Children Count Too!

Every child loves a good game of hide and seek. There are the fun butterflies they get in their tummies when they're waiting to be discovered and the pride they feel when they're able to count to ten and then yelling, "Ready or not, here I come!"

But children who are hidden from the U.S. Census counts (taken only once every 10 years) are not a laughing matter. So, ready or not, here comes 2010 Census ... and you have an important role to play!

Many parents may not realize the importance of accurately reporting the number of children in their family, including newborns. The truth is that the undercount of children means that we do not get a true picture of our nation and our communities do not get their rightful share of public funds.

Why Children Count Too
Children have been undercounted in every census since the first one in 1790. Local communities rely on census information in planning for schools, child care, health and other critical services. Babies need to be counted today, so they can benefit tomorrow from community services.

Census counts are used, in whole or in part, for more than 140 programs that distribute more than $400 billion of federal funds to states and localities, including such child-focused programs as:

• Special Education Grants to states ($10.8 billion)
• Head Start ($6.9 billion)
• State Children's Health Insurance Program ($5.9 billion)
• Foster Care Title IV-E ($4.7 billion)
• Improving Teacher Quality State Grants ($2.9 billion)

Unlike adults, who may bear some responsibility for making sure they are counted in the Census, children are dependent on others to make sure they are included. Yet in 1980, 1990, and 2000, Census Bureau data show children, particularly young children, are one of the groups most likely to be missed in the Census. In fact, in the 2000 Census, there was a net undercount of more than 1 million children under age 10.

Global Influence is working with 2010 Census to help spread this important message for the next week to all of the parents who read our blogs. We need your help to make sure that every child is reported so they can receive the services they will need in the future.

When playing hide and seek your children have the opportunity to be found after ten seconds.

The Census only comes around every ten years. So when you receive your Census form in mid-March, make sure your child (no matter how old) is counted!


*By helping to spread the word about the importance of including your children on your census form, I am entered in a contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

Leprechaun Traps

Last year, after we read The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by Natasha Wing, we were inspired to make leprechaun traps with the hopes of catching a leprechaun (and a pot of gold) on St. Patrick's Day. 

Here are some pictures of the traps we made:






The leprechauns came last year.  They made our toilet water green, left green shamrock marks on our hands, left little green footprints on our plates, and even dropped a few pieces of gold, but we didn't catch them.  This year, we are working to make even better leprechaun traps.  Stay tuned, they will be ready soon. 

Shamrock Sun Catcher

If you haven't noticed, we make a lot of sun catchers around here.  They look so pretty hanging in the windows!  We are hoping to catch some leprechauns this year, so we are currently in the process of decorating to lure them into our house!

To make shamrock sun catchers:

• Draw a shamrock on transparent contact paper (do not peel the backing off yet).  Your shamrock does not have to be perfect, but if you want a template click here.  Cut out your shamrock.

• Have your child tear green tissue paper into small pieces(I love to sneak in fine motor skills work whenever possible).  You can use different shades of green or keep it all the same, whatever you prefer.   We used dark green and light green.

• Peel the backing off of the shamrock shaped contact paper.

• Your child can cover the entire sticky surface with the green tissue paper.

• When the surface is covered with tissue paper, place it on another piece of sticky contact paper to sandwich the tissue paper, and then cut out your finished shamrock.

• You can use a hole punch to make a hole for a ribbon if you choose.  For some reason, as soon as we hung our sun catcher in the window, the sun went behind the clouds. 

Potato Prints

Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato, An Irish Folktale by Tomie DePaola is the tale of the laziest man in Ireland.  He is too lazy to harvest the potatoes and when his wife's back gives out, he worries that he will go hungry all winter.  Jamie is lucky enough to catch a leprechaun, however, and he never has to worry about food again.

After reading this book, we made potato prints.  We left one half of the potato flat and I carved a shamrock design into the other half.  

When they finished, C and R added a few shamrock stickers to their artwork.

I am linking this post to stArt at A Mommy's Adventures.  Hop on over there and check out all of the creative story + art projects!

Yo Baby Giveaway!

Stonyfield organic yogurt is the yogurt of choice in my house.  My children ate yo baby yogurt when they were babies, and they now love yo kids squeezers and yo kids yogurt.  My husband and I really enjoy Stonyfield Oikos organic Greek yogurt with caramel; you have to try it!  Can you tell how much I love Stonyfield products? 

I am thrilled to offer this amazing giveaway from Stonyfield.  One of you will win the items pictured above:

1 yo baby travel bowl with lid
1 yo baby organic cotton bib
1 Eric Carle growth chart
3 free yo baby Meals coupons
1 yo baby tote bag

If you would like to enter to win this wonderful giveaway, leave me a comment telling me which Stonyfield product is your favorite.  

You can get one additional entry for each of the following:

1. Become a fan of Stonyfield on Facebook 
2. Become a fan of Superheroes and Princesses on Facebook 
3. Follow my blog publicly
4. Blog about this giveaway and attach a link to your post in a comment

Please be sure to leave your email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you win.You must live in the United States to win this gift, and your items will ship directly from Stonyfield.  I will begin accepting comments for this giveaway immediately and will end on Wednesday, March 10th at 9:00 AM. 

Oobleck

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  In your honor, we made up a batch of oobleck.  Don't tell me you have never heard of oobleck!  This goo is something special.  It's so amazing that you just have to try it because I surely cannot do it justice with words and pictures.

There are many recipes for oobleck, but the one we used is:

1. pour one cup of water into a container
2. add a few drops of green food coloring to the water
3. add two cups of corn starch and stir

You now have oobleck.  It feels like a solid when you try to pick it up, but it quickly becomes a liquid and drips through your fingers.  Experiment by dropping different objects into the oobleck, stirring it, picking it up, and dripping water on it. 

T, C, and R had so much fun playing with this while I read Bartholomew and  the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.  In this book, the King of Didd wakes up one morning and decides he is bored with predictable sun, rain, fog and snow.  He wants something different and orders his magicians to get to work to make something unique fall from the sky.  They make oobleck!  The King learns to be careful what he wishes for when the oobleck causes problems in his kingdom.

If you want the scientific explanation, oobleck is a slimy polymer classified as a non-Newtonian fluid.  Non-Newtonian fluids can look and feel like both liquids and solids, but their flow only changes when you change the type of pressure you apply to its surface.  If you want more details, you can google those terms.

WARNING:  This is not for the faint of heart.  This stuff makes a mess.  My advice is to cover all surfaces with plastic tablecloths that you can just dispose of later.  I did not do this, and clean up was interesting.  The more water you add, the more resistant to clean up this stuff becomes.  Believe it or not, this stuff washes off of clothing without a problem.  Phew!  Also, whatever you do, DO NOT put this stuff down the drain or toilet.  If you do, you better call a plumber! 

It's worth the mess.  I enjoyed this myself.  It is so cool the way it changes in your hands.  So, relax a little bit, cover all of your surfaces, and have fun! 

A Cat in the Hat Party

We had a party to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Dr. Seuss is a favorite around here and we enjoy all of his books, but we started the celebration with a Cat in the Hat party.

C and R wore their red and white striped hats and enjoyed red and white hat treats.  The base of the treat is a vanilla wafer, and I alternated layers of vanilla frosting (on some I used slices of large marshmallows) and red gummy lifesavers.

 Stay tuned for more Seuss fun!