Fun and interesting learning activities to do with the children in your life
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Once you sign up, you will start receiving emails with fun activities, recipes and special summer items that Mama Suggests. Don’t miss out! I won’t be spammy by sending you emails everyday. I just want to share some things that I have enjoyed with the kids in my life.
Have fun this summer! ~ Mama Carmody
I loved playing with playdough as a child and my grandkids love playing with it too. I want to share with you a couple of my favorite recipes.
This one is my favorite. The consistency is similar to store bought but I think it’s even better. I love playing with it when it’s still warm. One of the benefits of teaching preschool is still being able to play with playdough.
1 cup flour
½ cup salt
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
food coloring or *Kool-Aid
Stir and cook for approximately 3 minutes; until it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Take off the heat and knead by hand until it looks and feels like playdough. Keeps for approximately 2 months (with home use).
*Kool-Aid is less messy than food coloring but I wouldn’t use it to color the play dough unless the children are a little older because the wonderful smell is going to make them want to eat it.
If your child understands measurements then they should be able to make this recipe by themselves. This playdough is a little grainy but still fun to play with.
1 ¼ cups flour
¼ cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup boiling water
1 ½ tablespoon oil
food coloring or *Kool-Aid
Mix all ingredients together and knead until smooth.
*Kool-Aid is less messy than food coloring but I wouldn’t use it to color the play dough unless the children are a little older because the wonderful smell is going to make them want to eat it.
You can pick up some cute, inexpensive cookies cutters for added creativity. The kids also enjoy plastic knives to cut the playdough. If they are too young for even a plastic knife, I would use wooden popsicle sticks with my preschool students.
Enjoy your new batches of playdough. I would love for you to share pictures of your creations; either here or on the Love to Laugh and Learn Facebook page.
Thankfulness might not be the first feeling you think of when someone you love dies, but when they have been sick and suffering, sadness and thankfulness mix together.
My husband died on November 21, 2016, after battling cancer. Dying the week of Thanksgiving gave us reasons to be sad and miss him, but we also had feelings of thankfulness because he was no longer in pain. He was now completely healed, in heaven, with God and Jesus.
Now we had the difficult task of explaining his death to our grandchildren. I went back to an object lesson God revealed to me when my daughters were young. With the help of a fancy wrapped piece of chocolate, I explained how God created the body and spirit to work together.
I then wrote special stories for each grandchild. Then the thought came to me that there were other children around the world, sad and confused by the death of someone they loved. So I wrote the children’s book, “Someone I Love Has Gone to Heaven: A Sweet Object Lesson”.
I pray the book brings comfort to you and your little ones at your time of loss.
This Thanksgiving, I hope you can mix a little thankfulness in with your sorrow as you remember the ones that you love that are not at your table this year.
Happy Thanksgiving! May God richly bless you with His love and peace. ~ Mama Carmody
Online at Barnes and Noble – barnesandnoble.com
What is Advent?
Some churches celebrate a season of Advent leading up to Christmas. They are celebrating the coming of Jesus, God’s Son. The simple definition of advent is “the arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” We focus on Jesus coming to earth as a baby and celebrate it at Christmas.
Did you realize that the whole Bible, every story, was pointing to the Advent (coming/birth) of Jesus? I am a grandmother and I have read and studied the Bible since I was 9 years old but I am just now learning that. I knew those Old Testament stories were showing God’s power and leading but I had no idea that, even then, they were pointing to Jesus.
The Jesus Storybook Bible
Since the Christmas season is here, and celebrating Jesus’ birth should be the center of the activities, I’ve created a Christmas Bible Reading plan using “The Jesus Storybook Bible”.
It’s simple enough, start with the first story and read one each day. I’m including the title and a short summary of each story. This Advent reading is a bit unusual because it doesn’t simply cover the birth of Jesus. It starts at the Creation and goes through several Old Testament Bible stories all the way to the birth of Jesus. Experience how each story points to the Advent of Jesus.
This December, take time each day to remember that at Christmastime we are celebrating God’s most precious gift, Jesus, His only Son.
The introduction of the story of Jesus; the young Hero, the brave Prince. Most of all, it’s the story of God’s love. His love is shown in the greatest Christmas present ever; the birth of Jesus.
God created everything. He loved His children (all people) more than anything He made. “Whatever happened, Whatever it cost Him, He would ALWAYS love them.”
Adam and Eve break the rule and break God’s heart. God still loves them – “with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.” He would show that love by sending the Rescuer, Jesus.
The flood was going to wash away all the hate and sadness, and make the world clean again. The coming of Jesus made it possible for us to be clean.
Although the people were trying to get to Heaven by themselves, God knew they couldn’t do it. “Heaven would have to come down to them.” And it came in the form of a baby.
Abraham and Sarah named their baby, Isaac, because he brought them laughter and made their dreams come true. God was going to send another baby that would make the whole world’s dreams come true.
The story of Abraham and Isaac may seem cruel but look deeper. God was showing that a sacrifice would have to be made to make the world right again. God didn’t want Isaac to die. God provided a ram to take Isaac’s place. God provided The Lamb (Jesus) to take our place.
You don’t have to be beautiful for God to love you, but you ARE beautiful because God loves you. When God looked at Leah, He saw a princess. Through her family He would send The Prince of Peace (Jesus).
“Joseph would leave his home and his father. His brothers would hate him and want him dead. He would be sold for pieces of silver. He would be punished even though he had done nothing wrong.” Can you think of someone else, from the Bible, that was treated this way? (hint: We celebrate His birthday at Christmas.)
God sent many warnings to Pharaoh but he wouldn’t listen. God sent one last horrible warning but the Israelites were protected by the blood of the lamb. You and I can be protected by the blood of THE LAMB if only we will accept it.
God knows how to make a path when there seems to be no way. One time the path was made through a deep sea another time the path was made through a baby. (Baby Jesus)
No matter how much we try, we can’t be perfect. We can’t keep all the rules, all the time. Only Jesus can be perfect and stand in our place.
The battle was won without a fight. Jesus would later win the battler over sin without a fight either.
David may not have been the biggest or the strongest, but he was full of love and compassion. Jesus came as a tiny baby full of love and compassion.
David defeats the giant but David admits it wasn’t him or his strength, God was the one to win the battle. Later God would send another young Hero to win the greatest battle the world ever knew.
David was a good shepherd but nothing like the one whose birthday we celebrate at Christmas. The Good Shepherd (Jesus) would lead all God’s lambs (us) back where we belong – close to God’s heart.
Naaman had sick skin but even worse, he had a sick, proud heart. God allowed Elisha to heal Naaman’s skin and God healed his heart. Years later, Jesus would come to heal the terrible sickness in our hearts.
God sent the world a message through Isaiah. God told everyone that He was going to send Someone to rescue them but He wouldn’t be what they were expecting. God sent a King; but not one that had riches and lived in a palace, but one that was born in a stable among farm animals.
Daniel obeyed God, no matter what it might cost him, and God rescued him. “God would send another brave Hero, like Daniel, who would love God and do what God said – whatever it cost Him, even if it meant He would die.” (quote from The Jesus Storybook Bible)
At first, Jonah tried to run away and hide from God (which you can’t do). Jonah spent three days in a dark, disgusting place (the belly of a large fish). After that he went to Nineveh and shared God’s message. “Many years later God was going to send another Messenger, like Jonah, He would spend three days in utter darkness. But this Messenger would be God’s own Son.” (quote from The Jesus Storybook Bible)
“It had taken centuries for God’s people to be ready, but now the time had almost come for the best part of God’ plan.” God, Himself, was coming. “The true party was about to begin.” (quotes from The Jesus Storybook Bible)
The Maker of the universe could have arrived in great glory and splendor but that’s not how it happened. He came as a small, seemingly, insignificant baby. Not born in a palace but in a barn. “Mary and Joseph named Him Jesus, ‘Emmanuel’ – which means, ‘God has come to live with us’, because, of course, He had!”
God wanted everyone to know about the birth of His Son. He put an especially large, bright star in the sky. He sent angels to make the announcement to the shepherds. Baby Jesus would be like that bright star. Jesus would chase away darkness, helping people to see Him.
The King God had promised David, all those years before, had arrived. “But this Child was a new kind of King. Though He was the Prince of Heaven, He had become poor. Though He was the Mighty God, He had become a helpless baby. This King hadn’t come to be the boss. He had come to be a servant.”
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14
It’s the first of November, which means the holidays are quickly approaching. Although we should always be thankful for the many blessings we receive, this is the time of year that those things especially come to mind. We have gatherings with family and friends. We laugh and share memories.
The children start making Christmas lists and thinking about the things they are hoping to get. It’s a good time of year to introduce your children to the fact that there are children, around the world, with much less than they have.
If you have been following me for a while, you know that I like to start out any learning experience with a book. I found a good book on my Epic! App. It is titled, “Sharing with Others”. I found a few copies on Amazon by third-party sellers (affiliate links included). The book shared how everyone has needs but we don’t NEED the most expensive items. It talks about who and how people earn money and that some people don’t make enough money for the things they need. The book gives examples of how to share (donate) items and money to help others. Even how donating our time can be very helpful. I like this book as a starting point for conversations on how we can help others.
An event I have enjoyed supporting, for many years, is Operation Christmas Child. It is sponsored by a ministry called Samaritan’s Purse. In the past, I have participated in this event with my children. This year I was able to introduce it to my grandchildren. I have wanted to do this with them the last couple of years but by the time I think about it, it’s too late. I stopped by Hobby Lobby, in October, and saw a display reminding me about the event.
It is a fairly simple concept, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. You take a shoe box and fill it full of items that will then be delivered to a boy or girl (your choice), in a foreign country. The Samaritan’s Purse site gives you ideas of things you can (and can’t) put into the boxes.
The grand-babies and I jumped in the car and headed to Hobby Lobby. I thought I had seen the cardboard boxes that we used to get from our church, but that is not what they had. I don’t know if all of the cardboard boxes were gone or if I had been so excited to see the display that I didn’t really look at it closely.
You see, when my children were young we either picked up special Operation Christmas Child boxes at our church, or we simply used an old shoe box we had around the house. Hobby Lobby had nice plastic ones that we could purchase.
I considered not purchasing the boxes and just going home and getting an old shoe box but I had already explained, to the children, what we were doing. They were excited so I wanted to move forward with the project. I had them each pick up a box, a lid, and a pamphlet, explaining what we could and couldn’t put in the boxes.
I decided to make it easy on myself and take the children shopping one at a time. I took Amaya first. She is 2 years old. I was a little worried that she wasn’t going to understand that we were not buying things for her but that she was picking things out for a friend that couldn’t afford them. I was very proud of her.
The first thing she wanted was a pair of sunglasses. I reminded her that they were for her friend and she said, “Ok.” I was finally convinced that she understood when she picked a pack of hairbands for her friend and then told me that she needed some too. Amaya picked out some useful things (guided my me) such as a hair brush, toothbrush, hairbands, washcloth and sunglasses. She also picked up some less practical things like bracelets, stickers, a mermaid doll (Amaya is REALLY into mermaids.) and a washcloth/hand puppet.
The pamphlet from Samaritan’s Purse suggested we put a “wow” item in the box. I decided on a piece of clothing as our special item. Amaya and I headed to Kohl’s. We found a really cute little sundress, on the clearance rack. I bought one for the box and one for Amaya. I thought it might be exciting for Amaya and her friend to have matching dresses.
Now that we had the items for Amaya’s box it was time to take Keagan shopping. He is 5 years old. The practical items that Keagan picked out were a brush and comb set, socks, toothbrush, washcloth, bandaids, a small notebook and crayons. The fun items he chose, for his friend, were a set of paints (watercolors), a ball, a Rubik’s cube style toy, some stickers and a dinosaur that you can sail through the air. I picked up the “wow” item earlier when Amaya and I were at Kohl’s. I chose a tee shirt with a monster truck on it, for Keagan and his friend.
Now that the shopping was done, we put everything into our plastic boxes. We placed the special “wow” items (dress/shirt) on top. I took a picture of each of the grand-babies, in their special piece of clothing, holding the packed Operation Child Christmas box. We will place a picture in each box for their special friend.
We now need to find a place to drop our boxes off. You can go to the Samaritan’s Purse site and find a drop-off location near you. There is a suggested donation of $9, per box, to help with shipping. In the past, when I participated through my church, I didn’t have to add the shipping, although it was helpful. You should check with the site you are dropping off at, to see if they require the shipping cost or not. Samaritan’s Purse has an option, this year, if you donate the shipping cost online, you will be able to track the boxes. I decided to do that so the grand-babies and I can see where our boxes go.
I have always enjoyed participating in this event. I’m glad to have included my grand-babies this year. Hopefully, they will begin to see the needs of others and have a heart to help out. Since my grand-babies are young, I purchased the items this year but it will be a good future lesson for them to learn to save some of their own money to help purchase these items.
The National Collection Week for the boxes is November 12 – 19. Although this date is upon us, you still have time to participate. If you have never done anything like this before, I highly recommend it. It is a lot of fun and it has been especially rewarding sharing it with my grand-babies.
