1.   This is a delightful story for apple season.

For this story to work, have a pocketknife in your pocket and an apple hidden in your lap. Be prepared to cut the apple horizontally.
Once upon a time there was a little boy (girl) named Johnny (____). He didn't have anything to do so his Mom suggested that he go outside on an adventure and look for a 'little, round, red house that had no doors or windows and a star inside!' So Johnny went down the road and saw Farmer Brown on his tractor. (Mime Farmer Brown, make tractor noise, etc.). Johnny called "Farmer Brown! Farmer Brown! Do you know where I can find a little, round, red house..." Farmer Brown thought and thought. "There's a big red barn down the road," said Farmer Brown. "It's red, but it's big and it's not round," said Johnny. So Farmer Brown said, "If I were you, Johnny, I would go and ask Grandma Blue. She knows so many things, I bet she can help you." So Johnny thanked Farmer Brown and walked down the road.

When he got to Grandma Blue's house, he knocked on the door. (Knock for sound effect.) Grandma Blue said, "Come in." Johnny said "hi" to Grandma Blue (Mime Grandma Blue rocking in a rocking chair, older voice, etc.) and told her what he was looking for "a little, round, red house..." Grandma Blue rocked back and forth in her rocking chair while she thought. Then she said: "If I were you, Johnny, I would ask the wind." Johnny thought 'the wind????' He was confused, but he loved Grandma Blue, so he thanked her and went outside to ask the wind.

He walked down the road a way and said: "Wind, wind can you help me find a little, round, red house....?" The wind blew and blew (Mime wind, get ready with the apple) and it knocked an apple off a tree. The apple fell right in front of Johnny. Johnny picked it up, it was little, it was round, it was red, but could it have a star inside? So Johnny, being a typical Wisconsin boy, took his pocketknife out of his pocket and very carefully cut the apple in half, about where the equator would be if the apple were a globe. Do this, then slowly open the apple and show the children the two halves. There's a star inside! Apples are not usually cut this way, so seeing the star for the first time is magical.


2.   Frisbee is a game for everybody. Children, adults, dogs,….everybody. Teaching young children to play Frisbee is easy and they love it. For skill development is's easy. It's like soccer. Anyone can kick a ball. And for Frisbee, anyone can throw a plastic plate. And Frisbee is a great game for parents … the equipment list is simple. .. , all you need is a Frisbee

Two and three year old children can learn to play. When teaching young children to play Frisbee, it’s helpful to use a soft Frisbee. Once a child is accidentally hit in the face with a typical hard Frisbee, they lose enthusiasm for the game. It hurts. A child thinks - this isn’t fun - and that’s it for Frisbee. The place to find a soft Frisbee is not in the toy section but in the pet section of any store. Dogs do not like to be hit in the face either and a soft Frisbee is easier for them to pick up and a soft Frisbee survives many bites better.

Another helpful point is to show a child how to throw a Frisbee. Tell them they are helping set the picnic table by tossing the paper plates on the table. Mime this for them without a Frisbee in your hand. It’s a natural motion of hand holding the plate with thumb up on top and tossing this imaginary plate out onto the table. Have your child pretend to help set the picnic table with you. After you see that they have the tossing motion, give them a Frisbee. Let them toss the Frisbee.

This works as I have used this technique with many children including my nephew who was 5 at the time. He loved Frisbee and eventually joined an ultimate (the name given to professional team Frisbee) team. A few years ago, he was a member of the winning San Francisco team at the world championship in England.

3.   Children love to collect the beautiful leaves of autumn. I just was introduced to a new way to use these works of art. A friend gave me a flowerpot that was covered with brown leaves. It was so pretty. It was a medium size leaf; it looked like an elm leaf. However I think any leaf would work just fine. It seemed that someone had painted the flowerpot with glue, and layered leaves all over it. I think I would suggest a final sealer … maybe a spray with clear polyurethane or paint with amber shellac.

And of course there’s the old standard of creating stained glass windows with leaves. Consider cutting the wax paper into heart or diamond shapes and grating crayon on the leaves. Arrange leaves between two sheets of the wax paper, and seal by ironing them. The heat from the iron melts the wax and seals the leaves. If you use your good iron, put a piece of plain paper on top of the waxed paper. Now hang it on your window.

Another friend showed me a simple leaf mobile she had made. What made this particularly attractive was that the string that held the leaf also had one bead on it. It was a single string mobile attached to a piece of wire. Not clothes hanger wire, but a softer wire that could be spiraled. For children one can gently wrap the wire around their finger, and then pull it off slowly, and a spiral is created. Attach the string to this and one has a lovely mobile to hang.

Of course, it’s nice to thank the trees for the leaves they gave us and to identify the trees if you can. Remember the maple leaf is almost identical to one’s hand. The oak leaf looks like a witch – her hat, arms, dress and broom. It’s interesting I learned these identification hints when I was Brownie, and still remember them.


4.   Birthday parties for children are wonderful hallmarks for them. The passing of those first few years is so dramatic and wonderful, a birthday party is the perfect way to acknowledge and honor the growth of a child. Here are two different birthday party ideas.

I personally feel birthday parties are for families. Sometimes we feel obligated to have extravagant outings, incredible games and gifts for a child’s birthday. So and so did this, now what kind of birthday party can we have. I grew up in the 50’s and birthday parties were family parties and I still remember many of those parties fondly. And I also feel children have too many things in their life, they don’t need more things as birthday party presents. A 'less is more' for children these days is an important thought to consider.

Back to the point, these other parties. One family I know has a family birthday party for their son, and then every year has a Halloween costume party at their house. It’s a great way for children to get together – see each other’s costumes, bob for apples and have a celebration of autumn.

Another family I know has a birthday party picnic for their daughter. And in the light of the knowledge that she has enough and that she also loves animals, the parents ask that pet food be the present for the little girl. This was discussed with their daughter and she loved the idea. During the weeks before her birthday she was explaining this to everybody, and she had to repeat it several times as the idea was so novel to our ears. There still is a gift for her. Later she experiences feeling the gifts of good will and sharing, when she brings all this food to the animal shelter. What a continuum of giving.


5.   As we are looking for ways to guide our children in the maze of our current lives. I would like to mention the concept of uniforms for school. Uniforms! Uniforms! One thinks how regimental, how uncreative, and how rigid. To a certain degree, this is true. But is regimentation bad? Is creativity banned or just allocated to certain times? Let’s look at the other side and see.

Uniforms change the emphasis from how I look to who I am. It focuses on the development of the virtues and habits of the child, rather than the ability to look cool. Actually the ability to be cool rather than just look cool.

Uniforms are easy for children. No more morning dilemma – what should I wear? … This doesn’t look good. … I don’t like that…. So and so got the new…. Why can’t we go and buy that tonight? Everyone else wears jeans like this. … Everyone else wears tops like this … etc. etc.

Uniforms are easy for parents. So many shirts, so many pants or skirts, clean at the beginning of the week.

Uniforms are cost effective for parents. So many shirts, so many pants or skirts, and that’s it for the school year.

Uniforms also minimize the awareness of who has every new thing, and who doesn’t. Uniforms disregard economic background.

There is after school and weekends for creativity in dress and personal choices.
It seems to me … uniforms help children, help parents, and help school boards.

p.s. I went to Catholic grade and high schools and wore uniforms for 12 years and do not remember feeling deprived or oppressed. It wasn’t a big deal. It was just what you wore to school.


6.   Here is a way to help your child learn to tie her shoes easily. The trick is to use 2 different colored laces on each shoe. First of all, use the old fashioned, flat, cotton laces. They hold a knot better than other type laces. So buy 2 pairs of these laces in different colors. Cut the laces in half and tie the opposite colors together. Then lace up the shoe. Thus when the child is trying to see which lace to put where, you can guide her with color.


7.   I can't encourage you more strongly on this...plant flower bulbs now. Even if it's just a few, those bursts of color in spring will be so appreciated. After the lovely white of winter, it seems that we are color starved and flower hungry. And because bulbs are so large and sturdy, it makes it that much easier for children to help plant them. And what child does not like to dig a small hole? I know this is something that you and your children will be so happy about come May.


8.   Fall may be the best time for hiking. And on every hike there is an opportunity to bring home treasures. Be selective about your treasures. Think of how one would stock pile a Christmas elf's trunk for presents and decorating. Those twisted sticks and pine cones would look lovely dipped in glitter, the rock could become a paper weight with a simple red heart painted on it, and those few flowers pressed would make a lovely card. So find a box and make it into the Christmas elf chest. As weeks and hikes go by, it will fill, and when the ground is covered with snow, you will be happy that you were such an industrious elf.