as though the volume of my request was too loud (not the case–it was her displeasure of the prospect of a haircut that was too loud).  “Okay,” I sighed.  “Then we need to do something about this hair junk being left all over the house.  I am tired of picking it up.”  She agreed, but she didnt’t really help.  At least not until recently.  Not until she saw how cute and simple it was.  When I was perusing the aisles at …

Party time for my first born is just around the corner and I have been crafting yet another masterpiece.  I got this idea by flipping through a summer camp catalog for art classes. Since my little Picasso is asking for a painting/art party for her 6th year, I stuck with the theme as I created these pretty simple invites.  Here’s what I did: Purchased inexpensive plastic artist’s pallets at Michaels Found card stock in the colors of the rainbow (Thank you, Roy G. Biv) Punched them out with a paper punch found in the scrapbooking supplies Hand-lettered all of the party information on the punched out “paint” chips Secured them into the pallet with hot glue (no other adhesive seemed to work–I tried) I slipped the invitations into clear cellophane bags, sprinkled some swirled confetti inside (looks sort of like paint), added a paintbrush (packs of 12 sold for $1!) and tied it together with some coordinating ribbon.  Sure, it took a little time.  I started about 6 weeks ago and worked on them a …

I’m not sure if there is anything cute and simple about this cold, dreary, rainy April Fool’s Day.  Unless for you, rainy days are simple days.  They used to be for me.  I used to love a random rainy day so I could feel less guilty about doing my “lazy things.”  A cold rainy day just seems to call, “hot cocoa/tea, a book, and a nap.”  Yes.  Simple.  But not for me.  Not today.  After the normal busy morning running around town getting things done, I was ready for a break.  I love breaks.  It’s just I don’t take them very often.  But I digress.  Kelly and I hopped into the Hallmark store earlier today and I have to say I was utterly amazed at how sweet and thoughtful she was while we shopped.  Aside from the fact that Hallmark is really not the place to bring your 4-year old, she was relatively well-behaved.  We were there looking for a birthday card for Nana.  Kelly wanted to pick it out.  So, after perusing the cards …