Playground

Top 10 ways to involve kids in stewardship

2011-07-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

10.	Recycle everything from cans to clothes
9.	Consolidate car trips; read a book while you wait
8.	Shut off lights and appliances not in use
7.	Harvest what you plant, share what you harvest
6.	Share clothes with a sibling or parent
5.	Use e-mail rather than long distance
4.	Treat possessions as valuables
3.	Ride a bike or walk for short errands and exercise
2.	Wipe your feet
1.	Eat leftovers

Dominique Dy (finding your child’s potential)

2011-01-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

I got a message in my ‘youtube’ inbox recently, an invite to see the video of this awesome young girl, and let the sender know what I think. Presenting Dominique Dy, my first post for 2011

First of all, I’m so happy to know someone (maybe her family) has taken notice of her talent and took the time and effort to put her on youtube, (who knows who might discover her there) I’m happy her parents and family support her in this, and thought I’d feature Dominique here.

Now what can I say about it?
- She already has an incredible voice to begin with, being only 8 years old. That will continue to develop as she ages.
- Although she did this song very well, I would suggest she sings songs that are more for her age or closer, songs she’d be able to relate to and feel instead of adult themed ones.
- Dress her up according to her age but I don’t mean overbearing ribbons.
- She’s really good and it looks like she’s enjoying it!

We need to explore and discover our children’s potential. See where they’re good at, NOT where we want them to be good at. Allow them to lie and reach their dreams NOT OURS’.

We can helps them get better at their abilities by giving support , encouragements, enrolling them in workshops that will further enhance their GOD-given talents.

THUMBS UP FOR DOMINIQUE!!! YOU ROCK!!!

NOTe: In honor of Dominique, Lia, Gelo, Echo, Thea and our anonymous 7 - year old singer, I've added a new label here, the "Featured Angel" category.

O Holy Night 0 Incredible 7 year old singer!

2010-12-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the parents of this little girl. I don't know them and I don't know her but she has great potential and we,the adults, the mom and dad, the big sister and brother should just as well find that special talent in every child and help them harness it to its fullest extent.

Good age for the alphabet

2010-09-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

This is a video of my niece Lia doing her alphabet and a Barney song. 3 is a cute and good age to start teaching them letters, numbers, shapes and songs, AND wouldn't it be fun to immortalize it with a video? So make good use of our high tech today and start teaching and filming. Please do watch.

Recommended sites for Sunday school teachers 2010

2010-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Sunday school lessons for kids – A site authored by a lovely mom, complete with Bible stories/Object lessons, reflections, memory verses and activities/crafts for kids. If you ever need ideas for Sunday school or children gatherings, here’s a place you can consider.

People and places coloring pages – A great site of printable coloring materials for kids for all occasions.-

Kids Sunday School Places – This site has great teaching aids and resources. There’s a membership fee but there are materials that are for free (marked with a blue dot).

Faith Weavers - This is also a great source of Christian curriculum for children and youth. Their site url seem to be not working (or it's just on my end) as of this writing but you can check it later.

Also see:

Resource Places

Emily Bears - Child Prodigy

2010-06-13T23:18:00.001-07:00

It was her grandmother who discovered her special gift.

Shocking 2 year-old smoker!

2010-06-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

How could a father teach his son to smoke at 18 months old? Doesn’t he realize this boy could have serious health problems in a few years? He seemed rather proud and enjoying the attention it has gotten his son and himself as well than worry about his health.

Goodness, what values are we teaching our kids today?

Paper House

2010-05-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Materials:
1. Typewriting paper or construction paper
2. Crayons or coloring pens

Direction:
Just follow the instruction above. Very easy to do

Suggested stories with this craft:
Any stories pertaining to family and home

The formative years

2010-05-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Short conversation with my nephew, Gelo (7- in Tagalog translated to English)

Gelo: Auntie , do you know that ants can make your voice better?
ME : Really? I didn’t know that.
Gelo: If you eat an ant, you will sing better.
ME : how do you know, have you ever had an ant?
Gelo: No but my classmate has and he has a good voice. His voice wasn’t like that before until he ate an ant.

Children below seven will believe almost everything you tell them. The age between a child’s first year to six are the formative years. They pretty much absorb every discovery they make during this period. What they hear, see and experience (including traumatic events) during this time of growth become foundation and principles to live by in later years. The impact of lessons learned early in life, whether from good experiences or bad, lasts.

At this stage, their brain is like a sponge that takes in everything. So this is the best time to teach them truths and good values but important to keep in mind that we who teaches should ‘walk the talk”. If we teach them not to lie, we should make sure that we, the teachers (parents, adults, older siblings) are always, ourselves, truthful. WE ARE THE EXAMPLE.

So never think that they’re too young to know and learn, and be disciplined. Do not think that during this cute age, it’s ok spoil them a little and just teach them to be more responsible when they’re a bit grown up. It’ll be late by then. The habits they’ve formed during the formative years will be harder to break later.

Heart on a stick

2010-03-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

Materials:

1. Heart shaped construction paper (A pair and pre-cut for each child)

2. Popsicle stick

3. Yarn

4. Stapler and staple wires

5. Color pens

6. Glue

7. Crumpled newspaper or scratch papers

Procedure:

Have kids write the memory verse on the center of one of the hearts (leave enough space on the sides for stapling).

When done, staple the pair of hearts together leaving an opening at the bottom of the hearts. Have the children put the crumpled paper inside the heart. Put glue on one of the end of the popsicle stick (both sides of one end) and insert the popsicle stick at the bottom. Tie a yarn or a ribbon at the bottom of the heart.

For beginner's class (ages 4-6), you might have to help them write the memory verse and tie the ribbon and yarn. I suggest using bigger pair of hearts and popsicle stick.

Suggested stories for this craft:

RUTH (About love)

EPHESIANS 6:1 (emphasizing loving our parents mean obeying them)

VALENTINE'S DAY PROJECT

Variation:

You can collect the craft, take them home to grade them and tie a lollipop to each. the kids will love them once the get their craft back with a lollie.

NOTE: Nobody can love and trust like children so it's only right we do the same to them

Children and family

2010-03-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

Ask a child to choose, ‘toy or mommy and daddy?’ I guarantee you, children will choose family anytime. We’ve all been there. We’d choose love of parents over any latest gadget. There’s still nothing like growing up in a closely-knit family. A child may not have everything she wants but if she has the really important stuff in life (love, time, attention, understanding, relationship) she’ll grow up a healthy, happier person.

Family time is important to children. Going to the beach, a few days vacation or it could be as simple as going out for dinner or even just staying home, playing together or watching a movie. Any activity when the family is complete, talking laughing and just spending time with each other learning and having fun.

Personal time is also very healthy. Talking to the child one on one, getting to know him/her, what she/he likes to do, asking if she/he is okay. doing this will encourage the child to be open to you, to be himself/herself with you. This shows you’re interested and you’re taking extra effort to know him/her and this makes the child feel important.

Preparing children for the next activity

2009-11-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

Playing for children is like breathing. They can’t possible live healthily without it. And when they start playing, they never want to stop. They are at their happiest when at play and often it’s difficult for them to just stop abruptly.

Children should be given time to prepare for a change of activity, specially the younger ones, 4 and below. You can’t just say “Alright, it’s time for lunch, stop playing and clean up.” It would be hard for them to suddenly stop what they’ve been enjoying doing for the next activity.

I have a 2 ½ year-old niece and she just got a new kitchen set. She loves playing chef, nanny and store owner. She definitely doesn’t like it when play is interrupted all suddenly and we have to stop right away. So, what I do is talk to her half an hour before the next activity, that in a few minutes, we’re going to eat or take a nap, or that she has to go home (they live next door) for a shower, allowing the next activity to sink in, preparing her for it, emotionally and mentally while helping her put her toys away (explaining patiently, slowly and repeatedly why we need to clean up and why she needs to stop playing for a while for the next activity).

This gives her time to slowly wind down on the current activity and prepare her for the next one.

Mio fights the big C

2009-10-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

“I’'m 5 years old and i like school, vegetable, drawing and i have enemies in my blood so Dr. Racho is putting soldiers in them every so often to make them gone.”

From the profile of a five year old suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia or ALL.

ALL - “An excess of white blood cells (which ironically is what I lack in thus my weird skin- evident blood disorder) is suffocating all the other healthy cells in his bone marrow and signals his anti-bodies otherwise (quote from Mio’s site, AND you should read it there).

They’ve some projects on the site to help raise fund for Mio’s medical expenditures and any kind of help is welcomed.

Mio fights Cancer

The children answer "Why?" (The typhoon Ondoy tragedy)

2009-10-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

I’m back in Sunday school (October and November) and yesterday, we had a very serious talk about the flooding that recently happened in the Philippines. News of loss of properties and lives abound everywhere. I wanted to know how the kids feel about it and the tragedy, at the same time, see if anyone is traumatized, so I asked them the question everyone seems to be asking – “Why did God allow such things to happen?” and I got unexpected answers.

One young man said – “To show how mighty God is,” to which I said, “How does it show God is mighty if a lot of people died?” And to which he replied “A lot of people lived also.” Now why didn’t I think of that?

One girl said -“Because people don’t take care of our environment anymore, we don’t plant trees.” – Hmmm, definitely a “Green peace” member candidate.

Another boy said – “So that people will fear the Lord.”

These children who gave answers live near a creek and most of them were victims of the flood (and each has a story to eagerly tell). I was happy to know none of them had any sign of trauma. This show how resilient children are or maybe they’re just too young to realize the weight of all that happened. Either of the two isn’t bad.

So, at the end of our discussion, we came to these conclusions:

That God allow such things to happen because of sins, environmental abuse, to see God’s glory and to stir up “God-awareness”. We concluded that calamities and tragedies might be consequences of our sins, consequences of our abuse of the earth, and GOD won’t always save us from suffering the consequences of our own making because HE is JUST. He can’t always clean up our mess.

UNICEF and YOU can help the children victims of typhoon Ondoy (Philippines)

2009-09-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Help Children Affected by the Philippines Floods

Typhoon Ketsana has killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands. UNICEF is working around the clock to meet the needs of the youngest survivors. The needs are urgent. You can help.

Give today and an anonymous donor will match your gift, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 -- doubling your support for UNICEF's lifesaving efforts in the Philippines.
Click here for more info.
Click here also

Quality time with children

2009-09-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my niece and nephew lately. I realize, in a few years I won’t be able to play with them anymore like I can now.

I won’t have a better influence on them now, while they’re still in their toddler, kindergarten years, than ever. My niece has started talking and learning to count and say the alphabet.

So, when she’s in the house and were babysitting, I always make it a point we watch one or two Barney (her favorite) videos together. We sing and dance, and learn. Not only are we spending quality, learning time together, we’re also playing and bonding.

Since her mom decided to stay home than work, she’s been happier and less agitated.

Children need more than clothing, food, education and whatever else material things we can give them, most of all, they need our time. They need to know and feel that even though we have many other things to do that we need to do, they are above them in importance.

The ABC song

The Barney songs

2009-09-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

My niece loves Barney, has a talking “Barney” bear, Barney videos and when she visits me, we’ve found a way to keep her for a little bit longer while her mom does house chores next door, watch BARNEY (again!) on Youtube.

So here’s a link to one of Barney’s song videos that I’d recommend to your kids, nieces, nephews etc.

The Barney songs

Starting them young

2009-08-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

Children can start memorizing and counting as early as 2 years old. Incorporate play and learning in one activity. While the toddler might think he/she is just playing, he/she is actually learning to count, recognize letters or memorize songs.

My niece Eliya - 2 years and 4 months old. Singing and counting up to tne in two languages (English and Filipino).

Brianna

2009-07-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Brianna is a 17 year-year old young woman from WA and has cataplexy. I was touched when she read my story and sent me an email. I’ve written about Cataplexy on my blog at one time and never thought I’d ever get to know one. And I’m honored.

So here’s Bri’s letter. Please do take note of the struggles she try to cope with. A little glimpse of what it’s like, from someone going through it everyday.

Hi,
I just finished reading "My Story", after following a hit on my blog.
I wanted to let you know that it touched me and inspired me.
I wasn't affected by polio, but I do use a wheelchair. I have a condition called Narcolepsy. One of its symptoms is Cataplexy.
Cataplexy causes me to have episodes of muscle weakness, frequently to the point of paralysis. I go "floppy" as I like to joke.
It's made me have to use a wheelchair whenever I leave my house, and sometimes inside. I've spent a great deal of time in hospitals, and a great deal of time OUT of school. I love school. LOVE it, which I'm told is weird for a teenager.
I went through a very rough time when I had to start using my chair almost 2 years ago. It was hard for me to think that kids could possibly see past my chair and recognize that I'm a person.
Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that your story helped. Thank you for having the courage to share it with the world.

P.S. Good for you and making the video, I'm listening to it as I type this.
Bri Naslund
http://fromthelipsofme.blogspot.com/

Do pay her a visit at her blog

Now that makes all the effort of writing I do here worth it. What an encouragement to me!

Aileen

2009-07-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

(Posted this on another blog back when I was still tutoring our scholars in 2008)

This is Aileen. She’s fifteen years old but still in grade 4. She had to stop school because of family crisis and poverty. She’s one of our scholars and among the children I tutor every Saturday morning in the house. She’s eager to learn and obviously, in want of attention and big sisterly love.

Clockwise: Rosemarie, Aileen, Nina, Rona

I tutor 4th, 5th and 6th graders on Saturday mornings. They are kids from our church’ Scholarship program and we need to help them increase their GWA at least 1% each year or they’ll be taken out of the scholarship.

Most of the children are more than willing to be taught. Just that no one cared enough to help them. Well, now there’s more than one, there’s the church and the people who are funding their education. They’re not used to being followed up in school. Their parents are either too busy to make a living or are illiterate themselves. So at this stage, the goal is to get them to adopt good studying habits and inculcate the importance of education.

Aileen was one of my room mates when I went to “Kid’s Camp” last April and even then she expressed desire to go back to school and finish. She wouldn’t mind being the oldest in the class as long as she gets education. While others take that privilege for granted, to her, it’s a major deal.

She’s too happy to see it come true and she never forgets to say ‘thank you”. Last Sunday when we saw each other at the church, she thanked me again and said she is enjoying my teaching and added she wishes I had truly been her biological big sister.

Now there’s my incentive, straight from the heart of a 15 year-old girl. No amount of paycheck can top that.

Young Entrepreneurs

2009-06-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

Young people have enormous energy to burn. They’re almost always on their toes, running, playing, moving. This is the best time to get them started on sports and whatever hobbies they seem to enjoy and are into.

Instead of just having or letting them sit in front of the TV or computer the whole day, why not encourage them to join advocacy groups, sports training, OR get into hobby crafts they’d enjoy doing.

Finding this site (MSJewelry) inspired me to write this particular post. Two middle school sisters display their creative talents online, young women entrepreneurs for certain.

NOTE: This also gave me an idea to do a shout out to all the moms and dads who have kids, or those kids who have blogs about their hobbies and talents like this; send me an email at jfwomen@gmail.com about the site. I’ll check it out and we’ll see if I can put a link here in my site to their page.

So check out Michaela and Susie’s place on the net and maybe you’ll find something there you might like. And they’re very affordable (wink).

Logan: from the mouth of babes (a powerful message )

2009-06-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

An actual recorded audio (not scripted) of a boy who called up a local radio station to talk to his friend…watch, listen and be touched.

Leo (boy's first trip to the mall at 11)

2009-06-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

Dec. 23, 2006

Leo is one of the boys in my Sunday school class who lives in the cemetery. His family makes a living collecting garbage and selling whatever else is recyclable to a junk shop. Every night, from 7 to 10, Leo (11) and his brother Josemar (12) walks a few kilometers back and forth to collect garbage for a few bucks.

The boy, at his age is only a few feet tall and about the size of a seven-year old. He had never been to the mall till I took him with us last Thursday. When we picked him up from a church mate’s house, his smile was from ear to ear and his eyes were wide with excitement.

His head veered from left to right, to the ceiling, to the tiled floor once we stepped inside the mall, feasting, interrogating and savoring everything in sight. We bought him a new shirt and he got to play a few games at the video arcade (his first too) and since he has never been to the zoo either, we took him to the pet shop afterwards (And I got to see turtles – lol!). He ate so little when we had lunch. Not because he was shy but because he is used to so little. He has 7 other siblings he has to share meal with and since collecting garbage isn’t a profitable business here, they have to divide however little they have.

This time with him made me think of the things I take for granted in my life. Often thinking how little I have and yet this boy almost has nothing. But I never see him sulk in class except when ill or sleepy because he had to stay up late the previous night, garbage hunting.

He, along with the other poor children in my class, makes the difficulties of my life seem trivial, my needs, not necessities, and my heartaches, inconsequential compared to theirs. More than just writing about them, I wish I could do more.

I enjoyed the time with Leo. He made my day.

Teaching by example

2009-05-28T19:30:00.001-07:00

My niece often catches me putting lotion on or at times in the morning scrubbing my face with a cleanser or going through my kikay kit (a purse for face powder, lipstick, floss etc.) and in no time she learned to go through my kit too, playing with my girly things. And now we have this lotion ritual where she gets a dab of lotion on her palm, count 1 – 3, bring palms together and apply.

Children learn more by being shown than being told. It’s important that we, the older ones (parents, teachers, older siblings etc.) do as we tell, do as we preach. Children copy what they see and react from what they hear. So when we have kids in the house, we need to be more responsible with the way we talk, live and handle situations. Because the kids are always looking.

"Shorty" A true story

2009-05-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

A devastating bushfire swept Victoria Australia during the early months of 2009 and here’s an incredible story of a pony which can be used for Sunday school for an object lesson and it’s a true story.

“SHORTY” The brave pony

Standing not much higher than your knee and with a relentless passion for carrots...he's an unlikely hero of the "Black Saturday" bushfires.
He's "Shorty" the miniature horse and his miraculous survival is seen as a beacon of hope for so many as they reel from the impact of the tragedy which killed 173 people.
As the inferno approached Wandong in Central Victoria on February 7th, "Shorty's" owner Graeme Kurzman locked the horse and his four dogs in a tennis court and fled with his wife. He narrowly escaped. "The shed exploded and the flames chased us up the driveway," says Graeme.

Two days later Graeme and his shell-shocked family returned to their property and found absolute, total devastation. The home ,his veteran car collection, the sheds, the fences, the bird aviaries all destroyed, all rubble. The heat so extreme the gearbox on Graeme's ruined tractor was molten metal. On the tennis court ,they found the four dogs dead. But there standing in the middle with only minor burns and a singed tail was "Shorty". He trotted over to them ,then jumped in their car as if nothing dramatic had happened! No-one has any clue how he survived. "To this day I just can't understand why the little bloke's still here!" says Graeme as he gives "Shorty" a hug.

The problem now for Graeme is that "Shorty" can't stay on his property. He gets in the way of the massive sifting and clearing operation there and, anyway, all the paddocks are burned and there's no feed for him. So Graeme has arranged for him to go on tour for six months, to stay with friends in Melbourne a week at a time. Graeme has given specific instructions to all the 'pony-sitting' families to spread the word of "Shorty's" survival. And, as a result, the little fella has become something of minor celebrity ! He's visited schools, kindergartens, day care centres and been feted at a garden tea party. As he guzzles carrots and nuzzles up to everyone he meets, the kids are told his story. They're learning all is not lost in the bushfire areas after Black Saturday. It is a small positive for young minds after weeks of horrendous news.
As 'pony sitter' Sue Nottas said , the kids are learning ",that not everything was black and disastrous, that there are still stories of hope and this is one."
Melissa Robertson, who hosted "Shorty's" tea party, said the children loved hearing his story. She was determined ", for the kids to hear, y'know, just one of the positive stories that've come out or something that's been pretty inspirational."
Now as Graeme struggles to get his life back together when things get on top of him he thinks about "Shorty".

"He's me mate!" he says fighting back tears as he grabs "Shorty's" head and rubs it ferociously..
"We'll be back .We'll start again, won't we mate? We'll start again."
At times of great stress, miracles and inspiration can come in small ..and in this case "Shorty"..pack

http://au.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/nickmccallum/28/1/

Check these out!

2009-04-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'm recommending a commendable site that deals with children’s conditions, disorders, issues etc. It doesn’t hurt to visit and read from the articles there once in a while just to update one’s self of the latest about kids.

And please take notice of the “Food for thought” on the top right corner of the page where it says one truth that can never be contested – “that each child is a miracle.”

The site “Special Needs” is located under my “Links for children” category. Add it to your favorites and if you know any family or friend who has a child suffering from a puzzling or undiagnosed disorder or condition, please refer the person to the site.

And also, please read the powerful testimony of Gianna Jensen (link below) and realize the horrible consequences of the wrong decisions we adults make at times.

Further reads:

Testimony of Gianna Jensen: Abortion Survivor

To spank or not to spank

2009-04-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

I’m pro anti-abuse of children, women or anyone. No one has ever any right to lay a hand and beat another human; even criminals need to be treated fairly.

BUT I believe spanking is one of the effective methods of disciplining children (Biblical too - Proverbs 29:15) if not the best. And spanking doesn’t mean hitting anywhere but only the buttocks where it’s meaty. Thumping on the head, twisting an ear, slapping the face, any other form of physical discipline may be less painful but are far more degrading than spanking on the rear end.

I’ve a nephew who, for some reason, even at a young age defiled authority. And yes, you can reason out he’s just a child but someday he’ll grow up and if he doesn’t learn to follow what’s right and always have his way, imagine what he may resort to when he’s grown up. It’s better for him to have a few minutes of a painful butt than suffer for life behind bars.

When he was still about five years younger (can’t remember what he did), my dad had to impose discipline. He told him to lie on his stomach, face down and he would fight and kick back and scream and my dad had to hold him down and told him if he kept squirming he’d get hit somewhere else and it would hurt more but he won’t stop. Good thing my father targets well, he hit his butt with a belt once but with tears in his eyes. Of course the twit cried aloud, then my dad sat him down and asked him why did he think he was spanked and after he answered, my dad explained.

This happened twice but on the third time, dad didn’t have to hold him down anymore, he willingly gets on his stomach, face down and just cries and then he’s sat down and the whole process of explaining repeats.

We don’t spank my nephew anymore because he is 9. Older children are better talked to. He’s still hard to put up with at times (like any normal kid) but he’s learned to follow what we say though we have to repeat ten times.

You spank to break the will of disobedience not the spirit of the child. You do not spank because you’re angry, even best to spank when you’re not angry. You do not spank to inflict fear of you. You do it to make the child realize the painful consequences of, not following rules and doing wrong. Because when he/she grows up, the consequences will be more than just one painful blow on the butt and it’s important to make sure the child understands this.

It’s hard, I know, I had to spank my baby brother (14 yrs younger) once and I secretly cried after that but sometimes we need to hurt momentarily, in the long run, for the better.

Resource Places

2009-04-14T01:44:00.001-07:00

Running out of ideas for Sunday school crafts and worksheets? Well, fret not I’ve some cool sites you can check.

Danielle's place

Although this site has exclusive resources for members only (and membership has a fee), they have a big section for non-members as well. I’ve done many of their crafts in my Sunday school and the kids just love them. Some of the materials used are not available here or only available through internet ordering, if you encounter this, improvise.

Sonseekers

This one is a site hosted from

Australia

. They have ready curriculum and offers samples of them for free. I haven’t thoroughly browsed this one yet nor have tried doing any of what’s in it. Membership has fee too but offers a discount.