The Mom Crowd

Fall has arrived – Time to get Crafty!

It is that time of year again! The weather is starting to cool down and the leaves are starting to change colors. The change of the season is always a favorite time of the year, especially when you have some little kids at home to enjoy it with. A fun activity to do with toddlers or older kids is a fall wreath. Best part…you can most likely make it with items you have around your house!

Things you will need:

• paper plate
• construction paper
• scissors
• glue (If you have older kids you can let them cut out and color the leaves themselves.)

Preparation:

A fun way to prep this activity would be to take your child on a walk around your own neighborhood to  talk about the changes they see. The conversation can be turned towards fall by talking about the changes in nature around your own home. Things will start to look different, and even smell different! You could also bypass the paper leaves and have some fun collecting leaves you find on the ground to add to your wreath. This is all just a fun way to tie the art project into things that are going on in the world outside your home.

Directions:

Start your wreath by cutting a circle out of the center of the paper plate. You will want to poke a hole with your scissors to leave the outer ring intact. The paper plate will make up the form of the wreath. The next step will be to gather your construction paper and cut out leaves from the colors. Use some green, brown, red, orange, or yellow paper to mimic the colors your child saw on their walk! The leaves can be various sizes as well. Just make sure enough are available for your child to have a variety to choose from.

Then have your child sit down at a table they can do crafts at. Some younger children may do better sitting in a highchair or booster seat. Depending on the individual child, they may be able to apply the glue to the wreath form themselves, or it might need to be done for them. But they should have fun putting leaves on the wreath form! Encourage your kiddo to spread the leaves around and fill up the wreath. And if more glue needs to be applied, then go for it! This wreath is going to be artwork!

When the wreath is all finished, it needs to be laid flat to dry overnight. When the wreath is dry, have your child help you pick a place to put it in the house. You could even cut out multiple plates so that your child can give a wreath to a grandparent, babysitter or neighbor. It is a nice way to embrace the entrance of fall! These wreaths would also make a great art piece for the front door or window of your house. Kids take so much pride in their works of art, they will be so proud to show it off!

Written By: Gena W., The Mom Crowd Contributor

As mom’s we often think that our credit might not carry that much weight. But the truth of the matter is, that it really does. Even though you might be a stay at home mom or a soon to be stay at home mom, it is extremely important that you continue to stay on top of your credit score.

Did you know that you can even get free credit reports from various sources online? Many of these services are very user friendly and do not make it a painstaking process, and it is super simple to understand.

Before you get your Free Credit Report Score, be sure you are doing the right things to maximize your Credit Report. Often times, as stay at home moms we let things go to the way side, but your credit report is extremely important to understand, and make sure you are taking the right steps to keeping it as clean as possible.

Here are a few pitfalls that you want to avoid as a stay at home mom:

Having your credit report under your maiden name

Be sure that when you get married (or divorced) that you notify all three credit reporting agencies, and provide proof showing the name change. This could inhibit you from having a credit record in your new name, which in turn makes it slightly challenging to get a credit card or loan.  A few of the credit agencies will automatically make the change for you when they are notified by your creditors, but don’t assume that this will always happen. Be proactive, not reactive!
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Have you heard of the term “baby wearing”? Have you wondered exactly what it is all about? I remember when I first heard the term and I wondered myself, “um, ok”. Well after some research, it turns out it is a very beneficial thing to do for the new mom. Don’t be afraid to do it. Here are some reasons to begin your “baby wearing” experience with that beautiful new baby of yours.

 It’s Convenient

When you have your baby strapped to you it makes life a little bit easier. It frees your hands to do other things. For example, doing the dishes or folding laundry. Maybe you work from home and need to type. If you are out and about and need to do some errands you can put your baby in the carrier and actually push the shopping cart or hold your basket at the farmers market. More and more baby carriers also double as a blanket, nursing cover or even a changing pad. This definitely lightens the load and allows you to remain productive even when you have a newborn.

 Breastfeeding

When you have your child so close to your skin all the time this helps to promote breastfeeding. In some cases, which a few of the carriers I have seen you can even feed your baby in private while walking around. This is awesome, live your life and your baby is content also.

 Cognitive Development

Babies are extremely observant. When they are worn up right, they are right in the action and it keeps their wheels turning. It allows them to witness everything you do throughout your day. Whether you are cooking, folding laundry, taking a walk, or grocery shopping, your baby is constantly in observing mode and soaking it all in. Babies who are worn are also being constantly talked to by their parent or guardian versus a baby who is pushed around in a stroller and in front of the parent. This allows you to have more interaction with your child and in return creating a stronger bond. All of this encourages learning and brain stimulation in your baby.

 Postpartum

You might be experiencing all kinds of new feelings after you have your baby. There are several things that are probably on your mind one of them being getting back into shape. When you utilize baby wearing you are able to get those daily exercise workouts in. Wearing your baby will distribute their weight a little more evenly, allow you to go in places where you can not take a stroller, and even enable you to boost up your workout and burn more calories.

Some new moms even experience postpartum depression. When you are wearing your body it allows for you to get in those extra little snuggles and kisses that will help you to beat the depression. This allows you to bond even more with your baby without feeling burdened with life’s day to day tasks.

The benefits are endless, and here we have only named a few. So put that baby carrier on your registry, and begin your baby wearing. It’s all worth it!

Planning activities for toddlers is great way to help your child learn new skills and expand on current ones.  Since your child is learning through a combination of methods, from the exploring of the world around him with his hands to more complex things like problem-solving.  Toddlers embrace it all when they learn.

Every learning experience, is built on other learning, and now, with so much accumulated knowledge as a base, he is growing and understanding more and more everyday.  Think of each new skill as the base for the next one to be learned.

Toddlers Embrace the World Around Them

Appreciate that toddler love to discover new things! Who could have imagined that toddlers learn in so many different ways! When you are exploring what activities for toddlers you want to do it important to know that primarily, your toddler learns by:

Find ways to engage a child’s sense. When he feels wind blow through the open car window,  when she compares the texture of the carpet to the texture of a favorite blanket, your toddler is categorizing his experiences in ways that help him make sense of the world around him.

The world is full of things that engage and inspire his senses so have fun and expand upon that.

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The Internet and the launch of social media has completely revolutionized the world of communication in more ways than many people may think. Over 1.2 billion currently use the most popular social media platform Facebook, according to Socialnomics.

A more impressive figure, though, is that a large number of them are mothers. Studies have confirmed that over 75 percent of the mothers in America use this particular website, according to Nielsen. There are several key points that could explain why mothers enjoy using social media as much as they do. 

It Allows Them to Express Themselves

One of the main reasons that mothers enjoy using the Internet overall is because it allows them to be able to express their thoughts and feelings publicly. Close to 40 percent of mothers around the world even write an online blog and over 60 percent read other blogs at least monthly, according to Forbes and NextWeb.

Moms are a powerful group on the social media landscape.  So much so that companies build whole engagement platforms around moms and their connections to friends, families and followers through blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook fan bases.

Even though there are a small percentage of people that make a living writing blogs, over 30 percent of bloggers throughout the country are mothers, according to HubSpot.

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