The Very Best Sock Puppet

This is a craft recommended for parent and child ages 4 and up.

Sure it’s easy to make a sock puppet, but have you ever made one with a perfect hand insert?

I came up with this neat little trick when I was a young teen and have used it ever since when making a sock puppet.

Things you will need…

Socks – Buttons or Googly Eyes – Yarn – Hot Glue – Scissors – Cardboard – Any other face or hair makings of your choice

The first thing you will want to do is cut a piece of cardboard ( I used the wings off a box) into 6 by 3 inch rectangles. Bend in half creating a mouth shape.

Cut small strips of cardboard. Have your child hold the pre-cut rectangle in their hand as they would hold their puppet and bend strip over their finger as shown to make the needed size… do the same for thumb. Mark on either side of the finger so you can remember where the bend goes.

Inside out your sock – This is very important – You want it inside out. This is a parent step so feel free to have your child watch

Hot Glue Finger slots onto the top and bottom of your mouth piece close the the fold where your child’s fingers will sit. I recommend not only hot gluing it on, but also reinforcing around each side so it seals a nice strong bond as seen below.

Now, squeeze hot glue onto the inside of one side of the mouth and place sock inside making sure it’s smooth. Pull extra sockage out the sides. Repeat on top. What you should have is a mouth piece hot glued on the outside of your sock.

Inside out and pull at corners of mouth a little to form a smile

Decorate puppet as wanted and have fun doing it! be creative and silly!

To create a wig for your puppet wrap yarn around your fingers until nice and thick. Tie a small strand around the center and pull tight with a knot. Cut yarn off underside of your hand and then trim as wanted. Leave long, or cut short… your child is the beautician.

American Pride Tie Dye Dipped Tees

This is a fun project full of hands on and parent/child collaboration. There are a lot of parent steps, but your children will be more than happy to assist you and watch as the project goes on. Recommended for ages 4 and up. Make these now so you are ready for your 4th of July weekend! it’s coming faster than you think

Step # 1  Rubber band both sides of your shirt as to define a bottom, middle, and top. Cut both ends off of a walmart bag… the handles and the bottom so that you have an open plastic “tube”.

Place tee inside the tube so that only the middle is inside with both bottom and top of tee hanging out.

Roll your tee inside the bag up tightly. Fold down ends of bag so that they are directly over the rubber banded tee area and rubber band again over top. This insures that no dye will get into the middle section of your tee.

Step # 2 rubber band the top of and bottom of the tee in any way you would like. You can evenly space the rubber bands one after another which would make stripes, or you can pinch pieces of your fabric up which would make firework type patterns. You may be asking at this point what your children are actually doing… I had my children count with me each time I wound the rubber band so that they felt involved and could practice their numbers. My 6 year old could do the rubber bands himself with just a little assistance. I also had them hand me the rubber bands and choose weather they wanted stripes or firework patterns.

Step #3 pour half your container of RIT dye into a bowl, if you have powder only use half of the box. Add 1/2 cup of salt to each bowl. Mix these with hot water and stir. Let your child do the stirring.

Step #4 Let your child hold their tee like a upside down “U” shape and put the bottom in the blue bowl and the top in the red bowl. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Step #5 Pull tee out of the dye carefully and squeeze out on an open laid out trash bag, then move over and lay onto another trash bag as to not put it into the colors you have squeezed out.

Take care here not to mix colors.

Your children can wear plastic gloves and help squeeze their tees. I used another walmart bag.

Step #6 Rinse in warm water each side separately until they run almost clear.

Step #7 Do not cut off rubber bands yet or your plastic bag. Hang on a line to dry. When mostly dry (damp) cut off your rubber bands, open tee, and hang to complete dry. When completely dry wash in your washing machine each separate tee on cold.

Step #8 Optional Step… if you want, here you can cut a sponge into a star shape and let your child puffy paint stamped white stars onto their shirt. This is great if your child wasn’t able to participate enough in this project or if you wanted to do this ahead of time for your younger children and then present them with the tee to decorate.

Don’t forget to praise your children as they help you with this project. Completing projects and helping out, builds good self esteem. Smile, laugh, and have fun!

Firefly/Electric Votive Lantern Jars

A fun and inspiring craft for you and your little one. Enjoy creating this tissue paper jar… tissue paper will become bright and colorful with blinking fireflies inside and behind the colors.  Children will enjoy being hands on with this project. Encourages fine motor skills and as always solidifies the bond between parent and child. The kind of bond that forms from working one on one.

Recommended for ages 4 and up

{{Supply List }}

* Jars from your recyclables * Modge Podge * Left over tissue paper

* Hammer and Nail * Left over spray paint * Pipe Cleaners * Glow in the dark Pony Beads *

{{ Step #1 }} Parent Step – Hammer 6-8 holes in the lid of your jar, spray paint and set aside to dry.

{{ Step #2 }}  Apply a thin layer of Modge Podge on your jar in small sections at a time so that your glue doesn’t dry while you are working. Let your child rip, tear, and apply tissue paper to the section that has been modge podged. Help your child smooth out their tissue paper if needed by applying another layer of modge podge over top. Repeat until entire jar is covered.

{{ Step #3 }} Let your child thread a pipe cleaner with your glow in the dark pony beads, making sure to leave 2 inches on each side free of beads. You will need this area to twist handle onto jar. While your child is doing this, take two pipe cleaners and twist the ends together creating one large pipe cleaner…

{{ Step #4 }}  Bend your child’s beaded handle into a “U” shape and with one hand hold it onto the lip of the jar.

{{ Step #5 }}  Take the pipe cleaner your lengthened and while holding beaded pipe cleaner with one hand… take your other hand and wrap the longer piece around the entire jar 2xs and weave in. Be sure to leave the area your child did not bead out so that you can fold it up and twist around itself.

{{ Step #6 }}  Fold up un-beaded ends and twist around itself, this secures your handle to the jar.

{{ Step #7 }} Enjoy! let the little one stay up a little later and enjoy going into the yard on an adventure. I have seen fireflies early this year, so keep your peepers open. When there are no fireflies, place an electric votive candle inside and take a dark adventure walk with your child through the yard. Point out all the differences between the things you see in the dark with those that you see in the day.

Electric votives can be purchased in the candle section of your local craft store. These items are flameless and safe for little ones. Just turn them on, place them inside, and enjoy!

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Create patriotic windsock!!

 

 

Talking with Your Extended Family About Your Child’s Special Needs Trust

If you have a child with special needs, you should talk to extended family members who may be intending to make a gift or bequest. Extended family members may have your child’s best interests at heart, but they may be unaware that the money they leave to your child could jeopardize eligibility for government benefits. For example, while grandparents may wish to leave part of their estate to a grandchild with special needs, receipt of such funds could disqualify the child for Medicaid, SSI, and other government programs that are key to the child’s quality of life. Any gifts or bequests intended for the child should be made to a supplemental needs trust.

Family members should be made aware of the rules that govern the assets of a child with special needs, and they should make their estate planning decisions accordingly. Referring them to a special needs attorney can help your family members do the right thing in the right way.

Bernard Krooks is a New York Elder Law and New York Estate Planning lawyer with offices in White Plains, Fishkill, and New York, New York. To learn more, visit www.littmankrooks.com.

Another Great Cover Kids Event

Although in its 14th year, Sunday, March 21st marked the first Cover Kids held at Jumpin’ Jakes in Middletown. It was a big success, despite the beautiful weather! Our friends from the New York Talent Club met over 50 potential kids to be featured on the covers of Hudson Valley Parent in the coming year.

It’s also an opportunity for the talent scouts to meet kids who have the personality to become models or entertainers. It’s all very low-key and no pressure and fun for both parents and kids. We still have two more dates, one in Poughkeepsie and one in Newburgh. Sign up today or stop by during the event.

Do as I say not as I do…

How many times have you heard your parents say that? How many times have you said that to your children? What does it really mean anyway? On Saturday my two boys Travis 14 & Nyim 9 were playing around and the phone rang, Nyim answered and it was a friend of Travis’, Instead of getting on the phone and telling the child he was busy or was not in the mood to talk, he told my 9-year-old to tell the boy on the phone that he was not home. I overheard it and got annoyed that Travis asked his brother to lie for him (as trivial as it sounds). Travis understood and said he would not do it again. Okay Mommy…Job well done. Well not so fast! My 9-year-old then turns to me and says…”Mommy you make Travis lie for you all the time” GASP!! I do know such thing….”uh huh sometimes when Auntie Jackie calls you tell Travis to say you are sleeping , when Grandma calls you say tell her you are at the store when you are really still sleeping…When people knock on the door sometimes you say “you are the baby sitter” OKAY “enough already”. Quick I need a way out!! Does the do as I say not as I do (get out of a situation free card) come into play here? I told both of my boys that lying is no good ANY lie is no good. I also told them that I will no longer ask them to lie for me and lying in any regard in no good. shouldn’t what I say be the same as what I do? Shouldn’t I practice what I preach? Or should it be do I as I say not as I do…because I brought you into this world and I can take you out? Being a Mommy is hard work!!

Smuckers Pumpkin Pie Spice and Apple Cinnamon ice cream toppers top the charts in my house

We received samples of Smucker’s Pumpkin Pie Spice and Apple Cinnamon ice cream toppings in our office last month. They were so good that I had to get some for home. I told the kids about our office taste test which got 10 thumbs up in a 5 person office. We immediately broke out the ice cream and loaded it up. My daughter, Dominique, loved the Apple Cinnamon topping. It has little chunks of apples with just the right amount of cinnamon and it gave our vanilla ice cream a great little kick. The Pumpkin Pie Spice was the overall winner in my house though. We have gone through 2 jars in just a few days. We had the whole family involved including my daughter’s boyfriend. Maybe Smucker’s could make a jumbo jar next year. The spices are subtle, but very tasty. It has a nice creamy texture and is really good when you warm it up. So, out of my family of 5, there was a 10 thumbs up! Go out and get some now, you won’t be sorry.

What are you thankful for?

Is it really almost time for Thanksgiving already? Weren’t we just hunting for Halloween Costumes? Although this time of year always flies by and can be quite hectic, it is also a great time to sit back and reflect on the past year. My family has the tradition (as I’m sure many of you do) of reciting what we are thankful for at the Thanksgiving table. I usually always say I am thankful for my family, because without them I don’t know how I could make it through the hard times. We would love to hear from you and what makes you thankful. Leave us a comment and maybe we will print it in the magazine. Happy Thanksgiving.

-Bridget

Go See Gazillions of Bubbles

These kids got to be inside a huge bubble made by Ana Yang.

I took two of my kids down to the city to see Gazillions of Bubbles. It was about a 15 minute walk from Grand Central Station to New World Stages. We had seats in the third row from the stage so we saw everything up close and personal. Our bubble hostess for this show was Ana Yang. The stuff she can do with bubbles is amazing. We saw her make square bubbles, bubbles inside other bubbles, bubbles filled with smoke, big ones, little ones and, of course, gazillions of bubbles. She put four kids from our audience into a giant bubble. The littlest one was too cute, she kept popping the bubble as soon as it came around them. Ana handled it  with grace and just did it 3 or 4 times. She actually holds a Guiness world record for putting 26 people into a bubble. She made it “snow” bubbles which was lots of fun. She and an audience participant made “snow balls” out of the bubbles. When it “snowed” the bubbles, we all got to play with them as it filled the auditorium. She later took us on an “underwater” experience that had lasers and tons of bubbles coming into the audience. We all had a great time and it is truly a great family fun thing to do. I recommend it to anyone of any age.

This was very cool. Ana made it "snow" bubbles.

If you want to go:
New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
New York, NY 10019

To order tickets:
Online: Telecharge.com
Phone: (212) 239-6200
Or 1-800-432-7250 (outside metro NY)

Or visit website http://www.gazillionbubbleshow.com/tickets.html

To learn more about this show visit http://www.gazillionbubbleshow.com/index.html

As the world goes crazy

By: Terrie Goldstein, Publisher  Orig. Date: 12/20/2007

Do you ever fly off the handle when you get frustrated?

I remember when my kids were younger and I took my first job. I thought I had everything perfectly arranged for my kids after school care. Then the first snow came early and it came with a vengeance. Schools closed early. Buses were late. Nothing worked right. When I got home I stomped up and down the stairs in frustration not sure where to turn.

Luckily I had two older neighbors who lived close, one across the street, the other behind our house. Their grandchildren lived far away so they adopted my kids. I could call them and they would be there when the boys came home, whether it was early or late.

Now that my boys are grown with their own children, I look at the young parents in the supermarket checkout line. They are rushing to pick up their kids from school and then they are off to the supermarket for food for dinner. The kids want candy, cookies and everything that will ruin their appetite. Mom screams, “No. You can’t have that” and her child cries.

I often say to myself, “What should I do?” I usually keep life savers and silly erasers in my pocketbook for when I take care of my grandkids, but I know kids are taught not to take anything from strangers.

Now I try a simple solution. I turn to the mom and say, “Sometimes it’s just a bad day. Is there anything I can do to help?” Most times, it breaks the tension in the air and things calm down.

With our severe slump in the housing market resulting in a credit crisis, Wall Street is trying to determine if we are in a recession, where it costs more to buy less. According to Alan Greenspan, who headed the central bank for 19 years, growth in the current October through December period is expected to have slowed to a feeble pace of just 1.5 percent, or less.

If things get tougher, you will see more frustration on the supermarket checkout line. Just remember a few simple lines: “Sometimes it’s just a bad day. Is there anything I can do to help?”