Monogramed Initial Sticks

My yoga kids love nature and what better craft activity to complement a walk in the woods than making a monogrammed initial out of sticks that we found on our nature walk. I let the kids pick out embroidery floss in their favorite colors and each child sat and concentrated on making their initial.

Try this craft with your kids. Take a walk through the neighborhood or in the woods and pick up sticks that you find along the way. Then find a quiet spot to wrap string or yarn around the joints to hold the initial in place. For the younger kids I used twist ties to hold the sticks in place so that they could manipulate the embroidery floss around the sticks without the letter completely falling apart.

Enjoy the quiet moments with your children. While they are working ask questions about their day at school, their friends etc. Sit and listen. Don't comment as you normally would and instead try and listen and observe. Keeping an open mind and an open heart.

Simple Candy Corn Painting

Need a quick and easy craft that will keep the kids occupied for a little while? This is it! Great for kindergarten through fourth grade students. The supplies are minimal so it's great for a classroom project.

All you will need is:

• white construction paper or white card stock
• orange and yellow paint
• clothes pins
• craft pom pom balls

Cut the paper in the shape of a large candy corn, you can do this or have the kids do it if they are comfortable with scissors. Then place orange and yellow paints on paper plates in the center of the group for everyone to share. With the clothes pins grasp a pom pom, I chose to use coordinating colors so that no one would mix the clothespins in the wrong paint. 

yellow pom pom = yellow paint

Have the children dip their pom pom in the paint and dab on the paper repeatedly creating a candy corn design. Hang and let dry.

This craft is perfect for the fall and Halloween time, especially for the kids who might be a little scared of Halloween themed crafts that involve ghosts and skeletons.  

Clothes Pin Dolls and Fairy Houses

The mission of the Bee Yoga Fusion Yoga Kids Program is to support the develop of the whole child, what that means to me is to create an environment where the children can use their imagination to play freely while also learning how to be compassionate and caring individuals.

I love to give the children the opportunity to create their own toys to play with. On this day we first created dolls using clothes pins. You can purchase a bag of blank clothes pins at any craft supply store, JoAnn's or Michaels both carry them. The children drew on the clothes pins with marker to create their person. They then twisted a pipe cleaner around the body to create arms.

Our dolls needed a place to live so we gathered some sticks and leaves and began building our "fairy houses". We made an entire town, complete with hammocks and bedrooms.

Take your playtime outside today and see what you can create using branches and leaves that have fallen to the ground. See what type of word your child envisions.

It Takes a Village

You've heard the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child", but have you ever really believed it? Yes, it's awesome that you have the friends you can call on last minute to pick your kids up from school when you are running late and sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the beltway. Or who babysit for you so that you and your spouse can go out to dinner at a restaurant where utensils are used or see a R rated movie.

Having a child on the Autism Spectrum has made me a true believer of the phrase "it takes a village". There is a village of specialists that work with him daily at the school so that he can maintain being successful in a mainstream classroom. A wonderful woman who is his dedicated aide has become part of our family. She loves him and cares for him at school so that I don't have to worry about his safety or if he's being left behind. 

A village of family and friends celebrate his accomplishments right beside me. People who know how much it means to me to be able to film a music concert. Yes, I know parents do this all the time. We post videos and pictures of our children but my village knows what a huge accomplishment it is for my oldest son Logan to walk onto a stage full of 250 people and stand in front of the same number of people sitting in the audience and play a song on his viola. 

Because once upon a time we had to avoid large groups of people because Logan couldn't handle it, it was too much stimulation. He would often crawl under tables or benches and cover his ears and cry.
Once upon a time he wore headphones to dampen the sound of music during his music class at school. 
And then a viola was put in his hands….and it all changed.

Thank you village for celebrating this life accomplishment along side me! 

Halloween Bat Craft for Kids

What kid doesn't love bats? Making these Halloween bats are super easy and you will be upcycing, and that's just plain awesome!
Before my BeeYogaFusion Yoga Kids began this project we read the book Stellaluna.
(How cool is that website, right?)

As for the craft, cut up a paper egg carton so that each child has a cup. Have the children use markers or paint to color their bat. Click on the second bat wing picture and print. Then cut out the bat wings and tape a twist tie to the back of each wing. Using the tip of the scissors create a small hole in the side of each egg cup and place the twist tie in the hole.
Your done!
Either leave the bat as is to sit on a shelf or place a hole in the top of the head and put a string through so that the bat can hang upside down.
Happy Halloween!

Halloween Pumpkin Luminaries

We are getting ready for Halloween at the Bee Yoga Fusion yoga studio and the yoga kids celebrated today by making pumpkin luminaries.

Supplies needed:

• orange and black construction paper
• Elmer's glue
• craft foam paint brush (something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Value-Pack-10-Pc-Foam-Paint-Brush/dp/B003UHJDAS)
• scissors
• canning jars
• Finishing spray sealer (something like this: http://www.michaels.com/mod-podge-clear-acrylic-sealer-matte/10194372.html)
• battery candle lights to put inside the jar when finished

I had the yoga kids rip the orange construction paper into small pieces and then glue each piece onto the wide mouth canning jar using a craft foam paint brush. I instructed them to use just a little bit of glue, which was hard for the wee ones to resist gooping it on. Then with scissors they cut out their eyes and mouths using black construction paper. After they were finished I went back and glued down and pieces that were sticking up and smoothed the surface with my fingers. Once the glue was dry I sprayed each one with a glossy finishing spray and put a battery candle light in the jar. 

It's a wonderful craft for the kids to make and feel as though they are contributing to the fall decor in your house or in their room. This also makes a great gift for the grandparents!

Free Range Kid Craft Project

It's amazing what the Bee Yoga Fusion Yoga Kids come up with when I give them supplies and a theme. On this particular day I told them that we were going to make "Ghosts". In the center of our craft area were paper plates, a roll of toilet paper, stack of white paper, glue, tape and markers. What they each came up with on their own was pretty incredible.

One covered the plate with toilet paper and then carefully tore the center open to reveal a scary face, another drew a cat ghost with paper ears attached to a paper plate and toilet paper limbs, another taped toilet paper around the whole paper plate and that was it.

Allowing kids to decide for themselves on what the result will be is part of the fun of being creative and enjoying imaginative play.

Try it with your kids. Abandon the Kids Craft Board you created full of ideas from Pinterest to create these perfectly looking crafts and instead give the children a few supplies and a theme and see what they think of on their own without any directions. Then share it on social media using the hashtag #CocktailMomCrafts

Halloween Craft for Kids- Spiders and Web

This is a wonderful craft that is easy and really fun to do.
You'll need: embroidery hoops, embroidery floss, glue, pipe cleaners, egg carton, markers, goggly eyes and a hole punch.
Start by cutting the egg carton up into single egg holders. Have each child color the egg carton with markers to make their spider and then with a hole punch make two holes for the 4 pipe cleaners to pass through the body of the spider. Glue on the goggly eyes and your spider is complete.

Moving on to the web. Take the outer ring of the embroidery hoop off and have the kids wrap embroidery floss around the hoop making a pattern as they go. This is a lot of fun and each of my yoga kids got really quiet to concentrate on the task. When they are finished making the web, tie the final end to the hoop and place the outer ring of the hoop securely on, this will hold the floss in place.

Put a final hole punch in the spider to secure a piece of floss through so that you can tie it to the hoop, Hang the hoop on your wall with the spider dangling down.
This is a great craft for Kindergarten to fourth grade students.
Happy Halloween!

Carrot and Beet Side Dish

This is a wonderful side dish that is perfect for all types of diets! It's vegetarian, gluten free, vegan and RAW.
Simply shave a few carrots and beets together in a bowl and drizzle with oil and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Simple and the perfect side dish to bring to your next diner party.

Paper Plate Magnet Maze

When I saw this on MyCakies.com I knew it would be a huge hit for my yoga kids. In yoga class we often talk about how we move our bodies and our connection to other people. A game that I use with them in class is to pretend that our feet and hands are magnets and you have to connect to other students like magnets do in various yoga poses. It's so interesting to see their minds busy at work thinking how magnets click together.

I printed out the maze template and had each child color their maze with colored pencils and choose between the rabbit or the spaceship. We then glued the maze to a paper plate. Before we began the activity I hot glued magnets to 12 inch dowel rods. And then glued the magnet to their rabbit or spaceship. The kids loved seeing the magnets react and moving their rabbit/spaceship through the maze.

After we finished the craft the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to figure out what on the playground is magnetic and what isn't. This is a great craft for ages Kindergarten through Second grade. Minimal mess and LOTS of fun!
 

Chocolate Tasting

This past summer we went on vacation with my wife's family to the beach and had a fabulous time! I wanted to surprise everyone with a special dessert night- a chocolate tasting!

I decided that I wanted to do a blind tasting for the adults and the kids separately. For the adults I purchased six, various brands of chocolate bars that were truly unique. The kind of chocolate bars that I would never purchase for myself because I deem them too expensive or so unusual that I don't know if I want to commit to eating an entire bar. Among them were peanut butter and banana, orange peel, candied rose petals, spicy red peppers and quinoa!

I cut each bar into bit sized pieces and placed on a cutting board with a number next to it. We sat around the table and tried a bite of each chocolate one at a time, everyone tried to guess what it was that was unique about that chocolate bar, what flavor was standing out to them and which one was the best. The overall process took some time but it was a lot of fun to hear the unique ideas of ingredients and made for some interesting conversation. We made sure to drink water or wine between each numbered piece of chocolate to cleanse our palates.

For the kids chocolate tasting I purchased three different brands of milk chocolate that happened to be made in various locations around the world. A Hershey's bar from the United States, Cadbury from London and an Israel milk chocolate bar. For the kids they tried a bite of each chocolate bar and then voted on which one tasted the best.

Try hosting a chocolate bar tasting with your family this holiday season and see what flavor is crowned the winner!

Review: Benjamin Moore Chalkboard Paint

We recently bought a house and converted the basement into a yoga studio. Previously I traveled to various locations to teach yoga and now I just have to walk down a few steps in my home. It's glorious! I wanted the studio to be light and bright and a place where both kids and adults enjoyed coming to and taking yoga classes.

The Yoga Studio Website: http://www.beeyogafusion.com

Using the colors from the website and the Bee Yoga Fusion logo, I painted the far wall of the studio a dark pink with Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint. I anticipated it to take a lot of paint and over purchased but it's always best to have too much than not enough right? FYI: the paint only comes in quart size and this wall (roughly 8 feet x 6 feet) took two quarts.

Following the advice that I read from other bloggers I first applied the Benjamin Moore primer that was tinted to match the pink color that I chose. The chalkboard paint can be any color that you would like but darker colors work best in allowing the actual chalk to show up. After the primer I applied 5 coats of chalkboard paint. Allowing each coat to dry for several hours before reapplying. When the final coat was dry I allowed the paint to "cure", as per the directions on the can for three days. Before the initial use I took a piece of sidewalk chalk on the long side and rubbed it over the entire wall which several bloggers recommended to do as well.

The yoga kids are loving it! And the adults enjoy the quotes and words of inspiration that are posted before class. The wall is easy to clean with just a wet rag and looks great even when it is left blank. I think a chalkboard wall would be a wonderful addition to any kitchen or mudroom to write messages to various family members or to post to-do lists and grocery lists. The possibilities are endless!
  

Make your own Watermelon Roll

My wife LOVES Friendly's Wattamelon Roll, like it's her favorite dessert and the only thing she really wants to have on her birthday. The problem is that her birthday is in the middle of September and often times Friendly's only carries the Wattamelon Roll during the summer months. On her birthday I called three locations that were somewhat close to us and none of them had it in stock.

I thought to myself…it can't be that hard to make!

And it wasn't.

I purchased a container of lime sorbet, two containers of raspberry sorbet and mini chocolate chips. The hardest part of making this dessert is timing the melting of the sorbet. I lined a circular pan with wax paper and began with scooping out the lime sorbet and putting it around the entire edge of the pan. Having the raspberry sorbet thawing and a mushy consistency I then placed it in a bowl and slowly poured in the mini chocolate chips. I just eyeballed it and added chips as I stirred until it was the desired look. Then I quickly scooped it into the center of the pan and finished off with sprinkling the top with a few more chocolate chips.

The result was fantastic! Everyone enjoyed it and my wife was so touched that I went to the trouble to recreate her favorite dessert.
I highly recommend trying it for your family, it's low in fat and a wonderful dessert for guests who have allergies to milk/soy or who are gluten free. Just be sure to purchase gluten free chocolate chips!

Easy Painting for Kids- Seasonal Fun

We are celebrating FALL! The sun goes down earlier and the scarves have come out of their hiding spot deep in the back of the closet. My yoga kids and I spent an afternoon creating fall tree paintings to celebrate the first day of fall.

I put various acrylic paints on paper plates for everyone to share in colors that we would see the leaves on east coast trees change into and with Q tips we painted beautiful trees by dabbing dots on the paper. I printed out the base of the tree on white paper using this free printable.

This is a great activity for kids from Kindergarten to third grade, it doesn't require a lot of prep and the mess is very minimal. Put a blanket on the ground and take your painting outside, it's a wonderful opportunity to talk to the kids about their favorite color of leaves.

HAPPY FALL!
 

Teach Kids How to Breathe During Hard Times

I teach a yoga class after school for elementary school aged children. Everyday I pick them up from their school and we go to the studio to practice yoga, create art and learn how to be more compassionate human beings.

Yesterday my yoga kids were talking about the latest safety procedure that they had to learn how to do that day, I immediately assumed it was a new way to do a fire drill. It’s the beginning of the school year and I know as a veteran mom to elementary school aged kids that the first month of school there are several practice runs of the fire drill so that everyone knows what to do in case there is ever a real fire. But no, it wasn’t a fire drill. It is called “Lockdown”. The kids told me how they have to “stay quiet, don’t move and go to the safe place”. I asked one of my first grade yoga students, “Why would they need everyone to go into “lockdown”? 

“If there was someone bad in the school, or outside of the school.”, she told me passionately, eyes wide with a bit of fear in her voice. 

“Someone bad?”, I asked.

“Ya know if someone came into the school with a gun and wanted to hurt people.”

And in that moment my heart broke a little. I wanted to wrap them all up in a hug and put them in a bubble of protection so that they wouldn’t ever have to practice “lockdown” or know that such horrible things happen in the world. 

My mom has told me stories about “duck and cover”, a safety procedure that was taught to children after the Cold War for fear of an atomic bomb, children would crawl under their desks to take cover. And now in 2014 we are teaching kids how to be safe if someone comes into their school with a gun. One of my kindergarten yoga kids told me how everyone in his class piled into the bathroom and it was dark and a tiny bit scary. Each child shared where their safe space was in their classroom; some were under the teacher’s desks, others in a closet. Another kindergartner told the group that his safe space was hiding behind backpacks. 

We talked about how it made them feel when they practiced “lockdown”. 

Scared.

Terrified.

Cramped.

Sad.

Everyone agreed on “sad”. Sad that a “bad person” felt so much hate in their heart to hurt other people. I told the kids that when they are in their safe place they should practice their “belly breathing”. At the end of every yoga class we lay on our backs in corpse pose (Savasana) and place our hands on our bellies and focus on our breathing. Inhaling on a count of three and exhaling on a count of three. The first grader that passionately told me about the meaning of lockdown smiles and says, “That’s a good idea Gretchen. Maybe I’ll do it when I’m mad at my brother too.”

So whether you are feeling scared, sad or really mad bring awareness to your breath and breathe in on a count of three or four and exhaling on a count of three or four. Letting the emotion pass through you while calming your mind.