Picture Chore Charts for Toddlers

Hey everyone. 

It has been about 2yrs since my last blog update. Where have I been???? Well I have moved and had another baby. So Now I am a family of 6. As my kids are growing older my life has changed a little bit and my ideas are based on a little bit different age of kids now so hopefully I will keep the blog updated with my new ideas and tidbits. 

My first blog in two years is, of course and chore chart. I am sooo OCD!! And Need to have everything cleaned and I want my kids to able to clean and be able to do things on their own. I am very proud of this chart and worked, maybe, a little too hard on the cuteness factor. I created a new chore chart with picture so my children could learn to do chores on their own. This chart is perfect because it has the word of the chore for my daughter and son that can read but the pictures are perfect for my younger daughter that cannot read yet. 

Here is the chart for a little boy

 

Here is a chart for a little girl

 

 I printed these out into 4x6 pictures and put them in some $1 pictures frames. This way you can have the kids used a dry erase mark to X the squares and wash them off easily for the next day.

Because I am unable to attach the spreadsheet for my chore chart, I suggest you find the SNIPPING TOOL app. This will allow you to just view my page and cut the chore chart out and save it to your computer.

I hope you like this chart and have found it useful!! Thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to Primary Baskets: For Inactives and New Members

Welcome to Primary Baskets: for Inactives or New Members

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but this is why. I have been planning, and praying, and preparing this basket. I wanted to stop by and say Hi to all the inactive and new member families with primary kids. I wanted a chance to just let them know I'm the new Primary President and welcome them out. So I started with "I want to take them cookies" Then I wanted to add a Faith in God Packet, then I wanted to send them invites for upcoming activities. Once I was in that deep, I started realizing that the inactive or new members I wanted to go visit haven't been here all year. They don't know our Primary theme, our Sunday schedule, etc. So after that it turned into a very big basket I wanted to send. I have put alot of prayer and time into these and they are finally ready to go out!



Here's what I put in them.

A Letter to the Parents. Kinda covering my resume and telling them in detail about what were doing in Primary. I included my testimony, invitation for them to come, my goals for the primary, etc.



The Sunday schedule. Remember, my families haven't attended this year and might feel better understanding how their child's Sunday program is laid out.

A Theme outline. This way the parents can see, what the theme is and what songs and sharing time lessons are going to be prepared. There were so many great Theme outlines out there a chose not to make my own. This is the one I used.  http://brandonmelissajohnsonfamily.blogspot.com/2012/11/2013-primary-binder-cover.html 

3 lesson handouts. Again, this is a chance for them to see the exact lesson outline with the handout that were being done this year.  

Articles of Faith Cards. These are just fun. I loved the ones I found from this site.  http://reliefsocietybr.blogspot.com/2011/04/more-scripture-mastery-ideas-articles.html

A Crown. We made crowns at the beginning of the year to add to the theme "I am a Child of God, who is our Heavenly King. That makes me Royalty" I wanted all our new and inactive members to have a crown on our wall. Here's where you can find my crowns.  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5197319858486929811#editor/target=post;postID=473621228193492929;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname

Activity Days Packet. I included the Faith in God Manual and also these lovely binder pages from Sugardoodle. This is great, fun program that can get kids excited to service and follow our Heavenly Father. Our Branch has combined Activity days with the boys since a Cub scout program isn't setup yet due to not having enough boys. So I adjusted the packets a little to a more boyish look for the boys.  http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8175

An Activities Calender/ Invites. Sometimes coming to a casual outside of Sunday activity is the most un intimidating way to meet people. Since this is a Primary Packet I included the Primary Program in hopes that some parents will want their children to be involved in this.

I finished of my kit with a cute bowl, tissue paper, and streamer. I rolled some of the individual pages and tied them with streamer to add a little volume to my basket.

Last but not least, I included that best cookies EVER!! This cookies are sure to get people excited! The recipe can be found at my sister-in-laws blog.  Little Bites of Heaven is what they are. MMm!
 http://morttome.blogspot.com/p/mini-fruit-pizzas-on-sugar-cookies.html
 

I also included tons of prayers. What I should put in them, How I should present them, and when? Only the Lord can take it from here!

I hope these help you! I spent alot of time preparing them and even more time praying about them. Let me know if you think there is something else that should be put in them. I'd love an excuse to stop by their homes again. Thanks!

Young Womens Gift: Value Necklace

I was in charge of finding a gift for our girls in our Young Womens group. I was looking all over the internet for something cute, handmade, cheap, and something the girls would use or wear. I couldn't find anything that I thought really fit my girls. I then decided It should include the Young Women's value colors, and maybe something they could wear to remind them to stand up for what they believe in and to hold true to their values. This is what I came up with

 

The black ribbon on this necklace stands for the dirtiness of the world and the beads represent our values, As long as we focus on our the beauty of our values(the beads) We will not  notice the filth of the world(the black ribbon.

What you will need is:

1 yard of 1/4" ribbon (I used 100% polyester) per necklace 

8 beads all different colors. Make sure the hole in the beads are big enough to fit the ribbon through. 

I got my beads from Hobby Lobby.

Cut your ribbon to the desired length. I wouldn't make your necklace any shorter than 1 yd

Start with your white bead push it down about 17 inches from one side of your ribbon and tie a knot before and after the white bead.

Continue placing the beads on the ribbon tying knots after each bead. 

After you place on your gold(final bead) tie and knot, wrap your ribbon around and tie the bow on the side. 

I made 10 of these necklaces and they only cost about $2.50 each. I of course got the beads on sale  for 50% off but if you do not catch a sale $5.00 each is still an amazing price.

Thank you for stopping by.

Singing Time-Doing the Wave

Doing the Wave

This idea works great with big or small Primary's when learning songs using clip art.

We're working on If the Savior Stood Beside me and I borrowed the clip art from sugardoodle.com. We have been using these visuals all month and to keep things from getting boring we decided to do The Wave.

Prep:

• When I was in a larger Primary I gave each class a Visual, but now that I'm in a tiny Primary I gave each child a visual.
• You can group the kids together, or designate chorus visuals to be every one's visual and they stay at the front of the room.
• The kids can stay in their chairs, but make sure the visuals are in order to keep things less complicated. 
• Now that everyone has there visuals, make sure they can sing there part super well. Maybe practise a few times.

Doing the Wave:

Now the fun Part!!

Start the song and when it comes to the first group or child's visual, point to them(a little early if possible), they stand up, hold their visual high, sing their part aloud, and then quickly sit back down. Then its time for the next group or child to stand, do their part, and sit down.

Their doing the Wave!

They have a lot of fun doing this. I rotate the visuals clockwise so each group gets a turn to sing the new part.  

Alternative twist or Hints:

• If the kids are a little shy singing alone, still have them stand, hold up their visual high, but everyone sings it, not just them.

• Remember if your short on kids, Teacher can have parts too.

• Teaming a younger child with a teacher can help make this process run smoothly as well.

Enjoy!! 



Cleaning a Stained Toilet Bowl in Under 5 Minutes

Everybody everywhere will struggle with this problem. Cleaning a Toilet. This is the "crappiest" part of the bathroom. If your like me, you have tried sooo many things to keep you from having to scrub that toilet on your hands and knees. Well I decided that I needed to do something about my dirty toilet. This cleanning process takes no time at all

BEFORE!!

AFTER

Do you want to know how I did this????

Rubber Gloves and a Pumice Stone!!!

Just put a rubber glove on a grab that pumice stone and go to town on those nasty stains !!!

Hiding a Toilet Brush

Are you sick of a toilet brush just sitting by your toilet or under your cabinet? I have found a decorative solution. 

If you have an amazing significant other you probably have several vases laying around the house.  Or if you dont have one YET, you can buy one for only $1 at the dollar store.

Grab that vase and shove your toilet brush in and....TaDa!!!

You could add beads, or colored rocks to the vase.

Fun Song Bowl

Fun Song Bowl

 

 
 I love being in primary! Have I said that yet?? Anyways- some quick need-to-know news about my branch. Its pretty small, so we only meet 2 hours. So for me that's one hour Sacrament meeting and one hour primary. So I have broken primary into 20-25min opening exercises, singing time and sharing time. That gives the kids 30-35mins in the individual classes, which I think are very important.
 

With that being said, I feel its important to magnify that time with as much spiritual learning as we can cram into one hour! Singing time and sharing time are kinda fudged together. Practicing the song of the month and the lesson go hand in hand anyway, so they blend together nicely.

HOWEVER Primary needs to be fun too! Fun invites learning, learning invites the Spirit, the Spirit makes even one hour of lessons work like two. That's my theory anyway. So I have prepared this Fun Song bowl. It has all my favorite fun songs in it that really get kids happy. They pick one before we start Sharing/Singing time and at least one, but maybe two other fun songs if we can finish the verse of the song we learn that day.

 

 

I just went to a party store and found this cute bowl. I went down the party favor isles and found these cute smile faces super cheap. Really any silly party favor would work. The sillier the better! I used a Sharpie to write the page numbers on each one. I originally bought a bunch of smiley face stickers to decorate it with, but I choose the printed sign so the kids couldn't see the page numbers when they picked one. Either way would be cute!

 

I have only done this one Sunday, but I'm already finding it helps the kids focus when its time for Sharing time. Hope this idea helps anyone else out there!

Primary Theme 2013: Royalty

Primary 2013 Primary room Décor

“We are Royalty”

 

I’m BACK!! I’ve been out of primary for a while, but I’m back now with some changes. I am now part of a great Texas Branch! I also joined Primary again, but this time as Primary President!

I was totally stunned at first, but I’m just super excited to be with our Heavenly Fathers children again. I had my first Sunday solo today and loved being there. Don’t remember why I was so worried before.

I will still be doing Singing time, But I’ll also be doing Sharing time, Activity day(Faith in God Days, might be a better name for it since we have both boys and girls in the class), AND Sunbeam/Nursery teacher. So I’ll separate my blog updates in these different areas so that anyone looking for just one of these topics can find them easier.

So my first job as Primary President was to decorating the primary room with this year’s theme. We have only one real wall in our Primary room, the rest are sliding doors. But we are going to make the most of that one wall we can.

I know everyone has taken the I am a Child of God theme their own way, but with most my primary being girls, I decided to add a little more twist to the theme, but Staying reverent at the same time.

I explained to the Children that they were Children of God, but also Royalty. Royalty? We talked about what it would be like to be a Prince or Princess. How would we act (Royalty act very well behaved) How would we treat other royalty (Prince and Princesses are taught to treat other Royalty very respectfully) And most important question, What makes someone a Prince and Princess(A girl perfectly said “you have to have Royal parents”) Bingo! Do we have Heavenly Royal Parents? What does that make us?? Their eyes lit up!

So I gave each child This paper Crown I found online and typed Prince/Princess on them. They decorated them and were going to put their pictures on them.

I went to the Best store in the world HOBBY LOBBY! :) and bought a mirror and put a sticker crown on it, Found a castle sticker and spray painted it silver (It was pink, which my husband informed me, was not boy friendly), Also found the prince sword and shield. I’m heading to the Primary room later this week to Decorate it all, so Sunday the kids can remember they are Children of God, which makes them Royalty.

I kept it reverent with pictures of Christ and only subtle décor. Reverence and respect to our Heavenly Father is most important!

 

It was amazing how easy it was to use the Princess/Prince concept to get them to be good in primary. Do princesses sit like that? Are Princes mean to other Princes? It was amazing to see how quickly the listened when I said “Lets sing the way our Heavenly Father excepts his Princes and Princesses to sing”

 

 

(This is the unfinished look. I still haven't put the kids pictures on the crowns since i wanted to take the picture first. Also, not all the crowns are up. I printed out the PTTW quote and posted it above the chaulk board)

 

I also can’t wait to use this concept for primary activities later this year.

A Royal Ball? “Tea” Parties? So many possiblities and chances to remind the kids how important they are!  

Chore Chart for Toddlers

It has been a very long time since I have had the time to update my blog. I decided to make time a update it today with my chore chart. I have been using it for 3 days now and it works amazing!!!

I have searched all over the internet for a good chore chart for my children. I finally decided that I should just make one myself.

This has worked great for my children. I have listed the things that I want my children to be working on.
The first one is just simple. If the kids use the restroom, flush the toilet and close the door they get a X in each square each time they do this without reminder.(We have a very interested 18mth old daughter that loves the toilet) So in this category each child can earn up to .03 cents. Your 1yr old can earn money here too. If they come tell you that they are poopy or wet then give them a X on the chart and this can be your first step to potty training.

The next one is screaming. If the child screams they get an X a square each time this is done.This also goes for the hitting category. In these category the child will lose money.

Cleaning up dishes category. This is simple, after a child eats a meal they simple put away their dishes and can earn .15 cents a day. If you have to pick up their dishes don't give them an X and they will be sure to remember next time. Your 1yr old can do this too, just pick them up to help them reach the sink.

I have a random Helping category as I want my children to learn how to help each other. This could be something simple like helping a sibling clean the room, helping you do the dishes, etc. In this category they can earn .15 cents a day

Get Dressed is the next category. The first square in getting dressed in the morning and the second is for putting on jammies. Have your 1yr old pick out her jammies so she can earn money too. They can earn .10 cents a day by doing this category.

Making their bed will earn them .10 cents a day. They can earn .10 a day for helping here.

Setting the Table in one that all your children can participate in, yes even your 1 yr old.

The next one you may not struggle with and can change if you with but my two toddlers dont like to eat or try new things so we have Eatting Meals as a chore, as I am done forcing my children to eat.(my kids are very very small built children and really shouldn't miss a meal.) This has actually paid off, our kids eat their meals a try the veggies too. They can earn .30 a day

My two older children don't need naps anymore so we have quiet time, this requires them to sit quietly for a movie(about 1hr 30min) while my 1yr old takes her nap. So your child can earn .25 a day.

The last one is pick up your toys. I usually have them do this before daddy gets home and they get really excited to earn "a whole quarter"

This is just my chore chart, you can adjust it in which ever way in comfortable to you. I used Excel to create this one but you can also use Word and make a table. I hope this helps you out. I know it helped me.

New Products

Hello All,

Long time, since I have updated this blog so I decided to fill you in on whats going on.

I have been sewing away for the past few weeks for a craft fair coming up. Here are the Products that will available for purchase now at the craft fair. BUT if you like what you see you can order any products here at my website, foreversewcute.com. or here is link directly to my order page

Well here are New products.

ANN bag - $45

 It is measures approximately 15 long x 10 tall x 8 wide. This bag has 3 outside pockets and 6 inside pockets and 2 elastic bottle straps.

 

Gray bag with teal accents

 

Teal bag with Gray accents

Gray inside with teal pockets,

 Gray bag with accented maroon and light pink(coral)

Light pink and maroon sides with maroon lower pockets and a gray side pocket

 Pink swirl with brown accents

Khaki brown bag with Camouflage pockets

 Zebra Bag with black accents

Black bag with Green Accent pockets

Black bag with Dinosaur Accents and Yellow inside pockets and straps.

Zebra bag with Red accent pockets

Brown bag with Brown,orange, and pink polka dot accent pockets

Wipes cases - $8

Blue Flames with black accent

 Batman with yellow accents

  Carebears with Yellow accent

 Zebra with green accent

Yellow butterflies with brown accent and embellished button flower

Toddler bags - $12

Made from purple embellished satin and lined with poly satin

 Nursing Covers - $25

made with a adjustable D-ring and boning so you can peek in at your baby

 Black and pink butterfly print

 Lady bugs on a pink background

 

Quilted jungle baby print

Brown Zebra Print

Fleece Car seat Blankets $15 - Maroon, Light Pink, and Pink

Mommy Wraps $30

  Made from 100% polyester

  Made from Cotton polyester blend

 Fleece Mittens - $6

  

Nursing Clips - $4 

This clip allows you to make any blanket into a nursing cover.

  

 Fleece Booties - $5

Car Seat Canopys- $30

Blue, green and yellow polka dots

Green background with Yellow, Blue and Green Stars

Red with white polka dots

 Jungle animals with green trim